"Finally found you, Zeref."
After tossing August and Irene onto the ground, Hawking called out to wake Zeref, who had been taking a nap.
Zeref slowly opened his eyes. Confusion appeared in them when he saw Hawking, then his expression froze when he noticed August and Irene lying on the ground.
"August? Irene?"
"Don't worry, they've only passed out. Zeref, I can lift Ankhseram God's curse from you."
Hawking did not waste time and got straight to the point.
He only had twenty minutes left. There was no time to explain things slowly.
Hearing Hawking's words, Zeref did not ask why August and Irene were here. Instead, he looked at Hawking with a grave expression.
"Who are you? Do you know what you're saying?"
"I said I can lift Ankhseram God's curse from you, but I need to read your memories and obtain all of your magical knowledge."
Hawking stated the terms of the deal.
Yet Zeref merely let out a cold laugh.
"Another overconfident fool who wants my Dark Magic."
Upon hearing that Hawking wanted all his magical knowledge, Zeref immediately took him for one of those Dark Mages greedy for his magic.
He had always loathed Dark Mages who treated human lives as worthless.
He had always been someone who cherished life most dearly. Only because he wanted to break Ankhseram God's curse had he created so much Dark Magic and so many demons, hoping they could kill him.
"Heavenly Punishment!"
As he brought his hands together, terrifying Death Magic instantly swept toward Hawking. This was a Dark Magic spell capable of instantly killing even the world's top mages.
Even someone as powerful as August or Irene would certainly die if struck by it.
Yet Hawking merely gave a light tap with his serpent staff, and the Death