I Can Copy Curses

Chapter 52  52. Third Guardian

A while later, Orion finished copying curses for the second time.

Unlike last time, he didn't copy everyone's curses and only copied the ones that were deemed useful for him.

He could see what curse a person had when he touched them because of system notifications, so it wasn't difficult to copy the ones he needed.

'Last time, I didn't know that not every curse could be useful, and I copied every single curse I came across.'

Recalling what he did last time, he felt embarrassed thinking about it.

'Well, this time I only copied two curses by looking at the titles. Now let's see if they are really useful for me or not.'

[Shattered Precision - With the curse of Shattered Precision, the individual's ability to enhance sharpness and cutting power becomes uncontrollable and unpredictable, leading to disastrous consequences.]

'Nice, this is what I need right now.'

He copied this curse from a guy who had a talent called Razor's Edge. This guy could make anything sharp enough and increase the cutting effect.

This was what he had been looking for, in the form of a curse.

On to the next one.

[Unbridled Fury - With the curse of Unbridled Fury, the individual's ability to enter a berserk state becomes uncontrollable and overwhelming, leading to destructive consequences. The individual might lose their sanity and become a battle maniac who only knows how to fight.]

'This…this is good! My own curse—Null Body won't let me lose my sanity, so this curse is pretty powerful if I can only have the berserk power.'

Orion became ecstatic as he read the details of the Unbridled Fury. He believed this curse could significantly enhance his overall strength.

'This is good. Now I only need to practice the curse of Shattered Precision. I don't think I need to practice the latter one, but I'll look into it too.'

He thought, as he turned his head to the staircase, that he had earlier gone to the train.

'Today is the third day, so I will train the whole night and come out on the fourth day.'

After making his plan, he walked towards the staircase and entered the training room once again.

***

A day passed, marking three days since Orion and his group arrived at the temple. With only four days remaining, including the current day, they had to complete their task.

Nothing had changed since Orion went to train. The group of kids continued to practice the Three Divine Ways, while Runo remained standing in a corner, his brow furrowed in concentration.

At that moment, Orion ascended the staircase and appeared in the hall.

Having trained diligently in the two curses he had copied the previous day, he felt confident that he had increased his chances against the third guardian.

But before confronting the third guardian, Orion was determined to gather as much information as possible about him—his weapon, fighting style, attacks, and even his finishing move. He wanted to be thoroughly prepared, ensuring he wouldn't be caught off-guard during their encounter.

As he thought of that, he turned his head towards a golden-haired kid who appeared to be standing alone in a corner.

Runo seemed to be the only one who had fought the third guardian recently, but Orion didn't know if Runo had all the information about the third guardian or not.

He felt that Runo might have been defeated easily, so he might not know about his finishing moves and such.

If what he thought happened to be true, then he was left with only one option, and that was to ask Feran and Agnar about it. They had been here for a long time, and many soul forms over the years had challenged the third guardian, so they were bound to have more information about the third guardian than any of them here.

But Orion hesitated about whether to ask them or not. Although it seemed like they didn't care about him not practicing the Three Divine Ways, he couldn't shake the feeling that they held a grudge against him because of it. They didn't show it on their faces, but he could sense it in their interactions with him last time.

'If they want to be free from this place, I am their best shot, so they better look at the big picture before thinking of mindless grudges.'

He thought as he made his way towards the two old men.

A moment later, he appeared before them, and because of this, a frown appeared on their faces.

"What do you want, kid?" Feran asked coldly.

Orion didn't beat around the bush and directly went to the main topic.

"I want to know everything about the third guardian." He asked.

Feran arched an eyebrow at Orion's words.

But before he could respond to Orion, a big, heavy sword suddenly came out of his stomach.

"Aggh!" Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Feran screamed as a result, but the heavy sword appeared ruthless as it moved up and split everything in two, including his head.

A moment later, his soul started to glow in red light before transforming into particles of red and vanishing into thin air.

All of that happened in less than a second, and as a result, Orion couldn't react to it, but after Feran's soul form dissipated, he finally got to see the perpetrator behind this.

It turned out to be someone clad in full-body pitch-black armor, wielding a massive black sword with both hands.

The head armor appeared to be designed in the shape of a skull, while a symbol of a red skull gleamed on the chestplate.

Seeing the armored man in black, Orion's mind seemed to be screaming only two words.

"Third Guardian!"

He exclaimed loudly in horror, for he couldn't understand how the third guardian happened to come here.

At that moment, everyone else noticed the third guardian before they started trembling in fear.

They hadn't forgotten the brutal beating they had taken from him, and most importantly, the guardian just happened to kill the strongest soul form in the temple as if cutting vegetables.

Everyone witnessed the demise of Feran, including Runo.

However, Runo didn't care anything about him, as his attention seemed to be fully focused on his teammates, who happened to be practicing near the third guardian without a care in the world.

'Damn!'

He panicked as he ran toward his teammates.

Meanwhile, after killing Feran, the third guardian turned his attention to Orion.

Sensing the impending danger, Orion hastily activated his absolute defense, causing a red film to envelop his entire body.

"Your blood reeks of those…"

At that moment, Orion heard a metallic voice trail off, and upon recognizing it, he felt shocked, realizing that the voice came from the third guardian.

'He can talk!'

The realization sent a shiver running down his spine. Knowing that the other two guardians didn't speak and the third guardian could, he speculated that, unlike the other two guardians, the third guardian may not be just an armor controlled by a symbol but rather a person wearing the armor.

"I hate those…"

Uttering these words, the guardian finally sprang into action. His body vanished from where he stood and materialized behind Orion; his sword slashed directly at Orion's neck