I Awakened A Divine Curse

Asenya stood frozen in disbelief, her features hardening into a frown as Auren spoke. Having grown familiar with his silver-tongued nature, she wrapped herself in dark caution like a protective cloak.

A caution Auren either genuinely ignored or masterfully pretended not to notice.

If he were being truthful, Asenya's subtle pressure was slowly consuming him, beads of sweat trickling down his neck and dampening the collar of his improvised shirt.

Nevertheless, a clean and taunting grin adorned his face.

"...I died multiple times trying to kill that bastard. But death was on my side. In the end, victory came to me through the most handsome and evil foe of humanity."

Asenya remained draped in caution, arms folded across her massive chest. Her bold amber-gold eyes gleamed with a cold reflection of something vile and sinister that seemed to nest within her soul.

Auren couldn't quite place it, but he was being smothered beneath her quiet, seemingly non-existent pressure. She definitely knew what she was doing!

She clutched her arm tightly.

"What do you mean? You died multiple times?"

Auren met her gaze and exhaled, boredom etched across his face.

"I actually happened to discover that it's remarkably difficult for me to stay dead."

He grinned again, as if sharing a lighthearted joke.

His expression darkened barely a second later.

"But right now, none of that matters. Currently, you're the third person I hate most in the world, but I recognize the enormous gulf between us. You used me, but you're willing to pay, so let's settle and stop poking around each other's business."

Asenya continued to pierce him with a stern, plain, and icy stare.

She shifted back slightly and unfolded her arms.

"You say that, yet the very reward you ask for is you poking around my business."

Auren smiled and shrugged.

"Well, you have an Exalted heart, and I don't."

Asenya frowned again, disbelief flashing across her face.

"Did you really kill the Polypheme with your own two hands?"

A shadow fell over Auren's face as his gaze hardened.

The persistent questioning was beginning to grate on his nerves. He hadn't begged her to believe him, but she should know when to hold her tongue.

Not that he dared say that aloud... at least not now.

He sighed.

"Look. I died multiple times, but since I can't stay dead, I kept dying until I turned the tables instead!"

Asenya frowned, blinking in confusion. She could tell Auren wasn't spinning lies. And she herself knew that the Home of Rage was somewhere nothing could penetrate.

Aven Noctis had been meticulous in how he carved every prison. There was no way they would leak into each other.

He maintained tens of thousands of domains in the realm of darkness, where he imprisoned terrible horrors that could wreak devastating havoc upon the world.

Or to be precise, that once had.

The Polyphemes were a race of beings used as war machines by the Shadow King... a self-proclaimed lord of shadows.

The tyrant and his Polyphemes had posed such a grave threat that Aven Noctis moved to imprison them.

The battle proved so brutal that despite how powerful and vast the night was, it could hold none of them captive.

Aven Noctis had to settle for slaying them, as capturing them alive seemed a far more daunting task. One managed to slip through his grasp.

Then many years later, he found that one and managed to capture it.

A single Polypheme would typically wage war against hundreds of thousands and emerge victorious, having slain every divinity it crossed swords with.

It was such a ruthless creature that Aven Noctis had admitted even she would struggle against it—granted, that was four hundred years ago.

The more she dwelled on it, the more impossible it seemed that this slip of a boy had accomplished such a feat. A mere child with an immature soul, one that reeked of imperfection and iniquity like a rotting fruit.

She sighed and flicked her wrist dismissively.

"Alright. What do you want to know?"

Auren's lips curled into a satisfied smile. The silent, suffocating pressure gradually lifted from his shoulders like a heavy cloak being removed.

"First. What is that coffin and who is inside?"

Asenya arched a single brow.

"Considering you knew it contained a man and nearly opened it, claiming to be summoned by it... I presumed you already knew."

Auren shook his head, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Don't take it personally. I was never certain. I merely gambled and said 'man' because I figured something—or someone—had to be there for you to react as you did. Let me guess, he's your lover, who can't live forever like you, so you've preserved his body somewhere time can't touch it."

Asenya's face contorted with rage, her voice erupting like thunder.

"What a cruel thing to say!"

Auren recoiled instantly, a flash of regret crossing his features, though even he couldn't quite comprehend why—beyond her sudden outburst of what he'd call childish anger.

Quite ironic, considering who the literal child was in this context.

Asenya's expression darkened as she pinched the bridge of her nose between slender fingers, as though warding off a headache.

A hollow silence hung between them for a breath or two.

"I've had enough of you. Just cut to the chase with your questions, and I'll do the same with my answers. Then give me the damned heart."

Auren nodded, quick and eager.

"That works for me delightfully."

Asenya shot him a withering glance and clicked her tongue—a sharp sound of pure irritation—before exhaling deeply and beginning.

"The person in the coffin is Aven Noctis. The Lord of the Night."

She paused, measuring her words.

"How do I explain the Lord of the Night to you? The only terms your mortal mind might grasp is this: Aven Noctis is the very essence of night itself. He lives, the Night lives. He dies, the Night dies."

Auren stared blanking, as the words settled in his mind. Then his eyebrows shot up, genuine intrigue dancing across his face.

"See?! Wasn't so cruel after all!"