...…

Shin suddenly felt a sense of danger when he saw Thirio taking out the crimson sphere from his inventory space.

It wasn't a bad premonition about the fight that he usually got during the battle. Instead, it was more like a bad feeling about himself; it was as if something was about to happen to him rather than the result of this battle.

The moment Shin sensed that he suddenly clenched his hand and tightened his grip over his katana before lunging forward and charged towards Thirio with insane speed.

A moment later, Shin arrived in front of his opponent while brandishing the [Yamato] in a very strong manner while also using 'Destructive Slash' to further strengthen the power behind that strike.

Clang!

But before he could even land a strike, the blade of his katana was suddenly stopped by an invisible force and prevented it from advancing forward.

Then Shin saw Thirio crushed the crimson sphere on his hands which suddenly released a blinding crimson light and illuminated the dark hall.

Bang!

And after an instant, a powerful explosion sent Shin flying. The force behind that explosion was quite strong and gave Shin a hard time stabilizing his balance in the air.

Due to that, he decided to use the force that was pushing him away to his advantage. He forced his body to flip multiple times in the air before using 'Mondi's Jump' to step on the air behind him and kicked it all of a sudden, re-launching himself towards Thirio once again.

But during his flight, the corner of his eye suddenly caught a system notification that just came in. Given that, he quickly used another change of 'Mondi's Jump' to halt his advance and jumped backward.

He created enough distance between his opponent and himself so that he could react to any sudden attack that his opponent might throw at him. Then he took a quick glance at the series of notifications that he got.

System: You have been directly exposed to the Cursed Light of the Blood Monarch.

System: You have been cursed by the Blood Monarch Powers.

Curse Details: Dying once is equivalent to dying ten times. The moment you get killed you will lose 10 of your current levels. (This curse will last until you got killed)

At the same time, you will also undergo a weakened state for the entire week (in-game time) right after reviving.

Your EXP gain will reduce to 90% during the weakened state alongside a massive decrease in monster drop rates.

Shin couldn't help but wear a deep frown behind his mask, especially when he saw the penalty after dying once. His face was even twitching quite stiffly as he stared at the curse that was cast on his body.

But that was not the worst thing that he saw. It was because he saw the last note at the end of the final system notification.

Warning: This curse can't be undone by any kind of cleansing blessing even if the quality of the scroll is the highest.

Note: This curse can only be lifted if you went personally on a sacred altar of a certain god.

"Looks like I am f-…" Shin was about to curse to himself when another series of system notifications suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

This time, he was really not sure what was happening.

*Ding!*

System: A special power is fighting against the curse. The Power of the Blood Monarch's curse weakened significantly!

System: Your Crimson Reaper, the Blood Prince Vladimir sensed the presence of a large amount of Blood Elemental Mana in the air and within your body.

The Mutated Blood Spirit attempted to absorb all of those Blood Elemental Mana and turn it into his own powers.

*Ding!*

System: Another elemental power was trying to fight against the curse. The power of the Blood Monarch's curse was further weakened.

System: Your Shadow Reaper, the Evolved Abomination Spirit Grimrace sensed the evil energy shrouding the curse cast on your body.

The Abomination Shadow Spirit was trying to absorb the evil energy mixed in the curse to complete his evolution.

…

Shin stared even more blankly at the new set of system notifications in front of his eyes. And even if the stiff expression on his face was being covered by his mask, the frozen muscles of his body showed that he was feeling a little too tense.

Naturally, Thirio was able to notice such a sudden change in Shin's mood given the enhanced senses that he currently had.

"Heh! Why are you so tense? We are just starting," he said smirkingly before getting ready to give everything he could just to take Shin.

But before he could even make his move, he suddenly sensed a very dangerous feeling coming from Shin's dictions. And it was not only coming from a single entity but two of them.

Then he suddenly saw a floating sphere made of blood on Shin's right side followed by the sudden formation of a cluster of black smoke on his other side.

Thirio felt that his entire body suddenly became frozen stiff as the dangerous feeling that he was getting became even stronger. And to make the matter even worse, he suddenly received a system notification that almost dug out his eyes from their sockets.

"Wha-what is the meaning of this? H-how can this b-be p-possible-…? T-that item is s-supposedly a Curse Ball with a Legendary Grade, s-so how come-…?"

Thirio was starting to stutter when he read those notifications and stared at Shin with disbelieving eyes.

On the other hand, Shin didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the new set of system notifications right in front of him. He also didn't know if he was going to thank his opponent or not for the 'blessing' that he just received.

*Ding!*

System: Congratulations! Blood Price Vladimir was able to fully absorb all of the Blood Elemental Mana! He now became 'Noblesse Crimson Spirit'.

*Ding!*

System: Congratulations! The Abomination Shadow Spirit Grimrace successfully devoured all of the evil energy belonging to the curse and managed to complete its evolution! He is now an 'Eldritch Psychic Spirit'!

*Ding!*

System: Due to the newly enhanced powers of your 'Reapers', the Elemental Skills that you received from them were slightly modified.

System: With the assistance of your 'Reapers', the curse that was supposedly cast on your body will be sent back to the other cast as a form of backslash.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

At the same time, the floating sphere made of blood and the cluster of black smoke beside Shin suddenly dissipated and revealed Vladimir Grimrace who was currently in their Elemental Spirit Transformations. But compared to their previous appearance their respective transformations were now giving out a more dangerous feeling.

Vladimir, who was currently in his Blood Sovereign form, was slightly similar to his previous appearance. But the royal robe that he was wearing now had some blood runes swimming on its surface.

The blood wings on his back became even more distinct while a glowing crown was added to his transformation and hovered right above his head. And adding the crimson rapier on his right hand and the long and sharp nails on his other hand, the feeling he was giving out was both savage and majestic.

On the other hand, there was nothing noticeable added on Grimrace's Yaksha Transformation. But given the black smoke radiating from his entire body, the floating shadow daggers revolving around him, and the vicious and crimson eyes that he had, it was very clear that he was a walking calamity in humanoid form.

Thirio was sweating bullets when he saw the sudden appearance of those Elemental Spirits. And since both of them just finished their respective mutation and evolution, they had the powers to reject the suppressing skill that could forcefully unsummon a summoned creature like them for the time being.

"I'm really speechless on your 'present'," said Shin sneeringly as he slowly took a step forward. Then he raised his head a little and looked at Thirio before saying with a vicious tone. "And since I am really grateful, I feel like I need to at least 'grant your wish'."

Swoosh!

After that, Shin quickly sprinted forward and lunged his sword forward, planning to end this battle as soon as possible. He was not sure of the situations on the other side, so he really needed to at least finish his job so that he could proceed at helping his teammates.

Both of them were somewhat exhausted from their battle, but Shin knew that he was at a great advantage this time since his opponent's morale was at its weakest.

Moreover, Thirio was still shocked at what just happened, so it was pretty much impossible for him to fight Shin properly with the current state of his mind. And even though he still managed to fend off a couple of attacks thrown at him, he was no longer as strong and shard unlike earlier.

There were a lot of gaps in his defense and multiple flaws in his attacks, so Shin used them to his advantage to slowly chip down the remaining health on Thirio's HP Bar.

Thirio was in a state of panic and could no longer regain himself. And adding the pressure provided by the curse that was reversely cast on him, it was impossible for him to make a comeback.

Given that, he could only stare blankly at the incoming blade that was about to sever his head.

But before all of his hope was gone, an old voice suddenly sounded beside Thirio. "I already knew that this was going to happen. You really are way too careless compared to the other Messengers."

Then Shin saw Thirio disappear in front of him, which also made his sword miss its target. And at the same time, both Vladimir and Grimrace suddenly appeared on each of Shin's sides, blocking a pair of shadow wolves that appeared out of nowhere.

These two elemental spirits didn't make their moves earlier since Shin didn't give them an order. But now that someone interfered in the duel, they two had no choice but to step in and protect their host.

Shin stood straight and looked ahead of him while wearing a deep frown. A few meters away from them, he saw Thirio standing beside an old man in a black robe with an emblem of a skull with torch-like eyes on his right chest.

He couldn't help but have a solemn look on his face since he could sense a very dangerous feeling coming from that old man. And adding the fact that it was an NPC, Shin knew that this mission was going to be even more troublesome than what it was supposed to be.

...