Chapter 65

Misaka POV

“Huh did you see that?” asked Haruna as she was tucking Haruka in her bed.

“See what?” I answered.

“Daiki, that man is incorrigible, he must have done some perverted things to the poor Haruka…”

“I don’t think that he is someone who would do something like that.”

“You must be out of your mind. He is a boy, and all boys are perverted! You seem to have forgotten the time he put his hand on your breasts ‘to remove a rat’ he said, that boy cannot be trusted!”

Remembering that incident I felt a bit embarrassed as I had actually slapped him even if I was actually the one that asked for help.

“Well, even though his attitude and personality changed, from the boy we knew back on earth, his morals are still the same, he became strong, but not once did he force any of us to do something against our will. You should not forget, that under this collar, we cannot refuse any of his orders, and so far, he never commanded anything that would ruin our dignity”

I calmly stated.

Actually, if he had wanted, he would have done whatever he wanted to us, and no one could judge him or even be able to try and stop him, strength and power are everything in this world, and laws made by man hold no weight against the might of the strong.

“Even so, I cannot trust that guy!” said Haruna

“You don’t have a choice in the matter. He saved our lives from a fate worse than death, even now when I thought that I was going to be forced against my will by Daiki, was actually deemed trustworthy to carry out his task…”

“Task?” asked Haruna

Yes, he asked me to protect the two of them…

“Nothing, don’t worry about it. let’s just wait for Haruka to wake up, you should rest a bit, I will stay up.”

“Why do you want to stay up? you should sleep too”

“You don’t seem to have a full grasp of the situation don’t you Haruna?”

“What do you mean?” she said

“We are in enemy territory, these elves though they look friendly, they won’t hesitate to take advantage of us, and Daiki fully knows it, they want to use us as hostages to force Daiki’s hand. The time period to heal Daiki up is a bit strange because the tree should be fully recovered in two days and the queen should be in top shape in less of a time after that, so why did she ask Daiki to come back 4 days later?”

“Why?” asked Haruna

“This was so that he would lose his sanity, she knows she cannot rein him, so she will make sure that he loses his mind and use us in his stead, now that we are under the slave contract, we can be forced to work under the elves once they release us from the mad Daiki’s grasp…”

“This is dangerous, but are you sure about this?”

“No, not entirely but just speculations and results of analyzing some hints here and there, the way the queen was looking at Daiki was that of fear and antagonization, she didn’t think of him as savior to the kingdom, but a future threat, so instead of healing him instantly she probably made it so that he will lose his mind before...”

“Doesn’t that mean that we might be in trouble right now? why did Daiki leave then?!” said Haruka

“Yes, though I am not sure, I hope that these fears turn out to be nothing but me overthinking. But the reason for Daiki’s departure is simple, he did so because he feared that he might harm us in a way or another, losing your sanity is not something anyone can withstand and neither can Daiki do the same, the best course of action was to leave this place, for now, before anything bad happens…”

I said the words and started changing my clothes, I removed my armor and wore my night gown, something I received from the Demon king that day in addition to a set of clothes that we all got.

Haruna was a bit restless, but even so, it only took her few minutes before she was in dream land.

I, on the other hand, sat in wait, hoping that my fears were unfounded.

Daiki POV

It took a night of teleporting away until I decided that this was a good place to stop and wait for the upcoming days, My head was throbbing from pain, while the fields grew darker as the night was down upon me. Reaching a far enough point I decided it was a good place to stay the night.

My passive will protect me from all kind of monsters and animals that would want me harm, even so, if they approach I guess I will handle them.

The place I was resting at was an open grass field with a single dead tree in the middle of nowhere.

I lied down under it, and gazed at the sky, the two moons were close to each other and the constellations were shimmering down on the world below, the scenery was quite beautiful, but I didn’t have the luxury to enjoy it. My vision was darkening and I was not feeling comfortable.

I sat down in a meditative state and dove deeper within my subconscious, entering the vortex of souls was the only way to accelerate the passage of time.

However upon entering it, I was met with more dread, even the souls within me had their eyes reddened, and were also corrupted, this curse is stronger than I thought…I wonder how Nemu was able to keep his composure for all those years.

“Banished one.” Said the sacrilegious king as he appeared before me, only he had not succumbed to the curse as his eyes were clear.

“What is it?”

“You look troubled, why did you run away from those people?”

“I did not run away!” I shouted back at him

“No, you did, you were scared to harm them, afraid to hurt them, then regret your actions, you ran away”

He was right, but I won’t give him the pleasure of certainty.

“What would you have done in my stead?” I asked the man sarcastically

“I wouldn’t have given a damn, I would have let myself loose, removed my restraints and did whatever I desired, tell me Banished one, without lies, do you not crave destruction? Do you not crave murdering, torturing, breaking the spirit of the weak, defiling woman and doing whatever you desire?”

“I do not!” I said with all conviction, I finally understood what was happening.

“You should be careful of what you say, old man, I may be a bit mad at the moment, but it doesn’t mean you get to try your luck”

“Very well Banished one…”

The king was trying to make me believe that I do want to do all those things… However, I am not one of such nature, I won’t succumb to this level of taunt.

“Banished one, you should know that the Queen will not heal you, she cannot…”

“I know,” I said it was clear, the way her body shriveled up just from healing Haruka, If she does the same to me she would be long dead before she could even do anything.

“Then why did you not tell her back then? Why not kill her at that time and that moment?”

“They still have their uses,”

“So you decided to suffer through this without fighting back? I think you grew soft.”

“Soft? Haha, that is good to hear. No, I did not grow soft, the four day time period is for the Queen to look for a substitute solution, if she cannot I will have her country burning to the ground…”

“Save them from an idea to kill them by your own hand, true you did not grow soft, you grew insane…”

“What do you want me to do then? go and beg her? Ask for her life so she can cure mine? I know for sure she will not, she is bound by the tree if she dies the tree dies…then what? Go to the pontiff perhaps? And risk getting my case of corruption even worse? I have no way out of this mess…These damn curses are strong, not even death can cure them, so how the hell am I supposed to know the way out?”

After a momentary pause, the king smirked and said

“You need not know, only we should, and we shall guide.”

You gained insight:

Knowledge of the dead.

A notification popped up and a surge of information went through my mind. Barely able to withstand the torrent I almost fell unconscious.

Within this stream of information, there was a way on how to remove the curse…

“That easy? Huh?” I said

“No, for anyone else it should be quite hard, but for you, this is simple…” said the king and left

I opened my eyes to the morning sun, it seems that a lot of time passed but I am not sure how much.

Well first things first, let's get this curse out of our system

“Rise forgotten soul of the dead, head my call and tremble for that my will is absolute and your submission is unconditional. Raise undead!”

The body of an old elf rose from the ground, soulless, mindless and has no purpose but to serve its summoner… well, it will have two.

“Share in my torment, let my curse be yours, and let my pain be yours, for that I shall take your death, and you shall take my life.”

A few incantations I learned from the King, Apparently curses never dissipate, they only transform from one to another, so if I find a willing recipient, they can take in my Curse, however, there is always a price to pay. And in this case, A life needs to be paid, and there is only mine…

You died!

Banished one’s Legacy

You, one that is far from tired of living, Rise for your mission has yet to end

Rise if you would, for that is your curse!

The curse of the black dragon’s nightmare has been lifted.

Once I stood

I looked around, my black skin turned to its original color, my mind felt lighter than ever, while that stupid itch was no more, I felt refreshed and rejuvenated.

Looking beside me I saw the undead’s corpse slowly decomposing from the black matter.

Thankfully I can die and rise back…hang the fuck on!

SHIT! The girls! What the fuck have I done?!

I opened the slave contract window to see if they are still bound to me. I totally forgot to remove the contract before I did that stupid stunt, I cannot die but they will die if I do, shit…

Slave contract established.

Current slaves

Misaka Zamehada (Level 395)

Haruka Kusanagi (Level 462)

Haruna Skuya( Level 381)

Elia Grimory (Level 260)

Thank God… they are still alive…

God damn it, I need to think shit through, the Curse was playing tricks on me and I almost did something stupid…

Now thinking about it, I really do care about them don’t I… damn, I must be turning soft like the King had said.

“Banished one! What The hell was that!” said a voice in my head

“What do you mean Nemu?”

“I felt the strings of life cut and reattached. I died and was brought back to the land of the living…”

The effect of my death?Why? Is he not under the slave contract? Ah! He is a pet and my death is the same as his, The girls must have felt that too…

“Don’t worry about that, I just died and resurrected.”

“To speak about death as if it was but an inconvenience… You must have lost your mind Banished One.”

Well, I died too many times, I don’t really care anymore.

“How many days had passed since we last spoke, Nemu?”

“It's been five days, Banished one, you sure do sleep a lot.”

“Time to go back, it seems that I am a bit late for some kingdom conquering…”