"Curse magic..."

Lann softly repeated a word that Conicus had been murmuring in his ear.

This Elder Curse Master seemed quite eager to take on an apprentice.

"Alright, if I have time, I’ll learn. But for now, we two need to do something, you are..."

"Oh, don’t worry, I can make my own way to the Profound Church."

Conicus laughed heartily as he spoke.

"It was when those villagers still had their wits about them that they caught me, now they’re all mindless."

Saying this, the Elder Curse Master rummaged through the pile of junk outside the iron cage that held him and fished out a hand axe and a wooden shield.

It seemed to be his own equipment.

Lann could already feel the increasingly turbulent waves of Chaos Magic Power, his return was imminent.

Therefore, time was quite tight now, so he didn’t refute Conicus.

He was a Caster, after all, and seemingly had some warrior skills; his combat prowess should be trusted.

"Hope to see you at the Profound Church."

Lann blessed the Elder Curse Master.

And Conicus nodded, "Of course, a master without a disciple and a disciple without a master are both unsightly."

"Eh? Don’t look at me like that. Just do me a favor, I teach you curse magic, and you call me teacher, that’s not too much, right? That’s human affairs for you."

The curse master, wrapped in a feather cloak like an old raven, said as he walked away without turning back.

Lann didn’t mind calling those who taught him as teachers, but after killing Bordeaux, the first reaction he had upon hearing the title was always a bit peculiar.

"Curse magic and the Great Swamp are synonyms for deformation and pathological states. Though curse magic is also flames, it isn’t the sacred First Flame but the symbol of life’s distortion."

Sirius, who had been silently standing beside them, spoke quietly at this moment.

"If anyone had said in times of peace in the past that they wanted to learn curse magic from the Great Swamp, they’d be deemed crazy. But now..."

She gazed down from the attic, the compact rooftops of the Undead Settlement holding the skeletons that had been picked clean by ravens after the wheel executions.

In the streets, wandering souls wailed as they roamed.

The Female Knight from the Land of Dusk shook her head and chuckled in self-mockery.

"Seems like there’s no one left in the world capable of even calling you a ’madman.’

Lann was indifferent to this, once more activating the Demon Hunter senses, leading the way down the stairs.

"Handle your matters first, then you can lament."

The two continued their advance through the Undead Settlement.

Fodolink’s path was fixed, so Lann and Sirius hadn’t traveled far before they noticed the trail extending into a downward cave.

Venturing further inside, they gradually made their way into the mountain’s interior, enormous boulders appearing in the walls, amidst a rocky hollow.

But at the cave’s end, the hollow was piled high with...bones.

This hollow was nearly the size of a football field, with skeletal remains carelessly heaped by the iron cages that imprisoned them.

The corpses inside those cages had dried out and decayed, but still retained an appearance of desperately struggling to escape.

No doubt they were trying to flee at the moment of their death.

And at the deepest point of the hollow, a heap of dried, yellowed bones formed a five-meter-high mound.

With Lann’s biological knowledge, this seemed to be a specific section of the human vertebrae.

To accumulate a mound this high from just a section of human bone... How many people died here?

The figure familiar to both Lann and Sirius knelt in prayer before the vertebrae mound.

Fodolink.

The Holy Knight of the Land of Dusk.

A thin layer of water covered the cave floor, thus as the pair entered, the sound of steps echoed softly.

The sound prompted the Holy Knight, who had been kneeling before the vertebrae mound, to stand.

He walked towards them, wielding a Flame-shaped Greatsword in one hand, a small shield strapped to the other.

No words were exchanged; even in front of his own granddaughter, beneath Fodolink’s pointed helmet, his eyes showed no emotion.

Sharp and eerie killing intent targeted the pair.

Now there was no doubt.

On the way here, Sirius occasionally showed signs of struggle, anxiety, sadness; now she was as calm and clear as ever.

It was the demeanor of accepting reality and being determined to bear it.

"Finally found you, Grandpa."

Sirius spoke softly, her steps gentle yet resolute as she approached Fodolink.

"I’ve come to fulfill our pact."

Her left hand gripping the catalyst for miracles, reciting the tale of the Dark Moon Knight Order’s battle against the God-defying Thieves.

Then, gleaming dots of purple illuminated her formidable Thorn Sword.

[Miracle: Dark Moonlight Sword].

A miracle awarded by the leader to those of notable contribution within the Dark Moon Knight Order.

The power of the Dark Moon imbued in the weapon doesn’t have effects like fire or lightning, but it can purely enhance the damage capability of an attack.

The problem is: the enhanced damage capability of the weapon still needs to hit a person to be effective.

Sirius employs a standard Thorn Sword technique, her bent legs and spine like a coiled spring, ’launching’ her sword with a thrust.

The opening move of the Thorn Sword is swift, and the sword, flickering with dark purple light, stabs towards Fodolink without hesitation.

However, the signature combat skill of this Holy Knight is [Block].

Very few in the world can compare to Fodolink in the use of this combat skill.

In his hand, the small dusk-colored shield immediately swung out to meet the thrust, leaving a trail of supernatural white afterimages.

But perhaps he no longer remembers his granddaughter, or maybe he has already regarded Sirius as any stranger.

Yet Sirius remembers him from beginning to end.

Relying on her familiarity with her grandfather, Sirius’s limit of her strike was right at the edge of Fodolink’s dusk shield, avoiding collision.

Thus, the [Block] combat skill never made contact with Sirius’s Thorn Sword!

Although combat skills are supernatural in nature, if they don’t trigger, then they don’t trigger.

Immediately following, Sirius’s prepared second thrust took advantage of the moment Fodolink’s shield swung and missed, aiming directly at the unprotected chest area!

It was the best opportunity Sirius could construct, based on her understanding of her grandfather.

But she still hadn’t expected such a significant gap between her and her grandfather.

The Flame-shaped Greatsword originally on Fodolink’s shoulder, at this moment, slid down just as his form twisted from the missed shield swing.

Sirius’s Thorn Sword was indeed fierce, yet it couldn’t change its lightweight characteristics.

Even though Fodolink couldn’t exert force due to the missed shield swing, the sheer weight of the Flame-shaped Greatsword, complemented by his grasp of the impact point.

The falling Greatsword, with the angle formed by its guard and blade, trapped the tip of the Thorn Sword thrusting forward, and pressed straight down.

The sword tip of the Thorn Sword sparked a trail of fire on Fodolink’s dusk-colored breastplate, but the severely skewed force direction didn’t allow the sword to pierce the armor.

During this time, the shield Fodolink swung sideways also adjusted its grip position.

The eyes under the pointed helmet were cold and ruthless, the hand holding the shield posed in a punching stance.

But in front of the punch was the evening shield’s edge, facing Sirius head-on!

Fodolink’s skills were solid and powerful; when he first met Lann, the downward strike he made with his Greatsword could slice a wandering soul in half.

Though the shield’s edge wasn’t as sharp as the Greatsword’s, crashing straight towards the face, with Fodolink’s skills, it would be enough to split a person’s skull in half.

Sirius wasn’t undead; if she died, she would truly die.

So...

"Boom!"

The shield edge aiming at Sirius’s face was blocked by a large hand extending from behind the Female Knight.

The dusk-colored shield, considered light for a typical person’s build, had its edge caught by the heel of Lann’s hand.

Half of the palm covering the shield was nearly a quarter of the shield’s surface.

"Long time no see, Fodolink."

Speaking words of reunion, yet Lann’s eyes held no joy of meeting a familiar face, only a heavy sigh.

Fodolink pulled the hand gripping the shield, trying to regain his freedom of movement. The armor plates on the arm and the straps behind the shield clattered.

But he couldn’t move at all!

If the duel were strictly weapon combat, the old knight might still be able to fend off Lann with his solid qualities and techniques.

But once trapped in pure and straightforward direct contest, without technical or tactical advantages, he’s undoubtedly at a disadvantage.

Moreover, it’s not only pure strength that’s disadvantaged but also in numbers.

Lann, with one hand catching the edge of the shield with the heel of his palm, then pressed his wrist down.

The straps inside the evening shield instantly strained to the breaking point, emitting a ’creaking’ sound.

Fodolink’s forearm behind the shield was also involuntarily forced downward by this strength.

His movement deformed.

Movement deforming means a warrior becomes weaker.

The Thorn Sword’s blade, originally suppressed, was immediately pulled out by Sirius without hesitation.

During this momentary shift, amid the sound of metal scraping, she quickly withdrew her weapon from the angle between the guard and blade of the Flame-shaped Greatsword.

Followed by a ’stab’ sound, the Thorn Sword, glowing with Dark Moonlight, plunged into Fodolink’s chest with the force of a bamboo shoot sprouting through.

The sword tip pierced through, coming out from the back.

Blood splattered.

Yet both Sirius and Lann knew, this wasn’t the end.

Fodolink was a formidable warrior, so his Power of Soul was also sufficiently vigorous.

A piercing wound through the chest, for an ordinary person, would mean death several times over. But for him, it might only consume a small portion of the Power of Soul.

However much this Power of Soul is depleted, it isn’t important in the current situation.

Because as long as Lann doesn’t let go, his strength can continue through the shield for direct contest.

Thus suppressing Fodolink’s movements and techniques.

Allowing Sirius to carry out... execution.