Shoujo Hater-Chapter 13 - 11: The Curse of the Ma’hul
The referee announced the beginning of the match.
Luna dashed forward with explosive speed, not giving Frosita even a moment to activate her magic. But Frosita was no easy opponent. She activated ice magic and fired hundreds of ice arrows at Luna.
Frosita screamed with fury
“I will kill you, you filthy worm!”
Luna retreated and unleashed her halo of light. A radiant glow burst outward and sliced through the oncoming arrows. Frosita seized the opening and launched water spears that pierced Luna’s armor and tore a chunk of it away.
Luna’s light surged again, illuminating the entire arena and disorienting Frosita for a brief moment. Frosita did not hesitate. She created an ice shield that sprouted razor sharp spikes, cutting into Luna’s body.
Luna staggered back, panting, sweat pouring down her forehead.
Outside the arena...
Lin watched with growing anxiety, his hand gripping the iron railing so tightly it shook.
Damn it...
I should have forced Luna to withdraw. If this continues, I will fail the mission completely. Frosita is far too strong. If I interfere, it will look like I am protecting her, and that will only anger her and the Matriarch.
“Withdraw, Luna... damn it...”
Think, think... there has to be something...
Then a small grin appeared on his face.
Found it. I have two choices.
First plan: I use Frosita s affection for me. I jump in and take the hit meant for Luna. I pretend to collapse from exhaustion and she will rush out of the arena to help me.
But... that is incredibly risky.
Damn it. I will watch for now.
Inside the arena, Luna’s roar shook the air.
“End this, Frosita ... this is my final attack!”
Is that... a fire aura mixed with light? That technique is unstable!
Luna charged and pierced through the ice shield, leaving a clear scratch across Frosita’s cheek.
“You damn brat!”
Frosita rose into the air, her eyes turning pure white.
A massive blizzard spiraled around her. Hundreds of ice spears formed, circling her like a frozen storm. The ground beneath Luna’s feet turned into solid frost.
“I did not want to fight you... but you tried to seduce what is mine.”
“I will kill you myself!”
Damn it. No choice!
Lin rushed into the arena, smashed the ice with his foot, and kicked Luna out of the ring in a single motion.
He shouted loudly
“How dare you attack my lady! You filthy tramp, damn you and your entire clan!”
Lin stepped toward Frosita , knelt before her, gently held her hands, and spoke with calm sincerity
“Are you hurt, my lady? I apologize for what happened. It seems the traitors have grown bold enough to raise their hands against their superiors.”
The referee announced
“Victory goes to Frosita!”
Lin smiled, stepped closer to Frosita , and in the moment she lost focus...
Swish
He shoved her out of the arena.
“I am sorry, my lady... you must not lose focus during battle.”
The crowd erupted into insults.
“That was cheating!”
“Where is your honor?!”
“Coward!”
Lin answered them only with a mocking smirk, as if their curses were praise.
Then a system notification appeared, wiping the smile off his face.
What now?
[ The mission is complete. You survived and avoided the scenario. Protection shield will be suspended in two hours. Entering cooldown mode. ]
Whew... we made it.
But the relief did not last.
The Matriarch’s voice thundered across the arena, shattering Lin’s moment of calm.
“Lin... how dare you interfere in a battle that was not yours?”
“Forgive me, Matriarch. But how could I allow my lady to be injured while I remain still?”
The Matriarch smiled as if she were toying with him.
“If you are truly loyal, then kill the one who scarred her... kill Luna.”
Silence fell over the arena.
Damn it... damn it... think... think...
If I refused, I would be branded a traitor.
And If I obeyed, he would turn the Emperor and Ian into enemies.
Damn her... there is no way out except accepting the punishment.
“I will accept any punishment you deem fit... my lady.”
The Matriarch smiled as if expecting exactly that answer.
“Very well. You will be confined in the Frost Prison for one week. After that, you shall receive your reward.”
Before Lin could even react, a mage appeared behind him and whispered a spell he barely heard.
Darkness swallowed him instantly.
He collapsed without uttering a single word of resistance.
Lin vanished from the arena...
and Frosita ’s eyes remained fixed on the spot where he disappeared.
Her gaze burned with contradiction
desire... and pity.
As if she feared for him... and desired him at the same time.
The mage carried Lin until they reached the prison door. He threw Lin inside with force, slamming him against a frozen wall. Lin lost consciousness immediately.
The iron door closed, and the mage walked away.
---
Hours later inside the Frost Prison...
Lin awakened to a freezing world.
The air was painfully cold, every breath slicing into his lungs like a blade.
The ice around him was not white... but a mix of blue and black, clear like dark glass that froze all warmth.
Inside the frozen walls were distorted faces.
Mouths wide open in eternal screams that made no sound.
Hands pressed against the ice from within.
Eyes following him with unreadable expressions... some begging, others cursing.
Every face trapped in the ice belonged to someone who had been here before him.
Their suffering soaked into the walls, reflecting the fate awaiting Lin.
The floor was nothing more than a thin layer of ice over a bottomless abyss.
Each step made a faint cracking noise, threatening to break beneath him.
Lin trembled, not only from cold...
but from something deeper.
Something creeping into his spine, his soul.
A final warning from the system flickered.
Cooldown time remaining
three...
two...
one...
When the countdown ended, the pain was not physical.
It was far worse.
It felt as if something broke into his skull and shoved cold madness deep into his thoughts.
A single massive eye appeared in the void, staring at him.
A single look could kill a man.
Lin fell into a black sphere, plummeting endlessly into a sea of emptiness.
Voices filled his ears.
Not from outside.
From inside.
From cracks in his mind, whispers burrowing into his soul.
Mad laughter.
Screams.
Murderous whispers.
Every voice carried a tone he recognized.
He saw everyone he had ever known mocking him.
Even his own voice shattering between crying and hysteria.
“What are these shadows?” Lin screamed, but the sound did not escape his mind.
“Leave me alone!”
But they did not.
They were not around him.
They were inside him.
The shadows crawled from the walls like black smoke sliding beneath his skin.
They were not shapes...
they were thoughts.
Each shadow was a sin.
Another was a regret.
Others were guilt and fear.
Each one tearing at Lin’s heart and ripping his identity apart.
“You do not deserve to live.”
“Fear rules you.”
“You ran from the Mawhul. Why? Where will you run now?”
He slammed his head against the wall to silence them.
But the wall absorbed the hit...
and sent it back into his mind as a multiplied echo.
“Damn... damn it!”
Lin collapsed to his knees, clutching his head as the cold drilled through his bones like nails.
The shadows grew stronger.
This time they did not speak to Lin.
They spoke to the one inside him.
“You are not him.”
“You are an intruder. This child’s body is not yours.”
“Our child is dead. You are nothing but a parasite.”
Something inside Lin snapped.
As if his soul had been stabbed.
As if the body rejected him.
As if his consciousness tore apart.
A pulse of light erupted...
Not pure light.
Dark light.
A corrupted glow of black radiance.
It traveled up his spine, reached the back of his head, and exploded silently inside his skull.
A strangled cry escaped him, muffled by the blood-like tears running down his face.
Lin knelt, hands trembling like leaves caught in a storm.
His eyes turned pitch black.
No white.
No iris.
Only void.
As if death itself lived in his gaze.
The voice of the Mawhul echoed from deep within him
“Return... before the curse worsens.”
“Become what you once were... or disappear.”
“Otherwise you will be erased from every world... every memory... every existence.”
The air froze solid, then shattered like broken glass.
Reality around him began to collapse.
Lin struggled to breathe as if someone was stealing the air from his lungs.
His heartbeat faltered.
Another presence tried to take it.
Tried to take control of his body.
His existence.
“Who... who am I?” he whispered.
But the voice was not his own.
Even the name he called himself by was not the right one anymore.
Suddenly...
Screams erupted from deep within him.
Not human screams.
Lost souls.
Those who died in the Mawhul.
Those who sought escape... through him.
“You took my body!” Lin screamed.
The shadows answered
“You betrayed your destiny.”
“Now... we will take you with us.”
His skin began to crack.
Not like wounds...
but as if the body no longer accepted him.
The sound of breaking bones echoed repeatedly.
His form reshaped itself, covered in absolute blackness with white shimmering lines like the glow of a collapsing star.
His skin reformed, wrapping him in a new shell.
A rebirth.
Not of a human.
Not anymore.
Beneath Lin, the void stretched outward.
Reality crumbled and countless eyes opened in the darkness.
They watched him.
Judged him.
Condemned him.
Claimed his soul.
He was alone.
Stripped of his name.
His past.
His identity.
No Lin.
No Jin.
No one.
Only a scream that echoed forever.
Every minute was worse than the last.
Death would have been mercy.
The only sound left in the frozen cell...
was the thud of his head hitting the ground
and the drip of black blood spreading across the ice.
-----
Reader’s Archive:
Because Lin’s body had managed to escape from the Ma’hul, it created a situation that the entity could not ignore. The Ma’hul, by its very nature, was compelled to reclaim what had once belonged to it, to restore itself to the state it considered complete. Lin, however, had spent significant time studying mana, learning how to sense it, manipulate it, and increase its presence within his body. He had observed its patterns, tested its limits, and understood how it flowed and reacted under different conditions. This knowledge, gained through careful practice and attention, made it much easier for the Ma’hul to detect him. The entity did not need to search blindly; Lin’s use of mana, though subtle, revealed his location unmistakably. It could sense his energy, recognize its fluctuations, and track him effortlessly. His escape had only delayed the inevitable, but it could not prevent it. Now, the confrontation between Lin and the Ma’hul was unavoidable, set in motion by his actions and the Ma’hul’s relentless instinct to reclaim what it had lost. Every trace of mana Lin emitted made him increasingly visible to the entity, leaving no room for evasion or concealment.
