CHAPTER 281: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK TONGUE

Siana waited for her moment, suppressing her impatience.

The curse of the black tongue, which enslaves humans, does not last very long. If you give even a slight suggestion to a person with weak mental strength, you can make them your slave for over a month. However, if you cast a comprehensive curse like "Obey my orders" on someone with strong mental power, the curse may dissipate in less than a day.

It does not work particularly well on wizards or masters who can emit mana outwardly, so if you make a mistake, you may end up casting a curse that will be lifted within a few minutes. This is why Siana could not simply subdue people like Sultan Huseyin or Akhtal Naqsidil.

Having spent a long time isolated in the besieged Bursa and unable to place additional curses on the other slaves due to her hasty escape, Siana had effectively lost almost all of her power over the political and religious world of Tumaria.

It was still tolerable, but soon the aftershock would come crashing down, pushing Siana further into a corner.

When that happens, I really won’t be able to work in Tumaria anymore.

So, she had to turn the tide of the war by enslaving Archduke Carl as soon as possible.

"Master."

Siana was awakened from her reverie by the voice of Seid, who was always by her side for fear of assassination.

"The situation is not good."

"What?"

Siana looked around the battlefield in surprise. It hadn’t been that long since the battle began. There was still another hour before the sun would set, and already—?

Siana had no insight into strategy or tactics, so she could only vaguely sense that the turbulent atmosphere was very unpleasant.

The numbers were so much greater—why?

"It will be settled soon."

"Already? There’s still a lot of fighting going on. And there are still a lot of troops left."

"The morale is at an all-time low, and the enemy is only steadfast. As darkness falls, fear will grow, and the collapse will be even more rapid."

"Damn, you incompetent bastards...!"

Siana gritted her teeth, thinking of those who were leading the battle on her behalf.

In this case, it was difficult to say that the commanders were at fault. The commanders of the Siana Army had done a good job. In fact, if Carl had not used magic to turn the tide of the battle in one fell swoop, Hardion’s army would have been in a terrible position, fighting a war of attrition against a vastly superior enemy.

But there was no choice since Siana didn’t have much tactical insight.

"Master, you must decide."

"...What do you think? Now? Or after the sun sets?"

After much internal conflict, Siana deferred judgment to Seid.

Born into a noble family, Siana had been sold away and had to live her life watching the world around her. She had an uncanny understanding of the human mind. Thanks to this, she knew well what to do to achieve her goals, even in complex political situations.

But in everything else, she was nothing more than a noble young lady raised in a greenhouse.

"If you want to take advantage of an opponent’s letdown, do it now. If you want to hide in the darkness, do it after the sun has set."

"So which one is better?"

Siana became irritated by Seid’s words.

Seid looked into the distance for a moment. The sight of the shadow rising and standing tall was unnatural.

"If I were alone, I would go after the sun sets, but if you are coming with me, I would go now."

"Then what are you doing?! Move quickly!"

"Yes."

Seid answered obediently and began to run through the wilderness, embracing Siana in his shadow.

The battlefield where fierce fighting was taking place... No, toward the rear of the Hardion army that could be seen right in front.

Siana had not acted together with the Siana Army from the beginning. After giving the order, she had run with Seid and followed the Hardion army.

She did not care whether the soldiers lived or died.

At this moment, all that was needed was a tool to tie up Archduke Carl’s feet and shake off the Master and the countless knights who were always around him.

If all she needed to do was get her hands on Archduke Carl, who cared about those soldiers?

Master Seid, who manipulated shadows, galloped through the red-hot wilderness as the sun set and reached Carl’s vicinity in an instant.

"What...!"

"Shh. Stop."

The knights guarding the surrounding area were startled by the sight of the rising and moving shadow and aimed their weapons, but they stopped dead in their tracks at Siana’s single word.

She didn’t want to make a fuss.

All they had to do was quietly enslave Archduke Carl and then naturally go into hiding.

"Carl Felt Hardion."

Carl, riding a white horse glowing red in the setting sun, looked back...

"...It’s a trap."

Seid flew straight back, holding Siana in his arms.

"Ugh!"

As Siana was about to use her black tongue to curse Carl, her body suddenly buckled, and she let out a gasp.

If it weren’t for the black tongue, blood would be dripping from the tongue she had bitten hard.

Whoosh!

The moment Seid drew his sword and swung his Mana Blade, Carl—who was already on his horse, or rather, the man disguised as Carl—was right in front of him, swinging his spear.

The Mana Blade cut through the red light of the setting sun, scattering brilliant light.

Jaren, who had been simmering in full plate armor and a cloak for over two hours on the orders of His Highness the Damned, had no intention of letting his enemy go.

Booooooow!

The spear and sword met, and the mana blades forcefully pushed each other away.

"Stop!"

Siana tried to curse him again, but of course, it didn’t work.

That damn Archduke was so thorough that he had obviously had Jaren’s ears gouged out, making him deaf.

Although Milton’s delicate touch allowed him to fully recover with magic, the process of becoming deaf with a knife stuck in his ear had been by no means pleasant.

Anyway, things don’t go well when you’re involved with His Highness the Grand Duke.

A curse? That sounded like a joke.

Carl Felt Hardion was a living, breathing curse.

Having already suffered twice in a row by being sent on Carl’s behalf, Jaren would be able to refuse next time.

If possible, I don’t want to be entangled with anyone until I die.

"Fuck!"

Siana finally pulled out the book with the human-face leather cover once again.

Paralel!

The book was already more than halfway through when she opened it, and the pages were still turning quickly.

To use the power of the book, a lot of death, a lot of blood, and a lot of corpses were needed.

Siana hadn’t been able to recharge it since falling into Yusuf’s trap last time, and now she was down to less than half of it.

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