Bölüm 851

Bölüm 851

That bastard must be from the Blue Magic Tower.

Ian’s lips twisted faintly. It wasn't just the similar creatures he had seen while crossing the inner sea resurfacing in his memory.

I did receive a pretty useful gift from one of your colleagues.

A much older memory surfaced: the curse caster who had once tried to assassinate the merchants gathered for the Alliance’s founding.

The small storage box, used to contain blasphemous objects like dark relics, still held the cursed parchment Ian had taken after killing that man. It was a stationary curse that affected friend and foe alike, except for the caster, which was why he had never found a chance to use it.

Though honestly, I’d forgotten I even had it.

Ian twisted and narrowly avoided another incoming harpoon.

At that moment, the curse caster thrust his right arm forward.

Swoosh—

Ominous dark green smoke poured from its magic staff. It spread like dense fog in an instant and rolled toward him.

However, Ian neither slowed nor changed course. He simply kept charging straight ahead. He even activated Wind Blade as he ran.

He wasn’t relying on sheer endurance and resistance alone.

Whoosh—

A faint glow spread from Ian’s left hand, gripping the hook. It was the divine power of the divine ring, now practically a part of him.

Ahead of the sprinting Ian, a rippling Barrier of Light unfolded. The incoming curse cloud slammed against it, churning violently as the barrier blocked it.

Ian lowered his body and thrust his left hand forward as he ran directly toward it.

Swish!

A harpoon shot through the curse cloud, pierced the barrier, and passed right over his head. As expected, the pirates were clearly capable of seeing through the curse.

Fwoosh—

Perhaps it was because of the blazing trail of sacred flames stretching behind Ian and burning away the curse wherever it touched.

Bluish remnants of chaos, halted by the barrier, tangled thickly together with the curse cloud.

If only I could add a force field behind this too, it’d be perfect.

Clicking his tongue, Ian continued forward without slowing. The Barrier of Light retreated with him, pushed onward by his outstretched hand.

Whoosh—

The violently churning curse clouds swept past Ian’s sides before tangling together behind him. Only the tiny space beyond the barrier remained a safe zone.

Of course, it was obvious that it wouldn’t last long.

Swoosh!

The Barrier of Light was already wavering precariously. Not just because of the curse, either, but also from the harpoons and arrows piercing through it, leaving dense trails of bluish chaos in their wake.

Tap, tap, tap!

Still, Ian never stopped running. He had never expected the barrier to hold all the way through in the first place.

He was fully prepared to endure the curse with his bare body for at least a few moments.

Fwoosh...

Before long, the Barrier of Light gave out and scattered. The curse clouds that had been pushed aside rushed toward Ian as though waiting for this moment.

Drawing a deep breath, Ian narrowed his eyes and charged straight into the heart of it.

The Wind Blade leaking from his body suddenly spread outward and blocked the cloud for an instant. The bluish flashes glimmering around him were likely thanks to the sacred flames carried within the wind.

However, it only lasted for a moment.

Swoosh—

Dark green fog thickened around Ian. Sacred flames spreading from the blade surged and burned through the fog as Ian sprinted forward while holding his breath, veins naturally bulging in his eyes.

What is this, some kind of chemical warfare?

Not only his eyes, but his skin was stinging. Even so, he still didn’t have the luxury of carefully examining his condition.

Harpoons were still flying through the smoke. The only reason the massive ballista bolts had stopped was that Ian had gotten too close to the command ship for them to fire safely anymore.

"Keep throwing!"

"Fuck, he’s dodging all of them!"

As Ian moved almost purely on instinct to evade the incoming harpoons, curses and shouts rang past his ears.

The voices belonged to the corrupted sailors lined along the railing.

But Ian's brow twitched again for a different reason. He had realized that faint smoke was rising from him.

Of course, it wasn’t the smoke coming from the divine sword.

Ssssss—

Sinister sounds were faintly crackling from all across him. The durability of his equipment was visibly decreasing in real time.

Only then did a thought finally cross Ian’s mind.

A curse of corrosion... something like that?

It wasn’t hard to guess why they had cast something like this. Rimuta clearly believed Ian was fully equipped with dragon armaments.

This was an attempt to cripple him before the real battle began.

If I’d come wearing that for real, I’d be in tears right now...

The equipment Ian wore had been from the North. The dragon relics were not only far too conspicuous, but they were impossible to repair.

Of course, it was also because this gear was more than capable on its own.

Fuck.

That was why Ian’s expression darkened. He was even wearing the relic jewel on his left hand. Even with the hook clenched over it, there was no way he could completely block the curse.

Ssssss—

The hook in his left hand was gradually turning reddish, as though it were corroding away. Smoke was also rising from the rope attached beneath it. Even though it had been made with sea-serpent tendons mixed in, once it decayed, it would inevitably snap.

Only the divine sword and the divine relic ring remained completely unaffected, merely consuming their remaining divinity instead.

If not for the Barrier of Light, I’d practically be naked already.

Ian looked upward.

Beyond the curse cloud, now thickening and settling like stagnant haze, the outline of the ship’s hull flickered into view. Ian caught another pulse of magic spreading not far ahead.

Then, suddenly, he sharply twisted aside.

Thud!

A harpoon grazed past him and embedded itself behind him. Ian immediately twisted his waist forward and hurled the hook in his left hand.

Whoosh!

The hook tore through the curse cloud and shot forward.

Though he couldn’t see it, Ian felt the hook soar beyond the railing of the towering hull. The hull loomed like a fortress wall.

At the same time, he kicked powerfully off the ground, grabbed the rope tightly with his left hand, and yanked with all his strength.

Clank—

The sensation of the hook catching onto something spread through the rope. The hull rushed closer toward Ian, who had already leapt several meters upward.

Landing with both feet against the ship’s side, he immediately kicked off once more, hauling hard on the rope clenched in his left hand.

Crunch!

An ominous creaking sound came from the taut rope, but Ian ignored it. His bloodshot eyes, swirling with gray magic, were fixed solely on the space above him.

Fwoosh!

The very next moment, he burst upward through the curse clouds. At the same time, the gathering wind shoved him forward once more in midair.

Corruptors lined the railing beyond him, and behind them stretched the enormous deck. Even farther back, mutated sailors swarmed everywhere.

Snap!

That was when the rope connected to the hook finally broke apart.

Without hesitation, Ian released it and spun through the air in a full somersault. The curse caster was directly beneath him now.

Slowly lifting its grotesquely bulging eyes, the creature stared straight at him. Once again, sinister magic was gathering around the coral wand in its right hand.

You should’ve backed away instead of preparing another spell.

Of course, Ian was much faster. His right arm swung the divine sword in a blur, and a blazing blue arc carved diagonally through the curse caster’s upper body.

Crunch—

The blue slash immediately transformed into raging flames and spread across the creature. Meanwhile, Ian continued spinning through the air and completely passed over it.

"------!"

Only a beat later did the curse caster let out a bizarre scream. The Sacred Flame of Judgment had engulfed its entire upper body in an instant.

However, Ian never looked back.

Gray magic power was already surging through his eyes once more as he scanned the area around where he would land.

"What the fuck?"

"So this is... the infamous... Purifier?"

More precisely, he was looking at the mutated sailors staring at him in undisguised shock. Every one of them looked grotesque, fused with crabs, lobsters, clams, and other sea creatures.

Boom!

The next moment, a violent whirlwind exploded outward around Ian and blasted them away all at once.

Even after fully mutating, they tumbled helplessly across the deck, likely because none of them had expected the attack at all.

The screaming curse caster, still burning alive, was also swept over the railing and sent plunging below.

Crunch.

Ian landed in the middle of it all on one knee.

At the same time, he shoved his left hand into the pocket dimension and pulled out the small storage box hidden in the deepest corner.

The lid burst open, thanks to his Willful Grasp, revealing several overwhelmingly ominous presences inside.

Crackle—

Without pause, Ian drove the divine sword down into the deck beside him as though nailing it in place. He then reached into the storage case and pulled out a tightly rolled parchment scroll.

"W-What the hell is that now?"

"Why are you just staring?! Kill him!"

Shouts of varying volume rang out from beyond the tangled, fallen corruptors.

Footsteps rushing toward him followed soon after. More corrupted creatures were clearly converging on him, but Ian didn’t spare them even a glance.

He spread the scroll wide across the deck and simply placed his left hand at its center.

Swoosh—

Magic flowed from his palm, and the intricate, complex spell circuit engraved into the parchment revealed itself. It glowed with a sinister violet hue.

Whoosh—

Ian raised his head just as violet light flickered in his eyes, looking toward the corrupted ones with his lips faintly curling upward.

"Now you get to experience it yourselves."

At nearly the same instant, black-violet fog surged outward from the parchment like a flood. It instantly swallowed Ian’s surroundings, the corruptors struggling to rise, and the deck beyond.

"W-What is thi— cough."

"A c-curse... It’s a curse! Everyone fall ba— gkh."

"Aaargh—"

It took only moments for the shocked cries and shouting beyond the fog to turn into screams.

The curse of pain and madness had begun sweeping through the corrupted ones.

As expected, it works.

Meanwhile, Ian placed the essence bead he had taken from the storage box at the center of the spell circuit and rose to his feet.

He glanced once at the dark divine relics inside the box before snapping the lid shut and tossing the storage case back into his pocket dimension. Finally, he grabbed the hilt of the divine sword embedded beside him and turned his gaze forward.

"Ahhhh— Aaargh!"

"F-Fuck!"

Through eyes infused with magic power, Ian could see figures writhing within the thickening curse fog. Every one of them was screaming in agony.

However, that wasn’t why Ian’s eyes narrowed.

Where the hell is that bastard?

He still couldn’t find Rimuta anywhere, and the creature had gone silent some time ago.

Ian’s gaze swept through the dense curse clouds before finally stopping near the stern deck.

Is it there?

A small structure resembling a command post rose there. Not only did it look like the kind of place where a captain’s quarters would be, but sinister chaos seeped from it as well.

Clicking his tongue, Ian hurled himself into the black-violet fog without hesitation the next instant.

Swoosh—

The curse did nothing to him except burn away upon contact with the flames of judgment.

Even while feeling the dwindling divinity within the divine sword’s source, Ian never slowed as he charged toward the rear deck.

Crunch! Crack!

He didn’t forget to smash aside the convulsing creatures stumbling into his path. Of course, there was no need to strike them multiple times or finish them off afterward.

"Screech!"

"Grrrrrr..."

The screams of the corrupted ones sprawled across the deck were gradually changing. Some had already gone beyond pain and entered a state of complete madness.

Soon, they would start slaughtering each other.

Crunch!

Occasionally swinging the divine sword to burn away the fog, Ian climbed steadily toward the rear deck without stopping.

"Aaargh!"

"Die!"

Chaos had begun erupting all across the deck by the time Ian stopped before the command post.

Without sparing his surroundings a glance, he opened the door and stepped inside the fog-thickened chamber.

Sinister blue patterns had been carved across the ceiling and walls. They were ancient characters of a kind he had never seen before.

But the reason Ian’s eyes narrowed was something else entirely.

He realized the chaos he had sensed was coming from these symbols themselves. Other than that, he could feel no presence whatsoever, suggesting the curse caster he had killed earlier had been the ship’s only true commander.

Come to think of it, Hector’s lieutenant too... No way.

Ian abruptly came to a halt mid-thought. A dreadful possibility had crossed his mind—perhaps Rimuta had never been here to begin with.