Chapter 290: Cursed Fire

Ba Su's red robe glowed with bloodlight under the alchemical lamp, his gaunt fingers restless as they traced the boy's collarbone, the black Rune flickering on and off with the agitation of the Cursed Fire.

"Don't be afraid, little mouse," the Mage's breath reeked of rotten sulfur, his golden teeth bared as he strained to soothe the resisting Wu Ermu, "Extracting the Cursed Fire is like pulling out a rotten tooth—painful, but worthwhile."

Six spirit‑binding chains hung from the ceiling, clamping Wu Ermu's limbs; behind him the Arcane matrix began to spin, the Sai Er chant stabbing his eardrums. When the amethyst probe pierced the Rune, a sudden mutation erupted—

Cursed Fire suddenly erupted from Wu Ermu's pupils, turning into a blue‑white fire serpent that lashed back along the probe! Ba Su's robe billowed black smoke as the crystal vessels on the lab table exploded in succession.

"Impossible—" Ba Su began, then suddenly realized this was the true nature of the Cursed Fire's power— a disaster that devours all magic.

The red‑robed Mage staggered backward, his clouded eyes bloodshot with rage, "Then we'll try another method—destroy the living body first, then extract the residue!"

The bronze doors of the laboratory slammed shut behind them, Wu Ermu's back slamming into a cold stone wall. Ba Su's red robe looked like coagulated blood, casting an ominous glow under the alchemical lamp.

Wu Ermu's nails dug deep into his palm, the Cursed Fire Rune thumping beneath his skin. He thought he could finally break free of the curse, that the red‑robed Mage would be his savior, bearing a warm, gentle smile.

——not the twisted greed now contorting Ba Su's face.

"Why?" the boy shrieked as he rolled to dodge acid arrows, his throat burning from corrosive steam, "You said you'd cure me!"

The red‑robed Mage's staff erupted a second volley of ice spikes, and Wu Ermu instinctively opened a Cursed Fire vortex to devour them. The icy surge tearing through his chest recalled his mother's dying scream. This was supposed to be a curse, wasn't it? Why has it become this?

"Fool." Ba Su's mocking laugh pierced the icy mist, "Did you really think a noble red‑robed Mage would bone‑clean a beggar for free?"

When the putrid undead chains coiled around his ankle, Wu Ermu suddenly recalled Naimi Xisi's words. That day Juan Ce Long's tail tip brushed his newly grown frost ulcer, its fish‑fin‑like dragon wings shimmering in the sunset like a gilded encyclopedia: "The red‑robed Mage loves two things above all—others' suffering, and stolen power."

Regret surged like gastric acid. He should have heeded the great dragon's counsel instead of stubbornly coming here. Now the Cursed Fire, having over‑consumed, burns scorching, every inch of skin screaming, while Ba Su's spell is taking shape—

"Did you think you could escape the Crimson Spire?" the Mage's withered fingers brushed the Skeleton staff at his waist, "The Cursed Fire doesn't belong to insects like you."

The alchemical lamp hissed overhead, Ba Su's red robe fluttered without wind, his gaunt fingertips igniting three layered sigils. Wu Ermu could smell a mix of sulfur and putrid blood in the air—a prelude to death magic.

"Lesson one," the red‑robed Mage's staff tip erupted a scarlet fireball, "Cursed Fire is not a shield; it's poison."

The instant the fireball whooshed toward him, the Cursed Fire Rune on Wu Ermu's palm glowed a deep blue. Instinctively he spread his five fingers, the flame drawn into strands half an inch from his nose, seeping along the skin's lines into his vessels. Excruciating, yet the scorching energy surged in— a sensation far more violent than swallowing boiling water.

"Take it back!" the boy roared, whipping his wrist, the energy transmuted by the Cursed Fire forming three blue‑flame spears that shot at the foe.

Ba Su sneered, the second mouth on his abdomen quickly chanting a spell, negative energy leaping from his body to form a bone shield. The blue flame burst spider‑web cracks across the ghastly white bone, but failed to penetrate.

"Lesson two." The Mage formed a Plastic Energy rune with his left hand, his right hand pointing at the iron chains hanging from the ceiling, "Cursed Fire is greedy, but the container is too small." Ice spikes and electrified chains assaulted simultaneously. Wu Ermu rolled to dodge the chains, the Cursed Fire vortex opening on his chest to devour the ice spikes. This time the energy was colder, as if millennial black ice were forced into his thorax. He trembled, directing the cold flow toward his feet, instantly freezing the ground into an ice layer. The red‑robed Mage, caught off guard, slipped, and Wu Ermu seized the chance to condense the residual ice energy into sharp spikes aimed at the opponent's throat.

"A little insect‑carving trick." Ba Su snapped his fingers, shattering the ice spikes; the splintered debris reformed in the air into a poisonous snake that lunged at the boy, "Feel the true necromantic art!"

Wu Ermu's Cursed Fire had turned a pathological deep blue. He seized the poisonous snake with his bare hands, black mist being drawn away along his fingertips, his skin instantly rotting then rapidly healing— that miraculous power continuously siphoned the red‑robed Mage's evil magic, converting it into warm healing energy for Wu Ermu. Yet the transmuted energy made his internal organs convulse, blood seeping from his nostrils.

"Lesson three!" the red‑robed Mage suddenly appeared behind the boy, a putrid stench spraying at his ear, "Cursed Fire is a curse, because you'll never be satisfied."

Five acid arrows pierced Wu Ermu's left shoulder. The Cursed Fire autonomously ignited, greedily sucking the corrosive energy. The boy, wincing in agony, turned and threw a punch; the blue‑aura‑wrapped fist brushed the Mage's cheek, melting a charred pit into the stone wall. Ba Su's cheekbone was scorched by the aftershock, and he finally ceased his mockery.

"Enough." He tore open the front of his robe, revealing a nest of spell‑devouring insects embedded in his chest, "Let you witness the true meaning of hunger."

Endless ugly swarms of bees poured out from the black hole in Ba Su's chest like a hive, the fire that burned magic now useless, and the boy could only rely on the Cursed Fire's inherent heat to try to incinerate the stinking insects that dared approach him.

But without magical sustenance, the nascent Cursed Fire quickly exhausted its power.

Seeing the Cursed Fire vanish, Ba Su unleashed fireballs, ice blades, lightning, acid—various berserk energy torrents; a faint blue glimmer, like the last spark of wood before it burns out, struggled to absorb these energies, but it also brought even worse consequences.

Wu Ermu's eyes began to bleed, spider‑web light patterns spreading across his skin. He barely managed to condense the chaotic energy into a light cannon for a counterattack, but the red‑robed Mage's pre‑prepared "reflected beam" refracted it throughout the laboratory. Cultivation vats exploded, ancient Scroll burned, and a captive shadow demon seized the chance to flee into a ventilation shaft.

!

"Pathetic." Ba Su stepped over the shattered glass strewn on the floor, drawing near, "It's like trying to catch a tsunami with a wine glass."

Wu Ermu collapsed to his knees, the Cursed Fire Rune dimming like dying embers. The last strand of energy was spent healing his broken ribs, leaving even his fingertips unable to lift. The red‑robed Mage's staff tip glowed with a gray Disintegration Technique light, a deathly aura stinging his eyes.

"Now," the decayed fingertips pressed against the boy's trembling throat, "let us extract this beautiful curse."

"All... my fault."

The boy murmured amid the dizziness of energy overload, the depleted Cursed Fire no longer able to shield him from the agony of the Disintegration Technique.

At the critical moment, a massive tearing sound of bronze echoed from the laboratory's east wall.

"Warning, warning, tower integrity damaged 13.68%, 【Lab No. 1】 and 【Binding Chamber】 have lost connection." With a roar, the entire Mage Tower resonated with the tower spirit's massive alarm.

(End of Chapter)