Chapter 77: Cure of Divinity (1/2)

Nikolai frowned as Yuxi entered the cave after him, panting. He turned toward the archer as realization dawned on him. 'Sergio treated her after I attacked her. That's when the darkness entered his body.'

His darkness had a certain quality: the Bane of Elements. Sergio wasn't a genius without reason. He had an inherent element called Harmony, the ultimate catalyst for combining elements; this was why his success rate was higher than an average person.

Since his darkness was harmful to elements, it was no wonder that Sergio ended up this way. If Nikolai's darkness stayed in his body, it would either harm his element or his life.

Yuxi crouched beside him, looking worried. Nikolai sighed and stood up. She looked at him with confusion as she held Sergio's hand.

”Take care of him,” Nikolai said to her as he took out his Darkmoon Longbow.

'You?' She gestured with one hand.

”I can't do that, not after this.” Nikolai took out his arrow and nocked it to his longbow. A bright light exploded from the arrow as the cave was washed by divinity.

Nikolai could feel his existence repulse the power in the arrow. However, divinity was the only way he can eradicate his darkness without harming Sergio.

Nikolai grabbed the arrow with his hand instead of released it. His skin began disintegrating as unimaginable pain spread through his body.

”Agh!” Nikolai let out a scream as he stabbed Sergio's leg with the arrow under Yuxi's frightened eyes. The divinity exploded in the cave as Nikolai's skin turned black.

As the light receded, Yuxi opened her eyes to find Sergio breathing normally, washed away by divinity. Nikolai, however, was gone.

***

Nikolai smashed his head against a giant rock on top of the mountain. The rock split in half as his headband came off, but the pain was still tormenting him.

He bit on his lips until they bled just to prevent himself from screaming. The divinity from the arrow was still destroying his body, and it felt like someone was burning away his very soul.

The skin on his arm didn't recover, even after using the Blood Energy and the darkness. Nikolai looked at his hands before him, and they were filled with cracks and dead skin.

'Nothing is for free,' Nikolai let out a laugh as his crimson eyes turned into crescents, his teeth gnashing against each other. 'As much power as I obtained, I had to suffer.'

He knew that it would be a while before he can come near Sergio. The divinity worked as a blessing, and it enhanced the cells in the body. Thus, they would remain in Sergio's body for a while.

Nikolai disappeared from the world and appeared above Alias in his pocket dimension. The darkness embraced him, and the pain began disappearing as he huffed on the deck.

'Dammit,' Nikolai breathed out as he calmed down. 'That hurt like hell.'

As he was resting, the dimension began growing unstable. 'It's nearing the end of its life.' Nikolai started to using his mana to fortify the space. After a while, Nikolai stopped and looked at the dimension's stats.

[Life: 24 hours.]