Chapter 1772: A True Curse!
Chapter 1772: A True Curse!
A violent sound rang out.
The force he released was enough to shatter boulders and crush the bodies of powerful enemies, yet the small eye did not break.
Not even a crack appeared on it.
Instead, it remained there in the same place, blinking calmly while Max’s crushing grip caused the space around it to twist.
Jessica stared in disbelief. "It did not break?"
Nancy’s eyes narrowed. "It is not a normal object."
Max’s face turned completely cold.
The first failure did not make him stop. It only made him more serious.
Max looked at the small eye in his hand and muttered. "Let’s see how tough this eye truly is..."
As he said those words, he released his grip for a brief moment, then the power in his body surged to an even more frightening degree.
This time, in addition to the first four Divine Veins, he also unleashed the full power of his five thousand Draconic Essences.
Boom!
A monstrous force erupted from Max’s body.
Golden-black draconic power burst outward like a storm awakening from the deepest abyss. The bark-covered ground around him collapsed into a web of cracks. The cursed mist in the surrounding area was blasted apart at once, and the air became so heavy that Jessica and the others felt their breathing turn difficult.
Max’s aura at this moment was far more devastating than before. The four Divine Veins had already pushed his physical strength to a shocking level, but with the addition of five thousand Draconic Essences, that strength rose into a completely different realm.
His body looked as though it was wrapped in the pressure of an ancient dragon.
His blood roared.
His bones hummed.
The power condensed into his arm alone was enough to make everyone present feel a chill run down their spine.
Even Caroline, who had seen Max destroy Seraphine, Fin, and the Abyssal Witch Eye, could not help but feel shaken at this moment. If Max had used this level of force against an ordinary enemy, that enemy would likely have been obliterated before even understanding what had struck them.
Max’s hand closed around the small eye again.
This time, the force he released was devastating.
The sound of compression shook the area, and the bark beneath him sank lower under the pressure. The surrounding air folded inward toward his fist, and the violent force generated by his grip caused faint cracks to appear in space itself.
The mixture of the four Divine Veins and five thousand Draconic Essences had brought his raw physical strength to an absurd level, one so terrifying that even Nancy felt that if she stood too close, she might be injured by the pressure alone.
Yet even then, the small eye did not break.
It did not shatter.
It simply remained attached to him, unchanged, its tiny vertical pupil staring outward with a calm and eerie stillness that made it look less like a creature and more like a curse given shape.
Max slowly loosened his grip.
For the first time since the small eye had attached itself to him, a real frown appeared on his face.
He had even expected it to possess some strange defensive property because of its connection to the Abyssal Witch Eye. But to endure the full force of four Divine Veins and five thousand Draconic Essences without suffering the slightest damage was something else entirely.
Caroline looked at the small eye carefully, and the relief that had briefly appeared on her face vanished completely.
Her expression became solemn and uneasy.
"Max," she said slowly, "stop for a moment."
Max turned toward her.
Caroline stepped closer, though she still kept a cautious distance from the attached eye. Her eyes remained fixed on the small blood-red pupil, and the more she observed it, the more troubled she looked.
"This may not be something you can destroy with brute force," she said quietly.
Jessica frowned. "What do you mean?"
Caroline took a slow breath. "I think this may be some sort of the Witch’s curse."
The words made everyone’s expression change.
Nancy’s eyes sharpened. "A curse?"
Caroline nodded. "The giant guardian was not just a beast. It was the cursed pet of the Witch who once ruled this world. If that creature was truly linked to her authority, then this small eye might not be a living remnant in the normal sense. It could be a curse mark, a tracking brand, or a binding seal left behind by the Witch herself. That would explain why it cannot be crushed even with such overwhelming force. You are not trying to destroy ordinary flesh. You are trying to crush a curse attached to your existence."
Max looked at the eye again, his expression turning darker.
The little eye blinked once, slowly and silently, as if it was confirming Caroline’s words.
Caroline continued in a grim tone, "If I am right, then destroying the guardian may have triggered this. Perhaps it marks the one who killed it. Perhaps it allows the deeper curses of Witch God Valley to recognize you. Or perhaps it is something even worse."
Jessica swallowed hard. "Worse?"
Caroline nodded faintly. "The Witch’s curses were feared for a reason. Some mark the body. Some cling to the soul. Some make the cursed person easier to find, easier to track, or easier to drag into illusion and death. We cannot treat this lightly."
For a moment, silence fell over the entrance of Witch God Valley.
Max stood there with the small eye still attached to him, while the remnants of his power slowly settled back down. The first four Divine Veins dimmed, and the raging pressure of his five thousand Draconic Essences receded, yet the little eye remained exactly where it was, unchanged and eerily calm.
Max’s eyes narrowed.
"So it is a curse."
Caroline gave a slow nod. "Most likely."
Max looked toward the path beyond the entrance, then back at the eye attached to him.
His voice turned calm again, though the coldness in it made everyone still their breath.
"Fine," he said. "If it is a curse, then we will deal with it later."
He then looked at Caroline.
"But first, we leave this place."
The others nodded, though the unease in their eyes remained.