Even After Death

Ethan was looking around for Olivia. When he found her and Willow unscathed, a wave of relief washed over him. "Where have you been?"

Olivia cast a glance at Jacqueline, who was just nearby, and made up an excuse. "I was spending time with Willow."

"Alexander said that Jacqueline can do the ritual tonight."

"Finally," she exclaimed. She crouched down and whispered to Willow, "Better be careful tonight. They're bad guys. We never know what they have up their sleeves."

Willow nodded.

The night sky dawned, and layers of grey clouds covered the moon with the stars hiding behind them.

Most of the locals went to bed quite early. Places that were still lit up were business operations and army bases.

Dim lights brightened the port, adding a luster to the mood.

That night, Olivia and Jacqueline sat by the beach.

There was a speedboat nearby. Jacqueline reminded sternly, "You can only come after me after three days as promised."

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After what Jacqueline had done to the Fordham family, Olivia shouldn't be letting her go that easily, but the three-day graceful period was the promise. Alexander gazed at Olivia warily. "You'd better keep your promise."

"Let's begin," Olivia prompted. The Lifebond Curse had tortured her long enough. Now, it was time to lift it off.

Alexander informed them about the precautions.

This was a dangerous curse. There was a possibility of backfiring during the process of lifting it off the host, so there should never be an interruption. Ethan had dispersed the crowd in advance so that no one would interrupt them.

Willow stood by the shore watching them.

Alexander held a handful of spice and a small drum. He lit up the spice.

Olivia, who was knowledgeable in herbal medicine, could discern the smell of each herb. Most of the time, she could tell what the herb was with a sniff of it.

However, this time, the smell was strange. It wasn't any kind of smell she knew of. She figured that it was a mixture of herbs she didn't know of. It was no wonder Wendy wouldn't take the risk to lift the curse off.

These were the herbs Alexander used to cast the curse at the beginning. In other words, if different herbs were used, it would be highly possible to kill the hosts during the procedure.

As Alexander played the drum, the spices began to crackle in the flames. It was simple, but it looked like he was orchestrating an ancient ritual.

Olivia suddenly felt a prick in her arm. She was going to raise her arm on reflex, but Alexander quickly stopped her. "Don't move."

After witnessing how the cursed bug came out of Jacqueline's mouth, Olivia assumed that she would go through the same thing. But it was different this time.

She stared at her right hand which had a wriggling swell. Something was trying to protrude out of it. The same thing was happening to Jacqueline's left hand. It was horrifying.

The adults hushed their breath, not making a sound. Alexander hit the drum more enthusiastically. The beat picked up its pace as though urging something to accelerate.

The thing under her skin was trying to penetrate through it, hurting so much that it made Olivia frown. She never expected the procedure to be this simple yet painful. Yet, there was nothing that she could do. She couldn't even scream!

Jacqueline was equally in pain. No matter how much it hurt, the two could only put up with it.

As their skin continued to swell, the intensity of the pain grew stronger. Then, their skins were torn apart, and dark blood oozed out of them.

Wayne, who was watching from afar through a drone, sighed in relief. "Finally."