As I scan the battlefield to ensure there are no other enemies nearby, I slowly let my buffs and Soul Energy Aura deactivate and flow back inside my core. I instantly absorb the new skill; Combat Magic [Superior Dark Summoning] and an additional 3188 Mental Strength points, but pause before accepting this new buff. [Curse of The Lich King] stares at me in bright orange status text just as it did as a stain on every Dark Guard's status I saw it on. It hovers above the pile of bones that falls closer to molten sand below me. I tighten my gaze, then decide not to accept this buff. I open my item storage and let out a sigh to let the remains of this monster fall inside. The black metal shards of its scythe, remains of its dark cloak, the skull of the Lich King that still is covered with swirling black energy labeled [Superior Dark Element Stone], 5 dark orbs labeled [Arch Demon's Core], and a silver ring with a clear gem on it labeled [Ring of the Divine [Hidden Ability]] fall into my storage. "If I have second thoughts, I can decide later..." I whisper under my breath. Something doesn't feel quite right about that buff. I don't want to add it to my status without thinking it over and getting a second opinion from Ember as well. Its corpse will stay in suspended animation inside my storage for as long as I'd like. My gaze hovers over the rest of my status, and I see my level has reached 2199. In addition to this, I take a moment to look at my new skill Combat Magic [Superior Dark Summoning]. I close my status, then take a look at my surroundings. The sun is high in the sky, reflecting off the molten desert around me as far as the naked eye can see. Ember floats downward, shrinking, and turning back into his dragon-hybrid form, then eventually back into his full human form, with his arms crossed and a smile on his face. The moment I look him in his eyes, I stare deep into a Crimson Void of Soul Energy and immediately see the manifestation of an enormous black flaming dragon many times larger than the form I just witnessed in this battle. Even though he's not using any Soul Energy, I can sense exactly how much his core will allow him to output if he chooses to go all out, along with the eerie feeling that this well of power is nearly limitless and is just held back by a seal. I murmur to myself as he floats over closer to me. "So this is what Abby and Maria saw... I get why they reacted like that now." He looks off into the distance too, and the molten sand sloshes around, radiating immense heat. The edges of the 10km wide sea of glass I created start to crystallize now that my Soul Energy flames have died down. I ask Ember a question. "So, what exactly is the Curse of The Lich King? I'm able to absorb its buff now, but I haven't yet. It's still floating in my storage undecided. A majority of its Soul Energy Essence is floating inside suspended animation as well." Ember exhales through his nose, chuckling for a moment, then gets serious and shakes his head. "It's similar to a lesser version of your Rising Emperors Domain. However, only you're able to give your army power, you cannot take it for yourself. You'll have to strip their status clean of everything if you want them to comply. However, the upside is, it doesn't have to be an agreement between two parties, the buff holder will be the one in control. You can forcibly create contracts" I think about it for a moment, but Ember speaks up again before I do. "If it were up to me, I'd say let that Buff and the Lich King's remains rot away in your storage for eternity. You don't want any part of that disgrace of a Divine Beast's legacy stained on your Soul. As long as you keep its Soul Energy Essence from dissolving back into the world, it can never begin the rebirth process." "But, it's up to you." "That was my initial thought as well... I'll pass on absorbing its buff for now, and keep its Soul Energy locked away for safekeeping." Ember chuckles again, but is interrupted by the cracking and hardening of the glassy pool below us. Ice spreads our way, and a bright flash of blue and green light does too. Abby flies through the air with Arie by his side and all 37 of the fully restored Elite fighters. Maria is below them, using her Ice imbued Soul Energy to freeze and harden the desert floor so it's capable of being walked on again and not just a molten pit of death. Five people trail at the rear. Fisher, Lydia, and my one remaining body double are behind the fighters to the right. Then, Monk, and an old man in torn white robes with a [Lv. 1602] tag and a link of loyalty to my Rising Emperor's domain floats next to him in the sky. Things begin to click in my mind, vaguely remembering the feeling of a weak lifeforce deep beneath the mountains become engulfed in my flames during my initial attack. They heard my words "Pledge your loyalty, or burn to ash!" as I flew over, and as the orange soul energy burned away from their body, they submitted to the flames and joined my ranks by their own volition. After a quick appraisal, I find that his status is completely wiped clean. There are no items, no skills, and not even the [Curse of The Lich King] buff leftover. My mind races for a proper explanation, but can only conclude that it is a unique trait of my Soul Energy using my buffs and skills in unison to create this effect. It seems I can burn away curses under special conditions. To know more, I'll need to conduct further tests in the future. Ember and I float down to greet the rest of the army. I deliberately do not put up a disguise this time, allowing everyone here to see my true appearance. They put their life on the line to give me time and fight an army that numbered nearly 2000 troops while I was awakening, getting a bit personal is the least I can do for them in return. Once we all touch down on the icy glass that Maria has summoned, I speak up. "We've won. All of us that stand here today make up the strongest force in the entire Dark Continent. I thank you for your service today, and hope that this great battle against the Dark One's Army marks the beginning of our reign." Everyone looks up at me, and I scan the crowd, looking at everyone in the eyes individually. "This is just the beginning. A great battle has been won to declare dominance over the Dark Continent, but this is far from the true powers that rule this world. We will celebrate our victory, and we will strive to grow stronger." The moving image of a burning flag with a Hunter's Association Logo on it flashes in my mind as I visualize my next target, slowly formulating a new long term plan of action. I float back up in the air and begin sifting through my item storage to let many of the items that were absorbed into my Soul Energy flames fall out. I use telekinesis to let them all float down slowly to everyone below. "Your spoils of war. I managed to pick these up before destroying the battlefield." I let about a hundred of the highest grade weapons fall out of my storage. These are silver swords, shields, daggers, and unique artifacts that some of the higher-grade level 400-700 ghouls had on them. The Elites take them with thanks, and I move onto the even better loot. Over a dozen Wraith cores fall from my storage next into the hands of Lydia and Fisher. Then, 8 purple gems in the shape of spiders' eyes fall toward Arie and Abby. They hum with energy, and each have mental strength and agility buffs that breach 300%. The remains of a shattered silver sword, being what is leftover from the 1st ranked Dark Guard falls toward Maria. Its shards each have 450% Strength buffs, and can surely be used in future crafts. None of the other items from the 1st Guard remain, they were all shattered to dust or burned to ash. Ember doesn't care for magic items like these, so Maria is happy to take them for a future craft. Then lastly, I float down to see Monk and the old man by his side. He turns to look me in the eyes, and both of them bow. I nod back, and speak to the old man first. "Considering our link of loyalty is already created, you have my trust. However, I still have many questions to ask you once we've all recovered from battle." It's clear he has built up immense fatigue and is having a tough time even standing in front of me now, but is doing so out of respect. I smile, then turn to Monk. "Great. This must be even more of a surprise to you than it is to me. It is a pleasure to finally meet your master."