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Sure, curse-type hexes seemed like something evil witches would use.

However, at the same time, it could also be said that they wouldn\'t; they couldn\'t use something they haven\'t learned or have any knowledge about.

After all, hexes required a combination of special materials and runic inscription in the right sequence to produce magic.

In other words, preparation and knowledge was the only requirement to perform hexes. It was something that even ordinary people with zero magic could create as long as they had the knowledge and prepared the materials.

Since witches could use magic, they had a low chance of stumbling upon such a discovery.

More importantly, the world was still new to magic. Seekers of magic knowledge had barely tapped into its depth and mysteries.

Something as profound as hexes was unlikely to be discovered and studied by a person of Pangea.

As such, the Life-bound Hex was more likely created by someone from Chaos or, at the very least, connected to someone from it.

Of course, the biggest deciding factor in his conclusion was something else.

Besides the foul, pungent, rotting stench, the Life-bound Hex also possessed a very faint but unique fishy smell. No doubt, the scent belonged to one of the special materials or ingredients used to create the Life-bound Hex.

However, Vaan couldn\'t put a name on it even after he scoured his knowledge bank.

No creature or object with such a unique fishy smell was recorded within the Kingdom of Black Rose. Its origins belonged outside, whether it came from one of the other six witch kingdoms or beyond.

Nevertheless, he understood the fishy smell belonged to a creature or object of the sea, which helped narrow down his list of places.

"Do you know where this kind of fishy smell comes from, Zodreg?"

"I do not, Supreme Leader."

After Vaan explained the particular fishy smell, which possessed two conflicting traits of fire and ice, to Zodreg, the latter shook his head with guilt for failing to provide an adequate answer.

However, after a moment, Zodreg recalled a very recent report.

"Supreme Leader, I may not know what kind of sea creature or thing possessed the smell you describe. However, I\'ve thought of one place that may hold the answer you seek," Zodreg mentioned.

"You mean the Great Ratholos Empire?" Vaan casually guessed.

"Uh… That\'s right, Supreme Leader," Zodreg replied after a moment of surprise. But after he thought about it, he didn\'t find it all that surprising and held Vaan in higher regard.

The supreme leader was all-knowing – Zodreg thought.

In truth, Vaan had only recently learned about the Great Ratholos Empire\'s specialty when he perused the information in the imperial library earlier.

"Indeed… If it\'s the Great Ratholos Empire, they have a higher chance of having the answer I seek compared to other places," Vaan acknowledged.

The Great Ratholos Empire was a country of body-building fanatics that dared to challenge the extremities of the land, sky, and sea in pursuit of their strength.

As such, the vast amount of knowledge the Great Ratholos Empire accumulated on marine life and oddities was among the highest in Pangea, if not already the highest.

Thus, if Vaan wanted to look into a particular sea creature or object, that would be the first place he should look.

There, he could also have a chance to find the culprit behind the Life-bound Hex.

According to Zodreg, the Life-bound Hex was possibly divided into a master hex and a subordinate hex. Unless the master hex was destroyed, the subordinate hex would continue to reform itself, and such reformation would steal Marchioness Belline\'s life force each time until she died.

Based on that information, the master hex was most likely possessed by the hex caster.

But before setting out to track down such a person, there were a few things Vaan had to settle in the Black Rose Kingdom and Holy Knight Empire.

At the very least, Marchioness Belline\'s situation wasn\'t too urgent for him to set out immediately.

The Life-bound Hex was a type of low-level curse that drained her life until she died; it would slowly lead her to her death and couldn\'t kill her right away.

That said, whoever cast the Life-bound Hex on Marchioness Belline clearly had a grudge against her. Unless he figured out who that person was first, he would be prolonging his search.

"What should I do with this, Supreme Leader?" Zodreg asked, referring to the abominable screaming black goo he captured.

"Keep it safe for now," Vaan replied before further instructing, "Create a spatial portal to the crack in the dimension, then return to the clan and have someone create some life-extension potions and send them to Marchioness Belline."

"Understood, Supreme Leader!" Zodreg complied.

Shortly after the spatial rift opened, Vaan flew through without hesitation and reached the dimensional crack north of Blackthorn City.

Linetta and Lillias had just reunited with their mother and would spend at least one night or day together.

Vaan didn\'t intend to spend that time waiting for them and doing nothing.

There were many things to do.

…

Vaan glanced at the enormous dimensional crack leading to the Gehenna Realm and softly sighed, reflecting on his struggles to reach his present status.

The threat of death was always lurking around the corner.

A day would come when he would be forced to face the seven Great Devils of Gehenna. It was an inevitable future.

The stronger he grew, the bigger the threats he had to face.

Chaos, in particular, was screaming with danger. And yet, it was also precisely this infinitely vast, unknown world that seemed to be calling out to him.

He had no idea why Chaos was calling out to him or why he even thought that might be the case.

However, until he made ample preparation, he wasn\'t ready to explore it and find out.

With that in mind, Vaan found himself a nice spot on the ground and sat down to meditate, right in front of the mirror-like dimension crack revealing the gloomy crimson world of Gehenna beyond.