Blackreach Outskirts.

Inside an abandoned building.

A sharp flash of steel tore through the air, accompanied by a piercing whistle that showed just how terrifyingly sharp the blade was.

An invisible slash swept forward.

A distant wall split cleanly in half.

Special Grade Cursed Tool: Blackhex Blade!

The young girl stood poised with the long blade in hand, calm and composed despite the excitement hidden beneath her expression.

Seratra’s weapon was unlike any ordinary sword.

Its black blade was covered in eerie cursed markings.

Any Sorcerer wounded by it would immediately be afflicted by the curse engraved into the weapon, dying within three seconds.

A true killing move.

A faint blue glow shimmered within Seratra’s left eye, a phenomenon caused by flowing Cursed Energy.

With the Death Eye’s True Hit ability supporting her, nobody could evade her blade.

The academy’s worst fear had finally come true.

Seratra had not only learned how to use the Death Eye, she had completely mastered its True Hit technique.

On top of that, she had developed an extremely dangerous finishing move around it.

Blackhex Blade gradually faded and vanished.

Seratra turned toward Caelum behind her.

"Master."

Caelum yawned and gave a casual nod.

"Not bad."

A ripple of joy flashed through Seratra’s eyes before disappearing just as quickly.

She was not the type to openly display her emotions.

Most of the time, this was already the extent of her happiness.

Truthfully, Caelum had not taught her much about Sorcery itself.

The only thing he had done was show her how to draw out the Death Eye’s power and make it her own.

Seratra’s core technique was Construction.

Using Cursed Energy, she could create any Cursed Tool through her technique.

Even Special Grade Cursed Tools were possible.

The Death Eye not only granted her True Hit, but also supplied her with an enormous amount of Cursed Energy.

Without that reserve, she would never have been able to create Cursed Tools so freely.

Blackhex Blade was her masterpiece.

Of course, her current abilities still had limits.

The tools she created were temporary.

The moment she stopped supplying Cursed Energy, they would disappear immediately.

She could not permanently materialize Cursed Tools like Caelum could.

There was another restriction as well.

Seratra could not invent imaginary weapons out of thin air.

She could only recreate Cursed Tools that had once existed within the Sorcerer world and possessed enough fame or historical presence.

Caelum, meanwhile, had no such limitations.

Right then, a pillar of black Cursed Energy shot into the sky.

A dark barrier spread outward, surrounding the abandoned building and sealing the two of them inside.

Seratra frowned.

Standing beside the window, Caelum looked outside with mild interest.

At last, something entertaining enough to break the boredom.

"Looks like your trouble’s arrived."

"Cursecraft Academy."

The Astra uniforms were easy to recognize.

Seratra’s expression immediately sharpened.

"Your problem, your responsibility," Caelum said calmly.

Giving Seratra a chance to live did not mean he intended to protect her forever like some babysitter.

Caelum had never been the type to coddle people.

Nor would he tolerate becoming burdened by anyone.

Seratra still had value to him.

But she was not indispensable.

One opportunity was enough.

If she failed to prove her usefulness, then there was no reason for her to continue existing in Caelum’s eyes.

Whether she lived or died afterward would no longer concern him.

Even if Seratra were killed here, Caelum would not save her.

If she was destined to become dead weight, then dying here would simply be the best ending available to her.

At worst, the Death Eye would just choose another bearer.

Now was the moment for Seratra to prove herself.

Her gaze hardened with determination.

Her Construction Technique activated, and a longbow materialized in her hands.

"Yes, Master."

Several Cursecraft Academy Sorcerers cautiously entered the abandoned building.

The traces of lingering Cursed Energy around them were impossible to miss.

One white haired young man narrowed his eyes.

"She’s here."

His name was Wardin.

One of Zephyr’s former students.

Among all of Zephyr’s disciples, Wardin was undoubtedly the most talented.

Born an ordinary civilian, he had first been noticed by Zephyr during a Cursed Spirit attack.

Afterward, Zephyr personally brought him into Cursecraft Academy and trained him as a Sorcerer.

Within his very first year, Wardin had risen from complete beginner to a top tier Grade One Sorcerer.

Both his Sorcery and close combat ability were astonishing.

The disappearance of the Death Eye was a matter of enormous importance.

Since Zephyr and Sylas refused to involve themselves, the academy leadership had no choice but to assign others to investigate.

Wardin was one of the Sorcerers selected for the task.

He knew nothing about the Death Eye itself.

Only that his target was someone named Seratra.

After following the trail of Cursed Energy, they finally arrived here.

Wardin carried a Grade One Cursed Tool sword and remained fully alert.

"Careful. Don’t let her catch you off guard."

"Tch."

One of the younger Sorcerers scoffed dismissively.

"She’s just some country girl from the middle of nowhere. If a Grade Three Sorcerer manages to injure me, a Grade Two, I’d be a complete joke."

The other young Sorcerer was much more cautious.

"Whether it was her or some third party who killed the earlier pursuit team, the danger here is obvious. Better stay sharp."

Judging a Sorcerer’s strength purely by rank was an extremely dangerous mistake.

After all, there had once been a certain Grade Three Sorcerer who slaughtered countless people with ease.

The two Astra students were talented, but still too inexperienced.

As the trio followed the lingering Cursed Energy deeper into the building, everything remained silent.

Then suddenly.

Cold light flashed.

Three arrows ripped through the air, leaving streaks of light behind them as they shot forward at terrifying speed.

The other two had barely begun reacting when Wardin had already drawn his blade.

He swung toward the incoming arrows.

But at the last second, the other two arrows abruptly changed direction.

They slipped past Wardin’s sword and continued flying toward the two Sorcerers behind him.

The pair immediately panicked.

Fortunately, they managed to knock the arrows aside in time.

After all, this was merely True Hit.

Not an unavoidable instant death technique.

Wardin shouted sharply.

"Over there!"

The moment his voice fell, he burst forward toward the direction the arrows came from.

The other two instantly split apart to flank from both sides.

Their teamwork was flawless.

One of them immediately activated his technique.

"Binding Art!"

Buzz!

A translucent cage sealed off the space ahead.

But by the time they closed in, they realized the cage was empty.

At that exact moment, a sharp tearing sound came from behind them.

Wardin spun around instantly, his face changing dramatically.

"Watch out!"

But it was already too late.

A blade flashed.

A severed head flew through the air.

The Blackhex Blade’s curse did not even need to activate.

Its victim had already died the instant the sword struck.

The girl standing beneath the spray of blood looked horrifying enough to send chills down anyone’s spine.