HPDBC Chapter 274
Chapter 274
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Demon God]
Chapter 274
The Curse Sorcerer wore a tattered cloak, sewn together from the hides of some unknown monster.
He was a hunchback, and his appearance was hideous to the point of being grotesque.
His hair was a tangled mess, unwashed for so long that it stood up in all directions. His pockmarked face was covered in thick layers of grime, with large holes scattered across it.
Dark circles hung heavily beneath his eyes, and the air around him was so gloomy it seemed as if a dark cloud perpetually hung over him alone.
The Curse Sorcerer’s name was Phantsy.
In front of Phantsy knelt an Awakened scavenger who had just returned from a reconnaissance mission.
Fear was etched all over the scavenger’s face as he gazed at Phantsy.
He was a scavenger—a bandit who roamed the desert, surviving by looting.
His life was spent taking from others.
Attacking the few surviving settlements in the desert and stealing from them—that was how scavengers lived.
But ten days ago, that life had taken a sharp turn.
It was on a day when the desert was blanketed in a thick fog that a strange visitor, a man shrouded in darkness, had come to the scavengers' hideout. That man was Phantsy.
The scavengers had laughed at this unexpected guest.
To them, it was as if prey had walked right into the den of predators. But it didn’t take long for their thinking to change.
Phantsy had immediately cursed them.
The scavengers hadn’t been prepared, and their comrades writhed in agony as the curses took hold.
Phantsy’s curses were vicious and terrifying.
Those afflicted by his curses suffered unimaginable pain.
Their bodies rotted, melted—those were just the basics.
They couldn’t even die, no matter how much they wished for it.
Phantsy’s curses held their lives in a cruel grip, forcing them to feel every ounce of torment until their last breath.
That’s why the faces of those who died from Phantsy’s curses were frozen in expressions of agony, the pain they had endured visible even in death.
“Wh-why are you doing this to us? We’ve done nothing to harm you!”
“Do you scavenge because you have a reason? Or is it simply because it’s easier to live that way?”
“What does that have to do with—”
“I live this way because it’s easier for me too.”
That was Phantsy’s response to the surviving scavengers' desperate pleas.
Phantsy had then placed a curse on the remaining scavengers, turning them into his puppets.
With the curse embedded in them, they had no choice but to obey his commands.
Defiance would only lead to a painful death.
And so, the scavengers became Phantsy’s puppets, forced to carry out his orders.
Phantsy spoke now, addressing the kneeling Awakened man.
“I sent three of you, but only one returned.”
“They detected our surveillance and attacked us.”
“Sharp, are they? To notice a lookout.”
“They weren’t ordinary people. Before the others could flee, they were caught.”
“Did you identify who they are?”
“I... I’m sorry.”
Thud!
The Awakened man slammed his head into the ground.
Phantsy had turned the scavengers into his puppets to gather information about Archelon. But since they had failed to retrieve any useful information, the man feared for his life.
“Useless.”
“Please spare me. I swear, I’ll find out who they are next time.”
“And I’m supposed to trust a rat who ran away with its tail between its legs?”
“P-please...”
“Do you think a man who failed his first task will succeed at the next?”
Phantsy’s lips curled into a twisted smile.
The Awakened man knew all too well what that smile meant.
Suddenly, he sprang to his feet and attacked Phantsy.
“You bastard!”
Swish!
A dagger, which the man had always kept tucked in his belt, flew straight toward Phantsy’s throat.
Even as the blade streaked through the air, Phantsy didn’t so much as lift a finger.
He didn’t need to.
A tentacle, the size of a human torso, shot out from behind him and swatted the dagger away.
“Aaagh!”
Even though it was flawed, Phantsy couldn’t discard or abandon it. That’s why he had entered into the contract with its imperfect soul.
From the moment he bonded with the Black Anemone, Phantsy’s life had changed.
Even the massive monsters that had once terrified him were no longer a threat.
Seeing the giant monsters die as the anemone drained them of their fluids amplified Phantsy’s sense of pleasure.
It was as if he had personally brought down those powerful creatures.
Each time the Black Anemone defeated a monster, Phantsy’s rank increased.
He eventually rose to the rank of an A-rank Curse Sorcerer.
A-rank Curse Sorcerers were extremely rare.
Even rarer was a Curse Sorcerer who commanded a Chimera like the Black Anemone. Phantsy was likely the only one.
From that point on, Phantsy plundered everything in his path.
Monsters, humans—it didn’t matter. He took everything.
The humans who had once shunned him all became food for the Black Anemone.
Phantsy believed that if he kept growing in strength, soon there would be no one left in the desert who could oppose him.
Not even the one who had created the Black Anemone.
Phantsy wanted to show them.
The Chimera they had discarded—he had perfected it.
They had failed, but he had succeeded.
However, it wasn’t long before he realized how wrong he had been.
At some point, both he and the Black Anemone stopped growing.
It seemed they had reached their limit, and the Black Anemone had begun to collapse from the inside.
To stabilize the anemone, they needed a special kind of prey.
Something with the durability to prevent the internal collapse.
That’s why they had targeted Archelon.
Phantsy believed that if the Black Anemone could absorb Archelon, the mobile fortress, it would evolve to the next level.
That was why he had attacked Archelon.
But Archelon had escaped to the Steel Fortress, fending off the Black Anemone’s assault.
In the process, the Black Anemone had sustained significant internal damage, preventing them from launching another attack on the Steel Fortress.
Phantsy and the Black Anemone had only one chance left.
“I missed it last time, but I won’t let it escape again. Let’s go, Bessie!”
With that, Phantsy and the Black Anemone left the scavengers' lair.
All that remained were the dried husks of the bodies that had been drained of every last drop of fluid.
* * *
Far in the distance, Lee Jung-ho frowned as he looked out at the scene before him.
Lee Jung-ho had prided himself on experiencing all manner of strange things. But what lay before him now was something even he had never seen before.
It was the middle of the day.
The sun was shining brightly, its rays so intense they stung the skin. Yet, far on the horizon, the land was pitch black, as though it had been sliced cleanly in two.
It was as if night had descended only on that distant place.
Pavilsa, standing next to him, spoke in a trembling voice.
“That... That’s where the land whale’s nest is.”
“Was it like this the last time?”
“No, it looked just like the rest of the desert.”
“And now, just when we arrive, it looks like that.”
Lee Jung-ho’s voice dropped, heavy with tension.
His instincts screamed that something was wrong.
The blackened land stretched far and wide.
There was no telling what might happen if they set foot in that ominous place.
No matter how strong he was, Lee Jung-ho was still human.
The unknown—something he had never encountered before—naturally instilled fear.
“What in the world could that be...”
“It’s a Territory.”
Zeon’s voice came from behind them.
“A Territory?”
“It’s a power that only S-rank or higher monsters can use. They forcibly change the environment to suit themselves.”
Zeon’s voice was calm but grave.
Humanity had encountered such a power once before.
Terraforming.
The very power that had nearly driven Earth to extinction—the power of Krasias.
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Demon God]