Chapter 124: [BONUS] - Exorcising the Dungeon’s Curse!

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August removed his shirt, showing his back.

At first, Artemis protested shyly, but soon she leaned in, drawn to the detailed black script that appeared on his skin.

"Wait, where are his base stats?" Artemis stared in disbelief. The Falna was missing the usual details: no Strength, Agility, or Magic values.

"Zero stats?" Takemikazuchi muttered, leaning in beside Miach. "Are you kidding? Every Adventurer has base stats."

None of them had ever seen a Status board like this. It skipped the normal growth system and depended only on raw skills.

[August]

[Level 2]

[Magic: Healing Fire; Nirvana of the Undying Phoenix]

[Skills: Charm/Flame Resistance; Temporal Resistance; Spatial Resistance; Divine Possession]

Miach and Takemikazuchi exchanged shocked looks. The setup was overwhelming: three kinds of resistances, a unique possession skill, and two spells.

"Holy shit, you have resurrection magic," Miach said, eyes wide.

"Is that even possible?" Rethusa peeked over her Goddess's shoulder.

Resurrection was supposed to be a myth.

"It exists. A few ancient sages had it centuries ago," Artemis said, her voice quiet with awe. "But to see it now... Hestia, your child is an anomaly."

This was the legendary magic of immortality. The strangest part was how it worked. It was not a one-time spell. As long as August had some mana left, the spell would activate. With resistance to both time and space, August was almost unstoppable.

Takemikazuchi and Miach finally understood what true talent looked like. They had thought their own Familia captains were prodigies, but August's abilities broke all the usual rules.

"Hmph!" Hestia puffed out her chest, proud to show off his unusual build. Since his raw stats were hidden, the board did not reveal his true physical limits anyway.

She pricked her finger and let a drop of divine blood fall onto his back. The script lit up instantly.

[Level Up Available]

A system prompt appeared. August had met the Excelia requirements to reach Level 3, but Hestia ignored it and kept his level locked for now.

"MIACH, YOU'RE UP," Hestia said, stepping aside.

"Understood." Miach uncorked a vial of premium curse-breaking potion and let a drop fall onto August's skin.

August felt a brief cool sensation, but nothing else happened.

"No effect?" Miach froze.

That was impossible. A curse strong enough to leak Dungeon aura should have reacted violently to the potion.

Miach frowned and tried different test tubes, adding drop after drop. Each failure made him look more worried. Even his best potions, the secret treasures of the Miach Familia, did nothing.

"This is impossible," Miach muttered, starting to lose his calm. "My potions are failing..."

He was not just a healer but also an expert in toxins and curses. Failing like this was a huge blow to his pride.

"Lord Miach..." Naaza stepped forward, nervous. She had rarely seen her patron god so flustered. These were their best elixirs. Total failure made no sense.

"Could it be shielded?" Naaza asked quietly. "What if the curse isn't on his skin, but buried under his Falna?"

The idea hit Miach all at once. He quickly changed his approach. "Right... If the curse has taken over the Falna's base structure, my external treatments won't reach it. I would have to go deeper, under Falna, to get to it."

Takemikazuchi shook his head. "The Falna is sealed. Forcing it open isn't just hard, it's dangerous. You could seriously harm his soul."

"There is a way around it," Artemis said, eyes focused. "If two Gods try to claim the same mortal at the same time, it causes a break in the system."

If two Gods tried to override the contract at once—their powers would force the Falna to open and reveal whatever was hidden below.

"That could work," Miach agreed, grabbing his strongest flask. "Artemis, Hestia, do it."

"Takemikazuchi, be ready to step in," Hestia said.

"Got it." Takemikazuchi shifted his stance, ready to use brute force if there was any violent backlash.

Artemis and Hestia stepped forward and let drops of their divine blood fall onto August's back at the same time. The quiet Status board erupted into chaos. The script flickered wildly between Hestia's flame symbol and Artemis's half-moon bow as their powers struggled for control.

"NOW!"

Miach poured his highest-grade exorcism potion directly onto the breaking seal.

As soon as the liquid touched the seal, the Xenos huddled in the corner recoiled. The smallest monster whimpered, shaking with terror. "Something is coming..."

A third dark aura burst from August's back. A pitch-black mist shot forward, trying to overwhelm both Goddesses.

...

Far below the Guild, in the underground altar, Ouranos snapped his eyes open and looked up. "The Dungeon's aura... on the surface? And it's clashing with Hestia and Artemis?"

He recognized that feeling right away.

A three-way clash of powers was spreading throughout the city.

All over Orario, other alert Gods noticed the odd, muffled shockwaves, but no one could tell where they started.

...

At the same time, Hestia was furious inside the church.

"I knew it! You bastard, hiding inside my contract!" Hestia shouted.

The dark aura ignored her anger. It surged forward, trying to rewrite August's Falna and leave its own mark.

"Naaza!" Miach yelled.

"Right away!" Naaza grabbed a bandolier of special anti-curse vials and poured them over August's back. The black miasma hissed and faded a little, but it still stuck to the seal.

This curse was designed to target Gods.

"Standard dispels aren't working," Miach said, frowning. "Alright. I didn't want to use this, but you aren't giving me any other option."

He pulled out a lead-lined flask.

"August, grit your teeth." Miach poured the contents directly onto the Falna.

This time, the black aura didn't just hiss—it shrieked. But the pain hit both sides. August felt as if a blowtorch was melting his flesh down to the bone.

"FUCK!!" August slammed his fist into the floor, gritting his teeth.

He had taken plenty of hits before, but this burning pain was on another level. It felt like his skin was being peeled off with a rusted knife.

The corrosive mixture burned through the black miasma, clearing away the last bits of resentment. As the curse broke, Hestia let one final drop of blood fall, sealing the Falna and bringing back her emblem.

August collapsed forward, gasping for breath.

"What the hell was that..." August gasped, his back still burning from the pain.

"It's an experimental exorcism potion," Miach said, rubbing the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. "It makes the spirit inside feel like its flesh is being torn apart, so it gives up. Unfortunately, the host feels it too."

"I made it twenty years ago. No one ever bought it because the side effects are so harsh. I never thought I'd actually need to use it."

"A warning would have been nice," August groaned as he pushed himself up.

"It burned me too!" Hestia complained, clutching her chest as her link to her captain flared up.

She glared at the ceiling and made a rude gesture at the empty air. "Screw you and your cursed walls, you overgrown rock!"

"Hestia, calm down!" Artemis quickly grabbed her, trying to stop her before she did something drastic.

"Wait. Look at his Falna," Takemikazuchi said, pointing at it.

The swirling script settled, revealing an updated Status board. A new line of text shone brightly under his skills.

[August]

[Level 2]

[Magic: Healing Fire; Nirvana of the Undying Phoenix]

[Skills: Charm/Flame Resistance; Temporal Resistance; Spatial Resistance; Divine Possession; Adventurer Killer (Xenos Edition)]

"A new skill?" August said, raising an eyebrow. It seemed the exorcism had triggered a system update.

"Oh, this is brilliant." Takemikazuchi burst out laughing. "This skill is the Dungeon giving us the finger."

This skill was made for a specific reason, and it had both upsides and downsides. With their fight against the Apollo Familia coming soon, the timing couldn't be better.

"With this, beating Apollo's forces will be a breeze," Miach said with a chuckle.

Artemis quickly copied the glowing text onto a piece of parchment and handed it to August. He read the divine translation.

[Skill: Adventurer Killer (Xenos Edition)]

[Effect: Grants massive compensatory stat boosts and accelerated combat experience multipliers when engaged in combat against human Adventurers.]

[Side-Effect: The Dungeon classifies the user as a monster. The Dungeon will permanently mark, target, and aggressively hunt the user.]

"Incredible," August said with a smile. He understood immediately what had happened. Before the curse was destroyed, it managed to leave a permanent spiteful mark on his Falna.

It was the perfect boost for fighting other Adventurers. In a city where Familias were always fighting for power, having such a big advantage felt almost unfair. The downside was clear: every trip into the Dungeon would be brutal. Every floor would treat him like a boss monster.

"What the hell is this??" Hestia yelled, reading over his shoulder. "Xenos Edition?? It's trying to claim my child as a monster!"

"Let me go, Artemis! I'm going to dig down to the bottom of the Dungeon and blow up its core!" Hestia thrashed, furious that the Dungeon had messed with her precious Familia member.

"It's a blessing in disguise," Miach said, handing August a cooling potion for the pain. August drank it immediately, letting the chill calm his nerves.

"I never would have believed the Dungeon could mess with Falna if I hadn't seen it myself," Takemikazuchi said, still in shock.

Hestia finally stopped thrashing and took a deep breath, thinking through the details.

"It makes sense. The Falna isn't closed off. People in the Lower World update their Status by gaining Excelia from their experiences and feats in the Dungeon... Everything they face down there helps shape new skills and magic."

"During his first awakening, that huge pillar of light left his contract wide open. The Dungeon took over the connection, filling the Falna with its own resentment toward the Gods."

She looked at the Status board and suddenly understood where his strongest spell came from.

"That's where the second magic came from," Hestia murmured.

"Nirvana of the Undying Phoenix... That has nothing to do with my power as the Goddess of the Hearth. But immortality, rebirth, and reincarnation? That fits perfectly with the Dungeon's cycle of death and renewal!"

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