The Third King's Curse

1. The Price of Momentum

Three Kings remained.

And the realm was starting to notice.

Whispers spread across sects and strongholds:

"Someone's killing the Kings."

"A rebellion? Impossible. They were wiped out."

"No. Not wiped out—reborn."

The Five Kings had ruled unchallenged for decades, propped up by reputation, suppression, and rewritten history. Now, one by one, they were being dragged down.

And the survivors?

They were unraveling.

Especially the Third King.

2. The Cursed One

The Third King had once been known as the Healer King—a divine physician who brought dying lands back to life.

But those days were long gone.

Now he lived deep in the Sorrow Marsh, hidden behind cursed fog and spectral spirits. His cultivation methods had twisted over time—blood replaced medicine, curses replaced healing. He had turned his own body into a living laboratory of forbidden techniques.

Some say he made a pact with a Dead God.

Others say he simply lost his mind after the death of his wife.

But all agreed:

He was not human anymore.

3. A Desperate Trap

Back at camp, Haeun stared at the map drawn from stolen cult documents. The Third King's fortress sat at the edge of the marshlands, but the location wasn't the real problem.

It was the pattern.

"This place is cursed to reset every day at dawn," Haeun said. "Like a loop."

"So… what, we get trapped forever?" Jin asked, eyes narrowing.

"Only if we enter without a plan," Haneul replied.

They decided to test it.

Haeun would enter first—alone.

Leave a marker.

Exit.

Repeat.

They did this three times.

And on the third attempt?

The marker was gone.

4. The Loop Begins

They entered together at sunset.

The marsh was silent at first—just water, fog, and the faint hum of crickets.

Then the fog shifted.

Not rolled. Not drifted.

Shifted. Like it had awareness.

"We're inside," Haneul whispered. "No way out until sunrise."

"Or until we kill him," Haeun said.

Cursed spirits began to appear.

Not hostile.

Just… watching.

Hundreds of them, lining the path like an audience.

Some whispered warnings.

Others wept.

But none interfered.

And as they reached the edge of the inner sanctum, they saw him:

The Third King.

But barely.

He was more curse than man—his body veiled in writhing black Qi, limbs elongated, his spine arched backward unnaturally. His face was concealed behind a smooth, pale mask.

"You brought death into my home," he said calmly. "But I already live with it."

5. The Cursed Battlefield

The entire marsh shifted. Trees bent inward. The water turned black. The cursed spirits began to chant in a forgotten tongue.

And the Third King moved.

Not fast—but impossibly fluid.

He vanished and reappeared behind Jin, slamming him into the ground. Haeun barely caught his aura in time to intercept a strike aimed for Haneul's neck.

But the attacks weren't meant to kill.

They were designed to curse.

Every blow added a mark.

Every mark chained their movements, weakened their Qi, disrupted their Dantians.

"He's infecting us," Jin muttered, coughing blood. "This whole place is a cultivation trap."

Haeun gritted his teeth.

"Then we break it."

6. Reverse the Curse

Jin began targeting the spirits instead of the King, disrupting the ritual loop feeding him strength. Each arrow that pierced a chanting specter unraveled one of the curses on their bodies.

Haneul drew his blade across his own hand, using blood Qi to redirect the infection from his system into his sword—turning it into a cursed weapon.

And Haeun?

He closed his eyes.

Let the curse in.

Welcomed it.

"You want to feed on us?" he said, aura trembling. "Then choke."

He used the Mind Dantian to trap the curse within himself, cycling it through the Spirit Core and purifying it in real-time.

For a brief moment—his body was both cursed and divine.

That moment was all he needed.

He blinked.

And appeared in front of the King.

7. The Face Beneath the Mask

He struck.

Palm to chest.

Dantian to heart.

The King's body convulsed.

But didn't fall.

Instead, the mask cracked.

And then crumbled.

The face beneath was… human.

Sickly. Broken. Crying.

"I didn't want this," the Third King whispered. "I just wanted her back…"

And then the spirit of a woman appeared—hovering just beyond him. Watching. Not speaking.

Haneul lowered his blade.

Jin didn't fire.

But Haeun?

He said only this:

"You cursed yourself. You cursed others. You don't get to mourn."

He let the curse return to the King's body.

And it devoured him.

8. Daybreak

As the sun crested the marsh, the fog retreated.

The loop ended.

The cursed spirits bowed—then dissolved into mist.

And the marsh was quiet once more.

The trio stood at the center, exhausted.

"Three down," Haneul said. "Two to go."

Jin didn't respond.

He looked out over the water.

A lotus had bloomed where the King's body once lay.

But it was black.

And inside it?

A shard of something ancient.

The cult's symbol.

9. Back at Sealed Moon Temple

The silver-haired girl with no eyes dipped her brush again.

Two more candles flickered out.

"They're getting faster."

A voice echoed from behind the veil.

"The Fourth King has already gone into hiding."

"It won't be enough," she replied. "They've already become what we feared."

She turned the scroll around.

It showed three silhouettes surrounded by flames.

And beneath them, a phrase written in divine ink:

"Only the Sleeper may stop them now."