415 Chapter 415: Curse (2/2)
\”!!!\”
Before Serpens could react, a massive black cuboid appeared around him, entombing him inside a destructive space. Miura didn't even bother to look back at her handiwork, casually turning away and striding off.
After what seemed like eternity, the black cuboid faded away from existence, revealing a stunned Serpens. Blood spurted upward like volcanic geysers, amidst broken azure scales and shattered frost fragments. Then the colossal serpent toppled over motionlessly, his long, coiling figure dissipating into blue mana.
\”You've got to be kidding me…!\”
So this was black magic? The power of a Diabolos? Now I understood why they didn't just call Miura a black mage. Diabolos…that came from the Spanish word Diablo, which was translated as devil.
Miura was truly a demon…
\”Incredible…\”
\”How scary…skipping the incantation for a level 90s Way of Destruction spell, and yet still able to bring out that much destructive power?\”
\”No, it's a failure,\” Miura corrected with a smirk. \”I couldn't even bring out one-third of its original destructive power.\”
\”Stop lying!\” I yelled. \”I know you want to rip off Bleach, but this isn't the way to do it! There's no full incantation for the damned thing anyway! Not for your specific spell!\”
\”Ara, you caught me.\” Miura playfully held up both hands in mock surrender before she picked her scythe back up. She resumed the drawing of her script with one hand while hefting up her scythe with the other. \”I just like trolling people.\”
She then paused and stared at me, perplexed.
\”I didn't know you read Bleach too.\”
\”It was one of my favorite manga,\” I admitted. \”I feel sad that the series ended a few years ago, and the ending felt rushed. I knew the editors at Weekly Shounen Jump were pressuring Tite Kubo Sensei to end the series, but they should have let him finish it however he wanted, instead of forcing him to wrap it up in a couple of chapters. It was the last arc too!\”
\”He did drag Bleach out too long,\” Miura agreed, while using her scythe to conjure a bunch of shadow spikes to destroy the icicles that Black Tortoise had flung in her direction. She then vanished when my third arrow struck her barrier, the crimson flames sweeping across her territory. Stepping out of the inferno, smoldering but otherwise mostly unscathed, she swung her scythe and launched another barrage of shadow bolts in my direction.
Again, the projectiles dissipated harmlessly against the water sphere that Black Tortoise conjured. She scowled and shook her head in displeasure, and then unleashed another colossal beam. This time, I stood in front of Black Tortoise and conjured Scutum Sobiescianum. As I thought, the devastating spell ripped through my Constellation shield without much effort, hurtling past the shrapnel and debris to slam into the water sphere.
Fortunately, my Scutum Sobiescianum had absorbed most of the impact from the spell, and what remained dissipated harmlessly against Black Tortoise's water sphere without injuring him. I could sense my Celestial Guardian nodding his thanks toward me through our mental connection.
However, all of that was but a front for Miura to finish her script. Swinging her hand, she tossed the arcane symbols in my direction. They disappeared after moving a few centimeters away from her fingers, and suddenly a new circle formation appeared below Black Tortoise.
\”!!!\”
I was already jumping and rolling away, but the bulky Black Tortoise's movements were too clumsy and cumbersome for him to move out of the circle in time. I watched in horror as black symbols emerged from the magic circle to plaster themselves onto Black Tortoise's shell and skin.
\”…\”
For a moment, nothing happened. All that occurred was Black Tortoise's body being drawn all over by these strange, ethereal runes. I frowned, expecting an explosion or such, and already my Celestial Guardian was on top of things, enveloping himself in a water sphere to protect himself from black lightning or whatever.
\”It's useless.\”
Miura's voice was thoroughly amused. I glanced at her, still not comprehending what was going on, and she merely snapped her fingers.
\”This is a curse…I'm sure you know about curses, right? One of your teammates…the Demonic Spear, Craig Carlson, I believe? He's famous for using curses.\”
\”…yeah…\”
\”And you know what curses do, I presume?\”
\”What…?\”
I never got to finish my sentence. Black Tortoise wailed, an inhuman sound that sent chills running down my spine. Turning back to my Celestial Guardian, I saw him writhing as boils erupted all over his body. Agony shot through our psychic link and I dropped to my knees from the psychostigmatic feedback.
Black Tortoise was suffering horribly, internal injuries ripping through his innards from an insidious curse. Black tendrils of mana had seeped through the entirety of his body from the black symbols that currently marked his body, working their way into his organs and corrupting them.
There was no defense against it. This wasn't a physical attack or a direct offensive spell – a barrier wouldn't stop the curse from taking effect. Just like Craig's cursed spear, which reversed causality and effect, Miura's curse bypassed all sorts of defenses and directly occurred on the target's body itself, rather than strike from the outside.
Gritting my teeth, I dismissed Black Tortoise before his agony could be prolonged. Wiping the blood from my mouth, I turned to face Miura, who smirked.
\”Well, then,\” she said with a sinister smile. \”What other Soul Beasts do you have to throw against me, my dear?\”