Akale's blue orb spewed blue liquid like a punctured water balloon before crashing to the ground. When it shrank to the size of a palm, it spewed a red liquid mixed with bones. Then it vanished, leaving nothing but a red mark on the ground.

Akale's body appeared as if it were made of shadows, composed of butterflies as small as a finger joint. As the black butterflies began to flap their wings, Edulis swung his sword once more. The light wrapped around Edulis' sword turned the butterflies into dust, vanishing them completely.

Then, the corpse of a girl with her hands clasped over her chest appeared. She must have been human thousands of years ago but she looked as if she had just died. There was no decay.

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The girl was smiling with her throat cut. Her skinny arms and legs were covered in blood and scratches...

In the girl's hands were three finger-sized pieces of crystal. The shards that made up Lutea's existence. However, imbued with Akale's aura, the crystals emitted a curse.

"Akale... you'll never stop being stubborn..."

Laotou said with a stern expression. As she spoke, she remembered the tragedies of the Ur Empire. Children stabbing their parents in the throat, siblings making love to each other in a sex-crazed frenzy, only to be killed by their own parents... They didn't even get a chance to die as human beings. What about Taharka? Bearing the responsibility for the empire's downfall, he fought with a body full of curses and died in vain, by Akale's hand!

"We have a problem. Akale's curse is far beyond our power, and we will not be able to cleanse the shard now. If we leave it alone, it will continue to spew curses, and what good will that do?"