I Awakened A Divine Curse

They were all on the ground—immobilized, terrorized, utterly broken by death's merciless grip.

Survival was impossible.

Meredith lay frozen, her face bleached of color, her body locked in fear. Each breath scraped through her throat like shards of glass. Her lungs had tightened into knots, fighting for air that refused to come.

Auren was crushed beneath an invisible weight, a force like a mountain pressing him into the earth. He couldn't move, couldn't even lift his head. And then—agony. The Cursed creature's claws speared into his skull, tearing through flesh and bone.

Pain? No. That word was too gentle, too forgiving. This was hell—a raw, screaming torment that devoured his senses. For the first time, death didn't seem so cruel. Maybe it was cold, maybe it was ruthless—but at least it was quick.

Before long, Auren's body convulsed as the talons dug deeper, splitting his skull with terrifying force. Meredith stared, her eyes dark and strained with redness, as if blood seeped into the whites.

She begged her legs to move. She begged her body to obey. But she was paralyzed by a fear beyond reason—a fear that clung to her like a second skin.

The creature's eyes did it. The moment its gaze locked onto hers, dread crashed over her, drowning her in its weight.

She had learned, of course, that some creatures could wield their curses like weapons. Those were the worst—far more devastating than the rest.

And they existed outside the rules of soul ranks or Curse grades. It was a phenomenon born when too many species of Curse Creatures dwelled in one place, fighting, competing, surviving at each other's expense.

Most times, this competition didn't just evolve their Curses—it reshaped the creatures themselves. As they devoured one another, some grew cunning, surviving through trickery. Others became relentless menaces, or twisted their defiance into strength. The variations were endless.

Defiance ignited their will, no matter how warped or malevolent. But once that will awakened, it was only a matter of time before they learned to wield their Curses like weapons.

They were facing one of those cruel abominations—a creature forged by hundreds, if not thousands, of ruthless battles. Each struggle had honed it into something far deadlier than anything they'd ever faced. The knowing glint in its eyes alone was proof enough.

Yet, was this really how they would meet their end? Was this their fate?

Meredith clung fiercely to her faith in the Archon's grace. They were Diviners of the new world, Protectors of the realm, wielding power beyond any Blessed's reach.

But she had never believed fate should be surrendered to the Archons' hands alone. No—she knew the Archons granted every soul a fair chance to choose, to fight, to shape their own destiny. That was the purpose of the trials. That was why they were crafted as they were.

If the Archons hadn't wanted humanity to choose, they would never have placed them in a world where actions shaped outcomes. There would have been no trials—only an unbreakable script.

That was Meredith's belief.

She was here to seize her fate, to bend it to her will. And she would never stop fighting.

Only death could make her relent.

Yet her body refused to obey. No matter how much will she summoned, no matter how fiercely her resolve burned, the determination of a Nascent was nothing against a Catastrophic Blighted's crushing presence.

The harder she resisted, the heavier the pressure became. Her consciousness wavered; her soul frayed as she fought to rise, to defy the terror pressing her into submission.

It was useless.

Her teeth ground together, body shaking with futile resistance. The rebellion ended as it began - in failure.

Then - movement. A sharp, misplaced sound echoed from the hall's depths.

The creature froze mid-strike, its beak poised above Auren's skull. That single eye flared with cold white fire as it snapped toward the noise. Muscles coiled to spring - only for Auren's hand to lock around its scaled leg.

Every tendon stood rigid as he held on, muscles screaming far beyond their limits. For one impossible moment, the beast hesitated.

It lasted only a heartbeat.

The creature whirled with predatory grace, talons flashing down like twin executioner's blades. Its wings flared wide, gathering storm-force behind the strike - turning what would have been murder into utter annihilation.

Auren's world dissolved into pain—a white-hot agony that unraveled his very being. The creature's talons tore through him with methodical cruelty, gutting him like a fish, hammering him through the wall in a spray of shattered stone.

A crimson trail painted the ground, marking the path of the creature's wrath.

Meredith stared at the carnage, eyes wide, her body caught between ice and fire. Sweat slicked her skin even as her blood ran cold. She didn't understand what was happening—only that watching Auren being torn apart filled her with equal parts anguish and something darker, something burning.

Her knees unlocked. She rose.

Frost crackled across the ground beneath her. In her right hand, violet flames erupted with a silent roar.

Her eyes stretched wide, their usual focus drowned in darkness.

She turned slowly to face the wicked bird, her gaze now shadowed with something unnatural. The abomination didn't flinch. If anything, it drew itself taller, meeting her stare from its superior height, its eyes glinting like frozen steel. Its beak parted slightly, revealing rows of jagged teeth still dripping with Auren's blood.

Meredith resembled a vengeful spirit summoned from sacred flames, awakened by pure fury.

For a heartbeat she swayed, limp as a discarded puppet. Then she exploded forward, a violet streak tearing through the air, her flame-wreathed hand thrust ahead. Ice spiderwebbed across the ground, racing to keep pace with her charge.

The creature met her mid-lunge. Their collision sent a shockwave ripping through the chamber.

Meredith went flying, skidding across the stone before finally rolling to a stop. The violet flame in her palm flickered weakly but held. The ice beneath her seemed to shift, cushioning her as she pushed herself up.

The monstrous bird advanced with deliberate steps, each movement oozing predatory confidence. Then it paused - and suddenly surged forward.

Meredith wasn't ready. She hadn't fully risen when the creature was already upon her, its remaining eye blazing with murderous intent. Just before its talons found their mark—

A figure erupted from the shadows behind her. Jasper's sword struck true, plunging into the creature's last eye. He threw his entire weight behind the thrust, driving the blade deeper before collapsing to his knees.

Meredith stood swaying, each breath coming in ragged gasps. Whatever power she'd tapped into—something far beyond a Nascent's reach—was now consuming her from within. Her body burned through its reserves at a terrifying rate.

Jasper caught her as she wavered. Her skin felt like ice beneath his hands, growing colder with each passing second.

Meanwhile, the blinded abomination staggered in erratic circles, disoriented but still deadly. Killing it now was possible—but suicidal. With Meredith fading fast and Auren gone...

Jasper's teeth sank into his lip until he tasted blood. This was his fault. All his fault. Auren had only held the beast back because of him.

The rubble shifted. Stones clattered aside as someone rose slowly from the wreckage of the shattered wall opposite them.

The young boy's face was dark with fury, burning with devilish rage. Sweat plastered his hair to his forehead, yet his alabaster skin remained unblemished—pristine amidst the destruction.

Auren's crimson eyes burned like hellfire as he strode forward, his surroundings forgotten. Twin daggers materialized in his hands. Then he launched himself through the air, driving one blade deep into the creature's back with all his strength.

"Bastard! I wish you could see me right now!"

He twisted the second dagger in his grip and brought it down in a vicious arc, severing the joint of the creature's wing.

"I wish you could see the joy on my face as I tear you apart!"

Auren's eyes flared brighter, the light within them growing even more demonic.

The creature's ear-splitting shrieks filled the air as Auren carved through feathers and flesh with unforgiving precision, his blades leaving ruin in their wake.

Jasper stood frozen, his face pale as moonlight. His trembling gaze darted between two impossible sights—Auren, alive after being gutted before his eyes, and the brutal, almost grotesque way he was now dismantling the creature. Both truths were equally horrifying in their own right.

A silent vow to never cross this young man formed in Jasper's mind.

Black blood arced through the air like spilled ink. The creature's dying screech tore through the wind before its massive body finally collapsed, lifeless.

Auren rose from its back, drenched in gore. When his eyes locked onto Jasper's, the older teen flinched. For a heartbeat, he wasn't looking at a human—but something wearing human skin.

He shook off the thought. There were more pressing matters.

"Master Auren!"

Jasper called, voice tight with urgency.

"I don't understand what's happening, but Lady Meredith! She's fading fast!"