75) Cursed (Patreon)

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{3rd Pov}

Ember took a step back as the man followed up with a powerful swing of his greatsword.

The attack produced a sharp shockwave that tore through the ground, splitting it into two. The resulting crack was nearly two meters wide and stretched for almost a dozen meters.

Thankfully, Ember had already retreated several steps backwards sideway with his fast reactions.

Agility and magic were his two strongest suits, after all.

Andrew immediately shifted into a charging stance, while Ember also prepared himself and took a stance of his own.

Andrew grinned as he forcefully sank his feet deeper into the already cracked ground.

A huge amount of force was exerted through his legs as he launched himself toward Ember.

His longsword swung forward in a deadly arc, carrying tremendous force behind the attack.

Ember met the collision head on.

He immediately applied a technique to deflect the incoming strike, but the moment their weapons collided, he felt his hand go numb from the sheer force behind Andrew's attack.

The overwhelming impact sent Ember flying backward.

His body crashed straight through a stone wall before he was thrown outside, tumbling through the air as he twisted his body in midair as he quickly regained his balance before landing on the ground.

Ember immediately looked back toward Andrew.

The man casually swung his greatsword, tearing the remaining section of the wall apart as he walked outside, his eyes remaining firmly fixed on Ember.

“Can't believe you were actually able to react to my attacks despite being only a Level 3,” Andrew said as he once again took a combat stance.

“However, I will show you the difference between a Level 3 and a Level 4!”

The moment he finished speaking, he launched himself toward Ember like a bolt.

His sheer speed was so great that several afterimages appeared behind him as he crossed the distance between them.

Andrew swung his greatsword with all the strength he could muster.

Ember immediately swung his own weapon to meet the attack head on.

The moment their weapons collided, a tremendous shockwave spread outward in every direction.

The ground beneath them cracked from the impact.

Ember's feet sank deeper into the earth as he struggled against the overwhelming force behind Andrew's strike, while his hands nearly went completely numb from the sheer strength of the collision once again.

In fact he could feel an intense pain shooting through his hand.

His wrist bone and several of his finger bones had fractured from the sheer force of the collision.

Meanwhile, Andrew could not believe that this guy was actually stupid enough to meet a heavy fighter who was an entire level above him head on.

Not only once, but twice in a row.

Andrew pulled his greatsword back, preparing to swing again and finish the exchange.

Ember, however, simply pointed the tip of his sword toward him.

Andrew swung his weapon again, and then...

Boom!

A torrent of hellish blue flames erupted from the tip of Ember's sword, shooting directly toward Andrew's face at almost point-blank range.

The trajectory of Andrew's greatsword did not stop despite the sudden attack.

However, Ember only received a deep cut across his left hand before quickly taking several steps backward.

His body was already covered in a bright glow as he immediately activated his magic, [Cure-Se], which he could use instantly without needing to chant.

Yes, Ember had learned chantless magic after surviving the Behemoth's poison.

However, only his healing magic could be cast instantly without requiring any chant.

Thankfully, either because of his experience or because of some skill he had subconsciously developed while learning to use his self-healing magic without chant, he had become capable of silently casting all of his other spells as well.

That meant although they were not instant cast spells, nor could he completely cast them without a chant but instead of speaking the chant out loud like everyone else, Ember could simply chant it inside his mind.

That was why he had remained mostly silent throughout the entire fight.

He had deliberately been meeting Andrew's attacks head on, even though he knew just how much stronger the Level 4 was compared to him and how foolish this decision was from outsider's viewpoint.

His goal was to create the perfect opportunity to fire his magic directly at Andrew's face from almost point-blank range.

By forcing the battle into close combat and making Andrew believe that he was willing to fight him head on, Ember could quietly prepare his magic in his mind without giving away his intentions and the moment an opening appeared he could unleash it without warning.

The reason Ember had not used silent chanting magic in any major fight before this was simple.

First, he did not want to expose this ability.

It would definitely attract the attention of the Gods if they discovered that someone was capable of using magic without speaking the chant aloud, regardless of whether they heard about it from someone else or witnessed it themselves.

If the Gods became interested in him because of this ability, his life would become a living hell.

Secondly, during his fight with Merina, he had never really gotten the opportunity to use silent magic properly.

During the first half of their fight, she had beaten him so badly that he could barely think properly, much less calmly chant a spell inside his mind.

Then, during the latter half of that fight, he had only used his instant, chantless healing magic.

And when he eventually used two different magics simultaneously, he had been forced to chant his spells out loud to maintain their stability.

After all, casting magic without speaking the chant was already extremely difficult.

Trying to maintain the spell purely through a mental chant required even more concentration.

And attempting to use two different magics simultaneously while doing that was even harder.

So, he had not used it in that fight.

But here?

He finally had the perfect opportunity.

Andrew had been busy blurting out all of his deeds and explaining everything because of the order given by the Prince, giving Ember enough time to prepare his magic silently.

After successfully fooling him and creating the opening he needed, Ember had finally managed to land a solid hit on him.

His magic was already as powerful as Level 4, both his Fire Magic and Lightning Magic.

That attack should have at least cooked Andrew alive.

Yet what Ember saw next completely shocked him.

Andrew Tate, slowly stepped out of the smoke.

He was completely unharmed with not a single serious injury that could be seen on his body.

A silver glow covered his entire body, clearly indicating that some kind of powerful defensive ability had protected him from Ember's attack.

“Haha! You almost got me there...”

Then Andrew's eyes narrowed.

“Also, I never heard you chant.”

His expression immediately became serious as he followed his words with a massive smash attack.

Ember was unable to dodge it.

He could only raise his sword and use both hands to withstand the incoming blow, keeping his right hand on the hilt while placing his left hand against the blade.

He had tilted the sword at an angle, making sure that the force of the attack would not cause the blade to slide down and slice his own palm off.

Even then, the sheer force behind Andrew's strike was overwhelming.

Ember could feel his fingers becoming numb almost instantly, while blood began flowing from them after that single blow.

His knees sank deeper into the already cracked cobblestone road as he struggled to withstand the pressure.

Ember quickly activated his healing magic again before leaping backward to create some distance.

However, Andrew Tate immediately shouted,

“Voided!”

In an instant, Ember's healing magic stopped working.

His eyes widened in shock.

'What?!'

Before he could properly understand what had happened, Andrew rushed toward him once again.

His speed was so great that multiple afterimages were left behind as he closed the distance between them.

Andrew swung his greatsword from the left.

Ember immediately placed his own sword in front of him to block the incoming blow.

However, the sheer force behind the impact was simply too much.

His body was thrown away like a ragdoll, flying through the air before crashing violently through the rubble of the destroyed houses, his body dragging several meters across the cracked ground.

Andrew jumped from his position, leaving behind a powerful shockwave as he launched himself more than a dozen meters into the air.

Then, like a berserker, he swung his greatsword down with all the power he could muster toward Ember, who was still lying on the ground.

The High-Elf barely managed to react in time.

He immediately rolled away from the incoming strike, narrowly avoiding the blade as it slammed into the ground where he had been lying only moments ago.

The impact produced another powerful shockwave that rippled throughout the entire district.

The ground was violently torn apart, forming a clear ravine nearly two meters deep and stretching for dozens of meters.

Meanwhile, Ember hissed in pain as he quickly forced himself back onto his feet.

Blood was trickling down from the left side of his head.

He instinctively reached toward his ear before his expression changed.

He realized that his Elven ear had been cut off.

‘This cannot go on! I need to silently chant a powerful magic again!’ he thought as he quickly prepared to create more distance between himself and Andrew.

His first plan was to chant the wind magic and use it to boost his speed.

But just as he began preparing the spell, a sudden wave of dizziness hit him.

Before Ember could properly react, Andrew charged toward him once again.

He swung his greatsword from the right, forcing Ember to raise his weapon and block the attack once more.

The impact was overwhelming.

Ember's body was thrown into the air like a ragdoll, and the force of the attack caused his sword to slip completely out of his grip.

Andrew immediately jumped several meters into the air after him, following Ember's falling body without giving him even a moment to recover.

He then swung his greatsword vertically downward.

At the very last moment, Ember raised both of his arms and formed a cross with them in front of his body.

The attack struck him with tremendous force.

Although he somehow managed to survive the impact and land on the ground, both of his arms were violently sliced apart and thrown outward in opposite directions.

Before Ember could even recover, Andrew followed up without missing a beat.

He landed directly on Ember, driving his body violently into the ground.

The impact shattered several of Ember's ribs, and blood immediately spurted from his mouth.

Andrew took several heavy breaths as he looked down at Ember, who was lying on the ground in a completely hopeless state, his arms still trembling from the battle.

‘That was close... I nearly died if not for the Magic Item,’ he thought as he stared at Ember.

He looked at the man who had become known as the ‘Mysterious Saviour’ of the slaves.

‘It would be too easy to simply kill him...’

‘I want to see the despair on his face first,’ he thought with a grin.

Instead of immediately finishing him off, Andrew placed his greatsword on the ground.

Meanwhile, Ember's vision was rapidly turning black.

His consciousness was fading, and he could barely understand what was happening around him.

Then he suddenly felt himself being grabbed.

Before he could even react, his body was lifted from the ground and thrown into the air.

Andrew had thrown Ember nearly a dozen meters into the air before immediately following after him.

Once he reached Ember in midair, he unleashed a flurry of punches against him.

Each punch landed with tremendous force.

Ember felt his bones cracking and his organs rupturing from the repeated impacts before his body was sent crashing into another pile of rubble.

His mind had become hazy, and he could barely keep himself conscious.

For some reason, his chantless instant self-healing magic was not working at all.

As Andrew landed on the ground once again, he immediately grabbed Ember by his hair and spat directly onto his face.

“Dumbass. Thanks for keeping your hair long.”

“Now I can properly pay you for your heroism.”

Andrew then swung him around by his hair and violently hammered his body straight into the ground.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Each impact caused more damage to Ember's already broken body.

His nose was eventually broken from the repeated impacts, several of his teeth were knocked out, and even more blood poured from his mouth as his battered body was repeatedly slammed against the ground.

As Andrew finally released his hold over Ember, he let the battered man remain on the ground, his body completely broken and barely moving.

Andrew spat to the side before speaking.

“We had several plans... His Highness had prepared different ones for different scenarios.”

“You must be wondering why I am telling you all of this?”

“Listen here, bastard.”

Andrew knelt down and leaned closer to Ember, an evil grin spreading across his face.

“You are the reason this city ended up in flames.”

“And you are the reason I targeted the slaves.”

“Because an adventurer capable of slaughtering half the forces in this city was present here, I had to change my tactics.”

“So I targeted the slaves and the city instead.”

He grinned as he watched Ember's battered face.

“So remember this.”

“This was your fault.”

Tears silently slid down Ember's broken face as Andrew's words sank into his mind.

“Haha! I like that look.”

“If you were not here, if you had not been such a smartass and tried to save those slaves, and if you had not compromised my plan by meeting with that bitch who calls herself a Princess, then they would still be alive,” Andrew mocked.

Meanwhile, Ember could feel his body growing weaker and weaker.

But it was not only his body that was breaking down anymore.

His spirit was being crushed by Andrew's words as well.

‘So... I was the problem all along,’ he thought in despair.

‘If only I had not tried to be a hero.’

‘If only I had not left the Alf's Forest.’

‘If only I had never been born in this world.’

Ember blamed himself for everything that had happened.

Every decision he had made.

Every person he had failed to save.

Every disaster that had followed after he tried to help someone.

His thoughts returned to Ruri.

He remembered her final words, her weak voice asking him to save the other people instead of wasting his remaining time trying to keep her alive.

The memory only made the guilt inside him grow heavier.

He remembered Aurora's love.

His mother's teasing.

His sister Riveria spoiling him.

And Athena...How she used to call him bro before everything went to shit between them.

‘Sorry, everyone... In the end, I was just a failure.’

‘The only thing that remained the same in both of my lives.’

Ember thought those words as he slowly closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Andrew watched him carefully.

Seeing that Ember was no longer breaking down any further and seemed to have simply lost all hope, Andrew gradually lost interest.

He had wanted to torture him more.

He wanted to break him even further.

He wanted Ember to understand exactly what price he had to pay for crossing him, and especially for interfering with His Highness' carefully prepared plan.

But now it seemed like Ember had already reached his limit due to the courtesy of the Curse placed on him.

Andrew looked at Ember's completely unrecognizable face, he eventually sighed and prepared himself to finish him off.

“By the way, I never even got your name.”

“To be capable of using chantless magic...” Andrew clicked his tongue. “Tsk, tsk. If only I had some sort of skill that could steal abilities from others.”

“Just like I have a skill that can seal someone else's magic,” he muttered out loud, inadvertently revealing the reason Ember had been unable to use his healing magic.

“Oh... It seems I said that out loud.”

Andrew shrugged before continuing.

“Very well, then. Let me tell you exactly what kind of difference lies between us.”

“Not only do I possess this skill that can completely freeze someone's magic making it unusable for twenty-four hours, but His Highness also obtained this item for me, which can block any magic up to Level 5.for a few times.”

“My sword is also a cursed weapon.”

“You never stood a chance against me.”

“It is honestly laughable that you even thought you could go against me,” Andrew mocked relishing in the feeling of superiority.

He then raised his leg, preparing to kick Ember directly in the face and finally finish him once and for all.

Ember meanwhile closed his eyes, waiting for his death, when he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

“Mortal, don't you know that villains die because they talk too much?”

The voice boomed with divine intensity.

Andrew's entire body froze in place.

No matter how desperately he tried to move, he remained completely paralyzed, unable to even twitch a single muscle.

Then, a terrifying pressure descended upon him.

His legs immediately gave out beneath him, forcing him to kneel without any hesitation.

Andrew gritted his teeth as he struggled against the overwhelming pressure and looked toward the person responsible.

It was a woman.

A very beautiful woman.

She had long golden hair that flowed behind her, seemingly moving like liquid gold in the air, while her golden pupils were filled with an overwhelming divine presence.

Every step she took left behind a trail of glowing golden particles that slowly dispersed into the air.

Her very presence made it clear that the person standing before him was not someone he could ever even dream of hoping to go against.

Her eyes meanwhile looked at Andrew with nothing but contempt and utter disgust, as if she were looking at garbage, at a piece of shit that had somehow been allowed to stand in her presence.

Then she turned her attention toward Ember.

The moment she saw his current state, her expression changed.

He no longer had both arms.

His face had been so horribly broken and battered that it was almost completely unrecognizable, while serious wounds covered nearly every part of his body.

The moment Athena saw the condition he was in, her eyes became even colder.

Ember meanwhile struggled to open his eyes.

It took him considerable effort just to regain enough consciousness to look at the figure standing nearby.

But once he finally managed to focus his vision on her, he immediately realized who it was.

The Goddess slowly knelt beside him and gently planted a kiss on his forehead.

“You don't need to worry, bro.”

“Your Athy is here,” the woman said, her voice filled with extreme fondness as she looked at him.

It was none other than the Goddess of Wisdom herself.

Athena.

To be continued...

(A/N: No, Athena was not hiding. She had indeed returned to the Heavens back when she killed herself to prove she was no longer a threat to Ember, but she is now back. I will tell the truth and events that lead to it in following chaps, for now I am too tired. It's 2:19 Am here.

Also fck the PS5 seller, if not for the fact I have verified his shop and tax license and he has given me receipts, I would have already called it scam. But mtf is not responding properly, has taken more money than it was supposed to cost for product saying it is just to show taxes and will be refunded in 2 mins(Has been two days since).

He still had contacted briefly ever now and then saying call u in 5mins or proceeding. Never got refund, and neither on what's going on my delivery other than it got dispatched(From his mouth).

He said he will do it tmrw as today shop's closed. Will wait two more days, if not then I will let my cousin visit his shop, since he lives in same city(1400Kms away from my home sob)

And I will know if it is scam or not. Hopefully government websites are still trustable for this kinda shit.

PS; HE is the reason I cannot upload two chaps, because of the stress)