Grizel stands before her 4 elite subordinates to hear their progress related to the previous assignments and it seems everything is going smoothly, but that is not the main reason for the sudden gathering.
After seeing the entire world is covered by a malicious black thick aura, proof of a strong curse, Grizel immediately heads to Tartarus's temporary camp to confirm it and find out it wasn't the world that is being cursed but...
Human.
She took a glance at the monsters at the cages, animals, plants, anything but human, but she couldn't find any black aura covering them, only humans that are being covered by this nasty thing including the 4 elite servants in front of her.
Grizel suddenly recalled when Athena said that only humans are restricted in leveling up, which means there is a high possibility this powerful curse is the cause of it.
'Is this curse related to the restrictions on leveling system for human beings?'
'Yes, Master. This curse was cast using forbidden magic with the sacrifice of the livings, and the power of the curse depends on the number of sacrifices'
'...'
Grizel is speechless thinking about how many lives have been sacrificed for it and what kind of powerful curse that is not only affects the entire human race but also their descendants endlessly.
'All of it must be connected to the Void Age, isn't it?'
In ancient times, there is nothing like restrictions on the leveling system, but then an unknown catastrophe befall upon the world erased half of the human race, the other races met their extinction, and now the fact that the survivors and their descendants are being cursed revealed.
'Just what the heck happened in the Void Age?'
'Sorry not sorry for increasing your curiosity but that information is still locked, Master hahaha'
Athena replied in a teasing tone back to her usual annoying self, taunting the devil.
'Tch'
Grizel doesn't want to argue with Athena anymore as she glances at the 4 loyal servants standing in front of her, all of them are covered by the black nasty aura, no wonder their power seems stuck and never advanced regardless of how much they are training.
Quantity is great, but for a secret organization, quality took the upper priority, therefore, Grizel decided to perform this risky experiment.
She wants to get rid of this curse on her loyal members.
"I want to test my new power, but I don't know the side effects of it, I call all of you in case thing goes awry since you are my most trusted subordinates"
Grizel said to the bewildered Levi, Lucy, Mammon, and Deus in front of her because of the sudden gathering, even Lucy who was scouting at the rebels territory in the west region, the opposite side of the continent from their temporary camp, was ordered to use a teleportation scroll and back to the camp leaving her scout members behind to continue the order without her, seems like the experiment this time is more dangerous than usual.
"Your wish is our command, My Lord"
All of them answered in hesitation, worried about their Lord, there's a possibility this experiment might endanger her looking at how careful she is in the preparation.
"Lucy, bring Emma to the training ground"
Swoosh
Lucy disappeared after a brief nod, the experiment this time doesn't take place in Grizel's lab, instead, the open field.
"Deus and Mammon clear the training ground, inform everyone to stay alert and don't let anyone go nearby"
"Levi, cover the whole area with double barrier"
"Yes, My Lord"
The 3 of them heed the command with anxious expressions, they never see their Lord being this cautious before as if they will face disastrous consequences if something is amiss in the preparation.
Grizel checked her condition and then drank a small bottle of HP potion, she still has a little fatigue because of the harvest in the South yesterday, after all, her rest was disturbed by the sudden unlocked information about the curse.
Feeling back to her perfect conditions, she did a little stretching before heading towards the training ground.
"Alright, Athena I'm counting on you"
"Leave it to me, Master"
Athena replied in confidence, as usual, Grizel needs her to record the data, information gained from the experiment, and calculate the damage of the backlash against this powerful curse.
She wanted to lift the curse of her subordinates, they will definitely become stronger and some talented people like Rex and her elites subordinates could be as strong as she is now in several years.
Of course, she is not that charitable to lift everyone's curse since this is limited to those who loyal to her.
Nevertheless, even if they miraculously reach the same level as her, Grizel would still be no match for them because she possesses God-tier artifacts and several Stones of God that will certainly increase in the future considering her rapacious personality.
"Ugh..."
Emma's weak groans could be heard as she arrived at the training ground, there is not even the slightest hint of pity nor hatred in Grizel's eyes towards this former personal maid of hers, someone who used to manipulates and spied on her for years, trying to lead her towards the path of destruction.
"K-kill me, please... I beg you"
Lately, that is the only thing she utters again and again like a broken record.
Grizel looks around the empty training ground, including her there are only Emma who lays weakly in front of her, and the 4 subordinates who stand in guard at the back firmly.
"Alright, I will begin the process"
She said as she gets closer leaning on the trembling Emma touching her head.
"In the name of Black Witch, heed my command, I order you to leave this human"
Oooooooong...
The black nasty aura which surrounds Emma started to become visible to other people, even Levi, Lucy, Mammon, and Deus who witnessed the ominous black thing from the closest distance got goosebumps because it emits an enormous amount of hatred...
All of them realize this curse was cast due to a strong resentment.
"GAAAARRRRGGHHHHHH"
Emma screams at the top of her lungs, loud enough to deafen the whole area, but it wasn't her voice, they were eerie voices of unknown males and females as if she was possessed by a bunch of devils, meanwhile, the black aura in her surrounding started to form into the imperfect shape humans, wailing around her.
All of the bystanders are shivering in silence don't want to disturb the silver-haired little girl who is focusing on erasing that creepy human-shaped black things.
Swooosshh...
As the aura of resentment erased, that creepy human-shaped black things were evaporated into the air, Emma's body started to glow while Grizel stepped back staggering to her feet, swaying a little.
"My Lord!"
Lucy grabs Grizel's tiny shoulders to help her standing while the others are in a position to protect her.
'Calculating process begins'
'Your HP is rapidly decreasing'
'90%'
'70%'
'40%'
'15%'
'10%'
Grizel took out a high HP potion from her storage ring in case her HP dropped below 5%, even though she won't get the complete data if she consumes the potion right away but she is not a typical mad scientist who would endanger herself to collect the data.
'8%'
'6%'
'The critical phase has passed, calculating the side effects of losing 94% of HP'
'Nauseous, dizziness, and barely holding on your consciousness'
Thankfully the dropped of her HP stopped at the remaining 6%, it was barely safe, this is the first time Grizel takes so much damage to her HP, even hunting high-level monsters never made her suffer like this.
'Apart from the dropped HP, no other damage detected'
Grizel heaved a sigh of relief, now is the time to observe the effect on Emma after she lifted the curse, since she is Wizard-Class Awakener, her magic might increase.
'The curse is successfully lifted, the restrictions on her leveling system has been completely erased'
Like a burst of water, Grizel could feel Emma's power grows exponentially, even the air around her is starting to waver.
'Emma is leveling up due to the accumulated EXP'
'Level 2'
'Level 3'
'Level 5'
'Level 10'
'Level 15'
'Level 17'
'Emma reached level 17, all of her status bars increased by 127'
'No side effects detected'
'Congratulation Master, the experiment was successful'
The tip of Grizel's lip is curling upward, she can strengthen her subordinates by lifting their curse, considering their harsh training, the accumulated Exp should be higher than Emma's, their level will be fantastic.
Emma seemed to devote herself as a maid, or precisely a spy than a magician since her long-lived accumulated Exp only enough to reach level 17, but that enough to make her stronger than Grizel's precious elite members.
"Hahahahahaha"
Emma laughs like a lunatic who is going berserk by gaining instant power, she never felt this strong even before being imprisoned by Grizel, as a magician she could feel the dense mana flowing through her veins like a jammed water stream which suddenly broke, she feels invincible.
"I will pay back all of the humiliation you did to me"
She said venting all her anger while activating the basic magic of her fire element in an instant.
"Fireballs"
Lucy, Levi, Mammon, and Deus jolted as they lift their head upward, this is not like the usual basic of fire magic which is a flying orb of fire, rather, this is most likely a rain of fireballs.
Boom!
Boom!
The rain of fireballs hit the ground making small explosions everywhere, as if forcefully dragged into reality, the bewildered Levi immediately activates many layers of his barrier to protect his comrades, especially the weakened Grizel who is trying to refill her HP by consuming a high potion.
"How dare you!"
Lucy gritted her teeth as she disappears using her full speed and reappears on Emma's blind spot, swinging her ancient scythe aiming at Emma's neck.
Bam!
The scythe bumped into a sturdy barrier made of mana that covers around Emma's neck.
"Tch, Deus!"
Lucy stepped back and disappeared into the shadow to prepare for another surprise attack as she called the long-range damage dealer, Deus with his magic rifle.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Even though Deus's mana is not as strong as Emma's, but his mana bullets are compressed and accelerated through the magic rifles making her barrier begins to shatter.
Lucy and Mammon don't let such a chance be in vain as they relentlessly attacking the defenseless Emma, the Rogue-Class awakeners like them should have the upper hand in close combat since a magician is not a close combatant.
But Emma is someone who has been fully awakened, the gap between them is really obvious, she is not a regular magician anymore...
"Flame Barrier"
Baaaamm!
Lucy and Mammon were blown away by the sudden barrier made of fire, their bodies mostly got burned because they couldn't dodge the sudden appearance of the barrier made of the ragging flame surrounding Emma, which not only protects her but also attacks those around her.
"Urg..."
Lucy and Mammon groaned in pain after they step back but Emma doesn't want to give them a chance to heal as she showers them with another rain of fire.
"Fireball"
"Shield"
Levi hurriedly activated his layers of shield to protect the two of them, they already suffered quite a lot of damage, as Rogue-Class awakeners who have the lowest HP and DEF, it can be considered a miracle they are still holding on.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Deus attacks her relentlessly to distract her attention from Lucy and Mammon, giving them a little bit of time to drink the potion and heal themselves.
Feeling annoyed by the shots that penetrate her defense, Emma changes the target of her rain fire to Deus who stands a bit further.
Bam!
Bam!
"Shield"
The fireballs couldn't reach Deus because he is protected by Levi's sturdy barrier as well, even if it far from perfect but the combination of these 4 is quite good as they cover each other, though, Deus still suffers from light burns since the extreme heat which leaks from the barrier.
"Tch, the defense of this knight is really toug- ugh!"
Emma groans in pain as she touches her head feeling dizzy.
Sniff!
"What the-"
She was so focused on the fight that she doesn't realize her clothes are drenched by her own blood when she smelled it, the bewildered Emma doesn't remember getting hit nor feeling any pain that can cause such heavy blood loss.
'Tch the hole was too small and swallow'
Mammon clicked his tongue inwardly while drinking healing potion, after all, he was a cunning thief who never fairly face his enemies head-on, using Lucy's dancing scythe and Deus's powerful gunshots as a diversion, he silently activated his warp skill to make a hole in Emma's stomach when he had a chance to touch her in the close combat earlier and plans to make her die by a severe blood loss without her knowing.
Unfortunately, his warp skill needs time and concentration to be activated perfectly, a brief moment wasn't enough to make a hole as he wishes.
But no matter how strong she is, blood is an essential element of life for human beings, Emma is noticeably weakened.
Bam!
A loud sound of a sturdy wall of barrier hit the ground mercilessly crashing the arrogant magician, Emma was safe thanks to her flame barrier but she lost her consciousness.
"My Lord, what should we do to her?"
Levi asked with a grim face, he always had easy fights, the same goes for the rest of the members, but today is the first time they have to do extra to take down a single opponent, they feel weak as their minds are filled with some thoughts.
I will be dead if Levi's barrier isn't here.
My dancing scythe skill was blocked several times.
If Lucy and Deus didn't become a distraction, my warp ability would be useless.
My pride magic rifle didn't land a single hit on her.
All I can do is protecting my comrades, I couldn't help them in the assault.
Grizel was observing their team fight, for her, level 17 wasn't a treat, but it's a different story for her elite servants, even though they are the strongest among the strong, these people are not considered to be fully awakened before their curse lifted.
Sometimes one needs to feel weak before growing stronger.
"Get rid of her, I'm done with my experiment"
Grizel was about to leave the training ground, but a random question popped up in her head, Emma is the first one to be fully awakened other than her...
What if she devours this fully awakened human instead of getting rid of her? They said good health comes from good food.
"Wait"
She stopped Lucy who was about to behead the unconscious Emma using the ancient scythe, thankfully she wasn't late.
"An easy death isn't suitable for her, she shall be my nutrient..."
"Devour"
Emma was sucked into Grizel's ring entirely, being eaten alive, even in her death, she is still an object of Grizel's experiment and now devoured to be her nutrition.
This is the end of her story, died in the hand of her karma.
To be continued...
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Author's Corner:
Hello everyone, I'm sorry for the ve~ry late updates, I suck in time management actually, ugh now I wish to have multitasking skill
_( :â ã )__( :â ã )_
Alright, some of you ask me why did I name the second artifact as [Pestilence].
Well, that's weird, I know but...
You should have aware that Pandemic, Epidemic, Endemic and Academic are terrifying, oh that last one is scarier in a different meaning though.
Anyway, why Pestilence?
As you know, my story is heavily influenced by Mythology, History, Beliefs, and so on.
And the Artifact of Apocalypse was inspired by 4 Horsemen of Apocalypse.
- Famine
- Conquest (referred as Pestilence)
- War
- Death
Each horseman represents one of God's Punishments to erase the sinners, and in this story, those horsemen were replaced by artifacts, well, I won't say any further since it may end up being a spoiler lmao.
As for you who was wondering about the 7 Deadly Sins I used as my reference, I just picked the most famous one which is from the book called the Divine Comedy (1308-1320) or widely known as Dante's Purgatory
Gosh, the stupid me just realized that book was published more than 700 years ago.
As for the name of the Archdemons, I picked the most famous one as well lmao
Okay, that's my explanation, and thank you for reading my beloved readers
°Ê(*'ê³'*)É°