Free Web NovelChapter 7: 07: A Curse
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Lucard did not stop to mourn anyone. He had no reason to. He was not the old Lucard Vardros, the weak bastard who had lived here with shame and pain. He was the Blood God who had fallen from Null, and the dead around him were not family to him. They were only corpses, blood sources, and signs of what had happened. Still, the memories of the previous owner stirred inside the body whenever his eyes passed over a servant he recognized or a broken wall he had once walked beside. It was annoying, like flies buzzing around a wound.
He left through the main gate.
Outside the gate, he found a large boulder near the side of the road. It was about the size of an oil barrel, rough, gray, and half buried in the dirt. Lucard stopped in front of it and looked at his right hand. After fixing the weakness of this body and reaching Level 02, he needed to know how much physical power he had. He could not rely only on memory. This world had its own standards, and his current body was far from divine. So he clenched his fist and punched the boulder.
At first, nothing happened.
Lucard looked at the rock with a blank expression. For a moment, he felt insulted again. In his old body, a casual finger tap could have shattered mountains and made nearby gods pretend they did not see anything because nobody wanted to be the next mountain. Now his punch could not even break a boulder at once. If Nunet saw this, she would probably laugh until dark water came out of her nose. Of course, if he returned to Null one day, he would make sure she had no nose left to laugh with.
Then cracks appeared.
The cracks started from the place his fist had landed and spread across the surface of the boulder. They moved like black lines through the stone. A second later, the whole boulder broke into three large pieces and fell apart with a heavy sound.
Lucard looked at it and nodded slightly.
It was not impressive, but it was acceptable for now. At least this body was no longer completely useless. His strength was greater than that of a normal weak noble boy. He could crush bones if he struck properly. He could kill ordinary soldiers with surprise attacks. Against trained knights or real mages, he still had to be careful. That was fine. He had lived long enough to know that only fools believed every battle must be won with raw strength. A knife in the right place, blood pulled at the right moment, and fear planted in the right mind could do more than a grand spell.
He continued forward. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
A few minutes later, he entered a forest-like area beyond the estate road. The trees were tall, and the ground was covered with roots, fallen leaves, broken branches, and patches of mud. Smoke from the mansion had reached here too, but it was thinner. Birds had already fled the area. No small beasts made sounds. The whole place had that strange silence that came after slaughter, when even nature waited to see who would survive.
Lucard thought about the enemies.
The attack on House Vardros had not been small. There were hired killers, mages, traitors, and enough planning to destroy a baron family in one night. If he walked on the road like a normal fool, he might meet more enemies. His body was improved, but not strong enough to charge through unknown danger. So he decided to move through the trees.
He bent his knees and jumped.
His first jump was not perfect. He landed on a thick branch with more force than needed, and the branch bent under his weight. Lucard adjusted his balance immediately. The body was still new to him. It was mortal, lighter, weaker, and slower than his old divine body. But his mind was still ancient. After two more jumps, he understood the body’s limit and began moving from one tree to another with better control.
He traveled like that for about ten minutes.
Then he heard the sound of fighting.
Metal struck metal again and again. There were shouts, heavy breathing, and the sound of boots dragging across the ground. Someone cried out in pain. Another person cursed. Lucard stopped on a thick branch and turned his head toward the sound. His senses were sharper now, and the wind carried a blood smell from that direction. There were living people there. Wounded people. Angry people. Afraid people.
Lucard’s eyes became colder.
He decided to check it for himself, but he would not reveal himself. He moved through the trees and approached the fighting place silently. When he reached the edge of the clearing, he dropped down behind a broken tree trunk and hid there. Half of the trunk had been burned by some spell earlier, and the remaining bark was thick enough to cover him. He crouched behind it and looked through the gap.
Then he saw them.
A beautiful young lady stood near the middle of the clearing. She wore a red dress, but the dress was torn at the lower edge and stained with dirt and blood. She had golden hair that fell over her shoulders in messy waves. Her face looked beautiful by mortal standards, but to Lucard, it was only normal. He had seen goddesses whose beauty could make worlds fall into worship and wars begin because two stupid gods argued over who had the right to stare at them first. Compared to those beings, this young woman was only a pretty mortal.
But her eyes had something.
Fear, anger, pride, and worry were all mixed together. Even with blood on her cheek and exhaustion on her face, she was standing straight. Behind her, a young boy hid with both fists clenched. He also had golden hair, and his face was pale from fear, but his eyes burned with anger. He looked like he wanted to fight even though his body was too small and weak for it. The girl was shielding him with her own body, standing like a wall between him and the enemies.
In front of them stood a knight.
