Clang!

The sharp ringing of steel echoed crisply through the air.

Blood dripped down the blade.

The area around them was littered with Cursed Spirits slain by Blackhex Blade, including five elite Grade One Cursed Spirits.

As for Lethe, Seratra had pinned him to the wall with her sword.

The blade pierced straight through his body, along with the Curse Hand inheritor hidden inside him.

With the Death Eye’s True Hit ability combined with Seratra’s Construction Technique, her combat power was clearly superior to both Lethe and Curse Hand.

It did not matter how many Cursed Spirits he could command.

Seratra could kill them all anyway.

Blackhex Blade’s instant death curse was simply too terrifying.

Even a graze meant certain death within three seconds.

And Seratra could also construct all kinds of Special Grade Cursed Tools.

Some absorbed Cursed Energy.

Some disrupted techniques.

She could adapt perfectly to any Sorcerer’s fighting style and counter them completely with the appropriate cursed tool.

On top of that, the combination of True Hit and Blackhex Blade made her opening strike lethally oppressive.

If someone was careless for even a moment, even a Special Grade Sorcerer could die on the spot.

There was only one way to defeat her.

Overwhelming force.

Unfortunately, Lethe simply did not possess that level of power.

Even adding Curse Hand was not enough.

"Heh..."

Blood flowed from Lethe’s mouth as he laughed bitterly.

"I spent more than ten years scheming to obtain Curse Hand, only to end up handing everything over to someone else."

Until now, he had always believed he was the deepest schemer hiding in the shadows.

But clearly, there was always someone more terrifying lurking behind the scenes.

And once that ancient monster finally appeared, he was wiped out completely.

There was no fighting back.

Caelum returned.

The moment Lethe saw him, he immediately understood Fenrir was most likely dead.

"Master."

Caelum looked toward Lethe and spoke to Seratra.

"Use the technique I taught you. Extract Curse Hand."

"Yes."

Seratra nodded immediately.

She activated the technique Caelum had given her, forcibly pulling a mass of Cursed Energy out from Lethe’s body before absorbing it into herself.

That was not Lethe’s Cursed Energy.

It belonged to the bloodline and soul of the Curse Hand inheritor.

The Five Curses normally could not be transplanted or extracted.

At least not for ordinary people.

Caelum was clearly an exception.

For him, this was effortless.

The reason he was not doing it personally was simple.

He did not want Risei’s soul to detect the aura of an old acquaintance.

If she became alarmed now, the birth of the final Curse could become unpredictable.

Yes.

The final Curse.

There was actually a brief transitional gap between each generation of the Five Curses.

A period where the previous inheritor had already died while the next inheritor had not yet been born.

That ten month pregnancy period was the empty interval.

During that time, if something happened to the unborn successor, the Five Curses would immediately choose a different host.

But once the child was born, the inheritance became fixed.

It could no longer transfer freely.

Unless the inheritor died.

Now, both Death Eye and Curse Hand had already fallen into Caelum’s hands.

The Life Eye and Origin Heart still remained within the Sorcerer World.

Only Rite Hand was still in the process of being inherited.

Caelum had deliberately avoided acting personally against the Five Curses until now.

Not because he could not.

He was waiting.

The moment Rite Hand’s inheritor was born, he would no longer need to hold back.

If Risei’s soul was alerted now, there was a high chance she would select another Rite Hand successor for safety.

And then Caelum would need to wait another ten months.

After Seratra absorbed the bloodline and soul of the Curse Hand inheritor, Curse Hand successfully transferred onto her.

She raised her left hand.

Black Cursed Energy wrapped around it.

"Master, it worked."

"Good."

Caelum nodded.

Then turned and walked away.

Lethe stared blankly.

Did that mean he actually had a chance to survive?

Just as that thought appeared.

Slash!

Seratra cut his head off in one strike.

Meanwhile.

Wardin’s death pushed Zephyr’s tolerance for Astra’s upper leadership past its limit.

Astra’s actions had clearly been intended to pressure him into reclaiming Death Eye by using Wardin.

And the result was Wardin’s death.

So after returning to Astra, Zephyr immediately slaughtered the old leadership without hesitation.

Astra’s director naturally did not survive either.

Soon after.

Astra’s leadership underwent a complete restructuring.

Sylas handled the aftermath while the major Sorcerer families quickly reorganized Astra’s administration.

With Zephyr and Sylas supporting them, the Reformist faction officially rose to power.

Astra became the Reformists’ central stronghold.

From the outside, the Sorcerer World appeared strangely silent regarding Zephyr’s bloody purge.

As though nothing had happened at all.

In reality, the Sorcerer World’s upper ranks were absolutely furious over Zephyr’s extreme actions.

But a far more serious crisis had emerged during the same period.

They simply had no time to deal with Astra’s internal conflict.

After Death Eye vanished, Curse Hand disappeared as well.

Compared to Astra’s internal restructuring, the Five Curses were matters directly tied to the survival of both the Sorcerer World and the entire world itself.

Losing Death Eye was manageable.

But now Curse Hand was gone too.

Panic finally spread throughout the Sorcerer World.

And to make matters worse.

The inheritor of Rite Hand was about to be born.

An overwhelming sense of crisis descended.

The Sorcerer World’s upper leadership suddenly realized something horrifying.

Some unseen force was moving in the shadows.

Watching the Sorcerer World like a predator.

Instead of settling accounts with Zephyr, the old leaders now had no choice but to request assistance from both Zephyr and Sylas.

After all, they were still two Special Grade Sorcerers.

Top tier combat power.

Once Zephyr and Sylas learned that Curse Hand had vanished, even they understood the severity of the situation.

This time, neither of them refused the request.

And not just them.

Another Special Grade Sorcerer was also summoned.

Their mission was singular.

Ensure the safe birth of Rite Hand’s inheritor.

And repel anyone who dared target the Five Curses.

For a time, the entire Sorcerer World fell into unprecedented tension.

A suffocating storm was brewing.

Even ordinary Sorcerers could feel it.

Then several days later.

Inside a prestigious Sorcerer family near Blackreach, the woman carrying Rite Hand’s inheritor finally entered labor.

Instantly, everyone’s nerves tightened to the breaking point.

At the same time.

Caelum opened his eyes.

A faint smile appeared on his face. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Finally.

The final moment had arrived.

He immediately set out toward the birthplace of Rite Hand’s inheritor.

"Seratra, The Life Eye is yours."

"No problem."

A faint blue glow flickered within Seratra’s left eye while black Cursed Energy coiled around her left hand.

In her right hand, she held a spear type Special Grade Cursed Tool.

This was a special cursed weapon she had spent days and an enormous amount of Cursed Energy constructing.

Its power would absolutely shock any Sorcerer who saw it.

After all, The Life Eye inheritor possessed overwhelming regeneration abilities.

Which meant she could finally go all out without restraint.