Chapter 260: Uplifting The Curse

Although I said all that, I was clueless about where Lazuli had taken the two siblings, so it would be a while before I found them; well, at least I thought so until I felt something emerge from my chest directly where my heart was.

Looking down, I removed my shirt and chest piece, only to see a metallic object sticking out of my chest, pointing towards my left, causing me to tilt my head as I turned left, making the metallic object now point straight.

"Hmm, didn't Lazuli say she keeps a part of herself around my heart? Maybe this is the piece of herself that she was referring to." Muttered Alexander softly in slight confusion as he rubbed his head while gently touching the metallic object, which behaved similarly to a liquid, although it wasn't one.

Anyways, seeing how this metallic object sticking out of my chest wasn't hurting me and was pointing in a direction, I just assumed it was Lazuli guiding me, so I took off into a full-on sprint. While dashing through the forest, I made whatever slight adjustments the metallic object made, ever so slightly heading right.

Since I could not gauge how far away they were or how long this would take, I sang one of Master's favorite songs along the way. Although I didn't really like the song, I listened to it enough that I now know the lyrics by heart.

'Haa, I'll need to have a discussion with Master about her taste in music whenever I die. How are you going to live for over 2,000 years and listen to this nonsense?' Thought Alexander with a sigh as he eyed the sky, only to shake his head a few moments later.

Several minutes passed while I darted through the forest; the trees were practically disappearing at the speed at which I was moving, but after twenty or so minutes, I finally began to slow down as the metallic object started to point downwards.

By the time I came to a stop, the metallic object was already pointing downwards, causing me to look at the ground while I summoned Trina into my hand.

'Master, please don't use me as a shovel! I've been a good girl! Use elder sister instead!' Said Trina with a teary-eyed expression as she got onto her knees and begged before pointing at Zartha, whose expression morphed into a scowl.

Before I could even respond to Trina, the ground beneath my feet trembled slightly while a thick pillar emerged from the ground, causing me to step backward as I patiently waited. Only when the pillar reached a height comparable to the trees, which were extremely tall, easily taller than any tree from my past world, did I finally start to see an opening within the pillar, revealing an utterly gorgeous Elven woman with long red hair, causing me to gulp from her sheer beauty.

Following her appeared a woman I've come to love despite her bland expressions most of the time, and yes, her beauty was comparable to that of the woman before. Lastly, there was a man who could've been easily mistaken for a young woman.

Once I saw Lazuli, she flashed me a faint smile, which served to reinvigorate me, but also, the metallic object sticking out of my chest re-entered my body.

'So I was correct. Weird.' Mused Alexander with a curious expression as he wore his shirt and chestpiece.

"Glad to see you all are safe. Especially you, Vanye, you looked really terrible last time I saw you." Said Alexander with a smile as he approached Lazuli, tightly embracing her before raising his head and glancing at Vanye, only to see a small, pale-skinned fist.

'Oh, she's pissed.' Thought Alexander lightly as Vanye's fist violently hit his face, snapping his head backward and drawing blood.

Taking a few steps back, I wiped the blood from my nose and glanced at Vanye before raising my hand, stopping Lazuli, who was already raising her hands at Vanye.

Neither of us moved or said anything for several seconds, though I was the first one to break the silence as I cleared my throat before apologizing since I was at fault for the whole ordeal.

"I'm sorry-" Said Alexander apologetically, though he wasn't able to finish speaking as another fist slammed into his face, this time even stronger than before.

Unlike before, she didn't only punch me once; no, she released an onslaught of punches as she repeatedly attacked my face without a shred of mercy, coating her hands in my blood that ended up healing her fists after every attack. This went on for three full minutes, in which not a single person uttered a word; only the sound of her fist repeatedly digging into my face echoed through the forest.

To be honest, this probably would've gone on longer, but her breathing was starting to turn uneven, and it seemed she didn't want to do this until she was exhausted.

"Have you finished?" Asked Alexander softly as he reached into his space pouch, grabbing a cloth while glancing at Vanye with a bloody face.

She didn't say anything and merely lowered her fists, causing me to reach down as I firmly grabbed her wrist and cleaned her hand, which she surprisingly didn't try to fight me against; once I finished cleaning both of her hands, I cleaned my face before tossing the cloth back into my space pouch.

"No need to glare at her like Lazuli; I'm fine." Said Alexander with a chuckle as he picked Lazuli up before placing her on his left shoulder, only for him to reach into his pocket, revealing a reddish-black stone.

"Also, here you go, Vanye. It was quite the hassle, but I got the stone." Added Alexander with a faint smile as he handed the stone to Vanye, who stared at it for several seconds before grabbing it from his hand.

"N-Now that we've got the stone, h-how do we remove the curse?" Asked Vanimo in confusion as he glanced between Vanye, Lazuli, and Alexander while the latter clicked his tongue.

"Tsk, so it was cursed all along? That's freaking great." Said Alexander with a raised eyebrow, his words causing Vanimo to nod.

"While you were gone, Vanye had explained the purpose of the stone; she and it are cursed to essentially be one entity. Whatever damage the stone received, she receives, and if the stone is destroyed, well…" Remarked Vanimo with a nod as he looked at the stone before glancing at Vanye, who was deeply staring at it while Alexander nodded.

"How long have you been cursed for?" Asked Alexander curiously as he glanced at Vanye while gently rubbing Lazuli's thigh, occasionally kissing them.

"30 years." Replied Vanye lightly as she gave Alexander a side glance before gazing back at the stone, causing him to widen his eyes.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you Elves live for a long time. Speaking of that, how old are you, Vanimo?" Asked Alexander curiously as he turned and glanced at Vanimo, who faintly smiled.

"I'm 58, and Vanye's 50, she actually just had her birthday last month." Replied Vanimo with a faint smile, his words causing Alexander to nod while shifting his focus back to Vanye.

"Anyway, can I see it Vanye? I might be able to get rid of the curse." Asked Alexander, his words surprising both Vanimo and Vanye, prompting her to hand to him.

"Eh, you mean it, Alex!?" Asked Vanimo in excitement as he looked at Alexander with eyes of excitement while he set Lazuli onto the ground.

"Relax, I said I might. Not that I can." Replied Alexander lightly as he summoned Trina before handing it to Lazuli, who accepted it while silently staring at him.

Squatting down, I grabbed the rock from Vanye's hand and set it on the ground while outstretching my hand towards it before looking at Lazuli.

"If you could do the honors." Asked Alexander, his words causing Lazuli to glare at Vanye while she swung Trina, effortlessly slicing right through his wrist.

Suppressing grunts of pain, I caught my hand and poured my golden ichor onto the reddish-black stone; although my ichor doesn't precisely say it can remove curses, it does say it will eliminate any and all negative effects Legendary and below.

As my blood flowed onto the reddish-black stone, an ear-piercing shriek was heard, along with an excessive amount of steam emitting from the stone, though after a few seconds, it all vanished while a reddish-black aura emerged from the stone before floating towards Vanye, who somehow reabsorbed it.

Seeing that happen, I connected my hand to my wrist and waited a few seconds before letting go.

"Alright, if that didn't look like I had just cleansed the curse, then I don't know what to say." Said Alexander as he grabbed the stone with his left hand and tossed it to Vanye, who caught it, only for reddish-black miasma to engulf her palm, causing the stone to morph into dust.

"I wouldn't be against receiving a thank you." Added Alexander with a faint smirk as he looked at Vanye, only for Vanimo to leap into his embrace.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Stated Vanimo with tears of joy as he hugged Alexander, who gently patted his shoulder with a twitching expression.

"Y-You're welcome." Said Alexander softly as he glanced at Vanimo before looking at Vanye, who turned his back to him, causing him to sigh while Lazuli snorted.

"Pointless." Muttered Lazuli as she stabbed Trina into Alexander, his body absorbing it back into him.