Chapter 984 Path of Curse
"What do you mean by Prof. K asking Rex to give me a chance?" King John utters.
Mavenna kept her stoic, "It means exactly what it is, King John"
He had a look of shock on his face.
From the last report about Prof. K's whereabouts, he was last seen in the Great Barricade before he vanished completely. Initially, King John thought that Prof. K's time had come and that he would silently make his exit without anyone knowing.
Since he has a unique and unknown sickness, his time in this world is limited.
It was Prof. K's sole motivation, to further humanity as much as he could before his death.
King John assumed that Prof. K was already dead.
Both of them weren't emotional people, both devoid of excessive sentimentality, they shared an unspoken understanding rooted in their same way of thinking, having responsibilities that they need to fulfill in this world as the ones blessed with strength.
Due to that, Prof. K confessed that when his time drew near, he would simply disappear.
No need for farewell, that would be his end of the line.
However, now King John knows that Prof. K is alive, from Mavenna's mouth surprisingly.
"Rex is offering you a second chance, a chance for salvation. By now, you must know that the Executor is not a human, he's an abomination that thinks nothing of those he deems lesser than himself" Mavenna continued, her gaze sharp. "Even you, one of the closest to him had a taste of his lethal influence"
Upon hearing this, King John leaned back in his seat, his mind was a jumbled mess.
"It's simply a price I need to pay for power, nothing else" King John rebutted.
Although the price for the Executor opening up his bloodline was so expensive, he knew that the Executor was doing this for the sole reason of exchange. He would need to show that he wouldn't use his power against the Executor in order to get help.
Even though the way to show that is by becoming the Executor's meat shield.
Mavenna raised an eyebrow, stunned at his answer.
She was aware that the Executor had a tight grip on King John, but she hadn't anticipated the extent to which it had ingrained, rendering him blind to the glaring truth. His perception had become clouded, obscuring the obvious realities before him.
"Let me guess, is it because he said that he's glad to have you? Because of your bloodline?"
"How did you know about that?"
"I've lived in the same era as the Executor. If I told you how he treated the ancient humans back then, you would understand that this is all a facade for his bigger plan. Can't you see it, King John? You're being used by him"
Despite the urge to report all of this to the Executor, he found him fixed on his chair.
He couldn't move and stayed on the edge of his seat.
Not that he believed what Mavenna said was true, the fact that the Executor was using him for some kind of plan, but he was searching for something to rebut her with. But he couldn't come up with a single word.
Seeing his expression, Mavenna then restarted, "Let me ask you this..."
"In your time with the Executor, have he sent you to a battle? Provide backup for humanity's big walls, perhaps? Or even now as you advance to the Symposium, have you been in any battles, King John?" She asked. clearly trying to prove a point.
Listening to her question, King John's mouth was sealed completely.
Now that he was asked, he has never been in a battle.
Brigitta and Edward were sent to battles all the time, accompanying him for the preparation amongst other things. He, himself, on the other hand, was cramped in safety, dealing with the problems regarding the people.
'I thought that he was giving me this task because he recognized my skills in leadership...'
A pause happened as Mavenna let her questions sink in.
Even though she expected that she wouldn't need to go this far to make King John realize his situation, she decided to go all in as this would determine whether Rex would take her with him or not, "No, right? You're cramped in safety, and you might ask yourself why. It's because the real fight is nearing, and he didn't want to risk you dying, that's why"
"You have to understand. The Executors are pure evil, others are bugs for them" She added.
Upon hearing this, King John took a deep breath in disbelief.
...
Back to the present.
King John was sitting inside his quarter, thinking back about his exchange with Mavenna.
It was completely out of the blue, catching him off guard.
However, he now understands what Mavenna is trying to tell him, in fact, he understands it very clearly now. Some doubts appeared in his mind. From the start, the Executor was as Mavenna guessed, glad to have him as he has an ancient bloodline.
An ancient bloodline of a Magus.
Naturally, after his bloodline was fully unlocked, his physique grew stronger exponentially.
He was even confident to say that he was the 2nd or 3rd strongest in this encampment. If he was pitted against Edward, he might lose but he for sure would not put on a bad show as his physique is paramount right now.
So initially, when the Executor wanted him to be his meat shield, he accepted.
Out of the others, only he could take on this role.
But now that Mavenna has planted a seed of doubt in his mind, he couldn't help but think that the Executor planned this from the start. Pretending to just realize the ancient bloodline inside of his body, the Executor proposed to unlock it.
In truth, he already knew from the start, and his reason to help unlock it is for himself.
Mavenna talked about the real fight, and she must meant the fight that would happen in the Symposium of Upper Divinities which they were heading to. Something there must pose a threat to the Executor, and thus he opted to seek for safety measures.
As for now, if the Executor was killed, the one who will be dying is King John.
It's why Mavenna said that he's the Executor's second life.
Looking at a piece of demonic crystal the size of his hand with a minuscule aura, King John frowned as Mavenna left this as if he had come to a decision. If he didn't say anything she would assume that he refused the offer.
"Should I really turn on the Executor...?" King John mused in contemplation.
Heaving out a big sigh, he threw the demonic crystal to the table and rubbed his forehead.
From the looks of it, he was still undecided about his next move.
...
Meanwhile, it was the very start of noon when the sun was at its highest.
Rex has been spending most of his time inside the dark drawing room with Calidora by his side, instructing him on what to do. He was told to circulate his cursed energy throughout every nook of his body one thousand times.
It was a dreadful process as he was not accustomed to using his cursed energy.
On top of that, his constitution was making it even harder.
Due to the unique nature of cursed energy, shockingly enough, Rex found that his body treated it as a malicious external energy. Whenever he tries to circulate his cursed energy, his body instinctively attempts to push it out.
Additionally, his body's reaction is very strong thanks to him being the Royal Black Prince.
His first bottleneck has come in regard to cursed energy.
Since he had the system, there was no bottleneck for him, and he was accustomed to that.
He initially believed that attaining the ninth epiphany—the crucial milestone for advancing his plan, which the Witch of Choas has set—would be a matter of days. His accelerated growth was attributed to his abnormally strong cursed source thanks to the Eternal Curse, and also the abundance of cursed energy that he could get from the Humming Damned Forest.
But it seemed it was not going to be easy for him.
Especially now that he couldn't seek a solution from the System which always has a way.
However, Rex would not give up as the stake right now is literally life or death.
Calidora who was expecting him to finish the one thousand circulation in one hour was surprised to find that he only finished after almost three hours. It took him a considerable amount of time and now it's already noon.
"Very unfortunate. It's your fault for possessing too strong of a body" Calidora chimed.
Rex could only sigh as this was an unforeseen event.
Not wanting to idle any longer, he then asked, "What do I have to do next?"
"Close your eyes again and focus on your cursed energy" Calidora instructed, she was now standing behind Rex with a serious expression. "Unlike other energies, we need to adapt to the curse inside of us in order to grow faster as a Witch. Focus on your cursed energy, empty your mind, and listen to its voice"
Just as she instructed, Rex did exactly that, trying to empty his mind.
It took ten minutes to empty his mind.
Due to the constant perpetual state of thinking about everything around him, it was harder to empty his mind than it sounded like. When he does, he focuses on his cursed source, trying to find the voice that Calidora is talking about.
Although she said that it was a voice, Rex found that it was not an actual voice.
Instead, it was a premonition on what he needed to do.
Upon finding what he needed to do, he opened his eyes again and snapped back to reality.
"So? What does your curse want you to do?" Calidora asked.
Pondering for a moment, she continued, "If you really know what your curse wants, it should tell you the time it wanted to be cultivated and also the activity you need to do to hasten its growth. I don't really understand why, but it differs from person to person"
"It wants me to circulate it under the sun while exercising?" Rex replied and paused.
Calidora raised an eyebrow, seeing that he still seemed to have something to say.
"It also—It also wants you to always be close to me" He added.
Listening to this, Calidora smiled and gently tapped his shoulder. "Considering that we are bound by the Eternal Curse, don't be overly surprised when it wants me close. After all, we are one way or another, connected..."
"I'm not surprised, I already expected something like this" Rex shrugged his shoulders.
Even the Witch already told him to stick really close to Calidora.
Although he doesn't know whether the Witch said that knowing the nature of the Eternal Curse or perhaps other reasons, he already somewhat expected this, and doesn't mind now that he's essentially sharing a castle with Calidora.
In a moment, the two headed to the courtyard.
Now that the two were walking side by side, Rex asked a question that had been bugging his mind ever since he came here. "It hasn't been that long since I last saw you, and yet, how did you manage to have your own castle? Did you perhaps climb in nobility?"
"I'm the Vampire Princess, there's not much nobility rank above me" Calidora replied lightly.
Rex smiled wryly as he forgot that Calidora was literally a princess.
Still fixed on the subject, he asked again, "Then how did you get this castle for yourself?"
"I reckon that we are situated deep inside the Vampire territory, coupled with the fact that there were countless abandoned houses out there, this castle should reside in a big city, even if it's the capital city, I wouldn't be surprised" Rex added, the expanse of houses out there can host tens of thousands of Vampires.
Upon hearing this, Calidora puts on a sly smile, she was quite proud about this.
Truthfully, this castle really resides in the capital city.
This is Vampire King's castle, the one that her father was using, and now she has this place for herself thanks to Elder Nolacula. "Let's just say that I won this castle over from my father, the previous Vampire King"
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