"They can't even handle a woman."
The curseuman was obsidian-black like others, with his long and sharp red nails and crimson iris with black eyes; his body was fatty on the stomach with thin and long limbs.
He was indescribably ugly. But his stomach wasn't like this always; it was just that he ate a lot.
He stood, straightening his body. He raised his hand to his mouth, putting his two fingers in his mouth, and pulled out his hand with a bloody eyeball.
He dropped the eyeballs with a grimaced face.
"There is no fun in human flesh."
He sighed.
"Now all of them are dead; I can go there without any worry."
With his words, he vanished while walking.
It's confusing if it was his speed or a type of teleportation technique.
*****
Aeris was sitting under a tree's shade at some distance from the barrier.
"It's been half an hour; she's still inside. But why am I worried for her? I just met her. Or is this not a worry? Maybe I am afraid of being alone in this new type of hell. Anyways, I also want powers; I can't depend on a girl."
*****
Yuki was all exhausted from the aftereffect of his last technique she used against other curseumen.
Coughing with blood, she was laid on the earth, his eyes gazing over the sky.
"My body doesn't want to move; I just want to sleep here. But my wounds will not let me sleep. If Aeris were here, maybe he could take me somewhere on his back. But I left him outside."
She was breathing heavily; the third crescent art of the Aetheris Clan requires decades of training and mastery over it to use it perfectly. But Yuki was only 23 years old. She didn't have time to practice it.
"What's your name, lady? You were quite rude and harsh with my comrades. You are ruthless."
Yuki's eyes widened as she heard a deep voice reaching her ears; she wasn't able to detect that someone was near her.
She instantly sat and started to look around to find her sword. She took the sword from behind her and stood, finding the source of the voice.
Suddenly, her heartbeat increased, blood started to surge in her with incredible speed, her body started to shake, and her voice trembled.
"What... what is this? I'm afraid???"
She muttered.
"Why am I afraid? I am feeling like my energy is also draining. What the hell is this? It must be him!"
"Yeah, it's me, Orcid."
The curseuman was standing behind her, but this time she turned instantly, sensing him.
"Tell me what you have done with my body?"
"Don't worry, it's just an effect of my presence. But you didn't tell me your name."
Yuki clenched his fist and tightened her sword holding; her hands were still shaking.
"Why would I tell you? You m*therf*cker!"
She ran with her sword toward him, but her legs didn't stop shaking, and her speed decreased significantly.
There weren't many green flames on the blade either, and as she tried to reach his body, Curseuman moved a little, and the sword passed without even touching him.
"It's the effect of my technique—Cursed Presence. You can't use your full potential in my presence. Your energy will also drain within time, proportionally to the amount of fear you have hidden in your heart & soul. You are facing your most feared moment subconsciously, that's why you are trembling."
Yuki relentlessly attacked him many times, but her sword never reached him. Her speed, accuracy, senses, energy—everything was faded.
She tried to sever his head once again, but this time the Curseumen didn't defend, instead he tried to hold his sword like the previous one, but as his hand came in contact with green flames, he instantly stepped backward.
"Her blade and these flames aren't normal," curseuman said with a tone of realization.
"She struggled hard with those fools, yet she is standing and even attacking me. But... eventually she will fall down on earth when she goes out of her energy."
Yuki's movements were staggering, her eyes were closing, and finally she fell down.
"I can't close my eyes; I have to kill him, or he will kill me. I don't want to die yet; I still have many things to do. I just made my first friend; I don't want to lose him."
"Your whole struggle was in vain; you are useless. Against my cursed presence, you can't fight anymore. It's my turn now."
Curseumen was hardly hiding his happiness from not appearing on his face; he knew the real joy of devouring an A-rank Spiritumen hidden inside Yuki Aetheris.
"Yuki, you can only kill him if you use the crescent art of the Aetheris Clan. Do anything, but you have to stand once again and attack him."
The spirituman's voice appeared in Yuki's mind; internally, Yuki replied,
"But I have used it already. And in this condition, it's impossible for me to do it once again. I can barely move."
"Do it; even if you fail to do it completely, it will be enough to kill him. He's not attacking you because he can kill you anytime; it's because he is not strong in direct combat, and he was trying to exhaust you completely. He's not that hard physically, you are thinking!"
The one talking to her in her mind, it was a spirituman named Yuzuki, source of Yuki's supernatural powers.
Yuki tried to open his eyes and whispered with a flickering voice.
"I have to do it then... I must do it!!"
The sword was still in her hand; she clenched it with all her might. Suddenly the sword started to blaze with green flames.
Curseuman, who was approaching her to kill, recoiled back with a sensation of fear on his face. It was clear; he doesn't have anything other than his cursed presence. The happiness was now replaced with a fear. And it also explains the reason why he was separated from others.
His rank in Curseuman was Abyss Lord, higher than others, which was Executor. But he wasn't really that strong physically or in direct combat.
"What suddenly happened to her? Can she still fight? And her flames are burning more violently now."
Yuki balanced his shaking legs, took a deep breath, and held it inside, stopping his breath. His body was still shaking but less now.
"I have to pour every ounce of energy into my one attack; I have to reach him with one burst. I don't have that much strength. But I will not stop...!"
She poured all his energy into one leg, and with a burst of energy, slower than the previous burst, she still reached him.
"GREEN FLAMES: THIRD CRESCENT OF AETHERIS"
As she said, her sword's flames increased, devouring all blades; the piece of sword in his shoulder came out, and her dress fell down, but she didn't stop.
Curseumen blocked his sword with both hands on his neck; her sword wasn't cutting through it. Because she was already exhausted twice, there was nothing left in Yuki's body, yet she cast the crescent art of the Aetheris Clan, but it was incredibly weaker than the previous one.
But she didn't stop; her voice was screaming in agony, and she could feel the breakage of her bones inside her body. Her hands were burned to the wrist, but she still hadn't left the hope to kill him. Her dress was hardly on her body; she was going to be naked, as her bra was also slipping.
"The main effect of my cursed presence is to weaken the will of someone who is in contact with me and frighten him, but why is she still trying? Just die!!!" the curseuman shouted.
"Aaaaahhhh..."
Yuki really gave everything remaining in her body, and the sword started to cut through his hands.
This much intense pain and pressure doesn't suits a woman, her eyes were filled with crimson nerves, which could burst any moment, and her hands were burned and bleeding.
The curseuman also tried to defend back, shouting. But the sword finally slashed his hands and reached his neck.
"No! Not my neck!!!"
The cursed man moved his body with all his strength, and fortunately for him, Yuki's sword cleaved through his chest instead of his neck.
Her body was going to be cut in two halves completely, but her sword stopped midway of his chest. She was a little moment far from slashing his core completely. But she fell down on earth, leaving his sword stabbed in Curseuman's body.
Yuki was now naked and unconscious, but she fell down on the ground so that her breasts got covered. But his back was all naked. Even now, the edges of her breasts were visible from above, as his b**bs were very large and soft like a cushion.
Curseuman also collapsed on her earth, his body wasn't moving. How he could move? His core was almost sliced in two, and the sword was still there inside it. Only a little force required to cut the core completely and then curseuman will also disintegerate like others. The barrier was also removed now as this curseuman was caster of it.
Then suddenly, Aeris' voice echoed through the silent battlefield; he shouted,
"Yuki! Just wait a little, don't die. I am coming."