“I... have been cursed!”
“What!?”
When those words left his teammate's mouth, the captain felt like his mind went blank for a moment.
A curse? What the hell was that?
Wasn't it supposed to be poison?
“Tell me the details. Lucas, take a few men to higher ground. See if anyone is trying to run away.”
Snapping out of it in seconds, the captain composed his face and spoke to the teammate with absolute seriousness.
He then whispered a command into the ear of a nearby subordinate.
Under normal circumstances, a cautious man like the captain would have found a quiet place to sit down and ask questions slowly.
After all, information was valuable; letting others overhear it for free was too great a loss.
But now, with four men out of commission without even a fight, plus the mystery of a curse he’d never encountered—and the fact that the incident had already been exposed—he decided to let him speak right there.
This way, he could at least earn some goodwill from the crowd while ‘putting their heads together.’
After all, just hearing the word ‘curse’ was enough to make anyone realize that no one was truly safe.
In reality, it wasn't just the captain; the teammates who hadn't been affected and the onlookers nearby were all dying to hear what was going on. It was a perfect alignment of interests.
“Black Magic: Pain Curse... It causes the target to feel excruciating pain throughout their body. The pain itself isn't lethal, but it cannot be removed by life potions, antidotes, or anything similar. It will persist until either the target or the caster dies.”
“What is this? Some kind of harassment?”
The captain couldn't help but complain aloud.
It only causes pain and doesn't kill—if that wasn't harassment, what was?
No, it was worse than harassment.
It was simply malicious.
Through the description of this curse, he could practically see the caster lurking behind the scenes, wearing a sinister, greasy grin as if a petty prank had just succeeded.
“And...”
“And what?”
“Witch Specialization...”
“...”
Well, that was that.
He didn't even need to waste brain cells thinking about it anymore.
This definitely had everything to do with the Witch race.
Everyone knew that most members of the Witch race loved all sorts of strange and bizarre research.
Research into magic was one of their major categories.
Before the Abandoned War, there were even magic scrolls for sale that allowed people to learn spells instantly.
Although they disappeared shortly after their release, those who managed to buy them all spoke of how successful the Witches' research was.
In fact, he himself had obtained a magic scroll made by a witch during the Abandoned War and learned a spell from it. As a direct beneficiary, his understanding was naturally more intuitive than others.
Meanwhile, the other three victims quickly opened their personal information, only to find the exact same thing.
“It's true!”
“Mine is also the Pain Curse.”
“Damn it! What the hell are those witches doing!?”
Looking at the words in their status windows, the men couldn't help but start swearing.
Four at once. If Lan Qingyou saw this scene, she would likely be very satisfied with her masterpiece.
No one should actually think Lan Qingyou would use the Book of Curses just to target one person.
One must remember that the Book of Curses could curse multiple people at once.
Under such circumstances, how could Lan Qingyou, who knew the Book of Curses so well, collect mana from only one person?
When she was gathering it, she had deliberately sought out several bits of mana residue that were so similar they were almost indistinguishable.
Furthermore, mana residue naturally tended to fuse with similar mana to slow down its dissipation.
That was what led to the current result.
“Captain, what do we do?”
With four men out of action before even reaching the dungeon, whether to continue and how to go about it were matters the captain had to consider.
Facing the gazes of his teammates, the captain felt a wave of despair wash over him.
What could he do? What the hell was he supposed to do! He was just as desperate!
He had originally planned to hide in a dungeon for a while, but the witches' revenge had come at the worst possible time, catching them right on their way out.
Not only were his men ‘injured,’ but they had also become the laughingstock of the entire city.
Don't think he hadn't noticed people holding back laughter the moment they heard the witches were behind this.
Some had even covered their mouths and run out of the crowd.
There was no doubt those guys were running off to have a good laugh where they wouldn't be seen.
Thank you for not laughing to our faces, how very polite of you.
Aside from those people, another group had pulled out their cards—some were taking photos, while others were busy typing.
They were clearly reporting to someone.
It made sense.
Curse. Black magic. Witches.
Any one of those words was enough to pique people's curiosity.
Of course, what they were most curious about was why the witches would curse them in the first place.
Well, why indeed? Such a hard thing to guess!
Just looking at the faces of those laughing told him they had already figured it out.
“Carry them back. I need to report this to the higher-ups first.”
Now was not the time to run a dungeon. They needed to go back, organize the information, and report it.
He believed the people above wouldn't be too hard on them once they received this intelligence.
After all, accepting a mission and then failing to act on it was an absolute taboo within the organization.
His only hope was that the shelter's magic shield could withstand the curse's attacks.
Out of their group of a dozen or so, four had been hit at once. Who knew if those vengeful Black Witches would continue their cursing spree?
And so, the group that had just left not long ago returned to the shelter, carrying their four cursed companions.
“Ow, ow, ow! Be gentle! I'm fragile! Careful, put me down slowly, damn it!”
A burly man who was being carried let out a cry of pain as he was placed on the sofa.
The teammate who had carried him back couldn't help but snort a laugh.
“You're a big brawny guy, and yet you're acting all delicate just because of a curse.”
Even though he knew it wasn't the time for jokes, he still couldn't help but want to tease him.
“Why don't you try it? Right now, I feel like I'm standing on the only block of ice in the middle of a sea of fire. If I move even a little bit, the flames around me burn me right up.”
Despite his rugged appearance, the burly man had quite a flair for vivid descriptions.
...
After the two finished their exchange, the shelter's hall fell into a heavy silence.
It wasn't just the captain; everyone was afraid.
A battle where they couldn't even see their opponent was the most disadvantageous situation for them.
If you punch a cloud, at least the cloud is there.
But they were essentially fighting the air.
How could they not be worried?
This suffocating atmosphere, where the air felt as thick as sludge, lasted until the captain reappeared after finishing his report.
“What's wrong with all of you?”
“Nothing. Just tell us what the higher-ups said.”
Breaking out of their silence, the teammates shook their heads and changed the subject.
“The word from above is that the mission continues. As for you four, they're sending people to perform a thorough examination and develop a treatment plan.”
The captain relayed the orders, which immediately sparked dissatisfaction among the four.
“So we're just going to be white mice?”
“It's better than being dead,” the captain said, his face grim.
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