Volume 9, Chapter 51 – Curse of Weakness

“My Lord… do you know this demon?”

Lowering her rapier, Laxy walked up to Yisi, her purple eyes filled with suspicion.

As an angel who loathed demons, it was natural for Laxy to be suspicious of Tina. Back in the Hels Kingdom, Yisi had hidden Tina precisely because she worried Laxy might harm her. Until now, besides Mary, no one knew she knew Tina.

But the situation was different now; Tina’s condition was extraordinary. Setting aside the need to find out who injured Tina so severely, just her critical state meant Yisi couldn’t simply abandon her.

With a grave expression, still holding Tina, Yisi stood up. At this point, it was best to be honest with her companions about Tina. Given Laxy’s absolute obedience, as long as Yisi ordered her not to harm Tina, Laxy wouldn’t act rashly. As for Pepe and the others, besides being curious about the existence of a Demon Lord, they likely wouldn’t do anything else. Of course, she still needed to keep a close eye on Tina. Demons were the enemies of the world; heaven knew what ordinary people would do if they discovered one.

“This is the Earth Demon Lord, Tartaros. I met her after some events back in the Hels Kingdom.”

“Demon Lord? This child is the Demon Lord?! Yisi, are you serious? How could a demon bearing the name of Demon Lord be beaten like this?”

Her expression instantly turning serious, Edith frowned, looking grave as she checked Tina’s breathing. Faint, almost ceasing… nothing about it resembled the name ‘Demon Lord.’ No one looking at Tina now would mistake her for one.

At the same time, Laxy also wore an expression of disbelief.

“Even Lady Trino couldn’t win in a one-on-one battle with the Demon Lord. Who could have injured the Demon Lord to such an extent…? My Lord, this might be related to the disappearance of the Kingdom of God. May I ask you not to kill Tartaros for the time being?”

Of course I won’t kill her. In fact, this suits my intentions perfectly.

Yisi looked towards Camilla.

“Camilla, help me clear out two rooms. Tina’s condition is critical. If left unattended, she might never wake up.”

“Okay, Onee-sama.”

After receiving Camilla’s nod, Yisi looked at Laxy again.

“Although I feel this order is unnecessary, Laxy, I forbid you from harming Tartaros in any way. Her condition allows for no further injury.”

“Yes, My Lord. Until she acts against you, I will abide by your command.”

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“Wait, Yisi. You’re not thinking of taking in this trouble, are you? Setting aside our group, if outsiders find out you’re harboring the Demon Lord, no explanation you give will be believed. Both the Blood Clan and the human world have painful memories of being harmed by Demon Lords. The moment people discover a Demon Lord, even mortal enemies will unite against her. Her existence will only bring trouble.”

“No… those are concerns for later. I can’t leave Tina like this. Tina is different from the Demon Lords of legend; she’s not beyond saving. I want to heal her. Pepe and Laxy, go about your business for now. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the plan from earlier proceeds as scheduled.”

As Yisi hurried towards the door carrying Tina, Edith sighed helplessly.

“I know your personality, but I didn’t expect you’d even help a Demon Lord. Hah, I understand. Let’s treat the Demon Lord as a guest for now. The legendary ferocious Tartaros actually looks like just a child. I wonder what her blood tastes like.”

“Let’s talk about those things after Tina wakes up.”

Smiling wryly at Edith’s last sentence, Yisi carried Tina towards the cleared-out room.

…

After placing the blood and dirt covered Tina onto the soft bed, Yisi began to check her condition. Now, only she and Tina were in the room. The only light source was a dim, goose-yellow magic lamp. The surroundings were so quiet it felt like even a pin drop could be heard.

“HP below 5%, MP completely depleted… Just what kind of powerful enemy could reduce you to this state?”

Tina possessed not only the outrageous magic [Realm of Manipulating Fate], which dragged enemies down to her level, but also a spell similar to Yisi’s [Third Form Awakening], [Blessing of the Earth Mother]. Added to that, Tina’s own level surpassed 100. With Ouranos dead and the world dragon reduced to a soul, Yisi could only think of the remaining Demon Lord, Styx. But even if there were differences in strength among the Demon Lords, the gap shouldn’t be this large. Not to mention Tina had a group of Fallen Angels under her command, and the Demon Lord’s castle was hidden within a special barrier. There was no way she should end up in such a sorry state.

“And those last words.”

Tina had asked her for help, meaning she had encountered trouble she couldn’t handle, something only Yisi could resolve.

Yisi raised an eyebrow.

“Ultimately, the first person she sought out when in trouble was actually me… Has she reached a dead end? While this feeling of being needed is good, the circumstances are terrible. Anyway, let’s restore your condition first.”

Tina was a demonic creature. In “Ragnarøk,” holy and light attribute healing magic were like poison to demons. Demonic creatures usually relied on negative energy healing to restore HP. The problem was, that was a setting from “Ragnarøk.” What if the demons of this world couldn’t accept negative energy? Using it rashly might harm Tina instead. Given her current HP, any mistake could lead to irreversible consequences.

“Using magic potions is safer than magic. Even undead can recover wounds after contact with magic potions; demons should be fine too.”

Just in case, Yisi chose to test the effect with a low-grade magic potion first. She took out a low-grade potion produced in this world. Its effect was to restore some MP and HP within half a minute, visibly manifesting as the healing of wounds not involving bones.

Taking out the small bottle containing pale blue liquid, Yisi uncorked it and poured it onto Tina’s lower abdomen. Just like the first time she saw Tina, her petite body was clad only in extremely revealing attire, arguably no different from underwear. Her chest, abdomen, thighs, and entire back—large swathes of skin—were exposed. The only clothing with significant fabric was the decorative black cape, and now even that was riddled with burn holes and tears from battle.

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Such attire would surely be provocative on a young woman like Lin or Evelyn, but on Tina, it only evoked pity—she was simply too underdeveloped.

The pale blue liquid was quickly absorbed by Tina’s skin. Yisi looked at her [Omniscient Map]—HP recovered by less than 1%. But frustratingly, this 1% was quickly deducted, and Tina’s HP dropped back below 5%.

“It dropped back again? Are there wounds?”

Yisi couldn’t help but examine Tina’s body. However, due to the bloodstains and dirt, she couldn’t see where the wounds were.

“Guess I have to clean the clothes and stains first… Such a little girl’s body… This is to save you, don’t say things like making me take responsibility later.”

She had absolutely no interest in such an undeveloped body. To be precise, anyone interested should go to prison. Tina looked no different from an eight-year-old human girl, even though her actual age might be older than Laxy’s.

Condensing a magic blade on her fingertip, Yisi easily cut away the scant fabric on Tina’s body. Then she called Laxy to help wipe Tina clean. During this process, Tina’s HP remained unchanged at 5%, neither increasing nor decreasing. Soon, Laxy finished cleaning. When the goose-yellow light shone on Tina’s naked form, reflecting a delicate, infant-like, lustrous glow, Yisi discovered the source of the problem.

The reason Tina’s HP stayed at 5% wasn’t because of her wounds, but because she was cursed. From Yisi’s perspective in Third Form Awakening, capable of seeing the flow of elements in the air, Tina’s abdomen and heart were like punctured balloons. No matter how much magic power Tina recovered, it would leak out from those spots. Additionally, there was an ominous black brand on her left chest, very similar to the Curse of Weakness Yisi had seen described in books.

Placing the wooden basin, blackened by dirty blood and soil, aside, Laxy wiped her hands, folded her wings behind her, and approached Yisi, saying gravely, “Her breathing is still very faint.”

Even Laxy could see that Tina’s current state was far from normal. While she was cleaning Tina’s body, Yisi had used no less than ten bottles of magic potion. The life force and magic power contained in some of them were beyond anything Laxy had ever encountered. If Yisi had used such potions in the forest, just the leaking aura alone would have been enough to make the surrounding plants grow wildly.

“My Lord, what’s wrong with Tartaros?”

“The magic circuits in her body are obstructed by residual magic traces left by a weapon, preventing recovery. Her life force is also affected by a Curse of Weakness; no matter how much is restored, she immediately returns to a near-death state. Laxy, besides the three Great Demon Lords and the world dragon, is there anything else in this world that can threaten a Demon Lord?”

“If there is, it would only be my revered Goddess Ymir.”

“…I see.”

The Goddess probably wouldn’t use a dark-type Curse of Weakness.

So Styx is indeed the most likely suspect.

Clicking her tongue softly, Yisi took a deep breath. Without dispelling the curse, any method she used to restore Tina’s life force would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause—a futile effort. Even if she used high-grade potions from “Ragnarøk,” they would only heal the various wounds on Tina’s body; the instantly restored full health would quickly vanish due to the curse. Generally, the best counter for dark-type curses was holy or light attribute magic, but using those elements might harm Tina. She had to consider other solutions.

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Is the simplest, most brute-force method the only one left?

Taking a deep breath, Yisi covered her entire right arm with magic, then placed her right hand on Tina’s heart, where the Curse of Weakness was located. The moment she touched the brand, Yisi felt a stinging pain on her skin. Of course, it was only stinging. In Third Form Awakening, her various resistances were frighteningly high.

After about ten seconds, Yisi narrowed her eyes.

Like leeches smelling blood, numerous tentacles instantly emerged from the black brand on Tina’s chest. As if trying to engulf Yisi’s entire right hand, countless black tentacles elongated continuously, wrapping tightly around her hand. It looked like Yisi was at a disadvantage, but the Curse of Weakness didn’t know this was exactly the effect Yisi wanted. Letting the leech-like black tentacles greedily cling to her hand, once enough tentacles had attached, Yisi slowly began to exert force in her right hand.

[Absolute Weakening]

[Life Force Drain]

[Soul Siphon]

[Mana Drain]

[Elemental Stripping]

The moment the spells ended, the black tentacles writhing on Yisi’s hand became immobile, as if caught in a gravity field. Looking closely, one could see them pulsing rhythmically, as if transporting something. However, the direction wasn’t from Yisi to the tentacles, but from the tentacles to Yisi.

What flowed were life force, soul, and magic power. To prevent the tentacles from drawing power from the surrounding air, Yisi had also used magic to weaken the curse itself and to clear all surrounding elements.

“As expected. Just an ordinary curse couldn’t possibly devour even ‘Ragnarøk’ potions completely. Only something with life could consume so much life force at once. Let’s see how long this parasitic thing can last.”

As long as she didn’t stop, the process of absorbing life force and magic power would continue indefinitely. Normally, the drain would stop if the target released her. But because Yisi’s strength was overwhelmingly superior to the curse’s, like a vortex, it firmly locked the curse onto her hand. Therefore, unless Yisi consented, the curse could never escape the fate of being drained dry.

In less than five seconds, the leech-like tentacles rapidly withered, finally falling limply from Yisi’s hand. Yisi then grabbed their elemental forms, pulled them forcefully out of Tina’s body with a slight tug, then clenched her fists, crushing the curse’s empty husk.

“Hah. Thought that would take more effort. Not much after all.”

“My Lord, what did you do?”

“Dispelled a curse.”

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“But I didn’t see anything… Aren’t curses supposed to be dispelled only by holy and light magic? My Lord didn’t use such magic, did you? I could only feel elements gathering crazily into your body just now. And just being near you, I felt like my soul was about to separate from my body, almost as if you were trying to pull my soul out…”

Laxy clutched her chest, still shaken.

“Did it affect you, Laxy…? Sorry, I’ll be more careful next time.”

Yisi clapped her hands, shaking off the unpleasant feeling of the leeches crawling on her hand.

In Laxy’s eyes, what I did must have looked like fighting air. Only she, in Third Form Awakening, capable of seeing the flow of elements, could perceive the true form of the Curse of Weakness.

“Next, I just need to clear the residual magic traces in her abdomen and heart, and Tina’s magic and life force will recover.”

“Will she wake up soon?”

Laxy’s question made Yisi take another look at Tina. On that young face, there were traces resembling tear tracks. Her thin, shallow eyebrows were slightly furrowed. Perhaps because the curse was broken and some strength had returned, Tina’s fists were clenched, her face contorted in pain, her chest heaving dramatically like someone fleeing for their life.

Hesitating for a moment, Yisi took a small step forward, took Tina’s hands, and crossed them over her chest. Then she took out a blanket and covered Tina’s pure, unblemished body. In just a few breaths, Tina calmed down again. Tucking the blanket tightly around Tina’s shoulders, Yisi let out a soft breath.

“Her life force and magic power will recover quickly, but the mental damage will take some time to heal. Judging by her state, she must have suffered a considerable blow. Let her sleep a little longer. It will take at least a week before she wakes up. Mary will take care of her during this time. Laxy doesn’t need to force herself.”

“No… After seeing the Demon Lord is such a small child, even I can’t help but feel pity. Angels and demons may be irreconcilable, but I will not harm a demon in its youth. I have seen Tartaros before; that Demon Lord was not such a small child. I wish to investigate further before deciding. Please entrust her to me, My Lord.”

Perhaps Tina’s tear-streaked face evoked Laxy’s compassion. Laxy’s usually stern expression was now exceptionally complex. Yisi tilted her head, then smiled.

“Alright. While Camilla and I are away in the Empire tomorrow, Tina will be in your care, Laxy.”

“Yes. Please rest assured, My Lord.”

“Okay.”

Taking one last look at Tina lying on the bed, Yisi nodded and turned to leave the room.

The matter concerning Red and Purple cannot be delayed any longer.