Three men and one woman, all wearing the same cap as Ashley—maybe they were the captains of their squads. One of the men, with long dark hair, suddenly teleported in front of Rayen and kicked him in the stomach.
Rayen crashed into the mud but quickly pointed his staff at the man. "Extend!"
The man didn't understand what he meant—until the staff suddenly extended forward. It was aimed straight at his stomach, but he barely dodged in time. Still, it struck his arm, and the impact broke his arm bone.
The man gritted his teeth, clutching his arm tightly. My arm bone… it's broken. What was that staff? How can it extend just by command?
I know you're confused, Rayen thought. Because in this world, there's no staff that can extend with just a command. That's because this staff isn't from a game—it's from a novel I read in my past life. And I recreated it here using my visualization. This is the staff of the Monkey King.
Rayen stood up and began analyzing the situation.
---
Lin Xiaolu was now under the custody of the IAR officers—not as a criminal who supported a Cursed One, but as a victim of the Cursed One named Omiosen Rayen. Ashley sent her back to her home with a female officer from her squad.
Now, the full attention of all squads was on Rayen and the old man.
Within minutes, through telepathy, the news of a Cursed One and a human traitor who supported him spread like wildfire.
---
In the palace of the Centralized Authority of the Human Empire, the elders of the empire gathered—seven old men sitting around an oval table. Each wore white robes and a white mask with a black plus symbol—the symbol of humanity.
The hall they sat in was grand. The corners of the table were lined with gold, and the walls were adorned with royal paintings. Two royal guards stood silently beside the giant doors. The room also had a balcony, blooming with beautiful flowers.
One elder slammed his hand on the table. "I can't believe it… Dattadri is a traitor! He turned against the Human Empire?! The same man who destroyed countless Cursed Ones... who hated them to his very core… is now the grandfather of one?"
Another elder, more composed than the first, asked calmly, "And how are you so sure the grandfather of that Cursed One is Dattadri?"
The elder beside him answered, "According to the reports, the old man's rank is between high-Gold and low-Upper. More importantly, when Dattadri retired, he asked us to grant him the entire Greenlands so he could live there alone. And according to IAR, the grandfather lives alone in the Greenlands with that cursed boy. That's the biggest proof we need—it has to be Dattadri."
The elder who had asked the question earlier nodded in silence. The room was thick with tension.
Then, an elder with a long face spoke up. "We will eliminate him."
All the other elders stared at him.
"Have you lost your mind?" one of them said sharply. "We're talking about Dattadri. The only man in the world who could've reached immortality... who could've conquered the heavens if he hadn't stopped cultivating."
"He could erase the entire Human Empire with ease. You really think we can stand against him?"
"The Demon Empire tried that six decade ago. And what happened?" another elder spoke coldly. "Eighty-seven percent of their army was wiped out—just because Dattadri got angry… over a single kid he used to talk to. The demon army killed that child, and he turned their entire legion to ash."
The long-faced elder looked coldly at the one who mentioned the Demon army incident. "That was when he was young. You already know what Dattadri's current rank is… just low-Upper. And he's a man of pride. He took a vow—he would never fight anyone from his own civilization after his brother-like friend died in a duel against him."
"I know him. Even if it means death, he's the kind of man who never breaks a promise. We can eliminate him... using the Potion of Eternal Suffering."
All the elders looked shocked.
The elder beside him stuttered, "Po-Potion of Eternal Suffering? How did you even make that?! Only the Elves know its recipe!"
The long-faced elder replied in a sarcastic tone, "Traitors, my friend. Traitors. No one is truly loyal to their own civilization."
All the elders suddenly felt a spark of hope.
"Then let's eliminate Dattadri—that traitor."
With that, they all stood and left the room.
---
The knight standing to the left of the door sighed. "I was so nervous. It's my first time in this meeting room… I thought if I even moved a bit, I'd be eliminated before Dattadri. But seriously… that Dattadri must be insanely powerful if he wiped out eighty-seven percent of the Demon army."
The knight on the right asked, "Hmm... they said they're going to eliminate him with that 'Potion of Eternal Suffering'. But what even is that?"
The left-side knight, who knew about it, thought for a moment and then replied, "I remember it… that potion is the most painful way to kill traitors and serial criminals in the Elven Empire."
"They force the criminal to drink it… and then their body starts to feel pain that's considered worse than hell. The potion lasts eight minutes. And during that time, every single second feels like being slaughtered, burned, and eaten alive."
"They feel every possible death they've seen, known, or caused."
"That's why the potion doesn't work on innocent people."
---
Rayen and the old man were now completely surrounded by IAR squads from all directions. There was no way to escape. The beasts stood right behind the squads, ready to catch them if either of the two tried to run.
Rayen whispered to the old man, "Grandpa, I have a lot of questions to ask… but I'll save them for later. For now, tell me—how are we going to escape? Do we have to fight them?"
"No," the old man replied. "I can't fight them. They're my own people, just doing their duty."
He paused to think for a bit. "I guess… I'll have to use it. It'll drain too much energy, but we don't have any other choice."
Rayen stared at him. "And what's that you're going to use?"
Wait... is he going to use teleportation? It sounds too simple, but in the game, it was one of the most Qi-draining techniques.
"Are you planning to use teleportation?" he asked.
The old man didn't say anything—he just nodded.
Teleportation… with it, we can return to the place where we left traces of our Qi. Since our home has the most of Grandpa's Qi left in it, we can teleport back there.
But in this technique, the user cuts through time itself, traveling a huge distance in just one second. That's what makes it so Qi-draining—because time is connected to our life force.
The old man grabbed Rayen's arm and crossed his fingers. The IAR officers immediately realized what he was about to do.
One of them cast a spell, "Demolish!"
But the spell didn't work—because of the difference in power.
Suddenly, Rayen and the old man vanished from the scene.
The officers tried to catch them but missed. Ashley slammed her fist into the ground in frustration.
"Tch. We were so close to catching them... but that old man knows too many techniques. Just how capable he is?"
---
Suddenly, Rayen and the old man opened their eyes—they were back inside the house. The night sky was clear, and moonlight shone through the windows.
"Rayen, hurry up and pack all your things. We're leaving this empire!" the old man said firmly.
Rayen nodded and rushed into his room. He knew this would be the last time he'd see it.
He packed his bag and returned. The old man had already prepared his own bag.
"Let's go," he said.
The two of them stepped out.
Rayen took one last look at the barn—the sheep inside, unaware that they would never see Rayen or the old man again.
Then he turned and left with the old man.
---
As they walked through the forest, Rayen's mind was completely puzzled.
Why did that officer call me a cursed one? If I really am one, then why am I living with Grandpa? He was known as the biggest hater of cursed ones... then why?
He took a deep breath and asked the old man,
"Why didn't you tell me… that I'm a cursed one?"
The old man stopped and looked at him.
"I'll tell you everything—why I didn't tell you, and how I met you."