The Rise of the Winter Wolf - Book 6 - Chapter 59 - The Palace of Curses

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Don't mind this fluff. It's so that free readers can't read half the chapter.

.-.

I just had someone go through each Winter Wolf book on Amazon repeatedly commenting about how Wolf 'is a young teenage boy' for some reason. Over and over again, in each review.

Wolf is not a teenager, nor was he ever one in the story. The story starts out with him in university in his early 20s after all.

Just wanted to point that out in case anyone else skimmed through that or forgot it.

Click the following link if you want to read this chapter on a googledoc with formatting:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qpm2oUymAx5jA8fzqmu6iX-_l9ekjlzgEERsxbekKdk/edit?usp=sharing

Or just keep scrolling down to find the chapter further down this Patreon post without formatting.

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For those of you who are reading this on a website that is not Patreon, please stop. You're reading a pirated version. Instead, if you would be so kind, please click on the table of contents link below and go to my Patreon instead. Or even read it off of Royal Road, which is free.

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Table of Contents

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Wolf

I take a little bit of time to look around the exterior of the palace before deciding to take a break to recover my energy instead of immediately going inside of it. A break that ends up lasting for several hours while I play music again. Then I go ahead and finally walk up to the front gate of the palace. Or fly up to, considering that the palace is just kind of floating here without a pathway to the front gate. Even if it does have a pathway starting from said gate.

The gate itself is rather foreboding in appearance, with curse energy spilling out of it like crazy, along with engravings of numerous bugs all over the arch-shaped gate. But I find myself feeling rather surprised when I fly through the gate, only to be teleported somewhere else.

I frown as I look around at my surroundings. At the walls of what looks like a labyrinth corridor or something.

The walls are very different from previous labyrinths I’ve been to though. Specifically in the fact that they seem to be made out of clay, bricks, and some stone and wood. Rather than the regular stone bricks I’ve grown used to in other labyrinths.

But the architecture isn’t the only odd thing about this place.

Not by a long shot.

What I find even more strange is the sight of a rather large bug walking towards me through the corridor. One that is both familiar and not familiar at the same time.

It looks like a large humanoid bug with some wings and carapace and numerous eyes, yet it’s wearing the same armor that the Skeletal Wardens from the first floor of the Administrator Dungeon wore.

After frowning at the thing for a second, I eventually just shrug and freeze the thing in my domain. Not even bothering to identify it since I know the System won’t give me anything to go off of. Besides its level.

But considering the fact that my domain is devouring it right now, I’d say its level doesn’t really matter.

I begin to wander around the little labyrinth, only to run into another skeletal warden-like bug. And this time it’s not alone as there’s also a revenant-like bug along with it.

Huh…

I kill both of them and devour them with my domain before continuing on, only to run into one bug after another, each of which look like previous boss monsters I’ve killed. Ranging all the way from the undead ones in the first floor theme, to the spiders in the second floor theme, and even the draconic ones in a much later theme.

Every single floor theme seems to be represented by bugs that look similar to the monsters that were their bosses.

And all of these copy-cats are acting as regular monsters here.

But with my domain, all they are to me are ways to increase my strength and level.

So I continue making my way through the labyrinth, facing off against one monster after another. And over time, the monsters begin to grow stronger and stronger. To the point that I can’t easily devour them anymore.

What’s more surprising though is that some of the monsters even begin to mimic the originals’ powers. Even if those powers are clearly made through curse energy.

But since the curse element is conceptual, it can turn into other elements in certain situations. Albeit with it being weaker than the actual elements.

Despite all of that, I continue trekking my way through the labyrinth. All the way until the scenery finally changes again to become what looks like a regular Arabian palace from back on Earth. Albeit the outer edge, with the ‘corridor’ that I’m walking through being almost open on one side. Showing some sort of black and purple sun in the middle of space on the outside of the palace. With the occasional pillar and balcony within the corridor.

As for the new monsters here? I run into a bunch more bugs. Except that these bugs are all event bosses that have spawned over the years I’ve spent in the dungeon.

And these monsters are nowhere near as large as the event bosses that spawned. Also, they aren’t just event bosses I’ve fought, but any and all event bosses that have ever spawned in the Administrator Dungeon and Beta Dungeon before.

Including past dungeon runs before this one.

Albeit with a focus more on the ones I’ve fought.

I almost laugh when I see a tiny kraken bug though.

Until said bug begins slicing me up into pieces before I regain my composure and fight against it with my domain. Only killing it after almost five entire minutes of fighting.

And just like this, I continue on my merry way, killing one bug after another as I travel through the palace over the course of what must be entire months.

During this time, I only get a few interruptions. One of which being some happy birthday messages from people wishing me happy birthday and in the process reminding me of my own age. That I’m now 24 years old.

Honestly, I can’t even remember the age I was when I entered the Administrator Dungeon, and the System Initialization first occurred.

I think I was around 21 or something years old? Somewhere around there?

It’s hard to remember.

But I keep on fighting against the monsters in the palace until I finally find myself teleported away again. Right when I reach level 10,000.

Which is clearly on purpose, considering the changes that happened at important level-ups, and the fact that this time around I’m teleported to a single large room. One with a small pyramid with pools of pure liquid curse energy flowing across each level of the pyramid. With the exception of the main staircase that goes straight to the top.

I look around with a frown on my face for a few seconds, only to begin climbing the stairs.

And when I reach the top, I find it sitting parallel to the ground on an altar.

A single scepter that is radiating pure white curse energy.

My eyes narrow.

Guess it’s time for the boss fight.