Chapter 005
Chapter 5. The Cursed Land
I was thrown into total chaos.
‘The final black-curtain villain weakened? Does that even make sense?’
But the more I thought about it, the more it actually did.
A year ago, on that day, even a simple blessing skill, “Sacred Flame,” had made him writhe like a demon doused in holy water.
So of course he wouldn’t be fine after taking a direct hit to the skull from a bat forged of ultra-high-purity holy power.
‘Hmmm.’
Still clutched in the villain’s hand, I folded my short front paws across my chest.
If things had come to this, did I have to find someone else who held a grudge against the Second Prince’s little posse?
But there was no one like that.
They were the “heroes of all mankind” who had saved the world, after all.
Then what about all this injustice and resentment boiling inside me?
Was I supposed to just shrug and accept that life never goes the way you want?
Was I supposed to blame myself for being the idiot who got used?
That was the exact moment the world far below suddenly erupted into noise.
Magic lights were frantically darting every which way; apparently the news of Calix Neferto’s jailbreak had finally reached the surface.
Which meant pursuers would be hot on our heels any second now.
“Squeak!” (Hey!)
When I squeaked, the villain who had been staring into the distant sky lowered his gaze to meet mine.
“Squeak-squeak!” (We gotta bounce, now!)
I frantically gestured with my tiny paws.
A mysterious smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
From between those chapped, blood-red lips slipped a word laced with mana.
【Transfer】
Once again, the scenery flipped in an instant.
Blackened earth and an ashen-gray sky.
This was one of the “Cursed Lands” scattered across the world.
A place where curses and calamity flowed instead of milk and honey; a land of despair and death for ordinary humans.
Yet for those who sought “ruin” and embraced corruption, it was the promised land, the land of opportunity.
Because here, curses and disasters granted power.
‘So he’s planning to rendezvous with his old subordinates or something?’
But there wasn’t even a single monster around, let alone a common bug.
‘…Don’t tell me he got the meeting spot wrong?’
I looked up at him with doubt in my eyes, and he opened his mouth again.
“Transfer.”
This time, however, the word carried no mana at all.
Three spatial transfers and he was already tapped out? Looks like he really had weakened.
‘Ugh. If he hadn’t wasted mana sending that stupid gold pouch, none of this would’ve happened.’
While I clicked my tongue inside, he gave up on casting and scanned the surroundings.
“…”
His gaze landed on the black liquid pooled atop the pitch-dark ground.
Concentrated curse that had fermented over countless years; the so-called “Essence of Ruin.”
‘Aha! So he’s planning to recharge with that.’
For any normal living creature, even touching it would mean instant corruption and death, but to the already-fallen Calix Neferto, that stuff was basically premium red ginseng extract.
I proudly watched little Calix, who was doing exactly what needed to be done without being told.
Yet his expression looked oddly reluctant.
“I don’t like it, but I have no choice. I need to at least hold out for now.”
I narrowed my eyes at his muttering.
‘Doesn’t like it? Why?’
It made no sense.
Who in their right mind would turn down a natural recovery potion a hundred times more effective than red ginseng?
‘Does he have the taste buds of a child or something?’
While I was busy scoffing at my own ridiculous thought, he took a deep breath and stepped forward.
And then.
Splat.
His foot finally landed in the Essence of Ruin.
“Squeak!” (Hiiik!)
I panicked at the sticky black liquid splashing up to my paws and thrashed inside his grip.
The villain scolded me with a slightly annoyed tone.
“We’ve come all this way; no need to keep pretending you’re just an ordinary, clueless mouse.”
‘What kind of bullshit is that now?’
I instantly scowled.
So he really did think I was someone’s familiar.
…Can’t exactly blame him. Even I have to admit I’m one hell of a suspicious mouse.
By then, the Essence of Ruin had already climbed halfway up his legs.
The black liquid crept toward us with the slow, deliberate movement of a snake that had found a mouse in a jar, and my brow furrowed on its own.
‘He probably wants us to share the nice treat and have fun rampaging together.’
Problem was, I was an uncorrupted, decent living being; if I ingested that stuff, I’d die.
Of course, after everything I’d been through, falling to corruption wasn’t exactly off the table…
‘…Still, I used to be a Saintess. There’s some dignity to uphold, no?’
While I hesitated, the Essence had already reached his shoulders.
It wouldn’t take even a second for that black, viscous substance to slide down his arm and swallow me whole.
‘Well. I’m screwed.’
Just as I resigned myself to fate with that short eulogy.
“…?”
The black liquid crawling toward me suddenly froze, then frantically retreated.
Not only me; even the villain’s eyes went wide in shock.
“What in the…?”
While he stood there dumbfounded, the two streams of Essence merged back into one.
It looked like a pretty hefty mouthful.
In the blink of an eye, it shot straight into his mouth.
“Cough!”
The moment Calix Neferto let out a harsh cough, the black aura around him began thrashing wildly.
“Squee…?” (What the…?)
I looked around in confusion.
This didn’t feel like simple power recovery at all.
A pitch-black veil fell over those pretty violet eyes.
“This can’t…”
A hollow voice leaked between his teeth, and the strength drained from the hand holding me.
‘W-wait, hold on…!’
The instant gravity pulled me downward.
KABOOOOOM────!
An explosion loud enough to rupture eardrums turned everything within a ten-meter radius into absolute dust.
Fwoosh.
Trees, grass, rocks, earth; everything instantly became gray ash and vanished.
‘Holy shit.’
My legs were shaking just thinking how close I’d come to being caught in that blast.
…And the fact that I had four legs to shake was genuinely tragic.
No, this isn’t the time for pointless thoughts!
“Squeak! Squeak! Squeeeee!” (Hey! Hey! Snap out of it!)
I scrambled up his leg, avoiding the sticky liquid, grabbed his trouser hem and shook it for dear life.
“Squeak! Squeak-squeak!” (Seriously! Save the power!)
Do that over at the allied forces’ garrison, you idiot!
But he showed no reaction.
He just stared blankly into space; he had completely lost his mind.
‘I’m actually going insane!’
Meanwhile, the ominous aura around him began pulsing like a mad beast again.
The amplitude was even bigger than before; something far worse than the last explosion was definitely coming.
A powerful instinct struck my tiny, adorable brain.
‘If I stay here, I die.’
I turned tail and ran without looking back.
I’d managed to get maybe fifty meters away when the sky suddenly darkened. I looked up; countless black spheres of varying sizes now filled the heavens.
Calix Neferto’s signature move: the “Corrosion” bombardment.
Anything those black orbs touched instantly lost all life and turned to ash.
“Sque… squeee…” (Ah… mouse death…)
Before my stunned murmur could even finish, the indiscriminate bombing began.
BOOM! BAM! KABOOOM!
Gray dirt and dust erupted everywhere.
For the first time, I was grateful to be a mouse. If it weren’t for this tiny body, lightning reflexes, and nimble movements, I’d already be dead ten times over.
But the crisis remained.
The bombardment was spreading faster than I could run.
After the merciless barrage grazed the tip of my delicate tail for the third time, I made up my mind.
‘This won’t do.’
World destruction, revenge; whatever. First I had to survive.
And to survive, I had to stop Calix Neferto.
The only problem? I was a mouse smaller than his foot.
Biting his trouser leg and tugging wasn’t going to cut it.
‘Still, I’ve got to try something!’
I charged straight toward him without a plan.
But something else reached him before I could.
The curses that had been staining the entire area black.
Like iron filings drawn to a magnet, pitch-black smoke and dust rushed toward him.
There was so much he couldn’t absorb it all; excess curse gushed from his now-hollow eyes like overflowing wells.
Thick black liquid streamed down his cheeks.
It looked exactly like he was shedding black tears.
For some reason, a corner of my heart ached, but this wasn’t the time for cheap sentiment.
I shook my head hard and kicked off the ground.
“Squeak! Squeeeeeeak!” (Hey! Snap the hell out of it!)
