With a sudden whoosh—

In an instant, countless strands of pitch-black viscous substance sprang forth from the depths of that dark pupil, swiftly latching onto his body and ferociously infiltrating his soul. He recoiled in shock, retreating explosively.

"Aaaaagh—"

From afar, a blend of Lynne's agonized cries and laughter echoed.

"It hurts so much... Who knew a curse could be this painful... But I can endure it..."

Clutching his right eye, Lynne chuckled as he sprung up from the ground. Tentacles unfurled and stretched, pulling his body up to the lofty pinnacle of the church.

"Mr. Wraith, you always say I'm cursed, but I think you should deal with the curse inside your own body first. Hehehe!"

In a flash.

Whoosh—

The tentacles once again burst forth from his body, shooting towards the fleeing townsfolk in every direction.

The situation was dire.

Black Skull immediately rushed forward, this time holding nothing back. He unleashed countless psychic waves, intercepting the tentacles that spread from Lynne.

But in the next moment, his pupils dilated in shock. For he saw that his attempts to intercept the tentacles were, without exception, all veering off course.

His psychic blades failed to hit a single target! And he quickly realized that his psychic assault on Lynne's physical form was equally ineffective for various reasons.

"This is..."

Horror filled his eyes.

The curse! Could it be! Was this the effect of the curse he had just placed upon himself?

And in the next moment, under Lynne's maniacally smiling gaze. The lashing tentacles made contact with the terrified villagers scattering around.

Instead of the expected impaling, they merely brushed against them before swiftly changing direction. His aim was never slaughter! He was diagnosing! He was...

[Ding! You have identified the target's ailment: Flesh Mutation!]

[Ding! You have identified the target's ailment: Skin Erosion!]

[Ding! You have identified the target's ailment: Liver Cirrhosis!]

Spreading diseases!

"Head!!"

Hidari yelled out, finally breaking free from Lynne's tentacular hold. She spread out, enveloping his body with unimaginable speed, binding him tightly.

"Snap out of it! Can't you see you're becoming more and more deranged?"

She, frantic and furious, suddenly grabbed the eaves and with all her might, slammed Lynne down beneath the church. But under the augmentation of a physique-enhancing potion, his physical condition had already reached an unfathomable level. Tentacles abruptly lifted him up.

Adjusting his monocle, he smiled elegantly: "Hidari, we are good friends, and yet you come to trouble me?"

Coiling like a serpent, Hidari clenched her teeth and said: "I don't want to talk to the current you! If you still possess your normal cognition, then immediately rid yourself of that curse within! I know you have the capability!"

She yelled out. In an instant, like a winding snake, she whooshed towards Lynne.

"If you refuse to cleanse it, then today I will awaken you with force!!"

Lynne, surprised, reached into his embrace, saying, "Really? Hidari, I know your weakness, are you sure you want to confront me?"

Snap—

Lynne suddenly pulled out a skull-marked potion from his embrace, swiftly uncorking the wooden stopper. The oncoming Hidari shuddered in an instant.

That is… Could it be…

A sinister smile crept onto Lynne's face as he tilted his head back, lifting the potion to his lips, and gulping it down.

Hidari "(ΩДΩ) Aaaahhh!!"

[Hidari's Sanity-1]

[Hidari's Sanity-1]

Pesticide!

This guy actually carried pesticide with him all the time to counter her!

Almost at the moment, Hidari was about to reach Lynne, her elongated arms and palms softened, whooshing back to their normal size. Then she (x﹏x) stuck out her tongue, vomiting profusely.

Lynne swiftly grabbed the limp Hidari's wrist, shaking it vigorously up and down until she was frothing at the mouth, then stuffed it into his pocket.

After effortlessly overpowering Hidari, his mouth curled into a smirk. With a light leap, he ascended to the top of the church once more. But at that moment, he suddenly noticed black feathers scattered beneath his feet, causing him surprised as he looked up.

Unbeknownst when. In the heavy black fog high above, black crow feathers began to drift down. Floating and fluttering, myriad in number.

Lynne tilted his head, his gaze instantly falling on a large door on the other side of the square. He saw a tall figure, clad in a black leather coat and wearing a bird beak mask.

"Mr. Raven, have you recovered? I am truly delighted for you," Lynne exclaimed in surprise.

Raven, with his head raised, replied indifferently: "I am aware of your condition. Do you require my treatment?"

Lynne smiled slightly, adjusting his monocle as he spoke, "Ah, I can cure my own illness, no trouble needed from you. I have more important matters to attend to! Sorry, I must be off!"

In an instant, he leaped up. But no sooner had he soared a few meters than a feather left a bloody mark on his cheek.

Splutter, splutter, splutter—

Those sharp feathers transformed into a flowing mass, quickly enveloping his body within.

"Raven! Cover his eyes! There's something odd about his right eye! Be careful, he might curse you!"

A loud shout from Black Skull's spirit echoed from afar.

In a moment, Raven narrowed his eyes. The black feathers rustled and quickly covered Lynne's eyes and cheeks as well.

In an instant, Lynne's entire body, save for his mouth, was quickly enveloped like a cocoon, crashing heavily to the ground. Yet his mouth still held a low laugh, eerily unsettling.

"Mr. Raven, are you going to treat me?" Lynne asked, eyes covered, body bound, revealing his white teeth in a smile.

Raven stepped forward, expression indifferent, his fingers swiftly tracing golden runes in the air.

"Once I've suppressed the curse within you, we'll have a proper talk."

Black Skull's spirit approached, teeth clenched, warning, "Mr. Raven, stay alert, this kid's abilities are too bizarre. A single lapse could give him the chance!"

Lynne grinned, saying, "That's why... you should have sealed my mouth too, hehehe—"

In an instant, he suddenly opened his mouth, sticking out his tongue towards Raven with a smile. On his tongue, a pitch-black eye abruptly opened.

Black Skull's expression drastically changed, "No good!"

Buzz—

The cursed eye's gaze instantly focused.

Raven, the target, immediately felt a chilling cold rising from his body, as if surrounded by countless wailing and screeching evil spirits.

The next moment, his head split open in the middle, numerous barbed tentacles burst forth, wildly emerging from the cracks in his skull.

"Mr. Raven!" Black Skull exclaimed in horror.

It was a curse! A frenzied curse of an aggregation of evil spirits!

And when he turned towards Lynne, only a pile of uncontrollable feathers remained; Lynne's figure had vanished.

"Ah— Ah—"

The tentacles spreading from Raven's body grew faces, emitting ghostly howls and cries.

Raven abruptly sat cross-legged, pressing the constructed rune towards his own head, starting to suppress the curse within. Gritting his teeth, he said: "We underestimated that kid, I didn't expect him to have so many bizarre abilities!"

Black Skull hurried to his side, frowning deeply, "Do you know what that curse inside him is? It doesn't seem like ordinary madness to me!"

Raven's eyes flickered as he spoke: "Executor has told me everything. If I'm not mistaken…"

He spoke solemnly, "It must be a type of curse that excavates and amplifies negative emotions in the mind. Such curses are typically triggered by one or more mediums and become incredibly vicious once activated.

Moreover, if Executor truly saw a jester's silhouette within his body. Then it closely resembled a type of curse he had come across before. But even in Night Doctor's documents, such curses were rarely mentioned.

The only record was in a document from decades ago, describing a scene witnessed by a Night Doctor in a city shrouded in mist.

The account detailed an ancient city in the Dark World, plunged into chaos by the release of an ancient and mysterious entity, resulting in a city-wide curse, driving thousands of creatures mad.

And among them, was this jester curse. Every afflicted individual's cognition progressively distorts over time.

Under the curse's influence, they would become increasingly frenzied and agitated, triggering the mediums within their bodies, causing the curse to spiral out of control. And if the curse's influence couldn't be shed before total loss of control. Then the unbridled negative emotions would slowly forge a new, insane will within the host, eventually completely overtaking that person!

This was the most dangerous aspect of the curse! Because rumors say this curse originated from an unleashed evil jester, and due to their wildly abnormal cognition, this curse has been named... The Weeping Clown!"

Raven stated deeply.

...

Minutes later, having temporarily suppressed the curse within, the two rapidly navigated through the streets. Executor had already been dispatched by Raven to assist other Night Doctors.

Black Skull turned, gazing solemnly at Raven, hoarsely asking: "If it really is the curse you mentioned, how should we respond?"

Raven spoke gravely, "First, understand that most curses are countered by divine power. Since the curse within the young man has only just shown signs of loss of control and hasn't been in him long, we have a way to expel it."

Black Skull hesitated, "Divine power... You mean?"

"In other places, it might be tricky, but not here."

Raven raised his head, gazing towards the church in the town center with profound eyes.

"This town possesses a relic from the divine realm."

Crows flew over the high cross dome of the church. The church stood amidst the black fog, a picture of decay and ruin.

...

At that very moment. Inside the church.

The mayor stood solemnly, leaning on his staff, backed by hundreds of anxious townspeople. Most residents had already moved into the church during a previous lull. Those who had been touched by the doctor and infected with the malady had been properly settled.

"Mayor! What exactly is going on? Why did Doctor Lynne suddenly change like that, and why are all the people he touched showing such strange symptoms…"

The townsfolk's faces were pale, fraught with unease. They discovered that the diseases inflicted by Doctor Lynne were eerily similar to those found in the subdued werewolves. But they couldn't understand. He had seemed so friendly before…

The mayor looked up gravely, "This is the Dark World, where anything is possible. Perhaps he was influenced by something, or maybe he was always a plague doctor spreading disease. Whatever the case, all we can do is strive to protect ourselves."

In the spacious hall, candle flames flickered. At that moment, two figures wearing bird beak masks appeared atop the church's main door. They entered the church interior like phantoms, bypassing the door.

"Be on guard!"

A loud shout.

Swish, swish, swish—

Several shotguns instantly aimed at the two Night Doctors who had appeared abruptly.

"Don't be alarmed, we are not here to harm you."

Raven extended his hand, his voice hoarse beneath the bird beak mask. The townspeople in the hall were visibly shaken, their faces pale, looking at them with extreme wariness.

The mayor, leaning on his staff, raised his hand to stop the guards, cautiously asking: "And what brings you two here?"

Raven's bird beak mask reflected the dim candlelight of the church, he spoke hoarsely: "You must have seen what's happened to your doctor. We've discovered a curse within him that has affected his cognition, causing severe abnormalities in his behavior. He is still lurking in your town, and due to the curse's influence, he will inevitably seek to diagnose more creatures, thereby spreading the disease further. And you are his prime targets here."

At these words, the townspeople were visibly shaken, their faces turning ashen.

The mayor's gaze hardened, and he said gravely: "Do you want us to be his bait?"

Raven replied hoarsely, "No, we are here seeking assistance."

...

In the town.

In a dark room, the sounds of slicing and stitching, "splutter, splutter," echoed relentlessly.

A werewolf, terrified, was bound by tentacles to a table, while a trembling young man knelt before him, wielding the Nightfiend Blade, swiftly performing surgery.

[Ding! You have discovered a disease on the target: Cardiovascular Tumor!]

[Ding! You have discovered a disease on the target: Skin Cyst!]

"No, no, no!"

The young man's blood-soaked hands anxiously tore at his scalp, staring at the werewolf's chest he had just perfectly stitched.

Grasping his face in distress and distortion, he exclaimed: "I've already cured him of those dozen diseases, why hasn't he recovered his health? Why are there so many more ailments?! Why do their diseases never end!"

His agitation growing, he stooped, pacing back and forth in the room with the knife in hand. His pesticide-allergy affected (x﹏x) left hand spoke: "You mad head, haven't you realized yet? You're cursed. No matter how many times you cure them, as long as you diagnose them, you will inflict new diseases on them."

"No!" Lynne, tearing at the corners of his mouth, crazily clenched his bloodied fingers, raving: "It's their bodies that are too weak, their illnesses are never-ending! I can't waste time on just one patient, this town is already infected with disease, I must make them realize, they are all sick! They are all ill!"

Whoosh—

He suddenly retracted the tentacles binding the werewolf. Nimbly leaping out of the window like a cheetah, he quickly clambered onto the rooftop. His increasingly frenzied gaze swept rapidly across the town. Then, his eyes suddenly fixed on the towering church amidst the dark fog in the distance, his mouth slowly twisting into a mad grin.

"There are many people there, waiting for me, I need to go help them immediately! I need... I need to heal them!"

...