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Blacksmith – Part 06

Cecily’s breath caught in her throat. She almost denied it, but stopped herself. She knew he was telling the truth. History itself proved it—the Proxy Pact War.

“The Aetheria is Valbanill’s curse,” Luke explained. “Sealed by human hands, it harbored a deep hatred for mankind. In its spite, it unleashed Aetheria across the land, marking every human heart with a death spell.”

This death spell was an incantation that triggered a Demon Pact. Only the one branded with it could read and activate the inscription, so nations performed horrific surgeries under the guise of conscription, forcing recruits to either decipher the spell carved into their exposed chests under local anesthesia or to read the inscription copied from their hearts after surgery. It was a twisted, brutal method used to coerce them into forming Demon Pacts.

In essence, it was a trigger for an unbreakable contract—one that demanded human flesh as payment.

This curse