NOX walked toward the girl, his presence calm yet commanding. She gazed up at him with gratitude, but beneath it lay sharp vigilance.
She clutched the black shirt tightly, small hands balling into fists. Her calculating eyes—far too guarded for a child—watched him warily. Her thin frame remained tense, her feet poised as if ready to flee.
"…Who are you really?" she asked, voice quiet but firm. "You stopped everything with just a word. No one can do that."
NOX tilted his head slightly. "I told you, I'm your big brother."
Her eyes narrowed. "That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you need."
She frowned, her grip tightening on the bottle. "Why help me? Nobody does anything for free. Are you going to ask for something later?"
"Yes."
He sighed.
The world had turned such a bright girl into someone who understood that nothing came without a price.
She hesitated, her lips pressing into a thin line. "…I don't have anything of value to offer," she murmured, turning her head away as fresh tears welled up in her eyes.
She didn't understand why she couldn't stop crying in front of him. This powerful man—who could stop the world with a single word—made her feel small, vulnerable. Weak.
A warm hand landed on her head, gently ruffling her hair.
"Let's make a deal," NOX said. "I will save your mother. And in return, you will follow me."
She looked up at him, suspicion flickering in her misty eyes. To NOX, she looked like a cautious kitten. Her lips parted slightly before she finally asked, "…Can you really save my mom?"
He gave a small nod.
And in that instant, the girl dropped to her knees, bowing deeply. "Please save my mom, big brother. I will follow you."
NOX bent down, lifting the foolish girl to her feet with ease. His voice softened, almost amused. "Don't kneel so easily. It's unbecoming of a young lady." He paused for a moment before teasing, "And once you grow up, you'll have the ugliest knees imaginable."
The girl instantly stiffened, her sniffles quieting as she wiped her eyes and nodded vigorously. "Hmm…"
Satisfied, NOX turned, walking with the girl toward her home. He had no more thoughts to spare for the mortals he had punished. Their suffering had only just begun.
From now on, hunger and despair would be their only companions. They would live—trapped in agony, clawing for survival, forever haunted by the suffering they had inflicted on his innocent sister.
The girl led NOX through the slums until they arrived at a small, crumbling house. The walls were patched with scrap metal and wood, the roof sagged dangerously, and a single lantern flickered weakly by the entrance. The air inside was thick—stale, damp, and laced with the faint scent of medicinal herbs barely masking the stench of decay.
In the dim light, a frail woman lay on a makeshift bed, her body reduced to nothing but skin and bones. Her withered skin, cracked and gray, stretched tightly over her fragile frame. Sunken cheeks and hollowed eyes gave her the appearance of someone long past the reach of saving. She was barely clinging to life, her only lifeline being her cultivation—what little remained of it.
"Mother!" The girl rushed to her side, clutching her cold, brittle hand. "I brought medicine! Hold on just a little longer!"
But NOX didn't move. His blindfolded gaze remained fixed on the woman.
'This isn't... sickness.'
He immediately used his Evil Eyes by consuming Emotion Points, and through his eyes he saw -
Something unseen coiled around her, strangling the very essence of her being. He could feel it—the lingering, unnatural presence suppressing her life force. This wasn't the slow decay of an illness or the result of battle wounds.
It was a curse.
NOX's expression darkened.
Unlike mere injuries, a curse didn't just harm the body—it eroded the soul, consuming vitality until there was nothing left. The fact that she had survived this long meant she was strong, but even the strongest had limits.
She didn't have much time left.
The girl turned to him, her voice trembling. "Big brother… please… please help her."
NOX stepped forward without a word. He crouched beside the woman and reached out a hand, his fingers hovering just above her forehead.
The moment he did, something pushed back. A crackle of unseen force lashed out, resisting him.
NOX's lips curled into a cold smile.
'A branded curse?'
This wasn't natural. Someone had placed this curse deliberately.
And that meant one thing.
Someone wanted this woman to suffer.
In his past life, by the time he had met this girl, her mother was already dead. She had believed it was illness, and NOX had believed her.
But now he knew better. This was no disease. This was malice given form.
His fingers hovered just a little longer over the woman's withered skin as he analyzed the curse. The essence of it was complex, but not beyond his understanding. After all, NOX was a master of curses—he had spent lifetimes crafting them. When he was too lazy to kill his enemies outright, he would simply curse them to death.
And he knew one absolute truth about curses:
A curse cannot exist without a Causality Link—a tether between victim and caster. And every curse demands a price.The more devastating the curse, the heavier the price must be.
This curse…
NOX narrowed his eyes.
It was woven with the Law of Reincarnation.
A curse so deep-rooted that if this woman were to die and be reborn, the curse would follow her into her next life.
And the caster…
"…Late stage Ascendency Realm," NOX muttered, his voice unreadable. This wasn't the work of some street sorcerer or vengeful commoner. This was the doing of a powerful cultivator, someone who had climbed the upper realm—and who had used that strength to ensure this woman's endless torment.
For someone of that caliber to have gone to such lengths, it meant they hated her. Hated her so much that even death wasn't enough.
NOX sighed, shaking his head.
He didn't care who this insect was.
Because the moment he met him, he would send him to the afterlife.
Without hesitation, he placed his palm on the woman's forehead.
"Dispel the curse."
[Consuming 150,000 EP to dispel the Curse :: Everlasting Wane!]
An invisible force surged forward, attacking the curse head-on. But then—resistance. The curse fought back, latching onto its host like a parasite refusing to be torn away.
And then—
A pair of hands emerged from the void.
Sleek and fox-like, covered in shadowy fur that shimmered with the glow of the cosmos, their long, clawed fingers moved with eerie grace. They tore through space-time like it was mere fabric, reaching into the unseen layers of existence.
Without hesitation, they grasped at something unseen—the Curse Link.
The moment their claws dug into it, the link shuddered, writhing as if it were alive, trying to escape. But it was pointless. The hands closed in, and with a merciless crush, the black thread snapped.
The curse shattered instantly.
"…What the hell?"
NOX froze, utterly dumbfounded.
What were those hands?
Did they belong to his System? His Divinity? Or something else entirely?
And where had they been all this time, for them to simply tear open space-time like that?
His thoughts barely had time to settle before the surrounding space shifted again.
Something was trying to manifest.
His expression darkened. "What is it now?"
The air trembled as a projection began to materialize—a towering figure shrouded in oppressive energy. His deep voice echoed through the room, laced with arrogance and rage.
"Who dares to—"
"GET LOST!!"
NOX waved his hand dismissively.
The projection collapsed instantly, its presence erased before it could even finish speaking.
The poor extra's dramatic entrance ended before it could even begin.
NOX sighed, rubbing his temples.
"…I just wanted to heal a sick woman. Why does everything have to be so damn complicated?"
He had been awake for less than a day, and he had already worked more than he had in a hundred years. If this truly was some story and he was the protagonist, he had only one message for the author.
"Please. Slow. Down."
No more action. No more interruptions.
NOX once again exhaled, turning his attention back to the girl and her mother.