Unedited*

"M-me? I’m not of your race!" Edward reminded him.

"That doesn’t matter. The evil beasts aren’t of my race either, but they’re cursed."

Edward was shocked by his words.

"Curses only affect those who live here for a certain amount of time. They are divine curses brought on by a race’s disobedience, so you should resign yourself to it." Malakor laughed.

’Will I be struck by that curse?’ Even though he hadn’t experienced the pain this man spoke of, just seeing his bones shattered made it hard not to imagine it.

Malakor was supported solely by the strength of his power, for his bones no longer functioned. Would he ever end up like that?

Why had he come to this place in the first place?

’This is a curse in itself...’ Edward clenched his fists. Fear of the unknown gripped him.

But at that moment, he felt the sword in his hand. His gaze shifted from Malakor’s face to his sword. He ran his fingers over it a few times to feel his connection to it.

"What does it matter if I’m trapped?" he suddenly told himself. "I’m a Lux with a great talent for the sword. I have superhuman potential for growth, and the beasts here provide plenty of experience. If I focus, I should be able to grow beyond limits. There has to be a way to escape!"

Despite his attempt to cheer himself up, he still felt worried... If those he saw earlier were just soldiers, how strong were the ones above? From what he knew so far, every moment he spent here was a danger to his life.

’Shit.’

"Though there is a way... if you help me, of course." Malakor smiled.

Edward looked up and stared at him. "A way to get out of here, or to break the curse?"

"A way to do both. Of course, helping me will be helping you. So I don’t think it’s a bad deal."

"Tell me your deal," Edward replied immediately.

"First, I’ll tell you that there is a way out of here: by obtaining the Key to Galt’s Gate, which is located in the Highlands, the region of the Sacred Temple."

"Galt? The god from that mythology, Astaroth’s antagonist?"

According to the mythology of this world, in the Age of the Gods, Galt and Astaroth were blood brothers, born of the same flesh; Iraena was their mother, the famous Devourer of Light. But Galt and Astaroth chose separate paths.

The day Iraena was devoured by the Desolating Dragon, Galt and Astaroth began to go their separate ways.

While Galt chose the path of divinity to find a way to revive Iraena, Astaroth sought the path of vengeance.

He wanted to kill the Desolating Dragon.

But opposing paths led them to become enemies. Great enemies, whose fate remains unknown.

"I wonder how true this mythology really is." Edward smiled as he asked.

"Wow, I didn’t expect you to know about that. Did you know it was the Venerable Aleskra who gave Galt the opportunity to attain divinity?" Malakor looked at Edward curiously.

"Uh... Really?" Edward replied.

"In fact, it was the Venerable Aleskra who took Galt in and granted him the ability to attain divinity. That’s because Astaroth had found a powerful and enigmatic seed that allowed him to reach astonishing heights."

"I read that. *The Devil’s Seed*."

"Exactly. I didn’t expect you to know so much about that time."

’I didn’t even know it was something that had actually happened.’ Edward smiled to himself.

Edward had read about it in books when he was a child, and those memories were passed down to the Edward of today, which is why he knows about it.

But in those books, it was all mythology. However, Aleskra is also a myth, and Edward had witnessed her existence; even now, he was in a temple dedicated to that being. So this mythology might be true.

"So, I just have to go to the Highlands and get the Key to the Gate of Galt, right?" Edward asked, returning to the main topic.

"Well, not exactly. The key isn’t in Tierra Alta. I still can’t give you a definite answer about where it is, but it’s in the Cursed Regions. And we only know that the door is there, so I can’t tell you where it is either—you’ll have to find it on your own once you have the key."

’They don’t know where it is, they just know it exists... Presumably I’m in a world apart, which could be huge. How long will it take me to get out of here?’ Edward let out a heavy sigh... It looked like he was going to miss his appointment in a month.

"All right. Tell me what you need my help with. Since I have to look for some things and you could guide me, I’ll need your help too."

"Hehe, I’m glad you understand. What I want is simple."

"I want to break the curse. That’s what all of us on my side want, too, and we’ll help you, because I believe that the fact a stranger has managed to enter such a hard-to-reach place is a sign from the Venerable Aleskra to us."

Edward’s eyebrows shot up immediately. "Um... Let me remind you that I’m not a god. I can’t break curses."

"I know you’re not a god. But it’s possible to break the curse using other methods."

Edward remained on the defensive. "And why haven’t you ever done it yourselves?"

"There are two reasons." Malakor didn’t take offense at this, but explained it carefully. "The first is that we Sanguines are too sensitive to other Sanguines. We can sense them no matter where they are, unless there are a lot of rocks in the way or something like that."

"To break the curse, we’ll need a lot of things that are only found in the Temples, which we no longer have access to. So we need to go to places where there are lots of Sanguines—it’s impossible to hide."

Edward nodded. "They can smell me from a distance, too," he recalled.

"I’ve seen it before. Within a radius of about 10 meters, they can smell you. However, if you carry one or two of these stones in your clothes, they’ll never be able to sense you. You’re perfect for that kind of mission."

’I’ll have to try it, but it doesn’t sound bad,’ Edward thought, and let him continue.

"The second reason... is because we can’t use certain tools, for some reason. You heard them mention the evil beasts earlier, right? Those beasts are constantly trying to steal certain tools we have, because they’re very useful for avoiding the curse and also because only they can use them."

"Unfortunately, we Sanguines can only rely on others to do it for us."

Malakor sighed heavily as he shook his head. "And... there are no others."

In this place, they were alone. Corrupted or Uncorrupted Sanguines and evil beasts that only wanted to enslave the Uncorrupted Sanguines.

There was no one else.

They were completely alone.

"Even though it sounds doubtful, there are some interesting points you bring up. You say it’s possible to avoid the curse with those tools and that only other races can use them. Does that mean I could avoid it as long as I have one?" Edward asked, his interest piqued.

"You could avoid it. But the tools don’t last very long. In fact, I’m sure that once you learn about the tools you’ll be able to use working with us, you’ll prefer a different kind of tool, since they’re more useful."

"It’s hard to find anything more useful than avoiding a deadly curse, Malakor." Edward smiled to himself, though he didn’t reveal his thoughts.

He had to weigh the pros and cons of collaborating with these people, whom he didn’t know.

But did he really have to weigh anything?

Rejecting them could mean death at their hands. Because just a moment ago, he could see that Malakor was much stronger than the guys outside.

And if they didn’t kill him, Malakor wasn’t going to carry him around like a backpack to show him the world if he decided not to cooperate. He’d throw him out onto the street, and then the Corrupted Sanguines would come to kill him.

’Every end in this world is death. What a misfortune.’ He shook his head in frustration.

He didn’t have much to consider. He ended up nodding. ’I still need to become strong, and they might give me the opportunity to do so,’ he thought.

He said, "All right. I think we can work together and help each other out."

Malakor smiled. "I’m grateful. Just to give you a heads-up, we’re always trying to break free. It’s just that we don’t have the upper hand anywhere. They vastly outnumber us."

Edward nodded. "What do I need to do? Let’s start with the fact that I need to hide from the Sanguines."

"You can choose any of the rocks you see over there. They’re all mine, but I’ll give you several. Take as many as you want. Two will be enough to hide you perfectly, but if you have more, that’s not a problem. Just don’t go overboard—they’re very expensive."

Edward smiled sheepishly as he heard him say his final words. Ever since he started talking, he’d already been collecting a whole bunch of them. Unfortunately, resources are limited.

He had to choose only 20 good ones. He stored 18 in the ring and kept two inside his clothes in safe places.

"Now I need to tell you a little about where we are and what you have to do to help me get out of here." Malakor pulled out a giant map from who knows where. "This is a map of the region where we are. The Cordelia Region."