The Harvest of Shadows – Chapter 123
The Harvest of Shadows – Chapter 123
Ren kept running.
His footsteps echoed in the wide, hollow halls of the Cursed Warehouse. His body felt heavy, his breathing ragged, but his mind was sharp. Every second mattered. Every moment of his remaining connection to Rika had to count.
He stopped at a corridor with a rusted sign:
Sealed Curses.
Ren didn't hesitate. He kicked the door open—
BANG!
—splinters of old wood scattering as he rushed inside.
His eyes swept the room.
… Nothing impressive. A few containers with grade-1-level curses, sealed and humming faintly. Nothing that screamed potential. Nothing that could help him now.
"Fucking waste of time!" he snarled under his breath.
Then his eyes caught something—a scroll.
He grabbed it, reading the label:
"Sealing Curses: A Primer."
Without hesitation, Ren shoved it toward Kai3.
The inventory curse's mouth opened unnaturally wide and swallowed the scroll whole.
Ren left the room and kept moving, his tone bitter as he muttered,
"Where is the cursed Death Womb Painting?"
He turned a corner—and stopped dead.
There it was.
A door labeled :Historic Relics.
Ren's pulse spiked.
"Yes… If they're here, this is where they'd keep them. Anything valuable, anything forbidden—this is where I'll find it."
He pushed the door open and hopped inside.
The room was dim, filled with aged artifacts, brittle scrolls, and what looked like junk. At the far end, a glass coffin held a preserved body, the air smelling faintly of old talismans.
Ren approached it, curiosity piqued.
The nameplate read:
Mummified Sorcerer "Aochi"
An Edo-period barrier specialist who asked to be preserved after death.
Ren stared for a moment, unimpressed.
"Useless. There's nothing about him having a strong CT. Letting Rika eat him would be a waste. I've never even heard of this Aochi."
He turned away.
And then—he saw them.
His breath caught.
On a reinforced shelf sat nine containers.
Six on the upper rack, three on the lower.
Cursed Womb: Death Paintings.
Ren's lips curled into a grin. He already had a guess who the three on the bottom shelf were.
Without hesitation, Ren grabbed the five on the top shelf.
"Kai3, eat them," he ordered.
The inventory clerk eagerly devoured the containers one by one.
Then Ren picked up one of the lower containers and summoned Rika. Her massive form materialized, silent and obedient.
"Rika. Eat that."
The moment Rika's maw closed over the container and consumed the death painting, Ren felt it.
Like hot iron in his veins.
Blood Manipulation.
A faint version, incomplete, but still—his mind lit up with the understanding.
Ren stumbled slightly. His pulse quickened. It felt… odd.
"Ah… So it's still blood manipulation, just weaker…" he thought.
"Now… what happens if I keep feeding Rika the death paintings? Could I stack this power? No—not now. I've already copied more than three cursed techniques today. Overdoing this will wreck me. Plus, these can serve as perfect testing material for later."
He moved on, scanning the room.
Nothing else looked useful here.
The last section caught his eye.
A heavy black door labeled :Ritual Tools.
Ren slipped inside.
The room was filled with shelves lined with scrolls, strange talismans, and dusty ceremonial weapons. He rifled through them fast, his eyes scanning for anything worth taking.
Then he saw them.
Three scrolls, wrapped in gold-trimmed paper:
"Cursed Experiments."
"Cursed Tool Creation"
"Forbidden Binding Vows."
Ren's lips curved into a sharp smile.
"Perfect."
He skimmed the first few pages of each, just enough to feel the weight of the knowledge, and then, without hesitation, he tossed them all to Kai3.
The curse swallowed them eagerly.
"Alright," Ren muttered, already turning back. His time was running out.
He sprinted out of the Cursed Warehouse, moving like a crimson shadow.
On his way back, he considered what else could be done.
"Is there anything else? I could maybe raid the morgue… but what's the point of copying more CTs when after five minutes I won't have Rika for the next six months?…"
He slowed. Then—
"Ah… but wait."
Ren stopped at Geto's body.
"Rika. Eat his hand—only his hand."
The monstrous girl obeyed, biting down delicately on Geto's severed wrist and swallowing the flesh.
In that instant, Ren felt it—like opening a new door in his mind.
Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
Weaker than Geto's original, hollow compared to the real deal—but the understanding was there. The principles of it burned into Ren's mind.
"Ah… I don't even care about cursed spirit manipulation itself. What I wanted was the knowledge that comes with it. This will help me later."
Ren turned, his body heavy, his mind sharper than ever.
"I should make sure Panda and Inumaki are fine… Can't have them dying. It'll look bad on me if they do."
Ren found them soon enough.
Panda—bruised and battered, but alive.
Inumaki—also alive, but his arm… was gone.
Ren's gaze lingered.
Rika had eaten it. There was no taking it back.
Ren exhaled.
The battlefield was quiet now…