"Good luck!"
Haetar looked at Manla, silently wished him well, then picked up a gleaming silver scalpel in his right hand and carefully made a small incision beside the curse mark on his arm.
"Hiss!"
The black witchcraft curse runes suddenly came alive, twisting and writhing until they took the form of a small black snake, its forked tongue flickering.
Wisps of dark energy and a network of blood-red veins immediately spread across Manla's entire body.
The big man broke out in a cold sweat, clenching his teeth unconsciously, his face twisted in agony.
"First ray of light in the world! Hear my call and lend me your power! Drive away the darkness…"
Haetar's lips moved rapidly as he chanted.
Hum!
Countless rays of white light suddenly erupted from around the operating table, soaring above Manla and coalescing in the air into the shape of a radiant symbol.
A strand of pure light — utterly untainted, as though the most primordial radiance in the entire world — suddenly appeared within the symbol!
Milky-white light shone down upon Manla.
Tsss! Manla's entire body arched upward, his fists clenched tight.
At the same time, countless wisps of dark gas seeped out from every pore in his body.
The dark gas drifted into the air, only to be quickly purified by the light.
Haetar watched the black lines on Manla's body intently, sweat streaming down from beside his eyes.
His vast Spiritual Power had been refined into the thinnest of threads, ceaselessly scanning over Manla, recording his condition and guiding the light's cleansing.
This was work that demanded absolute precision — the slightest error and the curse on Manla would erupt completely.
Clearly, this state of affairs placed enormous pressure on Haetar as well.
In just a dozen minutes, the old man already appeared to be struggling, heavy panting escaping from his nostrils.
But precisely at moments like these, Haetar's hands grew ever steadier, as though forged from steel — every movement precise and without the slightest error.
Finally, under the relentless advance of the light, the dark, twisted curse runes retreated inch by inch, until at last they shrank back into the original wound.
The light formed a ring around the perimeter, confining the curse to a small area near the wound.
"Hah…" Haetar let out a long breath and wiped the hot sweat from his face.
"The curse has been pinned to a single spot. Now comes the most critical part — the extraction…"
Haetar carefully brought the glass vessel containing the soft-bodied creature in front of him, as though cradling a priceless treasure.
He then placed the vessel on Manla's arm, near the wound that had been cut open earlier.
"Come now, little darling!" Haetar's face seemed to glow with an eerie light, and a dizzying sound escaped his lips.
"Hssss…"
The curse runes on Manla's arm twisted violently, transforming once more into the shape of a small black snake.
The tiny snake flicked its tongue, as if sensing something, and turned its gaze toward the soft-bodied creature.
"Squeak squeak…" Upon seeing the little snake, even a nearly mindless creature like the soft-bodied one began to contract its body.
But this only drew the snake's attention further. It writhed and began to slither in their direction.
Watching the snake draw closer and closer, Haetar even held his breath, as though afraid that even the faintest current of air might scare it away.
The small black snake first circled near the wound, seemingly hesitating, and then, without a moment's pity, it turned to leave!
Just as the old woman in the distance thought it had failed, the black snake that had already turned suddenly sprang forward — like a bolt of black lightning it shot out from the wound and pounced upon the soft-bodied creature.
It swallowed the creature in a single gulp, then swiftly retracted back.
"Trying to run, are you?"
A triumphant smile spread across Haetar's face as his right hand, gripping a pair of tweezers, darted forward with astonishing speed.
The tweezers traced an eerie arc through midair, positioning themselves directly in the black snake's path.
In the next instant, the tweezers snapped shut, clamping onto the middle section of the black snake.
"Hsss... hsss..." the small serpent hissed, its body writhing and coiling frantically.
Haetar's expression turned grave. He knew all too well what kind of catastrophe would ensue if this thing were to escape his grasp!
His left hand swiftly picked up a sulfurized test tube bottle shimmering with runes, tossed the black snake inside, and sealed the stopper in one fluid motion.
The runes flickered and locked the bottle tight. Only after seeing this did Haetar finally let out a long, relieved breath.
"Master Haetar! Was it a success?"
The old woman stepped forward, looking at Manna, who had already returned to calm—the curse runes on his arm had vanished entirely. A hint of excitement crept into her voice.
"Of course! Mission accomplished at last!" A restrained smile spread across Haetar's face.
He hadn't been entirely confident about conquering this curse, but the attempts over this period had been a tremendous boon to his mastery of both Potionology and therapeutic arts.
"Wonderful! I knew it all along—how could we ever bow to that Dark
"Fate has always been on our side!" The old witch's face lit up with an expression of reverence, radiant as the blazing sun.
The brilliance was so intense that even Haetar had to shield his eyes and stumble back a few steps.
Crack!
Right at that moment, a sharp, crisp sound erupted from Manna's body, and a mass of sinister black mist materialized once more.
"What's happening?!" The old witch's voice turned shrill and distorted, like a duck with its neck wrung.
"Curse! A secondary curse—it's a compound-type curse!!!"
Regret and horror warred across Haetar's face.
In an instant, the countless threads of black energy writhing across Manna's body twisted and coiled together, transforming into legions of tiny black serpents. A dense shroud of dark fog enveloped him completely.
"Squeak... squeak..." From within the black mist came a sound that sent chills crawling down one's spine.
A few seconds later, the black mist dissipated, revealing a skeletal frame already blackened, lying quietly on the laboratory table.
All of this happened so swiftly that even Haetar had no time to react.
"Truly…"
Haetar let out a bitter laugh, and was about to say something.
CRACK!!
The sound of shattering glass rang out, and he suddenly remembered something, flinging the glass vial in his hand away as fast as he could.
Unfortunately, he was already a step too late!
A mass of dark energy, crackling with lightning within, erupted violently from his hand.
Blinding white light immediately surfaced on Haetar's clothing, blocking the dark energy from pouring in.
After everything had calmed down, Haetar stared at his already blackened left hand, his face bearing an expression like that of a man already dead…
……
"Hmm?" Lying within a hidden safehouse recuperating from his injuries, Lin suddenly opened his eyes, a contemplative look appearing on his face.
"That fluctuation… it seems one of my curses has triggered a compound effect… Mm! That brute Manna must be dead by now…"
"I wonder how the secondary measures I placed on the Black Serpent Curse fared?" A smile crossed Lin's face.
Not only had he planted compound curses on those two, but he had also laid numerous hidden traps — the poisons and malice concealed within were enough to make any Wizard who came to treat them suffer a terrible loss. If they weren't careful, it could even endanger their lives!
Lin was confident that after witnessing the inescapable and tenacious nature of his curses, Jenna's family would eventually have to bow to him.
Even without knowing the characteristics of that family's Meditation Method, he could easily imagine how invaluable a formal Wizard with divination abilities would be!
When the time came, there were many things he wanted to obtain from them!
For now, Lin merely gave the matter a passing thought before consigning it to the back of his mind. At present, he lay entirely naked in a stone bath, his lean, toned physique on full display.
At the center of the bath, deep green liquid gave off a faint botanical fragrance, radiating an enormous surge of vitality that continuously mended the damage to Lin's body.
This was the restorative solution that Lin had prepared beforehand. In addition to a multitude of healing potions, the Phantom Origin Spring Water he had scavenged from this region was also one of the key ingredients.
Through the semi-translucent liquid, he could clearly see that the massive wound on his abdomen had already completely healed, leaving only a faint pink scar that was rapidly fading.
The speed of it was somewhat beyond even Lin's expectations.
"No! This is most likely not the restorative solution's doing, but rather the bloodline of the Komoin Giant Serpent…" A flicker of dark light passed through Lin's eyes, and he promptly closed them.
Vast Spiritual Power fractured into countless threads, instantly spreading throughout his entire body.
Through the fine observation afforded by his Spiritual Power, he could distinctly sense that from various parts of his body, a mysterious energy was beginning to seep out, ceaselessly repairing his injuries.
This energy was a dark crimson, carrying an ancient aura unique to primordial times. Under its synergy, Lin's body was recovering at a remarkable pace.
"Not only that!"
Lin extended his right hand and clenched it tight!
Crack! A violent burst of compressed air erupted with a deafening crack, as though something had been crushed.
"I can feel it — while the repairs are underway, the bloodline of the Komoin Giant Serpent is also slowly reinforcing my physical attributes!"
The darkness in Lin's eyes grew even deeper.
"This is… the moment of the bloodline's second evolution!"
Due to this severe injury, the process of the second bloodline evolution within his body seemed to have actually been accelerated. The Komoin Giant Serpent's bloodline surged ceaselessly through Lin's body, and a wealth of hidden energy was released, merging with him on an even more profound level.
"Detected: the host's physical attributes are continuously strengthening! Komoin Giant Serpent bloodline is in an active state! Second bloodline evolution will commence in ten seconds!"
The Chip's notification also rang in Lin's ears.
"Hsss…"
A layer of fine, dark scales instantly enveloped Lin's body — he had actually activated his innate Wizard spell while completely unconscious.
A dim, dark luminescence intensified across the scales, and even Lin's eyes had transformed entirely into amber vertical pupils.