"Stink"

"Hmmm? From where?"

"That way"

I nod, and we both fly to the northeast for a few minutes before Sonia tells me to stop.

"There. It is coming from that place."

Inside the cave, huh? I nod my head, and we slowly descend to the ground.

"Master."

I look at the Okami with wide eyes. They can talk?!

"Something is moving toward us. They are foul creatures."

I decide to ask them later. For now, we need to take care of the problem in front of us.

"How many?"

"A lot. More than a hundred."

That many, huh? It looks like I need to get serious. I take all my equipment out and take a pair of gauntlets for Sonia.

"Papa?"

"Wear that, Sonia. It will boost your attack."

"En. Thank you. I will treasure it alongside all your gifts, papa."

I pat her head and see her putting on the gauntlets. I gave Sonia a set of equipment called the Thunder God Set. That set is a Divine Rank equipment that grows with the user. An item in Second Life is divided into five ranks.

Common -> High-Class -> Legendary -> Mythical -> Divine

I got that item when I was still a solo player exploring the world. That item greatly boosts her movement speed and attack speed and increases her lightning attack.

"They are coming!"

I snap from my thoughts when I hear Okami's words and prepare to fight. After a minute of waiting, I can see a wave of undead coming at us.

"An undead?"

A normal skeleton, by the look of it. They did not wear any armor and only held basic weapons. If this is a Second Life, they should be around level five or maybe seven. Above that, they will have armor and better weapons.

However, I don't know how strong they are in this world. Let's be cautious.

"Okami, attack!"

"Yes, master!"

The white wolf releases a torrent of fire at the incoming horde of skeletons, and I can see her attack easily destroy them.

That means they are truly a low-level mob, just like I thought.

"Let's get inside. We cannot let the curse spread."

We get inside the cave and follow where the curse is coming from. While walking inside, I can hear another horde of skeletons run toward us. Knowing that the sword is not very effective against the skeleton, I decided to use my magic.

"[Nature Fist]"

At my command, a massive fist made of a tree appears from the ground and crushes the skeletons to pieces. [Nature Fist] is a [Druid] spell that appears when I reach level ten. It was one of the good burst damage spells in the early game.

"[Nature Fist]"

I keep casting my spell every second because of how short the cooldown is, and we continue to get deeper into the cave. After a few minutes of walking, we arrive in front of a massive altar with a floating skull in the middle of the altar.

"That is the source of the curse. It looks like it was not something that happened naturally. Someone wants to try something to the Baxter family and other southern nobles."

We cannot even get a few meters near the altar as something massive is coming from the ground.

*ROAR*

A seven-meter-tall humanoid skeleton appears from the ground. It did not have a lower body part; only its upper parts came out of the ground. The skeleton is holding a pair of massive swords in its hands and wearing full body armor plus the helmet.

"Watch out!"

I jump away as the giant skeleton swings its sword at us. I point at my staff and cast a spell.

"[Iron Thorn]! [Zodiac: Taurus]! Aim for the thorn!"

I take out my sword and dash at the skeleton. When I get closer, I swing my sword and cut one of the thorns. As I cut it, I can feel the energy surrounding the skeleton decreasing. However, there is no screaming coming from the giant skeleton. As expected, the giant undead cannot feel any pain.

Unlike normal monsters screaming or roaring in pain after I cut one of the thorns and exploit that to deal more damage. Sadly, we cannot do that in this situation.

I can see Sonia create a blade made of lightning to cut the thorn around the giant skeleton while the twin wolves use their claws.

The skeleton tries to attack us, but we are too fast for it. I don't think it can see the fastest player in Second Life if it cannot hit me. I can be considered a slow player to a high-level player in Second Life.

"[Iron Thorn]!"

After we cut all the thorns, I quickly cast more, and we continued to fight the giant skeleton. With a new debuff, we continue to dodge and attack the giant skeleton. The narrow space restricts our movement a little bit, but it is not enough to let the giant skeleton hit us.

While the giant skeleton is very slow, it is very durable. It takes us a few minutes to defeat it. After defeating the undead, I look at my companion and say.

"Are you guys okay?"

Seeing them okay, I nod my head and walk to the altar. As I get closer, I can feel three more curses around the human skull. Tch. Protection curse, huh? Oh, well. I guess an AOE purifying spell is needed.

"[Canis Major: Sirius]"

I nod my head when I see the curse is gone after I cast my spell. The human skull slowly turns into dust, and the air changes for the better.

One down, and who knows many to go.

|3rd POV|

A middle-aged man wearing a black robe and holding a staff made of a human skeleton in an unknown location in the southern continent. He is currently dissecting a human body while the body is still alive.

"Scream. Scream more. Your agony will fuel my spell."

The man grins when he can see his victim screaming in pain. The victim finally releases his breath when the man removes the heart from the victim's body. However, unlike a normal human heart, the heart he takes out glows in purple.

"A religious zealot is truly a great fuel for my project. Their screams release more negative energy than a normal victim. I wonder– huh?"

While the man is monologuing, he suddenly feels something. He feels a connection between him and his creation is destroyed.

"Oh? Someone managed to find that curse, huh? It was even the strongest one at that. If they manage to destroy that anchor, that means they manage to defeat the Giant Skeleton, huh? As expected of the true Warrior of the Gipan Kingdom."

This man is the one who planted the cursed item around the southern territory of the Gipan Kingdom.

"Hmmm, should I report this? Nah. I will do it when they manage to take care of all the cursed items and we reach the second stage of the grand plan. For now, I need to finish the current project."

The man grins, places the glowing heart inside a cage made of human flesh, and creates a magic circle. A second later, a Void Crack appears in front of him, and he laughs loudly.

"Let the world see the blessing of Khratur once again! Let the world be baptized in blood! Let the the world see the mighty of the true God!"

20.3k words / 20k words

LuxVonDeux

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