Chapter 39 - Cursed Ray

***

Name: Evan Lynch

Race: Human

Lifespan Expectancy: 68 years 9 months.

Status: Knight

Warp: None (no known talent for magic)

Tantum: ????

Arcanum Path: Undetermined, (The Invited One.)

***

Evan stared at his Sight, a bright smile on his face. He might not be a Mage yet and have no talent at all, and it would be a big disaster for him, but he had already taken one step forward.

'68 years and 9 months... Considering how much I've spent on demon power, that's exactly 70 years. Well, it looks like the Rise Potion has brought my physical condition to perfect state.' Evan pondered before stepping outside and approaching the swamp. 

The cold wind, coming from the snowy mountains blew against him, but it no longer seemed as harsh and inhospitable as before. The wind was no longer capable of harming Evan, for whereas before the wind currents were like sharp blades, now they were only pleasant flows.

'Unbelievable... This is what I was able to achieve by going to Knight Level.' Evan inwardly muttered while looking at his reflection in the water.

He looked at every part of his body - arms, legs, abs, shoulders and chest. He hadn't turned into a mountain of muscle, for that would take years of training and eating well every day - not his case.

However, his muscles had become tight as if wrapped around steel bars. They didn't need to be big to show their strength and potential.

'I see... When mana flows through my muscles I will become a mage, but I can only do that if Warp appears. There are still about two weeks left until my last chance, though... Yeah... I might have one option...'

Evan had been in this world for less than a month, so there was still a lot he didn't know, but now he was getting a better understanding of how magic and power levels worked. It was only the beginning, but it was still significant progress compared to the start.

'Everyone calls it a talent, but in essence, it's also some kind of object or entity. Moreover, talent can't appear just because of luck, there must be reasons and a certain sequence.' Evan thought, rubbing his chin with a deep gaze.

Then, shadows began to move among his eyes again, they quickly calmed down but showed that they were ready to act at any moment. 

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Klaus smiled widely, approaching Evan.

Evan turned around. He took a quick look at Klaus, realizing that his body had changed as well.

"Better than prison, definitely." Evan said calmly.

Klaus nodded, "Yeah, you're right. Angus did a great job. We drank three potions at once, and yet I feel great, no intoxication or poisoning."

"Well, I think if we'd had one more potion each, we would have been in trouble." Evan shrugged.

Klaus silently agreed.

"By the way..." Evan turned towards the house, "I wonder what the girls look like. Have they changed as much as we have?"

Klaus wanted to say something, but suddenly a chill ran down their backs, and waves of goosebumps rolled down their bodies.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

At the same moment, the ground shook, and a ray of scarlet energy erupted from the workshop, destroying the roof and heading toward the heavens.

"AARRGHHHH!!!" An almost beast-like roar was heard but filled with pain and suffering.

Evan and Klaus quickly looked over at each other. Even though they were far away, they were sure of what was happening and quickly ran towards the workshop.

Rushing inside, they saw a gruesome scene.

Ruby, Lana, and Reine huddled in the corner of the room, their eyes wide open and filled with fear that prevented them from moving.

Halvor used all his strength, holding Hana's hands tightly while she jerked her legs chaotically like a frantic one.

Her right eye was calm, but the left one was shaking violently. The three crimson pupils trembled, releasing a dark red energy that was impossible to resist.

"Holy Shit! How did this happen?!" Halvor exclaimed, clenching his teeth.

Despite being an Amplifier, he had to use all his strength to restrain Hana. Her Cursed Cell had activated at full power, never before had such a thing happened.

"I don't know, but I've never encountered such a powerful Cursed Cell..." Angus muttered, trying to use his flames to contain Hana's energy.

However, it wasn't enough, the curse energy was just tearing his white flame to shreds as if Hana was much stronger than Angus.

"Hey! Is there anything we can do to help?!" Evan exclaimed, running up to them.

His body didn't want to be here, his legs and arms trembled slightly, but his mind was much stronger.

"ARGHHHHHH!!!"

Hana roared once more as cracks went down her body as if she could shatter like a marble vase. From underneath the cracks, scarlet smoke was coming out, slowly filling everything around, having an even greater effect of fear on everyone.

The girls just closed their eyes to avoid seeing it, and even Evan had to clench her fists to get her mind under control. 

"Her eye. Can we get rid of her eye? It'll probably be bad for her body, but at this rate, she'll just explode!" Evan suggested with a wave of his hand.

Angus shook his head.

"That's impossible, we'll just kill her, but only just for sure. Tsk. Hold her legs, I need one minute!" Angus uttered before heading to the basement of his workshop.

Without hesitation, Evan did as Angus said.

On the surface, Hana seemed like a simple fragile girl, but Evan struggled to restrain her despite Halvor helping him. His muscles strained to the limit to somehow calm Hana down.

Crackle.

Less than a minute later, Angus returned with a parchment scroll in his hands. He placed the scroll on the ground, pressing down firmly with the palm of his hand, causing his Warp to spin furiously at maximum speed.

In this way, he quickly channeled his mana into the scroll. The magic circle on the scroll shone brightly, releasing all its energy to create a spell.

A phantom flower with thousands of petals appeared above the workshop. Pollen, like snowflakes, slowly fell, absorbing the energy of the curse into itself.

The curse resisted, but very soon it completely dissipated, making Hana's eye powerless. Her three pupils finally stopped trembling, and she was able to close her eyes, losing consciousness.

Evan looked at his hands, puzzled, as he felt himself getting a little weaker.

'Oh... What an unusual spell. I'll have to remember that there is something like that...' Evan muttered internally before turning around and meeting Klaus' gaze.

A single tear fell from his eyes, simultaneously filled with sadness for what had happened to Hana and the despair that comes when one has given everything to save the one he loves, but even that wasn't enough.

It was a single moment that was enough for Evan to begin realizing what Klaus might be hiding in his past.