Demon Bible

Chapter 218: Curse

At this moment, Dartmenerly was primarily focusing on the second category of case studies.

Roughly four hundred years after the death of that unidentified Saint who defied Fate—right around the era when the disaster first emerged—a nameless hero appeared.

This hero covered himself completely from head to toe, claiming to be a descendant of that very same unidentified Saint.

Because his ancestor had defied Fate, his bloodline bore a terrible Curse, condemning him to a life plagued by endless misfortune from the moment of his birth.

To break this bloodline Curse, the hero chose to undertake a quest from the gods. He stood against the disaster, buying precious time for the masses to evacuate.

As long as he completed this mission, he would receive Divine Blessings from the gods, which would lift the Curse.

The exact details of what happened next remained unclear.

The only known fact was that the hero never received the Divine Blessing. Instead, he obtained a Historical Number and ascended to the Legend Rank.

Through this extraordinary method, he shattered his family's Curse.

Reading over this case file, Dartmenerly trembled uncontrollably."I knew it, I knew it. This is exactly how it must be!" he exclaimed.

Before this, the family had always assumed that the obstacles on the Saint Road were caused by the Land Disaster.

After all, it was certain that Saint Dartmenerly had met his ultimate demise Above the Earth.

Thus, they had brainstormed countless methods to counteract the disaster.

These countermeasures had some effect, but their overall impact was minimal.

Now, Dartmenerly finally realized that their efforts had been completely misguided from the start.

Saint Dartmenerly's death was certainly connected to the Land Disaster, but it likely wasn't the primary cause. His true cause of death was deeply tied to Fate.

Perhaps his transgression wasn't as severe as that of the unknown Saint who defied Fate entirely, but he had undeniably been struck down by a Curse of Fate nonetheless.

Those impenetrable obstacles within the Saint Road stemmed from this very Curse of Fate!

They were manifestations of misfortune, phenomena remarkably similar to what occurred during a Historical Transition Period.

Only this could explain why that cursed hero had managed to break his affliction after acquiring a Historical Number and ascending to the Legend Rank.

"The Historical Number... this is the true cure for our family!" Upon reaching this conclusion, Dartmenerly felt a rush of pure, intoxicating euphoria wash over him.

The sheer thrill of uncovering his life's ultimate purpose and finally seeing the finish line completely revitalized his aging body.

This heightened state of mind even deepened his resonance with the Saint Road, granting him a faint, intuitive confirmation that his theory was absolutely correct.

Dartmenerly immediately wanted to summon all the members of the Dartmenerly Family to share this revelation, rallying their collective strength to seize a Historical Number. Yet, he suddenly forced himself to calm down.

'Most of the people in this family are Incapable of Accomplishing Anything But Prone to Spoiling Things. They cannot be trusted,' Dartmenerly thought. He had suffered enough from their incompetence; the majority of his kin always folded at the most critical moments.

Part of it was due to their limited personal abilities, but the other, deeper reason was that they were all fundamentally cursed.

'The obstacles within the Saint Road are out in the open, but the Curse within our bloodline remains hidden.'

'Pooling the family's strength together might actually concentrate the Curse, leading to the utter ruin of any grand scheme.'

'Perhaps this is exactly why my father refused to tell us the truth even after discovering it himself.'

'Those who cannot rely on their own abilities to perceive the existence of the Curse will only ever be a burden.' At that very moment, Dartmenerly gained a profound new level of Cognition.

It was as if he had just jolted awake from a long nightmare, suddenly realizing the magnitude of his past foolishness.

'The Curse festers in our veins, yet I actually tried to gather the power of this tainted bloodline.'

'This useless bloodline brings no glory. It is nothing more than a sin and a heavy shackle.'

'That must be why Nels, whom we focused so heavily on nurturing back then, had such terrible aptitude and abysmal abilities.' Dartmenerly could not help but recall Nels's pathetic performance during his time in the family.

They had expended massive amounts of energy and resources on him, yet his achievements were mediocre at best, completely unworthy of the investment. 'He only began to gradually break free from his Predicament after he left the family.'

'It is highly likely that Nels stumbled upon some kind of miraculous encounter after his departure, allowing him to rewrite the Curse within his bloodline.'

'Was it the Breath of Holy Precepts? That Breathing Technique is said to have a certain connection with Fate, capable of granting people true Revelation.'

At this thought, Dartmenerly could not suppress the rising urge to throw his full support behind Nemus once again.

If Nemus managed to acquire a Historical Number, could he inadvertently lift the Dartmenerly Family's Curse in the process?

However, he quickly abandoned that naive notion.

'There is another within this family... someone who might actually understand me.' Dartmenerly stepped out of the study and glanced at Dalos, who had been guarding the door without stepping inside. "Take me to see that child," he ordered. "The true child of the Dartmenerly Family."

Meanwhile, on the other side of Tail Fin Town, Baiter had also received the latest news.

Holding a slip of paper covered in intel over a candle's flame until it burned to ash, Baiter waved his hand, dismissing his nominal father from the room.

Previously, Baiter had made a grave miscalculation.

He hadn't been in any rush to contact Zoven, arrogantly assuming he could track the boy down whenever he pleased.

Instead, he had chosen to intercept Krew.

As a result, Krew had escaped. By the time Baiter finally turned his attention back to hunting down Zoven, the boy had completely vanished without a trace.

He had failed to secure the Sword of Polaris and wanted to conduct a deeper search.

But with Nemus secretly dispatching Church personnel to investigate anything related to Arrows, Baiter was forced to keep a low profile.

He never could have imagined that this entire affair would actually involve critical information regarding the Legend Rank.

"Looking at it this way, I'm actually the one holding the most cards," Baiter muttered. Rather than being frustrated, he chuckled, his golden eyes gleaming with intense fascination for the Historical Number.

At the very least, he currently held the absolute advantage in intelligence.

He knew that Krew, the man reeking of a Demonic Aura, was clearly one of Nemus's subordinates.

Nemus was absolutely not as righteous and transparent as he had presented himself today.

The deeply hidden Hidden Mastermind lurking in Tail Fin Town wasn't the previous Demon Warlock at all. On the contrary, it was highly likely to be Nemus himself.

'Nels single-handedly orchestrated the capture of that Demon Warlock earlier. He was just eliminating the competition,' Baiter deduced.

'At the same time, Nels probably absorbed the Demon Warlock's forces. That curse caster from the other day likely joined his faction for this very reason.'

'The only reason Nels exposed this matter now is to stage a tactical withdrawal in name only.'

'He is stepping back, creating an Open Clearing to let all the other fools butcher each other over a Historical Number that is practically impossible to obtain.'

'Until Nels truly enters the fray and the Historical Number finally surfaces, I absolutely cannot get involved in this mess.'

'There is only one lingering issue... Does Nels already know my true identity?' Baiter frowned, uncertain if his cover had been blown.

He was beginning to suspect that the intruder who had previously infiltrated the Baiter Merchant Guild was also one of Nemus's agents.

If that were the case, then his own secrets had most likely been exposed.

'So, what should my next move be?' Baiter's gaze shifted as he thought of the one person he had been keeping a close eye on.

"Rhine... Heh!"