Chapter 57: The Cursed Orb

Seeing the army he had summoned get wiped out so easily by the Seven Monarchs, Vladir’s rage shot up even higher. But beside the anger, there was worry and fear too, the fear that his army would really be slaughtered down to the last one.

’Even though I can keep summoning them, my mana has a limit. And what I’m afraid of is my sanity starting to collapse before I can finish the "mission" the Count gave me.’

With that, Vladir decided to put his mission first, which was killing Evelyn and Elysia.

He pointed his right hand toward them, and the White Dreadclaw started to roar.

*Roar!

Then the beast shot straight toward Evelyn and Elysia.

Elysia clicked her tongue the moment Vladir started going after the two of them.

"Tsk... So he still remembers that."

"Can you deal with it first? I’ll take care of Elias."

"I’ve recovered enough. Pushing myself a little won’t be a problem."

Elysia drew her sword right away, ready to take on the White Dreadclaw charging at her.

But before the White Dreadclaw could get close, a spiked mound of earth slammed into its belly and sent it flying.

*Thud!

Elysia was a little startled and confused by what she saw. Then she looked back toward Ferrum.

Ferrum raised his right hand toward the White Dreadclaw, and a huge Magic Circle appeared above him.

"Rock blast."

Huge lava rocks shot out of the Magic Circle and flew straight at the White Dreadclaw.

*Whoosh!

*Boom!

What shocked Evelyn and Elysia again was the way he used magic. Neither of them could feel any Arcana in it, and the most surprising part was that it was magic that had a name.

"A Magic Arts," Evelyn murmured, watching the White Dreadclaw thrash around as it burned.

Ferrum pulled his mana back in, and because of that, the Magic Circle above his head vanished.

"My job is to keep you all safe. So leave everything to me if anything comes at us."

Elysia looked up at Ferrum’s face for a moment, awestruck, before nodding and sheathing her sword.

"Thank you."

She turned back to the fight ahead of them.

Even though Evelyn tried to stay quiet, her curiosity about Magic Arts got the better of her and she asked.

"Sir... Ferrum..."

"...Yeah?"

"What Arcana did you use for that magic? I didn’t feel any Arcana being used—"

"What do you mean?"

"Huh?"

"Arcana? I don’t get what that is. That’s just ordinary Magic that I use with mana."

’What? Mana? Not Arcana?’

Sweat broke out on Evelyn’s forehead when Ferrum said the Magic Arts he used didn’t need Arcana. On top of that, he’d called it ordinary magic!

"But is that even possible?"

Ferrum raised an eyebrow at Elysia, confused.

"If it’s not possible, then how did I make that Magic Circle just now?"

Evelyn and Elysia fell silent again at Ferrum’s perfectly reasonable answer. For people who had always used magic through Arcana, it was natural to be shocked and unable to believe that the earlier Magic Arts hadn’t used any.

Even though they had seen it with their own eyes. The real question was:

"How do you do it? Making Magic without Arcana?"

"W-what? Aren’t you two noble kids? You don’t even know basic stuff like this? Are you a couple of fallen nobles or something?"

"No. We’re not. We’re just curious, because the way we use magic requires something called Arcana to make Magic manifest."

Ferrum scratched at his face, a drop of sweat sliding down his cheek as he listened to Elysia’s confusing explanation.

"I don’t know what this Arcana you’re talking about is. But what I do know is I only use mana to create Magic. And it’s not just me, my comrades do the same."

Ferrum then pointed ahead toward his comrades, who were still fighting.

Evelyn and Elysia looked over at the six of them too. After observing for a while, they finally realized it.

"The Magic they create only uses mana..."

Ferrum nodded at Evelyn’s words.

"Right. Basically they just use their mana to create Magic or reinforce their bodies. And if you look at Nox,"

Ferrum pointed at Nox, who was cutting down the enemies around him with a sword radiating golden-yellow light. Then he continued,

"His sword looks like it’s coated with something golden-yellow, right? That’s aura."

"Aura? Not energy?"

"Nope. Energy is inside our bodies, and it’s similar to mana but they’re actually two different things. And can’t you two use aura too?"

Evelyn and Elysia exchanged a look, confused, before turning back to Ferrum.

"When did we use aura?"

"Huh? Just now you two wrapped your bodies in something white and pitch black. That’s aura."

"What?..."

Hearing that, Evelyn rubbed her chin, thinking hard. First a Magic without Arcana, and now it turned out they could use something called Aura, not Energy.

’Is the power system in the other empires different?’

But Evelyn’s speculation was shot down right away, since Blackwood Forest sat on the border of the empire.

Still, that didn’t mean the speculation couldn’t hold up. She didn’t even know where the people who called themselves the Seven Monarchs came from.

’A lot of things have changed. Is this because of us?’

* * *

While Evelyn was deep in thought about all of it, on the other side, Elias was sitting with someone named Baekhyun in a vast meadow.

Elias looked at Baekhyun with an expression that was still wary.

Of course he was! This guy could touch the system screen! And he had even introduced himself with a Korean name!

It was good news that Elias had met a Korean who had somehow ended up in this world. But looking at the energy radiating off him, Elias couldn’t let out a sigh of relief or smile happily.

’His energy reeks of blood. And it feels like hundreds of souls are stabbing at my spine, screaming at me to get out of here.’

Baekhyun kept looking at Elias, the smile still plastered on his face.

"So, what’s your name?"

"...My name is Elias Veyron."

"No. Not that one. Your previous name."

Elias fell silent for a moment, thinking over those words.

"I already suspected you might be the same as me. You can touch the system board that other people can’t even see, let alone touch.

Then you hinted at it with ’previous world.’

And my question about your identity was answered the moment you said your name."

Baekhyun kept smiling as he listened, a sign that he was still letting Elias speak.

’Why does he keep smiling? Don’t tell me he likes me!’

The hairs on Elias’s neck stood up, and his lower half tensed and clenched up all on its own.

"Why are you in this world? Who are you in this world, and how do you know I’m not from here? Are you a transmigrator? Or a reincarnator? Do you have something like a system from a game?"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down. That’s way too many questions. I’d love to stay with you longer but there isn’t enough time.

Well, actually, it’s your body that won’t be able to take it..."

Elias raised an eyebrow in curiosity when Baekhyun said that.

"What do you mean?"

Baekhyun sighed before answering.

"This place is deep inside you. And if I stay here too long, you won’t be able to withstand an existence as huge as mine."

"As huge as yours? But you look like a normal human like this... Well, setting aside your power, which is seriously huge."

"See, you get it. But it’s not just the power, my body is actually huge too. I’m only taking human form for now. Because, no matter what, a human body is just more comfortable."

"Wait a second! How huge are you? No... What are you, really?"

Baekhyun smiled again when Elias asked about him.

"It’s not time for you to know yet... I can guarantee I’m not your enemy. What matters now is, I want to give you something."

Suddenly a dark purple orb the size of a human head appeared in Baekhyun’s right hand.

Elias looked at it, confused. He tilted his head while raising an eyebrow.

"What’s this?"

"This is a Cursed Orb."

"You want to curse me?"

"No, no. How could I give someone something dangerous as a gift?"

Elias eyed Baekhyun suspiciously, then looked back at the orb held out in front of him.

"No, thanks. I don’t wanna be cursed."

"I told you it won’t curse you!"

"Then what’s the use of it?"

Baekhyun held his right hand out toward Elias.

"Just keep it for now. If you ever hit a dead end or get into trouble, you can use this Cursed Orb."

"And why should I trust you?"

Baekhyun scrubbed a hand through his hair in frustration when Elias wouldn’t trust him.

"Ugh!!! Just think of it as a gift from someone from the same country! Damn it, I don’t even know your name."

Elias flinched a little when Baekhyun ruffled his hair so roughly. Then he looked at the Cursed Orb before looking back at Baekhyun’s face.

*Sigh~

"Fine. I’ll take it, thanks."

Elias took the Cursed Orb from Baekhyun’s hand and put it into his storage pouch.

Seeing Elias do that made Baekhyun really happy. He smiled at him again.

"Nice!"

"Can we meet again?"

"Ah... You must have a lot of questions, right? Of course! We can meet again someday."

"...Where can I find you?"

*Whoosh~

Baekhyun’s feet began to fade away, turning into dust that the wind carried off bit by bit.

"Just come to the entrance of Blackwood Forest. I’ll come pick you up right away."

Elias just watched Baekhyun’s body fade with a pretty calm expression.

’His time’s almost up.’

"Alright. Thanks again."

Before his body completely vanished, Baekhyun spoke once more.

"Elias. Use that Cursed Orb as wisely as you can. Because it’s the only solution to the problem you’re about to face."

Elias frowned as he watched Baekhyun fade. He didn’t know what problem he would face next, or what would happen if he used the Cursed Orb he’d been given.

"One more thing. It can only be used once. After it’s used, it gets destroyed right away. So... Be wise... About how you use it."

*Gasp!

Elias’s consciousness snapped back into his body, and the pain that had vanished before came rushing back now that he was awake again.

"Elias..."

Elias glanced to his side, and there was Evelyn, still holding onto him, with an expression that was hard to describe.

Then he felt Elysia’s small, soft hand touch his face.

He looked ahead and found Elysia staring at him with the same expression as Evelyn, hard to describe.

Even though his vision was blurry and part of it was tinted red from the blood, he could tell that both girls were not doing okay emotionally, and it showed in the way they touched him.

That was why he was so confused. It wasn’t like them to be like this.

’What’s up with them?’

* * *