"Ace, you're in way over your head if you think you can take part in something of this scale. If this incident is really related to the Immortal Sect, death is the best thing that can happen to you down there. Let's head home now," Janice insisted, completely ignoring everything he'd just said. She clearly saw him as a bratty little brother rather than an equal.
"She's right," Delores added right after Janice. "Your rifle's useless in close combat. Just , or I won't hesitate to haul your ass out of here," She reached for his wrist, fully prepared to drag him away if necessary. Having hunted alongside him, she knew that without his rifle, he was just an average curse user—maybe below average. She hadn't seen him in combat hence her low opinion of his fighting prowess.
But before either of them could react, Ace suddenly leaped through the shattered glass wall.
Janice and Delores both shouted, their eyes widening in shock. His sudden move caught his friends off guard, but the others—mere acquaintances—barely reacted. They all rushed to the broken glass wall, only to spot him already scaling the side of the building, running along its exterior as if gravity didn't apply to him, heading down to the basement from the 67th floor.
What nobody noticed was that the outsoles of his shoes were thicker and clung to the glass, releasing with each step as he ran down the building. Trying to maintain his center of gravity and technique, Ace's speed scaling down the building was slower than his regular running pace. They were Bio-Shoes, grown from Doctor Druid's engineered seeds. They were not only fashionable and sturdy but were very handy.
"Wait… isn't he just a mortal tier? How the hell is he running on walls?" Sonia blurted out, watching him in disbelief. She had tried to create her version of walking on walls—but always failed spectacularly, barely making it a few steps before falling back. It only took many painful attempts for her to realize that such a feat required at least Earth-tier curse mastery. Then, she partially fused with Madam Scratchifer to use her razor-sharp claws to achieve something similar to walking on walls, and with practice, it appeared just like that. That was one of the most memorable days of her life. However, she feared she couldn't do the same on glass walls.
She received no response, everyone was preoccupied with their thoughts. Until Man Hunter jumped through the opening without hesitation and took off after Ace, determined to stay on his tail. Feeling that in his desperation, Ace might just reveal his tricks despite her presence. As an Ocean-tier Curse Master, Man Hunter could not fly. Not everyone was fortunate like Delores to get an innate curse tool capable of flight.
Meanwhile, Delores grabbed Janice and Sonia by their neck, and without any warning, she shoved them into Lola's plush along with the latter. The moment those three were inside, the plush shrank back to its original form, appearing no different from a regular stuffed dinosaur. Handing it off to Evil Eyes, she ordered, "Get them as far away from here as possible. I'll come find you once I secure him."
Evil Eyes gave her a sharp nod before taking off at full speed. The Samsara Cult didn't seem to care about those trying to escape—only those who planned to fight back. They were already outnumbered; they did not need more enemies. They just wanted to achieve their objective and scatter.
Delores quickly caught up to Ace, flying alongside him as he sprinted down the side of the building, heading straight for the ground floor. He completely ignored her presence, his focus locked on his objective.
"What's your plan here, Ace?" Narrowing her eyes, she finally asked, breaking the silence.
He didn't even glance at her. "Why ask when you don't plan to help?" He spoke with a firm voice, and his tone left no room for argument but pleaded, "I beg you—just stay out of my way."
Delores hesitated, glancing in the direction Evil Eyes had fled. She could sense that he'd made it safely out of the area. With that reassurance, she made up her mind.
"How can I help?" she asked.
Ace didn't hesitate before asking, "Tell me everything you know about Rust Worms."
Instead of asking her for a lift to the ground floor, he wanted information. He needed to know. Every single cultist they'd witnessed so far had been equipped with those damn things, and Janice had mistaken them for some kind of curse enhancers. If he was going up against them, he had to know exactly what he was dealing with.
"Rust Worms are mortal-tier curselings that are completely invisible to the naked eye—even when aided and enhanced by curse energy. They infest cursed items and tools the same way rust eats away at metal, hence the name," Delores explained, her tone grim.
"Once a Rust Worm latches onto a cursed tool, there's no getting rid of it. A single worm won't cause much harm at first, but by feeding on the tool's core curse energy, it starts laying eggs. When those eggs hatch, the hatchlings devour the tool from the inside out, just like baby birds eating their eggshells.
"On their own, Rust Worms aren't much of a threat… until some lunatic from the Immortal Sect figured out how to use their eggs to turn mortals into immortal curse slaves. That's how the Samsara branch of the Immortal Sect was born," she continued, her expression hardening.
"You have to understand—the Immortal Sect is a nightmare. Their entire purpose is to achieve immortality by any means necessary. Over the years, they've developed all kinds of twisted methods to extend life, but every single one of them comes with a bloody cost.
"Back in the day, they promised immortality to the most powerful and influential people in the country, recruiting them into the sect. You wouldn't believe how many so-called 'pillars' of our government and constitution completely abandoned their morals the second they were promised eternal life.
"They were this close to destroying our democracy," she said, her voice carrying the weight of history. "If my master and his friends hadn't wiped them out back then, our world would look very different today. And you, Ace? A mortal-tier curse user with a strong innate tool and some flashy skills? You'd be nothing more than a glorified shell for someone higher up in the Immortal Sect's hierarchy."
Delores fell silent for a moment, letting the weight of her words settle. Thinking about what could have happened—what almost happened—sent a chill down her spine.