Takenaka Kento's beast‑soldiers were all lined up in a separate formation — which meant every single one of them was covered by the blood rain.
Immediately, they began wailing in pain, frantically scratching and clawing at their own bodies.
"What is happening?!"
Takenaka Kento stood up in utter shock, staring at his soldiers descending into chaos.
"The rain… it must be the rain!"
He realized instantly what was wrong. Gripping his magic brush, he calmed his mind and focused, trying to take control, ordering every beast‑soldier to move out of the rain's range as fast as possible.
The creatures began rushing away — but before Takenaka could even feel relieved, the ones who had been exposed first started collapsing, one after another.
They lay on the ground, convulsing and foaming at the mouth.
Even so, they still tried desperately to obey his commands, crawling and wriggling forward to escape the rain.
But their bodies had already failed them. Their struggles were nothing more than a terrifying, gruesome sight — completely useless.
"Who is secretly plotting against me?!"
Takenaka was furious and terrified.
He could tell now: this rain was laced with some kind of deadly poison.
But when he painted these soldiers, he had only given them strong bodies and brute strength. In every other way, they were just like ordinary humans.
Cut off their heads, and they died. They got sick. They needed food.
It wasn't that he wouldn't have wanted to create "invincible" creatures with no weaknesses — he simply couldn't.
Perhaps the brush could do that… but where would he ever find enough living sacrifices to make it happen?
Maybe… maybe if he sacrificed every single person in both the Land of Claws and the Land of Fangs, he might manage it.
---
While Takenaka stood frozen in shock, unsure what to do next…
Hidden nearby, Shinji — who had wiped out the entire army with one single move — was frowning deeply.
As the beast‑soldiers died one by one, not a single point of Cursed Spirit Value came his way.
That proved it: these things were not Cursed Spirits at all. They were simply artificial creations of some kind.
The last time he had encountered something like this was back on Black Mountain, fighting the Darkness Cursed Spirit. The modified humans there had been the same — giving him absolutely nothing.
What a rip‑off.
Shinji felt a dull ache in his teeth.
He had traveled all this way to this godforsaken place… and until now, the only thing he had gained was a useless yo‑yo?
Far from satisfied, his gaze shifted toward the man standing next to the Lord of the Land of Claws.
From what he had observed, this man with the paintbrush was the true mastermind behind everything.
"Hope this will cover my travel expenses at least…"
He muttered softly, and vanished instantly.
---
Danger!
Extreme danger!
Takenaka Kento felt his scalp tingling as if about to explode.
He was just an ordinary human, after all. Before he knew it, a stranger was standing only a few meters away from him — holding a severed right hand… and a brush.
"Huh… why does that look so familiar?"
"That's my magic brush!"
Takenaka looked down — and realized his own right hand was gone.
Clearly, this stranger had just ripped it off and taken it.
Strangely enough, not a drop of blood flowed from his severed wrist. Instead, something like thick ink was oozing out.
And Takenaka didn't even notice, or find anything wrong with it.
In his mind… this was normal.
Shouldn't ink be flowing through a person's body instead of blood?
Ordinary human?
He had ceased to be ordinary a long time ago.
For the price of using this brush was sacrifice — and the very first living thing he had sacrificed… was himself.
His existence now was nothing more than something he had painted with this brush after sacrificing himself. He just didn't know it.
He was nothing but a pitiful parasite living inside the brush — his very understanding of humanity twisted and broken.
"Give it back! That is mine!"
Takenaka screamed like a madman, charging at Shinji with the ferocity of a wild beast.
Shinji didn't even look at him. He simply clenched his right fist and swung it lazily through the air.
Black Flash!
Amidst brilliant, crackling black sparks, Takenaka Kento was instantly erased from existence.
Without his brush, he was less than worthless.
Splash!
The ink‑like liquid that splattered out covered Hiramatsu Takehiko — Lord of the Land of Claws — from head to toe.
But Hiramatsu didn't dare utter a sound. He didn't dare draw attention to himself.
He had just seen his Grand Tutor die in such a terrible way — obliterated with one casual punch.
Even with his guards standing close by, he felt completely unsafe.
---
Shinji, meanwhile, was already focusing entirely on the brush itself.
Cursed Object — [The Master's Brush]
Description: Legend tells of a painter surnamed Ma who could create something out of nothing, turn fake into real, and make the imaginary solid. His obsession and will eventually fused into this brush.
Effect 1: Any living being with a soul can be used as a sacrifice and absorbed into the Painted World.
Effect 2: By expending a corresponding number of living sacrifices, anything you paint will become real. The greater the complexity or power, the more sacrifices required.
Effect 3: Objects or beings brought from the Painted World into reality are temporary and will vanish after a time.
Side Effect: To become its master, you must first sacrifice yourself and merge forever into the Painted World.
P.S.: Yes indeed… it is exactly that legendary brush!
---
After reading the description, Shinji understood the whole story.
Overall, the power of this brush was ridiculously overpowered. You could create anything you wanted.
But nothing came without a price.
The more valuable or powerful what you wanted was, the higher the cost.
The man Shinji had just killed must have sacrificed countless living people just to create those monster soldiers.
And the harshest condition of all: to use it, you had to sacrifice yourself first, binding your existence to it forever.
That one condition alone made Shinji decide it was useless garbage.
The ultimate piece of worthless junk.
He couldn't give it to anyone else to use, and he certainly wasn't going to sacrifice innocent people just to use it.
He was already too lazy to offer sacrifices to evil gods — why would he do it just for a brush?
He simply dismantled it and sold it, getting 10,000 Cursed Spirit Points in return — quite a nice surprise.
There we go! Full profit restored!
The trip hadn't been a waste after all.
Clearly, the System rated this Cursed Object very highly. If not for its terrible side effect and requirement for living sacrifices, its true value would have been worth far more than a few thousand points.
Only then did he turn his attention to the Lord of the Land of Claws, who was quietly trying to sneak away.
Shinji asked only one question — and instantly the man broke out in cold sweat, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
"How many living people have you sacrificed so far?"
Shinji's expression turned ice‑cold as he drew his massive, two‑meter long executioner's blade.
____________________
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