Evan D. Sherden, Punishment. (5)

[Arghhhhh!!!!!!!]

A terrible scream filled the whole city. The Heavenly King’s shout was enough to shake the city’s foundations. The whole land trembled and many buildings collapsed.

“Ray!”

“Evan…”

Evan, who cut off the Demon’s arm, held Serena in his arms and checked her condition. Fortunately, she wasn’t fatally wounded.

Well, he couldn’t have killed her if he wanted to make her a Demon. That saved Serena’s life. It was a real relief.

“You’re late…”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Ray. Thank you for everything.”

“No…I’m…thankful…to you…”

Serena didn’t have the energy to finish her words. He crushed the severed arm that was wrapped around Serena’s neck and freed the hold.

Gefrel gave Evan a death stare.

He gripped the cut shoulder.

[My arm…]

“This one seems to be Gefrel, the strongest Heavenly King among the Four Heavenly Kings. He even seems to be using the power of Devil Rune…”

There were going to be two major factors in the battle he was about to face: the Devil Runes they both possessed and Gefrel’s Reflection ability.

Unless one had a station that overwhelmed him, the ability allowed the possessor to reverse back all the attacks, whether physical or magical, back to the original attacker.

Of course, however, there was an exploit that allowed one to negate the ability’s power. He didn’t know if it would work as it was now, but he would still give it a try. If it didn’t work, then he would have to think of another way. Evan erased all the negative possibilities from his head.

[My arm!!!!!!]

“……OK, let’s begin.”

Evan carefully laid Serena nearby and surrounded her with an alchemy barrier.

Gefrel could destroy the barrier easily. If even for a second, Gefrel turned his attention from Evan and charged on Serena, it would lead to an unimaginable disaster. Fortunately, Gefrel’s focus was completely on Evan now.

[You…! That magic…! Don’t tell me you’re using the Demon’s magic!]

“I’m using it to manipulate Devil Rune. Interesting, huh? If you consume my Rune, yours would double in power.”

Of course, the situation was vice-verse, too. The loser would be deprived of everything, and the winner would become stronger by absorbing the Devil Rune.

[This shouldn’t be possible.]

While Evan was casting the barrier on Serena, Gefrel also used recovery magic to recover from his fatigue.

With the ability to drain his enemy of all life, Gefrel intended to leech Evan and transform him into a dried-out mummy!

[No way. I’ll finish you here. You won’t see the light of day]

“Ha. Come and try.”

The dark purple magic that covered Evan’s whole body became more radiant.

The longer Evan’s status was restrained, the longer the Magic and Curse forces were gathered, and the longer the status amplification rate and duration were interrupted when the Devil Rune was activated.

And Evan’s amplification rate had never been faster than it was now. He had felt so powerful right now….

He felt pathetic about what he was afraid of just a moment ago.

The moment he threw off the pitiful shackles of an extra role, he felt a new awakening in his body.

“You might want to look above.”

[Huh…!?]

It was not a deception. Dozens of gigantic rocks were falling from the sky before he knew it. And they had only one target—Gefrel!

[What!?]

One, two, three; the count kept on increasing! The moment he saw it, Gefrel’s eyes twitched. Evan smiled.

‘This is how a dead man cowers.’

Gefrel used the power of reflection. The way to attack him was straightforward and challenging. At the same time, attacks of the same attributes were simultaneously applied in the opposite direction. He could only reflect one of the two attacks, so the other one proved a hit.

Armed with accessories that would keep him alive in the face of a fatal blow, he filled his inventory, somehow recovering, and hanging a non-recoverable debuff through his too-high magic resistance made it possible for him to last for hours.

“Now that the Status is amplified, I can use an enhanced Heaven’s Press.”

It wasn’t a new ability, just an intelligent maneuver; Heaven’s Press would be triggered by throwing away dozens of Battle Beads at the same time. It worked like a charm.

Evan was going to amp up the intensity of his attacks.

“It’s all the same fabric attributes. If you can reflect it, let’s try to reflect it all!”

Evan smashed the floor and rushed at him. His fist, which was pulled backward, contained the power to crush heaven and earth.

There was no way that Gefrel could avoid the Meteor that covered the sky. One way or another, it managed to deal with the aftermath of the reflection.

[Ha, that’s a good warm-up!]

But strangely enough, Gefrel didn’t think to avoid it. Perhaps he was trying to keep Evan off guard. Perhaps he was trying to put up a fight with the Devil Rune. Whatever the reason, Evan also did not intend to step down.

The rocks poured down and began to hit Gefrel. Evan captured his image clearly, trampled straight through the air, and moved forward…. Punching straight through his heart!

[Kaaa, haaaa…!]

Gefrel wasn’t even spared a second. Evan’s power, speed, reflexes, strength, all were superior from the beginning.

[You, man… Zero…]

Gefrel vomited magic-imbued blood and said something that he didn’t understand.

[Unfortunately, you are late……and his ultimate plan has already begun…….]

“What are you saying?”

Evan drew his fist and struck his head this time. To completely finish off a Demon, one had to strike both the head and the heart.

While doing so, he tore off all the Devil Rune, which had been engraved on his whole body, and absorbed it using his boots.

[Sherden and Pellati, I’m sure… but our purpose has already been accomplished…….]

Evan tore up and destroyed his remaining body.

[Because of my disappearance, he finally found you.]

He heard a voice.

[The curse that was lurking in the world finally comes out.]

A voice came in.

[You.]

[Surely.]

[Will die.]

[Whatever.]

[Whoever I meet.]

[You can’t achieve anything.]

[You will be frustrated.]

[Whether you go on or not.]

[You will receive all the hate of everything in the world.]

[You will die in vain.]

The pattern of handwriting similar to Devil Rune filled the air as if it was covering Evan. Evan shuddered at the sight.

The realization finally struck. It was a curse; the reason why Evan died so much in the game was before him now.

It had never appeared in the original. It couldn’t have come out. Evan was an extra, and the game made sure that Evan never reaches this plot point.

[Die!]

[You’ll die.]

[You’ll die.]

[You’ll die.]

[You’ll die.]

Had he ever faced such a terrible curse in his life? How the hell did Gefrel curse him while he was dying…? No, no, no!

‘The curse that was lurking in the world.’

That was what Gefrel had said. He died without leaving a trace. There was no way he could put a curse on Evan. So, where did it come from, what was it, who cast it, when was it cast?

Who, when, and how; questions were meaningless. What mattered now was how to stop this curse.

“Who… who says I’m going to die so easily…?!”

Evan raised all his energy to resist the curse. Wasn’t it all for this occasion that he trained in curse resistance?

He covered his whole body with magic. He put forward magic that he could manipulate against the magma that tried to curse him.

His status with the help of the Devil Rune had been reinforced beyond limits and was strengthened to amplify the curse resistance; not only that, but it also absorbed some magic that came upon him to protect the host.

[Die!]

[You will die for sure…]

[Die…]

[Death…]

[You must…]

The curse that had covered Evan’s whole body began to weaken. Evan opened his eyes and refused the curse with all his might.

Strangely enough, the magic that tried to protect Evan was blazing against the magic that had cursed him. He betrayed the evil spirit, which was the source of the sinister magic, and was following the strong will of man!

“I dare you! Try to kill me…!”

[Die!]

[Die.]

[Die……]

“I’m not going to die.”

He decided to leave behind the fate of an extra who always died.

‘I have been controlled by my fears for too long. I’ve had enough of this! I will live!’

[Di…]

[At any time.]

[Big or small.]

[Crisis.]

[Difficulty.]

[And Danger.]

At that moment, the strings covered with all kinds of death ruptured in unison. Now it was a weaker curse. Evan clenched his teeth to reject that, but sadly, he lacked the strength.

His curse tolerance and status were not enough. It could have been a miracle to overcome the world trampling on him in the first place. Perhaps his career with cheats also affected it.

[Crisis.]

[Difficulty.]

[Risk.]

[Disturbance.]

[To death one day…]

[You…]

Each unpleasant string on Evan’s face, on his back, on his stomach, on his chest, on his legs, clung to his hands and arms.

The moment it stuck, it permeated and disappeared, but the unpleasantness of the moment it was cursed was unbearable.

After the ridiculously diluted curse ate him in comparison to the first appearance, Evan gritted his teeth and muttered.

It appeared as soon as Gefrel died, so the curse was probably part of the Demons’ plot.

Perhaps it was the Demon King himself….

“What did I do, you son of a gun?” Evan clenched his teeth and looked up.

Despite all the killing, he could feel the energy of the magic still alive in this city. However, the powerful energy felt on the mansion’s side was completely extinguished, and Shine and Raihan seemed to have safely disposed of the Heavenly King there.

“I thought they could make it, but……I see.”

‘I’m fed up with my own stupidity. However, I feel a little relieved to know that I would not commit such an error anymore.’

Did he finally find out why the character Evan always died?

It wasn’t because Evan was an extra, nor because dangerous women loved him, but because the world had cursed him. What a simple conclusion!

“I won’t die.”

The curse was deflected. Of course, it may be a little harder to live in the future, but it was not the time to pay attention to that now. Compared to what he had previously been prepared for, this was very easy for him.

“I won’t die.”

Evan turned around, asserting it to himself.

There were still a lot of things left to do.

[Happy New Year! You sons of guns! b I’m not always this cringy, I swear}]