Chapter 352: 127. The Cursed Prisoner (7k)
“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”
In the cutting winds, the world seemed entirely white; the terrain outside the Sema Snow Mountain was relatively flat, which was a mercy compared to the steep slopes inside that exceeded forty-five degrees. Because of this, Fisher, Valentina, and Felis maintained a swift pace, having walked for less than three hours since separating from Dar and his group, reaching the mid-section of the mountain’s outskirts.
“Valentina, stop staring at the snow; your eyes will get hurt.”
Fisher temporarily lent his Fluid Sword to Felis. They hadn’t brought any climbing gear, but with Fisher’s level ten physique, traversing the terrain was no issue. However, Felis, only at level six, struggled, especially with a delicate young lady on her back. The climbing staff not only saved Felis energy but also helped explore the snow-covered ground ahead.
“I know.”
Valentina, perched on Felis’s back, obediently bowed her head to avoid looking around. This was her first time witnessing the Sema Snow Mountain, and the grandeur of being atop the world captivated her inexperienced self. She had been lost in thought for some time until Fisher’s reminder pulled her back to reality.
Felis, holding the Fluid Sword as a climbing staff, gave Valentina an exasperated glance and complained,
“Hey, boss, I warned you before we climbed up, but you didn’t listen to me; you listened to Fisher instead, right? Why don’t you just let Fisher carry you, then you both can chat.”
“Oh, nice, there’s someone who thinks like me. I was just thinking the same thing; look, your boss is about to bore a hole through Fisher’s back.”
Erwind, standing on Fisher’s shoulder, smiled while casting a friendly glance at Felis, as if he had found a kindred spirit.
This banter between the lion and the book made Valentina’s face slightly flush. She shot an annoyed look at the smirking book and then tugged on Felis’s ears, which were as fluffy as muffins, causing her to grimace in pain as she quickly begged for mercy.
“Ow ow, I was wrong, boss.”
At that moment, Fisher, who had been moving ahead, suddenly halted, and Valentina thought she had been caught for squeezing Felis’s ears. She quickly withdrew her hand and obediently settled down on Felis’s shoulder. Yet Fisher wasn’t looking at Valentina; instead, he frowned and gazed toward some distant dark clouds accompanied by thunder.
The biting cold wind struck him, but he faintly picked up a sound distinct from the wind. That sound was familiar; he had heard it before.
“Buzz buzz buzz!”
It was the Mechanism!
In the next moment, his excellent eyesight spotted over a dozen blue lights flickering in that dark cloud, rapidly approaching their direction. Fisher quickly secured Erwind, who was still playfully sticking out his tongue, into his arms and gently called back the Fluid Sword that Felis held.
Facing Felis and Valentina’s questioning looks, Fisher offered no explanation, simply advising Felis,
“Keep moving forward, fast. Don’t worry about me.”
“It’s the Turan family.”
Valentina wanted to look back, but Felis didn’t hesitate to support her bottom and take off running. Valentina, alarmed, held on tightly and remained still.
“Buzz buzz buzz!”
Yet the next moment, the rapidly flying Snow Flower Knights split into two squads. One group surged toward the fleeing Felis, and blinding Death Rays suddenly erupted toward her direction.
“What the hell is that?!”
Felis glanced back at the glowing Mechanism Knight behind her, then turned to see the snow-covered ground being pierced by searing beams of light. Fear washed over her, and she shouted at Valentina,
“Boss, hang on tight!”
“Eh?!”
Valentina instinctively clutched Felis tightly. The next moment, Felis suddenly dropped to all fours and charged forward like a real lion.
“Lady! Gadly has come to bring you back on behalf of the family.”
Above them, amid the flurry of Snow Flower Knights, Gadly smiled down at the frantic Felis and Valentina running from the Mechanism’s Death Ray. He remained perched above, watching the show, waiting to see how far the lion race could run on the mountain.
But at that moment, he felt a sudden chill behind him. Startled, he subtly maneuvered the Snow Flower Knights beneath him and turned just in time to see a large rock narrowly pass in front of his face, and he looked back to see a Nali man springing up from the ground, soaring toward him.
What the hell, is that a human?!
Fisher’s expressionless face sent chills down Gadly’s spine. He quickly directed the Snow Flower Knights to ascend while turning to a few Nali operatives below, shouting,
“Weren’t you supposed to deal with that fugitive she hired? Hurry up!”
Coryon ignored Gadly’s frantic barking from above as he watched Fisher navigating in mid-air, swiftly maneuvering with the Fluid Sword. Cold sweat began to bead on his forehead as the sharp, flowing blade slipped inside the armor, completely destroying several Snow Flower Knights while they were airborne.
He didn’t even need Gadly to remind him; he squatted down, gripping a small suitcase with one hand. Just as the cold-faced gentleman was about to reach him, he quickly twisted the latch on the case.
“Glurp—”
Fisher, who had been ready to eliminate the Nali operatives, suddenly felt every hair on his body stand on end. His instinctive danger response surged, and he instinctively turned his head just as a pitch-black liquid shot toward him.
Due to the evasive maneuver in mid-air, Fisher inevitably succumbed to gravitational pull and began to plummet. As he fell, he fixed his gaze upward, observing the black liquid that burst forth from Coryon’s suitcase spreading out in the air, as if driven by some invisible force, forming a strange object reminiscent of a cube, with a distorted eye trembling in its center, looking down at him.
The black-liquid constructs floated near the cube, quickly dispersing and heading toward Fisher, who was falling.
“Run, Fisher! That thing is the Cursed Prisoner, an auxiliary tool used by the Holy Spawn to capture criminals and prey! Once you’re locked inside, even mythical beings can’t escape, let alone you! Hurry, let me think about what to do! I’ll check the tomes; damn it, I feel like I’m going to overload. Just whatever you do, don’t let its tendrils catch you. When you wake up, you’ll find yourself back in your ex-girlfriend’s room!”
At the moment the massive black cube focused on Fisher, Erwind’s panicked calling reached him. However, even without Erwind’s warning, Fisher recognized the object and understood its purpose; he just didn’t know its historical usage among the Angel Race.
When he attended Elizabeth’s coming-of-age birthday banquet at Nali Lake, he and Elizabeth had secretly snuck into the Godlin treasury, where they had seen the black cube stored in the deepest cabinet, which Elizabeth had explained could capture very powerful beings, and once captured, escape would be impossible.
Back then, the two of them deeply in love had even made intimate jokes about it, with Elizabeth saying that if Fisher ever left her, she would use that relic to capture him, ensuring he could never leave her side.
Now, over a decade later, unexpectedly, that playful joke had become an ominous reality. Elizabeth truly intended to use this relic from the Angel Era to capture him back to Nali.
Feeling the pressure from the continually condensing black liquid relic in the air, Fisher’s expression grew increasingly stern. He disregarded the Cursed Prisoner and turned to look at the Mechanism Knights up in the air, still firing Death Rays at Felis.
“Erwind, this time our lives depend on you.”
“Huh? Even if you say that… damn it, brave Sir Book fights on!”
Hearing Fisher’s words, Erwind bit down, overcoming his fear as he sprang from Fisher’s pocket. Being in that confined space hindered his efficiency in turning pages. In mid-air, he shone with an incredibly bright light, golden beams resembling angel halos burst forth from his form, as millennia of countless tomes’ knowledge flooded into his mind.
Meanwhile, Fisher raised the Fluid Sword in his hand, dashing forward toward the Snow Flower Knights like a bolt of lightning.
In the sky, the cube-like Cursed Prisoner wobbled as its central eye flickered. The twenty-seven block-like black liquids suddenly dispersed like a torrential rainstorm heading toward falling Fisher.
“Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz!”
The barrage of black liquid, dense as raindrops, surged down. Fisher’s entire magical circuit lit up; the black liquid actually began siphoning off his magic. It severely restricted his magical and soul-related capabilities, making gravity in the snow seem over tenfold stronger, causing him to grit his teeth. Regardless of how hard he tried, his speed while running began to slow.
Felis, who was running ahead, couldn’t continue and rolled over on the ground. Valentina, on her back, tumbled off, and the sharp stones beneath the snow scraped against her delicate back. Fearing she was disturbing Fisher and Felis’s battle, she quickly covered her mouth, not making a sound even as her eyes reddened with pain.
“Boss!”
Felis, all her fur frizzled, covered her abdomen and yelled towards Valentina, who was far away.
But the next moment, an unexpected occurrence unfolded. As the Cursed Prisoner’s abilities activated, the airborne Snow Flower Knights seemingly lacked power and began to plummet downwards, crashing into the thick snow.
“Thud! Thud! Thud!”
Gadly, in a panic, grasped at the falling Snow Flower Knights beneath him, almost swearing with fear upon witnessing the rapidly approaching ground. As the steward of the Turan family, he had never encountered such tumult. Even the rapid descent terrified him, and he held back the urge to wet himself, closing his eyes to shout at Coryon and the other Nali operatives,
“Fuck! You idiots! Are you here to capture them or help them? Damn… ah ah ah ah!”
Before Gadly could finish his insult toward Coryon’s mother, he and the fallen Snow Flower Knights crashed hard into the ground. The iron blocks from above landed with a thud, and several Nali operatives were not faring much better, stumbling about.
However, Coryon was truly innocent. The manual he received from Elizabeth had not mentioned that the Cursed Prisoner would have such effects. The instructions stated that the Cursed Prisoner would automatically track down criminals, restricting their magic use until captured, but it had never indicated it would also have such far-reaching limiting capabilities.
This wasn’t Elizabeth neglecting to inform the operatives; since the Angel Race disappeared, this relic had fallen into mortal hands, and historically, it had mostly been used to capture humans. If the Angel Race had known that this relic, originally intended to assist in capturing mythical beings, was routinely employed by Godlin to catch even non-tier humans, they would have been left confused.
The fact was, previous Cursed Prisoners had never operated at full capacity. They could capture all beings below mythical rank, while only serving as support against mythical beings, needing the angels to strike first. However, with Fisher vastly exceeding human ranks, it had begun to reveal its true capabilities.
“Good opportunity!”
Grinding his teeth, Fisher looked at Gadly on the ground. They were humans and, therefore, couldn’t move under this magical restriction intended for mythicals, not even a finger. Yet Fisher could still act.
He suddenly hurled the Fluid Sword toward Gadly. With his will empowering it, the Fluid Sword descended despite the extreme increase in gravity, effortlessly piercing through Gadly’s neck, pinning him against the Snow Flower Knight.
“Uh no… I don’t want to die.”
Gadly’s pupils suddenly shrank. Reluctantly reaching out toward the sky, blood gushed from his mouth, interrupting his words. As the black raindrops from above drew closer, his head tilted, and he fell into unconsciousness.
With Gadly’s death, the Mechanisms surrounding them, though still glowing, ceased to move, and the Knights nearing Felis and Valentina crumpled to the ground.
“I found it! Fisher, the Cursed Prisoner was designed for use against mythical beings, so its specifications are high and hard to control effectively. That’s why the Holy Spawn created a relic specifically to seal it. That relic can form a pact with the user, helping remove the Cursed Prisoner’s effects, allowing for retrieval after use. You’ll have to kill the person with the sealing pact to cause the Cursed Prisoner to run amok!”
So simple?
That relic must surely be under Coryon’s pact, and that guy was just an ordinary human operative.
“Boom!”
Just as Fisher grasped this thought, a sensation akin to being crushed by a mountain struck his back, body suddenly depressing into the ground, creating a half-meter deep pit. His pupils contracted slightly; turning around, he saw a drop of black liquid, as small as a raindrop, clinging to his back.
Above, numerous raindrop-sized liquid particles hovered dangerously close to Fisher.
“Fisher!”
Erwind’s shocked cry rang in his ears. Fisher gritted his teeth with all his might but couldn’t even manage to stand up; instead, the pressure from behind intensified, creating a deeper crater. As the black raindrops surged forward, Fisher’s magical circuits dimmed, and his connection with the Fluid Sword weakened.
Is this the Cursed Prisoner of the Angel Race?
The black liquid continued covering Fisher’s body bit by bit, and as he felt himself about to be completely sealed by the Cursed Prisoner, he managed to fling Erwind, who had been hovering beside him, away.
“Fisher! No!”
Erwind’s squared form wobbled for two circles in mid-air, while countless black raindrops had completely enveloped Fisher, transforming him into a small cube-like relic floating in mid-air. Erwind attempted to crash into the Cursed Prisoner with his body, hoping to save Fisher, but of course, it was futile.
Meanwhile, some armed Nali operatives drew closer to Felis, who was crouching on the ground, breathing heavily with one hand clutching her abdomen. Blood flowed steadily from the spot she was covering, clearly the result of being struck by the Mechanisms, which was why she was now immobilized.
“Boss, this lion person and the Turan family’s disabled girl can’t move anymore. What should we do next?”
Behind Coryon, an operative pointed his firearm at Felis, while another aimed at the downed Valentina, deftly stripping her of her magical rings before she could use magic.
These operatives had extensive experience dealing with magic users. After removing those magical rings, Valentina was rendered entirely powerless.
Tears welled in Valentina’s eyes as she watched those magical rings being taken from her. The Nali operative weighed them briefly before returning to Coryon’s side to report.
Coryon gasped several times, gazing at the now completely transformed Cursed Prisoner, a cube, and Erwind, who was persistently battering against it, eventually offering a faint smile.
“Finally succeeded! When we return, the Empress will certainly reward us handsomely. Wait a moment, I’ll first report this to her.”
He reached up to touch his temple, and as the golden long-distance communication magic activated, Elizabeth’s calm voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
“Coryon? The Cursed Prisoner has tightened; Fisher has already been caught?”
In the long-distance communication magic, Elizabeth spotted the floating cube and the book-shaped relic that never strayed far from Fisher. Understanding that the capture operation might have succeeded, her tone even lifted with excitement.
“Ah, right, Your Majesty, Fisher…”
“Boom!”
Just as Coryon was proudly about to speak, a loud explosive sound erupted behind him like cannon fire. At that very instant the sound reached Coryon’s ears, his head exploded, causing Elizabeth, far in Nali, to furrow her brows slightly.
“Thud!”
Coryon’s headless body fell onto the snow, and Elizabeth’s communication magic crashed down right alongside his blown-out eyeballs, plunging her vision into darkness, yet she could still hear the sounds emanating from that side.
There, behind Coryon, Valentina, gasping for breath, raised the mini cannon Selti had previously given her to protect herself. Her pale face and trembling hands contrasted with her silvery-gray eyes, which fixed intently on another operative in front of her.
“Give me back Fisher and the ring you sent to me!”
“Boom!”
The operative reacted rapidly, almost instantly recovering from Coryon’s death. However, it was too late to draw his gun. Valentina squeezed the mini cannon again, emitting a booming sound, while the operative instinctively lowered his head. Though this saved his lower skull, his upper skull met a swift demise.
Elizabeth’s fury boiled as she heard Valentina’s voice from afar, violently kicking the table before her, once again knocking over the freshly replaced piece of furniture, sending tea cups and glass cascading to the ground.
“Rings… rings!! So now you even have the rings! Bitch!”
But in the North, no one could hear Elizabeth’s scream tinged with jealousy and anger, for her subordinate Coryon had met his end in a foreign land.
“Boss! Jamie!”
“Roar!”
The expression on the operative’s face changed as he aimed his gun at Valentina, who lay on the ground. Just as he pulled the trigger, Felis suddenly crashed into him, causing the gunfire to shoot into the sky. The next moment, Felis had pierced the throat of the operative with the mini dagger the Snow Fox tribe had given her.
Watching the life leave the operative beneath her, Felis smiled faintly at the Snow Fox mini dagger resting in her hand and then collapsed onto the ground.
“The Snow Fox’s lucky dagger… ha… ha… I like it.”
“Boom!!”
Just as Felis lay on the snowy ground clutching her wound, she suddenly felt the earth tremble beneath her. Her expression shifted slightly as she turned to look at the mountain, where monumental snowfall poured toward them like a tsunami.
“It’s an avalanche, boss! Ouch, that hurts!”
The previous Mechanism weapons had made minimal sound and vibration, but the Cursed Prisoner sealing Fisher had loosened the massive snow accumulated on the mountain peak for hundreds of years. The tremendous noise from Valentina’s cannon blasts had become the last straw, triggering the avalanche on the outskirts of Sema Snow Mountain.
Just as Felis considered saving the nearby Valentina, intense pain erupted from her abdomen, accompanied by blurry vision, and she ultimately couldn’t rise.
Not good, the wound…
As Felis squeezed her eyes shut, sensing the oncoming avalanche, a lightning-like figure, one hand gripping a book, rushed toward her, the other grasping the unconscious Valentina from the snow.
“Fisher!”
Felis murmured. In the next moment, Fisher positioned Valentina beside Felis, lowering his head to observe Valentina’s pale face. A sudden realization hit him about the massive cannon fire he had heard right before being sealed. He let out a dry laugh before saying to her,
“Well done, you saved my life. Leave the rest to me.”
Valentina bit her lips, gently hooking her finger on his clothing, visibly disappointed. She softly whispered,
“The ring… is gone.”
Fisher paused slightly, turning to look at her pitiful expression, as though a soft spot in his heart had been gently touched. He couldn’t help but reach out to wipe away the redness from her eyes, brushing away the unformed tears. Meanwhile, a green glow, emitting a “glurp” sound from his right sleeve, grew brighter.
“It’s okay.”
“Glurp~”
As Valentina listened to Fisher’s voice, she squinted her eyes. In the next moment, a soft, jelly-like green liquid wobbled out from Fisher’s hand. The jelly-like substance gradually expanded until it formed a circular protective barrier, teetering precariously and encasing the three of them, including the book, within.
That was the precious relic the Slime King had gifted to Fisher, the “Slime Circle,” still usable once.
The wobbling jelly-like circle appeared insignificantly small compared to the massive avalanche before them. Yet the next moment, that tremendous thrust oddly deflected upon colliding with the Slime Circle.
“Thud~ Thud~ Thud~”
The surrounding circle swayed continuously, never shattering even while being buried under heavy snow. Feeling the snow enveloping the entire Slime Circle and plunging her into darkness, Valentina quietly closed her eyes, her grip on Fisher’s sleeve sliding down until he voluntarily held her small hand tightly.
“Boom!!”
On a distant peak, Erwind, wearing a beak mask, watched the colossal avalanche engulf the hillside below, remaining statue-still, for beneath the reflection of his beak mask’s lens, a green light flickered beneath the mound of snow.
After a moment of silence, he turned his gaze toward the distance, deep within the Sema Snow Mountain, where the northern wind and snowfall resumed stirring, and Erwind’s body slowly dissipated, like a trembling and fragile dandelion, transforming into tiny black flowers drifting far away until completely vanishing from sight.
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