The curse

As for those flashy sword techniques, he had seen a few in his previous life, but in actual combat, these three moves were still more practical.

After half an hour of grueling practice, Redd was drenched in sweat and panting for breath.

He finally lowered his sword and stood atop Firepeak Mountain, gazing at the sun slowly sinking toward the western horizon.

An indescribable feeling welled up within the assassin Redd, as though all of this were so unreal.

He looked out over the thoroughly wasteland-like continent of Valyria before him, his heart filled with countless emotions.

After all, he had been in this world for almost half a year. Now, not only did he have a dragon of his own, but he could also be said to stand at the very top of this world's food chain.

Yet at this moment, Redd felt lost.

At his current pace, he would complete the system's task tomorrow and successfully hatch King Ghidorah.

But where should he go from there?

Should he become a conqueror and rebuild Valyria, or head to Westeros and take part in the original story?

Or should he raise King Ghidorah first and decide afterward?

These questions kept circling in Redd's mind, leaving him unable to make up his mind.

Thoughts surged through him like a tide, and Redd pondered a great many things.

In the end, however, drowsiness swept over him without mercy. He slowly lay down, closed his eyes, and soon drifted off to sleep.

The dragon's lair was pitch-black at night. At first, only the breathing of Redd and the black dragon Ehm mingled and echoed in the stillness.

However, as the dead of night quietly arrived, illusory human figures drifted out of the darkness like ghosts, flickering in and out of sight.

The illusory figures, wreathed in black resentment, slowly floated through the air like ghosts.

Their forms flickered in and out of sight, as though drawn by an invisible force, heading straight toward the bodies of Redd and the black dragon Ehm.

Yet these eerie figures seemed to encounter some kind of barrier.

Whenever they approached Redd, they instantly turned into wisps of smoke and vanished without a trace, like mist exposed to sunlight.

Redd, however, noticed none of it. He remained immersed in sweet dreams, completely unaware of what was happening around him.

These shadows seemed to possess a degree of intelligence. After repeated failures, they seemed to recognize that Redd was unusual, so they changed targets and turned their attention to the black dragon Ehm.

The shadows swiftly drifted toward the black dragon Ehm like phantoms, attempting to invade its body.

However, not every shadow managed to enter the black dragon Ehm's body.

The instant some of the shadows touched the black dragon Ehm, they turned into wisps of smoke and vanished into the air, just as they had when approaching Redd.

After a series of fierce attempts and the sacrifice of most of the shadows, the last few that had not dissipated finally slipped into the black dragon Ehm's body.

At that instant, the black dragon Ehm's enormous body trembled slightly, as though reacting to the sudden intrusion of something foreign.

But only a moment later, the black dragon Ehm's body grew still again, as though nothing had happened.

Time quietly passed, and before long, the next morning arrived.

Redd slowly woke and stretched, then thought of his good companion, the black dragon Ehm.

In high spirits, he wanted to greet the black dragon Ehm and take it out hunting to enjoy the beauty of nature.

Brimming with delight, Redd walked over to the black dragon Ehm and gently patted its tail, preparing to wake it.

Just then, Redd's gaze happened to fall on the black dragon Ehm's neck. He suddenly noticed something unusual about the skin there-small lumps of flesh protruded from it, looking distinctly out of place.

Redd's face instantly turned deathly pale, and a powerful sense of unease welled up within him.

After all, yesterday he had witnessed the old red dragon's horrifying condition with his own eyes, and now the very same thing had appeared on the black dragon Ehm!

Redd's heart clenched, and a sheen of sweat instantly broke out across his forehead. He hurriedly began examining it, his nerves taut.

After a careful inspection, he was shocked to discover that the condition before him was exactly the same as the old dragon's!

The only difference was that the lumps on the old dragon had already grown to the size of children,

while those on the black dragon Ehm were only as large as a little finger. Their shapes were essentially identical; only their sizes differed.

Redd's heart beat faster and faster. He hurriedly brought up the system panel, wanting to check the black dragon Ehm's status in the system.

Displayed: black demon dragon

Ehm:

Age: 191 years, body length: 130 meters, wingspan: 370 meters.

Status-cursed.

When he saw the word "cursed," understanding immediately dawned on him,

So this was what "cursed" meant when I checked the black dragon Ehm's information before!

Redd took a deep breath and steadied himself, then tried clicking on the "cursed" option,

to see whether he could obtain more detailed information about the curse.

To his disappointment, however, no matter how he clicked, the system gave no response.

This lousy system is infuriating! Redd could not help cursing inwardly, the anger within him flaring to life.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He simply began clicking madly on "cursed" in the status bar, seemingly determined to fight this lousy system, refusing to believe it offered no explanation at all.

There was no telling how many times Redd clicked. Just as he was about to lose his patience,

the system suddenly brought up a notification: "Insufficient system permissions."

"Fuck you!" At the sight, Redd swore outright, his expression turning extremely ugly.

In his anger, he raised his fist and slammed it hard at the system panel,

but his fist went straight through the panel as though passing through air, hitting nothing.

Having used too much force, Redd staggered and nearly fell to the ground.

"What the hell!" Once Redd regained his footing, he launched into another round of complaints and curses. Words could hardly describe his frustration.

At that moment, the anger in Redd's heart blazed fiercely, as though it would burn everything around him to ashes. Yet just as

the black dragon Ehm slowly opened its enormous eyes, a mysterious and powerful aura emanated from their depths.

Its gaze settled on Redd, as though it could see through his soul and sense the fluctuations of emotion within him at that moment.

Surprisingly, instead of remaining imposing and aloof as usual, the black dragon Ehm gently nudged Redd with its hard snout,

then tenderly rubbed against his body, as though offering him comfort and reassurance.