I Awakened A Divine Curse

Auren didn't know what the creature had done to gouge a hole into the desert sand with its agonizing cry—and he prayed he'd never find out.

Pray to whom? He'd rather kneel before missing gods, long dead and forgotten, than before Archons who built their thrones on lies and draped their dominion over the world with chains of faith.

If you're going to lie and manipulate, at least be honest about it. Don't hide behind the veil of religion.

'Shocking that you're still thinking about this now!'

Auren's mind wandered even as his legs burned, carrying him around the monstrous creature in a wide arc. His sword was ready, arm drawn back, while his metal boots tore through the sand. The black cloak of his armor streamed behind him, a shadow lashing at the wind—or was it the wind lashing at him?

He had no idea what Asenya planned. Left to him, he would've fled without a second thought. But she'd done this before, survived where others hadn't. So, for now, he'd trust her judgment.

'...Temporarily.'

She had told him to circle the creature—that was all. And so he did.

Running around it drove home just how monstrous it truly was. Over a hundred meters wide, a living mountain of blighted flesh. Auren could hardly believe this thing had once been human.

If this was a Catastrophic Blighted, then what nightmares did Abyssal Blighted, Wretcheds and Aberrants hold? The thought turned his blood to ice.

He had faced one Wretched before, though he preferred to think of the Polypheme as more Exalted than Wretched. Not that it mattered. Killing an Exalted was supposed to be impossible—far beyond a Consecrated, let alone a Nascent.

Yet he'd done it.

All his feats were carved from a hundred defeats. Not that anyone would believe the stories. Not that he needed them to.

Auren finally reached the creature's rear. With a surge of strength, he launched himself onto its back, driving his sword deep into a crevice between its stone-plated flesh.

The creature didn't react. No roar, no shudder—just the indifferent silence of an ocean swallowing a needle.

Then again, this particular ocean was busy eyeing a far more tempting morsel.

Asenya wielded chains—massive, endless chains that slithered from her hands. Or perhaps they *were* her hands. At this point, there was no telling the difference as she wove them like extensions of her very being.

One chain lashed forward with a whip-crack of colossal force, spearing into the creature's gaping maw. The grinding screech of its teeth echoed across the darkened sky, and Asenya felt the vibrations rattle up her arms as the links were slowly pulverized into black dust.

Yet she didn't stop.

Her other hand snapped downward, the motion fluid and practiced—like a cowboy hurling a lasso to snare a wild stallion's legs. The second chain coiled around the monster's bulk, its length still unraveling as it spiraled across the beast's body.

Auren, who had been climbing in relative peace, paused. He tilted his head up, eyes glinting with dark amusement as the enormous chains whipped overhead, wrapping around the creature like serpents constricting prey.

He swallowed hard and kept climbing.

Climbing. Funny how familiar it felt. As if he'd done nothing but scale monstrous abominations since waking in this damned trial.

Then the creature shuddered—a full-body tremor, as some unimaginable force were yanked it forward.

Auren's eyes widened.

'That can't be…'

Asenya's arms were slender, her frame giving no hint of brute strength. Of course, a woman as ancient as her would have countless ways to kill. But this? He hadn't expected strength—not the kind that could drag a mountain-sized horror like it weighed nothing.

At first, the creature resisted. It pulled back with monstrous strength, stretching the black chains taut until they sang with a hollow, metallic scream. The links trembled under the strain, vibrating with terrifying force.

Asenya snarled, teeth bared, her face contorted with effort. She tightened her grip and yanked—harder, fiercer, her muscles coiling like steel springs.

The second chain lashed out as she swung her arm, cutting through the air like a whip of liquid shadow.

Then—

As if realizing the true might of the woman before it, the great beast lurched forward, its resistance crumbling. It staggered, dragged by the chains with terrifying speed, closing the distance in a single, earth-shaking rush. Its maw yawned wide, jagged teeth gleaming as it crashed down where Asenya had stood moments before.

The impact sent a shockwave through the desert. Sand erupted like a geyser, the very ground pulverized beneath the creature's hellish jaws.

But Asenya was already in the sky.

The chains in her hands had shrunk, now barely a meter long, coiled like serpents around her wrists. Her amber eyes burned with cold fury as she stared down at the beast. Then—

Crack!

A sonic boom split the air. A white streak traced her descent as she plummeted toward the creature like a falling star.

BOOM!

The sandworm's head crumpled as if struck by a meteor.

Auren clung desperately to the creature's back, his sword buried deep, his arms trembling from the force of the impact.

This fight was leagues beyond him.

Asenya—she was the real monster here. And he had underestimated her. Badly.

All this time, she'd tolerated his rudeness, his antics, not because he was clever.

But because she found him amusing.

The creature recoiled with terrifying speed—but this time, it moved differently. The rest of its massive body, still buried beneath the sand, began to writhe.

Auren felt it before he saw it: a faint, ominous tremor pulsing from the gaps between its stone-plated flesh. His grip tightened. Something was wrong.

In one fluid motion, he yanked his sword free and hooked his fingers into the crevice between two jagged black scales.

Just in time.

Razor-sharp spikes erupted from the creature's back, glistening like obsidian blades. They trembled—no, hummed—with a frequency that made his bones ache.

Auren's breath caught. Cold sweat slicked his palms.

Then the beast launched upward, not for another attack—but to dive. Its spiked back became a drill, shredding through the black sand as it plunged downward. In less than a heartbeat, the monstrous thing was gone. Vanished.

Silence.

Asenya stood alone in the desert, her delicate frown deepening. She scanned the emptiness, searching.

Nothing.

Her lips twisted into something darker.

'What in the world…'