Chapter 1042: The Magic Curse

"Your healing ability... stopped working?" Nightingale was startled and then turned to look at Maggie. "Was Lightning injured by a Senior Demon?"

"Coo..." Maggie mumbled.

"What?"

"No..." She replied. This time they finally heard what she said. "It was me. I pecked on her chest, coo..."

"What?" Roland exchanged a surprised look with Nightingale, and then they asked simultaneously. "What happened at the time? You'd better tell us the story from beginning to end."

After hearing the whole story, Roland knitted his eyebrows tightly.

According to Maggie, Lightning had just been terrified by a mighty demon who looked like a human being. It had looked directly into her eyes from a distance to intimidate her when she had been trying her new ability. Roland could not help wondering how the demon managed to stare at a witch flying at the speed of sound. This sounded even more incredible than the news about the demons fighting the demonic beasts on the snowfield and the new discovery which suggested that skeleton monsters were also a kind of weapon.

Maggie said that back then, she had just wanted to wake Lightning up by pecking at her. Otherwise, she would have kept flying forward until she bumped into the enemy.

As for the reason why Lightning's wound remained unhealed, it probably had nothing to do with Maggie. She was not capable of causing such an injury, and even if she was, she would never hurt her best friend Lightning.

Given that, they decided to give the little girl a thorough examination to identify the cause.

Roland sighed secretly. Before her departure, he had told her repeatedly that safety was the most important thing and had warned her that she should never take advantage of her new capability to go deep into a dangerous place. However, it turned out that as a daughter of an explorer, she just could not control the urge for exploration.

Roland knew that it was not a proper time to reproach Lightning. Now, he needed to find out where the problem was.

He asked Nightingale to fetch Wendy, Lily, Agatha and also Nightfall who could plant the Seed of Symbiosis in Lighting in case that some accidental injuries would happen during the examining process. In the evening, when Lightning finally woke up from her coma, the witches finally finished the examination and told Roland the results.

"You mean she's all right?" Roland gave a hasty glance at Lightning's pale face when she was curling up in Wendy's arms. "She doesn't look alright, does she?"

"She passed out of exhaustion caused by the prolonged flight. Nightfall can prove it. After she planted Seed of Symbiosis in Lightning, she didn't feel any discomfort. That means, her body is healthy and her coma only happened for some mental reason. She'll recover after resting a few more days."

"What about the wound?"

"This is exactly what I wanted to tell you next," Agatha said in a low voice. "Her problem is in her magic power. When I checked her power with the Stone of Measuring, I felt a hint of feedback that didn't belong to her."

"What... do you mean?" Roland was puzzled.

"As you know, magic power is everywhere, but if you want to use it, you must make it your own first. We call this process cohering. After awakening, the magic power cohered inside our bodies will look like some objects, such as a cyclone. This is also true for demons. However, a demon's magic power looks completely different from a witch's. Seeing through the Stone of Measuring, a witch's power is clear like water while a demon's power looks muddy." She paused for a moment before adding, "The different feedback I received from Lightning's body looked exactly the same as a demon's power."

Roland was shocked, as this matter seemed to get quite tricky now. "Do you mean that the demon somehow eroded Lightning's magic power without touching her?"

"How is this possible?" Nightingale asked. "I can easily distinguish different types of magic power in the misty world. If she was eroded, I'd be able to see it."

"It's too small compared to Lightning's magic power, and thus can be easily overlooked." Agatha shook her head. "I just told you the test results of the Stone of Measuring. As for whether it's an erosion, I can't be sure now."

Roland quickly understood the implication of Agatha's statement. "You've never seen this kind of ability before, have you?"

"No, many demons have similar capabilities and are able to affect their opponents with their eyes, such as Fearsome Demons. It's not a strange thing that a Senior Demon has this kind of ability. After all, unlike witches, whose ability types are determined during their awakening, demons can get new abilities by absorbing Magic Stones. However, I've never heard about such an ability, which could stop the wound from healing up." Agatha thought for a while. "If the feedback came from a small amount of magic power that the demon attached to the wound, everything would make sense."

"Indeed, that also explains why Nana's healing ability suddenly became ineffective. She can heal wounds, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she's able to dispel a demon's evil power," Ronald thought and then asked, "Do you know how to remove this power from Lightning?"

"I don't know," the Ice Witch replied plainly. "Normally, a God's Stone of Retaliation can eliminate effects of the magic power, but this Senior Demon's power isn't that simple."

"Since it may work on the wound, how about we remove the wound and the flesh around it first and then heal the cut?"

"No, I suggest you don't do that. This small wound isn't deadly, but what if the demon's evil power can expand with the wound? In that case, the cut will still remain unhealed after the operation, and it'll be even more difficult for Lightning to recover," Agatha vetoed the suggestion immediately. "In the next few days, we'd better let her stay in the Third Border City and observe her changes. Pasha knows more than us. Maybe she can think of some way to dispel the demon's power."

"I see."

Roland nodded and slowly walked to the bed.

Seeing him, Lightning dropped her head and sounded as if she was about to cry. "Your Majesty, sorry...I'm..."

"You don't have to apologize." Roland touched her head. "Have a good rest. I promise I'll find a way to cure you."

Lightning sobbed and trembled, trying her best to hold back her tears. After a long time, she finally managed to squeak out a yes.

"Good."

...

Three days later, Taquila witches informed Roland of Lightning's recent situation.

Right after receiving the message, he went to the Third Border City inside the North Slope Mountain together with Nightingale and Wendy.

Pasha received them at the entrance of the main hall.

"How's Lightning?"

"She feels much better now. Elena has been taking care of her these days. By telling the little girl her interesting experiences in the Dream World, she made her almost forget about her encounter with the Senior Demon," Pasha said with a smile. "Today, Lightning even flew a few circles in the main hall with Maggie. The small wound on her chest doesn't affect her actions at all."

Hearing that, Roland breathed a sigh of relief. At present, he still kept Lightning's injury as a secret, which was only known to a small number of witches. He had not even told Thunder about it, lest it caused stress and anxiety for him. However, he could not hide her forever since her disappearance would inevitably cause everyone to worry and bring even more attention to this matter.

"Have you figured out what the Senior Demon did to her?" Wendy asked anxiously.

Pasha waved her tentacles. "Celine has re-read all the literature left by Taquila but still can't find a record that matches her experience. Given that, we reckon that it must be a new ability of the demons. We've never seen this ability before but we've found some similar abilities. In fact, based on its effect, we think it resembles a very rare ability."

"What's that?"

"We call it the magic curse," Pasha replied in a measured but firm tone.