I Can Copy Curses

There was only darkness. Everywhere he looked, shadows stretched endlessly, deep and unyielding. No light flickered in the distance, no sound disturbed the silence. It was as if he had slipped into a realm where nothingness itself was the only reality—an empty void that defied all sensation, all presence.

That was how Orion felt at that moment. It was an isolation so complete it felt woven into his very being, wrapping around his senses and dulling them. He could feel his own thoughts drifting like whispers in a cavern, echoing back at him in the emptiness. Every question he asked himself met only silence, and every attempt to ground himself in his surroundings fell flat against the void.

In that boundless stillness, doubt crept in. Had he truly been left alone here? Was this endless dark meant to be his final resting place?

He could never, in his wildest dreams, have believed that the old man who called himself God would kill him just because he questioned his means, just because he exposed his dark side, and just because he showed his anger toward him.

'But where am I?'

Orion could feel his thoughts inside his head, but he wondered how that was even possible if he had died. How could he think when he was dead?

'I can't speak, I can't see, I can't feel anything. The only thing I can do is think.'

And yet, even in this absolute silence, there was something—a presence. It was faint, barely there, like a whisper he couldn't quite hear, a shadow just out of sight. He couldn't see or sense anyone, but he felt it—a warmth in the vast coldness, a quiet reassurance that he was not alone.

It felt as though someone was there beside him, steady and constant, like a hand reaching out in the darkness. This presence, whoever—or whatever—it was, seemed to watch over him, filling him with a sense of calm. The despair gnawing at him began to ease, replaced by a glimmer of hope.

'Is someone… here?' he thought, unable to shake the feeling that, somehow, he wasn't entirely alone in this place after all.

***

Somewhere in the Limitless Void, there existed a castle like those of ancient times. It was pitch black in color and appeared much larger than castles of old, with some sci-fi blends to it.

A middle-aged man was sitting cross-legged on the ground in one of the rooms of the palace. Just in front of him lay a magic circle that shone in a bright blue light, illuminating the entire room.

The middle-aged man's long, white hair flowed naturally down to his shoulders as he looked straight at the spherical bowl lying at the center of the magic circle before him.

Two shadows, one black and one white, could be seen swirling around the spherical ball like yin and yang, fiercely competing against each other, yet maintaining a delicate balance.

"I finally found you," the middle-aged man muttered, beginning to laugh like a madman. "HAHAHA, just for this soul, my ancestors decided to hide from the world. They formed the Hades Reapers assassin's organization just so people would fear them and not disturb them—all for this, all for everything he did for this foolish piece of soul?"

He felt deeply disturbed that his entire family, along with the generations before him, had done nothing but search for a certain man across the world. They had been unsuccessful in finding him, but he had finally succeeded. He found him; however, things didn't go as planned when his wife decided to kill that person. He hadn't been aware of that, but the person survived, which was surprising, considering they had never failed to kill anyone before.

"But how are you reduced to this state? Are you really not the one we have been searching for?" the middle-aged man asked, looking at the spherical ball, but he received no answer. The black and white shadows inside continued to swirl around the sphere, unaware of the middle-aged man.

The man sighed and stood up. He took the spherical ball in his hand and disappeared from the room.

Elsewhere in the same castle, a woman was sitting beside a bed where a girl of about twenty years old lay sleeping. Her hair was a mixture of grey and white, and her skin was pale as she slept peacefully.

"I found him." The middle-aged man entered the room, holding the spherical ball, and presented it to the woman. "This is Orion Darkwood—or what's left of him."

The woman's expression turned restless as she looked at him. "You used your forbidden sub-ability?" she asked, her voice cracking with fear.

The middle-aged man laughed. "It's the least I can do for our daughter."

"Sigh, however, the results aren't satisfactory. I had hoped to capture Orion using my forbidden ability, but what I got was merely a soul residue waiting to be drawn into the abyss." He sighed.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The woman's face became solemn. "You should have let me continue my hunt for Orion Darkwood. At least that way we could have had his body, or we could have captured his soul when he was still alive. That would have been more useful than this residue of his."

The middle-aged man sighed. "It mentioned only the resonance with the bearer of the Black Sword—the only Demigod in existence—could wipe away the curse running through our family."

His expression turned grave as he continued. "But you heard the test results that came out some days ago. Orion doesn't have the Demigod bloodline despite possessing the Black Sword. It doesn't make sense at all. Because of this, I was forced to use my forbidden ability, but it seems I was a bit too late. Someone else got to him before I could bring him here." He sighed.

The woman's face became somber as she looked at her daughter. "Will she be able to awaken?" Tears streamed down her cheeks as she lovingly touched her daughter's forehead.

"We will find something out eventually. We will," the middle-aged man said solemnly.

Just then, a young man burst into the room, his expression anxious as he looked at the middle-aged man in panic. "Father, General Rokh reported that the other races have colluded with the Zenithans and started the war against all humans in the Limitless Void and the Three Domains."

The middle-aged man and the woman were not surprised by the report; the only surprise was that the war had started much earlier than anticipated.

"Was his name Boros? He seemed to have invited you to join under his command," the woman said sarcastically.

The middle-aged man nodded. "His name was indeed Boros, but what he wanted from me was a loyal servant… sigh. I had to reject it under such circumstances. However, that guy's power was on a whole different level than most of us in the Divine Rank, and that makes me wonder what more he could hope to achieve with this war. What is his ultimate goal that he wouldn't think twice before betraying the human race?"

He sighed, deep in thought. Looking at his daughter, he only felt regret for not being able to break the curse, for not being able to awaken her. But for now, he had to leave. "Rowin, stay by her side at all times. I'll assess the situation outside," he said to the woman and left the room with his son.

"Does your grandfather know about this?" he asked the young man.

"No, I informed only you," the young man said. He too had white hair and bore a strong resemblance to the middle-aged man.

"Good, then we will keep it this way," the middle-aged man nodded as he left the castle with the young man.

***

In the same room the man had just left, the woman held the spherical ball and placed it near her daughter. "Save her, save my daughter," she said softly.

What the woman couldn't see, however, was the quiet, almost ethereal transformation unfolding before her eyes. Invisible, delicate rays of light drifted from her daughter toward the spherical ball, each particle moving with a life of its own. At first, they appeared in tiny flickers—just one, maybe two, sometimes three small points of light at a time—each one merging gently into the sphere.

The movement was painstakingly slow, almost reverent, as if each particle held some deep significance. Though she felt an odd sensation, a subtle shift in the air around her, the woman saw nothing amiss when she looked around. The room appeared as calm and undisturbed as ever, even as something extraordinary was unfolding right before her eyes.

'Did I sense something wrong?' She felt as if someone were there, but only her daughter was present. 'I guess all the worry is taking a toll on me.' She sighed and closed her eyes, resting.

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