Chapter 16: Legion Arm

They were all about to speak ..

but someone beat them to it.

Alicia, who moments ago looked lifeless, sprang forward and grabbed Ethan by the stomach.

Her hands felt along his abdomen, confirming the horrific wound had truly vanished.

Her eyes trembled… then she burst into even harder tears.

“Waaaaaah! I thought… I thought you died… because of me!”

Her crying was so loud Ethan felt his head might split open.

“Obviously I’m alive. What idiot would die for the likes of you? Get off me!”

Ethan shouted, pushing her away … yet she chased after him, afraid he might be an illusion.

Seeing this… despite all the pressure and confusion earlier,

the Hearts’ expressions softened.

They smiled at how ridiculous the scene was.

Alicia cried for a long while, but at least she calmed down and no longer looked completely broken.

Now that Ethan was awake—and seeing the gazes fixed upon him—he realized he needed to say something.

“I know you’re confused… and want answers… but…”

Ethan bowed apologetically.

“I’m sorry. I can’t give you what you want… because I don’t have the answers either.”

“What do you mean?” Raiden asked.

Ethan awkwardly scratched his hair.

“I don’t remember anything about myself. To be precise… I lost part of my memory regarding everything before today’s battle.”

He paused for a few seconds… before continuing.

“I still remember my name… the world around me, the monsters, and the Curse of Darkness. But everything beyond that is gone.”

Ethan then raised his hand.

“And… I know I am both cursed… and blessed.”

At those words, the Hearts showed mixed reactions .. shock, confusion… and doubt.

“Out of nowhere… you obtained a blessing and the highest tier of curse at the same time?” Moon asked.

Ethan nodded.

“Yes. My blessing allows me to turn the souls of those I kill into weapons… and apparently, I can also seize the weapons of others.”

He sounded particularly excited about the last part.

He had stolen the Ember Hunter’s weapon — and it was no ordinary armament.

Within it resided ash of war … that astonishing telekinesis.

Ethan realized that once he reached the required level to wield it, he would be able to use that telekinesis — even that bullet-like spiral strike.

The greatness of the Legendary Weapons Master blessing had finally begun to reveal itself.

It was a single ability… yet it allowed Ethan to wield an infinite number of abilities depending on the weapon he held.

Telekinesis had been the weapon’s power .. not the Ember Hunter’s.

In other words, if he played his cards right…

Ethan could even wield the powers of bosses.

The Hearts naturally understood this.

“I’ve never heard of a blessing like that before… but it’s undoubtedly top-tier,” Moon said, now looking at Ethan from an entirely different perspective.

He was like a riddle .. bearing both an extraordinary blessing and the highest level of curse.

“I believe what he’s suffering from… is the effect of that curse,” Moon added, drawing everyone’s attention.

“This is only my interpretation — it may be right or wrong — but from what I know, Blood Eclipse curses surpass human comprehension and cause many effects. Memory loss… and the loss of his level may both stem from it.”

That was Moon’s conclusion.

Completely wrong .. yet Ethan didn’t deny it.

In fact, he was relieved she had provided a convincing excuse on her own.

Meanwhile, Raiden asked an important question.

“Is there a way to lift the curse?”

Moon shook her head.

“I don’t know… No one has ever survived a Blood Eclipse. It may require a priest of god-tier to cure it.”

“God-tier?!” Raiden and Chai shouted at once.

Their reaction was perfectly justified.

God-tier was the pinnacle of power — only one individual of each class could ever reach it.

A god-tier priest… such a being was utterly unattainable.

“Don’t worry. We don’t even know the curse’s effects, and there’s no immediate threat to my life,” Ethan said with a smile.

“I appreciate your concern, but don’t burden yourselves over me.”

“Don’t say that. We’ve always been together, Ethan. Your memory loss changes nothing… you’ll always be my closest friend,” Raiden said firmly, leaving Ethan unable to reply.

The former owner of this body had shared deep bonds with these people .. and Ethan didn’t know whether that was a blessing… or a curse.

Raiden stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“We’ll return home together. We’ll restore your memories little by little. So don’t worry.”

“Yeah! We’ll never leave you alone, big brother!” Chai hurried to Raiden’s side.

Moon simply nodded.

Alicia… was still in her own world.

Ethan frowned faintly in response, staring at Raiden’s large hand.

This kind of relationship…

He had never experienced anything like it in his previous life. It was all new to him.

And rather than happiness, it unsettled someone as solitary as he was.

Still, he hid it beneath a practiced smile .. the same fake smile he’d worn for years during his game streams.

“Thank you, everyone… I truly appreciate what you’re doing for me.”

Fortunately, his acting skills were excellent after years of forced smiles . convincing enough to fool them all.

Raiden nodded happily and withdrew his hand.

Then his gaze shifted elsewhere… specifically, behind Ethan.

“You said you can turn the souls of those you kill into weapons, right?”

“That’s right… why?” Ethan replied, puzzled.

Raiden pointed at something important.

“If you have that ability… why not turn the Ember Hunter’s soul into a weapon?”

Ethan raised a brow.

“That’s impossible. A boss’s soul goes to whoever dealt the most damage — and I did nothing but direct you.”

He turned toward Alicia and Moon.

“One of them must have obtained the boss soul.”

When a boss dies, the trapped souls within it scatter .. the souls of its victims and distribute evenly among those who defeated it.

But the boss’s own soul falls only to the one who inflicted the greatest damage.

Which is why Ethan excluded himself immediately.

But Raiden pointed again behind him.

“Then how do you explain this?”

“Huh?”

Ethan turned abruptly — only to freeze at the sight of a circular crimson-red flame floating before him.

“This… the Ember Hunter’s soul…”

It truly was.

And it had come to him.

As he stared at it, a choice appeared before his eyes .. absorb it and turn it into power… or forge it into a weapon.

“What the hell is going on? Why did I get it?” Ethan asked in confusion, only to find everyone looking at him.

“Umm… Ethan, you probably don’t remember… but you fought the Ember Hunter before we did,” Raiden said, pointing at Ethan’s severed arm.

“He’s the one who cut it off and injured you badly enough that we thought you were dead… but you dealt massive damage to him in return.”

Raiden’s words lit a spark in Ethan’s mind.

At the beginning of the battle, the Ember Hunter had only half his health remaining.

And his armor had already been heavily damaged…

Ethan had assumed Moon was responsible.

Apparently, he was wrong.

“You’re telling me… I alone took half his health?”

The realization made Ethan swallow hard.

The former owner of this body clearly hadn’t been ordinary .. perhaps even stronger than all the Hearts standing before him.

Ethan cursed his luck.

Someone that strong… reduced back to level one.

“He must’ve been around level forty… what rotten luck!!!” he blurted out without thinking, drawing confused looks from the others.

But he quickly regained composure, consoling himself with the boss soul he now possessed.

At least the previous owner had left him a proper gift.

“Do I absorb it… or turn it into a weapon?”

He sank into deep thought.

He already had the Ember Hunter’s sword and its ability, so turning the soul into another weapon might not be ideal — especially when he needed levels.

Absorbing a boss soul equaled thousands of souls… guaranteeing multiple level-ups.

The stronger the boss, the more levels gained.

Ethan had received some souls from the victims the Ember Hunter killed — but they would barely raise him to level five.

“Should I absorb it?”

He made his decision and reached to absorb it ..

Then stopped at the last second, his hand hovering centimeters away.

Slowly… a smile formed on his face.

“I can gather souls and grow stronger anytime… but boss souls are rare.”

And even if he obtained another one, it wouldn’t be like this .. every soul granted a different weapon.

Ethan shook his head.

“I’ll turn you into a weapon. So give me something good.”

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