Only moments after Kim swallowed the cursed soul, he began to feel something strange creeping into his body.
The black flames had not vanished—instead they settled in his heart, like a new pulse beating against his will.
He stepped forward in the Void-world, but suddenly his feet stopped and his body convulsed violently. Blurred images poured into his head: the faces of those he had slain in the arena, their screams, the blood—all of it chased him, but this time… it laughed!
— "Come on… kill more… aren't we fun?"
— "We are your power, we are your voices—why are you silent?"
— "Let us take the body from you… and show you what true death looks like!"
Kim screamed, clutching his head:
— "Shut up! You are mine, not my masters!"
But his eyes flipped to full black shot through with burning red veins. The tips of his fingers ignited with black flames that writhed like serpents, and every breath he exhaled was cursed smoke.
The System's voice cut in, sharp:
— "Kim! This is the effect of the curse… if you do not control it now, you will lose your body!"
Kim panted, sweat pouring, staring at his trembling hands.
— "Why… why do I feel like I want to tear everything apart?!"
System:
— "Because the curse is not only power… it is the will of the soul you absorbed. It searches for a crack in your heart to seize control. The more you surrender to your rage, the stronger it becomes!"
But deep inside him… he heard the cursed soul whisper in a female voice steeped in malice:
— "Kim… didn't you say you are no longer human? Then why resist? Open your heart to me… and I will show you a hell that obeys only you!"
Suddenly her voice echoed with a demonic chorus, as if speaking from within him. One shoulder burst into glowing black sigils; the skin there began to crack like stone.
The System cried out again:
— "Do not listen to it! If you let it root, you will become the vessel… and it will be the queen!"
Kim laughed a broken laugh, half fury and half pain:
— "Queen?… No. If it wants my body… I will make it my eternal prison!"
He raised his hand and let the black flames explode from his body, turning the Void into a sea of fire. But each flame shaped itself into screaming faces, hands reaching to pull him down.
Then a crimson alert appeared:
> [Alert: Possession rate rose to 27%]
[Curse Flame: at 100%, the body will become property of the cursed soul]
Kim croaked, blood streaming from his eyes:
— "Even if I become a monster… I will be the monster, not you!"
A massive black blaze erupted around him, then gradually faded, leaving his body reeling. He dropped to his knees, gasping, the cursed sigils still burning on his skin.
The System, in a low voice this time:
— "The curse has begun to reveal itself… it will manifest in your body and mind the more you use it. Choose your battles carefully, Kim… for each use could be the last time you see yourself."
Kim smiled despite the pain, a cold smile:
— "Then… I will use it to the end. Let the world burn with me."
As he spoke those words, a new gate opened in the Void before him… a gate veiled in black flame, inviting him to cross another stage of hell.