“Huh? Huh?”

The boy was in disbelief.

He kept looking around, bewildered by the serene forest around him.

“Why… is the forest…”

Whenever he had stayed in a place for more than a day, his curse would activate. Springs would dry up, and the ground would die, leaving only the boy untouched.

But now, even after a full day, Rekrezen remained unaffected.

Life thrived around him.

“Did… did you do something, Lord Taesan?”

“No.”

Taesan shook his head. He had watched over the boy all night.

But nothing had happened. The boy’s divine blood hadn’t gone out of control, and the land hadn’t withered.

“W-what is going on?”

The boy was clearly shaken.

“So… does this mean I’ve passed the trial?”

“Uh… yes. The trial was just to stay here for a day… so I suppose it’s completed.”

The boy managed to stammer out his response.

He was still unable to fully process what had happened. Regardless, since the trial was technically complete, Taesan took him and began to move again. As they walked, the boy kept muttering to himself.

“Why? Why didn’t anything happen?”

“Perhaps your curse has lifted?”

“I… I don’t think so.”

The boy trailed off, rejecting Taesan’s suggestion.

He looked at his arm. The wound from the leaf still had a scab, though it was blue instead of red.

“Blue blood still flows within me.”

His curse had not been lifted.

Taesan didn’t know why either. He had used his senses to monitor the boy for changes, but nothing had happened.

“For now, let’s move on to the next trial.”

“Oh… yes, alright.”

The boy nodded hesitantly.

As they walked, he continued to mumble to himself.

“This is strange. Just a few days before meeting you, my curse activated again.”

The boy explained how he had once been so exhausted from his journey that he had taken refuge in a cave and fallen asleep for an entire day. When he awoke, all the surrounding vegetation had been crushed and dead.

“But now… why…”

He looked genuinely puzzled.

They continued walking, and night eventually fell. The boy leaned against a tree, muttering to himself.

“Why didn’t the curse activate in Rekrezen?”

“No idea.”

Taesan handed the boy a piece of cooked rabbit meat. The boy ate it hungrily, even as he continued to look puzzled.

Soon, exhaustion overtook him, and he fell asleep.

Taesan watched him sleep for a moment before taking out the leaf stained with blue blood from his pouch.

The leaf that had wounded the boy’s arm still had traces of his blue blood.

What exactly is divine blood?

He needed to find out.

[You have activated Focused Detection.]

The power of detection honed in on the blue blood on the leaf. Information began to flow to Taesan.

He frowned.

Information about divine blood was indeed entering his mind.

But he couldn’t process it. It was like a scrambled text file, with each character incomprehensibly jumbled.

Using his focused magic, he tried again, employing detection and essence analysis.

But nothing changed.

He still received only garbled, unreadable information.

“Hmm.”

Even though he’d gained nothing from the attempt, this itself was valuable information.

A power that Taesan couldn’t analyze.

This suggested it might be a force beyond his current level.

[You have summoned Minerva, the Spirit King of Wind.]

With a gentle breeze, a woman’s figure took shape. Landing softly on the ground, Minerva looked around in surprise.

“What kind of world is this? Such an intense power governs everything here.”

Her gaze narrowed as she observed.

“It’s stronger than I am?”

“You can feel it?”

“I’m a being of nature. There’s no Spirit King here, so my detection range is quite extensive in a world like this.”

Closing her eyes, Minerva expanded her senses.

“Ah, so this is a world ruled by a Transcendent’s Apostle? No wonder it feels monstrous.”

“What exactly is an Apostle?”

Taesan had encountered Apostles a few times before. But most hadn’t been in their true forms. The Apostle he fought in the battlefield of the gods had been forcibly empowered, and the Apostle of the Forgotten Goddess had been lost in oblivion. The Apostle of Fabsha, Marestan, had possessed Taesan’s body temporarily.

The only Apostle he’d faced in its true form was the one serving the Old God, but comparing it was difficult since the Old God was a twisted entity.

“There’s a huge range. Some Apostles barely touch the edge of mortality, while the strongest ones, called the ‘Fingers,’ can surpass ordinary immortals. If we’re talking averages…”

Minerva looked at Taesan.

“They’re about as strong as you are now.”

“Is that so?”

“After all, gods directly expend their power to create Apostles. They’re never weak.”

Taesan thought back to the leaders of the Guide, who, despite reaching the limits of mortality, couldn’t even form an Apostle contract. This was partly because their actions and beliefs didn’t align with the gods’ desires, but it also meant their strength alone wasn’t enough.

Becoming a favored one of the gods, as Taesan had, likely required clearing an incredibly high bar.

“The fact that you reached this level so quickly without an Apostle’s contract is honestly astounding.”

After surveying the surroundings, Minerva turned to Taesan.

“So, what’s the issue? It doesn’t look like there’s going to be a fight.”

“I need to ask you something.”

Taesan held up the leaf stained with blue blood.

“How much do you know about divine blood?”

Minerva, as the Spirit King, had gained a wealth of knowledge at her inception.

Perhaps some of it included information about divine blood.

“Ah, so that boy possesses divine blood. This is the first time I’ve seen it in person.”

Minerva looked at the boy with fascination.

“I don’t know much. I only received a rough outline in my knowledge.”

So even the Spirit King’s knowledge had gaps.

“It’s an extremely rare trait. Having divine blood doesn’t grant superhuman powers.”

Minerva’s information didn’t differ much from what the ghost had told him.

“Is it possible for someone with divine blood to influence their surroundings? Like causing an area to wither if they stay there for more than a day?”

Taesan explained the curse the boy had described. Minerva shook her head.

“That shouldn’t happen. Divine blood is beyond the reach of ordinary human influence. If it were rampaging, maybe it could happen, but the person would never remain unharmed. In fact, if it truly went out of control, it would be powerful enough to wipe out an entire country, not just a location.”

A curse as the boy described was impossible with divine blood.

Taesan processed this information.

“That’s enough. You can return.”

“Alright. Call me again if you need me.”

Minerva disappeared.

The boy remained sound asleep.

---

“This is the next trial site.”

They stood before a beautiful meadow. A variety of flowers bloomed in a rainbow of colors, enchanting all who gazed upon them.

Because of its beauty, quite a few people had gathered to enjoy the scenery.

The boy walked up to them with a sorrowful expression.

“Excuse me… I’m so sorry.”

“Wha—ah!”

The people, previously relaxed and admiring the view, panicked when they recognized the boy.

“What are you doing here?!”

“Apologies. It’s part of my divine trial…”

“Damn it! A child that should never have been born! You’re ruining our world!”

The people cursed him and quickly fled.

Soon, only Taesan and the boy remained on the meadow.

The boy sat down, looking sad.

“That’s only natural. This place is renowned for its beauty. If I settle here, it will wither, so of course they’d hate me for it.”

“How many trials are there?”

“Seven in total.”

The boy gazed at the meadow, as if trying to capture its beauty one last time.

He glanced at Taesan hesitantly.

“What is it?”

“Oh, um, it’s just…”

He hesitated, then spoke softly.

“…Could I… could I hold your hand?”

“Do as you like.”

Taesan extended his hand to the boy.

Surprised by how readily Taesan accepted, the boy was momentarily taken aback.

“Th-thank you…”

He held Taesan’s hand tightly, as if clinging to its warmth.

Holding Taesan’s hand, the boy fell asleep, his breathing soft and steady.

Time passed, and soon a day had gone by.

The time had come for the curse the boy had described to activate.

At that moment, Taesan felt it.

Beyond the physical realm, something was being activated.

Centered around the boy, an intense force began manifesting, ready to reshape the world.

This force was divine.

Crack.

The ground began to fracture. The divine power aimed to destroy everything around the boy.

Taesan elevated his aura.

His powerful energy enveloped the space, crushing the divine force and suppressing it.

The divine power disintegrated under the weight of Taesan’s aura.

The boy remained asleep.

Taesan looked beyond the immediate space.

The source of the power manifesting around the boy was not the boy himself. Someone far away was deliberately influencing this place.

“So that’s how it is.”

He was starting to understand.

The next day, the boy woke up.

The meadow was as beautiful as ever.

“…”

The boy stared at the meadow in disbelief.

The same pattern followed for the next trial. The boy stayed in one place for a day.

 The divine power tried to activate from beyond, but Taesan used his strength to crush it. Consequently, nothing around the boy was destroyed.

“What’s happening?”

That night, the boy stared into the campfire, mumbling.

“Why… why is nothing happening?”

The boy had no idea that Taesan was dispelling the curse every time it tried to activate. From his perspective, it was as though the curse had suddenly stopped.

If it had only happened once, he might have dismissed it as a coincidence. But this was the third time. Now, he was genuinely starting to doubt.

He wanted to believe the curse had lifted.

But he couldn’t let himself believe it.

Conflicting emotions stirred within him.

“Ugh…”

The boy’s tears fell as he curled up.

“Why? Why… Why… Is this some kind of cruel joke? If it was going to end, why couldn’t it have ended sooner…”

The boy sobbed, his body shaking, until he eventually fell asleep from exhaustion.

All the while, he clung tightly to Taesan’s hand.

With his free hand, Taesan gently brushed the boy’s hair.

How long had it been since this boy had held another person’s hand?

Throughout their journey, the boy had shared many stories with Taesan.

None of them mentioned his parents.

It was as if he was deliberately avoiding any thought of them.

“Hmm.”

Minerva had confirmed that such a curse couldn’t stem from divine blood alone.

And Taesan had identified the force surrounding the boy.

If he stayed in one place for more than a day, a divine power would manifest from beyond, causing destruction around him.

And then there was the persistent gaze watching over the boy.

Someone was intentionally activating the curse.

Taesan released the boy’s hand.

[You have activated Follower of the Wolf.]

“Guard him.”

Two spectral wolves nodded silently. Created from Taesan’s own aura, they would alert him immediately if anything happened.

With that, Taesan took a step.

[You have activated Leap.]

He soared through the night sky.

[You have activated Reconnaissance.]

[Where are you headed?]

“To the place the boy mentioned.”

His destination was the cave the boy said had been ruined by his curse.

Taesan arrived there shortly after. Traveling at the boy’s pace had taken longer, but for Taesan, it was only a matter of minutes.

Thud.

Taesan landed on the blighted ground.

Around the small cave, all vegetation was dead.

The lake was dried up, and the land was barren, unable to sustain life.

[You have activated Leraje’s Field of Detection.]

Dark energy spread over the blighted land, transmitting information back to Taesan.

And with it, he realized the truth.

“A land deliberately poisoned by someone.”

This land had been ruined with clear intent.

And he could feel traces of divine energy within it.

Now he was almost certain. Taesan spoke aloud.

“Come out.”

Clang.

With a metallic sound, a golden knight emerged from the desolate landscape.

“…I warn you, vile unbeliever.”

His voice grated like scraping metal.

“Stay away from the cursed child, or divine retribution will fall upon you.”

“Who are you?”

“I am the First Knight of His Majesty the Emperor.”

The knight spoke with pride. Taesan gazed at him quietly.

The knight was powerful.

He could likely descend as far as the 50th floor or beyond.

‘But he’s warped.’

The power was not his own. It had been bestowed upon him by another.

“Leave this world at once, vile unbeliever.”

“What if I refuse?”

Taesan answered.

The knight drew his golden sword with a sharp clang.

“Then die by my hand.”

The knight’s body vanished in an instant.

Even a well-trained knight or battle-hardened mercenary wouldn’t be able to track his speed. A lesser being would be killed before they could even react.

The knight was certain that his sword would strike Taesan’s neck before he could do anything.

“!”

But the knight was shocked. His sword, which was aimed at Taesan’s throat, was stopped, held firmly in Taesan’s hand.

Horrified, the knight tried to pull his sword free.

But it didn’t budge.

It was as immovable as if it had been embedded in solid rock.

“Y-you…”

Crunch.

The sword shattered.

The knight stumbled back in panic. Taesan tossed aside the broken blade and asked the knight a question.

“Why is the Emperor targeting the child with divine blood?”