Schubert returned to his room and closed the door.
“Displeasing.”
His expression and voice were cold, utterly unlike when he had been with Sigmund and the Second Wife, Selaine.
The curse he had used this time was not the type to manifest immediately.
If it were, he would never have used it in the first place.
Even so, the unpleasant feeling refused to disappear.
It was probably because Sigmund’s smile had felt as though he were mocking him.
There was no way a newborn baby who knew nothing could have done that. He was simply being oversensitive.
Schubert cast aside the thought and gave a faint sneer.
‘The curse was successfully implanted. There’s no need to be bothered by something like that.’
For now, the curse from his mother’s family had been properly implanted into Sigmund.
Neither those around him nor even Sigmund himself would notice its existence.
Little by little, bit by bit, the curse would take root in his consciousness.
“Once the curse has properly taken root, even a light suggestion will make him move exactly as I wish.”
A vicious smile formed on Schubert’s lips.
In his mind, he pictured the pleasant future awaiting him once the curse he had implanted was complete.
In none of those possible futures was there an outcome where Sigmund overcame the curse.
‘Messiah is mine.’
He bit his lip as he thought of Sigmund.
To think that brat could smile without even knowing what curse had been implanted in him…….
“You should never have been born.”
His voice was thick with hatred and contempt.
***
Ralke’s Secret Arts were said to number ten in total.
Each of them contained the power of ‘Dark Shadow,’ one of the Four Great Divinities that symbolized Ralke.
With a divinity dwelling within them, the power of Ralke’s Secret Arts was tremendous.
The curses were especially vicious.
Once they fully took root, there was virtually no way to escape them.
‘……That was how it was for me in my previous life.’
I had tried every method imaginable and failed, only barely escaping at the very end.
And even then, it had been less through my own power than thanks to the Commander’s help.
Then was there no way to deal with it?
No.
There was.
What mattered was that the curse had not yet taken root within me.
In other words, the curse was still like a seed that had yet to fully bloom.
‘And I have the Sacred Flame.’
It was the Sacred Flame that had managed to deal with the curse after it had already taken root in my previous life.
I looked inward into my Mindscape.
A Mindscape was a kind of miniature world.
Since everything within it ultimately took place inside my mind, it became ‘visualized’ in a form my consciousness could comprehend to some extent.
The curse was no exception.
-Grrrr.
‘A wolf.’
A pitch-black wolf bared its sharp teeth as it glared at something.
A flame contained within a massive vessel.
That flame was probably the Sacred Flame.
Parts of the wolf’s body were already burning from the Sacred Flame, but its eyes remained just as vicious.
There was no need to think deeply about what the wolf represented in this situation.
‘Puppet.’
That had to be the curse visualized within my Mindscape.
In my previous life, it had already taken root deep within my mind, leaving me with no way to deal with it.
Even receiving a blessing had made no difference. was an iconic curse even among Ralke’s Secret Arts, and the divinity of Dark Shadow dwelled strongly within it.
That was why Ralke’s curses were so terrifying.
Ordinary curses belonged to the school of black magic and could be broken with divine power, but Ralke’s curses could not be broken that way.
Only another divinity could oppose a divinity.
Come.
-Grrr.
cautiously took one step, then another, toward the Sacred Flame.
Perhaps because it had already been burned once, it was far more cautious than before.
CRACK, CRUNCH!
gradually swelled in size.
Its teeth sharpened further, and the curse’s power grew stronger and stronger.
Once it was ready, kicked off the ground.
I would not fall for the same trick twice.
grew even darker until it became pitch-black.
At this point, it could barely even be called a wolf anymore.
It was more like a wolf-shaped shadow.
Only a pair of crimson eye sockets glowed between the darkness.
-Grrr.
bit into the Sacred Flame.
CRUNCH!
The flames of the Sacred Flame surged violently.
“……Urgh.”
The sensation was transmitted directly to me.
It felt as though my shoulder had been torn apart by teeth.
‘This hurts like hell.’
Normally, unless the host strongly resisted, the curse would slowly seize control of their mind.
But perhaps it had decided that it could not take over my mind that way.
The bastard savagely tore into the Sacred Flame.
As though the Sacred Flame were some living creature.
‘Ghk……!’
The deeper its teeth sank in, the worse the pain became.
‘Fine. Let’s see this through to the end!’
I gritted my teeth and released even the final restraint that had barely been keeping the Sacred Flame contained.
At that moment, the Sacred Flame being torn apart by erupted fiercely.
FWOOSH!
A pair of wings sprouted from the Sacred Flame and wrapped around .
Faced with resistance far stronger than expected, tried to flee.
But the Sacred Flame refused to let it go.
After all, my will was what moved that Sacred Flame.
This was a battle to see which of us would die first.
FWOOSH!
The Sacred Flame burned with overwhelming firepower.
And I was the one who had to endure the Sacred Flame burning that fiercely.
Whichever side failed to endure first would lose.
thrashed with its entire body, resisting the Sacred Flame.
But this was a Sacred Flame of such overwhelming caliber that it was called the ‘Ember of Ruin.’
In the end, could only be overwhelmed by the Sacred Flame’s far greater power. ’s agonized screams filled my mind.
‘Submit.’
I endured the heat of the Sacred Flame and waited for to raise the white flag.
I was used to pain.
I had endured it countless times ever since my previous life.
Even the agony of having my entire body burned away was not as devastating as being forced to betray my comrades against my will.
And before long—
-Kaa, ah…….
surrendered.
After being engulfed in the Sacred Flame for so long, it was in a miserable state.
-Grr, rrr…….
began to melt.
The bastard desperately tried to beg me for mercy.
It did not want to disappear like this.
It would do anything, so please, just let it live.
But I gave no response.
It was the one that needed to prove its value.
And it was the desperate one.
If it truly wished to survive, then it would transform into a form I could find valuable.
Before long, began to change shape.
Its nature changed along with it.
“Goo.”
I relaxed and returned to reality.
Then I felt the curse dwelling within me begin to transform.
“Goo.”
Just what had it become?
In cases like this, it was common for something to change into the form its master desired most.
As a test, I picked up one of the toy dolls lying around nearby.
Then I tried to reproduce the sensation I had just felt.
And then—
FWOOSH!
Black flames erupted around the toy doll and, in an instant, erased it without leaving a trace.
Not even the ashes that should have remained after something burned were left behind.
The doll had completely vanished from this world.
‘Holy shit.’
There was a reason it was called a Secret Art.
What should I call this thing now that it was no longer ?
Recalling the form of the curse I had seen within my Mindscape, I gave the curse that had become mine a new name.
‘Right. From now on, you’re Black Wolf.’
***
A month passed.
“Goo.”
“He’s already walking!”
Amazingly, I could already walk freely.
My family showered me with praise.
“He’s walking! Amazing!”
“My goodness, he can even run!”
“Incredible! He can breathe so well!”
A one-month-old baby was apparently a creature that could be praised simply for breathing.
‘Though, to be fair, it is impressive.’
Human babies normally did not begin walking until around a year after birth.
But after only a month, I had already succeeded in standing, walking, and even running on my own.
Of course, part of that was because I possessed the memories of my previous life, but the Sacred Flame had played an even greater role.
Thanks to the Sacred Flame, my body was far stronger than that of other babies and grew much faster.
“Amazing, little brother.”
Arwin approached me and began kneading my cheeks.
However, the reason she called me amazing was not because I had learned to walk so early.
“Your cheeks are so soft.”
“Goo.”
It was simply because my cheeks were soft.
She seemed rather fond of how they felt.
In any case, from the moment I could walk freely, I diligently wandered around the room.
There was no reason not to.
Since I was using the Sacred Flame to move my body, the more I moved, the stronger my control over the Sacred Flame became.
Even the Second Wife, who had worried at first, no longer paid it much mind.
And a few weeks later, word reached the Grand Duke when he returned.
“Walk.”
The moment the Grand Duke entered the room, he dismissed everyone else.
Only the Grand Duke and I remained.
He crossed his arms and silently stared at me.
Under that wordless pressure, I pretended not to understand and looked elsewhere before quietly rising to my feet.
“Goo.”
Then I took several steps.
The Grand Duke remained with his arms crossed, silently watching me.
‘I can never tell what this man is thinking.’
Even so, there was no way he could know that I had reincarnated.
That was when—
“You instinctively know how to use the Sacred Flame.”
The Grand Duke continued in a calm voice as he watched me.
“Your muscles cannot possibly have developed properly yet. The fact that you can walk and run like this must be thanks to the Sacred Flame.”
“Goo.”
“This is beyond something that can simply be called talent.”
The Grand Duke thought for a moment, then spoke again.
But something was strange.
“……You say it is still too early to know? After seeing this much, that is still your response?”
“You still cannot tell whether even this level of talent will be enough to completely withstand the ember? Hah, what nonsense.”
There was clearly no one in the room but the Grand Duke and me.
Yet he was not muttering to himself.
He looked as though he were having a conversation with someone.
……Was someone there?
There was no way someone like the Grand Duke would speak this way to an imaginary companion.
I turned my head toward where his gaze was fixed.
I saw nothing.
Then…….
I drew up the Sacred Flame and concentrated it into my eyes.
A sudden wave of dizziness struck me.
“Ah, goo…….”
I staggered but barely managed to keep my balance before looking there again.
‘What is that……?’
I could see a pale, indistinct shape.
It was not a being with a completely defined form.
But there was definitely something vaguely humanoid standing where the Grand Duke was looking.
And for a single instant, my eyes met those of that unidentified being.
“No. Perhaps if it is Sigmund, Messiah’s long-cherished wish could…… Hmm?”
The Grand Duke, who had been speaking at length, sensed something strange and turned toward me.
His eyes widened.
“Surely…… you can see it?”
The Grand Duke strode over and lifted me into the air.
“Sigmund, can you see what is beside me right now?!”
“Goo?”
But I feigned ignorance.
There was nothing to gain from revealing that I could understand the Grand Duke’s words.
Yet regardless of my reaction, the Grand Duke seemed convinced.
He stared at me for quite some time before turning back toward the unidentified being.
“He says he can see you.”
-…….
I could not properly hear what the unidentified being was saying.
I could barely make out its silhouette, let alone its exact form.
I could not tell its race or gender.
Naturally, I could not hear its voice at all.
I could only infer the contents of their conversation through the Grand Duke’s responses.
But perhaps that alone was more than enough for the Grand Duke.
“Excellent.”
From that day onward, the way the Grand Duke looked at me changed completely.
Now, he did not even attempt to hide a trace of his madness in front of me, his own son.
And just like that, ten years passed.