Chapter 176: [176] Return To Hell (2)

[Harvest successful! You have successfully received A-Rank skill, Curse Gacha!]

"Curse Gacha? That is a pretty odd name."

Ark thought out loud as he read through the details.

— Curse Gacha

Upon use, Curse Gacha activates an effect, Pandora’s Box.

Pandora’s Box: Places a curse upon a target individual, randomizing one of five curses of increasing intensities.

Curse one— Curse of Weakness.

Reduces the target’s physical capabilities, strength, speed and even mana release are subject to this curse, among others.

Curse two— Curse of Parturition.

Overwhelms the target with phantom pain, equal to the pain of childbirth. Curses of pain will not physically affect the target’s health.

Curse three— Curse of Delusions.

Confuses the target with illusions, bringing their greatest fears to life, potentially paralyzing them with utter horror.

Curse four— Life Steal.

Continually drains the target’s health points, fueling the host’s health points and slowly pushing the target to the shell’s embrace.

Curse five— Curse of Darkness.

Paralyzes the sense of sight, thrusting the target into utter darkness.

Note: All curses apart from Curse of Darkness last for a duration of ten minutes. The curse of blindness lasts for a duration of one minute. This skill can only be used twice in twenty-four hours.

—

"What the hell?" As Ark read the description of the skills, he felt shivers run down his spine. Whoever had cooked up this skill must have been a rather nasty individual.

’Curse of Parturition?!’ Who thought about using the pain of childbirth as a curse?’ Ark let out a chuckle.

It wasn’t like it was his problem to deal with anyways, in fact, he was eager to see just how effective the skill would be.

"Let’s go." He called Jenna who had been going around the room, and when she arrived, they stepped right into the portal.

The dark, dreary walls of the castle gave way to bright white walls, lush curtains, and refined furniture.

There were insignias splayed on the walls, a drawing of something that was likely written in the goblin tongue.

A large bed was by the edge of the room. It had light blue blankets, white pillows and curtains at every side. They were clearly in a bedroom.

A voice began to speak in Ark’s head, followed by a string of text that was slowly drifting down as the voice spoke.

[The mighty has fallen. The godslayer of old, left desolate on his broken throne. The crown of the people, once a symbol of authority, is now worth nothing but the gold it was carved out of.]

[The kingdom mourns the loss of its king, the people celebrate it. War is fierce throughout the continent, blood flows like rivers of scarlet, feeding the land.]

[Before the king’s death, he sent some of his mightiest men west, to the western keep where his family resides.]

[Along with them, they took a girl. Hair as white as picked Galgeresh bone, skin as bright as a fresh leaf in spring, eyes as golden as the sun. The daughter of the king.]

[Once the crown jewel of the land, now a bearer of a cursed bloodline.]

[The west has fallen and the army has been rendered desolate. The keep walls have been breached, and even now, the Imperial Army marches down to your very door.]

[QUEST TYPE: DEFENSE]

[OBJECTIVE: Protect the princess. Ascend to the upper floor of the keep.]

[REWARDS: A kiss from the princess]

[PENALTY: Death]

___

Just as Ark finished reading through the line of text—

BANG BANG BANG!!

— This is the last room! She must be in there!

— We must rid this world of her cursed bloodline. No one in the king’s family can be left alive!

— Where is the battering ram? Soldiers, bring down this door!

"Straight into the action, huh?" Ark wasn’t even given enough time to react to the situation or what he had read.

And what sort of reward was a kiss from the princess? Who the hell would want a kiss from a goblin—

Ark felt someone cling onto him from behind.

"Sir Ark, this is the end, isn’t it?" The woman had tears running down her cheeks. "I understand their hatred for father, but what about us? I am the only one left, and now they wish to take me too."

’Oh?’ Ark couldn’t believe his eyes.

The woman behind him was more beautiful than the vast majority of people he had ever encountered.

The system tab had not exaggerated the appearance of the princess, if anything, they had left a few details out of her description.

Two large details...

The princess was also tall for a woman, tall enough to meet him eye to eye, and at the top of her white hair was a text box detailing her name.

— Clyeretha (Target)

’Sumo!’ Ark glanced at the stoic summon. ’So you had a daughter like this and you didn’t tell me??’

Sumo turned to stare at him, before moving his attention back to the door.

"Sir Ark?" The princess called.

"Uhun!" Ark turned around to face the door. "Don’t worry, Princess Clyeretha, I swear it by my honour, you will not die today!"

"Jenna, get ready to greet our guests! Mountain, guard the princess, Inquisitor, Sumo, with me!" Ark barked out orders as he stared at the door with hard eyes.

This was a quest, the least he could do was take it seriously, right?

BOOM!

The door to the room suddenly shattered, sending splinters flying across the floor. Ark was not surprised that it had gone down, if anything, it had lasted really long.

[Threat detected! Imperial Army, Level 20 x 100!]

"Your heretical father brought shame upon our nation, thereby tainting your bloodline with your defiance of the Gods."

A knight stepped out of the dust. His armour was made out of polished steel, and behind the helmet were a pair of red eyes.

’A high goblin?’ Ark thought. On the first floor, they had to deal with more goblins than high goblins, but it seemed the majority of their enemies on this floor would be high gobs.

The knight drew out his shiny sword with a metallic shrill and pointed it forward.

"CHARGE!! BRING THEM TO JUSTI—?!"

But before he could even get the words out—

VWOOOOOSH!

A gust of raging blue fire tore right through him, the door and the other side of the castle wall, turning everything to a mess of blackened flesh and bone.

The smell of burning flesh filled the room as smoke billowed into the air, multiple death notifications appearing in front of Ark.

He glanced at Jenna, and the mage stared at him with innocent eyes.

"Well... that was rude." Ark sighed. "You should have at least let him finish..."