Chapter 23 - The Cursed Stone Was Strong (2/2)

‘With so much strong curses inside, they must act as a barrier…”

In any case, it seemed safe to say that fire magic wouldn’t work.

But I felt like I could still use MP, so I decided to use other magic.

“Uh, magic good for destroying…”

Using magic inside of the barrier seemed like a good way of hurting yourself, so I wanted something I could use at a distance.

And since the magic stone was strong…I should use something that could crush it physically.

That was what I thought while searching, and then I found something perfect.

“Magic Stone Crusher.”

This time, it was nothing flashy that affected the barrier, like Hellfire of Obliteration.

There was just a sharp noise and the rocks and ground around the magic stone shattered.

But-

“It still won’t break.”

‘The surrounding rocks were turned into powder, so it should be strong enough… I think it really is the curses that are blocking it…”

So the curses really were the problem.

“…Now that I think of it, why don’t we just get rid of the curses instead of breaking it?”

‘That would be easy if they were weak curses… But I never heard of lifting a curse that was this strong… I think it would still be easier to smash it!’

I see.

While it seemed like the most natural solution, there had been a reason that no one had suggested it.

“But I don’t think the barrier will hold if I use magic that is stronger than ‘Hellfire of Obliteration’… Will it at least get a little weaker if I try lifting the curse?”

I asked as I looked through my list of spells.

And then I found ‘Curse Break,’ ‘Curse Break Strong,’ and ‘Curse Break Extreme.’

There were also other ones, but these seemed like the safest bet.

“Uh…it seems like I can’t use them unless I get closer.”

And so I used water magic to cool off the barrier before going inside.

Then I put my hand as close to the stone as I could without touching it.

I wasn’t sure which of the spells to use…and so I decided to start with the weakest one and work my way up.

“Curse Break.”

And then…the black magic stone slowly started to turn white.

‘Huh? It’s working!?’

The Dryad shouted out in surprise.

And then cracks started to appear on the white stone—and then the thing shattered.

“It looks like it can be destroyed after all.”

I said. Then I moved to deactivate the barrier.

But-in that instant, the Dryad shouted.

‘Yuji! Watch out! There’s something strange happening with the fragments!’