As the sound of the wind cut through the silence of the desolate cemetery, Adrian and Lucia approached the grave. Stillness swallowed the place, and the only thing filling the night was the breath of the cold wind.
Adrian looked at the grave, then gestured toward Lucia with his hand, saying calmly, "Begin…"
A moment of silence passed before Lucia looked at him questioningly. Adrian sighed and clarified what he meant. "I mean… dig up the grave using your magic."
Lucia's expression froze, and her eyes widened in shock. "Huh?! You want me to dig up a grave like a dog?! A-and use my precious magic for digging?! Have you lost your mi—"
She abruptly stopped when she realized what she had said in a moment of anger. She coughed lightly and tried to recover. "Hehe… I mean… I'm the one who lost my mind for a moment. I'll do it right away."
She stood before the grave while Adrian remained silent, his expression cold as he watched. She thought to herself, "I need to calculate the distance carefully… I don't want to damage the corpse."
She extended her hand toward the grave, and a precise surge of magical energy burst from it. The soil scattered, slowly revealing the decomposing corpse.
Adrian approached and gestured for her to step back. "From now on… I'll take care of it. Don't go near the corpse, no matter what happens. You might be afflicted by the curse as well."
Her eyes widened with concern. "What about you?"
A faint, crooked smile appeared on his face. "The curse doesn't affect demons… does it?"
Lucia's heart clenched for a moment before she spoke with painful seriousness. "Your Highness… you're not a demon. Don't say that about yourself."
He made no comment. He silently lifted the corpse and said, "Let's go somewhere empty."
Lucia followed him without a word, despite the heavy feeling lingering in her chest… a mixture of pity and sadness.
After walking for a while, they arrived at an empty stretch of land far from the neighborhood. Adrian threw the corpse onto the ground and took a matchbox out of his pocket, then said, "Give me the fuel canister we brought earlier."
Lucia handed him the canister as she asked, "But it's small… will it be enough?"
Adrian answered calmly, as though explaining something obvious. "Lucia… decomposing corpses lose most of their moisture, and the organic matter remaining in them is enough to ignite."
He slowly poured the fuel over the corpse before continuing, "And with the remnants of the curse clinging to every cell… all we need is a single spark."
He lit a match and let it fall onto the corpse.
"And it will certainly catch fire."
The corpse caught fire, and the flames spread around it, trying to consume what remained.
After several minutes, the fire began to weaken little by little until it went out completely. However, the corpse had not burned; only its decomposition had accelerated.
Lucia started to step forward, but Adrian's hand suddenly rose in front of her.
"Don't come any closer!"
She stopped, worry coloring her features.
"Did it fail?"
Adrian's gaze narrowed in quiet disappointment.
"It seems this curse cannot be dispelled by ordinary means."
Lucia exclaimed, "Then… what are we going to do?"
He fell silent for a moment, as though listening to the pulse of the air, then said, "Perhaps magic can only be undone… by other magic."
Lucia lowered her head, letting out a tense sigh.
"If only we could reverse the curse… everything would be easier."
Adrian's eyes widened, as though a brilliant spark of an idea had ignited something within him. Then he smiled.
"Let's return to the old woman's house. I'll try the Curse of Death incantation myself."
Lucia's expression trembled between astonishment and concern.
"What are you saying, Your Highness? You know how dangerous that incantation is!"
He continued on his way in silence, while Lucia followed behind him, growing more anxious with every step.
They returned to the house and closed the door behind them. Adrian headed straight for the room containing the magic circle.
"Your Highness, are you even listening to me?" she asked sharply, her anger reaching its peak.
"Yes," he finally replied in his usual cold manner.
He knelt down and wiped the old circle with a cloth, then fetched some ink from the library and began drawing a new one. He drew the triangle first, then surrounded it with a wide circle.
Lucia raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Your Highness… you're drawing it incorrectly. The triangle should be inside the circle, not the other way around."
He continued drawing and writing the symbols without raising his head.
"Lucia… you said a moment ago that everything would be fine if we could reverse the curse."
She crossed her arms and said indifferently, "That's right… I did."
He finished writing the final symbol, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Then I thought… what if we reversed the incantation itself?"
Lucia sighed in exasperation. "Then it definitely won't work. The incantation must be performed exactly as it's written."
Adrian chuckled softly. "Correct. And so… if we want the reverse to work, it must also be performed exactly as written."
He then looked at the magic circle and read aloud, "The original Curse of Death incantation says: 'When the sun sets and the moon appears, I shall delight in drinking pure blood, and offer what I hold most dear to the Great Lord of Magic.'" He raised his eyes toward her. "But when reversed, it becomes: 'When the moon sets and the sun rises, I shall offer tainted blood and take what the Great Lord of Magic holds most dear.'"
Lucia's expression grew serious.
"But… even so, isn't it still a curse?"
He turned toward her, his voice steadier than ever. "When we reverse everything… we get the complete opposite. Instead of the Curse of Death… we'll obtain the Blessing of Life."
Lucia felt slightly relieved as she said, "I understand now… so nothing bad will happen to you when you perform it, right?"
Adrian closed his eyes for a moment before answering, "The sun will rise soon… Once I begin, do not enter the room, no matter what happens."
Her anxiety deepened, and she took a small step toward him. "Are you going to do it alone?"
He replied in a calm, steady voice, "Don't worry… everything will be fine."
Then a faint smile appeared on his lips, barely visible. "Now… leave. And close the door behind you."
Lucia clenched her fist nervously, bowed respectfully, then slowly left and closed the door… as though shutting the entire world away from him.
As the sun began to rise, Adrian took his dagger and cut the palm of his hand, then passed it over the incantation, allowing drops of his blood to fall onto it.
One drop… two drops…
Several drops trickled onto the magic circle, and the words began to glow slowly. Then a white beam erupted, engulfing the entire room. Black magical sparks emerged from the heart of the circle, gathering and twisting violently as they summoned the Great Lord of Magic. They began to emit loud sounds, as though the very air were being crushed beneath the pressure of the power.
The sparks converged, then—the pressure exploded!
Adrian was hurled backward with tremendous force until he crashed into the wall behind him. He coughed up blood and fell to the ground.
His bones trembled as he struggled to cling to consciousness amid the crushing pressure.
He tried to stand again… but Lucia's voice piercing through the door made him lose focus for a second.
"Your Highness!! Are you all right?! What are all those noises?!"
Lucia was pounding on the door furiously, terrified.
Adrian struggled to his feet and wiped the blood from his mouth, then shouted sharply, "Get away from here! Don't you dare come any closer!"
Suddenly… the deep, mocking sound of laughter rang out, tainted with every ounce of evil.
"HAHAHAHA… Who dared to reverse my incantation? You'll pay dearly for this… you insolent brat."
The black magic gathered once more and lunged at Adrian with tremendous force, making him feel as though his bones were about to shatter. He gasped in pain and clutched his chest, trying to catch his ragged breath—his heart was nearly bursting from the rapid pounding, and his eyes were on the verge of closing beneath the Great Lord of Magic's overwhelming aura.
He spoke bitterly within himself, "I didn't expect him to react like this… Damn it!"
But suddenly… the aura gradually calmed, and the shadows began to take on a human shape until the summoning was fully complete.
The Great Lord of Magic looked at him with an exceedingly calm smile… so calm that it was frightening, and said, "You… look a lot like Naraka. He also had delicious blood… but he wouldn't even allow me a single drop. He was cruel."
Adrian furrowed his brows in confusion and rose to his feet, leaning against the wall.
"Who is this Naraka?"
The Great Lord of Magic laughed a sick, evil-filled laugh. "There's no need for you to know him. He was a real bastard… but what's strange is how much you resemble him."
Then he looked around, scrutinizing the walls and even the air itself. "This is definitely the human world… so why is a demon like you here?"
Adrian spoke sharply. "I'm not a demon! I'm human!"
The Great Lord of Magic blinked with irritating innocence. "Huhhh? Human? Strange… I thought you were a demon."
Adrian looked away in annoyance. "I hear that a lot. What's wrong with a human having red eyes?"
The Great Lord of Magic said, "No, it's not your appearance… Anyway, why did you summon me?"
Adrian straightened despite the pain and advanced with steady steps until he stood close to the Great Lord of Magic.
He lifted his head, looked at him sharply, and said in a low but resolute voice, "You have to fix what you've done…"