After the conclusion of the Royal Martial Arts Tournament, Hulim and her companions returned to Hatoru.

  Shortly after their arrival,Bals sought out Hulim.

  "Hulim, this is the magic item I promised you."

  Hulim took the string of crystal necklaces—the Magic Item of Guarding Will.

  "Thank you, Mr. Bals."

  "You’ve earned it. Additionally, the Hekadiza Mountains are now officially open to you. You can enter anytime, but since only this item in your hand can provide protection, you’ll have to go alone."

  "I’m mentally prepared—no need to worry about me."

  "That’s true......"

  Bals smiled,

  "With your strength, nothing in that mountain range—except the curse—can threaten you."

  The next day arrived.

  Instead of lingering in Hatoru, Hulim headed directly for the Hekadiza Mountains.

  The curse was constantly growing stronger, and there was no telling when this sole protective item might fail—so the sooner she acted, the better.

  ......

  At the final checkpoint before entering the mountains,

  "Hulim, you’ll have to go the rest of the way alone. Please be careful!"

  Miko bid her farewell.

  "Don’t worry—I’ll proceed with caution."

  With those words, Hulim put on the magic item and stepped across the boundary line into the mountain range.

  "Hulim, I’ll wait for you here! You must come back safely!"

  Miko’s cries echoed behind her.

  Hulim raised her right hand in a wave and ventured into the silent mountains without looking back......

  ......

  Three days had passed since entering the Hekadiza Mountains.

  For three days, Hulim had searched for clues around the southern foothills, but found nothing.

  Instead, the perpetual silence of her surroundings stirred a sense of emptiness and loneliness in her heart.

  Crackle! Pop!

  At night,the bonfire Hulim had lit crackled continuously, temporarily dispelling the ever-present desolation.

  "Where exactly did my ancestor live back then......"

  Hulim sat by the fire, pondering the question.

  Over the past few days, she had searched many places that might have held traces of habitation. While she’d found signs of past human activity, none were related to Olubet.

  "Could it be......"

  A possibility crossed Hulim’s mind.

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  "Ancestor didn’t seclude himself here at all?"

  Once the thought emerged, her mind began to wander.

  Who was her ancestor, Olubet Heyerar?One of the few S-rank powerhouses in the world.

  Would an S-rank powerhouse hide in an seemingly unremarkable place for decades—or even longer?

  No...... That was impossible.

  Everything an S-rank powerhouse did had a purpose—

  At that moment, a nearly forgotten sentence Razelian had once spoken echoed in her mind:

  "【I have failed...... The one it truly waits for will appear......】"

  Failed? What failure?Why did it need descendants like us? What exactly was waiting?The curse of the Hekadiza Mountains? The matter Irus refused to disclose? Something dwelling in the Hekadiza Mountains?

  The earthquake twelve years ago?

  Twelve years ago......?

  In an instant, all the clues seemed to connect!

  Hulim suddenly stood up.

  She gazed up at the endless, silent starry sky—just as desolate as the mountains below.

  "I see...... Ancestor didn’t seclude himself here. He was here for a mission......"

  "And that mission must be related to something in these mountains—something that......"

  Might very well be the source of the curse!

  The direction was clear now.

  "As long as I find the source of the curse, I might find what I’m looking for......"

  ......

  Another three days passed.

  Hulim stood on a cliff, holding the necklace of Guarding Will and silently counting.

  At a certain moment, she quickly put the necklace back on.

  "About ten seconds......"

  "So calculating......"

  Hulim turned her gaze toward a specific direction.

  "That’s the area."

  Having confirmed the general location, Hulim set off for her target.

  To find the place she sought, Hulim adopted an extremely dangerous method:using the intensity of the curse to pinpoint its source.

  Though the entire mountain range was shrouded in the curse, its intensity couldn’t be uniform—naturally, it would be strongest closer to the source.

  So she would remove the protective item, count how long it took for the curse to affect her, then immediately put the item back on to avoid the curse and minimize its impact.

  By repeating this test at different locations in the southern foothills, she could narrow down the general area of the curse’s source.

  She repeated the process until the target area could no longer be refined further.

  After three days of repeated testing, Hulim finally locked onto the approximate location of the curse’s source.

  ......

  Hulim arrived at a mountain canyon.

  "This is it."

  Looking down at the mist-shrouded canyon below, Hulim activated her Wind Wings and descended slowly.

  Before long, she reached the canyon floor.

  She began searching the area......

  About two hours later,

  "What’s this?"

  Hulim finally found something that appeared man-made.

  It was a small stone ruin, dilapidated and overgrown. Only four stone pillars remained intact, completely covered in vines that obscured their original form.

  "Small Fire Tornado!"

  Hulim waved her wand, and a small fire tornado appeared in front of her.

  The tornado quickly cleared the vines from the ruin without sparking a larger fire.

  Once the vines were gone, Hulim used wind magic to blow away all the ashes.

  At last, the ruin revealed its true appearance.

  In the center of the four stone pillars, an extremely complex magic circle was carved into the ground.

  "What kind of magic circle is this?"

  Hulim stepped forward to examine it closely.

  However, the circle’s rank was far too high—she couldn’t decipher it with her current abilities.

  "Forget it...... I’ll try the universal method."

  "Still, I don’t have any magic crystals with me...... I’ll have to use my own mana."

  With that, Hulim pressed her right hand directly above the magic circle and began channeling her mana.

  Hum!

  As mana flowed into it, the magic circle lit up with a faint glow.

  "It works!"

  Hulim felt a surge of joy and was about to increase her mana output—

  "Hmm? What’s happening......"

  She suddenly found her right hand stuck to the magic circle, unable to pull away.

  At that exact moment, several red lines lit up on the circle and began spreading toward her right hand.

  "No good!"

  Hulim strained to yank her hand back, but it was as if it had grown into the circle—her efforts were futile.

  In the end, the red lines reached her palm.

  A sharp pain shot through her hand.

  Then, suddenly, the force holding her hand vanished.

  She quickly pulled her hand back.

  Spreading her palm, she saw a gash from which blood seeped continuously.

  "What on earth is going on......?"

  Before Hulim could figure out the magic circle’s purpose,

  Boom!

  A sudden vibration shook the ground beneath her feet.

  Hum! Hum! Hum......

  At that moment, a magic circle appeared on each of the four surrounding stone pillars.

  The four circles simultaneously shot out beams of light, which intertwined above the ground circle to form a new magic circle.

  Then the upper and lower circles resonated, flickering on and off.

  "......"

  A bad feeling stirred in Hulim’s heart.

  Though she didn’t know what would happen next, it was better to run while she still could!

  She lifted her foot to flee, but when her right foot landed, it stepped into empty space.

  Then, her entire body began to plummet rapidly......