Cursed Immortality

Chapter 1147: The Scheme Unfolds

The moment the spacecraft slipped entirely out of hyperspace into the darkness, both Quasi-Myths could only see before them an expanse of the Star Ocean that felt fundamentally wrong as it stretched far and wide without any trace of light.

The usual rivers of starlight were absent. No nebulae glimmered. No astral tides flowed. Even distant stellar echoes, those faint pulses that seasoned existences used to orient themselves, were absent.

What remained was a vast, silent stellar graveyard, with dead stars hanging like blackened corpses, their remnants frozen mid-collapse. Shattered stellar cores drifted without radiation, and space itself appeared thicker, as if light had once tried to exist here yet failed.

The runic-scaled man stepped forward, his gaze piercing the darkness.

”Just what is this place?” He said slowly as his voice carried no fear, only genuine curiosity, ”Although the Star Ocean is extremely vast, places like this, places without light, are few and rare. This almost feels like a graveyard of stars.”

This was Myth of Myriad Cry, a Quasi-Myth born from a Mythical Magic Beast lineage, whose every breath resonated with layered laws. His runic scales faintly adjusted, reacting to the abnormal absence of law in this stellar graveyard.

Beside him, the massive Hobgoblin folded his arms, tusks glinting dully in the darkness.

”You’re not wrong,” He replied, his deep voice rumbling with restrained caution, ”I’ve been to such a place once in my lifetime.”

His eyes narrowed, memories stirring, ”That time, I didn’t encounter any immediate danger. These places lack sufficient mana, and even laws seem to avoid them as if higher powers abandoned them long ago.”

He paused for a moment before his expression hardened, ”Nonetheless... that is exactly why they’re perfect. Perfect for hiding. Perfect for severing causal traces and perfect for practicing unorthodox methods like curses.”

This was the Myth of Earth. A Quasi-Myth forged through endless warfare, whose dominion lay not in refinement but in crushing, territorial inevitability. His presence alone caused nearby spatial strata to subtly compact.

Before Myth of Myriad Cry could respond...

”ZZT...!”

A burst of static echoed through the vessel as a cold, mechanical voice followed, ”Destination confirmed. One hundred miles ahead.”

Both Quasi-Myths immediately fell silent as their postures shifted. The earlier conversational ease vanished, replaced by the stillness of apex predators entering hunting ground.

The spacecraft continued forward, gliding into deeper darkness where even dead stars thinned out, until eventually nothing remained. There was no stellar debris, astral dust, or even any trace of radiation residue; only absolute emptiness reigned supreme.

Myth of Myriad Cry’s pupils contracted as his runes pulsed faintly, ”...This is too clean. Be cautious. We scout only. Confirm the target’s existence and withdraw. No unnecessary engagements.”

He turned slightly toward his companion, ”If the Cursed One is truly here, and if even the Upper Plains are wary of him, then drawing him out recklessly could be far beyond what we’re prepared to handle.”

”Understood.” Myth of Earth grunted in agreement as he raised a hand and issued a silent command, ”Enter deep stealth. Maximum concealment.”

The ship’s systems responded instantly, suppressing even the faintest conceptual fluctuations before they could advance.

After a few seconds of silence, ”Destination reached.” The announcement echoed hollowly.

But what lay ahead made both Quasi-Myths frown because in front of them was nothing. Not a spatial anomaly nor a hidden formation ripple, and even the residual curse signatures seemed superficial.

It was just a dark, empty space.

Myth of Earth’s eyes hardened as he ordered coldly, ”Scan this place!”

However, before the command could fully propagate, the darkness moved almost instantly, as space contorted without any warping or bending, but it folded inward, like a veil being pulled shut.

Thereafter, from every direction, countless symbols erupted into existence, ancient, vast, and blindingly precise. They didn’t float; they locked into position, forming a spherical lattice around the stealth ship.

Each symbol radiated layered laws filled with seals, runic anchors, and causality pins.

At that moment, the spacecraft’s stealth field shattered instantly before the alarms sounded.

”WARNING—UNKNOWN FORMATION DETECTED!

”LAW OVERRIDE FAILURE!

”ESCAPE VECTOR SEALED!”

The runic cage is finalized.

Myth of Myriad Cry’s expression sank as he muttered, ”...Quasi-Myth Rank Formation confinement, and it’s not curse-based.”

Myth of Earth’s tusks clenched as he knew what this implied, ”...We’ve been baited!”

At that exact moment, both of them understood that this was not the Cursed One’s doing, for this was a net made explicitly for them!

---

Outside the runic sphere, the surrounding darkness twisted violently, collapsing inward before exploding outward in a silent cosmic upheaval.

Suddenly, a colossal warship emerged. Its hull was vast beyond comprehension, shaped like a bastion forged from starlight and abyssal alloy. Massive constellations were engraved along its surface, each one glowing with restrained authority.

This was no ordinary vessel but a flagship, and not just any flagship, but a true warship of the Zodiac Night Federation!

However, there were no crews visible, nor legions mobilized, and not even command decks bustling with activity.

Inside the flagship’s core chamber, only three figures sat before a vast projection as they watched the trapped stealth ship in silence.

The figure in the center slowly raised his hand, resting a formation plate in his palm.

Its symbols shimmered brilliantly, exactly identical in structure to the colossal runic sphere imprisoning the Quasi-Myths.

It seemed like a miniature mirror of absolute control, and it was because this formation was precisely the core of the runic sphere, which had trapped a Legendary King rank spacecraft, not to mention even rendering two Quasi-Myths helpless.

These kinds of formations had long vanished from the face of Legendary Plains, and every one of them was being controlled by an equally exalted existence. Moreover, even if the Zodiac Night Federation had it, they wouldn’t be foolish enough to make its existence known so easily.

Yet here it was, such a formation was being used to entrap not one but two Quasi-Myths, which makes it even more extraordinary.

This is precisely why, for the first time since entering the starry graveyard, fear, cold, and unfamiliar finally surfaced in the hearts of two beings who had long forgotten what it meant to be hunted!