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Chapter 998 Personification of the Eternal Curse

Most of them were mindless cursed creatures below the fifth epiphany, but there were some who way surpassed that, reaching all the way to the ninth epiphany. Only thanks to the aegis of the castle that Dargena City was protected from their grasp.

Additionally, the stronger cursed creatures were thankfully, also docile in nature.

None of them ventured out of the forest.

Rex and the others have seen countless cursed creatures and their hideous visage, uglier than mutated animals or even the Orcs. Because of this constant exposure, they were not influenced too much by cursed creatures\' appearances anymore.

Looking at cursed creatures daily is capable of making even the cowardly brave.

But the cursed creature before Rex is a complete anomaly.

A haunting creature, whose appearance could instill fear in even the most resolute, emerged like a vision from nightmares. He had not anticipated encountering such a cursed being, one that should be the personification of the Eternal Curse itself, in this fearsome form.

Standing before him is a creature with the body of a chaotic tangle of razor-sharp limbs.

Dark, chitinous plates, slick with a cursed sheen, cascade over its body. Its appendages arch menacingly, poised like scythes of the reaper, ready to rend the fabric of reality and sow fear in the hearts of those whom it came across.

Rex marvels at this nightmarish entity.

Even with its odd form, it had a face that was a white mask, showing a blank expression.

He also saw the small creature from earlier sprinting back to this nightmarish creature and merging back with its body, akin to a droplet of water merging with a body of water. Such a sight made Rex lower his stance in alert.

No wonder it\'s hard to reach the cursed beacon, it has multiple limbs.

Smiling wryly, Rex went into his battle stance.

Despite confronting the physical embodiment of the Eternal Curse, the very source of his afflictions, he deftly manipulated the thread of cursed energy to press forward while he tried to stall this monster enough until the thread reached the cursed beacon.

In his specter form, he couldn\'t use his moonlight energy, red force, or elemental mana.

Rex could only rely on his own cursed energy.

Swish!

At the sight of his thread of cursed energy moving, the cursed creature didn\'t stay passive. It unleashed a piercing screech and surged forward, trailing a wake of bronze smoke. It was so gnarly to see that it move that it caused Rex to flinch instinctively.

He quickly snapped out of his trance before a frown etched across his face.

I was hoping that it couldn\'t sense me, but it obviously could.

Since the Damned Specter skill created a clone in another dimension, he was hoping that it would not be traced by this cursed creature. But he was dead wrong as the cursed creature slashed directly at him with its razor-sharp limbs.

Clang!

It sounded like metal, the clash between them produced a clanging sound.

On top of that, the force was also cataclysmic.

Receiving one strike from the cursed creature forced out a painful hiss from Rex\'s body, the cursed energy it possessed was straining his mind with a touch and was very hostile. Just one parry is enough to produce a heavy backlash for him.

Desperately standing his ground, he clashes against the cursed creature.

Its nightmarish limbs were stabbing at him repeatedly.

Had he not been an expert in close-quarter combat, able to adapt from offense to defense as smooth as water, he wouldn\'t have been able to dodge this assault. Rex dodged every stab with his elusive movement, backflipping and rolling expertly.

Every move he made was effective and efficient, there was no waste of energy.

But he knew that he couldn\'t stay on the defensive.

Screech!!

Concentrating intently on the thread of cursed energy, the creature immediately shifted its target as it observed Rex leaping aside. Its priorities were clear, leaving Rex with no option but to abandon a defensive stance.

If he wanted to complete this stage, he would need to protect the thread with his all.

One hit from the cursed creature would send him back to the starting point.

He only had one more chance, he couldn\'t fail again.

Swish...

Marshaling all his strength, Rex\'s form radiated with a surge of cursed energy, enveloping him in a vaporous shroud. With sudden velocity, he dashed forward, closing the distance between them in an instant, as quick as a shadow.

However, reaching the cursed creature\'s back, he was greeted by an eyeball.

It appeared out of nowhere on the back of its body.

Rex, though taken by surprise, managed to evade one of the creature\'s limbs that sought to impale him in that moment of distraction. He vaulted upwards and, with a predatory quickness, elongated his nails into sharp claws, sinking them into the cursed creature\'s back to secure a hold.

Despite him mounting on its back, the cursed creature ignored him and pushed forward.

But Rex wasn\'t going to let it ignore him and started stabbing wildly.

He tore the cursed creature\'s body, taking chunks out, causing it to be in pain before with his strong muscles, slammed the cursed creature to the ground. Not wanting to let it reach the thread of the cursed creature, he swiftly grabbed ahold of its two main arms.

<You have obtained Hexbane Mindshield level 1!>

<Hexbane Mindshield>

Due to the constant mental stress inflicted by cursed energy, the user has adapted to its influence, providing a small resistance to curse attacks on the mind. It\'s a passive skill that can be upgraded through the allocation of skill points once the System Relaying Bet quest reaches completion.

Although touching the cursed creature was horrendous, Rex was able to persevere.

It was all thanks to his will to see this to the end.

From his relentless attempts to achieve the greater cursed body, he was able to manifest a resistance to cursed energy that attacks the mind. He was still in pain, but the pain was way more bearable thanks to this passive skill.

Just as he did that, his eyes widened seeing its other arms were able to elongate.

Rex was quick enough to kick them away.

Even though the cursed creature was supposed to be strong and very fast, he was able to keep up thanks to his strong physique. His instincts in this form were also working, so he has no disadvantages anymore in this realm of consciousness.

But as he did that, the cursed creature was starting to become angry.

As Rex threw a punch to propel it away, making a safe distance between it and the thread of cursed energy, his fist was ensnared by its arm that had liquified. He was then swiftly drawn into the cursed creature\'s body and consumed entirely.

"Kaarrghh!" Rex lets out a shout when the pain in his mind instantly becomes unbearable.

It was akin to having his mind squashed into meat paste.

Had it been others who was the one experiencing this pain, they would find their minds fractured beyond comprehension, turning them into mindless disabled. Even Rex had to admit that this cursed creature was not a joke.

The cursed creature is the strongest he has ever seen.

Despite its power being restricted in this stage to the fifth epiphany, it was still a problem.

Rex couldn\'t imagine what would happen if this creature was summoned outside, into the real world. But he was confident that a mass delusion would happen, rendering everyone that encountered it has their minds devoured.

Upon devouring Rex, the cursed creature quickly moves toward its target once again.

In a few seconds, it would definitely sever the thread.

Meanwhile, tormented in the mind, Rex teetered on the brink of losing consciousness, and the cursed creature\'s body induced greater effects on him than before. Tendrils of cursed power infiltrate his mind which only serve to grow the pain.

Slowly, he was starting to lose his focus, his vision began to blur.

Hold on. I- I can\'t pass out.

He was still determined to collect his strength and persevere, but the effect was too strong.

Gathering his focus and strength was out of reach.

Like being drowned in the ocean with the view of the surface going further away, his mind began to succumb to the pain. But in that fraction of the moment, his tortured mind reveals the true horror that was capable of suppressing the pain itself.

Rex saw the visions of his fear coming true.

Fears that would transpire one by one like a domino effect if he lose against the Executor.

Dargena City flattened and crumbled to nothing but stone and dirt, the remnant of the city that was once teeming with newfound hope of a better future. His pack members are under the mercy of the new ruler, the Executor.

Adhara, Evelyn, Flunra, Kyran, Ryze, everyone he loved lying amongst the rubbles, lifeless.

While he could only watch from the sidelines.

Rex watches as the blood from their corpses flows slowly and reaches his feet.

Having his powers taken away by the System, he was once again powerless to do anything.

Even though the cursed creature\'s power was intent on torturing the mind with an eternal perpetual escalation of pain, the inadvertent flaw in its design lay in the fact that the pain it induced brought forth vivid flashes of Rex\'s fears.

It was a critical miscalculation, causing the complete opposite.

On the brink of losing consciousness, Rex\'s eyes suddenly jolted open with a fierce glint.

"Raaaarrghh!"

Suddenly, his heart pumps adrenaline into his bloodstream and gives him power seemingly out of nowhere. Rex ripped the cursed creature\'s body from the inside, making his way out as the cursed creature screeched in surprise.

Despite having a good portion of its form split into two, the cursed creature was not dead.

It turned its face angrily at Rex.

Manipulating its cursed energy, its body tried to latch together again.

However, Rex\'s eyes gleamed red as he turned into his Werewolf form. He had a maniacal smile on his face, baring his sharp fangs, "Are you also trying to kill me and those I love?! Do you also want to take them all away from me?! Haha~! HAHA~!"

"Anyone that tries to stand in my way, I\'ll send them all to an express straight to Hell!"

Rex, having his broken mind and possessed by his anger, started clawing like an animal.

He lost his mind and became even fiercer.

Under his barrage of claws, he caused damage faster than the cursed creature was able to stitch itself back together. It screeches and turns from trying to overwhelm Rex\'s mind to impaling him with all of his sharp limbs.

Rex coughed a disturbing amount of blood as he got impaled six times.

But the maniacal smile never left his face.

Forcing his regenerative abilities to exert more output, the holes across his marred body started to close rapidly. He grabbed the sharp arms of the cursed creature that were still stabbing him before he broke them with a twist of his hand.

None of them suffered permanent damage, both could regenerate extremely fast.

However, that makes the fight more brutal.

Due to their regenerative abilities, they were trapped in a perpetual bloody and gore fight.

It was now a blur which one of them was a monster.

While this was happening, the thread of cursed energy kept on trailing forward until it finally reached its destination. A dome of bronze energy with a core at the center, the core that it would need to connect with to evolve Rex\'s body to a greater cursed body.

Moving without hesitation, the thread pierced through the dome, the cursed beacon.

It then quickly latches onto the core.

Almost instantly, after it connects with the core, it emanates a blinding glow.

Rex who was still locked in battle with the cursed creature, eyes opened like a lunatic and laughing uncontrollably, suddenly got pulled away. He wasn\'t able to retaliate and instantly got separated from the cursed creature.

Only the next second, he opened his eyes and found that he was back in the courtyard.