Cursed Immortality

Approaching the corpse of Wyvern, Jacob couldn't help but feel a lingering oppressive aura from the carcass.

Despite knowing, it was dead, Jacob still felt his fine hair standing because of that oppressive aura.

'This thing had to be an Extraordinary-Tier-6 at least!' Jacob presumed as he looked at the shining scales as his eyes shimmered with ecstasy, 'Whatever its rank might be, just its skin is priceless in rare plains. No, the entire body of a Wyvern should be a treasure, even blood!'

Without wasting any time, Jacob sprang into action and turned around the body upside down, revealing the red stomach of the Wyvern. He knew if he wanted to cut it open, the only way was from the softest part of the body.

He wasn't confident in cutting it with any of his blades, especially from its scaly skin, which was thought enough not to blow up by a bullet fired from titan iron!

Jacob then made a cut with full strength around its neck cavity as he took out an empty water gallon and filled it with the creature's fiery blood. He was shocked when he felt the blood temperature which was almost at a boiling point.

Jacob had read about the magic beast's blood used in alchemy, and if the magic beast were an extraordinary tier, then the blood would be more precious. Many Alchemists would pay a high price for such a creature's blood.

Not to mention if this was a Fire Wyvern, then that makes its blood even more precious and rare.

Jacob filled three such gallons, which were previously filled with water!

After storing the gallons, he gutted the creature and carefully removed the skin, which was probably the most precious and perfect material to make armor.

It took him twelve hours to fully dismembered the Wyvern, and he stored marble-like meat, lungs, heart, and anything eatable to his pendant. Even its giant head wasn't spared since those teeth and skull were also precious materials to make blades.

The space was filled with the potent smell of blood, but Jacob was completely unfazed.

With ecstasy, Jacob was holding a crystal red orb that was as big as his fist, and it was glowing in nine bright white spots like a crystal ball with real stars in it.

It was a Nine-Star Fire Element Core and was at the peak of nine stars at that!

Jacob could feel terrifying fiery energy concentrated in this orb, and even while holding it, he could feel this vibrant energy wanting to burn his skin. Those common-tier species won't be able to touch this magic core!

Now, there was no doubt that he had managed to kill an Extraordinary-Tier-6 with a single headshot.

After admiring the magic core, he stowed it away. Although it won't dissipate like a one- or two-star magic core in minutes, it would still lose all its element energy if it is left alone in the open for a long.

Now, he was done with the dismembering, and the floor was filled with blood and gore and arteries of Wyvern. He finally turned his focus on the real prize!

Jacob approached the hovering crown and statue head in the center. He paid much attention to the stone head, which was skillfully carved, and it was no doubt the face of a beautiful woman.

However, now that he looked closely at the head, he saw there was a deep cut over her lips, or it might be because the head was attacked by a sharp object like a knife at some time.

But seeing the perfectly fine condition of the rest of the head, he doubted that someone with the intent to destroy it would only leave after leaving a small cut over the lips.

He stopped a meter away from the altar, didn't dare to touch anything, and only observed it from each side.

Jacob knew he lacked the crucial clue written on that wall, and if he triggered something without an understanding of this place, he might not get another chance at this.

So, after examining the crown and the status head, he moved toward the murals, which were the only thing that could shed some light on which condition it was.

On the left wall, there are three scenes recorded.

The first one was a chariot drawn by horses, and a person pointing his spear toward an army of men could be seen. The most noteworthy thing was that the person pointing its spear was actually wearing the same crown hovering in the room.

This would make him the owner of that crown, the King!

The next scene has recorded as a banquet, and the King is standing over a high platform while holding a wine glass, this time instead of a spear. In the last scene, the King sits over his throne while a radiating sun and dark moon are inscribed on the left and right.

Jacob frowned and thought, 'Although I'm not an expert at this, it is quite clear that the King has won some battle, and the banquet is probably a celebration banquet. Lastly, he was shown ruling over everything. Sun and moon mostly symbolized the Life and Death cycle in most ancient cultures. But I can't be sure about this world.'

Jacob was quite familiar with anything that symbolized life and death because of his mad search to prolong his life. He had seen many ancient records which were remotely related to immortality.

He then walked toward the other wall, which also had three scenes.

In the first scene, someone was kneeling before the King on his throne. In the second, there was still the same scene, but eight spear-holding persons were added to it, as well as King was showing, pointing his finger at the kneeling figure.

In the last scene, which was the most interesting of all, in here, a black-dressed woman appeared beside the King's throne, and her hand was precisely attached to the King's Crown!

If the other wall shows the glorying of the King, then this wall shows some kind of memorial of the throne room.

Jacob frowned because there was no record of what happened afterward.

'Now there are three key figures, the King, the kneeling figure, and that woman grabbing the crown.

'If I assumed the kneeling figure is the maiden, then that stone head should be her since there are weaponized guards and the King is pointing his finger at her.

'But the woman grabbing the crown is also more than qualified enough to behead because of her bold action of grabbing the crown as that head could be her as well.

'Yet, I can't imagine her being the maiden since a maiden represents someone who is pure and without any malice. So how could she grab the King's crown?'

Jacob then looked toward the ceiling to find some more clues about what happened after she grabbed the crown. He knew he was quite close to getting the clear picture.

However, he was disappointed because there was another battle scene on the ceiling.

But this time, Jacob was shocked that the King was fighting in the same chariot. There were skeletons figures recorded on the enemy side while a black sun was behind the enemy side, and a white moon was on the King's army side.

'Don't tell me those skeletons represent Dark Beings?' Jacob couldn't help but feel it was highly possible.

Because Dark Being existed as long as the living, and they are enemies of any living beings. So, it shouldn't be a surprise to find dark beings hundreds of thousands of years in the past.

But the end result of this battle was also not shown, which made Jacob grimace to no end. The only thing left was the riddle on the wall, which Jacob had no clue how to solve.

'Should I try to put the crown on the statue's head?' Jacob gravely looked at the crown again, 'But what if the whole place crushes down the moment I do it or even touch it? Or I got some ancient curse by touching it? Even poisoning is not out of option… should I try destroying it? There is only a 1% chance that nothing will happen.'

No matter what he thought about, he couldn't decide what to do since every path led to a dangerous outcome. In contrast, getting rid of a living Wyvern was way easier.

Jacob then again looked at the wall with the kneeling figure and woman touching the crown. He knew the answer was in this mural, and he just needed to figure it out.

After looking for a while, Jacob suddenly jolted as his eyes grew shaper and shaper while his eyes were affixed to the hand touching the crown.

'She touched the crown; then she got beheaded? Then it is more likely that I need to destroy the crown without touching it or removing it from its place. I'm 60% sure that this is about destroying dignity, not giving anyone hope.

'The woman's action could also be seen as destroying the King's dignity, but she got destroyed in the end…!'