As much as Arthur hates to admit it, he couldn't help but agree to do it, as that was the pathway to regaining the memory.
But that didn't help his lingering feeling that something was going to go wrong; he didn't know what, maybe the system was deceiving him, or whoever was behind it.
[Summon the Cursed armies]
'Why am I this unlucky' Arthur thought as he looked at the message still hovering in the air not going.
With no further argument, he climbed off the bed and walked to the centre of the room, which was vast and alluring, thanks to it's architecture design
From his past life as an Awakened, Arthur had witnessed the Cursed coming out of dungeons, doors, and gates. So he didn't get why he could summon them here…in this vast room not even fitting for a door to manifest here and summon them.
'I just hope this works' he sighed, and looked at the mirror that was capturing his every movement in the glass; his white hair, crimson eyes that were blinking, his lean sculptured body, and his towering height.
Then a realization settled. 'I am the Cursed Lord right, or literally I am the Cursed Lord: he corrected himself.
Then he could do it, the Cursed respect the Cursed Lord, just like how Lyla did, then the Cursed would also respect him.
With a one-minded motivation, he closed his eyes after the system gave him instructions within his own mind . He didn't know how he was doing it, but it felt like he had done it before which helped him.
'Maybe it was from the muscle memory' he thought as he closed his eyes, his muscle memory guiding him.
First, it was dark, but then even with his eyes closed, he could see a massive land. Red mist swirled through the air, and mangoes burned beneath the cracks in the earth. Far from where he was standing, he could see darkness gathered together, swelling into a moving mass, growing more numerous into the distance as if they were many entities.
'So this is the Cursed Lord's inner mind,' Arthur looked in awe as understanding settled through him.
He took his time to look at the shadows that twitched and swirled around. 'The Cursed.'
There was one thing he couldn't understand, why would the Cursed be a shadow inside the Cursed Lord?.
But nevertheless, since many things he didn't understand had happened to him today he didn't bother and just willed them forward.
There were thick shadows and faint shadows and then some shadows looked transparent.
They were represented in ranks as they stood a few feet from each other. Then, as Arthur willed them forward, a faint shadow flowed forward towards Arthur while transparent ones followed.
'This one would be okay for now'
He looked over at the thick ones and deep from somewhere inside him, knew those are the higher class or ranks.
But something in him didn't have the nerves to summon them.
After making up his mind, he willed them out of the inner consciousness with him.
He opened his eyes back to the room, drawing in the familiar air.
He was back in the room. He looked around, but there was nothing, no Cursed standing around or shadows swirling. He sighed, slightly disappointed.
"I thought I did it," he said. "Bet I would just do it again" he added as he decided to go back into the Cursed mind again, but something stopped him. Shadows started swirling up from the ground, intertwining and forming together until three shadows rose before him. Red mist coated them as they floated in the air.
The shadows took shape as their feet hit the ground. Arthur's eyes almost betrayed him as he locked on them in total amusement, his eyes observing them.
He had summoned three Cursed. The first two were common Cursed, skeletons with brace plates on their chests holding a spear each.
The third one was a Cursed wolf of uncommon rank. It was bigger than the skeletons, with black flesh, a red mane, and paws glowing like it had been in the volcanoes for decades.
"I guess….."
Arthur moved, but before he could take a step, something massive rammed into him and sent him flying back through the room at high speed, where he collided with the tall statue.
BAM!
He hit the ground. Pain surges through him. He gasped, hissing as air escaped his lungs.
What the hell just happened?
Turning in the direction he had just been, he saw the Cursed wolf move and lunge at him, blurring between air and time as it closed the gap between itself and Arthur.
The wolf swung its massive, heavy paw aiming to hit Arthur and end him in one strike.
SWOOSH!!
Arthur felt adrenaline as blood speed-wave through his body giving him an unfamiliar feeling and before the paw could land on him and end him– everything slowed then he vanished as he blurred and then reappeared a few feet from the Cursed.
BOOM!!
The paw hit the earth–the space Arthur had been in a moment ago cracking and sending a shockwave through the room.
Arthur watched in awe at the sheer strength of the Cursed, and the madness it was meeting, confusion stirring up in his head.
'Why did the Cursed attack me, I am the Cursed Lord and didn't I just summon them?' Disbelief played on his face as he felt betrayed by the system. This was the second time he had felt betrayed.
As if to answer his thought the system message popped up, its glowing red screen hovering in a space between him and the Cursed, as it's also braced to give its own share of shock.
[Warning: you are no longer recognized as the Cursed Lord, your dominion has been stripped off, your order has been revoked, and the Cursed are now against you. You have only one option: survive!]
Fear gripped Arthur as his gaze flicked between the system's screen and the Cursed just a few feet from him,
already drawing itself from the ground ready to deliver a second blow.
"What the hell?"