The God of Jesters
Chapter 123 - 2.23.1 Death of Jester.

Chapter 123: 2.23.1 Death of Jester.

Everything corrupts and influences things around them. From the simple act of breathing in a room to the act of consuming food.

Even the simple act of wearing something will leave traces of oneself on those clothes, traces so negligible that one barely notices them. And yes, those traces are a kind of corruption as well.

Some people get paid hefty amounts to find such traces and people are paid to deal with these traces.

Like an Ant, that leaves its traces by moving pieces of earth around. A bigger and stronger being would have greater traces left in its wake. And no matter how much one tries, it’s impossible to get rid of it.

That was the case with the flames that Adam had obtained from Maisel. Even the purest form of those flames that Varkus could conjure, would only be relatively purer than the real thing. Due to the very fact that the flames were connected to his soul. His mana as well as will would hold influence over those flames.

Making them not too good. But for the purpose they were aiming for, it was enough. That was the purest flame they could obtain and Adam didn’t mind. Each process of this resurrection ritual had a high chances of failure, his goal had always been to decrease the failure. He never considered outright removing it.

For that was not possible to begin with.

However, there was all but one exception. The moment when he can obtain those flames in the purest form. An almost impossible-to-achieve state. But the Jester had assured him of one thing.

"Just follow my lead. Speak these truths to him. And sell it like a real receptionist you were once." Adam was never one to truly understand what Jester was or his true nature.

Jester was the first of his kind in this world. And few truly understood his true nature and Adam was not among those few. He was just a collaborator, who did what was needed to achieve his goal.

Meaning, there was no chance for him to know of a way to get rid of Jester. He just told Varkus what Jester had told him before. And like Jester had expected Maisel ended up transferring the flames to his son.

A situation forced on Maisel, for he knew that his son wouldn’t have a normal life without the protection of the flames after he had been exposed to the aura of a god.

And just like how it happened twenty years ago in Jester’s memory. The scene played out again. The flames, free of Maisel’s influence slowly flowed into Farhad’s body, while the little spillage was attracted to the lotus bud above their head, which had grown out of the emaciated Maxim.

"No... no stop!" Suddenly the silence was broken, as the cries of Jester came.

"This is not what I wanted," Farhad spoke, trying to take his hand away from his father. But seeing that Jester had shown his head, Varkus tightened his grip over his son. "You are not going anywhere."

A bond that got tighter as the other hand of Farhad came and stopped his right hand from leaving his father. "You really are alive," Farhad spoke again, with a different mood this time. Showing that he hadn’t completely lost control. "Demon, this is your end."

"Are you sure my precious rat?" Jester spoke, not knowing why he called Farhad a Rat before he said. "You are not just killing me, but your..." Then the grip of Varkus got tighter, as he shouted. "Don’t listen to him, Farhad. He lies. He has sent many of my friends to madness and then death... It’s because of him I was so distant. Never believe in a word he says."

But the Jester in Farhad’s body didn’t bother stopping his words. "Varkus, if you wish to die then die... but let me get the time to leave this body." Through all of Jester’s plans, he never expected Kassandra to seal him in this body, and sever his connection to the dreamscape. Giving him no chance to back out when the last part of his plan came to fruition.

"You... Father, is what he says tru...?" Before he could complete his words, Farhad started to feel as if his heart was on fire, taking out all the air in his lungs while he tried to control the pain. But there was no need for him to complete the sentence, his father had got the question and form the expression on his father’s face.

The heat seemed less painful than the revelation that he just had. "Father?" he asked. Before his face twisted into a smile he continued. "Farhad, take off your hand. Let me go, I did what I came here for... It’s the only way to save your father." Then his face turned sad, as if his whole life had been a lie, he lost the energy in his hand, as he let his left hand fall to the ground.

"Don’t son, this is needed. You... you don’t understand what this demon did to everyone, how many have fallen by his hands. After this, he will surely go to your mother and sister. We can’t let him go."

"But... but... If I don’t let go, you will die. And how can I explain to them what happened?"

"Tell them the truth. They will understand, they are not as cruel as you might think." Maisel laughed, while his son twisted in pain, before taking a comical smile.

"Adam you bastard, save me. Kill this old bastard. I don’t want my entertainment to end so prematurely. Come and save me."

It was then that Adam crawled out from below ground where he had been hiding till now. Putting the duo of father and son on guard.

But what Adam said was a bit surprising to them. "Death is just a transition of life, look at me. I remember my old life, which is proof that one is never truly dead, they are just recycled."

"The same will be true for your father."

"You preachy bastard, you are going to let me die? After what I did for you?"

"You have lived longer than any of us here, it’s time for you to go, Jester."

"Haha! It fucking hurts!" The face of Farhad once again contorted, before taking on a serene expression. "Yes, reincarnation exists," he said. Did it really exist? Farhad was actually not so sure as of yet.

But at this moment, he wanted to believe it to exist. He wanted to believe that his father would get another chance at life. But for those that still live, he is going to choose for them.

The only way to end present and future misery is through the death of Jester. He might not know the full story, but from the desperate attempts of his father, he was sure of one thing.

The monster that was hiding in his body was not to be left alone.

"Father, is there something you want me to tell them?"

Seeing how his son had come to understand the reality of the situation, Varkus smiled. It’s rare for a man to experience such joy during his death. Seeing his son grow up from a boy to a man in a matter of hours. It felt weird as anyone would in his situation, but he still felt glad.

At least now, he can be sure that his son will be able to take care of himself as well as the rest of the family.

"I am happy that I had a son like you." Those were his last words, as the flames left his body. He became weaker and weaker, before losing all the strength in his grip.

As for Jester, he ran deeper and deeper into the dreams, into Farhad’s memories. All in a bid to hide from the flames that had deemed him an intruder.

"I will hide." He said, digging deeper and deeper until he found himself as a rat in a cage, with many others like him.

"Another cage?" he thought, before he was picked up by a faceless giant and then thrown in a ring with another rat.

"Bergaduh." The giant said before the whole arena caught fire.

"No, not here." Then Jester ran again, his small rat-like body getting weaker and smaller the deeper he went. Before he found himself inside a tight tunnel filled with warmth.

"Oh, she died?’ A low voice said in a language Jester didn’t find familiar but he understood it for some reason.

Before that tunnel caught fire, and the giant dragged him out with a tweezer. "Poor fella choked his mother to death."

The faceless giant sounded happy and enthralled by what it witnessed. "Let me name you," he said while keeping Jester from running away from the flames that had now covered the Giant’s whole body.

"How about Grifter? Sounds good, doesn’t it?"

******

Faust was injured badly. The impact of the god’s first heartbeat on his body was immense. The backlash from his Martial Spells from breaking was too heavy for his body to handle. Something he hadn’t considered before.

But who would have thought that spells like this could break as well?

It was only due to the life preserver system in his Magic-Tech Armor, that had timely injected him with vital drugs that he was able to get back up on the scene.

But most of his mana was burned out, he was a man walking on fumes, while the battle in front of him was playing out in full force.

Or so he thought, as before he could stabilize his mind and take in the scenery, the little bud of flesh suddenly lit up with fire.

Causing Faust to feel a level of horror that made him feel as if a mountain was pressing on his body. Making him fall to the ground.

"What now?"