The Cursed Extra: Bloodline of Sacrifice - Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Inside the Castle — The Silence

Scared as hell.

Because this wasn’t normal.

There was no sound. No sign of struggle.

No movement.

It was as if Zareth and Vynesaa had simply ceased to exist.

No. No, they’re still here.

They have to be.

But where?

His fingers clenched around his sword hilt.

He forced himself to breathe, to push down the rising panic in his chest.

Think.

What do I do?

Standing still wouldn’t help.

He had to move.

Had to find them.

Had to get out.

He didn’t know how long he wandered.

Minutes?

Hours?

Every corridor looked the same.

Every doorway led nowhere.

The castle shifted around him, the hallways stretching longer.

His breath came in sharp gasps, the cold air burning in his lungs.

“…Zareth?”

Silence.

“Vynesaa?”

They were nowhere to be find.

There had been no sound, no struggle.

Just—gone.

The castle’s silence pressed in on him, thick and suffocating.

His thoughts raced.

No. No, they’re still here. They have to be.

But where?

His pulse pounded in his ears.

And then—

His eyes were drawn forward.

Down the hallway.

To a large, broken window.

The same one from before.

The one where he had seen the figure.

He swallowed, moving toward it with cautious steps.

The wind howled through the shattered glass, cold and biting against his skin.

And then—

He looked down.

And froze.

Because down below—

At the entrance of the castle—

He saw them.

Himself.

Zareth.

Vynesaa.

Standing outside.

Just like before they had entered.

Just like before everything went wrong.

His breath came out uneven. His fingers twitched at his side.

And then—

Ed’s vision blurred.

His breath hitched.

His body wavered—

Then, suddenly, he was standing at the entrance of the castle.

Just like before.

“Huff… Huff…”

His chest rose and fell rapidly.

Cold sweat clung to his skin.

His hands trembled as they curled into fists.

“Ed, what happened?”

Vynesaa’s voice pulled him back.

She stood beside him, her eyes filled with concern.

He turned to Zareth.

The prince looked unfazed. Almost annoyed.

“Let’s go, Ed. Why are you acting scared?” Zareth smirked. “You have the future strongest alive legend with you.”

Something was wrong.

Everything felt wrong.

His pulse hammered in his ears.

He glanced around—the dark castle before them, the chilling night air, the soft flicker of torchlight in the village behind them.

It was all the same.

This already happened.

His mind raced.

Is this… a time loop?

No.

That didn’t make sense.

Time loops weren’t possible.

Magic in this world had its limits—.

No recorded magic had ever broken the fundamental laws of reality.

Time manipulation was nothing more than a theory.

It was said that to travel through time, one would need to surpass the speed of light itself.

But that was impossible.

So what was this?

Why were they back at the beginning?

His breathing slowed as a far more terrifying possibility crept into his mind.

Mind control.

His blood ran cold.

‘Bloodmoon.’

He called out in his mind, hoping for the sword’s eerie whisper.

Silence.

A suffocating, empty silence.

That confirmed it.

It wasn’t a time loop.

Someone—something—was controlling their minds.

And if they had the ability to warp their sense of time, then they weren’t dealing with some simple illusionist.

Ed’s heartbeat pounded in his chest.

Then how much of what I saw was real?

Were Zareth and Vynesaa even awake right now?

His gaze flickered to them. They looked… normal.

But that was the problem.

They weren’t questioning anything.

Not the eerie déjà vu.

Not his panic.

Not the fact that none of this made sense.

And Ed had the perfect weapon for situations like this.

He exhaled sharply, calming his thoughts.

Then,

“Sacrificed my mind control.”

.

THUMP!

Pain exploded in his head.

His vision blurred—then snapped back into focus.

And he was somewhere else.

Somewhere dark.

He gasped for air, his entire body stiff, trapped.

Tree branches.

Thick, gnarled, twisted vines wrapped around him like a cocoon, pressing against his arms, legs, and chest.

He couldn’t see beyond the dense wood enclosing him.

The scent of damp bark and fresh leaves filled his nose.

And then—

He saw them.

Zareth and Vynesaa.

Still trapped.

Still under mind control.

His heart pounded.

His body reacted before his thoughts even caught up.

He twisted, pushing against the thick branches, but they didn’t budge.

He was completely enclosed—buried alive in nature itself.

Then—

A voice.

Soft. Familiar.

“Break these branches, dear.”

His blood ran cold.

It was the village head’s wife.

But her voice—it was wrong.

It wasn’t the same warm, kind voice that had spoken to them earlier.

It was… hollow.

THUMP!

A dull pounding rang from the outside.

‘What the hell is happening?’

Ed’s breathing turned shallow. His muscles tensed.

“Break them quickly, dear,” she urged. “Our mind control won’t last long.”

THUMP!

‘Our mind control?’

Ed’s heart skipped a beat.

She wasn’t talking about the person who had trapped them.

She was talking about our.

His fingers dug into the bark.

The truth hit him all at once.

They were the ones who controlled our minds.

They trapped us here.

But why?

His breath came fast and uneven. His mind reeled.

THUMP!

A laugh—**deep, twisted—**broke through the trees.

Ed froze.

The village head.

He was laughing.

“Good, good,” the old man said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had ones so young.”

“You did well, dear,” his wife cooed. “They’ll last much longer than the others.”

Others?

Ed’s stomach turned.

“Come now,” the woman said sweetly. “Before my life force fades completely. The younger they are, the better the sacrifice.”

Sacrifice.

His vision blurred.

A sickness crawled up his throat.

It wasn’t just about mind control.

It wasn’t just about trapping them.

They were going to steal their life force.

But why was all of them were trapped in tree branches.

The realization hit Ed like ice water to the face.

His hands trembled, his breath sharp.

The branches.

The damn branches.

They weren’t traps.

They were protections.

Vynesaa’s bloodline had saved them.

The forest itself had reacted to her distress and cocooned them away—locking them inside to keep them safe.

Which meant—

THUMP!

The last strike landed.

The branches cracked, snapping apart.

Ed’s vision filled with torchlight.

And standing there, grinning through rotted teeth—

Was the village head.

Laughing.

Like this was all a joke.

Like he had won.

Ed’s hands clenched at his sides.

Rage.

Betrayal.

A deep, gut-wrenching hatred.

His body moved before his thoughts even settled.

His sword was in his hands.

And he was ready to kill.