Chapter 188 - Dekan's Punishment

Dekan's fingertips kept touching the names on the list. They had all escaped unscathed until the end, and finally, Dekan found today's lucky winner.

"Alright, the decision is made. It's you."

Dekan carefully looked at the name of this fortunate individual.

"Auxton Julius Gaius."

Dekan looked at the name and then retrieved from the scattered files on the table the intelligence investigation records about this name. Quickly, he found the relevant records about Auxton.

The guy Dekan had just selected turned out to be none other than the King of the Rick Kingdom, one of the Northern Countries. Auxton was a powerful old king, his personal strength was that of a tier 6.

"Oh my, I've picked a big fish this time," Dekan clapped his hands, seemingly quite satisfied with the first target for [Dekan's Gospel.]

The intelligence included records of Auxton's image, along with basic information about the Rick Kingdom. Rick Kingdom was a country of moderate size. It was not the leader of the Northern Countries coalition but it had always been a key player in making trouble for Dekan.

Seemingly without hesitation, the kingdom had been targeting Dekan within the Kingdoms Federation. And this old king, in particular, had publicly criticized Dekan without reservation.

"Every debt has its debtor. Can't blame me for picking you," Dekan chuckled as he picked up a pen.

He began writing Auxton's full name, his race and gender in the gospel book, all the while picturing Auxton's appearance in his mind. In the moment when all conditions were met, wisps of eerie black mist began rising from the gospel book.

They floated around Dekan's face and made him look particularly like a visitor from hell. Dekan felt like a significant amount of his magical power had just been drained away.

The operation of the gospel book seemed to have been completed. The dark, eerie magical waves were still, and no more black fog rose from the pages.

"It looks like the curse was successful," Dekan closed the book in his hand.

He felt a burst of exhaustion throughout his body. Using [Dekan's Gospel] not only consumed immense magical power but also placed a heavy burden on the user.

This feeling was indescribable, something Dekan had never experienced before. Dekan was certain that if he were to use this Gospel book again soon, it wouldn't be pleasant.

Soon, Dekan realized another issue. After cursing his enemy, he didn't receive any feedback on the effect!

The enemy was too far away from him.

Although he might be able to gather information about his enemies in the future, Dekan was eager to know its effects as soon as possible as he was still experimenting with the new card. So, if he wanted to quickly complete the testing of the card, he needed to conduct a curse test on someone nearby.

But here came the problem: who should he test it on?

Around Dekan, the only person he could experiment on without any moral burden was Isabel, the one who had given him the [Blood Pact Incantation] back in Tristan City.

"No, she won't do either," Dekan thought as he remembered Isabelle's crazed, masochistic behavior. He really didn't feel like rewarding her.

But the most crucial point was — even though Isabel was bound by the [Blood Pact Incantation,] Dekan didn't want to give her any opportunity to guess the existence of [Dekan's Gospel] as he didn't truly trust her.

Dekan dragged his chin as he sat in the workshop pondering. He wanted to find a solution to the ‘testing’ problem.

"What if we increase the intensity a bit?" Dekan’s master, seeing Dekan's distress, suggested in his mind. Since she also took part in making this equipment, she was also concerned about its effectiveness.

"But using it again will have negative effects."

"If you directly unleash the power of this card by casting the most powerful curse on that king, not only can you test the extent of the side effects and recoil and gather valuable data, you'll have a higher chance of getting feedback sooner."

"That makes sense," Dekan nodded, agreeing with his master.

However, just as he was about to follow his master's advice and increase the intensity, his stomach suddenly growled.

Suddenly, Dekan seemed to realize another problem.

"Wait a minute, Master, are you hoping I'll knock myself out so you can take over my body and go harvest lunch?"

"Tsk."

"Alright, alright, consider it your hard work staying up with me all night. Today's three meals are all yours. Just remember, after you take over my body, make sure to find Croix to heal me."

"Okay."

Dekan's master answered decisively without any sympathy for Dekan. This old demon's only human-like trait was being completely self-centered when it came to food.

But on second thought, even that was quite inhuman.

"Alright, let's go all out."

Once the cooldown time was up, Dekan triggered [Dekan's Gospel] again, targeting the curse towards Auxton.

However, this time, as soon as the curse was triggered, Dekan immediately felt very uncomfortable.

There was no physical harm to his body. Instead, his body, mind, and even his soul were all experiencing pain and depletion. It was not something that could be easily recovered from treatment.

Dekan was very sure that if he cursed for a third time in a short period, he would suffer severe damage!

It was a real risk to life!

So, to test the limits of the book's use, Dekan had to choose to enhance the curse with extra mana during this cursing session. Yet, as the mana poured in, Dekan found that the recoil he was enduring was also becoming more severe.

Finally, after finding a critical point, Dekan stopped. He had been too focused during his earlier use of the gospel book to notice that he had started to nosebleed.

It seemed to be a dangerous line that absolutely could not be crossed. If he wanted to completely cure himself from the recoil of using the gospel book, he’ll probably need two to three days of rest.

During this period, he couldn't use [Dekan's Gospel] again. Otherwise, he would enter a vicious cycle of "exacerbating the recoil before fully recovering."

That said, through the two curses just now, Dekan probably figured out how to use this book safely, easily, and efficiently.

Once recovered, he could use it once a day. During a single use, he could consider infusing some mana to increase the intensity of the curse, but he should try not to use it a second time in one day.

This way, he could easily and happily use a cost-free curse every day!

"I'll let Auxton go for now. I'll wait a day or two to see if there's any news about Auxton of the Rick Kingdom," Dekan said as he put away the gospel book and wiped the blood from his face with a handkerchief.

Although he didn't expect the two curses to transform the old king into anything extraordinary - after all, Dekan had only cursed himself to bleed - he was somewhat hopeful that he could surprise Auxton.

Hopefully, there will be a satisfactory outcome.

Dekan thought optimistically and positively.