Chapter 126: Cursed

"Guuuh...RRAAAAAGH!!! KILL THEM ALL!!! BURN IT DOWN!!!" Mizik screamed.

Before Isabella could warn Derek, Mizik broke the man's arm and grabbed his dagger.

Then he sliced the man's throat open and kicked him against the wall.

Derek gargled loudly as blood squirted from his throat and fell to the floor.

After that, Mizik turned his attention to Rastair.

"Ah...what...? Derek? Umm..." Rastair said.

Mizik threw the dagger through the bars and hit Vann straight between the eyes.

Actually, the dagger hit him so hard that it flew through his head...splattering brains and blood on the wall behind him and embedding itself completely as well.

Vann collapsed on the ground and Rastair stood up quickly just as two magic chains appeared and pulled the cell bars so hard that they shattered.

Mizik shot through the open cell and grabbed Rastair by the throat. He slammed her head against the wall and growled at her.

"Destroy...kill them all...I'll burn everything down...!" He growled.

"Mizik! Please calm down. I'm not in any danger," Isabella said gently.

"AH...AH...W-WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!? P-PLEASE LET ME GO! I'M SORRY!" Rastair said fearfully.

"Grrrrrr...I'll kill you all...I'll tear you apart... Damn you..." Mizik said.

His eyes seemed to be in a sort of trance...

He was awake, but not fully in control.

"Isabella! Could you...umm...HELP ME!?" Rastair said hysterically.

"What are your men going to do to me again? My memory seems to be failing me..." Isabella asked with a gentle smile.

She knew very well that this would be her bargaining chip.

Isabella would sell Rastair her own life in exchange for safe passage.

"TH-THEY'LL TREAT YOU REALLY NICELY! I SW...GAH...SWEAR IT!!!" Rastair said as Mizik clutched her throat.

"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!! I'LL KILL HIM!!! I'LL MAKE HIM PAY!!!" Mizik roared.

"AHHHHH! PLEASE LET ME GO!!!" Rastair shouted fearfully.

"Mizik, my love, please let the lady go. Would you do that for me?" Isabella asked sweetly.

Mizik immediately let go of Rastair and looked at Isabella.

He blinked a few times and seemed to calm down and become self-aware.

Then he gave a gentle smile as he looked at Isabella... It was enough to make her heart flutter.

A moment later...

"GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" Mizik screamed in agony as he crouched down to the floor clutching his head.

Black magic seemed to crackle around his head as this happened.

"Ah...Mizik...? Are you okay!?" Isabella said as she went over to him.

"GET AWAY!!! DAMMIT!!! JUST STOP!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" He screamed even louder in agony and passed out.

"What...what the hell is wrong with that guy...?" Rastair said as she sat on the floor next to the wall.

"I...I don't know...umm..."

Isabella started using healing magic on Mizik and he opened his eyes again.

He turned over and looked away from Isabella as he laid on the floor.

"Mizik...? Are you okay? Please talk to me!" Isabella said as she gently touched him.

She saw his neutral expression go to one of pure agony as he ground his teeth and held his head.

"It...hurts...damn it all... What did that bastard...DO TO ME!?!?" MIzik growled.

"Who...? Difar? What do you mean? What did he do!?" Isabella asked hysterically.

* * *

MY HEAD WON'T STOP HURTING!!! WHY AM I IN SO MUCH PAIN FROM SMILING!?!?

I gritted my teeth as Isabella gently touched me and cast more healing magic on me.

I quickly pulled up my status menu and found something strange.

{Ability Name: Curse of Corruption}

{Ability Description: The Source of the [Corruption] has placed a vile curse on the user. This curse afflicts the user with Corrupting Darkness.}

I selected the phrase 'Corrupting Darkness' and found data on it after forcing the status menu to tell me using The Archmage.

{Corrupting Darkness: Steals the user's light element and replaces it with agony upon attempting to access emotions related to it. Positive emotions will now cause extreme amounts of pain. Light magic can no longer be used.}

What is this...? Some kind of joke!? THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!!

I felt myself consumed with rage as images of Difar raced through my mind.

"I'LL KILL HIM!!!! I'M GOING TO DESTROY THAT SON OF A BITCH!!!! I'LL MAKE HIM SUFFER!!! I'LL MAKE HIM BLEED!!! GAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" I screamed.

"Mizik!? You're scaring me! What's wrong!?" Isabella said fearfully.

I locked my gaze onto hers.

Looking at my wife...someone who always brought me nothing but happiness...only brought me pain right now.

It's not her fault. She's not responsible. But she deserves to know.

"He cursed me! THAT DAMN BASTARD CURSED ME!!!!"

I shot my hand out and tapped the area around Isabella's heart.

I rapidly modified both of our status menus to immediately show her the curse.

"What...h-how!? Curse of Corruption...!?" Isabella whimpered.

"Umm...is he okay...?" The giant woman in the room that I nearly killed a moment ago said.

"I AM NOT OKAY, YOU DAMN GIANT!!! AND HOW DARE YOU THREATEN MY WIFE!!! I'LL TEAR YOU LIMB FROM GIANT LIMB!!!" I yelled.

"Eehhhhhhhhhh...I'm sorry!!! I'm kind of sensitive about my height, you know!? Also, my name is Rastair!"

"WHY DID YOU THREATEN ISABELLA!? ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!!!" I yelled as I got up and readied a fire javelin.

For some reason, I didn't have Vengeance either...

My sword! I need my sword!

Rastair backed up further against the wall and looked at me with terror in her eyes.

"I...umm...I wanted to be immortal! And she said she was a goddess! S-so...yeah..." Rastair said.

"Isabella is not a goddess. If you threaten her again, I'll strangle you to death and throw your body to the sharks. If they have those here... WHAT IS THIS WORLD CALLED!?" I said angrily.

The rage...it's so much... I can't control it. I have to get these things under control! If not, I'll go insane and Difar will win. The Oracle will win! I have to control myself. Direct my rage... I'll point it all at them. I'll kill those bastards... One day, I'll tear them apart! Ah...why am I so mad at the Oracle again? No...I have to kill Difar! I shouldn't bother with the Oracle...right?

"Wh...what? You mean you don't know? How...who are you people!?" Rastair said.

Just before I could lose my temper again, Isabella placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"Mizik, I want you to be quiet for a moment. Please compose yourself."

The gentle and loving nature of Isabella...my wife...

It had always been something that brought me nothing but joy and happiness.

Now that same joy and happiness was like hundreds of nails being driven into my skull. The calm and relaxed feelings I got when I was around her were making me even angrier than before.

Multiple times, I had to restrain my thoughts. Hold my tongue, per se...

"I...can't, Isabella..." I said as I gripped my aching head.

"Rid yourself of your emotions. We'll find a solution to this later. But for now, I need you to be calm. Can you do that for me, Mizik?" Isabella said with a deadpan look on her face.

"Yes...Isabella... I...love you..." I managed to say.

I disconnected my feelings of admiration for her just to say the words.

They were hollow. They meant nothing as I uttered them.

But deep down, I still felt that way.

"I love you too. Now please compose yourself," Isabella said.

She gave a gentle smile and I walked over into the corner to do what she said.

"Rastair, we are not from this world. In fact, it's quite a long story on how we came to be here and I don't feel like telling the whole thing right now. If you could at least tell us where we are and maybe a little about this world, we would be most appreciative."

"Uh...sure... You won't hurt me, right? I have so much to live for..." Rastair said.

"If you comply with our wishes, we will have no reason to do you harm."

"Okay!" Rastair said as she cheerfully, yet nervously stood up and sat back in her chair.

She occasionally glanced at me as I sat in the corner.

"So...umm...first of all, I just wanna apologize for how my crew acted towards you...Lady Isabella?" Rasair said.

"It's just Isabella. You don't have to use any honorary titles next to my name."

"Cool! So like, my crew is a bunch of perverted pirates, right? They don't really see a lot of action other than when we do raids. I'm the only woman on the ship and I'd beat the shit out of or keel-haul anyone who tried to have their way with me. Truthfully...I do kind of wish a nice man would come along, though..." Rastair rambled as she looked at me.

Isabella looked at her strangely.

"Hey...your husband's kind of hot... Like really hot... Mind if I have a few minutes with him?" Rastair said.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Isabella shouted angrily.

"Eeehhhhhhh...sorry! Sorry!" Rastair said fearfully.

"It's alright. But yes, he is very...wonderful, isn't he?" Isabella said as she glanced at me.

I made eye contact with her for a moment and she looked away as her face flushed.

"A-anyway! You were saying about this world?" Isabella said after composing herself.

"...Right. So this place is called Delvandal. That's the name of our world. Delvandal," Rastair said.

Over the next hour, Rastair explained the complicated situation of this strange world.

Delvandal was a world more like Avernia. There was constant fighting between the countries and it was mainly a magic-based world where technology wasn't highly advanced.

Or rather, what Michael would call a 'Fantasy World' like Avernia.

Among the many countries, one stood higher than most.

The Elysium Empire.

This Empire ruled an entire continent and brought multiple territories under its control. Not only this, but they also shared in their technology.

The Empire had their technology and advanced weaponry provided by a genius scientist that appeared from seemingly nowhere. He was a man known as 'The Mad Admiral', and was a powerful military leader.

In the past, many countries constantly warred against Elysium, but none could withstand their might.

As such, the Empire stood above everyone else.

Other places simply existed in quiet hopefulness that Elysium would leave them alone or invite them to join the Empire.

Aside from Elysium, most countries in this world used a similar governing system to Avernia.

In other words, monarchies.

Meaning that it was possible that we might be dealing with politics and nobility again...

The thought of it made me angry...just like almost everything else right now.

"Well then, what is the nearest county we can go to? My husband and I need to figure out what we should do next," Isabella said.

"Ah...yes....well, I can take you to the nearest coast, but...I can't stay," Rastair said.

"Why not?" Isabella asked..

"I am Captain Rastair, The Sea Witch. Captain of the dreaded ship 'The Leviathan'. You might not know this since you've just arrived...at least I'm choosing to believe you on that, but I'm wanted in twelve countries."

"For...what, exactly?" Isabella asked.

"Umm...I'm a Pirate Queen? I'm guilty of mass murder and thievery? I have a gigantic bounty on my head?" Rastair said.

"A bounty? So if we turned you in, we would get a lot of money?" Isabella said.

At that moment, Rastair's eyes went wide in fear.

"AAHHH! WAIT!! NO! PLEASE DON'T TURN ME IN!! I'M TOO PRETTY TO GO TO JAIL AND BE EXECUTED!!!" Rastair begged as she reached across the table, grabbed Isabella's shoulders, and shook her.

"Okay! We won't turn you in! But I expect you to help us! Deal?"

"Fine! I'll help! But...can I at least have a few minutes alone with your husband? You know...seal the deal?" Rastair said as she glanced at me.

"YOU MAY NOT!!!" Isabella shouted again.

* * *

Rastair led us to the main deck and addressed her crew.

"ALRIGHT, YOU LAYABOUTS!!! LISTEN UP!! I HAVE GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS!" Rastair shouted.

The men all gathered in front of Rastair.

"Bad news is that Derek and Vann are dead."

"Awwww..."

All the men seemed sad to hear this.

"The good news, is that these two are basically gods and they're our allies now. We're taking them to Port Sagral in Lokan. LET'S GO!" Rastair said as she unsheathed her saber and raised it high.

"RRAAAAAAGH!!!!" The men all cheered.

Rastair led us to her personal quarters and we sat down in chairs.

I was still trying to fully compose myself and had adopted a permanent scowl on my face.

Once we sat down, Rastair ordered the cook to get us something to eat and we were now waiting on food.

"Isabella..." I said in a low tone.

"Yes, Mizik?" She said.

"I don't know how to tell you this...but I lost Vengeance... I have no idea how I'm going to get it back, either..." I said.

After that, Isabella looked away. I felt a strange magic from her as he quickly pulled something from her inventory and handed it to me. When she looked back, the feeling was gone.

It was my sword.

"Difar gave you a ridiculously savage beating, Mizik. I'm not surprised at all that you dropped it. But even if things get difficult, please try not to lose your sword, okay?" Isabella said.

I slowly took the sword and held it in my hands. I examined it closely.

This sword was beyond precious to me.

"Thank you..." I managed.

"Ah! You're welcome! It was my pleasure! I'm so glad to be of use!" She said joyfully.

I looked back at her strangely and she was holding her head with one hand.

"Isabella...?"

"S-sorry about that! I'm just...really happy to help you out in such a difficult time!"

"Yeah...we're lucky to be alive after that hellish experience..."

"Honestly, I'm just glad you're okay. And even if you have trouble showing it now, I know you still love me. I'll try my best to support you in any way that I can, okay?"

"Of course. And hey...can I ask a question? Are you able to remove the curse?" I said

"If you believe it, I already tried. Unfortunately, my powers had no effect. I'm sorry, Mizik..."

"Don't be..."

At that point, Rastair came back into the room and jumped when she saw me holding Vengeance.

"EEEHHH!?!?" She shrieked.

"Shut up! I'm not going to hurt you. Just pretend you saw nothing..." I said.

"You know...I don't usually like rude people, but I kind of like it from you, umm...Mizik?" Rastair said as she eyed me.

I simply stared at her with a cold and unfeeling gaze.

At least she got my name right...

"Now those are some sexy eyes! Oh my... Your gaze is so...penetrating!" Rastair said.

"Rastair, if you keep hitting on my husband, I might just have to turn you in. Do you want that?"

Rastair tensed up and shook her head.

"Damn giant woman... I'm married already..."

"I'm not a giant! I'm just really tall! I said I was sensitive about my height, didn't I!?"

"Don't recall...don't care..."

"Is he always like this?" Rastair asked.

"No. He's cursed. Usually, he's a lot more calm and friendly," Isabella said.

"Ooooh...that sounds kinda hot-"

"Stop it, Rastair!" Isabella said angrily.

"Fiiiiine... I'll leave you two alone then. Also, don't tell the crew I was acting like this, okay...?" She said

"Sure...whatever..."

"Yeah. What he said..." Isabella said as she looked worriedly at me.

I'm sorry, Isabella... I'm going to do my best from here on out...

As the thoughts of how much I loved her went through my head, I gritted my teeth in agony as I felt pain shoot through me again...