After Frei left, the first thing Amber did was take Mercoth to see the leader of the fortress, Egril. After all, if Mercoth reported success in bringing down the Grand Fortress, and the Grand Fortress continued acting as normal, it would be evident that something was amiss. So, after getting the member of the Arcane Council to explain what was happening in the republic to Egril, the two of them went into a discussion on how the Grand Fortress should resume its operations; although it was far from smooth sailing given the leader was quite shaken by the events in the republic.

  But eventually, it ended in a rather good outcome, at least as far as the short term was concerned. With what had just happened, and the fact that the entire Republic of Mercenaries was under self-declared martial law already, it wasn’t hard to stop the spread of information; at least that’s what Amber was told. She, herself, didn’t pay much attention, after all, it wasn’t even her responsibility to begin with, and even if it were she’d delegate it to someone else. Just because she had studied accounting, didn’t mean she’d be good in planning things.

  And I’ve also been doing nothing but pushing my limits in fighting since coming to Vir, she added inwardly as she returned to the inn.

  Needless to say, that whatever happened, and whatever outcome occurred from the discussions that had just happened, it was none of her responsibility. Now, all that remained was for Mercoth to send his report and come up with a timely excuse on why it had taken so long to submit.

  As for Amber, she decided that she needed to start on making the curse made circuit now. Skipping on a day of rest, wasn’t a huge deal considering at this point sleep was optional for her. Glancing over at the bed, she couldn’t help but frown.

  “When was the last time I slept anyway?”

  For some reason, she didn’t even remember. But one thing she was certain of, it couldn’t have been that long. So, skipping a day or two to get her bone situation sorted wasn’t a huge deal, and it was something she had been wanting for more than half a year already (in her time). She also had to undergo her Legacy Branch Advancement, as for her Class Advancement…

  It was complicated. But in simple terms, she couldn’t advance her class until Level 300 due to the requirements it postulated. However, it was something that she’d think about later.

  Taking a deep breath, Amber sat at the edge of the bed and summoned a thick black leatherbound notebook into her left hand. It looked weathered and it?— began to slightly burn, causing Amber to pause. She immediately forced Inexorable Manipulation to its limit as her ‘aura’ completely extinguished.

  [Inexorable Manipulation has reached 6th Rank — level 1.

  You’ve been fighting with curses for a very long time and have learned to control them. Now, they submit to your will and will act as you desire. Now, curses are 200% stronger. This skill is intrinsic to you and does not consume mana.

  2nd Rank ?— You can now project the curses you bear.

  3rd Rank ?— You can manipulate other people’s curses.

  4th Rank ?— You can fuse now temporarily fuse curses together, causing new effects.

  5th Rank ?— You can now completely extinguish or flare your curses at will. The limit to this effect is 10 minutes a day and curses can only reach twice their original strength.

  6th Rank ?— Curses born from your Primordial Power will completely submit to your will.]

  “Oh.” She blinked reading the 6th Rank. “That’s actually great.”

  Shortly after, she attempted to channel the Curse of Disintegration on her fingers and… it still caused awful pain, making her frown.

  So it only makes them easy to control, huh? That wasn’t bad, but it was ever so slightly disappointing. However, it also meant that at this point she’d be able to completely help the Explosion Mage that shared the Curse of Eternal Flames with her, which was a good thing. And it also didn’t ruin her future plans with it, which was a really good thing.

  After her fingers healed, she turned back to the book, its pages had a hint of yellow, and it almost looked like it was an ancient antique, except… it was the notebook Frei had given her back when entering the dungeon. It was simply worn down from the harsh conditions Amber had put it through.

  “Although, at this point it may as well be an ancient notebook with incredible contents,” she commented as she flipped it open.

  The notebook, after receiving so many revisions had the complete runes for overcoming the weakness of one’s flesh. Provided they attained the secret to godhood anyway.

  Scanning the insides, Amber paid close attention to all the interconnected runes, slowly piecing together how the curse construct should be made. Given the amount of detail everything had, she took her time.

  And it wasn’t until three hours later, that she had a good idea of what to do. And, similarly, that’s also when Mercoth knocked on the door.

  “What is it?” Amber frowned, as she opened the door.

  The old man that was Mercoth blinked, he was now dressed with what seemed to be a noble’s attire. “Huh, you’re prettier than what your portrait indicates.”

  Amber raised her brow at him as he seemed to come to his senses. Lightly coughing into his fist, he continued:

  “I’ve come to inform you that, I think I know which demon was summoned along with the Demon of Genesis. It’s an old friend of yours.”

  Amber paused before raising her brow. “Old friend?”

  “The Demon of Chaos,” Mercoth said simply. “Consequently, he just so happened to wipe one of our squads, so that’s why the information came in so fast.”

  Hearing him, she couldn’t help but tilt her head. “Demon of Chaos…?” It took her a moment before finally it clicked. “Oh…”

  It was the damned Servant of Chaos that she had fought twice already. To be honest, it wasn’t exactly surprising that the Arcane Council knew of this information given their second fight had a whole platoon of soldiers watching it.

  “He’s back?” Amber asked as she thought.

  “Hmhm, and he’s not too far away from here,” Mercoth said simply. “If you wanna run, I’d suggest we depart now.”

  Hearing him, Amber couldn’t help but frown. Even though she had defeated him twice already, this time it was clearly different. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been given a warning.

  “So, that’s how it is…” Amber turned to look at her book before glancing over at Mercoth. “In a few hours, you’ll help me.”

  The old man’s eyes widened for a moment before he furrowed his brows. “With what? If it’s to go and fight the demon, then it’s best we leave instead.”

  “I only expect you to assist me in that regard at best.” Amber shook her head before meeting his gaze. “What I want you to help me with is, bone surgery.”

  “Bone surge…” He paused. “You really plan on engraving your bones?! Are you crazy?”

  Amber closed her eyes. “If you really don’t want to help, then I’ll have you stall the demon while that gets done.”

  “I’ll help,” Mercoth said quickly before sighing. “But you must know, the pain may actually just kill you even with a pain inhibition Skill. The Arcane Council researched such a thing before, after all.”

  “They did?” She opened her eyes in surprise.

  The old man solemnly nodded. “It was cancelled because those that tried it quickly went insane, after all, even the action of spell-casting caused them awful pain. And also, pain inhibition Skills and methods that were employed weren’t all too effective at stopping it. After all, such a pain was closer to soul-level rather than something physical.”

  Amber frowned hearing that. “In short, you think it’ll be more damaging than helpful?”

  “It will give you power, but it’ll also make you miserable,” he harrumphed. “Since you essentially contracted me to be your friend, I’ll tell it to you straight: You must be stupid to actually try it.”

  His snort resounded in the room, but Amber said nothing as a frown settled onto her face. Instead, she took in the informatio as she momentarily wondered why Frei didn’t know of this, but considering she was mostly uninvolved with the council, it wasn’t too surprising.

  So, even if I were to shut-off the pain with Inexorable Body, I’d still receive the same feedback? Amber thought that sounded a bit extreme. And also the pain will comeback whenever I make use of the runes.

  “I’ll consider it.” She finally said.

  Mercoth shook his head and left, leaving her alone. Meanwhile, Amber ruminated over his words.

  I’ve been wanting this for so long, yet it causes crippling pain. And, the Servant of Chaos is back for round 3… Amber crossed her arms. Even though he isn’t immune to curses, he’s still from Ill’hine. It wouldn’t be surprising if he isn’t deeply affected by curses from that place, so having them isn’t an advantage over him.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  The Supreme Demon Hunter clearly wasn’t sure if I could win, and while I hadn’t shown all my strength, it is clear that the Servant of Chaos this time around is easily as strong as a Level 400.

  As she thought she began to pace around, before finally sighing.

  “I can’t look down on him given his origins aren’t from this world.”

  In a way, it could be said that she needed every advantage she could find. Whether it was advancing her Legacy Branch or even undergoing the seemingly inhuman procedure that was bone engraving.

  “Alright, if I wanna prepare for this, I can’t waste time.”

  Truth be told, Amber felt a slight sense of impending doom, whether it was the premonition of a sixth sense, or just mere overthinking, she didn’t know. It especially didn’t help that the Core Skill she received for hitting Level 250 was not useful at all, granting her the exact same ability as one of her curses, but with numerous limitations. However, the sense of tension served only to motivate her.

  With a deep breath, she began to use Accursed Creation on her fingers as she made a small thread of curses. It was no thicker than a thread of yarn, but even then she focused to the max as she began to shape them with great precision into various runes. She also weaved in the Curse of Eternal Flames deep inside, hoping it would result in positive effects. Unfortunately, the Curse of Disintegration was a bit too destructive to be used here, but it would come into play later.

  Crossreferencing with the notebook, she quickly began to make the large construct that almost looked like a metal wire. Weaved into it were numerous runes, such as ‘precision’ ones, or ‘strength’ ones. There were also quite a few ‘constant’ ones with the occasional ‘flaring’ and ‘divide’ among many others. The curse construct, almost resembled a beautiful piece of abstract calligraphy due to the sheer amount of runes, but in reality its effects would probably be anything but beautiful. After all, it’s main goal was as a combat tool.

  Two hours later, she finally finished weaving the complex thread of curses. It had been far from easy, considering it was akin to trying to design the veins of the body in a single line, but thanks to her initial revisions she had managed. The thread, started from the instep of the foot, and circled around the body going over her head before ending over the other foot. Essentially, it divided the body into two.

  Initially, even though all runes were connected, she planned on making the separate parts and then filling in the gaps between the body parts later, but now she had made it all at once. And by extension, it could also be applied all at once.

  Using Accursed Creation she made the almost fifteen feet long wire a permanent curse construct, before she turned to the now more pressing thing. The pending system notification that was:

  [Legacy Branch advancement is now Available!

  You may now evolve your Legacy Branch.]

  Her Legacy Branch advancement.

  Taking a deep breath, she sat on the bed and like many times before she spoke to the air:

  “I wish to advance my Legacy Branch.”

  And like many times before, the System answered accordingly.

  [Very well.]

  Following its words, the world began to slow and slowly peel away like last time. Eventually, she was in a very familiar black void of nothingness with a white door awaiting her in the distance. This time, she wasted no time as she walked forward as she listened to the System’s words in her mind.

  [Your feats after obtaining a Legacy Branch have been taken into account for evolution.

  Defeat a god.

  Possess four objects of primordial origin.

  There are three evolutions that are offered to you. Pick carefully.]

  This time the text was a lot shorter than last time, but Amber didn’t mind it. After all, she could tell the System was essentially choosing to not regurgitate things it had already said before, though the entry of ‘defeating a god’ was certainly amusing. Turns out her stunt on the Shattered Tower had counted towards that.

  Passing the white door, she stood on an infinite sea of blood and unlike before there was a crimson sky sky with white clouds. Not too far away from her there were three red-marble pedestals awaiting her, this time their colors were uniform. The furthest left one had a shining ball of crimson light, the middle one had a misty purple darkness that seemed inherently evil yet to Amber it was mostly inert, and the last one had a long black horn. One that gave Amber an ominous feeling.

  She frowned slightly before heading to the crimson light, this time she didn’t make any unnecessary comments, and instead simply tried to see the meaning of the advancement option as soon as possible.

  It took a moment, but soon her vision was bathed in red light. It took a moment but the red light was swiped away, or more like taken into someone’s hand. And that’s when Amber saw…

  “Isn’t that a…” Her mind paused as she saw a literal man in black armor wielding a stick of red light, and not only that, but it was clearly an instrument for cutting given he bissected an abominable monster into two. “What the fuck?!”

  She watched as the man, like a skilled master, destroyed every enemy that came for him, but even as she saw the saber loose its luster and turn into normal blood that retracted into the man, she couldn’t help but blink.

  And just like that, it was over, with the notification appearing shortly after.

  [Would you like to evolve Primordial Demonic Blood to Fledgling Divine Blood of Destruction?

  Your Legacy Branch shall display to others as Blood of Destruction.

  You have greatly familiarized yourself with Primordial Demonic Blood, and now it is time to take its perks and evolve them to new heights. Now that you’ve had prolonged contact with the divine and ignited your divine flame, you may use it to drive your Legacy Branch to new heights.

  Acquiring this Legacy Branch will greatly reduce evolution options in the future.

  You will receive an extra 15 attribute points per level up to distribute after taking this evolution.]

  Amber frowned upon reading it, “Divine flame? Does this have to do with me reaching the First Realm of Stars and destroying my Essence core?” She tilted her head, speculating before turning to the rather appealing option. “So, if I get the Divine Blood of Destruction I’ll get the ability to turn my blood into a sword of pure light?”

  It was oddly attractive, after all no human could fully resist the attraction that such an object possessed. But ultimately, it felt a bit too much for her, after all, she already had a very capable sword so and she didn’t wish to try to set traps with her blood or anything; that wasn’t how she fought after all.

  Shaking her head, she turned to the second pedestal, deliberately leaving the black horn that gave her a bad feel for last. Although it was ironic considering the second pedestal had that deep purple mist that was clearly evil, if not for the fact that she even felt a sort of attraction towards it she would’ve clearly seen it as a red-flag.

  With some anticipation, she peered into the mist and soon her vision was absorbed by it.

  The empurpled darkness transformed into non-descript symbols that seemed ever-flowing as if engraved on a liquid and they all pulsated with lights of different color; a rich purple, amber, green?… they all equally emanated a sense of wickedness.

  The ‘runes’ continued to flow as the vision panned out causing the symbols to slowly melt together into a glowing stream of various lights until finally it was shown as?— veins. Veins on the hand of a person that was slowly sheathing a black blade.

  The person wore a black uniform, and had a felt-lined cape, he had golden eyes and a rather cold look as he seemed to be looking down on a person that was dying. It was a four-armed elf, who was thrashing as his skin was melting. It was none other than Ishtar, and he had a wound on his side that had shimmering blood. The exact same colors as the ones Amber had seen on his veins.

  Ishtar looked down on the man as he shook his head.

  “To make me bleed, what an achievement. Unfortunately it is also your last.”

  With those words, he walked away with his wound now healed as the elf slowly… died.

  The vision ended and Amber was brought back to reality as she was given a sense of what the Legacy Branch did, and her eyes couldn’t help but widen.

  “This is…”

  The notification came.

  [Would you like to evolve Primordial Demonic Blood to Fledgling Divine Accursed Demonic Blood?

  Your Legacy Branch shall display to others as Accursed Demonic Blood.

  You have greatly familiarized yourself with Primordial Demonic Blood, and through the prolonged contact of curses from the beyond it can now undertake their properties. From henceforth, curses shall flow in your blood and your divine flame shall undertake an accursed nature, allowing you to reach new heights.

  Acquiring this Legacy Branch will greatly reduce evolution options in the future.

  You will receive an extra 15 attribute points per level up to distribute after taking this evolution.]

  “As I thought,” Amber’s eyes trembled for a moment. “It’ll make me a lot more aligned with curses.”

  She almost wanted to pick it immediately if not for two reservations, one was a concern and the other was the fact that she hadn’t seen all the options.

  After hesitating for a second, Amber headed to the final option.

  Now standing in front of the horn, her heart palpitated as she took it in more closely. It had cracks all over it and fresh blood dripping from it. Fresh shimmering blood that was reminiscent of the Legacy Branch of Divine Accursed Demonic Blood. It was truly ominous in every sense of the word, but after a deep breath she calmed herself and peered into it.

  The horn quickly became the only thing on her vision, and soon she saw it lying on a puddle of shimmering blood. The vision slightly panned as a goat’s hoove stepped over it with a deep squelch.

  And in front of it, Amber saw a figure in terrible condition lying in battered armor. It was a woman with orange eyes that seemed to be fading, half of her brown hair was missing. Her open wounds let out shimmering blood as they seemed to be gnawed at by some darkness. And she wasn’t healing.

  Soon, the figure in the foreground stepped forward as it revealed a large demon with deep red skin and great musculature, its head and lower body resembled that of a goat. Its condition wasn’t much better, with both of its horns broken as it chuckled with a deep voice.

  “Any last words of regret, wench?”

  The woman on the ground let out a gurgle, but he simply laughed and with a swing of his finger a gigantic sword bissected her in half, killing her instantly in a terrible manner. Yet the demon, didn’t stop there as it took another step back and glanced back directly at… Amber, at the real Amber, as he continued:

  “Or could it be that you’ve already accepted your fate?”

  His mouth curled into a grin, seemingly meeting her gaze before the vision abruptly ended.

  [Would you like to evolve Primordial Demonic Blood to ???

  Acquiring this Legacy Branch will instantly make you subservient to ???]

  Amber’s expression turned ugly as she reached forward and crushed the horn with her bare hands, before kicking the pillar and breaking it. She never would’ve imagined she’d see her own death in one of these advancements, let alone like that.

  “System, if I acquire the Accursed Demonic Blood Legacy Branch, will I still be able to bring myself harm with my own curses?”

  Amber waited for a moment, before a notification came in response.

  [You already know the answer,] it said.

  “Then that is my choice,” Amber said with utmost seriousness.

  With that, a notification came.

  [ You have gained the Legacy Branch of Fledgling Divine Accursed Demonic Blood ?— Accursed Demonic Blood.

  Vitality +300

  Strength +300

  Dexterity +300

  Endurance +300

  Intelligence +300

  Wisdom +300

  Natural recovery has increased by 200%.

  Your physical stats increase by 100% in battle.

  Wounds heal five times faster in battle. ]

  [Due to their strength, Legacy Branch Skills for Fledgling Divine Accursed Demonic Blood will now be granted or offered every 25 levels.]

  The surroundings flashed back to become the real world, as Amber felt piercing pain engulf her entire body. But she ignored everything as she stood up and looked at the ‘wire’ of curses on the ground.

  She gritted her teeth for a moment before chuckling.

  “If I’m going to die, then long-term consequences aren’t really a worry are they?”

  With that, she grabbed the curse construct and went to seek Mercoth.

  It was time to finally engrave her bones.