章 37: ~ Unleashing the Curse ~
BRINDLEWICK VILLAGE.
Flynn choked at the hold of the corruptive hand of darkness. It began to lift him off the ground, its toxic aura trying to eat into the Sentinel's soul, but it couldn't break the holy seal that had been ingrained into his body.
Prince Kaiser and the other Sentinels tried to help, but other hands of the same nature burst out of the tree and lunged at them.
In their case, they had some awareness, time, and distance to be able to evade the lunges.
Flynn gathered his strength together and placed his hands around the arm that choked him, whilst reciting a cleansing prayer. Holy mana burst out of his hands in a mild shower of light, eroding the hand to nothing.
He fell on one knee, rubbing his neck as he gasped for breath. However, another arm was already on its way to apprehend him again.
Bertram Beaumont swiftly got to him, lifted him and moved him out of the tree's range, all in the blink of an eye.
Flynn staggered on his feet as Bertram set him down, his breath still undulating.
With his eyes fixated on the multiple hands squirming out of the tree, Aldous Benedict scoffed wryly, "I warned you, didn't I?"
Flynn scoffed back as he modulated his breathing, "At least now I've verified what the curse is. I only connected to it for just a second, but I was able to get some reasonable information..."
"What did you find out about it?" Prince Kaiser asked as droplets of his shadow swam upwards.
"It ate all the villagers, including the two Sentinel squads. It feeds on flesh to grow stronger. If we can bypass its defences and strike at its vulnerable spot, that should exorcise it," Flynn explained, removing a rusted trinket from his right sleeve. It dangled under his wrist as he raised it to his eye level. He pointed it at the tree and muttered some inaudible words.
The trinket stopped dangling aimlessly and spun anticlockwise, twice.
Beads of sweat gathered over Flynn's forehead as he smiled sheepishly, "We have to be really careful. This is a second grade Curse."
"That bad, huh?" Prince Kaiser shook his head, gesticulating his fingers. The shadow droplets around him, coagulated in groups and hardened into discs with sharp, curved edges.
He flexed his arms forward and the shadow discs spun swiftly at the tree, slicing off some of the arms in blurs of darkness.
It was more or less a futile effort as more hands protruded out of the tree.
Prince Kaiser clicked his teeth, "This is annoying."
Aldous Benedict took a hard drag from his cigar as he stepped forward and exhaled slowly, the thick smoke escaping his lips and nose. He raised his right hand and twitched his fingers, condensing the swirling smoke.
"Flynn," he called.
The latter understood and walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and reciting a prayer. His holy mana flowed out of him and entered Aldous, mixing with his. He channelled it into the swirling smoke on his right hand. It flitted a mild white glow.
He then flicked his wrist at the tree that was five metres away. The smoke dissolved into a thick mist that gathered around the tree at a whim.
"Combustion," Aldous said as he fisted his palm.
Immediately, the particles in the mist exploded in a chain reaction, inundating the hands and tree with fire and holy mana. The hands burned and withered to ash. Cracks emanated around the tree.
Waiting for the smoke to die down, the Sentinels couldn't help but think that things were going too easy for them. There must have been a reason why the two previous squads, who were more powerful, got eaten by this curse.
And they were just about to find out why.
As the smoke settled, a subtle guttural growl emanated from the tree. The tree's silhouette began to bend and change shape, the growling getting louder by the second.
By the time the smoke completely cleared, in place of the tall dry tree was a grotesque-looking bipedal monster, that was completely made out of mangled flesh and muscles. It stood at a towering height of over ten feet, its eyes hollow and pitch black.
With a loud hiss, an aura of corruption enshrouded it, giving it a new layer of red skin with spikes jutting out from every angle.
The Sentinels could only move back as the horror before them took form.
Prince Kaiser on the other hand, had gone down to a knee with his eyes fixated on the Curse's shadow. He couldn't deny that the curse's presence brought fear upon him, but he couldn't give it the chance to launch an attack.
It was smarter to attack it before it was fully formed.
Stretching his fists forward, he connected with the curse's shadow and tried to take full control over it. However, it was too corrupted for him to handle. He could feel his body and Mana Aura getting stung by the corruption that came out of the curse.
Enduring the pain, Kaiser remained stubborn, forcing himself to become one with the curse's shadow.
However, at that moment, the curse sensed what was happening and raised its right foot. Bringing it down, a massive tremor shook the village, emanating cracks that spread speedily towards Kaiser. Before the prince could react, the cracks got to him and the ground beneath him exploded wildly, throwing him across the air like a ragdoll.
The curse raised its head and roared angrily at the sky. A transparent dome of darkness soon covered the entire village.
Catching Kaiser in mid air and landing on a knee, Bertram gazed at the dome in horror, "This is bad..."
Flynn held tightly to his trinket as he whispered, "Oh, goddess Aethera."
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