"SCREEEECH!"
The monster let out an ear-piercing roar as its massive head was slammed into the earth by a single blow. Its lower body twisted violently, its long, rough green tail snapping out like a whip.
Whoosh!
The air cracked as the tail lashed toward the newly summoned giant angel with explosive force.
The angel didn't flinch.
It calmly raised its left arm across its chest. Embedded on the outer side of its arm was a faintly glowing golden shield, etched with a blazing sun insignia.
BANG!
The tail struck the shield with a thunderous impact—loud enough to make the nearby trees tremble—but the angel didn't budge an inch.
Then came the counterattack.
The silver warhammer swung down again.
BOOM!
The monster, just starting to lift its head, got reintroduced to the dirt in a painfully intimate way.
Two consecutive hammer strikes.
They rattled the half-mad monster hard enough that its feral green eyes regained a hint of clarity.
"Screech! Screeech!" it growled, limbs flailing. With a furious wriggle of its eight legs, it pulled its bloodied face out of the soil and began retreating.
Its head, adorned with sharp, fin-like crests, had clearly taken a beating. Several of the bony ridges had snapped, and dark blood was dripping freely.
From his vantage point, Lyle studied the newly summoned angel.
Its design followed the same celestial aesthetic as his Flame Archangel, but compared to that sword-swinging hothead, this one had both a warhammer and a shield—and actual flair.
Not to mention, the most eye-catching part: the wings.
Four of them.
Well, sort of.
The top pair was so tiny they looked more like cosplay accessories than functional limbs, but technically, yes—four wings.
This was a Level 22 Principality Observation.
After unlocking the Curse Knight class and pushing his level to 22, Lyle finally met the requirements for a fourth-tier angel summon.
And yet, his expression wasn't exactly joyful.
"If two full-force strikes didn't cause real damage, then as expected, it's a tank. Offense is… mediocre."
He wasn't wrong.
The basilisk, despite its bloodied state, still looked more annoyed than injured.
But here was the key detail: if a low-tier Principality Observation could take its hits without breaking a sweat, then this "terrifying reptilian" Leinas mentioned probably wasn't as tough as she claimed.
Difficulty rating 83?
Lyle snorted mentally.
Judging by its performance, it was more in the Level 27–28 range.
That was edging into hero-tier territory, sure—but not quite there.
Behind him, Leinas stirred.
She'd been staring blankly at Lyle—the white-robed priest calmly giving orders beside his divine bodyguard—processing everything she'd seen.
"…I seriously planned to kill this guy?" she muttered bitterly, her pale face tinged with disbelief and regret.
Then—
"SCREEECH!!"
The basilisk, now some distance away, suddenly snarled again. Its eyes glowed a dull, earthy brown.
"Back!" Lyle barked mentally.
The Principality Observation dropped from the sky like a divine hammer, landing squarely between Lyle, Leinas, and the threat.
Zzzap!
Twin beams of petrifying magic erupted from the basilisk's eyes, slamming into the angel.
No effect.
Not a crack. Not a flicker.
Angels, after all, weren't made of meat and bone.
"Stone gaze doesn't work on angels," Lyle said coolly, stepping out from behind his divine shield. "They don't have flesh for your magic to mess with."
The reptilian froze.
Its green eyes widened for a beat—then it turned and bolted for the forest.
Lyle's gaze sharpened.
No way in hell he was letting that thing escape.
If it really was a mutated humanoid creature living in this cursed region, it might know something—maybe even explain why the monsters here had traces of corruption inside them.
He glanced back at Leinas.
Her condition was bad—worse than it should've been for someone with her skill level.
Even accounting for her "Bronze-tier" status, she shouldn't have looked like she'd wrestled a demon gorilla with her face.
Clearly, the curse energy here had been messing with her the entire time.
With a flick of his wrist, Lyle retrieved a third-tier magic scroll from his sleeve and crushed it.
FWOOSH!
A Flame Archangel manifested, its radiant wings illuminating the cursed swamp.
"You're in no condition to keep going," Lyle said quickly. "This archangel will escort you out."
The angel moved without hesitation, lifting the blood-soaked Leinas in its arms.
"Sorry," she mumbled, her blood-slicked golden hair covering most of her face.
"I'm not doing this just for you," Lyle replied with a soft smile. "I'm interested in this place too."
With that, he jumped.
He landed lightly on a groove in the Principality Observation's shoulder, using the divinely forged armor as a foothold.
Whoosh!
Wings flared, and the angel took off, soaring in pursuit of the fleeing basilisk.
Meanwhile, the Flame Archangel flew Leinas in the opposite direction, back toward safety.
Now it was just Lyle and his angelic bodyguard.
They flew low over thorny shrubs and crooked trees, reaching the edge of the dense, shadowy forest.
Branches thick with leaves jutted out like wooden fangs, making navigation tricky for anything large.
But Lyle smiled.
"At last, some peace and quiet."
No more bystanders meant no more need to hold back.
With a flip of his hand, he summoned a bone-crafted artifact—a magical relic he'd once taken off a goblin warlord. It carried the "Forest Traversal" enchantment.
"Track."
In an instant, a glowing trail appeared in his vision, highlighting the path recently taken by a large creature.
"Follow it."
The angel obeyed, pushing forward through the underbrush.
Thanks to the artifact's power, every branch, vine, and leaf seemed to shrink away from them, forming a wide path wherever they went.
Despite its massive size, the reptilian wasn't slowed down by the trees. As a creature used to squeezing through underground caves and burrows, a forest was practically a highway to it.
Within ten minutes, Lyle had eyes on it again.
The creature also noticed him.
Its green slit gaze locked onto Lyle—and now it was furious.
"Sss… Screech! H-human… LEAVE!"
It twisted around, puffing up its chest as it tried to form actual words.
"Leave? Sure," Lyle replied. "But first, you and I need to have a chat."
He gestured from atop the angel's shoulder.
"Let's talk about the curse."
The moment the word left his lips, the reptilian's eyes flared with rage. All trace of intelligence vanished.
The forest trembled.
The beast charged with a thunderous roar.
"Holy Smite!"
The Principality Observation raised its hammer, which glowed with holy light, and brought it down like divine judgment.
Boom!
It caught the basilisk square on the skull, staggering the beast.
But this time, the monster had learned.
Though its head snapped to the side, two of its forelimbs instantly latched onto the angel's arm, holding the weapon back.
Then—bam!
The full weight of its massive body slammed forward, pinning the angel.
Its putrid gaze zeroed in on Lyle, and its jaws opened wide.
"You picked the wrong priest to snack on," Lyle muttered coldly.
"Dark Wave!"
Black energy surged outward from him, rippling through the air like a shockwave.
The moment it touched the basilisk, its body locked up mid-bite.
Frozen solid.
Curse Knight activated.