"Ever since that dragon appeared, our clan had been cursed... The heroes who once galloped across the snowfields were no longer brave, and the divine light shining in the sky had grown dim. The stars had been covered by blackish-brown snowflakes, yet more terrifying than death was decay..." The words spoken by the priests on their deathbeds echoed in Pervi's mind.
"Help—help—" Yalila cried herself hoarse. "My husband is Tiadam! He's a very powerful bandit! If you bully me, I... I... he... he'll kill you!"
"Heh heh—" The leading thug knocked Yalila to the ground with one punch, grabbed her hair, and said, "Who are you trying to fool, elf...? Tiadam is your husband? I'd say that stinking brat who tried to save you is your man..."
As he spoke, the thug pointed into the murky shadows of the alley. Something beaten beyond recognition lay sprawled on the ground, blood and grime flowing down its face together with the thugs' spit. Its cries for help were as weak as a mosquito's buzz, just like its very existence.
"A stinking brat like you, some country bumpkin, thinks he deserves to play the hero and save the beauty—"
"Country bumpkin, this isn't your village. In Canfor's black market, you follow the black market's rules, understand?! Country bumpkin—"
As they spoke, the thugs outside the alley dragged Yalila deeper inside. Shielded by the darkness, their restless filthy hands began groping over her body.
"I... my teacher is... Miss Oyana... She... she's good... good friends with Mr. Abelato from the church..." Yalila tried to make one final stand. "As long as... as long as... as long as you let me go, I... I guarantee Miss Oyana will give you a lot of money."
"Money?" The thugs burst into laughter. "How could money compare to you...?"
"Then... then..." Yalila's voice trembled more and more. "How about letting you leave Canfor and go to Alderbu?"
"Alderbu..." The thugs stopped laughing.
"Y-Yes!" Yalila seized the chance. "My master, Miss Oyana, knows the guards stationed in Alderbu... As long as she says the word, you can leave here, leave this slum..."
"Slum?!" The thugs' laughter rang out again.
Night shrouded all of Canfor. Night had begun in the outskirts, and with it came chaos, fighting, and slaughter...
"M-My hand!" The thugs assaulting Yalila were suddenly blasted back by a flash of light.
Crimson dragon armor shone brilliantly beneath the moonlight. A longsword flew like lightning, while a chain hammer whirled its links and sent the clowns flying one after another. A valiant youth appeared in this unfathomable hell. Yalila seemed to see hope, struggling to crawl out from the darkness.
"Save... save... save me..." Yalila clung tightly to the youth's leg.
"Let go..." The youth's voice was firm and forceful.
"But..." Yalila's voice trembled. Then, after a flash of silver, she let out a wail. The fingers of her right hand had been severed at the roots by the youth.
"Ah—" Yalila screamed. "W-Why... weren't you here... here to save me?"
Covering her wound with her left hand, Yalila shouted, "You were supposed to save me!"
The youth lowered his head without a word and silently picked up one of her severed fingers.
"Payment—" the youth said softly.
"Who the hell are you..." The thugs' voices were shrill as women's.
After everything was over, Eliyi arrived at the scene with Tiadam and the others. The entire alley reeked with an indescribable stench. Blood, organs, severed limbs—this was a terrifying hell.
"Bleurgh—" Though Tiadam's underlings made their living through robbery and burglary, they had never seen such a horrifying sight. This was something only evil ghosts could have done.
"Yalila... Yalila..." Tiadam gently draped his outer robe over the helpless girl. "It's all right. It's over now..."
"Tiadam... Tiadam... why did you come so late?!" Yalila cried in Tiadam's arms, pounding on him. "You bastard, why didn't you come earlier?! Why?!"
"All right... all right... it's all my fault..." Tiadam picked Yalila up and carried her toward his fortress. As for her severed fingers, Tiadam's underlings found them outside the alley. Fortunately, they had been well preserved. Oyana should be able to reattach them with a few healing spells.
After everyone escorted Yalila away, only the auction merchant Eliyi remained standing in that street alley enclosed by earth and stone. The smell of blood stirred the desire in his heart. As a merchant, he keenly sensed profit—profit so immense it defied measure—beckoning to him.
Like a vicious dog tracking a corpse, Eliyi stepped into the dark alley. Wrapped in blood and filth, he saw Denolan, beaten beyond recognition.
"Mmgh... mmgh..." Eliyi rubbed his stomach as though feeling ill. After a long while, the auction merchant erupted into hysterical laughter.
"Ahahaha—ahahaha—" Eliyi clutched his belly as if he had heard an absurd joke. "This... this is the Child of Destiny chosen by the Old Gods? The one who leads hope and despair and controls the coming of the apocalypse? Don't make me laugh my fucking teeth out!"
Eliyi viciously kicked Denolan in the face. "Destiny? A guy like this deserves to speak of those two words?"
"Ah—no... no... forget it... forget it..."
The excessive laughter nearly drove Eliyi mad. After composing himself, the auction merchant put away his contemptuous smile. "Business first..."
A staff gradually appeared in the merchant's hand, inlaid with gold trim and bloodstones. Energy symbolizing wealth and conflict surged from within it. Eliyi lightly kissed the staff and murmured its name...
"In the name of Modraki, God of Wealth, I hereby summon flame and hurricane!" Eliyi aimed the energy produced at the center of the staff at Denolan. "The enemy of the gods shall perish here. Ragnarök shall never come again, and we shall enjoy glory for all eternity—"
The northern wind began to howl, and the divine power of the Old Gods pierced the unconscious man alive.
"Everything... is not over yet..."
Pervi crushed the ring in his hand. The energy stored within the gem drifted out and was absorbed by him, while the black spots on his shoulders and arms began to fade. "Not enough... not enough... The magic in this gem is nowhere near enough to lift Rosa Kevin's Curse..."
Pervi put on his clothes. This youth had long grown accustomed to the pain brought by the curse. To free himself and his clan from their suffering, Pervi had crossed mountains and rivers, cut through thorns and brambles, but...
"Holy water, holy communion, holy blood, the divine light of the Northern Old Gods, the prayers of New God priests..." Pervi lowered his head and whimpered like a rat. "God knows how many methods I've tried! But why... why have none of them worked? Does my clan truly deserve to suffer such a terrifying curse? Answer me... answer me... Dragon God, sovereign of all dragons—"
The night in the outskirts was a shroud over the dead, and wailing was the hymn of the departed. All of Canfor was filled with fear of death. Every day, every moment, people died in torment because of Rosa Kevin's Curse.
"Even if the curse fades today, it will return tomorrow worse than before! What... what sin did we commit to suffer such pain—"
Twisted anguish and fear assailed every person afflicted by Rosa Kevin's Curse. Pitiful as they were, they could only vent their unease and terror of the future inside cramped rooms.
"Ah—has the great wheel of destiny begun to turn..." Rosa Kevin muttered as she gazed at the Black Snow in the sky. "The Child of Destiny has awakened... My sisters... will probably awaken soon as well..."
"Granny, what are you muttering about?" Leichina asked in confusion, lying sprawled in the mud. "What nonsense are you talking about...? I can't understand any of it."
"If you understood, that would be a miracle—" Rosa Kevin shot her servant a sidelong glance. "Hey... brat... I want to discuss something with you."
"What is it, old hag?"
"Tch—you get bored if you don't argue with me for a moment, don't you?"
"Get to the point. If you've got nothing to say, I'm going back to sleep!"
"You're a zombie, why the hell do you need sleep?! Get up—"
"What exactly do you want to say, old hag?!" Leichina shouted impatiently.
"A deal—" Dark green divine power spilled from Rosa Kevin's body. The old woman discarded her usual clownish manner, and her voice brimmed with power—power accumulated over hundreds of epochs since ancient times. It was so formidable that even the Old Gods, standing at the peak of all things, dared not touch it.
"Destiny has begun, and you are part of it. Do you want to live as a human? Do you want to see your family again? Do you want everything from your dreams to come true? Then submit to me—"
Immense divine power radiated from the aged elder. Though already undead, Leichina could clearly see that this energy of decay filled all of Elrina Forest.
"So... so... she has awakened after all..." Dragon Father Li Laar said as he held Dragon Mother Mimilar in his arms. "That witch from before was the evil god Rosa Kevin..."
"What should we do... Should we move away...?" Mimilar asked quietly.
"No... no..." Dragon Father Li Laar shook his head. "When I flew beyond these mountains before, all I saw was endless war and death. Heroes' heads hung from demon kings' city gates. The poor plundered the rich, and the rich exploited the poor. Slaughter spread from the eastern islands to the western deserts, while curses spread from the southern forests to the northern snowfields... There is nowhere... nowhere... safe..."
"Then... then what should we do? Are we supposed to wait here until Rosa Kevin becomes powerful again?" Mimilar turned to look at their children. "We can die, but they are innocent... Taking the treasure was not their fault! It was ours! We should not have provoked one demon just to escape another!"
"Ah..." Dragon Father sighed silently. "My dear... perhaps this is life... Behind one choice often lies another hell..."
Mimilar wept quietly against Li Laar's chest.
"It has begun... it has begun... The great wheel of destiny has begun to turn—everything, everything shall meet its destruction!" Shadows spread and grew from Denolan's body, one after another, while that mindless voice coiled around Eliyi's soul.
"Y-You... what exactly are you..." Eliyi asked weakly, sprawled on the ground. "You are definitely not a... living being... of this world... What are you..."
"Me? Are you asking me?" the crazed voice replied.
The darkness spreading from Denolan's body twisted and gathered, gradually forming a physical shape. "Let me think... think... don't be so impatient... Right! Then for now... call me... Destiny, ahahaha!!!"
"Destiny... what a... terrifying name..." Eliyi's life had reached its end.
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