I Broke the Curse

Not a single candle was lit in the pitch-black room. With no light of my own, I relied solely on the moonlight filtering through the window. As always, I desperately chanted the name.

"היא מהכתר המקולל…. חכם הכתר המקולל."

I recited names whose meaning even I couldn't grasp. For ten years since my transmigration, this had been my unbreakable routine. It might seem like a meaningless act, but I had no intention of stopping. It was the only way I could survive.

'Should I just die? Ten years of repetition, and nothing's changed.'

I stopped mid-chant and stared fixedly at the blue window hovering in the air.

This despairing status window hadn't changed since the first day of transmigration. A hollow laugh escaped me at the sight of my near-worst stats on a continental scale—no, empire-wide.

Yeah, just as it showed. The empire's ugliest bastard, a nickname that fit perfectly, with a body that could barely move. And cursed talents that let me do nothing.

"Fuck. I really want to die."

Thanks to that, not just my family treated me like I didn't exist—my fiancée didn't see me as human either.

Ten years. My father and family ignored me completely. My fiancée showered me with contempt and disgust.

That hell had lasted a full ten years.

"Please…."

I bit down hard, letting blood drip to the floor as I parted my lips once more. Now, I just wanted to escape this cursed life.

Closing my eyes, I recalled the memory from ten years ago.

"ת…חילתן של קללות ואשליות."

What I sought was the name of the demon who cursed me—not the human label, but its true essence. Forcing out an impossibly precise pronunciation from the demon's lore I'd seen ten years back.

—Fwaaah!

The blood on the floor evaporated.

'…Failure. Another failure.'

As despair welled up inside me, ready to crash down—

—Woooong!

The blood, which had seemed to vanish, floated into the air, forming letters one by one.

Red letters arranged in a circle, completing a magic circle.

"Was it you who summoned me?"

Something humanoid emerged from the crimson magic circle. Two horns asserted their presence above its head. Sinister red eyes, long trailing black hair. And an elegant black dress that exuded grace in itself.

'Looks like a succubus… but not quite.'

Her ample chest and stunning beauty nearly made me lose my senses for a moment. Incredibly beautiful, yet impossible to gaze at directly. An absolute gap in rank.

It was the classic form of a demon.

"I never thought it'd actually work after ten years." Enduring the demon's mana that crushed me, I slowly lifted my head.

The demon looked down at me, placing a foot on my head. But even then, I just smiled.

"So, what is your wish ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that a mere human summoned me for?"

Her red eyes tightened around my throat, controlling my breath. Probably aiming to claim my soul as payment. Fat chance.

"Lilishbea."

I met her red eyes steadily and spoke.

"…A mere human dares call my name."

Did it offend the great demon? Countless magic circles floated behind her black dress. Just looking at them made cold sweat trickle down my back, chills running through me. She could kill a nobody like me—who hadn't even completed the 1st Circle—with ease.

But that magic would never reach me anyway.

"Dispel."

"What?"

—Crackle!

The magic circles behind her—Lilishbea—dissolved into nothingness one by one. Surprise flickered in her eyes, her body swelling briefly.

Smiling at her reaction, I rose from the floor.

"How does a pathetic human—?!"

"Don't raise your voice like that."

"You dare…!"

Enduring the thick killing intent for the first time, I slowly stepped toward her.

Just five steps. Enough to reach her, with the window at my back.

"תחילתן של קללות ואשליות."

"A h-human knows my true name…."

Terror flooded Lilishbea's eyes, which had held only contempt moments ago. A demon's true name was its core. Knowing it alone allowed domination, even control over its existence.

In other words, I now held her life in my hands.

Enough to make her legs give out.

"…P-please, sp-spare me…?"

Trembling, she collapsed and clung to my leg. For the first time since transmigrating, the thrill of conquest curved my lips.

"Weren't you trying to kill me a moment ago?"

"S-sorry… hic! I'll do a-anything you w-want… hic!"

Impossible to see her as a demon now, Lilishbea sobbed. Even a high-ranking demon couldn't deny its own essence. Not mere death, but oblivion—that inspired true ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fear.

"I'm not gonna kill you."

"………R-really?"

"Yeah."

I'm no priest or hero. If anything, I hated this damn world. But ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that didn't mean I'd help destroy it.

All that mattered was me. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠No reason to waste a valuable ally I could bring to my side. In a way, my first true ally since transmigrating.

"Lilishbea. Nah, too long—Lilia works. Cool?"

"Y-yes…."

"The curse on me. That's yours, right?"

The mythic curse, Mark of Distortion, said to be unbreakable. Warping everything about me to the minimum. Relying on game lore, I wasn't entirely sure it was hers. If not… another ten years? Or until death?

Please.

"Y-yes… but I never cast it, so how did you get that curse…."

In a way, Lilia was a victim too. No memory of casting it, yet bound by her true name.

"Release it."

Sighing in relief at her confirmation, I issued the command calmly.

"…O-okay."

Far more subdued now, Lilia conjured a magic circle in the air. At her fingertips, a key-shaped spell.

"I'll release you now."

As she turned the key's tip toward me—

"Finally…."

Unbidden, warm tears traced down my cheeks. Freedom from this cursed life at last?

Blue status windows popped up in a relay. Readable at first, but as they piled up, I gave up trying. Only one thing mattered now.

This cursed body and talents would torment me no longer.

"M-Master."

"Yeah?"

"Is that… your real face?"

"Oh. This? Yeah."

The Mark of Distortion had twisted my looks too. Now released, this must be my true appearance.

"Kinda. Why?"

"W-wow… you're more demonic than me. Like, total homme fatale…."

"Thanks for the compliment."

Strength surged through a body that once struggled to move. And a brand-new sensation—mana, probably. Felt natural despite being a first.

"B-but… can I go now?"

Lilia gazed up, eyes teary. Thinking she could return post-curse? Sorry, no.

"Nope."

"Ah… then, annihilation? Hic!"

"Not that either."

Smiling, I slowly pressed my lips to her forehead.

"…Huh?"

"The master of your true name, תחילתן של קללות ואשליות, grants you paradise."

"Huh?"

Something new appeared, but whatever.

"Lilia. Looking forward to working with you."

Ten years since transmigrating. At last, I'd broken the curse.

And reclaimed my stolen looks and talents.