The Cursed collapsed to the floor. There was no time to linger. Another ancient creature of the Curse was coming for him, and if he delayed, it would kill him.
He got to his feet and dashed into the corridor. The body of wrinkled white flesh pierced the walls around him.
He ran through the corridor, seeing no end to this nightmarish horror.
In some places in the walls, among the intertwined horrific flesh, large female heads with white, wrinkled skin protruded. They stared at him with enormous eyes—sometimes three, four, or more—with tiny pupils, and moved jaws with long sharp teeth. They emitted hoarse, wild cries, as if the victim had already fallen into their giant grasp.
The Cursed lunged at one of the heads and began hacking at it with his sword. Streams of brown blood splashed to the sides. The large head writhed in pain.
A long hand stretched across the corridor. The Cursed noticed it in time and dashed away.
He continued cutting the heads, but the monster's long arms pursued him, impossible to fend off.
In one place, the arms surrounded him. He used spatial magic and destroyed one limb, then continued running through the dark labyrinths in a race against death.
In one corridor, he met the Count with his men. The Count leaned on his sword. The Cursed thought it was a continuation of the mad nightmarish sequence.
But the Count spoke:
"This creature has taken over the entire castle. It has grown through all the walls and holds us captive. But if its head and body are here, its heart lies underground. Descend into the dungeons and destroy it. My men and I will distract it."
The Cursed dashed down the steps. He reached the hatches leading to the castle's dungeons, opened them, and began descending into the abyss. He ran through halls filled with chests, weapons, and barrels of wine. The dungeon walls were destroyed. The creature had done this. Its tendrils crawled there. Pushing through them, the Cursed ran through the underground tunnels and reached a large white body, pulsating. Behind its semi-transparent skin, a dark heart was visible. The Cursed plunged his sword into it. Fountains of brown blood erupted. From somewhere above came wild hoarse screams. The creature's body and its tendrils writhed in agony. Then silence fell.
At dawn, a lone figure in a hood and cloak rode further into the cursed lands. On the half-destroyed castle wall stood two figures: father and daughter. The father supported his daughter. After the night, his hair and beard had gained more gray. Not so with the Cursed. Ten years had passed, yet he had not changed at all. At least, outwardly.
"Father, forgive me. I brought the monster upon our castle. I asked the Demon King not to touch you and leave you alive. In return, he sent this creature to us. Because of it, mother died."
"That no longer matters, daughter. It's all behind us now."
For a while, they stood in silence, experiencing the terrible drama that had unfolded before them. Each of them would remember this horrific night forever.
"And yet I feel like I've seen him somewhere. Somewhere in the engravings of one of the books in the library. Books forbidden by the Demon King."
"Soon everyone will know who he is, daughter. Soon everyone will know."