Chapter 112: Cha.111 Cursed

"That’s interesting..."

A girl was crossing the hallway as she returned from the archive, a list in her hand.

*Osly is one of the few lucky ones who weren’t present that day...*

The girl adjusted her glasses as a possibility she had never considered before entered her mind.

*If Osly really made a tool to teleport people from the physical world to the empire, then...*

She tightened her grip on the paper as she entered the interrogation room again.

Her captain sat inside with the unfamiliar guests. ℴ

The captain took the paper from her hand and raised an eyebrow before putting it down again.

"According to our documents, you are most likely telling the truth about that thing you call an artifact. It was made by one of the brilliant minds of this empire."

He stood up and started moving around the room.

"I didn’t see Osly myself in my life, but the files don’t lie... He is one of the lucky ones."

Qasim was getting frustrated by how slowly the conversation was going, so he asked,

"You said this empire is cursed... What do you mean by that?"

The captain looked at him with cold eyes as he answered.

"I first said that this was one of the greatest places in all the spiritual world. Don’t forget that."

He then paused.

"Then the curse happened. One day, without warning, a bright light swallowed the whole empire."

"It trapped us here. Every single citizen who was present inside the empire was trapped that day."

He paused for a moment and looked out the window.

"But that was only the beginning, as monsters started appearing from nowhere..."

He then looked at Qasim.

"Tell me... Do you have monsters in your world?"

Qasim nodded, but the captain shook his head.

"Well, they are nothing like what we have here... I saw them once, and I’ll never forget it."

The captain paused as he remembered the day he had been near one of those monsters.

The entity resembled a semi-gelatinous mass of fragmented chaos—a towering form with limbs that varied wildly from one monstrosity to the next. Some possessed two, while others boasted up to nine appendages made of jet-black, iridescent, angular spines, all churning with a fluid, unsettling, and repulsive motion.

Dozens of feverish eyes—flashing in contrasting hues of blue, red, green, and more—dotted its body, accompanied by an eternal, deafening resonance.

"That’s the kind of monsters this empire has..."

Qasim was confused because something didn’t make sense to him.

"Why don’t you just... kill them?"

The girl rolled her eyes as she adjusted her glasses.

"Of course you can kill them, but the problem isn’t there. It’s when..."

She looked over at the captain before continuing with carefully chosen words.

"It’s the act of infection. With direct contact, a human can turn into a monster."

The captain then continued.

"This is why we have lost so many great men and women in our constant war against those abominations."

Qasim started to understand the situation a little better.

"For how many years have you been fighting the monsters?" he asked.

The captain looked up at the ceiling as he thought.

"I don’t quite remember. I lost track myself, and besides , time doesn’t move here."

"We have somewhat of a working time-measure system based on the expeditions..."

He then looked over at the girl.

"Sir, last time I checked, we have been fighting for almost 328 500 expeditions."

Qasim’s eyes widened in shock.

"That’s a lot!" he accidentally said out loud before covering his mouth.

Then he looked at the captain.

"So it’s been so many generations."

The captain stared at him, his eyes filled with pity and sadness.

"No... It was our generation."

Qasim raised an eyebrow, but before he could answer, the captain stopped him.

"The first part of the curse is trapping us in the empire. The second part is attacking us with those monsters, and the last part is..."

"We cannot die. Even if we try to end our suffering, we can’t die, and we can’t reproduce..."

He sat down again in his chair with a tired expression.

"Our generation is the first and last that will face this curse, and currently..."

He looked at Qasim with somewhat concerned eyes, hiding pain behind them.

"We are losing."

Qasim felt a sense of danger when he heard that phrase, so he asked in a steady tone,

"Why are you telling us all this?"

The captain then reached for his spear.

"Well, the higher authority decided that you two will be valuable warriors to help us in our battle and dreams."

He then narrowed his eyes.

"So either you become one of us and join the expeditions."

"Or..."

He raised his spear and pointed it toward Qasim’s face.

"Or be our test subjects. After all, we don’t receive travelers from the physical world."

"We might learn a thing or two once we take our time with you."

Qasim frowned as he started thinking, but then he felt a strong pressure beside him.

Although Yasmin didn’t understand what they were talking about, she sensed the sudden change in the atmosphere.

Qasim turned his face to look at the captain, who still stared at both of them with a cold expression. He then looked over and saw the girl also raising her spear.

*Fuck this!*

He turned to calm Yasmin down while calculating his options.

*I am almost useless without my powers, and Yasmin, with her current power, can’t take them both down...*

*Fighting is off the table. That leaves us with joining them, but that won’t be enough for us...*

*We need to leave this place and return to Corwata, to Levia and Doran...*

Qasim thought quickly and made his decision.

"We will work with you, but in exchange, you have to help us find a way to return to our world."

The captain looked at the boy for a moment. He stared into Qasim’s blue eyes without blinking, as if diving into the kid’s soul, before lowering his spear.

"The commander will see if you are worth our help. Remember, kid, you are in our world."

Qasim felt a sense of anger, but he simply nodded before raising his hand.

The captain tilted his head in surprise, but Qasim smiled at him before saying in an innocent voice,

"What? Does the so-called Saljok Empire not teach the manners of handshaking?"

The captain’s eyes flashed with anger as he ignored the boy.

"Prepare the test for them, Cici."

He then left the room, leaving Cici behind.

She turned to face Qasim and Yasmin before giving them an awkward smile.

"Well, welcome to the Light Warriors."