Villain's Evolution: Investing in My Minions Yields Crazy Returns!

[Absorb?]

”Absorb.”

Following the command, Victor felt an extremely faint pulling force emerge from his palm.

Immediately afterward, a wisp of black mist from the outermost section of Cecilia’s wrist was actually torn directly out from beneath her skin!

”Mm...” Cecilia’s body suddenly stiffened as a faint muffled groan escaped her lips.

The black mist seemed restrained by some invisible force and flowed directly into Victor’s body through the point where their hands touched.

Boom!

Victor’s expression instantly changed when a sinister chill that seemed capable of freezing consciousness itself entered his body.

The moment that black mana entered his body, it moved like a living creature and crazily rushed toward his mana core.

[Warning!]

[Corrosive mana detected!]

[Mana Devour has begun forced decomposition!]

The previously calm mana inside Victor’s body suddenly boiled.

The black energy had barely passed through his arm when an even stronger devouring force erupted from the depths of his mana core.

Buzz!

The black mana was immediately torn apart.

One portion turned into pure, attributeless energy while the other portion simply disappeared.

[Abyssal polluted mana successfully devoured.]

[Maximum Mana +3.]

It really worked! Victor’s eyes shone brightly.

The system’s judgment had been correct.

He really could devour the curse inside Cecilia’s body!

”Continue.”

He activated it again. Threads of black mana began continuously being extracted from Cecilia’s wrist.

The black markings gradually faded at a speed visible to the naked eye.

[Maximum Mana +2.]

[Maximum Mana +4.]

[Maximum Mana +3.]

...

At first, Cecilia was still able to remain calm, but as Victor continued devouring the curse, the way she looked at her wrist finally changed.

Eleven months! For eleven whole months, the finest healers in the royal family, the Imperial Alchemy Association, the Holy Radiance Church, and even a Tier Six scholar who had spent more than fifty years studying Abyssal corruption had examined her condition.

Every single one of them had reached the same conclusion. It could not be separated.

Any attempt to stimulate the curse using purification energy only caused it to rapidly absorb that energy and burrow even deeper.

But now she was watching the black markings fade with her own eyes.

It was so surreal that she struggled to believe it was happening.

”Victor.” Cecilia’s voice had clearly changed. It was much softer and warmer. ”What exactly are you doing?”

”Don’t talk.”

Victor had already closed his eyes.

Mana Devour consumed more mental energy than he had expected. Ordinary mana entering his body would almost automatically be processed by the talent.

But Abyssal polluted mana was different. It resisted and even attempted to corrupt his body.

Victor had to actively control his own mana, confining each strand of black energy inside his arm before allowing [Mana Devour] to break it down.

He could not move too quickly. If multiple streams of corruption entered his core region simultaneously, he could not predict what would happen.

For the next five minutes, Victor continued the absorption process. Fine beads of sweat gradually appeared on his forehead.

And roughly one third of the outermost black markings around Cecilia’s wrist had completely disappeared.

Just as Victor was about to absorb another portion, a crimson system notification suddenly appeared.

[Warning.]

[Approaching the second structural layer of the target’s curse.]

[Continuing absorption may alert the curse core.]

Victor immediately stopped, the pulling force in his palm vanishing at once.

Cecilia’s fingers trembled slightly as their hands slowly separated.

The treatment room became so quiet that only the faint hum of the magical formations remained.

Cecilia stared down at her right hand.

The large patch of black markings that had once extended upward from her wrist was smaller. Obviously smaller.

She could even feel that the sinister coldness that had remained deep inside her right arm for months had genuinely weakened for the first time.

She raised her hand. As light element mana slowly circulated, a pale golden glow appeared in her palm.

In the past, whenever she mobilized light element mana beyond a certain level, the curse would immediately react.

But this time, her wrist did not hurt, neither did the black markings spread.

Cecilia abruptly raised her head, realization slowly dawning on her.

”It really works.”

Her tone still could not be called excited. But for someone raised within the royal family and trained from childhood to hide her emotions, this was already a very obvious loss of composure.

Victor paid no attention to her whatsoever. His attention was fixed on his system.

[Stage One separation complete.]

[Abyssal Heart Erosion Curse corrosion progress: 37% → 31%.]

[Estimated time until complete loss of control: 89 days → 118 days.]

It had only been the outer layer of corruption. ℯℯ𝑙.

Yet it had directly given her another twenty nine days.

More importantly...

[Recalculating based on actual Stage One devouring results.]

[Host possesses additional resistance toward Abyssal polluted mana.]

[Resistance bonus from unknown source: Moderate.]

[If treatment continues within the Moonlight Sacred Spring...]

[Estimated complete purification success rate: 97%.]

Almost at the same time, another system message appeared.

[Host devoured a total of 31 points of Abyssal mana during this treatment.]

[19 points successfully converted into permanent maximum mana.]

[Current Mana: 639.]

Seeing that he had accumulated 19 points of mana in just five minutes, Victor was in a good mood.

If Cecilia’s entire curse could be devoured, his mana alone might increase by more than a hundred points.

And that was only the secondary benefit.

The real reward would come from the investment return.

”Well?”nCecilia’s voice pulled his attention back.

Victor raised his eyes.

”It can be cured.”

This time, he did not say ”possibly.” He gave a direct answer.

”Are you sure?” Cecilia’s pupils contracted.

”What I removed just now was only the outermost layer.” Victor gestured toward her hand. ”The real core should still be near your heart. If we continue forcibly right now, I can’t guarantee your safety. So we need the Moonlight Sacred Spring.”

”When?” Cecilia asked, a bit too eagerly.

”When does the Sacred Spring open?”

”Twenty three days from now.”

Twenty three days was not too long. Plus, the system’s loss of control timer had already increased to one hundred eighteen days, which was more than enough time.

”Then twenty three days from now.” Victor said.

Cecilia stared at Victor with a. Intense gaze. Her eyes were far more complicated than before as if she was trying to see through him.

”Why can you do this?” She asked.

...