[V3C14] From the Abyss

It is said that the Abyss Shaman possesses a spring deep within their being.

The spring is a dark and profound abyss, like a bottomless swamp, accommodating a myriad of curses.

The curses dwelling in the spring respond to the shaman’s emotional turmoil, like ripples on the water’s surface, until they are finally let out.

Perhaps due to jealousy, hatred… or fear.

Such intense emotions transform into curses, sometimes manifesting in forms contrary to Ray’s desires.

Thus, Ray made it a habit to vocalize his grievances as much as possible, releasing the negative emotions before they could accumulate.

——Envy, spite, his desire to be loved, cursing at handsome men…

By muttering his dissatisfaction aloud, he could expel a small portion of the negativity within him.

This was how the Third Abyss Shaman, Ray Albright, controlled his emotions.

But now, he was in an unfamiliar party venue, combined with all the commotion surrounding his fiancé, and her brother pointing a shovel at him. Ray’s emotions were in complete disarray.

What became the decisive factor was Henrik Blanquet’s genuine killing intent.

This was the very same pressure directed towards enemy soldiers on the battlefield, so Ray felt the fear of death. The surface of the cursed spring within him began bubbling violently.

Black patterns emerged all over Ray’s body, crawling across his skin. Not only that, a few patterns lifted off his skin, attempting to escape Ray’s control.

…And devour those around him.

“Ah, ah…! No, stop, don’t come out…!”

Ray was writhing on the ground, covered in the black patterns. Frieda and Henrik could only watch with astonishment.

(Oh no, now I’ve done it. She’ll definitely hate me, she’ll think I’m creepy! She hates me, she hates me!)

This despair further amplified the intensity of his curses.

The black patterns silently left Ray’s body and started crawling on the ground. If left unchecked, the curses would devour Frieda and Henrik.

Ray tried to roll his body away from them, but his legs got tangled, hindering his movement.

“No, I don’t want this, no… someone, anyone…!”

Once his curses caused someone suffering, everyone would hate him.

Tears overflowed from Ray’s eyes, black and viscous like tar. Even Ray’s tears had manifested as curses.

The black droplets hit the flowers at his feet, staining them black. In the next moment, the flowers swelled violently.

With each drop of the accursed tears, the mutation of the grass and flowers progressed further and further.

The huge blackened vegetation waved their vines and leaves as if possessing a will of their own. They intended to entwine everyone around Ray and curse them.

Curses are for inflicting suffering.

Those touched by the curse would experience excruciating pain to the point of wanting death, writhing in pain and eventually being driven insane.

“Lord Albright…”

Ray turned around to see Frieda approaching him.

She attempted to reach out to Ray as if it was only natural to do so, despite the deformed plants surrounding him.

However, Ray was powerless to stop the curses. The cursed plants moved towards Frieda in an attempt to entwine her.

(No, no, no, I’ll curse even the kind girl who reached out to me… No, no!!)

As the black tears flowed silently, Ray wailed without a voice.

(No, stop, someone, help!)

Despite his fervent prayers, the black vines flew to entwine Frieda and…

With a clinking sound, the vines were repelled by an invisible wall in front of Frieda.

(…A defensive barrier?)

However, a regular defensive barrier couldn’t defend against curses. It would require a specialized barrier.

Curses were a mostly unknown technique. Naturally, there were few practitioners that could create defense barriers against it.

But someone capable of using a defense barrier against such curses was present in this situation.

It was the small hero who defeated the Curse Dragon of Reinberg two years ago…

“…Abyss Shaman-sama, you haven’t hurt anyone yet… I won’t let you.”

She was one of the Seven Sages, the Silent Witch, Monica Everett.

＊　＊　＊

Two years ago, when Monica fought the Curse Dragon of Reinberg, the defense barrier she improvised was full of flaws and incomplete.

Thus, Monica studied the structure of curses from Ray and spent two years reconstructing the theory of anti-curse defense barriers.

This allowed Monica to deploy a defense barrier for protecting Frieda and Henrik.

Her barrier proved effective, deflecting all attacks from the cursed plants contaminated by Ray’s curses.

Glenn exclaimed, “Wow, amazing!” but Monica didn’t have the composure to respond.

(This is stronger than the curse from two years ago…!)

Abyss Shaman Ray Albright, the strongest shaman in the country, possessed the power to envelop an entire castle with curses when he got serious.

To defend against such a powerful curse, Monica’s barrier was far from sufficient.

(Still, I must block it…!)

If that curse harmed someone, Ray would surely blame himself, no, curse himself.

Even if she had no expertise as a shaman, Monica knew how easy it was to curse oneself.

——I’m nothing. I hate myself.

Because the young Monica had been cursing her own helplessness for years.

Unless someone intervened, Ray would probably end up the same way. Cursing himself with dark eyes, cutting off connections with others, locking himself in his room…

Monica didn’t want Ray to turn out like that.

(Ugh, the barrier won’t hold. Temporary release, reconstruction…!)

Monica temporarily lifted the almost broken barrier, then immediately reestablished it without an incantation. It was a hard-handed technique only achievable by her chantless magic.

However, the anti-curse defense barrier consumed a considerable amount of mana.

The barrier was too advanced for her to integrate the formula for reducing mana consumption. Therefore, a substantial portion of Monica’s mana was depleted for each usage. In all likelihood, her mana would be completely exhausted after three more casts.

Defending alone wouldn’t lead to victory. Realizing this, Glenn rolled up his sleeves.

“I’ll blow away those black flowers with my flame magic!”

“Does fire magic even work on curses? For now, I’ll freeze everything with my ice magic…”

Cyril began chanting until Isaac patted him on the shoulder.

“There seems to be no need for that.”

Glenn and Cyril exchanged puzzled looks at Isaac’s unexpectedly calm voice.

Isaac put on a gentle smile and pointed behind the two.

“Oh man, seems like you’re having quite a bit of fun there.”

“Good grief, causing such a commotion in someone else’s house… You there, foolish disciple. You’ll be getting scolded later.”

Approaching them were two men: a large man with black hair and a black beard, and a handsome man with long chestnut braids and a monocle.

Monica’s fellow Sages——the Artillery Mage Bradford Firestone and the Barrier Mage Louis Miller.

Raul’s face brightened, and he rushed toward the two.

“Both of you came!”

“Yeah, I’ll handle it with a bang.”

Bradford laughed heartily, as Louis glanced at Monica, who was maintaining the defense barrier.

“Ah, truly. What an ungraceful young lady. Replicating even a high-difficulty anti-curse barrier without incantation… You make me feel quite unbecoming as the Barrier Mage.”

After giving a sarcastic remark, Louis adjusted his monocle and observed Ray’s curse.

Then, he asked Monica, who was still desperately maintaining the barrier.

“Fellow sage, how much longer can you hold on?”

“T-Thirty seconds…”

“Good.”

Louis invoked a slightly longer than usual chant and wove a defense barrier against curses.

This barrier, much stronger than Monica’s, remained sturdy even as the cursed flowers pounded on it.

(…Amazing.)

Louis had called himself “unbecoming” when compared to Monica, but when it came to defense barriers, there was no equal to the Barrier Mage.

After confirming that Louis’s barrier had trapped the cursed plants, the Artillery Mage Bradford Firestone picked up a stone from the ground.

“Now it’s my turn. I’ll blow it up, so you protect the mansion… Let’s see, a Quadruple should be enough to burn away the curses.”

“Triple should be sufficient, don’t you think?”

“Why not show the young ones some flashy fireworks? Let’s make it a Quintuple.”

“Seriously? Can you consider my position as the one who has to set up the defense barrier?”

Louis glared at Bradford with a twitching temple, but Bradford had already begun chanting.

Putting on a resigned expression, Louis also started chanting. His anti-curse barrier remained in place as he did so.

Amidst the low-toned chanting of Bradford and the melodic chanting of Louis, Raul turned to Cyril and Glenn with a bright smile.

“We’re gonna see something really amazing. You guys, make sure to burn it into your eyes!”

Louis, who finished his chant first, erected a defense barrier covering the entire garden. It was a robust barrier designed for withstanding powerful offensive magic.

After confirming this, Bradford raised the stone in his hands.

Bradford had imbued a compressed fire attribute spell into a simple stone.

The mana contained in the stone was comparable to Glenn’s fireball. That alone had considerable firepower, but Bradford compressed it even further.

And that’s not all. He had layered the exact same spell five times in a row.

The more layers of the reinforcement spell, the greater the power. However, it also became more challenging to control. Even Monica could only manage up to four layers.

Bradford put on a broad grin.

“Here I go! Get ready for a BOOOOOM!!”

Swinging his leg high, Bradford threw the bright red stone toward the overgrown flowers.

With a tremendous speed surpassing what a human could achieve, the red stone pierced through the flowers, incinerating them, curses and all.

——Followed by a thunderous explosion, a flash of light, and rising dust.

The devastating spell, capable of piercing even the high magical resistance of a dragon’s torso, blew Ray’s curses to smithereens.

This was a strike from Bradford, the wielder of the most powerful magic in the country. Its destructive power was immense… but…

“Um, um, is, is Abyss Shaman-sama alive…?”

Monica timidly inquired, and Louis snorted.

“That’s why I’m here.”

As the dust eventually settled, the figure of Ray swaying and staggering became visible amidst the aftermath of the explosion. Louis had adjusted his defense barrier to protect Ray from being engulfed in the spell.

Ray, whose eyes were dazzled by the flash, crouched down, covering his face with both hands.

“Now is the time, Thorn Witch-dono.”

“On it! Thanks, Louis-san!”

Raul approached Ray with a rose in his hand and crushed it in his palm.

As the powerful scent of roses spread around Ray, the strength drained away from his arms.

“I added a slightly stronger sedative. Do you feel calm now, Ray?”

“Ah, uh… I… I…”

Ray, staggering and incoherent, was momentarily supported by Frieda. Leaning against her, Ray sobbed like a child.

“Ah, oh, I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I, I… Uh, ah, uwaah…”

Tears flowed profusely from Ray’s pink eyes.

These tears were no longer tainted black——they were clear droplets.

View the latest chapters at seeker142.github.io