I Awakened A Divine Curse

Auren, of course, knew that Asenya was trying to create something. She had explained to him about the trap that Aven had set for her.

The moment she entered the Night Temple, she could never leave unless someone else was there.

So her only escape from the accursed tower hinged on either Aven Noctis himself awakening, or another stranger walking in. What surprised Auren was that she hadn't even considered bolting out the moment he entered, not even when she shoved him into the well.

If anything, she seemed desperate for him to leave at first, and after her explanation, Auren could piece together why.

Asenya was, at her core, a good person, though her appearance suggested otherwise.

But all her goodness meant nothing now, because she'd gone ahead and resurrected the very being who probably wanted Auren dead more than anyone else in the entire world.

'Well, perhaps the second-most.'

He'd thought she was merely creating a statue creature that could remain here in her place. Not reviving the damn Polypheme!

'Curses!'

Teeth grinding against each other, he slowly pushed himself up. The Polypheme watched him with that familiar silence, like a predator waiting for its prey to stand before knocking it down again.

A roguish, angry cadence blazed in the white light of its eyes.

"Hey! You statue! I command you! Stop!"

Asenya remained in a rather shameful and embarrassing position as the statue didn't spare her even the faintest glance.

It clenched its stone fist, pulled back, and unleashed.

Auren rolled away as the fist shattered the ground where he'd just been.

The Polypheme's gaze shifted left where Auren had rolled and was already darting across the floor. As it descended upon him with its fist falling like a hammer, Auren's eyes ignited with a ferocious crimson light—a light that had learned something cruel in the deep reaches of an uninhabitable darkness.

From the depths of his soul, Withering Fate materialized in his hands, deflecting the creature's strike. In one fluid motion, Auren leaped onto the statue, clutching its head.

He raised his armored elbow—sharp as a blade—and crushed the statue's head. Fragments scattered like deadly rain as the Polypheme staggered backward.

Immediately, Asenya's voice thundered throughout the hall.

"Kiddo! Please!!"

Auren froze, frowning as he looked back at her... pain etched across her face as she shook her head and pleaded with her eyes.

"Please, don't do it..."

That single moment of hesitation cost him dearly. The statue seized his arm in a vise-like grip and wrenched him from its head, hurling him across the hall.

Auren tumbled through the dais, his body carving a scar into the floor as he skidded toward the shadowy reaches of the wall.

The statue was already charging forward.

But before it could reach the dais, something—no, someone—crashed into it with stunning force, altering its trajectory and sending it flying toward the wall.

The stone behemoth cartwheeled through the air and slammed against the wall where the table and jar from before had been. Everything shattered as it crumpled to the ground.

Asenya stood where the statue's path had been interrupted, a cold, angry glare hardening her features. Her legs were slightly apart, the split of her gown revealing her sumptuous thighs.

Auren stared at the crashed statue... only the statue.

He gulped and slowly rose to his feet.

"Wow, you are no joke."

Asenya glanced at him and rolled her eyes as if to say, "Oh please."

"With the real Polypheme, I would have struggled a bit. But I'd still win."

A hint of smugness tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"Of course you would. You're five hundred and forty something..."

"Don't chalk it up to that. Besides, this Polypheme was the weakest of them. The real Polyphemes were terrors even I wouldn't dare face. Aven had to kill them all because he couldn't capture them. And Aven was someone that could be referred to as the peak of divinity."

Both fell silent as the statue stirred and began to rise once more.

Auren took a few cautious steps forward.

"So what do we do now? I think he's gonna wanna kill me as long as I live. He kinda really hates me."

Asenya slapped her face softly, looking rattled and stressed.

"I can't believe this. You really killed a damn Polypheme."

Auren smiled softly, tilting his head to one side.

"I told you."

She met the statue's gaze as it stood fully upright, its white eyes shifting between her and Auren.

"I've programmed it not to leave the Temple, so I guess we have to leave now."

The statue moved again, with a grace that belied its stone form. It seemed to slice through the air, each footfall shattering the floor as it barreled toward Auren.

But Auren merely took the dark cloak of his armor and wrapped it around himself. For a heartbeat, it looked as though he commanded darkness itself.

His form dissolved into the ground, leaving only wisps of black smoke curling from the floor.

The Polypheme froze abruptly, as if stunned that Auren had vanished.

Almost immediately, Auren erupted from a dark corner near the door.

He flashed a taunting grin at the statue.

"Bye bye, sucker!"

He shot out of the hall with speed.

The Polypheme's eyes blazed even brighter as it shot forward, but as it passed Asenya, she was already twisting in the air—her seemingly fragile, slender legs delivering a terrifying kick against the onyx statue.

A shockwave rippled through the hall, and the statue flew backward like a weightless ragdoll, soaring over the dais and crashing into the wall beyond the darkness.

Asenya spared the statue one final, withering glare before turning away.

She moved with blurring speed as she raced down the stairs.

Auren was already on the first floor, studying the stone coffin with a dark frown etched on his face.

Finally, Asenya descended, her expression hurried—she had expected him to be bolting for the door, but instead he stood there, transfixed by the stone coffin of the Lord of the Night.

She frowned.

"I've told you. You are not going to touch that."

Auren shrugged.

"...looks like someone beat me to it."

His response instantly summoned a dark, foreboding shadow across her face.

"What?!"