Chapter 100: A Bold Idea

The stone pillars, radiating a holy, shimmering light, were covered in mysterious, carved markings. Within these indentations, a white glow pulsed rhythmically, flickering like the light of a breathing lamp. Each pillar stood over ten meters apart, connected by heavy iron chains that hung in a slight arc.

Before Colin could finish his observations, a rustling sound erupted from the surroundings. Immediately after, a cacophony of squeaking noises echoed from the walls—growing louder and more insistent, impossible to ignore. It sounded as if countless rats were clawing through the masonry, desperate to tunnel their way into this world.

The stone pillars began to vibrate under the impact, and the heavy chains rattled with a dull, clanking sound. A white barrier, resembling a protective screen, manifested in response to the escalating intensity of the assault. This was the seal containing the ominous presence. Yet, at this moment, a crack had appeared in one corner—a fissure just large enough for a child to squeeze through.

Through the translucent screen, they saw an altar piled high with white bones. In the center was a patch of darkness—not merely shadow, but, more accurately, a "void." It was pitch black simply because there was nothing there. It was like a hole in the layers of reality itself, through which an endless stream of bizarre, unknown "rats" were attempting to crawl out. At the edge of the light, Colin and the others could see numerous rats, some crawling and some standing, staring fixedly at them, as if waiting for the perfect moment to swarm.

"Stay calm. We are still safe for now." The fact that they hadn't all surged through that large gap suggested that "rats" were merely a manifested form. Colin’s thoughts raced as he spoke in a measured, soothing tone to calm the panicked group. However, there was nothing he could do for the survivors who were curled on the ground, shivering like fledgling birds. Unless he gave each of them a "Recovery Card," they would struggle to recover in the short term. He only had three of those, and since they might be needed at any moment, he couldn't waste them on minor ailments.

Shaking his head, Colin focused on the pillars and activated his intuition.

[You realize that the pillars surrounding the altar are essentially sound, but the holy sigil on one of them has been damaged by unknown causes, leading to a crack in the seal.]
[Inside the crack, intangible, shapeless entities have seeped through, manifesting as these "rats."]
[By placing a large quantity of Light-Condensing Stones, you can saturate the pillars with energy and complete the mission requirements.]

"Saturate the load, squeeze out the remaining value—exploitation really is everywhere," Colin muttered. He wondered, *The system didn't ask us to fully seal this breach, so does it fundamentally believe we can't solve this black 'void'?*

While speculating, Colin pulled a Light-Condensing Stone from his pack and hurled it toward the damaged pillar. It landed with a thud just a few meters away. Squinting, he observed closely and soon saw a unique force emanating from the pillar, drawing the light out of the stone. The special energy inside the small rock was quickly drained, flowing entirely into the pillar. However, because one stone contained so little energy, no one felt any change.

[You realize that the seal is self-repairing.]

*It works.* Confident in this, Colin retrieved the rest of the collected Light-Condensing Stones, ready to throw them all. But just then, he felt a searing pain in his arm. He looked down, saw the characters appearing on his skin, and a bold idea struck him. He withdrew his gaze from his arm and looked at Li Chou.

"B-boss, what are you..." Li Chou flinched under his stare.

Colin didn't answer immediately. After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "Are you really yourself?"

"Of course, Boss, you know me..." Li Chou’s expression grew serious. "If I were a fake..."

"No need to say it, I believe you." Colin nodded and gestured for him to come closer. "Come here, let me confirm something carefully."

"Of course... but Boss, what are you doing?" Li Chou watched, bewildered, as Colin pulled a palm-sized, rust-covered triangular shield from his pack.

"Be good, let me check if your recent 'fission' developed normally." *If there weren't twenty-six people in our team, I would have almost believed your nonsense,* Colin thought to himself. He pointed the "Knight’s Notarized Shield" at the man and said with solemn gravity: "Under the witness of the Knight’s Notarized Shield, I initiate a fair and just duel against the living entity before me..."

As his voice faded, the scene around them seemed to stretch and pull away. A second later, not far from the group, a man who had previously gone unnoticed stood in a daze, as if waking from a dream. "What happened? Where’s the Boss?"

He scanned the surroundings and realized Colin was gone.

"He forcibly ripped the curse out of your body," Shana explained simply, her azure eyes fixed on the blurry "dueling grounds."

This was not the first time she had forcibly stripped away this curse. She had tried it once before, dragging the curse's core out to duel it. She had killed it easily, and when the avatar was slain, the curse's true form appeared for the first time. But shortly after appearing, it had returned to Li Chou. This process could not be stopped; it would return to the host again and again, creating avatars and summoning monsters until it finally killed the host. That was why Colin’s prompt had warned him that he could only strip it away for a few minutes.

But just now, Colin had found a better way.

"I swear, in this battle, I renounce the use of weapons; for the sake of fairness, the opponent shall also be unable to use weapons."
"I swear, in this battle, I shall only move forward; for the sake of fairness, the opponent shall only be able to move forward."
"I swear, in this battle, I renounce all defensive actions; for the sake of fairness, the opponent shall be unable to perform any effective defense."

The oath was sealed. The stripped-away curse, still wearing Li Chou’s face, stood silently, seemingly suppressed. But when the third minute arrived, it suddenly lunged at Colin with a distorted expression. Colin stood his ground, locked his gaze on it, and unleashed a "Mental Pierce," causing the Li Chou-shaped figure to explode on the spot.

It was dead. The duel was over.

However, due to the unique nature of the curse, once it perished, a terrifying, humanoid shadow emerged. It resembled a "slender man" with perfectly normal proportions. It stood there silently, like a three-dimensional shadow, motionless. Colin’s eyes grew cold. He activated "Hunt Time," rushed forward, and grabbed hold of the eerily proportioned figure.