Cursed Immortality

'This box seemed to be encrypted with runes. This should be the runic lock that relies on magic runes, and if someone tries to open it without the runic key, the item inside will be destroyed. But I don't think the legendary key is so feeble that it could be destroyed with an advanced unique rank runic lock,' Jacob mused as he observed the box with scrutiny.

If it had been before, he might've been stumped and tried to break this box, but after he deepened his knowledge of the magic runes in the dark city and created the Planet Destroyer, he was very familiar with this kind of runic lock.

He also had Free Sword's entire treasury, so he quickly searched among his treasures and soon found what he was looking for. It was a small pentagon, which perfectly matched the pentagon grove above the box.

Jacob quickly inserted this small pentagon in the grove. When it was perfectly fit, the runes on the box lit up, and with a faint click, the box opened.

When he opened the lid, a glowing light lit the surroundings. The thing inside the box was not a standard key with a flat head and teeth.

It resembles a stylized celestial compass. A smooth, circular disk forms the body, with intricate constellations etched on its surface. It was not made with any conventional material.

It shimmers with an otherworldly, ethereal light, constantly shifting between hues of violet, indigo, and gold. When Jacob lifted it up, it felt weightless in his hand yet held a solidity that defied its ethereal appearance. It was slightly warm to the touch, radiating a comforting yet powerful energy.

Extending from the center is a single, slender point that curves gracefully upwards. This point doesn't resemble a traditional keyhole prong but rather seems to yearn to touch the sky.

Twelve faint symbols were engraved along the rim of the circular disk, and only one symbol was extremely lifelike and different from the other eleven.

Shockingly, Jacob instantly recognized them and muttered, "They are the twelve symbols of the zodiac, and this more visible symbol represents the symbol of the Taurus Constellation, the same as the lesser galaxy that I'm in!

"Could the other function of this key be to track down those twelve legendary visages? Since this compass is found in the lesser galaxy of Taurus, it can only show the way towards the Legendary Visage of Taurus.

"But then why are these other eleven symbols also here? Just what kind of mysteries are hidden in this key? If I can have another key from another galaxy, I might be able to figure it out more accurately. Right now, I can only assume that the other legendary keys should also have ways to lead towards their own corresponding legendary visage…"

Jacob conjected while he looked at the faintly glowing ethereal disc which was the legendary key, although he didn't know how to use it or its true functions, he was sure that the person who held with would have a huge advantage over those without it.

After some more observation, Jacob finally stowed away the legendary key, but he was surprised again when he wanted to keep it in the space ring he was unable to do it.

He wanted to do this because he was afraid that the pedant might cut off its connection with the path of legend and key, just like everything else. If he wanted to be alerted, then he had to make sure the key remained connected.

But now it seemed that this key couldn't be stored in a space ring at all, and when he tried to put it inside the pendant, he succeeded. This made Jacob grimace because if his conjecture was correct, he couldn't keep it inside the pedant or might miss the time of the path of the legend's opening.

'Did I have to keep it on my body all the time now?'

Jacob sighed in frustration before he put the key back into his pendant. Although he knew it was not a good choice, he couldn't leave it outside, so he decided to check on it from time to time. After all, there was no safer place than the infinity pendant.

After he had finished with the legendary key, Jacob was finally done with all the trivial matters. Now that the legendary key was also in his hand, he looked at the cursed immortality that was still in front of him.

He didn't want to waste this chance and then wait for another cooldown period, so he kept it activated just in case something happened, or he found the hideout before the summoning time was over.

As for asking Immoritka about the legendary key, he didn't even bother as he had already tried too long ago but never got anything useful. Immoritka was very tight-lipped about the path of legend and never even dropped the faintest clue.

After he opened the Immortal Chapter, he didn't use the Eyes of Judge directly but tried to use the passive ability judgment gaze to see if he could enter it on his own. After all, his soul was also elevated, so he wanted to try using his own capabilities.

After a few minutes, Jacob found that there was indeed something different this time around as he sensed a strange force within the drop of blood on the immortal chapter, but he failed to enter.

At least, it was far easier with the Eyes of Judge, but this was still a little progress, so he wasn't discouraged. He activated the Eyes of Judge and appeared in the crimson world of blood glyphs.

Jacob didn't waste his time on those large glyphs and found the smallest one again since he wanted to fully comprehend it before he moved on to the others. Furthermore, after his last success, he was now sure that he had to start with the smallest one, and only after he comprehended it could he move on to the others.

This time, as Jacob approached the smallest blood glyph, he was surprised and elated when he found that the repulsive force was no longer as powerful as before, but he struggled nonetheless.

However, this time, he reached the blood glyph without losing consciousness, but when he touched it, his mind went blank again.

Strangely, Jacob was still fully focused. The next moment, he felt as if a sea of knowledge had appeared in front of him, and not only that, but strange images began to play in his head.

The amount was simply too much, and he felt like his brain was too small to absorb them all at once.

However, for some reason, as his mind wandered in the sea of knowledge and those images, he was able to observe them slightly.

Just like that, Jacob's journey to become the Cursed Blood Progenitor started!