Chapter 79: A Curse and a Crown

On the outskirts of Ashvarn…

at the very edge of the Curse.

The land showed a strange contrast.

On one side, green grass spread across the earth, carrying faint signs of life.

On the other, the ground was barren and dead—corrupted by the Curse.

There was no clear boundary separating the two.

At a glance, it seemed as though the lands might merge at any moment.

Yet they never did.

Like oil and water, they remained close—yet never truly mixed.

The reason behind this unnatural contrast was the struggle between the Curse and the Bonfire of Ashvarn, whose flames held the corruption at bay.

Beyond that fragile boundary began the vast territories of the Curse …

lands whose true limits no one knew.

A place that was nothing less than a nightmare.

Creatures beyond the scope of human imagination roamed there.

That was certainly true of the deeper regions of the cursed lands.

But here—near the borders of Ashvarn—

monsters were rarely seen.

And when they did appear, they were usually so weak that any seasoned knight could kill them without difficulty.

From among the withered bushes, strange figures occasionally emerged …

wandering soldiers attempting to approach Ashvarn.

They wore simple rusted armor scarred with countless scratches.

Their faces were disfigured.

Sometimes even stripped of skin.

They looked both alive… and dead at the same time.

Each of them carried a weapon—

either a medium-length slender sword, or sometimes a large axe.

They staggered forward slowly, as if afflicted by some terrible illness.

But their advance did not last long.

From nowhere …

a massive greatsword streaked through the air, glowing with crimson energy, piercing their heads one after another.

With a single strike, three of them fell dead.

The sword continued spinning through the air for a moment…

before returning to its owner.

The sudden attack alerted the others immediately.

Four of them rushed forward, swinging their blades toward his neck.

Seeing them approach, Ethan sighed in annoyance before stepping forward.

He cut them down one after another with effortless ease.

Holding the Executioner Sword through his Legion arm, Ethan now possessed seven additional strength points after upgrading the arm to its second level.

Because of that, his destructive power had increased dramatically.

And when combined with the physical strength of his demonic body…

he could now unleash power comparable to those who wielded Aura Armor.

SLASH!

His strikes were heavy and brutal.

They lacked elegance, but perfectly suited the savage weight of his enormous sword.

Within moments—

Ethan had slaughtered them all.

Yet he looked far from satisfied.

“They barely give me 100 souls each…”

“At this rate, it’ll take forever for me to reach the next level.”

He grumbled, irritated by the weakness of the enemies near Ashvarn and the pitiful amount of souls they yielded.

“Don’t be so impatient, Ethan,” a voice said behind him.

“You’ll reach the Advanced Rank sooner or later.”

Raiden approached from behind, checking the area.

The rest of their squad was hunting nearby, eliminating any creature attempting to approach Ashvarn.

“Hardly any monsters show up along the border,” Ethan said, kicking the severed head of one of the creatures he had just killed.

Raiden studied the armor they wore.

“They were probably wandering mercenaries,” he said.

“Foolish enough to wander too close to the Curse’s boundary.”

“And that’s what turned them into monsters.”

Only members of the Heart clan and humans of sufficiently high rank could survive within the influence of the Curse.

Ordinary people…

were transformed into monsters the moment the Curse touched them.

“How stupid does someone have to be to walk into the Curse willingly?” Ethan muttered.

“It’s basically suicide.”

“Mercenaries are different from us, Ethan,” Raiden replied.

“They’re people with nowhere to belong.”

“They wander the world, selling their services to whoever can pay.”

Raiden spoke with the ease of someone familiar with such things.

“They’re often used in wars. Fighting someone else’s battles for money.”

“I heard from our elders—those who fought for the Kingdom of Ardyn against other nations—that they encountered plenty of them.”

There were countless wandering mercenaries across Midgard.

Most of them were weak.

But every now and then, a powerful one would appear among them.

“You call them weak,” Raiden said with a faint smile,

“but I’ve heard that one of the three strongest knights in all of Midgard is actually a mercenary.”

Ethan shook his head dismissively.

“You’re talking about one person among thousands of worthless scum.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that I can’t level up by killing weaklings like these.”

“Then you’ll have to wait for the next expedition,” Raiden said.

“We’re not allowed to venture deeper into the Curse unless it’s part of an official campaign.”

Ethan nodded as the two of them began walking back toward their companions.

But despite that nod …

his thoughts told a different story.

’You don’t understand, Raiden…’

’There won’t be another campaign this time.’

He remembered the announcement he had seen earlier that day.

The report about the two missing hunters.

Ethan had understood immediately.

They had probably discovered the path to Old Ashvarn.

And they had been foolish enough to enter it.

’Once the clan discovers that city…’

’they’ll send every hunter there immediately.’

It would become the highest priority target.

A direct threat to Ashvarn itself.

That city…

was effectively a Legacy Dungeon of its own.

And dungeons of that scale were extremely rare.

Whenever they appeared, they always hid horrors beyond imagination.

Most of Ethan’s thoughts were now focused on that city—

and how to prepare himself for it.

But there was another matter weighing heavily on his mind.

The Curse that burdened him.

Turning toward Raiden, he asked quietly:

“Tell me, Raiden…”

“Is there any chance the royal family of Ardyn might target us?”

Raiden looked slightly surprised when he heard the question.

“What’s wrong? Are you worried that something like what happened with Luciel might happen again?”

Ethan shook his head.

“It’s nothing like that. I simply have no intention of becoming someone’s slave.”

“There’s nothing worse than receiving orders you cannot refuse.”

The strange princess still lingered in his mind, and he remained wary that she might attempt something against him.

But his greater concern was the royal family as a whole.

Raiden thought for a moment before answering.

“The Ardyn royal family usually only targets the strong. They recruit them for wars.”

“Though… some of their more despicable members do occasionally target ordinary people from our clan.”

“Just like Luciel did with you.”

Raiden’s expression briefly hardened with anger and contempt as he mentioned the last part, but he quickly composed himself and continued.

“But we hunters are relatively safe from them.”

“The only orders they give us are to fight the Curse and the monsters to protect their borders.”

“You’re safe… unless a rare situation occurs.”

“Which is?”

Raiden glanced ahead toward the rest of their squad as he answered.

“If one of the maidens chooses to make you her knight.”

Ethan frowned slightly.

“What do you mean?”

Raiden kept walking as he explained.

“Sometimes, when a particularly promising warrior appears among the Heart clan, one of the maidens claims him early and makes him her knight.”

“That way, his loyalty belongs to her alone.”

It was a rare situation.

It only happened when the individual possessed extraordinary talent.

Ethan’s relationship with Luciel had never been that of knight and master.

Luciel already had her own knight—Victor.

That much Ethan already knew.

“Has that ever happened to a hunter before?” Ethan asked.

“Someone who became a maiden’s knight?”

Raiden’s face showed a trace of regret.

“Unfortunately… yes.”

“And the best example is standing right over there.”

“What?”

Raiden gestured toward Moon, who stood calmly watching the border of the Curse in case any monsters appeared.

“Moon has always been the most outstanding among our generation.”

“She’s a spellblade, blessed with the Phoenix Blessing.”

“And she’s also the granddaughter of the Uncrowned Emperor.”

“Her talent and lineage attracted attention.”

“And in the end, it drew the gaze of the Fourth Princess of Ardyn—Roswyn Ardyn.”

“She made Moon her knight when she was still very young.”

Ethan’s expression darkened slightly as he learned something he had never known about Moon.

’So she has a maiden of her own as well…’

That explained why her level was far higher than the rest of the squad.

Ethan wasn’t sure how he should react to this revelation.

Especially considering that his relationship with the girl had grown somewhat strained recently.

’I don’t have time to worry about someone else… when I myself am exposed to the same danger.’

Ethan thought quietly.

Which led him to a simple conclusion—

he needed to avoid standing out in the future.

Otherwise, his unique Blessings might attract the attention of one of the royal princes or princesses.

’Until I find a way to get rid of this curse… I have no other choice.’

After their brief conversation, the two returned to the others.

Moon was waiting for them.

More precisely—

she was waiting for Ethan.

“You arrived at the right time,” she said.

“Stop hunting and return to Ashvarn, Ethan.”

“Why?” he asked.

Moon answered calmly.

“My grandfather…”

She paused briefly before correcting herself.

“Sir Asterion Heart has summoned you.”

“He wants to see you at his sword training grounds.”

The Uncrowned Emperor had summoned him.

Ethan couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

He would have seen the old man that night anyway when he went to train with him.

“What does that old man want with me this early in the morning?” Ethan muttered aloud without thinking.

But Moon didn’t seem offended by the disrespectful way he spoke about her grandfather.

“I don’t know what he wants.”

“He only told me to inform you that he wishes to see you.”

“Nothing more.”

“I see…”

Ethan nodded and dismissed the Executioner Sword back into the dimensional space where his weapons were stored.

Then he turned to leave.

“Then I’ll head back now.”

“See you all later.”

He said his farewell and began walking away after Moon gave him a small nod.

The journey back was neither long nor short.

Ethan passed through the city gates and walked along the wide streets of Ashvarn.

“What could that old man Asterion want from me…?”

“Could it have something to do with the deal we made recently?”

Ethan wondered as he observed the architecture of the city around him.

And suddenly—

a similar scene surfaced in his memory.

“Every time I look at it…”

“The more I realize how similar they are.”

It looked almost identical.

The Old Ashvarn he had seen beneath the earth.

The buildings.

The streets.

The gothic Victorian architecture.

It was as if the same city had been split in two—

with the older half buried beneath the ground.

“There’s far too much mystery surrounding Old Ashvarn…”

“Especially since the Follower of Balance warned me about it.”

Her warning meant only one thing.

That place hid a valuable reward.

But also a danger great enough to match it.

And then there was that mysterious golden knight with the overwhelming presence.

“I have a bad feeling about that place…”

Ethan sighed as he headed toward the Hunter’s Paradise to meet Asterion.

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