The Strongest Curse Master

"…I’ll come find you once I secure him," Delores instructed Evil Eyes, handing him a dinosaur plush—Lola’s innate curse tool—before shifting her gaze toward the lobby. She watched as her niece disappeared up the emergency stairs.

Even though Elinor was suspended, she was still a C.I.B. agent, and Delores respected her decision. Without hesitation, she took off after Ace, while Evil Eyes fled the area at his fastest speed.

Upon entering the emergency stairwell, Elinor did not waste time taking the stairs normally. Instead, she gripped the rails, vaulted over, and dropped two floors at a time, repeating the process until she reached the 10th floor—where she stopped as the lower stairwell was completely blocked by rubble and mud.

Someone had deliberately sabotaged the stairs, but the question was: Was it meant to stop those above from going down? Or to keep those below from coming up?

Not letting this obstacle stop her, Elinor stepped into the 10th floor, intending to find another route—perhaps the elevator shaft or the air vents—but what she found instead was a crowd.

The floor was packed.

Most of the people here weren’t combat personnel. Instead, it was filled with logistics workers, janitorial staff, and a handful of guests. Just because someone was a curse user didn’t mean they were a ruthless and skilled killer.

Many tried to live normal lives, clinging to the mundane, refusing to let the "World of Curses" strip them of their old way of life. Besides, not everyone had the talent to climb to higher tiers. The vast majority here were mortal tier, with only a rare few reaching knight tier, but no mortals.

For an ordinary person, even a mortal-tier curse user could be a nightmare opponent. But to the Samsara cult? They were nothing more than new clothes. It was best if these people stayed out of the chaos below.

"Elinor!" A female agent in the crowd called out, but before Elinor could turn to respond—Boom!

A loud noise erupted from the direction of the elevator, cutting through the tense atmosphere like a gunshot. It sounded like someone was trying to force it open.

The entire floor fell silent.

People turned toward the source of the sound, some instinctively reaching for their weapons, bracing for a possible attack.

The noise came again, louder this time.

Elinor ignored her friend and strode toward the elevator, her sharp gaze locking onto the doors that were rattling from the pressure. As she got closer, she saw thick, gloved fingers wedging into the gap, forcefully prying the doors apart.

"Should we help them?" someone in the crowd hesitantly suggested, wondering if it was a trapped ally trying to escape. Given that the elevator was out of order since the attack started not to mention the blocked stairwell, it wasn’t far-fetched to think someone could be stuck inside.

But before anyone could move, the elevator doors were yanked open from the inside with a metallic screech.

A massive figure stepped out.

The man was covered from head to toe in plant-type armor clinging to his body like spandex, every grain of the material almost looking alive. His towering form dominated the space, making it impossible to tell whether he was friend or foe.

The room tensed, everyone poised to attack at the first sign of aggression. Then—

"Elinor?" the armored man suddenly blurted out, sounding surprised to find her before him, ready to attack.

Elinor narrowed her eyes, asking, "Do I know you?" She mentally flipped through her memories, trying to place the voice or the face—what little of it she could see. But nothing came up. No match.

The man shook his head, "No. Forget it. This isn’t the time for introductions."

Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and made a beeline for the emergency stairwell.

Silence fell as everyone watched him approach the blocked-off passage. He barely even acknowledged the debris before shifting his attention to the nearby glass wall.

Without hesitation—without warning—he dashed at it. The crowd instinctively moved aside, not wanting to provoke him. Then, to everyone’s shock, he smashed through the glass and leapt out.

Before they could process what had happened, his figure had vanished. Causing a stunned silence to take over the floor. No one spoke, no one moved.

The silence only broke when someone finally muttered, "…Who the hell was that? He appeared to be cosplaying a moon race warrior from the Doctor Druid comicverse."

Everyone turned to Elinor for answers despite having heard the conversation between her and unknown man loud and clear.

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"I have no idea!" she shouted before sprinting forward and leaping out of the shattered window, following the unknown man.

The 10th floor was high, but for trained curse users, a fall from that height wasn’t an issue. This was exactly why all the non-combat personnel had been gathered here—if the attackers tried to collapse the building, this floor would give them the best chance to escape while ensuring that they were not interfering with the fight below. It was already chaotic, their presence would only feed the chaos.

…

Ace moved swiftly through the shadows, slipping into one of the elevator shafts. Without hesitation, he used Cursed Clout to hitch a ride down, folding the shadows cast by the emergency lights highlighting the maintenance ladder.

He descended quickly, aiming for the bottom floor, where Beyton was being held. But before he could reach his destination, his path was blocked. The shaft below the 10th floor was completely jammed with rubble and mud, sealing it off.

Ace gritted his teeth, deciding to find another way. But fearing that Delores might be checking the shafts to track him down, he hid within the shadows, using Cursed Clout to stay unseen.

Then, without wasting a second, he stripped down and activated Apex Earrings, shifting into his Apex Persona. Next, he retrieved the Doctor Druid’s engineered seed and activated it.

Almost instantly, the seed sprouted, growing around his body and forming a plant-based armor that covered him from head to toe. The material was unlike anything he had ever worn before—it was sturdy yet flexible, providing full mobility while remaining incredibly breathable. It was Doctor Druid’s infamous Bio Armor.

Even his eyes were concealed beneath a thin, organic membrane. Although he could see through it clearly, his eyes were completely hidden from the outside.

This was, without a doubt, the most comfortable armor Ace had ever worn. Also, he didn’t forget to wear Mind Bug’s innate curse tool, a tiara, under his helmet. To use its abilities to help him spot the Rust Worms as he could not use Leprechaun scope in close combat, and also it would give his identity away.

With the tiara securely hidden beneath his helmet, Ace could keep his identity under wraps—and, more importantly, avoid the embarrassment of running around wearing it in plain sight.

Once everything was in place, he took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows.

Bracing himself, he gripped the edges of the elevator doors and began prying them open. He needed to find another way to the basement—fast. He needed to get to the basement holding cells before the Samsara Cult’s fanatics freed Beyton.