Chapter 81 Curse [6]
Step—
Stepping forward, Brandon stood by Oliver''s side.
He then smirked.
An opportunity presented itself.
Brandon had been frustrated, due to theck of progress.
Of course, he knew his strength wouldn''t be enough to defeat the Wraith Beasts.
But Oliver was here.
If Brandon could just sneak and deal thest hit, it would be free EXP.
Raven was here as well, he must have had significant progress in the past month.
After all, unlike himself, Raven had ess to the system dungeons.
"Hurrrrrr—"
The bushes rustled and the Wraith Beasts emerged. The Beasts stood tall, a little over 8 feet. Their mouths were wide open, boring sharp fangs. Thick dark gray hide served as their defense.
"Hurrrrr—"
Looking around, there were a total of five beasts. Something Oliver could work with.
Surely, Oliver should have gotten stronger after six years.
An Astrea Academy Professor was at least an A to S- Rank after all.
"Hurrrr—"
With a loud growl, the Wraith Beasts jumped them from all sides.
Immediately, everyone dispersed, setting a fixed distance behind Oliver.
With the sole exception of Brandon and Raven.
Noticing, Oliver screamed out loud.
"You two! What are you—"
Turning around, he could see Raven holding a dagger in each hand. Brandon on the other hand held an ice sword in each hand.
"...Don''t tell me."
"We''ll assist you."
"..."
Sighing, Oliver stepped forward.
Snap!
Snapping his fingers, cursed mes engulfed the Wraith Beast in front of them.
Smirking, he turned his head around to look at Brandon and Raven.
"Let me handle this."
Flicking his head, he met Brandon''s gaze.
"I''ll need your help with something elseter. Save your strength."
"..."
With what?
But…
Brandon wasn''t going to miss the opportunity.
"Hurr—"
Splurt—!
Brandon instantly shed forward and finished off the burning Wraith Beast.
Everyone''s eyes widened and their mouths formed an ''o'' shape.
Oliver was no exception as he looked at Brandon with wide eyes.
"You."
Brandon just shrugged it off.
[You have in a Wraith Beast!]
[+200 EXP]
At the same time, the other beasts growled and jumped on Brandon.
Snap.
As Oliver snapped his finger, all of a sudden, the beasts were engulfed in cursed mes.
They were gradually weakening and burning to death. Realizing, Brandon shed forward and thrusted the ice sword inside the Wraith Beast''s hide.
Cr… Crack!
The hide was thick and Brandon''s sword was starting to crack. He had to use up a lot of strength.
[+200 EXP]
But at the same time…
Swoosh—!
Raven followed his example. Cuts and grazes etched all over the Wraith Beast''s body. This persisted until he made sure the Wraith Beast was dead.
It was a battle for EXP gain.
And they were both using Oliver to do so.
"..."
Oliver was quite taken aback. What was the point in doing that?
Raven and Brandon turned to look at each other with a smirk. The Wraith Beasts presented had all disintegrated, leaving no flesh nor bones.
Cursed mes.
The exact opposite of Reina''s holy mes.
While holy mes would buff the user, even healing them in the process. Cursed mes would damage the user if caught in their own mes, in exchange for destructive power.
If burnt, the mes would slowly sap the victim''s strength and energy.
Such was the [Curse] affinity. A hazard to both the user, and the assant.
Rustle. Rustle.
The bushes suddenly rustled.
Noticing, the five immediately kept their guard up.
Squinting his eyes, Brandon thoroughly scanned the bushes, awaiting for whatever emerged from the bush.
And that was when…
Tzzzz—
A purple spark shed and ire emerged from the bushes. On her arms was Rachel, who appeared to have passed out.
"..."
Recognizing, Amy abruptly rushed towards ire.
"ire! What happened to–"
ire motioned for her hand to stop.
"Stay back!"
"Wha—"
Rustle. Rustle.
The bushes rustled and another figure emerged. A man with disheveled gray hair and pitch ck eyes.
He appeared to be walking.
Realizing, ire''s eyes widened.
"He was chasing us… Why did he—"
The man stopped and stared at everyone. His pitch ck eyes stared deep into their souls with a smile that sent chills down their spines.
Threads loomed all over him. But it seemed like the threads only stopped there.
As if it couldn''t reach them.
Brandon had a faint idea on who the man was.
From what Oliver told him, David ced a curse in his body. If he left the forest, his body would perish.
"David…."
Oliver stepped forward and called out to the man.
"...D-Dad?"
Sarah chimed in as well. sping her hands. She walked towards Oliver''s side.
ire''s eyes widened, as well as everyone else.
Turning towards Sarah, ire loudly spoke.
"...That''s your Father?!"
"I''m not sure…"
Ignoring them, Oliver stepped forward to approach David.
"David, it''s me. I''m sorry."
"..."
But David stayed silent, and stared at Oliver with a smile.
Of course…
David was long gone.
It was a hopeless wish.
And Oliver knew that.
But…
Drip. Drip…!
The tears wouldn''t stoping out.
A sin that Oliver carried for six years.
And now…
It was his time to repent.
Taking a step forward, Oliver looked back at Brandon.
"Brandon."
"...What?"
"Find everyone."
Brandon''s eyes widened but immediately changed his expression and nodded.
ire turned to look at Brandon.
"What does he mean, find?"
"This city… People have gone missing for the past six years. Children and adults alike."
Brandon then pointed at David who stood still, as if waiting for them to enter the forest.
"Oliver believes it was all caused by…"
He clenched his fist and sneaked a nce at Sarah who had a conflicted expression.
He then turned to look back at David.
"...That man."
"..."
ire didn''t know how to respond to that.
But that was when she realized.
"Brandon!"
"What?"
"I''m unsure about this. But inside the forest there were dolls."
"...What about it?"
But the next words that ire said shook Brandon to the core.
"I think… I think the missing people you are looking for are inside those dolls."
Thud!
All of a sudden, Sarah''s legs gave out and she slumped down on the ground.
"No, no, no, no, no."
Noticing, Brandon immediately rushed towards Sarah.
"Sarah…"
"No, no, no, no."
She ruffled her hair and continued to mutter to herself with wide eyes.
"No, no, no, no, Emma…"
"Sarah…"
Hearing his voice, she looked up at Brandon. Grabbing his arms, she pursed her lips.
"Brandon… Don''t you get it? That doll I picked up…"
She didn''t finish her words. She couldn''t finish it. How could she?
Drip. Drip…!
But that was all Brandon needed to hear to understand the situation.
Oliver was eavesdropping as well. Before entering the forest, he paused and turned to look at Brandon.
"Fucking Wraiths."
It was a Wraith''s ability.
The same way as they possess a human with a weak mind. They could transfer a weakened person''s soul.
But…
"Why dolls?"
Brandon questioned himself.
It was way too specific.
All of a sudden, David—who was silent throughout the whole ordeal—finally spoke.
"Sa-rah…"
His voice was hoarse. As if he was using thest of his strength just to mutter thosest words.
"Dad!"
"David!" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Sarah and Oliver immediately called out to him.
"...I ma-de …a doll …for y-ou and—Uh.... Will… Emma …like it—Ukh!"
Thosest chilling words. Thest of David''s will before the Wraithpletely took over six years ago.
That was when they realized.
The entire time…
Those people…
"The dolls…"
They were all made for Emma and Sarah.
And yet…
The Wraith had used those dolls to trap a human''s soul.
And one of them…
Was Emma.