“Are you alright?” Nymeria asked, catching me as I was falling to the ground.

“Just tired,” I murmured, resting my chin on her shoulder.

There was no strength left in my body. Every muscle was screaming from the cramps. All of my senses had become dull. I was barely conscious.

“By the way, why aren’t we falling?” I asked, seeing us slowly descending. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novel·fıre·net

“The seal Gumiho placed on me is weakening, so some of my Soulforce has returned.”

“You can fly too? You are awesome, you know that.”

“And you are more awesome than me,” she replied in a soft voice. “You shook the whole first zone with your last move.”

As our feet touched the ground, a loud crying voice came from where Gumiho lay.

“No, Your Majesty, you can’t die,” Vyaghra wailed. “Please, no, not like this.”

“Hasn’t she already suffered enough?” Jambavan roared, kneeling beside Vyaghra. “Are the thousand years of agony not enough? Do you have to take her life as well?”

I gently nudged Nymeria aside and took shaking steps toward them.

Gumiho’s tails had completely vanished, and her body had started breaking—literally.

I bent down and moved my finger closer to her nose.

There was no movement. No breath. She was just lying lifeless as her body was tattering like pieces of paper.

Vyaghra grabbed me by the collar and pleaded, “Weren’t you supposed to cure her? Why are you just sitting still?

Cure her!

I said cure her, dammit!”

“I am sorry,” I replied in a low voice. “She is already dead.”

A fist slammed into my jaw, the force knocking me to the ground.

“Don’t give me this hogwash,” Vyaghra shouted, coming for another punch.

“Control yourself, Lord Vyaghra,” Nymeria came in between, her hand flying to her sword.

“It’s-it’s alright, Nymeria,” I whispered, tugging her dress.

“If it weren’t for Raj, you would still be wandering the fore mhmst like a madman,” Nymeria said to Vyaghra.

Then, grabbing my wrist, she spoke, “Let’s go.”

I got up, and together with Nymeria, began moving away from them.

As I was leaving, a thought came into my mind.

If Gumiho really died, why hadn’t the quest failure notification popped up?

And the very next moment it appeared.

“Alert!! The Host is about to fail the subquest!!

The rewards and penalty of the quest are unsealed.”

“Subquest:

→ Free Gumiho from her agony by absorbing the cursed Soulforce

Reward upon completion: Rise in the Host’s authority.

Penalty upon failure: Gumiho’s cursed body will burst, turning every living being inside the forest into ashes.”

“She-she isn’t dead? But she was definitely not breathing. And what the hell is this penalty?” I muttered, gazing at the display.

I turned and ran.

My strengthless legs buckled after a couple of steps, and I fell.

I hurriedly crawled, pushing against the ground with my hands.

“What happened, Raj?” Nymeria asked, supporting me by putting my arm over her shoulder.

“Take-take me to Gumiho. Right now,” I demanded between heavy breaths.

No questions asked, she quickly took me closer to Gumiho’s body.

I hurriedly placed my ear on her upper chest, between her front legs.

Barely audible, but it was there.

Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

The sound of her heartbeat.

I quickly placed both of my hands on her body and said,

“Vivi, activate All-Devouring Breathing Technique.”

“Initializing Host’s request…

Cursed Beast detected!!

Absorbing the Soulforce of Cursed Beast…”

“Are you trying to absorb the Soulforce from her fading body?” Vyaghra muttered. “How selfish could you be?”

He was about to stop me, but again, Nymeria stepped in.

“Stand down,” she commanded, her body radiating a chilly aura.

Before the situation escalated any further, Jambavan put his hand on Vyaghra’s shoulder and spoke in a low voice, “Let the kid do what he’s doin’.”

Vyaghra clicked his tongue in annoyance and stepped back.

The leech on Gumiho’s forehead and chest soon faded into thin air, but her body was still disintegrating.

I knew she couldn’t be saved because she had already used all of her lifeforce. What I was aiming for was to absorb all the cursed Soulforce inside her before she died.

The Quest mentioned that I had to free her from her agony by absorbing the cursed Soulforce. So I would clear the quest as long as she didn’t have any cursed Soulforce when she died.

I knew I was being selfish, but this was the only way to protect Nymeria and Ruru.

“Vivi, can you tell me how much time she has left? And is there any way to save her?”

“Analysing target’s condition…”

“Target’s lifeforce is completely empty. She cannot be saved. She will die in thirty seconds.”

“Sighs… so nothing can be done.”

Her lower leech also started to fade, but then the absorption unexpectedly stopped.

“WARNING!! Host’s core is full. No more cursed Soulforce can be absorbed. Conversion of cursed Soulforce is recommended.”

“It’s just one thing after another,” I muttered.

“There isn’t much time left. Vivi, don’t stop.”

“Warning!! If you keep absorbing the cursed Soulforce, your core will shatter and you will turn into a cursed being.

Do you still wish to continue?

[Yes] [No]”

“Shut up and do it,” I said, tightly gripping Gumiho’s body.

“Continuing the absorption…”

My stomach began to ache with unbearable pain, and I felt as if my body was about to explode.

Blood leaked from my facial orifices, and something broke in my dantian.

It was my core. There were cracks in it. My lower stomach began to glow with dark purple energy, and the pain started to rise exponentially.

“Raj, what happened? Why are you bleeding?” Nymeria asked. “And why is your stomach glowing like that?”

“I’m-I’m fine. Don’t disturb me, please,” I whispered, suppressing all the screams from the pain within me.

“Warning!! Host’s core is about to shatter. Immediate stoppage of absorption is recommended.”

“Warning!! The subquest will fail in ten seconds.”

I clenched my teeth, and with a wild, demonic smile on my face, I shouted while laughing, “If I stop, everyone will die. If I don’t, I will be no better than a zombie. Hahaha, this is fucking ridiculous.”

Ding…

“Important memories detected in target’s mind!

Would you like to read target’s memories?

[Yes] [No]”

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