CRACK-BOOOOOOOOM!!!
Orc Captain: "..!!!.."
The velocity of the Golden Lightning Spear was far beyond what a B-Rank monster could ever hope to react to. It tore through the air, burying itself with unerring precision directly into the center of the Orc Captain's chest!
The spear's explosion echoed throughout the forest like a divine thunderclap crashing into the earth. A colossal surge of destructive power instantly incinerated the giant orc's flesh and bone into a charred husk. A massive, gaping hole appeared in its torso, where thick, viscous green blood bubbled violently before evaporating into a foul-smelling mist.
The previously formidable and towering figure collapsed heavily onto the damp soil. Its blood-red eyes bulged, staring at the humans before it with a mix of primal rage and absolute refusal to accept its fate. It coughed up a final, massive glob of gore before its life force extinguished in less than two seconds...
Silence returned to the battlefield once again, leaving only the sound of heavy panting and the drifting clouds of dust and ozone.
As the smoke began to thin, Ryan Goldwin slowly glided down to stand on the ground. The young man was breathing heavily from the strain of channeling such a massive volume of mana in a single heartbeat. Large beads of sweat clung to his forehead, yet a wide, triumphant grin spread across his handsome face.
"How was that! Did you see my power?!" Ryan shouted, declaring his victory with a loud, confident voice.
The Golden Boy stood with his arms crossed, drawing himself up majestically before turning sharply to look at Owen with sparkling eyes... A gaze exactly like a little child waiting for praise from their parents.
Owen looked at that demeanor and let out a soft sigh inwardly. However, he wasn't one to be stingy with compliments, especially when it helped build a good relationship.
"You did great, Ryan." Owen walked over, nodding slowly while offering praise in a flat yet sincere tone. "Your decision to reduce mana waste, and choosing the perfect moment to end the fight... you pass."
The moment he heard the word of approval from the man he had just accepted as his 'Brother,' Ryan's smile grew even wider. An aura of pure happiness radiated from him, impossible to conceal.
But Owen didn't just want to build a relationship... he wanted information!
Seeing that the atmosphere had relaxed and Ryan was in such a good mood that he had lowered his guard, Owen smoothly steered the conversation toward his primary objective immediately.
"By the way..."
Owen spoke in a casual tone, as if chatting about the weather. His golden eyes lowered, locking onto Ryan's chest area... exactly where a 'blood-red, teardrop-shaped platinum pendant' was hanging.
He pointed at the necklace before uttering a sentence that instantly turned the joyful atmosphere into one of confusion and absolute seriousness.
"You are aware... that you're wearing a 'Cursed Artifact,' aren't you?"
Gulp...
The smile on Ryan's face froze. His blue eyes widened slightly in bewilderment. He looked down at his own pendant and then back at Owen's face.
"A... Cursed Artifact? Are you misunderstanding something, Brother?" Ryan quickly defended, his tone growing frantic. "This is the 'Pendant of Protection.' It's a high-tier life-saving item given to me by the Association. It went through multiple rigorous inspections before reaching my hands! How could it be a cursed item?"
Owen offered a cryptic smile. He had already anticipated Ryan's response.
"It's not surprising that you don't know..." Owen said evenly, his eyes locking onto Ryan's as if peering straight through to the core of his soul. "Because it was forged so flawlessly. So flawlessly that even the Awakened Association's inspection tools couldn't detect it... Or perhaps, someone within the Association 'intentionally' falsified the inspection results before giving it to you..."
Owen took another step closer to Ryan, the atmosphere around them growing heavier and more oppressive.
"You should know very well, Ryan, that for a famous, capable person with a bright future like you—where there is admiration, there is naturally envy and hatred... And according to my inspection..." Owen emphasized each word carefully. "You've relied on this counterfeit magic item to save your life '6 times' already, haven't you?"
"..."
It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck him right between the eyes! Ryan stood frozen like a stone statue, his mouth agape but no sound coming out. The secret he had guarded so fiercely... the secret that he had blundered and almost died six times, surviving only because of this necklace... how did the man in front of him know?
Even the Association didn't know about this, because he didn't want to lose face or ruin his image as a perfect genius. He wanted to maintain the image of an infallible genius who never made mistakes... Could Brother Owen have an inspection-type skill?
No... that shouldn't be possible. The Association's records stated that Owen's power was [Avatar of Asura], a B-Rank Control type, not an ability related to information appraisal at all.
Therefore, there was only one possibility left: Owen possessed a high-level 'Inspection' or 'Appraisal' type item... His Brother must have used that item to inspect his necklace, discovering it was a cursed item and even knowing the exact number of times it had been activated.
Thinking this, Ryan found himself trusting Owen even more, and his faith in the Association dropped a notch. Because what Owen said was true; the Association was a nest of conflicting interests, made up of government officials and private corporations. It wasn't far-fetched to think someone wanted to bring him, the rising star, down.
The thought that Owen might be misunderstanding was completely destroyed, leaving only shock and a growing dread in his heart...
...
Amidst the suffocating silence, the sound of the wind blowing through the treetops in the primeval forest seemed to suddenly die down. Ryan swallowed hard. Fear began to grip his mind until a deep sense of unease took hold.
The young man tried to take a deep breath and asked the man in front of him, trying his best to keep his voice from trembling.
"Then... what exactly does this necklace do to me? As you said, Brother Owen, it saved my life 6 times, but I'm still perfectly fine. My body isn't wounded or sick. I don't see any negative effects..."
Owen watched the young man's attempt to maintain a brave face with a stoic expression before his lips moved to utter the item's true name in a chilling voice.
"It is called... the [Pendant of Asmodeus]."
Ryan's eyes widened to their absolute limits. The name of the Great Demon of Lust from the legends of Hell sent a glacial shiver down his spine.
"There is no such thing as free power in this world, Ryan." Owen continued ruthlessly, every word hammering home the cruel truth. "This item didn't 'save your life' out of charity like you thought. Every time it snatched you from death, it always demanded a price in return... And what it wants is to 'corrupt the mind' of its wearer. It makes you obsessed with power, arrogant, and prone to acting on your darkest primal instincts without you even realizing it."
Owen narrowed his eyes, staring deep into the trembling blue eyes before striking the final blow to shatter the genius young man's ego.
"Think back carefully, Ryan... Have you been getting annoyed more easily lately? Do you feel like you're not the same person you used to be—perhaps harboring more extreme thoughts? More power-hungry and desperate to win? Feeling like you're above everyone else and have the right to do whatever you want... without even being able to justify those actions to yourself?"
Owen's questions were like the key that unlocked Pandora's box inside Ryan's mind.
Forced to look back on his memories, the events of the past few months flooded his mind scene by scene. He realized it was all completely true... He had started to revel in the privileges the Association gave him, looking down on others, and letting his emotions override his reason more often than ever before.
And then... the darkest, most shameful memory of all surfaced, driving the point home violently.
The day he used his overflowing power and ego to oppress Clara... The day he spewed cruel, mocking words, belittling Damian, her husband, right to her face.
A wave of visceral shame rose up, choking him. The image of Clara looking at him with such intense anger, hatred, and disgust—as if he were a monster she never wanted to see again—was still deeply embedded like a stigma in his heart. So, the arrogance and primal instincts that pushed him to do something so incredibly stupid were partly due to his mind being consumed by the curse!
His once-proud, handsome face turned deathly pale. Ryan now fully realized how dangerous the curse on this necklace truly was. It wasn't a petty curse that made the body weak, but a deadly poison constantly gnawing at and twisting his soul from the inside out.
"Damn it...!"
In sheer panic and extreme self-disgust, Ryan made a rash decision. He yanked his right hand up, intending to rip this cursed pendant off and throw it far away from his body.
Flash!!
But the moment his fingertips touched the blood-red teardrop pendant, it burst with a vicious, blinding crimson light!
"Ugh...!"
Ryan's eyes bulged, his body convulsing as if tens of thousands of volts of electricity had been shot directly into his brainstem. Agonizing pain coursed through his entire body. Simultaneously, the hoarse, seductive, and nauseating whispers of Asmodeus echoed loudly in his head.
'Do... not... take... it... off...'
The command was absolute and filled with dark authority. Suddenly, the pain shot straight into his left chest, squeezing his heart so violently he could barely draw breath!
"Urgh... huffhuffhuff!!..."
Ryan collapsed, his knees slamming hard against the ground. He panted heavily like a man on the verge of death, sweat pouring profusely down his face. His right hand, which had intended to rip the necklace off moments ago, was now trembling uncontrollably before falling limply to his side... as if this body no longer belonged to him.
"What is happening!? Damn it!... W-why can't I take it off!?"
Ryan looked up at Owen with wide, frantic eyes. His voice trembled, filled with absolute panic. The right hand he tried to reach for the necklace with was being resisted by some invisible energy. His body completely defied his brain's commands.
Owen frowned deeply, tension clear on his face. Even he hadn't expected the six-fold corruption to have such severe consequences. It was strong enough that Asmodeus had already begun to intervene and control Ryan's body, even if it was just resisting the removal of the artifact.
"That's because your mind has already been corrupted six times..." Owen explained seriously. The truth he was about to reveal was more terrifying than death. "And whenever it activates for the 7th time, your soul will be completely possessed by 'Asmodeus.' When that happens... you will no longer be you, but a demon from hell wearing human flesh."
Ryan turned as white as a sheet, his lips trembling without a word.
"The reason I had to rush in and save you from that fatal attack earlier was precisely because of this..." Owen continued bluntly. "If that necklace activated, you wouldn't be the only one screwed; I'd be screwed too! Nobody knows what crazy things Asmodeus would do if he got his hands on your body."
Owen took a deep breath. "And right now, I have to help you take that stupid necklace off first, before you accidentally trigger it again..."
With that said, Owen closed the distance between them in a single stride, reaching his right hand straight toward the blood-red pendant!
Whoooosh!!
The moment Owen's hand got close, a crushing pressure and malicious intent full of the Demon King's vengeance exploded from the pendant. It rushed directly at Owen like an invisible tsunami. The screams of thousands of evil spirits echoed in his ears, as if countless nails were scratching inside his brain.
Fortunately, Owen possessed a mind as strong as steel, having faced countless nightmares and immense pressure before. Plus, he had never been mentally corrupted by this necklace's curse. The wave of malice aimed at destroying his sanity could hardly do anything to him. He merely frowned slightly at the sickening feeling washing over him.
On the contrary, Ryan, who was directly connected to the necklace, took the full brunt of this psychic pressure!
"AAAAARRRGGGHHH!!"
The young genius screamed loudly, his face deathly pale as he panted heavily until his consciousness began to fade. His blue eyes rolled back, and his body convulsed in agony.
Grind! Owen ground his teeth, ignoring the resistance trying to push his hand away. He gathered mana into his palm, firmly grasped the blood-red teardrop pendant, and yanked it with all his might!
Snap!!
The platinum chain snapped, breaking free from Ryan's neck just as the boy lost consciousness for a split second.
Without the cursed necklace, Ryan's body slumped forward onto his knees, his hands planting onto the ground. He gasped for air desperately like a drowning man who just broke the surface, cold sweat drenching his entire body.
"Huffhuff... T-thank you, Brother Owen! I-I survived, right?" Ryan looked up and asked in a hoarse voice. He glanced at the blood-red pendant in Owen's hand with eyes full of absolute fear and disgust.
[ System Notification: Ryan Goldwin is immensely grateful to you for saving his life and his soul. Affection points +10 ]
Owen cast a sidelong glance at the system window before carefully storing the cursed pendant in his pocket, planning to find a way to dispose of it later.
"You survived..." Owen nodded slowly before his tone turned serious again. "But this isn't over yet. Who gave you this necklace?"
Ryan frowned, struggling to organize his still-confused memories. "I... I got it from a female staff member of the Association. She gave it to me as a welcome gift... But now I'm sure she was just a messenger. The real culprit must be someone from the Item Inspection Department, or the higher-ups in the Association!"
The young genius clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. Rage slowly began to replace his fear. Being used as a pawn meant his pride had been trampled on.
The problem was that there were dozens of people in the Association who had cozied up to him and pampered him over the past few months. Throwing out accusations indiscriminately wouldn't be wise and might alert the culprit.
"I'll use every connection I have... to track down the culprit behind this myself!" Ryan declared, his eyes filled with an unprecedented, mature resolve.
Owen nodded in agreement but didn't forget to give a strict warning. "Investigate quietly. Don't let them know the plan failed under any circumstances. If anyone asks, claim the necklace broke and was lost during the Orc Captain's ambush... As for this pendant, I'll handle it myself. I have contacts who specialize in this field and can deal with it safely."
Ryan nodded obediently to the command. He no longer had any doubts about the man standing before him.
After going through both a life-and-death battle that drained an immense amount of mana, and a grueling mental struggle, Ryan was in no condition to continue the dungeon. His body urgently needed rest.
Owen evaluated the surrounding situation and agreed that forcing their way deeper into the gate would only be a pointless risk. The two therefore decided to end the gate clearing here.
The two men walked shoulder to shoulder—with Ryan walking a half-step behind out of respect—heading back towards the exit. This brought to a close a gate dive that began with conflict, but ended with a lesson, realization, and a massive turning point that would change the destiny of Titan City's Golden Boy forever...
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