Icon couldn't believe that all of his curses had failed. He couldn't understand why either.
He said, "There has to be something that I am missing. Is there something new about him that's protecting him from curses? Could this be related to those shadows of his?"
He couldn't figure out why his curses haven't worked. It made him regret rushing to make the curses.
He said, "Maybe I should have held on for the moment he has a game or went to the foreign battlefield. Unfortunately, I won't be able to get his corpse and the ring of paragon if I do that since I don't know where he will be."
Icon was having a hard time with his hunt. Things became worse when the demigod named Frigid healed her injuries and began chasing him.
This time, the chase was worse because she brought a friend along. Apparently, she had learned her lesson not to underestimate the first demigod even though he had become a mortal.
Icon couldn't fight the two of them, so he could only run. He couldn't hide because she was always able to find him. His situation was much worse than Kelvin's, who didn't dare to take a step out of his hiding place.
—
Meanwhile, Kelvin was recovering from the barrage of curses. His body was so weak that he couldn't lift a single finger.
Half of his body was black and solid while the other half was white and soft like rubber.
The black part was hot like baked stone. It was also cracked in many places. It was the source of pain for me.
The other side was soft and milky. It could stretch, but he couldn't control it at all.
However, he doesn't mind this as much because he can't feel any pain from this side at all. This lack of pain makes it better than the black side of his body.
He was not doing well at all. Sometimes he became deaf, and other times he became blind.
He was afflicted with various issues for hours. If not for Glory-4, he is certain that he would have died. It was Glory-4's constant infusion of life force that kept him alive.
Fortunately, the barrage of curses finally ended. He still can't move because he can't feel one half of his body while the other half is unnaturally painful, but he can still manage to grit his teeth in hatred.
He promised himself solemnly, "I'll get you for this, Icon."
He doesn't know for sure that Icon is responsible for the first attack on him, and he still isn't sure of what Icon did to him, but he has strong feelings that all of the suffering he just experienced is related to Icon because of what he saw using the Mind Overseer ability.
The Mind Overseer ability can see what's going on around those he has marked. The mark allows him to communicate with them and also share their senses.
So he can see, hear, and taste everything his subordinates experience. He was able to see when Icon captured a bunch of them in a row.
Icon didn't account for Kelvin's ability to peek on him because the Mind Overseer is a new ability that he doesn't know about. So Kelvin saw as he took half of his subordinates and killed them.
He felt great pain after his subordinates died, so he believes that Icon was responsible for his pain.
His extraordinary perception also warned him of danger just before they died, so he knew for sure that the source of his problem was Icon and whatever he did to his subordinates.
He decided to cut off the mental marks he placed on them, but that didn't exempt him completely from the resulting pain. It only reduced it drastically.
The curses that came after the death of his first subordinate couldn't kill him outright. But there were many of them, so their impact was greater than the curse that used his mental mark to directly injure him.
He has suffered throughout the whole day. Not only physical pain but emotional pain because he had to cut off his connection to his cabal. He didn't like that at all.
The only good news he has had all day was the increase to his fan count. Apparently, his fan group, the Church of Augustus, has hit the internet with a storm.
Videos of his exploits in the games are being shared on every platform and are making the rounds. Ads have also been made showcasing his excellence and need for support.
It brings a smile to his lips whenever he thinks about it.
He said to himself, "It has only been a few days, yet she has made this much progress. I can only imagine just how well she will do in three months."
Usually, his fan counts reduce after every game. The more absent he is from games and the public eye, the lower his fan count becomes.
But the fan group is changing that. The Church of Augustus is fanning the flames of support for him everywhere. So a lot more people learn about him and become his fans faster than his previous fans lose interest in him.
His fans also have more reasons to stay interested in him now. They have a community that they can interact with and community activities that they can do together.
He is still suspicious of his community manager, but he has to admit that she is effective and doing a good job.
He chuckled and said, "This is probably the carrot. I wonder what the stick will be. As long as the stick can't break me, I will manage to hold on."
As his body recovered, he paid attention to the matter of Lady Dimitri. He previously had plans to kill her for the reward. But now that he has lost contact with his cabal, he doesn't have the foundation to build a villain league anymore. It is a big loss to him.