The Strongest Curse Master

Snapping out of Lilith's killing intent, Janice collapsed onto the couch, gasping for breath. But before she could even catch a break, the weight of her armor proved too much—the couch gave out beneath her with a loud crack, sending her crashing to the floor. Humiliated, she slammed her fist against the ground in frustration and cursed, "Damn it!"

Meanwhile, Lilith was still on her warpath. "Sister, pass me an Ocean-tier curse core! I have to kill this Crusader before she can hurt Apex or Doctor Druid!" she yelled, pleading with Elinor to hand over her strongest core so she could fuse with it.

Elinor, trying her best to de-escalate the situation, spoke quickly. "Lilith, settle down. Look at the armor—it's not the same as the one in the comic. And besides, Janice is a close friend of Ace."

Janice, still recovering from her fall, muttered under her breath, "She's not that cute anymore."

Lilith hesitated, narrowing her eyes at Janice. "What if she disguised her armor to trick us?" she asked, still suspicious.

Elinor sighed, pointing out, "I don't think she's that smart."

"Hey! Is this how you thank me for standing against the entire C.I.B. for you guys?" Janice protested.

Lilith studied her for another moment before nodding in agreement with Elinor, "Yeah… she doesn't seem smart enough to pull that off."

"Said the two dumbest people in the room," Soina muttered dryly but Elinor shot back immediately, "No one asked you, turncoat."

Soina glared at her but swallowed her anger, mumbling under her breath, "Just you wait till I top the boot camp and outrank all of you in the C.I.B."

Elinor smirked, "Keep dreaming, turncoat."

Her opinion of Sonia had taken a nosedive ever since she found out that Sonia had tried to threaten Ace by using his mortal family against him. If it weren't for Evil Eyes speaking on her behalf, Elinor would've tossed her out onto the streets without a second thought.

Just as tensions reached a boiling point, a deep, commanding voice cut through the chaos—"Fine. Have it your way."

Everyone's heads snapped toward the source, outside the window. It was Ace. He had clearly run out of patience, and his expression made it clear—he was done waiting for Janice. With a final decision, he used his status screen to issue a command to Doctor Druid: [Flood the damn house.]

"Ace, what the hell are you doing?" Matthews demanded, feeling the ground beneath her tremble violently as if a monstrous earthquake was tearing through it.

But she got no response. Instead, she could only watch in shock as a group of massive roots erupted from the earth, tearing the house from its foundation and lifting it into the sky. The thick vines shattered windows, surging inside like living serpents.

The roots burst forth, flooding the interior in an instant. The roots coiled around Sonia, Elinor, Lilith, and Janice dragging them out of the house like they were nothing more than debris. Delores and Evil Eyes, however, managed to take flight just in time, escaping before the roots could reach them.

Janice and Sonia were unceremoniously slammed into the ground like discarded trash, while Elinor and Lilith slid down the vines like they were on an amusement park ride.

The roots then gently lowered the house back onto solid ground, and as soon as it landed, Janice's curse tool automatically kicked in, restoring the house as if nothing had ever happened.

Ace, ignoring the others entirely, commanded the roots to hoist up the still-dazed Janice, who was still reeling from the rough landing.

Meanwhile, Delores and Evil Eyes remained on standby, watching carefully but making no move to intervene. After all, Ace had yet to show any true intent to harm her.

Ace eyed Janice's armor with a mix of disbelief and disappointment. "Are you seriously cosplaying as a Crusader while I was out there fighting to protect my family? A family you put in harm's way by moving in here?" He scoffed, shaking his head. "My opinion of you just hit an all-time low. And at least if you're going to do it, get the details right. You lost whatever respect I had for you today."

Before Janice could fire back, Lilith, who had been listening intently, suddenly shouted, "I knew it! Crusader!"

She bolted toward Janice at full speed, only for Ace to catch her effortlessly mid-dash.

"Moon Warrior, let's offer her head to the Moon Goddess tonight," Lilith declared fiercely, her eyes locked onto Janice with chilling intensity. Her overwhelming bloodlust flared once again, threatening to drag Janice's consciousness into the abyss of madness.

But before Lilith could do any real damage, Ace gave her a light knock on the head.

"Owwie!" she whimpered, rubbing the sore spot as she pouted up at him, looking more like an upset kitten than a fearsome warrior.

Tearing his eyes away from the unexpected cuteness, Ace turned to Elinor and said, "Somebody needs to start showing her some age-appropriate cartoons before she starts a genocide."

Lilith, still nursing her tiny wound, looked up at Ace with wide, betrayed eyes. "Moon Warrior, why did you hit me?" she asked, her voice filled with hurt.

Ace leaned down and whispered, "First of all, my identity is a secret between us. You can't go around announcing it to everyone. So, just call me Ace."

Seeing her nod in understanding, he smirked and pointed at Janice. "And look at her. Isn't she way too pretty to be a Crusader?"

Lilith stared at Janice for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah… also way too dumb."

Janice finally regained clarity, shaking off the lingering effects of Lilith's madness. With a sharp exhale, she activated her armor, effortlessly breaking free from the roots that had restrained her. Shooting a glare at Lilith, she then turned to Elinor and shouted, "Damn it, Elinor! Tell her to stop doing that! I feel like I'm losing my mind—it's driving me insane! And for some reason, my mental defense curse tools don't even register it as an attack. I don't know how much more of that I can take."

Elinor simply nodded, hoping that would be enough to appease her cousin, but Janice scoffed in frustration, shaking her head, "Fuck... I can't believe I cut ties with the C.I.B. for this."

Before she could stew in her regrets any longer, a familiar voice cut through the tension.

"Hello there. You better have a damn good explanation," Ace said coolly as he placed Lilith down. His expression darkened. "Otherwise, that armor won't be enough to save you from what I have planned for you."

Lilith, oblivious to the tension, skipped over to Elinor like a lost lamb returning to its mother. Meanwhile, Janice let out a deep sigh, rubbing her temples before looking at Ace, "Where do I even begin?"