“Kid, who are you? You say you can make gold-tier equipment? Who are you trying to fool?”
Waldo glared at Watson, snorted in disdain, and then turned around to scold Leon. “I hate liars, and you have lied to me again and again, Leon. If you want him to pretend to be someone who can make gold-tier items, then at least get a decent actor. You can’t even spare some money to do that, and yet you want to con me? It looks like I have underestimated you. Anyway, you’ve signed the contract when you borrowed money from me. If you don’t return it in time, then you will have to spend the rest of your life in prison.”
“Bishop Waldo, I didn’t lie to you. What I said is true. Young Master Watson is really the person who had helped me to make a gold-tier weapon,” Leon explained anxiously. If he had not promised Watson that he would not reveal his gold-tier status, he would have shown the bishop his skills as proof.
“Come on, Leon, I don’t want to waste time with you. Are you going to return my money or leave the book here with me?”
Waldo’s greedy eyes scanned the book in Leon’s hands. The gold-rimmed book was gorgeous and eye-catching, but most importantly, the ancient runes inside emitted faint light around the book caused him to gulp in excitement.
Waldo was a bishop, and he had stayed at the peak of the silver tier for many years.
Aside from the Pope, the church had seven bishops, and other than the first two, the other bishops were only in the silver tier. Priests had different training than other elites. They did not need to train their bodies every day like warriors, nor did they need to expand their souls like mages.
However, they did need to pray daily so that they could move the gods with their sincerity. It was also to strengthen their connection with the gods and to borrow their strength. They would need a special medium and prayer ceremony for that.
Therefore, the Loen language was necessary; that ancient language of the gods was the best medium. If he used that language for his prayers, it would multiply the effect ten fold. It might even allow him to advance to gold-tier in one fell swoop. Waldo’s eyes narrowed as he thought about it. Such a precious item would be a waste for someone like Leon.
“Bishop Waldo, why don’t I lend you that book for a few days. I’ll redeem it when I have enough gold coins,” Leon said hesitantly.
It seemed like it was the best way to turn his debt into a mortgage.
“Cut the crap! It’s mine if it’s in my hands. And you want to take it back? Dream on!”
Waldo reached out to grab Leon’s arms. Just as he was about to touch the book in Leon’s hands, a youthful palm blocked his way.
“Bishop Waldo, I had made it clear just now. I made that prayer book. If you want it, you’ll have to ask for my permission.”
“D*mn, Kid! Haven’t you had enough?”
When Waldo noticed the gold-tier prayer book in front of him was held back by Watson, he took two steps backward in anger and raised the scepter in his hand.
“Lord Baldur, God of Light, your servant prays to you sincerely. Please punish this ignorant person in front of you! I want to curse him. I want the curse to fester all over his body and bleed from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Silver-tier curse, the Bleeding Curse!”
As he chanted, a blood-red light lit up on Waldo’s scepter. It turned into a red skull and headed straight at Watson. Then, it landed on Watson’s body, and a skull pattern appeared on his skin.
“What is that thing?”
Watson lowered his head to look at the pattern on his skin. His eyes reflected the information.
[A silver-tier curse, the Bleeding Curse.]
[It causes the blood in the enemy’s body to boil. Within an hour, the enemy’s entire body will rot, and they will die. It is most effective against those who are silver-tier or below. It is impossible to resist the curse.]
“Bishop Waldo, how can you do that? The Bleeding Curse is a very powerful silver-tier curse. Are you planning to kill someone in the church?” Leon’s expression immediately changed when he saw the bishop attack Watson. A hint of worry appeared in his eyes.
He was not worried if the curse would kill Watson. Instead, he was concerned about Waldo.
Watson was the border count’s son, and the border count was someone influential at the border. The young man was definitely above the gold tier. His maid, Nightingale, could even send the famous swordswoman, Christina, flying. If Waldo were to provoke him, was he not courting death?
“Of course, I’m not going to kill anyone. The Bleeding Curse will take effect within an hour and will only kill its victim after an hour! I’ll just let him experience some pain so that he would understand the consequences of bragging. I want to teach him a lesson. When he’s in so much pain that he can’t take it anymore, I’ll remove the curse then…”
Waldo’s voice gradually weakened when he realized that Watson did not show any signs of pain. Instead, he was smiling as he looked at the red skull that had appeared on his skin. It was as if he had discovered some kind of novel toy.
“This is a curse? How interesting! It seems to contain the power of the demon race and a trace of the Law of Domain. This so-called curse is a law that has been weakened countless times.”
The essence of a curse was the same as a blessing. It was obtained by a priest from an individual on a higher plane and then applied to other people. Most beings in higher planes were above the diamond tier, so it was not strange that their power would contain laws. However, the power would be reduced during its transmission to the lower planes, so it would not have the original strength. Thus, the power was reflected as silver-tier.
“Bishop Waldo, the curse you cast does not seem very strong. Do you have a stronger curse?”
Watson’s curiosity in the curse grew as he grasped its essence. He had no desire to borrow the gods’ strength. He only wanted to study the rules that governed the gods. Different gods would have their own set of rules, which would be mirrored in the curse. If he could understand the curse and extract its rules, he would be able to fuse it into a stronger one.
At that moment, the curse on his body contained a diamond-tier rule called the Rule of Bloodshed. Unfortunately, the content was too weak, so Watson could not grasp it through fusion.
“You!”
Waldo was furious at Watson’s words. He did not know what the other party was thinking, but he was offended. He immediately waved his scepter fiercely and began to chant a long incantation. Curses flew out of his scepter and landed on Watson’s body.
“Bronze-tier curse, Bone Spur Curse.”
“Silver-tier curse, Heart Explosion.”
“Silver-tier curse, Nerve Paralysis.”
Waldo recited a few curses in just a few minutes, and those curses landed on Watson’s body; they covered all of his skin. Some of the curses had black veins, and some looked like red droplets of blood or the faces of demons. Countless curses overlapped; it made Watson’s skin look very scary.
“Brat! Some of those curses will only activate after a few hours, and some can kill people within a few minutes. I want to see if you still dare to complain that curses are weak.”
Waldo wiped the sweat off his forehead and sneered at Watson. Watson had mocked his curses, so he wanted to let Watson understand real pain.
Watson stretched his hands outward to look at it. Then, he shook his head. “These curses are still very weak, but considering that you’re not that strong, you probably could only do so much! System fusion, activate.”
[Congratulations on successfully fusing more than fifty curses, Master.]
[You have obtained a gold-tier curse—Instant Death.]
With a swoosh, all the curse patterns on Watson’s body disappeared with a ray of light, and Waldo’s smile froze on his face.
