44: The Cursed Crown
Aidan wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at for a moment. Everything was shrouded in that same dark veil that layered on top of itself, flooding his senses the closer he got.
But his physical eyes could tell where it all came from, yet at the same time, it boggled the mind. At the very center of the entire room lay a table with a single crown encrusted on top of a small pedestal. It glowed with purplish-blue energy in the markings engraved onto its surface.
The energy from within seemed to glow in intervals, smoothly flowing upward straight to the top of the crown with its own markings, then that same energy seemed to flow backward to the pedestal, creating a loop of sorts that reminded him of those RGB color schemes he saw some computers sporting online.
But rather than giving him an awestruck sensation, terror kept flooding his veins at the sight of it. Something wasn’t right with this crown. It looked like one of those old-fashioned crowns kings would wear on their heads, but it was made obsidian black with aquamarine gems encrusted on each spike, as though it belonged to some dark king of old times.
“Is this the source…?” Nina said, approaching the crown carefully. “It certainly looks cursed enough.”
He was surprised at how she adapted to the thing easily enough, approaching without a sense of worry through the hazy smoke surrounding the crown. He quickly realized that only he was able to sense this foreboding energy, and Nina was just seeing a glowing crown in the center of the pedestal.
His heart hammered when Nina’s hand slowly approached the crown. Without a thought, he swept in and grabbed her wrist, stopping her.
“Hey–”
“Don’t. Touch.”
Aidan growled, not giving the quickly angering Nina a chance to respond. Despite the short struggle, Aidan refused to let go until she faced him.
Seeing his face, Nina’s anger evaporated, showing a concerned look he rarely saw. Seeing this, Aidan let go of her wrist.
“...Is it that dangerous?” Nina asked shortly after a moment of silence.
“More than you think,” Aidan answered. He wasn’t sure how he was this confident, but one thing was for certain–mortal hands weren’t meant to touch this relic.
Relic… that word somehow entered into his mind, but he felt that was correct. It was definitely an ancient relic, something that surpassed mortal boundaries and lost to time–and it should’ve been lost for a good reason.
“I sense nothing but bad vibes from this,” Aidan said. “Whatever the hell it is, it’s not supposed to be here.”
“And yet here it is,” Nina answered, glancing over at the crown. “And Red Riot is somehow using this for their own ends. Is this how Pummel died?”
“Now you see why I didn’t want you to touch that thing.”
Nina’s eyes widened for a second, her fingers closing tight around the hand that was about to touch it earlier. Aidan looked back at the crown, and the first thing on his mind was to get rid of it.
He didn’t care how much value this thing had, whether it was a powerful relic or even if it was Merunian made that was so popular with the criminal organizations in this town. His soul was screaming that this thing shouldn’t exist, or rather, shouldn’t be around here where there are so many people that could get close to this thing.
Something clattered from far away, becoming a series of loud noises that resulted in voices echoing across the hall. Aidan cursed as he dragged Nina away from where they were, hiding behind some of the shelves and, for good measure, activated Vanish and hid themselves from view.
Nina didn’t make a sound and let him take her, and even when she turned invisible, she didn’t make any noise. Instead, she kept herself in silence, looking back at the group coming in towards where they were just at.
They were two men, with one wearing an overly fancy-looking red coat, displaying muscle that would make a bodybuilder cry in shame, with the other dressed in a black coat and hood, only showing pale withering skin underneath the hood.
“Did you hear about the results?” The pale man in black asked, his tone showing a hint of joy that couldn’t be disguised no matter how he wore his hood.
“Yeah, a real fucking mess,” The red man said, his lips curling in disgust. “From the way they said it, it looks like he just exploded.”
“Hahaha!” The pale man guffawed, his head rising in delight. “See? What did I tell you?! This… this is the power of the ancient cursed relic! A powerful artifact that not even the so-called great Merunians could use to its full potential.”
“All it did was make a single guy explode,” The man sneered. “Anyone with a half-decent Strength stat can do that much.”
“But from a distance?” The pale man retorted. “From so far away where nobody could even comprehend where it came from? In such a manner that beggars belief?”
“That is… true.”
The two men circled around the strange altar containing the crown all while Aidan and Nina watched from a good distance away. They were speaking loud enough that they could be heard, not really knowing that there were intruders in the very place they deemed untouchable.
The pale man in black circled behind the crown, his hands raised in a strange manner that made Aidan’s skin crawl from how bony and angular his fingers looked. All the while, his Sense Vibrations was screaming at him that this guy needed to be put down at all costs.
And that was the first time he ever felt that way towards a living human being. It was actually starting to scare him a little from how bloodthirsty he was being.
He had already passed the point of no return when he took the lives of the guards, and considering he didn’t even think twice about leaving the Red Riot members to die from the Dweller Prime, he knew he changed from how he was in the old world. But he never once felt the need to take another’s life as much as he did now.
The way the guy’s soul was drenched with the same inky substance as the relic was one reason why he felt that way. In other words, it was corrupted beyond salvation. In comparison, the man in overflowing red wasn’t nearly as bad, but there were bits of that murkyness that cluttered his soul, like shitstains on a pure-white porcelain toilet.
Just being near them was enough to make him want to hurl, but he kept his cool as he listened in to the two. For good measure, he scanned the two individuals, seeing their Classes and levels.
Berserker, Level 84.
Hexmaster, Level 65.
“Listen here, because I’m certain I repeated it more times than I wish to count,” The pale man said, giving the red man a chance to eye-roll at him. “What you have found goes beyond just mere Merunian design. This beauty contains the power that could offset an entire country and bring about social collapse! With this, it is no longer a dream to take over the city. It becomes a certainty! Better yet, we can take over the entire Ghalea kingdom! Imagine it, Volburn–taking the royal princelings or even the king himself as a hostage! Making them beg at your feet, giving you everything you want! Money, power, women, the works! All the while, not a single one of them will understand how or when their death would occur. It’s… magnificent.”
His words trailed off, the look of his nearly sunken eyes showing a glimmer that sent another chill down Aidan’s spine. This man was clearly not in his right mind, perhaps already affected by whatever strange curse the crown had given in return for using it. Meanwhile, the red man, Volburn, didn’t seem to mind the horrid state of the man as his eyes searched from the words, a small smirk tugging at his lip.
“That does sound pretty good… but how sure are you that they won’t trace it back to us? I heard those rich bastards have some high-end magic tools that put our array-makers to shame.”
“None of that matters!” The pale man replied harshly. “How can their meager magic ever compare to this? This goes beyond mere magic–it borders on the cusp of divinity!”
“Sure, sure,” Volburn nodded, as though he was used to the rampant howlings of the madman in front of him. Instead, a cruel smile slowly spread. “Now, how about another demonstration? There’s someone else that ticks me off and I want that off my list if we’re gonna continue down this path.”
“Tell me then,” The pale man said with a flourish of his bony hands. “Give me the details of your target, and I shall oblige by ripping their very souls off of their corpses.”
Was that how this man managed to kill Pummel? Even if Aidan didn’t see the process for himself, considering how the crown continues to corrupt those around it just by being near it was certain proof of his words. Then Volburn answered which got him to freeze.
“I want you to target this annoying bitch that keeps getting in my way–Nina Alcatroz. The so called ‘Key-Slinger’.”
Aidan slowly looked back at the recipient of their next targeting session. With the Vanish spell still active, he could barely make out Nina’s expression, but her soul told a completely different story.
It shot up in panic and fear, and he swore he could hear her heart ramping up in its pace. Who wouldn’t feel a sense of overwhelming panic after they saw exactly how Pummel died from the crown’s activation?
“I heard about her,” The pale man said, his grin widening, almost splitting his face. “A feisty woman, if I recall. Constantly nipping at your heels and taking away your prized possessions, am I right?”
“More than you can imagine,” Volburn snarled. “And she knows exactly how to get away, using others in her bidding to keep putting roadblocks from me taking her out for good. I heard she’s a looker, but she’s not worth the trouble of bringing over to the Chainlords. Just take her out of my misery, and we can talk about some of those requests you’ve been wanting for a while.”
“Hohoho, I’ll hold you up to that, Volburn. As I’m sure you’re aware, it won’t be a pleasant thing if you decide to cut me off when the getting’s good.”
“I know not to mess with a Hexmaster,” Volburn said. “Now make it work, Bosnier.”
“As you wish…”
The pale man, named Bosnier, lifted his hands up and closed his sunken eyes. The energy writhing from his soul seemed to soar at his behest, crowding the air around it like a wave of pubescent muck that covered the atmosphere.
The crown began to activate, the energy coiling around it as the markings began to glow brighter than before. Soon that energy filled the space above, gathering together to create both a metaphysical and physical presence in the air.
Aidan immediately sensed some horrific hostility being birthed right then and there, and it was aiming straight for the soul right beside him. Vibrations with murderous intent reverberating across the space between them, tuning directly to the soul beside him. If he didn’t do something, Nina would end up in the same state as Pummel.
She looked back at him, as if expecting him to do something about this. The thing was, he might actually be able to do something, but this was something he never even tried before.
All this time, he was able to use his spells in the physical world with no issues, but he never actually tried to mess with anything before it could actually have a form. But something told him that he could be able to if he just put in the willpower like he did before. The time when he faced the Dweller Prime sprung into his mind, and soon after the memory of how he ripped his binding contract apart appeared.
In a sense, he could mess with something before it could attain physical mass. As long as he knew where the source was coming from.
But he had to be careful. If he made one mistake, the two could spot them from their hiding spot, putting an entire gang on their asses and making it worse for them. But if he doesn’t try it out immediately, he could end up with an exploding woman right beside him, and he couldn’t handle that in more ways than one.
One single thought of perhaps actually leaving her to her fate crossed his mind, but somehow he disliked the idea. She may be a controlling underworld boss, and ambitious as all hell, but she didn’t deserve to die in such a horrible way.
He raised his hand and started casting every spell he knew. Magic Focus, Magic Boost, and Infuse formed together in his mind, then poured all that power into the Rend spell forming with his will. The coalescing dark energy began to rain down upon them, closing in ever towards the woman beside him like a rampaging pack of hounds aiming to kill.
Before, he only had a single target to attack when he faced the Dweller Prime, but now he spread his awareness to the entire mass of this corrupted energy flowing towards them as he unleashed his Rend through the metaphysical space around them.
One after another, his Rend bulldozed its way through the dark mass, making them disperse and dissipate before they could reach her. But more kept coming, and Aidan kept pouring in more mana to keep them apart.
More of that energy continued to flow out, and when his mana ran low, he pulled out the bottle containing his Soul Mending water and drank it. The soothing energy of the water refilled his veins and his mana returned, allowing him to keep casting his spells. His head started to ache from the constant casting, but the deluge of dark energies just wouldn’t cease.
Then, finally, around 5 minutes of constant casting, the deluge of dark energies collapsed from its source, no longer able to vomit out the infested curse from the crown. Aidan’s arm felt heavy as he fell over, only to be caught by Nina who held him tight, keeping his form from making any noise around them.
While his mind ached and his body felt like he ran a marathon, he heard the two men speaking once more.
“It’s done?”
“I believe it so,” Bosnier replied, his hands lowered as he kept looking up into the sky. “The mana is cast, and the energy has dispersed. By now, that poor girl must be in pieces, not even realizing what had happened to her. I wish I could see the process done myself, but unfortunately, my magic requires me to stay here for the curse to manifest.”
“That still sounds like a bad drawback, not even being able to see if you hit the damn target,” Volburn scoffed. “But after seeing what happened to Pummel, I can’t exactly put it down.”
“Are you to search for her as well? To see her death before your eyes?” Bosnier asked, his tone implying delight to hear about it.
“I’m sure someone would have noticed her death, and word will spread around. We’ll go after any contacts she has, but for now, searching for that damn quartz is our top priority. I can’t believe how those idiots actually manage to lose it just because of one fucking moron…”
“Oh, how unfortunate. I suppose I can only just recover my strength for the next casting. I do hope you keep our little idea in mind when you wish to move beyond this little city.”
“I’ll think about it,” Volburn said, an eager smile on his lips. “Not exactly a bad way, but we’re dealing with some powerful nobles with more connections than anything we can imagine. We’re gonna have to start with something small, then work our way up.”
“Wise plan, Volburn.”
The two men continued to discuss to themselves, leaving the altar with the crown left behind. As soon as they disappeared, his Sense Vibrations telling him that they left through another door out of the spacious hall, Aidan let go of the Vanish and fell to his ass. His body was quivering from the massive casting he had to do to just keep the strange curse away.
“I… don’t know what to say. Thank you, Aidan,” Nina said. Her expression was neutral, but Aidan could see her soul was contorting in ways that made the rhythm of her beats feel out of place. Gratitude mixed with other strange feelings was put into her words, as though she had no way to deny that her life could’ve been taken at that very moment.
“Ugh…” Aidan groaned. “Just think of it like this. It’s not exactly a great thing to have your body explode right in front of those guys, right?”
Nina scoffed, but a smile soon took over. Her soul, in response, put itself back into working order, giving off that familiar great song he enjoyed listening to. “Good thing, then. Can you stand?”
“Yeah, yeah…”
Aidan groaned as he pulled himself up, shaking his head. Recovering little by little, he followed Nina as she headed back to the altar where the crown lay.
Her eyes stared daggers into it, her hands gripping tight. “We need to destroy this thing–now. Aidan, can you do it from a distance?”
Aidan couldn’t agree more. There was no way he was going to let this crown exist any longer. Just having it around was enough to infect others with the curse, and who knows what kind of awful situation they’ll end up in if it was left unchecked.
Closing in to the crown, he made double sure that nobody else was coming in using Sense Vibrations. Knowing that nobody was indeed coming in from the available door, Aidan decided on the one spell he can use that would leave no trace behind.
Using his new favorite combo spells of Magic Focus, Magic Boost, and Infuse, he empowered his Rend and focused the entirety of it to the crown. He felt the spell giving form in his mind and once he released it, the crown started to crack.
Perhaps he didn’t need to outright empower his spell to destroy the relic, but he wanted to make sure. The amount of energy it gave off made Aidan want to go all out and get rid of it for good.
The crown bent itself inward, no longer giving off the bluish glow before it twisted itself smaller and smaller before it eventually disappeared into nothingness.
Then the world around him froze as the dark energy from within exploded outward, hitting him right in the head. Before he could even realize what was going on, darkness overwhelmed him and took him whole.