"Two methods?"
Leinas entire body trembled. Her voice quivered with a blend of disbelief and anticipation. Though she had hoped the strange alchemist before her might offer a solution to her curse, she hadn't expected anything so soon.
No one could possibly resolve a curse of this magnitude overnight.
"If you can really lift the curse on my face… I'll pay whatever price I can."She took a step forward, her gaze intense and unwavering.
"Heh."Imina, lounging on the sofa with her arms behind her head, gave a low laugh.
"Don't celebrate too early."Minori glanced at Leinas. His tone was flat, indifferent to her desperation.He wasn't particularly interested in vague promises or emotional pleas.
"Control it. Learn to wield the curse power that's already within you. Once you reach a certain level of mastery, the corruption on your face will fade naturally."
It was a calm but cutting statement.
During the night, Minori had observed the curse through his unique abilities.
It was no simple external affliction. The disfigurement on her face stemmed from within.
Not just due to the cursed creature that had attacked her—but because Leinas herself lacked the ability to control the cursed energy her body now contained.
From what Minori could infer, once she advanced her class—[Cursed Knight]—to level 3, the corruption would begin to stabilize.
It wasn't a matter of healing.
It was a matter of reclaiming control.
This, too, was a flaw of the New World's bizarre class system.
People here could often leap straight into advanced job classes without any foundation. In a game, this shortcut made sense.
But in reality?
Skipping fundamentals meant one's body couldn't properly handle the power they were given.
Minori, even as a [Player], had needed six valuable skill points just to obtain the "Genius" profession.The price of power was always steep.
Leinas looked confused. Her blue eyes flickered with frustration.
"Control… the power in my body?"
She wanted to. Of course she did.
But how could she grasp something she didn't even understand?
Minori understood that feeling. In the New World, mastering a profession meant undertaking specific training or rituals.It wasn't a question of motivation.
It was like asking a child to solve a formula in advanced mathematics—
You couldn't even begin, because you didn't know the language.
"The second method," Minori continued, voice even.
Leinas straightened up.
"...Die once."
The room froze.
A tense silence, like a drawn bowstring.
Whoosh!
Imina's body twisted. In an instant, she sprang from the sofa, her slim fingers flashing to her waist.
Her feet landed on the coffee table. Two violet ponytails swung wildly as she raised her dagger—
Clang!
The knife sliced through the air—fast and deadly.
Leinas expression turned cold. She gripped the hem of her grey robe, twisted it like a rope, and lashed out mid-step.
Bang!The robe-whip knocked the dagger out of the air with explosive force.
Imina flipped off the table, gracefully rebounding near the stairway behind Minori.Now she held a shortbow. Her amber eyes narrowed.
"Reshoot."
A brown glow shimmered across her arrow as she drew the string.
Whoosh!
The arrow tore through the air like a thunderclap.
But—
Leinas was faster.
She reached into the leather pouch at her waist—what looked like a small waterskin—and pulled out a black spear, nearly her own height.
"Accelerate the flow!"
With a cry, water magic surged. Her figure blurred—an afterimage splitting into two shadows from opposite sides, only to merge mid-leap.
Then—
Buzz—
The very air trembled.
A brilliant white light burst forth between Leinas and Imina.An ethereal form took shape—
A Fire Archangel, radiant and towering, its burning wings spreading wide.
Bang! Bang!
Leinas spear clashed against the angel's flaming sword, producing deep, concussive impacts.
Meanwhile, Imina's glowing arrow struck the angel's armor with a loud clang, denting it—but not penetrating.
The impact of the three forces blew through the room. Chairs toppled. Dust exploded into the air.
Angel?!A Fire Archangel?!
Both Leinas and Imina froze.
Then, together, their eyes snapped toward Minori, still standing calmly halfway up the stairs.
"What are you doing?"
Minori's mouth twitched in exasperation. "I said 'die once,' not 'start a battle royale in my living room.'"
"Weren't you going to kill her?"Imina didn't lower her bow. She just tilted her head, watching the angel closely.
Of course. She'd suspected this man had hidden strength when he didn't flinch against last night's intruders.
But to summon a third-tier Fire Archangel?
That required power comparable to a platinum-ranked adventurer.
Now it was confirmed.
She tightened her grip. With the angel nearby and her own support, that blonde woman might not be too hard to handle after all.
Leinas said nothing.
But her spear still pressed against the flaming blade, the metal creaking with strain.
The long blonde hair trailing over her scarred cheek made her expression unreadable.
"Sorry. Poor choice of words."
Minori sighed and waved his hand.
The Fire Archangel shimmered, then dissolved into glowing motes of light.
His posture clearly showed he had no intention to fight.
"Letting someone 'die once' doesn't sound like a joke," Imina muttered, finally lowering her bow.
Minori shrugged.
Honestly, it had been a logical suggestion.
But he could see why it caused panic.
"I don't joke," Leinas said coldly, her spear still drawn. Her expression was firm. "Especially not about this."
Minori met her gaze.
"It wasn't a joke. I was being serious.""If you die—and someone revives you using the fifth-tier spell Raise Dead—the curse afflicting you should vanish."
That's how status effects worked.
"Raise Dead" was the lowest resurrection magic. It always reduced the target's level by four upon revival.
For someone like Leinas, who likely needed just one level lost to purge the instability from her [Cursed Knight] class, this would suffice.
Other resurrection spells existed, of course:
7th-tier: Resurrection (only -3 levels),
9th-tier: True Resurrection (only -2 levels, no corpse needed).
But in this world, such spells were nearly mythical.
And even Raise Dead was beyond the reach of most clergy in the Baharuth Empire.
Let alone the logistics—the idea of deliberately dying required extraordinary courage.
If the caster failed…If the revival was delayed…If the soul couldn't return…
Leinas would be gone forever.
She knew this. Minori could see it in her eyes.
"Letting such a beautiful woman die..."Imina exhaled dramatically. "You're heartless, Alchemist."
She now understood what Minori had meant.And with a glance at Leinas, she pieced together who the woman might truly be.