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DN : [331] The Bewitching Curse
🕑 Added 2024-10-21 07:24:37 +0000 UTCBy the time the sun was high in the sky the next day, August and Melro finally woke up. They had spent the entire morning lazing in bed together.
After getting up, the two lingered with each other for a while before August sent Melro back to the inner world. After all, having a mermaid on land was far too inconvenient.
When August finally found Stunk and the others, he was surprised. What had happened to them?
They all looked drained, lacking any energy or spirit.
"Hey, what's going on?" August asked.
Stunk looked up at him briefly, then lowered his head again. Zel and Kanchal didn’t even bother to lift their heads.
Left with no other choice, August turned his gaze to Brooz, who seemed to be the only one acting normally.
"Don’t look at me. I don’t know what’s wrong with them either," Brooz said. "They’ve been like this since last night—haven’t eaten, haven’t drunk anything. It’s like they’re under some sort of curse."
August frowned at Brooz’s words and examined the three more closely. He noticed faint wisps of black smoke swirling around them.
It was a curse. But that was odd. How could a visit to a seductress's shop result in a curse?
He extended a hand, covered in a dark aura, and drew the black mist out from their bodies. The three wisps of curse floated like strands of hair in his palm.
The darkness swallowed the curse, and August’s expression darkened.
It was a curse of enchantment—not deadly, but its effects were clear. It made the cursed person become hopelessly obsessed with whoever cast it.
These three unlucky fools had become infatuated slaves to whoever cast the curse on them. August could guess why they looked so drained. They probably spent every last penny they had, and it wasn’t unlikely that they had been manipulated as well.
Just like someone heartbroken after their idol shattered their illusions, they were left in this state.
"My head’s spinning... What just happened?" Stunk muttered, rubbing his forehead, groggy and confused.
Zel and Kanchal were the same, feeling strange and disoriented.
"You three, tell me what happened last night," August asked.
"Last night? We went to the Deep Sea Paradise. There, we met this incredibly gorgeous mermaid. After that, I think I spent every bit of money I had on her," Stunk said, looking embarrassed.
"Spent it all?"
"Uh, yeah, gave it all to the mermaid."
"And then what happened?"
"After that? We just came back, didn’t we?"
As soon as he said it, he realized how odd it sounded. He had spent thousands of gold coins, and there was no follow-up? It didn’t make sense.
August looked at Zel and Kanchal. Both lowered their heads and nodded in agreement.
"Good thing I didn’t go," Brooz said, sighing in relief. "That much money wasted—it’s ridiculous."
"We must’ve been under some kind of spell last night," Zel said slowly. "But as an elf over two hundred years old, I didn’t feel any magical fluctuations."
"It wasn’t magic," August explained. "It was a curse—an enchantment curse. It’s likely a special innate ability. It’s not fatal, but it made you their captive. There’s probably a time limit to it. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have let you leave."
"A curse?"
"That’s right. Who would’ve thought we’d run into something like this?" August’s words made the three of them furious.
"Damn it! I have to go back and get my money back! They swindled over eight thousand gold coins out of us!" Stunk shouted.
"Yeah, we can’t let this slide! We have to get it back," Zel added.
"But if we go back, won’t we just fall under their spell again~?" Kanchal’s voice trailed off, pouring cold water on their rage.
August, however, only smiled slightly. The curse of enchantment intrigued him; he had never heard of such a thing before.
"I’ll go. You three stay here," August said.
"August? Are you sure? You better not get scammed like we did. We may have lost a lot, but you… If you get scammed, the loss will be huge," Stunk warned.
"It’s fine. If it’s just a curse on your level, it won’t affect me."
That comment stung Stunk a bit. What did August mean by "your level"? Did that imply the curse was nothing to him?
With the four of them still somewhat concerned, August set off alone for the Deep Sea Paradise.
Since it was still late morning, almost noon, the place hadn’t opened yet.
Nothing seemed off as he approached.
But appearances could be deceiving. August confidently strode inside.
"Sir, we’re not open yet. Please come back later," a seductive aquatic woman said as she approached him. Her body had fins, but it wasn’t clear exactly what species she was.
"I’m not here for entertainment. I came to ask about something. Yesterday, my three friends came here and were cursed. All their money was taken, and they spent the night in a daze. Is this how you do business?"
"Sir, please don’t make false accusations. We’ve never had anything like that happen here," she replied, her tone polite but dismissive.
"Never happened? Then why am I here?"
"So, you’ve come looking for trouble, haven’t you?" Her voice grew colder. From the next room, two massive sharkmen appeared. Both were built like tanks, clearly experienced fighters. The aquatic woman smiled as if she’d handled this situation many times before.
"Interesting. Very interesting. You think you can fight me?" August’s eyes flashed with a cold light.
Swish. Swish.
Two black blades flickered, and in an instant, both sharkmen’s arms were severed cleanly at the shoulder. Blood poured onto the floor.
Before they could even scream, their tongues and mouths were destroyed, leaving them writhing on the ground in agony.
The sudden brutality left the aquatic woman completely stunned.
In the hundreds of years since the world’s races signed the Peace Pact, violence had become rare. Yet here was August, mercilessly dismembering her bodyguards as if it were nothing.
"Now, give me your answer," August said, as a black shadow blade extended from his feet to hover just above her head.
If he wanted, he could split her in two in an instant.
She was so terrified she almost lost control of her bladder. She had never encountered such a terrifying situation in her life.
Comments
Lupus Umbras
I had forgotten about this novel. Damn head trauma.
