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Chapter 104: Die Once?! The Two Women Start Fighting?
🕑 Added 2025-05-17 16:09:34 +0000 UTCTwo Options?
Leinas trembled slightly, her expression one of disbelief.
She had hoped the alchemist before her might find a way to lift her curse, yesâbut even so, she didnât expect results after just one night.
âIf you can really lift the curse on my face,â Leinas said seriously, stepping forward, âIâm willing to pay any price I can afford.â
A soft chuckle came from the sofa.
Imina didnât even look up. âDonât get your hopes up too soon.â
Lyle gave Leinas a glance. He didnât seem particularly moved by her so-called âany price.â His voice was calm as he said:
âIf you want to break the curse on your face, learn to properly control the cursed power within you. Once you master it to a certain degree, the mark will disappear on its own.â
After spending the entire night studying the issue, Lyle had a good idea of what was going on.
Leinasâs conditionâher cheek corroded as if meltingâwasnât just due to the monster that had attacked her. More importantly, it stemmed from her inability to control the power of the curse within her.
Based on his observations, Lyle estimated that once Leinas leveled up her class, [Cursed Knight], to Level 3, the curse on her face would naturally dissolve.
In other words, this was what happened when your own power went haywire.
It might also be one of the downsides of this worldâs strange class systemâpeople from this world could sometimes skip beginner and intermediate classes and jump straight into advanced ones. In theory, that was great.
But in reality? It was like giving a toddler a chainsaw and saying, âGo nuts.â
In the game, a class was just a class. But in the real world, an advanced class meant real powerâdangerous, untamed power.
Even Lyle, a [Player] boosted by the [Genius] class, had to spend six skill points just to unlock this profession.
Leinas blinked, clearly confused. âControl the power⊠inside me?â
It wasnât that she didnât want toâit was that she had no idea how. Ever since sheâd obtained this strength, it had been like trying to drive a carriage with a rampaging beast strapped to the front.
Lyle understood her frustration. In this world, leveling a class wasnât as simple as grinding XP. It required specific training, study, and real understanding.
It was kind of like trying to get a kid to study advanced calculus. The issue wasnât effortâit was that the whole thing made zero sense.
âAnd the second optionâŠâ Lyle continued, his tone flat.
Leinas snapped to attention.
âDie once.â
The hall went dead silent.
WHOOSH!
Imina moved a split second after the words left his mouth. Her slim waist twisted, and she flipped off the sofa like a cat. Her hand flashed to her side.
In one fluid motion, she stepped onto the living room table, her twin violet ponytails flaring behind her. A gleam of steel flashed in her handâshe hurled a dagger straight at Leinas!
WHAM!
The blade tore through the air like a lightning bolt.
Leinasâs eyes narrowed, her expression hardening. She grabbed the gray cloak draped over her shoulders and twisted it into a rope-like whip as she leapt backward. With a sharp crack, she lashed out.
CRACK!
The air snapped violently. Her improvised whip met the incoming dagger mid-air and batted it away with a brutal impact.
Iminaâs legs moved like springs. With two quick bounds, she landed near the foot of the stairs, where Lyle stood. A bow had appeared in her handsânobody knew when.
âPower Shot.â
Her amber eyes narrowed. A brown glow flickered along the arrow nocked to the string.
SWISH!
The arrow exploded through the air like a firecracker.
Leinas reached toward her belt, pulling free a pouch that looked like a smaller version of a waterskin. From it, she drew a massive black spearânearly as tall as she was.
âFlow Acceleration!â she shouted, and the air around her shimmered.
Her entire body seemed to blurâlike there were two of her rushing in from different directionsâonly to merge into one in a flash.
Thenâ
WHUMMMâ
The air trembled. A brilliant white glow erupted between the two women, taking shape in the form of a blazing Flame Archangel.
BOOM! BOOM!
The archangelâs flaming sword collided with Leinasâs black spear, the clash ringing through the room with a deafening thud.
Iminaâs arrow struck the archangelâs gleaming silver armor, leaving a shallow dent.
Three forces collided. The resulting shockwave blew apart several chairs and upended the living room furniture.
An angel?
A Flame Archangel?!
Imina and Leinas both froze, turning toward the source of the summoning.
Lyle stood halfway up the stairs, staring at the scene in utter bewilderment.
âWhat⊠are you two doing?â
He blinked, dumbfounded. In just the time it took to blink, the two women had started throwing handsâand weapons.
âYou said you wanted her dead, didnât you?â Imina asked coolly, still holding her bow drawn, eyes flicking toward the archangel. âSo I obliged.â
She knew it. When this guy faced those three intruders last night and stayed so calm, she figured he had some secret up his sleeve.
But this? Summoning a third-tier Flame Archangel?! That was the kind of power associated with platinum-ranked adventurers!
Her grip on the bow tightened. She assessed the situation again.
That blonde woman was strongâbut with a Flame Archangel for melee and her providing ranged support, they had a real shot.
Leinas didnât speak. Her black spear pressed against the archangelâs blade, grinding out a harsh squeal of metal on fire. Golden strands of hair hung down her right cheek, hiding most of her expression.
ââŠSorry. That was my fault,â Lyle finally said, breaking the silence. He waved his hand.
The archangel dissolved into glowing white motes of light.
âI didnât mean it like that.â
âGeez,â Imina muttered, lowering her bow. âYou tell a woman to die, and then act surprised when someone tries to make it happen. Thatâs on you, buddy.â
Lyle sighed. Maybe his wording had been offâbut Iminaâs first reaction being âstab now, ask questions laterâ was also pretty messed up.
He supposed thatâs what you got when you hired a battle-hardened mercenary.
âI donât enjoy making jokes, Alchemist,â Leinas said coldly, slinging the spear over her back and looking up again. Her porcelain face was expressionless.
Lyleâs tone stayed serious. âMy phrasing mightâve been unclear. But I wasnât joking. If you die once and then get resurrected with a Resurrection spell, the curse should lift.â
This was essentially the classic tactic: intentional death + revival = status reset.
The fifth-tier spell [Resurrection] was high-level magic, usually only available to those in the domain of Heroes.
Of course, it came at a steep cost. Resurrection dropped the revived personâs level by four entire ranks.
In Leinasâs case, though, her [Cursed Knight] class probably only needed to lose one level for the curse to fade.
Higher-level resurrection spells like [Revive] (7th tier) only dropped you three levels, and [True Resurrection] (9th tier) cost just two.
But realistically? No one in this world was supposed to have access to those.
There were also other faith-based resurrection spells, but none of them were suited for the self-inflicted death-and-revival tactic.
Leinasâs deep-blue eyes shimmered slightly.
She could tell Lyle was genuinely trying to helpâbut this suggestion? This method? It was not what most people would call âsane.â
A [Resurrection] spell?
There were probably fewer than five spellcasters in the entire Baharuth Empire who could even perform that magic. And even if she found one, the price would be astronomical.
Not to mention the part where sheâd have to, you knowâdie.
That was kind of a big deal.
Even if she said sheâd pay any price⊠this was pushing it. What if the spell failed?
What if she just⊠died?
âLetting such a beautiful woman get herself killed,â Imina muttered. âYouâre heartless, you know that?â
Listening to their exchange, Imina finally understood what was going on.
She gave Leinas a sidelong glance, piecing together the womanâs identity at last.
Yep. Now it made sense.
