21: Arc Two: Rise Of The Masked Swordsman.

This is the beginning of the second arc of the story and the one before the next volume of the story.

I hope you enjoyed the last twenty chapters although it was a bit stale.

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Through a dark alleyway, the soft footsteps of a person could be heard as they slowly walked through, threading lightly across the marbled ground.

The young man heaved a sigh as he walked out of the alleyway and onto the lights that lit up the streets.

" Damnit it, I lost sight of the damn bastard." He whined, darting his gaze around the area while gritting his teeth.

After looking around he quickly took to his heels and began running forward amidst the crowd. He was desperately trying to catch up to someone but the streets were far too crowded.

As for who it was he had his eyes on; a young man dressed in a brown coat walking by the side of a lady and seemed to carrying something with both arms.

" When did he..."

Now forced to blend in with the slowly moving crowd, he continued to trail forward while keeping his gaze on the target.

It was a long while of him trailing behind his target but as they continued moving forward, the number of people in his way slowly began to lessen.

" Damnit, I need to hurry up." He mumbled, taking to his heels once again.

One more step and a turn to the right was all it took for his greatest fear to come to reality.

The cry of a baby was heard from the distance and enhancing his hearing with mystic energy, he could hear the muffled cries of a woman.

A great amount of pent-up fury built up inside him and just as he arrived at the scene, all he saw was blood splattered on all sides of the walls against the alleyway.

" What are those damn exorcists even doing. Things like this shouldn't be happening with them around."

" Ohh, I knew there was someone following me around..." A voice came, accompanied by heavy footsteps, " I was planning to make my feast a better one but it seems you had to get in my way."

A resounding cackling and unhinged laughter came after that, prompting him to clench his fist as he tried to process the situation before him.

In that instant, he sensed a considerable amount of mystic energy come flying towards him.

Quickly moving out of the way, his katana instantly appeared in his right hand and he ran forward with it.

His current opponent was only standing a few meters away from him with his victim firmly held in his right hand.

The ferocious curse had already devoured the child it was carrying and the baby's mother wasn't far from death either, standing in her pool of blood.

" Damn you! Bastard!" He yelled at the top of his lungs as he quickly closed the gap between the both of them.

Just as he met with the curse, he quickly slid to the side with a slash of his sword, aiming to avoid the wounded lady as much as possible.

The curse quickly threw her away as it jumped away from the range of his sword. A wide grin appeared on its face as it stared at him and his limbs slowly began to extend.

Its skin was greyish in colour with red eyes that began glowing as soon as it went into battle. It could also change the physical state of its body at will and be a pain for melee ranged fighters like him.

The curses extended limbs quickly went straight for him and he charged towards it at the same time.

They were fast and wriggling as he changed their trajectory each time in an attempt to hit him at a vital spot.

He was moving as quickly as he could as well, slashing at the extended limbs with each step as he inched closer to the creature.

" Well, it's the first time I'm facing one as skilled as you!" It yelled at the top of its lungs as it retracted its limbs.

It had reduced its defense at the most dire times for reasons he didn't know but he had swung his sword either way, aiming for the creature's head.

It felt like a hot knife through butter; there weren't any struggles as his sword went through its neck.

" Don't tell that's the best you got."

He gasped in shock as he turned around while moving away from the curse. His eyes were slightly widened as he stared at the curse which was standing there completely fine.

" Well, now I wonder, what could your class be? Hahaha, the power of curses is measured by the amount of fear being manifested by them at the present moment, so I won't be doing anything cheeky as revealing my power to you." The curse said slowly walking towards him, " that doesn't apply to you exorcists now does it. So tell me, what is your system class? You haven't revealed it since the beginning of our battle."

He chuckled slightly as his expression of shock slowly turned into a grin.

" Let's just say, it's something that you'll fear for the rest of your existence." He said, taking his preferred sword stance, "If you survive this battle that is."

They charged straight towards each other once again but this time just as he was about to swing his sword; his arm moving sideways at great speeds, he suddenly vanished.

The ferocious creature was confused at what had suddenly happened but what it felt next was mystic energy welling up behind it.

It turned around quickly, only to feel his presence behind it before its head went flying straight off.

The creature fell straight to the ground as dark red blood began to soak the same place where it lay.

" Hahahaha! Hahahaha! You're way better than I imagined you to be boy. You exorcists truly are growing in power but I have my ways."

The moment he heard the voice coming from the supposedly dead body, he tried to stab it, aiming for the chest where its core was located.

In that moment it split into many pieces and slid into buildings through their doors and windows.

" Damnit." He cursed under his breath as his eyes quickly began to dart around the area.

[Skill: Specification copy awakening now active]

[Copied Specification: Future gaze now active]

Just as he closed his eyes momentarily and opened them, they began to shine with a bright blue glow.

That was when he ran around the alleyway, crashing down the door as he barged into one of the buildings.

It seemed that they were all startled by what was happening outside but none of them had dared to check what it was; curses were known far and wide among human beings and eighty percent of deaths each year were caused by them.

" Get down damnit!" He yelled as he ran towards the little boy standing by the stairs.

He had tried all he could but he just wasn't fast enough; the projectile that was launched pierced straight through the boy's chest and through his heart as well.

At that moment he felt a strange feeling well up in his heart but he didn't need anyone to tell him that it was already over for the boy.

He closed the gap between them quickly and just as he did, sparks of lighting instantly engulfed his entire body along with his sword.

The swing of his sword came faster this time and stronger as well but it was barely able to cut through the curse's hard skin.

" Well now, it seems that's all you've got." The curse said, grinning wildly at him, "It's time for humanity's end to become reality."