This feeling…
Lyle's gaze sharpened as he stared into the valley below. Deep within his body, the power of the curse stirred restlessly.
"We're finally here. We've finally arrived!"
Doken stood on the cliff's edge, clutching the outstretched branch of a dense tree as he peered into the seemingly bottomless gorge below. His eyes were a swirling mix of excitement and unease.
"This your first time?" Lyle turned toward Doken, slightly surprised by the man's words.
Doken shook his head, voice tinged with fear. "I could never get close. Every time I approached, the curse inside me would go out of control. I'd lose all reason…"
"When I finally came to, I'd always find myself back at the forest's edge."
He paused.
Doken turned to Lyle, eyes burning with fervor. "But ever since I started following you, the curse has stopped rampaging. It's like being near you suppresses it."
"I didn't know I had that kind of effect."
Even Lyle had to admit—he was a little surprised.
"Please, mighty one! Ride on my back!" Doken clearly couldn't wait any longer. He stepped back a few paces.
ROAR!
A deep growl burst from Doken's throat.
His small frame swelled rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed back into the giant petrifying lizard.
HISSSS!
The creature shook its head and then gave Lyle a slight nod, gesturing for him to hop on.
But its size had shrunk?
Lyle narrowed his eyes at Doken's current form. The lizard had once been nearly ten meters long, but now—including the tail—it looked more like eight.
Given how much of a petrifying lizard's length came from the tail, this size change was hard to miss.
Must be a side effect from that time I shattered his transformation, Lyle mused.
"No need."
He crushed a scroll between his fingers.
Fwoosh!
A burst of white light erupted as a Flame Archangel descended. Lyle leapt easily onto the glowing creature's back.
ROAR!
Doken let out a low rumble and began to move. His eight powerful legs dug into the cliffside as he scaled down the rocky wall like a massive gecko.
Lyle followed from the air, his archangel descending with steady grace.
The gorge grew darker the deeper they went. Aside from the eerie sound of wind scraping across stone, there wasn't a single beastly call to be heard. The silence was downright chilling.
A pale white mist began to fill the air. As the light dimmed, Lyle had his Flame Archangel stay close to Doken's petrified form—just in case they got separated.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two descended rapidly.
After about half an hour—
ROAR!
Doken suddenly leapt off the cliff, landing with a heavy crash.
They had reached the bottom.
Lyle tensed as the Flame Archangel slowed, eventually landing gently beside Doken.
They were now at the deepest part of the valley. No sunlight could reach them. The darkness was total.
Only the glow from the Flame Archangel allowed Lyle to make out his surroundings.
Crack.
A faint snap echoed as Lyle stepped on something brittle.
Looking down, he saw the thin white remains of some unknown beast's bone beneath his foot.
He raised his sleeve and pulled out a single-lens monocle from his item pouch—a purchase from "E-Rantel." Placing it over his left eye, his vision instantly sharpened.
Now he could see.
A narrow, cavernous tunnel stretched ahead, its floor littered with all manner of bones in chaotic disarray.
The petrifying lizard, Doken, lumbered up next to him and began to shrink once more—returning to his humanoid form.
"The source… it must be here," Doken muttered through a pained groan, his voice trembling with excitement.
Lyle glanced at him and noted the corruption on Doken's bark-like skin. The black spots—once no bigger than a thumb—had begun to spread.
But even without Doken's words, Lyle could feel it.
The curse inside him had started to boil.
"How interesting…" Lyle's eyes lit up.
What started as a casual guess had led to something far bigger. This world really was full of secrets.
As for danger?
Please.
If there really was some all-powerful creature living in this valley, did anyone really believe the entire forest gnome tribe wouldn't have noticed?
Besides…
From the looks of things, that tribe had been wiped out by their own people.
With that, Lyle and Doken proceeded deeper into the narrow gorge. Their footsteps and the crunch of shattered bones echoed eerily through the too-quiet darkness.
Too quiet.
Lyle frowned. It felt like they were the only ones here—but the sheer amount of bones told another story.
Suddenly, a massive, shadowy figure lunged from the left cliff wall, bringing with it a wave of rotting stench.
BOOM!
The light-bearing Flame Archangel was the first to be hit, its blazing sword colliding with the attacker in a fiery explosion.
HISSSSS!!
A deafening roar shook the canyon.
The blade sliced into the creature's rotting flesh with a sickening sizzle—like searing meat—yet the monster's sheer bulk forced the archangel to the ground.
CRASH!
Another Flame Archangel barreled into the attacker from above, knocking the beast off its feet.
Under the holy light, the creature's form was revealed.
Its skin was entirely decayed, its features unrecognizable, oozing foul yellow pus from every crack and wound.
"That's… a petrifying lizard?"
Lyle's eyes narrowed. He recognized the creature's long tail and eight legs. The physical features were unmistakable.
But its appearance now?
It looked like a walking corpse.
HISSS!
HISSS!
HISSS!
One after another, similarly rotting petrifying lizards crawled from the canyon walls. Dozens of them. All sizes. All corrupted.
"They're still alive?!"
"This is their nest!"
"Kill them!"
"The curse—it's your fault! All your fault!"
"The heart…"
"The ritual—I shouldn't have eaten the heart. I shouldn't have performed the ritual. Everyone… argh!!"
Doken's body began to rot rapidly. His mind unraveled. He shrieked like a madman.
WHAM!
Lyle calmly appeared behind him and slammed a hand down on his neck.
Doken's eyes rolled back as he collapsed in silence.
"Fully consumed by the curse, huh?"
"Disgusting, sure—but not exactly intimidating."
Lyle glanced around at the circling horde of festering beasts.
With a flick of his wrist, a black iron sword appeared in his hand.
"Fine. I'll kill every last one of you."
Dark Wave.
A pulse of dark energy radiated outward—so thick it was visible even in the blackness.
The cursed petrifying lizards froze on the spot, overwhelmed by the sudden surge of power.