Chapter Summaries

As a sinister vision of a massacre spread through the academy, an invisible barrier trapped everyone inside and a bloody apparition appeared to Delisa. Just as her mother’s curse overwhelmed her, Arthur’s voice cut through the darkness and restored her consciousness.

• Delisa arrived at the academy as students and teachers remained tense over the recent deaths.
• A rumbling and a scream preceded a vision of bodies across the athletic field and a gigantic, grotesque woman.
• Arthur recognized that the vision showed him, his father, and his sister among the dead, while students discovered that an invisible barrier sealed the academy.
• Delisa sensed that the classroom was sealed and feared as a bloodied apparition resembling her mother approached and touched her head.
• Arthur spoke to Delisa, and his voice dispelled the darkness clouding her consciousness.

Arthur revealed his power, rescued Delisa from her curse, and fought his way across the academy to confront the monster at the sports field. After a devastating attack weakened it and drained most of his spiritual power, he demanded that it release Kolar and Tili, leaving the rest of its victims behind.

• Arthur suppressed the curse erupting from Delisa and walked through the ghostly forces blocking the classroom door.
• Xinuo and the officers lost their defenses as the curse lured people toward the sports field, but Arthur’s silver light broke through the darkness and cleared them a path.
• Arthur found Kolar, Tili, and the other captives gathered beside the Blood Pool, then struck the giant woman formed from black mist.
• Arthur unleashed a miniature moon that shattered much of the academy’s black barrier and weakened the monster, though the attack drained most of his spiritual power.
• Arthur demanded that the monster release Kolar and Tili, and it answered with a wary growl.

Arthur led Kolar and Tili out of the academy after battling the curse, which hesitated to pursue him despite its severe injuries. Outside, Kus and Delisa joined them, while Xinu left to report the appearance of a powerful new Awakened One to the kingdom.

• The curse released Kolar and Tili, and Kolar refused to turn back for the classmates pleading for help, persuading Tili to leave with him.
• Arthur gathered Kolar and Tili and led them away from the playground, while the injured curse watched but did not attack.
• Xinu witnessed Arthur's power and ran off with the officers to inform the kingdom about the unknown Awakened One.
• Kus waited at the academy gates and joined Arthur, Kolar, and Tili as they left.
• Delisa arrived by car to pick them up, and Arthur accepted her offer to drive them away.

After Arthur weakened the city-threatening curse, Delisa explained how past outbreaks had devastated cities, while Kolar confirmed that smaller curses occurred regularly. Arthur recovered in the car and considered whether curses were connected to his growing World Energy, then remembered another curse’s host was lying at home.

• Kus said he wanted to tell his father what had happened and persuade him to leave the city, and Delisa warned the group that the curse could grow and consume it.
• Delisa described the cemetery outbreak thirty years earlier, when a curse turned the dead into monsters and killed tens of thousands before two kingdoms suppressed it.
• Arthur reassured the group that he had severely weakened the curse, and Kolar confirmed that smaller curse incidents happened once or twice a year.
• Tili asked if Arthur was all right, and he said he was merely drained after exhausting his mental power to suppress the curse.
• Arthur sensed his World Energy had increased and wondered whether curses were connected to World Power and Children of Destiny.
• Arthur remembered that another curse’s host was lying at home and decided to investigate.

Arthur discovered that the missing statue was the Nightmare Statue, a cursed object tied to the monster that had once appeared at the family home. As night fell beneath a blood-red moon, Arthur and Kolar waited together on the balcony for the curse to return.

• Arthur searched the house for the missing statue and showed Kolar, Tili, and Delisa a memory of the monster that had appeared the night Kolar brought it home.
• Tili said the statue had still been on the table that morning, but Arthur concluded someone had stolen it and warned that danger would come that night.
• Delisa recognized the statue as the Nightmare Statue, a legendary curse said to trap its victims in nightmares and let evil spirits devour them.
• Kolar took an old-fashioned pistol and insisted on staying with Arthur rather than leaving him to face the threat alone.
• Arthur and Kolar waited on the balcony as the night deepened and changes began on the distant street.

Arthur saw visions of the blood moon’s coming cataclysm and the Silent One, then protected Kolar and Tili from an active curse. After dispelling the curse, he returned to the house with Kolar and assured him the night was safe.

• Arthur used the Wheel of Destiny to glimpse a future blood-moon cataclysm and a pale boy known as the Silent One, spending a thousand units of World Energy.
• A towering, rotting monster approached the house, and its heartbeat left Kolar overwhelmed by sleepiness.
• Arthur dispelled Kolar’s drowsiness and summoned Moon God's Light, which exposed and struck the monster and a curse affecting someone inside the house.
• The monster’s remaining black haze dispersed, and the curse marks on Kolar and Tili disappeared.
• Arthur told Kolar nothing would happen that night, and they went back inside while Tili considered whether Arthur could reach Nightmare Manor.

As strange fog enveloped the city, Adil told the others to wait three days before deciding whether to leave. When Lyon arrived claiming to be Kolar’s new superior, Tili’s pressure and Adil’s gaze unnerved him, giving Kolar the chance to overpower him.

• Adil watched the fog spread across the city and said it would clear within three days, so the group decided to stay for now.
• Tili and Kolar went outside, and Kus later left to check on things at home.
• Lyon arrived with several dark figures, disarmed Kolar, and claimed he was Kolar’s superior.
• Tili confronted Lyon, and Adil’s terrifying gaze left Lyon drenched in cold sweat and wary of the boy’s power.
• Kolar knocked Lyon down, retrieved his pistol, and demanded to know who he was.

Lyon revealed that he was a deputy governor and military commissioner, then offered Kolar a promotion and noble title to gain the family’s favor. He also gave Tili a fortune in gold and a bank draft, while Arthur’s future recruitment remained the reason behind Lyon’s visit.

• After Kolar overpowered Lyon’s men, Lyon showed his identification and explained that he had come to announce rewards, not make enemies.
• Lyon praised Arthur’s strength and potential, saying he was a rare young Awakened One who could one day stand against any Calamity.
• Lyon appointed Kolar chief of police of Karia City and made him a hereditary Baron, stirring Kolar despite his guarded expression.
• Lyon explained that he had researched Kolar and Tili and was seeking to approach Arthur through his family.
• Lyon presented Tili with gold worth one hundred thousand gold coins and a bank draft for one million gold coins.

Lyon offered Arthur wealth, honors, and the Caladis family’s support in exchange for fighting a curse, and Arthur agreed. After Lyon left, Arthur explained that the task suited his own plan to suppress curses and gain World Energy.

• Lyon offered Arthur a Royal Guardian Medal, two million gold coins, a hereditary baronial title, and the full support of the Caladis family.
• Kolar and Tili learned Lyon belonged to the powerful Caladis family, and Delisa confirmed his identity.
• Arthur asked what Lyon expected in return, and Lyon said he wanted him to fight the curse.
• Arthur agreed to work with Lyon, leaving Kolar and Tili concerned about the danger.
• Arthur told Kolar that accepting Lyon’s offer made sense and privately resolved to seek out curses for World Energy.

Arthur studied the world’s medium system and learned that Lyon considered him a rare Awakened One. He joined Lyon and Kolar on an expedition, where they reached a cursed forbidden zone hidden among ancient ruins.

• Arthur learned that mediums relied on inherited spiritual power and cursed objects, while Lyon invited him to help investigate a dangerous site in three days.
• Arthur overheard Lyon and Venus discuss the capital’s turmoil and Nightmare Manor, a forbidden zone that produced cursed objects.
• The next day, Kolar brought Arthur and a police team toward a suspected cursed site, where falling rocks and dust attacked their vehicles.
• Arthur used his Distortion Barrier spell to deflect the debris, and Lyon joined the group as they faced a dark, smoke-shrouded expanse of ancient ruins.

Lyon and Arthur entered the legendary Lost City, where Arthur found himself in a lively version of the ancient ruins. A stranger who looked almost exactly like Kolar appeared and called Arthur “Amri.”

• Lyon explained that the Lost City was an ancient ruin with a deadly history and showed Arthur a photograph of a survivor with a blackened body clinging to him.
• Lyon ordered everyone else to wait outside, then took Arthur into the city despite his nervousness.
• As Lyon and Arthur crossed the gate, it swung shut behind them, and Arthur found himself in a bustling city filled with people.
• A young warrior urged Arthur to move along, but a tall man in a coarse robe hurried up, grabbed his hand, and called him Amri.
• Arthur was stunned by the stranger’s striking resemblance to Kolar.

Arthur entered the Lost City with Senger and found himself surrounded by places and memories that felt as though they belonged to his life as Amri Yala. He suspected that he and Lyon entered because they descended from former residents, but Senger reacted with sudden hatred when Arthur asked about Lyon’s surname, leaving Arthur wary as he departed.

• Senger led Arthur through the familiar-looking city to a neglected estate and welcomed him home as Amri.
• Arthur read a birthday message signed Yala and felt memories and familiarity overwhelm him.
• Arthur recognized a stray dog named Du, fed it, and reasoned that the Lost City’s entry condition might be based on ancestry.
• Arthur asked Senger where Lyon Kaladis lived, and Senger’s warm demeanor shifted into anger and a threatening presence.
• Senger regained his composure and told Arthur to be careful on the road, while Arthur left wondering whether the outburst was connected to a curse.

Arthur traced Lyon’s presence to the Caladis family manor in the ancient city and found that Lyon had lost his memories and believed himself to be Charld Caladis. When Arthur said the name “Lyon,” the amnesiac Lyon froze and began repeating it.

• Arthur reasoned that the curse might be reacting because his actions did not fit his identity in the illusion.
• Arthur found the Caladis manor and sensed Lyon’s presence in its wooden gate.
• Arthur discovered a message on the wall asking to be taken away immediately seven days later and used Lyon’s cursed stone to confirm the connection.
• Lyon appeared as a young man who did not recognize Arthur and introduced himself as Charld Caladis.
• Lyon told Arthur he felt he had forgotten something important, though Arthur seemed familiar to him.
• Arthur said his friend’s name was Lyon, and Lyon dropped his tools, trembled, and repeated the name.

After recovering his memories, Lyon told Arthur that they had to stay in the Lost City for seven days and escape when a gap opened. Arthur then found a missing man who had reappeared in the city and began examining him and probing his memories.

• Lyon remembered that the curse had sealed and repeatedly overwritten his memories, making him believe the Lost City was his hometown.
• Lyon told Arthur to remain in the city for seven days and leave with him on the evening when the dead would reappear and a gap opened in the forbidden zone.
• Lyon warned Arthur that he had no protection against the forbidden zone, and the two shared what they had learned before going their separate ways.
• Arthur recognized a ragged man in an alley as Malton Firas, who had disappeared in the Lost City seventy-three years earlier.
• Arthur found that Malton was still alive despite his near-exhausted body, then pressed his hand to Malton's forehead to probe his memories.

Arthur broke the curse concealing Malton Phyllas’s memories and learned that Malton had become trapped in the ruins, where black mist and approaching figures had appeared. Malton died after awakening, while Arthur gained World Energy and continued toward the street.

• Arthur extracted Malton’s false memories and realized they had been created by a curse.
• Arthur shattered the dark power sealing Malton’s soul and uncovered his true memories.
• Arthur saw Malton’s memory of running through the ruins, unable to find the gate, before black mist and approaching figures appeared.
• Malton awoke, reached toward the sky, and rapidly withered into a corpse.
• Arthur gained more than a hundred points of World Energy and walked toward the distant street.

Arthur hunted seven undead in the Lost City and studied the curse’s rules while strange events around him grew more frequent. With two days remaining before the city’s historical fall awakens the curse, he planned to use that moment to escape and checked on Lyon.

• Arthur killed his seventh undead, gaining a thousand World Energy, and decided not to risk hunting unidentified inhabitants.
• Arthur returned to the manor, where the rotting figure calling itself Senger questioned him before leaving.
• Arthur recalled the increasingly frequent nightly watchers and sensed that the curse was about to confront him directly.
• Arthur concluded that the Lost City blocked his attempts to leave and that breaking through the curse might be the only way out.
• Arthur judged that the curse’s awakening in two days would offer the best chance to escape, touched the figurine at his waist, and headed outside.

Arthur learned that Senger had awakened but chose not to attack him, warning that the other souls in the city would soon awaken. As a mummy attacked Lyon at home, Arthur intervened and tried to awaken him.

• Senger told Arthur that the city hunted outsiders during its dormant periods, and that bloodline determined who could feed.
• Senger said he would not attack Arthur, but warned that the other souls in the city would awaken soon.
• Arthur left Senger and went to Lyon's home after night fell.
• Lyon found his home empty and encountered a mummy that resembled his father as it tried to attack him.
• Arthur struck the mummy away from Lyon and sent spiritual power toward him, asking whether he was still not awake.

Arthur awakened Lyon’s hidden traits and led him through the ruined Lost City as its curse stirred, while he weighed the danger against the World Energy he could gain. At the sealed city gate, Lyon began opening the only exit as Arthur turned to face the advancing corpses.

• A surge of mental energy awakened Lyon’s hidden traits, and Arthur destroyed the risen corpse before leading Lyon out of the room.
• Arthur and Lyon found the Lost City in ruins as its curse began awakening and gathering around them.
• Arthur’s silver attack collided with a gigantic hand of black smoke, and he fled with Lyon as the dried corpses began pursuing them.
• Arthur considered how damaging the curse could earn him World Energy without revealing too much of his strength.
• Lyon found the city gate shut and asked Arthur to hold off the approaching corpses while he opened it.
• Arthur turned beneath the night sky to face the corpses’ glowing scarlet eyes.

Arthur and Lyon escaped the Lost City after Arthur fought off its awakened curse, but they found signs that three men had recently visited their camp. As they returned to the tents, an unfamiliar voice greeted them, suggesting trouble had developed outside the forbidden zone.

• Arthur struck down the dried corpses and severed a pale arm that had attacked Lyon while Lyon opened the gate with a black statue.
• Arthur dispersed the gathering black mist long enough for Lyon to finish his task, and they escaped the Lost City as a monstrous face appeared behind them.
• Outside the city, Lyon explained that the curse had marked them and would fully awaken within a few months, though they believed they could remove the marks.
• Arthur and Lyon found traces indicating that three adult men had recently been at their camp, and Lyon suspected something had gone wrong outside.
• Arthur and Lyon returned to the tents, where a hoarse-voiced stranger remarked that he had not expected them to escape the forbidden zone.

Modo told Lyon that the Royal Tomb beneath the capital was beginning to stir, though Arthur believed its eruption was still months away. Two months later, Arthur was fighting monsters for World Energy and consulting a booklet of remaining targets.

• Modo met Lyon outside the forbidden zone and reported that the Royal Tomb was showing signs of activity.
• Arthur recalled that the Royal Tomb's eruption would destroy the capital and considered the World Energy he might gain by taking part.
• Modo told Arthur that Kolar and the others were asleep after he hypnotized them, and Arthur woke Kolar.
• Lyon arranged for the group to leave after Arthur warned him against plotting against Modo.
• Two months later, Arthur defeated a huge monster, gained only a few dozen points of World Energy, and asked a soldier for the next location.