A Dragonslayer’s Peerless Regression

Chapter 77

Katherine's expression hardened at Sieg's words.

She spoke to Sieg in a cold voice.

"Sir Sieg. You are truly rude."

There was anger in Katherine's voice.

Her daughter, Angelina Graham, had once been rumored to become the continent's greatest beauty.

However, Angelina, who ought to have entered the social scene at the debutante age of 16, did not appear in society, leading to various rumors.

Some speculated she hadn't grown as beautifully as expected, or that she had contracted a vile disease that had horribly disfigured her face.

Since no one had seen Angelina after she turned ten, these rumors were considered somewhat credible.

Despite the rampant rumors, no one had ever directly brought up Angelina in front of the prestigious Graham duke's family.

Everyone remained silent, avoiding any mention of Angelina Graham altogether.

Believing she had been insulted, Katherine spoke in a cold voice.

"I will remember your rudeness well, Sir. Please leave the castle."

Even to Sieg, who had invested a great deal of money in the mines, she had clearly issued an order to leave.

This showed how sensitive Katherine was about the matter regarding Angelina.

However, Sieg remained calm and told Katherine,

"If Lady Angelina's illness is left unattended, it will become irreversible."

Katherine was startled by Sieg's calm voice.

She looked at Sieg and spoke.

"You speak as if you know what Angelina's illness is."

"Yes, I know."

At this, Katherine's eyes widened.

"The greatest healers of the continent examined her, but none could even determine the disease's name. Are you saying, Sir Sieg, that you know what the illness is and can treat it?"

Sieg replied to Katherine.

"Lady Angelina is afflicted not by an illness but a curse."

Katherine's face went pale at these words.

"A c-curse?"

Sieg nodded.

"Does she not show symptoms of boils appearing all over her body, and her skin rotting over time?"

Katherine was shocked by this.

"How, how could you know this...?"

"At first glance, it seems like an illness, but it cannot be treated with conventional medicine. It's a vicious curse woven through forbidden magic."

Tears welled up in Katherine's eyes.

"A curse. That's impossible..."

"Do you have any reason to believe it is not a curse?"

"When Angelina collapsed, we summoned arcane mages from Nirvana first. The Graham family has many enemies, so we're always meticulous about preparing for curses, especially since Angelina has drawn much attention. So we were more careful. When Nirvana's sorcerers reported finding no traces of a curse on Angelina, we assumed it was an illness..."

Sieg shook his head.

"A curse is closer to a form of sorcery than magic. There are many things within the mystical realm, which are difficult to interpret using regular sorcery."

Katherine now wore a completely different expression, compared to before.

"A-Are you saying, Sir Sieg, that you can lift the curse?"

Sieg took out a holy text he had prepared in advance from his pocket.

Drawing a sacred sign, he spoke.

"You may have heard about the Agamemnon family curse."

Katherine nodded.

"Of course, I heard that the curse was recently lifted. Ah! Come to think of it, the new heir appointed by the Agamemnon family is..."

"With the help of the Sun God, we were able to reclaim the heirloom of the family and banish the curse."

Observing Sieg, holding the holy text devoutly, Katherine felt her resolve waver.

She approached Sieg and grasped his hand.

"Sir Sieg, are you truly able to lift our Angelina's curse?"

"Everything will depend on the will of the gods. However, what is certain is that the longer we delay, the more danger Lady Angelina will be in."

At Sieg's words, Katherine, with a pale face, began to pray, trembling in her hands.

Sieg held her hands and joined in the prayer.

Behind them, Pharel too clasped his hands and prayed.

Strangely, Felix, the descendant of an Arch-Paladin, merely stood there and watched the three praying.

* * *

Pharel and Felix returned to their quarters while only Sieg followed Katherine further into the castle.

They headed towards the north tower, where outsiders were not allowed entry.

Knights in full plate armor stood guard at the tower's entrance.

Katherine held a lantern and began climbing the narrow tower stairs.

"We removed all the magical items because they were not good for the disease."

As a result, the corridor was terribly dark, devoid even of a common magical lamp.

The two climbed the spiral staircase to the top room.

As soon as Sieg entered, he wrinkled his nose at the rotten stench.

'The situation seems worse than I thought.'

Ka-aaaaah!

From inside the room came a sound resembling a beast's wail.

Katherine lowered her head and began reciting the prayer again.

Sieg held her hand to calm her and asked.

"Is Lady Angelina inside?"

Katherine nodded.

"The caregiver cleans the pus and changes the bandages daily."

"Please, I ask both you and the caregiver to leave for now."

Although Katherine flinched at Sieg's request, she soon nodded.

There was no choice now but to trust Sieg.

Shortly thereafter, the caregiver exited the inner room, and Sieg slowly entered it.

The foul stench was even stronger than before.

'The condition is dire.'

Sieg closed the door and looked toward the bed in the corner.

There, a humanoid figure, barely recognizable due to the pus-soaked bandages, was bound.

"Ka-aaah!"

It, with its arms and legs bound, screeched as if scraping something against metal.

"Lady Angelina."

Sieg approached the bed slowly.

It was surprising that she was still alive, given her condition.

Her entire skin was festering and filled with pus, and her hair was sparse, having mostly fallen out.

She was emaciated to the point where her bones were prominent.

Sieg spoke to Angelina.

"Lady Angelina. Can you hear me?"

Despite Sieg speaking, Angelina remained silent.

After a moment, she seemed to start murmuring something with her lips.

Sieg leaned closer to hear her.

"... Please... kill me..."

Her daily existence was a constant struggle due to pain worse than death.

Watching Angelina, Sieg took out the holy text from his pocket and placed it on a nearby table.

Next, he retrieved the golden mask of Agamemnon from his inventory.

He steadied his breath, looking at Angelina.

'I hope this method works.'

From past experiences, Sieg knew about Angelina's curse.

He recalled receiving a mission from his master to track and capture a sorcerer who used ancient evil curses.

During the interrogation of the sorcerer, Sieg learned that he had once been commissioned to curse a young lady of the Graham family.

By then, Angelina had already died, and since the sorcerer never revealed his client before his death, Sieg had not informed the Graham family.

'Even if the Graham family had known, they wouldn't have been able to remove the curse due to the use of ancient forbidden arts.'

Ancient curses required incredibly complex processes to cast and came with significant risks if failed, but once successful, they became exceedingly difficult to undo.

In many cases, even the sorcerers who cast the curses couldn't undo them.

Angelina's curse was of such a nature.

'A curse that torments more the more beautiful the target is. Who would have thought such a heinous curse existed?'

Sieg clicked his tongue and infused mana into the golden mask.

As it had done at the lakeside, the golden mask activated and transformed to cover his face like a helmet.

『The mask's function is synchronized with the system.』

『Using the Purification function is possible.』

After purifying the Agamemnon family's curse, Sieg had obtained the heirloom as the family's successor.

He then experimented with the mask after activating it.

As a result, he discovered that while holding the mask limited its functionalities, wearing it activated the 'Great Purification' skill.

"Hoo."

Wearing the golden mask, Sieg slowly approached Angelina.

He used the Purification skill and wide-range buff skill, targeting Angelina.

Uuuuuuuung!

The golden waves emanating from his body permeated into Angelina.

"Aaaaaah!"

Engulfed in the golden light, Angelina screamed as if her body were on fire.

Hearing the different sounds, Katherine grabbed the doorknob and shook it.

"Sir Sieg! Is everything alright? Is Lady Angelina okay? Please, open the door!"

Sieg had previously enchanted the door with a scroll to ensure no one could enter.

Katherine took a step back, trusting Sieg nonetheless, as she had no other choice.

Sieg continually infused Purification energy into Angelina.

Chi-I-ik!

At some point, black smoke began to rise from Angelina's body.

"Uweeegh!"

Moments later, she twisted and vomited out the black liquid.

"Aaaaaah!"

She screamed, writhing her entire body. The black smoke pouring from her body grew thicker.

Observing, Sieg withdrew a potion from his inventory and sprinkled it on Angelina's body.

Chi-I-I-ik!

Upon contact with her festering skin, the potion immediately began promoting new skin growth.

'It's still not enough.'

He then retrieved a top-grade potion, forcefully opening her mouth to make her swallow it.

"Uuhm!"

Though Angelina resisted consuming the potion, Sieg firmly held her throat, compelling her to swallow it.

Having been cursed for so long, her entire body had weakened.

Simply lifting the curse could suddenly cause her body to go into shock, resulting in cardiac arrest.

"Uuuugh!"

Angelina writhed in agony on the bed, contorting her body.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Katherine must have ordered the knights to break down the door from the outside, as loud noises resonated.

Sieg focused the Purification energy once again on Angelina.

Uuuuuuuung!

Angelina's body twisted into unnatural angles.

Suddenly, she opened her mouth wide, expelling a thick black smoke.

Kwa-Kwa-Kwa-Kwa-Kwa!

The curse's source, unable to withstand it, burst out of her body.

Sieg immediately used Devour on the curse's core.

Tsu-tsu-tsutsu-

A shadow emerging from Sieg's body swallowed the curse's core.

Shortly, a message appeared.

『You have devoured the Ancient Cursed Wraith.』

『Mental power and mana are restored.』

『Acquired the skill 'Curse Reflection (A-rank)' by absorbing the wraith's ability.』

By devouring the wraith, Sieg had unexpectedly gained the Curse Reflection skill.

'An unforeseen benefit.'

He then used the Healing Factor skill, with its area-effect buff, to regenerate Angelina's body.

Udeu-deudeuk!

Each wound!

Through Healing Factor, Angelina's damaged body began to regenerate.

Having once healed those of the Agamemnon family who had been collapsing under dark energy, this skill similarly helped Angelina's cursed flesh recover to her original form.

Srrr-r-r-r!

Even her fallen hair began to regrow. Seeing this, Sieg returned the golden mask to his inventory once Angelina's recovery was apparent.

He then slowly approached Angelina, who remained silent, and checked her pulse.

Thankfully, her pulse was still there.

Angelina, freed from the curse, had regained her original appearance.

Sieg took off his outer robe to cover the now unblemished Angelina.

At that moment.

Bang!

The magic from the scroll Sieg had set began to fade, and the door was forced open.

Katherine barged in with the knights.

Noticing that Angelina was no longer making any noise, Katherine covered her mouth in horror.

She believed her daughter had perished.

Katherine screamed at Sieg.

"Sir Sieg! How could you! My, my daughter...."

She had entrusted Angelina to Sieg with a shred of hope, only to mistakenly assume the worst outcome.

Sieg scratched his head, watching Katherine's tearful demeanor.

'I missed my chance to say the treatment was successful.'

As he pondered how to explain when her current state seemed unresponsive to anything he might say...

"Mother...?"

TL's Corner:

Sorcerers(주술사) perform rituals, curses, dark arts. They are often ominous, mysterious, and evil.

Arcane Mages(마도사) They deal with the arcane, advanced, and ancient magic. Dignified, scholarly, powerful.

Mages(마법사) General magic, elemental spells, traditional fantasy magic.