At this moment, Gray glared at his Badge…
[Send a Convocation Message to Student Zhang? Y/N]
He had been spamming that option faster than an octogenarian hit the damn slot machines! But no matter how long he waited, there was still no answer!
Right now, he really needed him! After all:
"Ten Personal Disciples. Unseen. Then I have to go back to jail."
He was confident he'd be able to recruit students by hiding his identity, but keeping them once they saw his actual name? That would be troublesome! He'd need a wingstudent!
Sadly, who'd want a "student-killer" as their teacher? But just as he was despairing, he suddenly remembered those three extra Disciples recorded in his Badge! Let's see…
"Brandon, Louis, and Terry?"
From their names to their descriptions, they screamed side characters! Complete Newbies? Lack of talent? Ordinary background? Oh, well, it would be their lucky day!
[Promote Brandon as a Personal Disciple? Y/N?]
Gray couldn't help but picture the guy's ecstatic face as he hurriedly accepted the greatest honor of his life… or not? Even after waiting a long while, there was still no answer!
"Guess it's Louis's lucky day then! My boy, Brandon, you'll regret so much, hehe!" Except this time, too, only silence answered him.
"W-What about you, Terry?"
Silence, only silence. C'mon! Other Disciples dreamed of being promoted, and those three clowns were just ignoring him?! This meant he really needed Zhang!
As for where he was… Gray had an inkling.
The Mountain of Corpses back then? To a foodie like him, it had been a mountain of meat! He'd gamble his right testicle that he was still there! But this was still an issue…
Zhang → At the Hunting Grounds!
Hunting Grounds → Filled with Monsters!
Filled with Monsters? → A potentially very dead Gray!
As for finding guards to escort him, would that break the unseen clause?!
"Surely, there won't be too many with the genocide we just did, but still. Better be safe than sorry!" It was time to walk the Curse-Extinguishing path himself and power up!
As his eyes turned Demonic, Gray started looking inwardly. His inner world? It was a peaceful cemetery that felt ever-so-familiar, one illuminated by a shiny starry sky!
The starlight even trickled toward the tombs and the grass, giving them an otherworldly glow. Seeing this, he couldn't help but sigh, satisfied.
"Oh well, it does suit me. Now, where's that curse of mine?"
First, find his Curse. Ah, there it was! He could feel it beckoning him in the distance! Then, meld his Mana into it and— ABORT! ABORT!
He had barely sent a bit of Mana over that he suddenly felt IT. That's when his entire inner world rumbled mightily.
Then, a second later….
— SHRIIIEKKK! —
At the horizon, there was… Wait what?! Why the hell was the horizon getting closer and closer? Why was it chock-full of anguished souls? Why was it shrieking?!
Horizon? Nope!
That gigantic wall of darkness… was his Curse?!
If Sera's Curse had been F-Rank, then this one could beat up the entire goddamn alphabet on its own! At this moment, he felt his blood grow cold.
He was like a Newbie surfer facing a tsunami! And to that, he eloquently said…
"Fuck that shit, I'm out!" Fight it? No way, hombre!
He hurriedly exited his inner world— or tried.
That's when he felt the sky quiver. The nice starry sky? It suddenly twisted, the stars morphing into an army of ghosts that were now diving toward him like shooting stars?!
"D-Don't tell me they've been here from the start?!"
He could feel the Curse rejoice. They had him trapped! They couldn't wait to tear him to pieces, devour him, and— POOF! That's when Gray disappeared!
Heart beating, he suddenly reappeared next to a certain Soul Pond.
"I-I made it! Holy shit, that Curse was no joke! It was—"
[Royal Curse Detected! Get Ready to Defend!]
Wait, what? Defend? Even here?! The sky started bleeding, vile darkness oozing out of it. Except this time, it wasn't just darkness, but thousands of bloodthirsty shadowy beings…
Royal Death Knights?!
Mighty Champions!
Haughty Princes!
An Emperor?!
This was worlds apart from Sera's Curse! While she had fought villagers, he had to face an entire imperial Army?! How unfair! He could sense their godlike power even from here!
But the enemy didn't care one bit for his inner turmoil:
Ḯ̵̲̯̻͔͛͐̒̇̽̽̅͘'̴̙̒v̶͕̜̤̱̦̯̽e̷̡̮̲̼͓̯̜̽̇̽̎͠ ̵̛̝̙̼̱̘̼̲̲͗̐̎͊̐͜͠g̷̮̣̝͗̃̆͑̌̾̎̌o̷̡͎͖͉̝̩͑̒̔t̶̡̧͓͉̦̬̙̮̋ ̸̢̮͓̻̦̰̤̦͈̩̒͒̅͛̿̐̔̾̇̑ỷ̵̛̘̯̫͎͌̋̋̋́̓̽ó̶̦̮͕̈̀͛̚ù̶̢̬̞̫̪͎̦͕͖̩͊͗͐͒ ̷̢͙̙̤̓̈̒̆̊̓͐̽̚͠c̴̩̖̥͖̣̊̍̑̋ȏ̶̰͓̆͜ŗ̷̖̾̀̊́̆͛n̷̹̙̜̗̲͔̻̙̺̾ͅe̸̗̭̙̖̠̥͐̂́r̸̨͓̩̭̳̱̪̲̕ē̴̢͍͉̙̖̺̯͖̼̈́̉̌d̸̛̩̬̹͎̂̌͒̿̇̈̓̌̚,̷̢̲̰͚̦͕͐͋̾̏ ̷̪̮̦̦̘̱̆̽̿̍̂͜ǧ̵̢̣͊̑̔̋̏r̸͍̬̻̪͝ͅá̶̛̬̥̻̰̦͔̌͂̄̎̒͘͝͠v̶̧̰̯̼̦͎͋̎͊̑̈́̎͋̕ȇ̵͈̝̭̲̼͒͛͒͜ ̵̙͙̲̪̞̙͔̹̊̂͐̔̇̀͆̕̕r̷̞̓͋́̔ơ̷͚̓͐̐b̵̞̦͙̱́͑͜b̸͍͍̺͕̩̪̩͔͓̈̈́̀͋ȩ̵̖̪͙̣̈́r̵̢̘͉͉̥͉̹̃̈̀͌͋̊̓͝!̵͈̖̠͓̠̀̓̌͂̇͗̾̍͝ͅ
Grave robber, him? They had him cornered? So this really was the Curse the other Gray had gotten while invading the Royal Catacombs? That was bad…
"Say, why don't we talk this out? How about this: I'll build you a new tomb! One that will be even greater than the last one? What do you say? Good deal, am I right?"
The Eminence of Shadow didn't think so…
C̶̡̟̫̮͗́̔̂͆̀H̷̪́͒̽A̵̭̤͆͆ͅR̴̡̼̖̯̱͍̞̤͎̪̀̍͝Ġ̸͎̗̱̠̳͇͔͙͖̈́͒͑̑̍̕Ė̴̙̥͋̍̃́̐̋̕!̷̧̳̳̬͍͐́̈́͂͠
As their leader gave the charge signal, the entire legion of Shadows dived at him, spears first! At this moment, they seemed like immortals chasing an ant…
Gray ran as fast as he could, a clear destination in mind. If anything could stop them, it wouldn't be him or any of the Soul Pond items, but this! He went straight to the Library!
"Knock! Knock! Hey, Library. This is an emergency, please let me in! Just kidding~"
Of course, the thing didn't budge, as expected! Since taking shelter inside was out of the question, he instantly switched to plan B, which he had already put into motion!
He turned to the Army and started… laughing?!
"Pfft— You guys really are Royal. Royal Idiots! You think you're hot stuff, eh? All shadowy and edgy, eh? Hehe, I dare you, come and fight me!"
Gray roared, not scared in the least. The previously running human? No more! All that was left was an arrogant bastard who knew he had the upper hand!
The knights about to charge again? The Emperor hurriedly stopped them!
From the corner of his eyes, he had noticed it! It had barely lasted a second, but something had glowed around the Library perimeter. Some kind of powerful barrier?!
As for what it really was….
Gray had dumped Ectoplasm behind him! Turns out he could control how shiny they were, so he had made them almost unnoticeable!
Gray's confidence? → A now cautious Emperor
Glowing Ectoplasm? → The enemy mistaking it for a barrier!
Gray storing it all remotely in his Soul Pen? → Making it seem like a hidden danger!
Seeing this, the Emperor understood it all. This Bastard was trying to bait them into coming inside the barrier, one that would probably kill them all! Hehe, as if!
Ẉ̷͜͝h̴̬͍̹͈̫̲͒̌́̈́̀͑̊͝ȍ̷͍͖̭̳̦̥̂̇̽̉̇̓̀̚͠ ̷͍̙͔͋̂̒́͗̄̅̚͜s̶̢̨̢̭̳̼̟̎̓̃̅͊̋a̸̭̱̙͇͕̫͊̅̆͂̍̓y̸͙̫̗͔̓͝ͅs̶̨̢̞͓͓̽̏͋͂̃͒͆͜ ̴̛̲͍̹͈̺̎̊̑́̚͜I̷̙̖͈̞̐͆ ̴̛̬̘̯̋̉́̔̅̂̎n̵̡͙̞̠̮͍͎͈͌̇̈́̊e̸̢͕̭̪͔̪̩͖͍̾͛̽̀̓̐̒͜e̸͎͈͚͈̮̭̗̟̟͑͌̈́̓̅͐̄̓͠d̵͓̞̓̅͒͂͊̚͠͝ ̵͙̰̥̼̻̓̌͛́̅̕̚͝t̵̡̪̻̗̲͈̗̼̻̹̄̓̐o̷̢̰̘̜̹̣̎͗̀̚ ̸̢͙̻̼̟͎͉̏̌̿̃͊̕͝͝ģ̶̧̧̼͙̰͕̤͙̊̎͜͠͠e̵̠͍̘̠̦͔͍̿͒̈́͐̉̂̎͋̕͝t̷̢̺͇̮̻̗̤͌ͅ ̸̯̫̩͉͋̈͂͐̕͘c̶͍͇̔̃̄̂̽̒l̶̛̫̜͕̭̩͛̾̅̄̓̇̍ờ̷̱̪̠̖͋͑̅͊̓s̶̡̧̡̠̯̩̪̆͐̆͌̽ę̷͚̼͍͉͊̈̃͗̎͛̕͠?̵̯͙̾̉̅̊͂̕
The Emperor ridiculed him, raising a dominant hand.
— BZZZZZZZ! BZZZZZZ! —
He suddenly conjured a Death Ray, one that flew straight at Gray! It was so fast that the latter had no time to avoid it! The damn thing even nailed him to the Library Door!
The Emperor started cackling, and so did the whole fucking army. But perhaps they had rejoiced a bit too soon.
[Ding! Direct Attack Detected on Library of Heaven's Souls!]
[Heaven Shall not be Defied! Initiating Defenses!]
[No Mercy! ALL Offenders Shall Die!]
The Library-like Tower?
It suddenly started lightning up as if Christmas!
Oh, but instead of cheerful lights, those were lights of doom!
As Heavenly Lightning and Demonic Hellfire started raining down on the shadows, they finally realized that they had fucked up. Gray was fair game, but the Library? NOPE!
W̴̫̯̜͠-̷̧͉̩͈̱̰̙̇̀̓͝ͅW̸̘͖̄͋͛ͅh̶̢̡͚̤̪̙̓̂̐͗͘ẫ̶̡̛̲̦̝͔͍̬̰̟͈̃́̃̕t̸̡͚̪͕̘̲́́̅̽̌͋̚ͅ ̴̡̨̡͎̬̝̥̤̜̺͑͑͌̏́̑̎͌̆͝i̵̙̤̥͎̙̻̖̜̮͊̀s̷̨̧̧͉̻̯̪̣̲̫͋̅ ̵̫̰̼̘͓̪̳̻͂̉̅̔́͋͋͋̕͜͝t̴͙̣͔̥̥̆̆̈́̌͑̓h̵͈̞̺̹̪̳̭̋͛į̴̨̮̗̯̳̞͉̝̇̇́̿̂͊̈̚͠͝s̶̡̘̲̻̒̋̀̀?̸̧̽͗̓̀̄̋͘͘!̶̙̩̻̭̯̙̠̎̉̓
— Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! —
Gray stared at it all, shellshocked.
Suddenly, he felt like he was watching one of those tower-defense games. This was beyond the scope of reality. It was simply a shadow slaughterhouse.
The beings trembled with fury. They had been so close to avenging the Royal Family! They sure as hell wouldn't give up now!
Countless magic attacks were sent his way, but as they did… they were all freaking shot down! At this moment, Gray felt like the king of the world.
"Ah, I even gave you a good deal. But you just had to refuse it!"
"Hunting me? Who's cornered who, you tell me!"
— Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! —
— Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! —
— Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! —
[Ding! A Dying Emperor Curses You!]
[Royal Curse Temporarily Quelled!]
Tch— What was the point of cursing him now? Also, why the hell could a Curse curse him? What kind of recursion type of shit was this? Still, he had learned his lesson.
Royal Curse → Way too strong for the current him!
No, he'd have to start with something weaker first, but what? As he left the Library Realm, he suddenly jumped in realization.
That Ravenous Bunny from back then? Thinking back on it, his inability to move for a few seconds… had been a form of curse! What if he could exploit this?!
At this moment, a crazy plan formed in his mind!
Oh, this would be FUN!….