The Blood Curse Awakens

The battle raged on, but with every desperate swing, every spell cast, and every drop of blood spilled, Nero’s team pushed Igris closer to death. Kain roared, unleashing a final strike, his blade burning with pure energy, slicing through one of Igris’s arms.

Ezren, panting heavily, forced the last of his blood energy into a crimson spear. “Nero! Now! Finish him!”

Igris staggered, his body bleeding shadows, but his lips curled into a chilling grin. “You think… you’ve won?”

Nero, sword raised high, charged forward, his eyes blazing with fury. He leapt and slashed his sword down, cleaving Igris’s body deep.

Yet in that final moment, Igris whispered, “If I die… I’ll take something with me.”

Dark crimson light burst from Igris’s body. A thin, almost invisible stream of cursed blood shot out, entering Nero’s open wound.

No one saw it. Not Kain, not Ezren, not Lena. Only Igris smiled as his body crumbled into ash. “Welcome… my curse.”

Silence fell.

They had won. Igris was dead.

But Nero stood frozen, sword trembling, his breath ragged. “It’s… over.”

Kain placed a hand on his shoulder. “We did it… somehow.”

Lena nodded weakly. “Let’s go home.”

They returned to the academy as heroes. Whispers of their victory spread through the realm. Yet, while the others celebrated, Nero sat in silence, his body feeling… wrong.

At night, cold sweat drenched his skin. Pain surged through his chest.

“What… is this?” Nero gasped, clutching his heart. He staggered to the mirror, eyes wide. For a brief moment, his reflection twisted—red eyes, dark veins pulsing.

Then he remembered. That moment… that flash… the blood that entered him.

His eyes darkened.

“Igris… what did you do to me?”

His body trembled as the realization hit him like a blade to the chest.

“I… I’m becoming a demon…” Nero whispered, his voice hollow.

---

The night stretched endlessly. Nero couldn’t sleep. His heart raced, his veins burned. He opened his palm, watching faint traces of blackish-red energy coil through his fingers. It was faint… but real.

He tore through his books, searching for answers, flipping page after page until his trembling hands landed on one—“The Demon’s Blood Curse.”

"If the cursed blood of a high-ranking demon seeps into a mortal’s wound, four possible fates await:"

The mortal body rejects it and dies from seizures.

The mortal loses their mind and becomes a mindless demon.

If strong enough, the mortal fuses with the blood, gaining demonic power but losing part of their humanity.

A rare case—controlling the demon’s blood but living in constant struggle.

Nero’s heart sank as he read the final words: “Once cursed, the blood shall awaken at nightfall. The eyes will reveal the truth.”

He staggered back, clutching his head. “No… no…”

Panic gripped him, but deep down, he knew it had already begun.

Nero glanced at the mirror again.

His pupils shimmered blood red — no longer human.

“…Oh no…” he whispered, voice cracking.