Chương 17: The Curse Spreads

Ch 17 - The Curse Spreads

"Shut your damn mouth, you stupid brat!" A furious roar erupted from a man wearing fitted leather clothing. His long black hair hung messily around his face as he grabbed the collar of the broad-shouldered boy standing in front of him.

"Ever since you joined this team, everything has gone wrong! Even Ronan never made it inside! What the hell did you do out there before the expedition?!" The man, who appeared to be in his late twenties, tightened his grip on the front of Madou's shirt.

"I paid for this slot," Madou replied.

"I obtained it legally. Don't ask me why your leader failed to enter the Rift. That has nothing to do with me."

"Idiot!" the man shouted.

"Because of you, the entire plan fell apart! Everything we prepared has been ruined because of you!" Around them, the others watched in silence. Their expressions were a mixture of exhaustion, frustration, and growing panic. They stood near a line of trees while the sun slowly climbed above the horizon, painting the sky with the first colors of dawn. Not far from their position, the aftermath of a battle could be seen. Corpses were scattered across the area.

Their skin had long since dried and withered, clinging tightly to their bones. The sight made it obvious that they had been dead for a very long time.

"You've been gambling with the lives of everyone on this team!" the black-haired man continued.

"Do you think a Rift expedition is some kind of child play?"

"I did my job. I fulfilled my responsibilities." Madou met the man's glare without the slightest hint of fear.

"And I guarantee I've already done more than the teammate I replaced ever could." The man's breathing became ragged. His face turned red with rage, and for a moment it looked as though he might throw a punch.

"We have bigger problems to deal with right now." One of the others finally stepped forward and interrupted the argument. Everyone's attention shifted toward another part of the clearing. A bald man lay sprawled on the ground. Beside him knelt a young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair. Both of her hands were raised over his body as streams of golden energy flowed into him.

"It hurts like hell!" the bald man shouted.

"I can't take this anymore! Hurry up and heal me properly, you useless girl!" He struggled violently, trying to sit up despite his injuries. Several team members immediately rushed over and pressed him back down, holding his shoulders to keep him from moving while the healing continued. Madou brushed the man's hand away and stepped past him, then hurried toward Lena. The bald man's right arm looked blackened, as if it were rotting, and the speed at which it was spreading was clearly unnatural.

"Hurry up and heal my arm, you curse girl! What are you waiting for?" the bald man shouted. Madou gritted his teeth and clenched his fists so tightly it looked as though he could barely contain his anger.

"I'm sure she's doing the best she can," Madou said.

"It's because of you, you brat! If you hadn't dragged us into this, none of this would've happened!"

"It's okay, Madou. I'm trying my best. Just give me a little more time," Lena replied. The bald man lost his patience. He shoved aside the people restraining him and forced himself to stand. Lena was knocked backward by the sudden movement. Madou rushed to help, but the bald man was too fast. He seized Lena's right hand tightly with his left hand.

"Let go of her, idiot! We still don't know what's causing that infection!" Madou shouted as he charged forward.

"Idiot! If I'm suffering, then everyone should suffer! Especially this useless girl!" The others immediately tried to pull him away.

"Control yourself! We need everyone on this team!"

"Idiot! My arm is messed up! Do you expect me to just sit here and wait?" the bald man roared before finally throwing Lena's hand aside, sending her stumbling backward once again. Madou quickly dropped to his knees beside her, but then he noticed Lena raising her right hand with a terrified expression as she stared at her palm. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Lena, what's wrong?" With a trembling voice, Lena said, "Madou, cut off my hand. Cut off my hand, Madou. Right now." The girl screamed in terror, causing everyone else to turn toward her. Everyone looked at the same spot, and in the next moment Madou saw it too. Around the wrist the bald man had grabbed, the same black discoloration had begun to appear. It spread outward at an alarming speed.

"Madou! Cut off my hand before it's too late!" Lena screamed at the top of her lungs. ** A pair of boots struck the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dry dust as Zeph finally decided to continue his journey by jumping down from the watchtower. He scanned the surrounding area once more, making sure those undead creatures were still lying motionless and asleep just as they had been before. He had already decided where he was going.

At the very least, he intended to make use of the daylight while visibility was still good. It would be easier to find the others, and he hoped they would be able to find him as well. He had chosen the forest as his destination. It sounded foolish when he thought about it since he could easily get lost. However, it would be easier to hide there and find cover should he encounter any danger. Zeph adjusted the improvised cloak he now possessed, then pulled up the hood, which had been made from the wolf's head skin.

It concealed much of his appearance now. Not bad for a makeshift cloak crafted from whatever materials he had been able to find. Zeph immediately set off. His pace quickened, and before long he broke into a run, heading toward the forest. With the enhancement to his senses gained from leveling up, combined with his Undying Core, he truly felt as though he had been blessed with something extraordinary. It manifested as an instinct that seemed capable of detecting danger before it appeared.

At least, that was what he had experienced and confirmed several times so far. Zeph only needed to become more accustomed to those warning signals before the danger itself appeared before him. In a short time, he reached the forest's outer line. The trees there looked ancient, their trunks thick and massive, towering high above the ground.

"What kind of world is this?" he said afterward. No one had ever truly managed to solve the mystery behind the rifts. Why did the rifts appear? Where did they come from? And where exactly was the world inside those rifts located? Like... were they miniature worlds, or fragments of worlds that each possessed their own environments and laws of existence? Every rift that appeared seemed to have different attributes, different environments, and different types of monsters.

It was as if they had been deliberately designed, each one created according to a specific purpose. And this world where Zeph was now... where exactly was he at this moment? Was this a completely new world? Was it merely an illusion? Or was it a hidden dimension separated from reality itself?

"Lena's parents were said to have disappeared inside a rift. Isn't that actually something that happens quite often?" After all, an Awakened entering a rift on an expedition and never returning was hardly unusual. Death was a constant risk. So why did Lena believe her parents were still alive?

"Maybe she has some way of knowing?" Or perhaps it was simply the hope of a daughter who wanted to see her parents again. Then, suddenly, Zeph stopped moving. He stood still and observed his surroundings as quietly as possible, straining his ears to catch any sound hidden among the trees. His instincts were not warning him of danger, but he felt as though there was movement somewhere within the bushes. A faint rustling sound echoed intermittently between the undergrowth.

He turned toward the right, then slowly toward the left, carefully searching for the source of the noise.

"Is that a human?" he whispered. If it was not a threat, then the rustling he had heard earlier meant something had to be there. The possibilities were monsters, other expedition members, or even those undead creatures.

"But the undead become inactive during the day," he thought.

"Or maybe they'll come back to life if they're inside a forest where sunlight can barely reach?" Then Zeph noticed movement in the bushes again, not far off to his right. And he knew something was hiding there. He had to find out what it was. Zeph began moving as quietly as possible, keeping his eyes fixed on the spot where he had seen the movement. A short while later, he found himself standing beside the patch of bushes he was certain the disturbance had come from.

He paused for a moment and held his breath, making his breathing as quiet as possible. At the same time, his right hand rested on the hilt of the sword at his waist, ready to draw it at any moment. Then he slowly extended his left hand toward the cluster of leaves. He took one last silent breath. Then, with a sudden motion, he threw the bushes aside. A jolt shot through his instincts.

The instant he saw something burst out from within, it shot away at incredible speed, sprinting between the trees before disappearing from sight almost immediately.

"What was that?" It had been incredibly fast. It did not seem very large, roughly the size of a dog. Its body had looked dark, making it difficult to make out any details. What kind of monster could run that fast?

"It'd be strange if it was a monster." Monsters were rarely passive toward humans. It was practically common sense that they would attack regardless of whether their prey appeared strong or weak. But this rift was strange. The undead had allowed Zeph to wander around freely. They had even helped him fight the greater threat within the rift and had ultimately allowed him to claim the final kill.

"So what exactly was that creature?" he wondered. Feeling like he wasn't getting any information at all, he decided to keep moving forward. Every now and then, he used his knife to mark the trees he passed. It would make it easier for him to find his way back to the direction he had originally come from. Because of the heightened instincts and senses he had gained, even his sense of direction seemed to have improved several times over.

In fact, after walking for almost an hour, he still felt confident that he knew exactly where he should return if it became necessary. Eventually, Zeph entered an area where the trees grew denser and denser, to the point that sunlight could barely penetrate through the thick canopy above.

"It seems like the expedition members won't end up exploring this area, huh?" But damn, this rift was seriously massive. Were Tier 1 Rifts really this difficult to conquer? After walking for a while longer, Zeph began to feel that something was wrong again. He stopped in his tracks as a strange sensation washed over him. It felt like countless eyes were watching him. He froze and quickly looked to the side, then ahead, before glancing behind him. Something was watching him from within the shadows.

And there weren't just one or two of them, but dozens? He swallowed hard. This wasn't like the gaze of those undeads with their dead stares. These were the eyes of predators carefully sizing up their prey. Zeph tried to reach for the sword at his waist. But the moment he tried, he realized his arm had gone stiff.

"What's wrong with my arm?" he whispered before trying to move his left hand as well. But it was no different. His arm felt just as rigid. He looked down at his hands to figure out what was happening, and his eyes widened in shock. Only then did he notice what looked like dark bruising spreading across both of his arms.

"Wait... what's happening to my arms?"