Chapter 1610: Came Back

On the other side of the district, Lysander was conducting his own observations with a frown on his face.

Since entering this place he had felt that something was terribly wrong with it, and the sense of unnatural corruption surpassed anything he had ever encountered before.

But despite the uneasiness he felt, Lysander didn’t consider this a bad thing, at least not for himself. As an Archmage and a scholar, he saw this as an opportunity to study an extraordinary curse and expand his knowledge of Magic.

Few opportunities offered such a chance to examine something so unusual and he couldn’t deny that his curiosity had grown stronger with every strange phenomenon he discovered in this place.

However, the same couldn’t be said for the inhabitants of this place.

Looking at their terrible condition, Lysander could hardly imagine how difficult it must be for them to live each day.

He had seen adults suffering from mutations, but he had also encountered children of all ages, from those who were already old enough to walk on their own to infants who could barely move.

Their presence suggested that many of these people had lived in this cursed district since birth, opening their eyes to a world filled with darkness, madness, pain, and suffering before they were even capable of understanding what was happening to them.

Lysander released a quiet sigh. He was an Archmage, but above all, he was a scholar who devoted himself to studying Magic and uncovering its mysteries.

Under ordinary circumstances, examining such an extraordinary curse would have been an invaluable academic opportunity, something he could appreciate purely for the knowledge it offered.

This time, however, he promised himself that he wouldn’t approach the investigation solely for his own benefit.

Seeing the inhabitants suffer made it difficult to remain detached, and he couldn’t help feeling sympathy for them.

He wanted to help, not just observe their misery and turn it into another subject of study.

The deeper he ventured into the district, the stranger his surroundings became.

He saw dark tendrils drifting through the air while blackness seemed to ooze from the ground beneath his feet, spreading across the surface like a living substance.

The inhabitants he saw grew increasingly difficult to recognize as human, their bodies twisted by mutations that made Lysander grimace with sadness.

He continued observing the changes around him, trying to understand how the cursed energy interacted with the environment and the people it had affected.

When he eventually looked up, something unusual caught his attention. A tiny point of light blinked in the sky, resembling a distant star, except it wasn’t nearly as far away as it appeared.

The light hovered directly above the district, close enough to suggest that it was something within the city’s immediate surroundings rather than an actual celestial body.

That might be something, Lysander thought as he narrowed his eyes.

He didn’t approach it immediately, choosing instead to observe it from a distance.

Whatever he had discovered might produce an unknown effect if he disturbed it, and he had no intention of provoking something dangerous or volatile before discussing it with his master and Sylmira.

For now, he continued recording every detail in his memory, adding the strange light to the growing collection of peculiarities he had encountered throughout the district.

—

High above the city, Erebus watched the three Archmages conduct their investigations.

His expression remained as even as ever, reflecting little of what went through his mind.

But inside his heart he believed they were just repeating the same process that he and the council had been doing for decades - examining the curse and searching for clues that might reveal a way to dispel it.

They had tried countless methods over the years, but the curse remained, and Erebus found it difficult to believe that these newcomers would achieve a different result so quickly.

He released a quiet sigh as his gaze swept across the district. He had allowed them to investigate because he had little left to lose by giving them a chance, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that their efforts would end just like all the others before them.

His attention eventually shifted to Erend, who stood nearby and observed the surroundings without doing much else.

Erebus considered the possibility that the Archmages would fail to discover anything useful, leaving the situation unchanged despite their arrival.

If that happened, he would have to remain committed to his original plan of invading Erend’s world.

Alternatively, he might search for another world where the inhabitants didn’t have any Dragonborn powerful enough to stand in his way.

Neither option was ideal, but he couldn’t afford to abandon his people without finding another means of saving them.

—

Erend, meanwhile, wasn’t simply standing around without doing anything.

While the Archmages continued their investigation, he communicated with Eccar, Aesa, and Sylven through their shared telepathy, informing them about the situation in the cursed city and what he had learned so far.

The three Dragonborn remained in Krono’s cave because there was no immediate need for them to come to this cursed city of Scadri. Bringing them here too early would only create unnecessary tension with Erebus, who already viewed outsiders with suspicion.

For the time being, it was better to let the Archmages work without adding another complication to the situation.

However, their stay in the cave wouldn’t last forever. They still needed to locate the final Dragonborn legacy detected by Veyrun, after all, and that objective would eventually bring them to this world.

Until then, Erend intended to wait for the Archmages to finish their preliminary investigation and determine whether they had discovered anything that could help them understand the curse.

About an hour later, the three Mages finally returned to the place where Erend was waiting.

He studied their expressions as they approached, trying to determine whether they had found anything worthwhile. But they didn’t look particularly pleased.

"So?" Erend asked, looking at the three of them.

"I think I’ve found something," Adrius replied. "I’ll need more time to study it properly."

After speaking, he glanced toward Lysander and Sylmira, silently inviting them to share their own findings.

Lysander nodded in agreement, confirming that he had also discovered something unusual during his investigation as well.

"Yes. There’s something peculiar about this curse, but I believe it can be purged with the right method," Sylmira added. "We just haven’t found that method yet."

Erebus landed beside them at that moment. He looked at them with that even, cold eyes, and said, "I think you are all ready to give me something useful, don’t you?"

—