CHAPTER 32 — Flashback: The Battle Against the Curse Demon

The Black Hollow reeked of corruption. Shadows writhed across the canyon floor, whispering promises of death. At its center stood the Curse Demon, chains rattling around its body, crimson eyes burning with malice.

“You dare challenge me, Blades of Heaven?” it rasped, voice scraping against the soul.

Seraphina stepped forward, radiant sword blazing with golden light. “We dare,” she said firmly, her aura flaring like a sun.

Elen stood beside her, violet eyes sharp, her hand gripping the long black shaft of her weapon. The scythe gleamed under the pale-blue sun, its crescent blade shimmering with violet mana. Behind them, Aria, Kaela, and Mira formed a wall of steel and magic.

The Clash

The demon’s chains lashed outward, serpents of shadow striking with lethal speed. Aria’s wind blades sliced them apart, Kaela’s gauntlets shattered the ground beneath its feet, and Mira’s lunar magic bound its limbs.

But the demon laughed, its voice echoing like thunder. “Your strength means nothing. I am not flesh. I am law.”

Its aura erupted, a wave of corruption sweeping across the canyon. Seraphina cut through it with radiant light, but the chains coiled suddenly, striking her chest. Black runes burned into her skin, sinking deep into her soul.

“Captain!” Elen cried, rushing forward.

Seraphina staggered, her aura flickering, the curse spreading like veins of shadow.

Elen’s Awakening

The demon hissed in triumph. “She will rot from within. None of you can save her.”

But then it froze.

Elen stepped forward, her scythe humming with violet resonance. Her aura erupted like a storm, monstrous and raw, a force that bent the shadows themselves. The curved blade gleamed, cutting through the corruption in the air as if it were smoke.

The demon’s crimson eyes widened. “…What… are you?”

Elen’s voice was low, trembling with fury. “I am the one who will reap you.”

She swung the scythe in a wide arc, the blade slicing through the chains with impossible precision. The corruption recoiled, the demon staggering backward under the weight of her aura.

The Retreat

Kaela smashed its jaw with a gauntleted fist, Mira’s lunar chains tightened, and Aria’s wind blades tore through its defenses. The demon roared, shadows writhing violently.

But its gaze never left Elen.

Her aura pressed against it like a monstrous tide, suffocating, undeniable. For the first time, the Curse Demon faltered.

“This… strength…” it hissed. “This aura… monstrous… unnatural…”

It recoiled, chains snapping back into its body. With a final shriek, it dissolved into smoke, vanishing into the abyss. “You cannot save her. She is mine. And when your heart breaks… I will return.”

Aftermath

Seraphina collapsed, her sword clattering against the stone. Elen caught her, trembling as she felt the corruption crawling through her captain’s veins.

Aria’s voice was sharp, but her eyes betrayed fear. “This curse… it’s not something healers can touch.”

Mira whispered, pale with dread. “It’s a death sentence. Unless… someone can sever the concept itself.”

Elen clenched her fists around the scythe, her aura still trembling around her like a beast unchained. “No. She will live. I swear it.”

But even as she spoke, Seraphina’s light dimmed further. The curse had taken root. And unless it was broken, their radiant captain would die.