The God of Jesters
Chapter 601 - 9.11.3 Another one. The culprit?

Chapter 601: 9.11.3 Another one. The culprit?

The collapse of this world, that’s what I was after.

Why was this space made, whether it was part of an illusion or even a dream that could fool the great me? None of that mattered, I had little time in this world left, time that was more precious than these beings, humans that might just be real.

But none of that mattered. Whether they be children or adults, no matter their gender, circumstances, and even the stories their lives contain, none of that mattered at the moment. With no time to play around, a strong approach without any distraction was needed on this front. And the conclusion I came to was utter massacre.

"Your body reeks of so much curse energy, sadly you have been able to keep yourself free of it, now isn’t that wonderful? As well as wasteful. So let me borrow it for a while." I have changed my body multiple times, but never hid it the moment I had gained some strength, a powerful curse at my beckoning that was grown to a greater extent with the pain it spread to its victims. But it didn’t mean I was empty-handed when carrying out the massacre, a few curse Masters did pose some threat, but they soon became fuel to my Pain. And then I extracted the curses from their own body for my use. Of course, I can’t keep them. For a curse user, the most they can carry in their body is one curse which they might manipulate in different ways depending on their mastery.

And considering the first curse I got was Pain, I chose to grow it without an issue. Even in this new body of mine that was far cleaner than the ones before. Including a little hint of fat that just made it appear I was from a good house.

’Now time to leave.’ With my strength growing, I chose to find the odd bodies that appeared in random locations before. These bodies virtually went unnoticed by the crying villagers before, but considering how I had been transferred to this place due to a similar body like them. I had some idea what might happen if I possessed any of them. But before that, I planned to check if possession might be the only answer. What about others who came here? They won’t be capable of achieving the same feats as me?

Well, whatever the conflicting questions were, I had to go and check things on my own. The only issue is. "Nothing?" Odd, I recall that the villagers before were unable to act on these bodies and were even ignoring harming them outright instinctively. But now, out of nowhere, these bodies suddenly disappeared? "Let’s check another one." Thought I, but failure kept coming my way.

"Ho, consequences of my own actions?" I had chosen to break the game, refused to play what this space wanted me from, and its punishment for me was this? Taking my escape route away? Childish somewhat, or instinctual as a self-defense mechanism would seal the unwanted troublemakers in the illusion forever by taking away the exit.

Too simple to understand what was going on, it was attempting to shut me out of this wonderful place. But I am not the kind that would remain in this place sealed for so long. "Don’t you dare to mess with me?" This place lacked the understanding of how desperate I was, and how far I would go to achieve what I wanted to do.

But truth be told, I had little chance of escaping this place. Well, that would have been the case if I hadn’t seen the true structure of this bizarre mage from the outside before.

The only issue was that I was unaware of what part of the bubbles I was in. Looking back to my memory, there was a huge garden with countless flower bulbs holding a small world of their own, and I was aware that one of the worlds was my own. ’Look deeper,’ I thought, feeling my head rise up in heat, but that was to be expected. A human body was not capable of such a high-level mental task.

More so a mortal body like mine, it’s too weak, but still capable of thought, which is why I needed a fresh body since long ago.

And why, I had burned through so many bodies from before. With each body, I had even gotten closer to finding the correct flower from that broken garden with over thirty percent of the area mapped out. Once I learn the correct flower, it won’t be hard for my intuition to tell me which one I am in and in which direction I should find an exit.

But, as I had expected, even this complete body with so much fat wasn’t able to sustain my thoughts for too long, it wasn’t long before this body had turned into a dried husk. But I kept my mind active, the thoughts used up all the nutrients, stored in the body and then went after my muscles, flesh, and even bone marrow to some extent. Nothing was left and such a level of drain was virtually suicidal for any human.

But my Curse of Pain was only capable of imparting pain, it never killed the target, which is why I used it here, by "imparting" such a painful process on my own body, where I would reach the edges of death, but it won’t ever be able to hold me.

This is what made curses dangerous, they were so versatile in the hands of those who understood how to manipulate them that they were virtually considered the true path that makes everyone equal. More so considering that the path of mages originated from the Curse Wielders. Making them even arrogant where they thought that all paths began with curses.

Which was false of course, as the mages were on a far more advanced path of transcendence than the Curses. But it didn’t make the Curse Wielders weak.

"And here I find it." The image in my head was that of a small flower bulb among tens of thousands, but my intuition told me that was the one I had been looking for all this while. ’The branches it’s connected to, the direction..’ These flower bulbs were not growing on an individual plant or even a tree, but in a net-like vine interconnected with each other.

So even if the existence from before had been broken, I don’t believe there is another way out if I can pinpoint how this space works and how to find the "tunnels" that were connected to this small world.

But for that to happen, movement was necessary, a feat next to impossible to achieve in this body of mine. But there were not only humans in this world, there were small critters like the chickens in the coup not too far from here and the small grasshopper right next to me. Insignificant little guys, but they were my favs for the support they have provided me throughout the years.

I can never look down on these things, like ever.

"A tunnel, a break into reality... just need another ten minutes."

******

While Jester was learning and adapting to the situation at an insane pace, Farhad was far slower and deliberate. He was not so foolish enough to break the game, instead, he preferred to keep things simpler in this situation for who knows what might happen if he made a mistake.

Not to mention, this situation, he found it all a bit familiar. The memory of Jester he obtained spoke about a village that repeated its nightmare constantly. A place where his previous incarnation of a rat attained sentience and helped Jester escape from that hell.

And the answer to breaking that dream was to find the core of that dream and make her realize the truth, which Jester did in an insane manner. ’That bastard was never normal.’ This memory he had kept close to his heart, never intending to expose it ever in his life.

His reasons blinded even Farhad. He feared that if others were to be aware of such a past, they might not look at him the same again, not to mention, that Jester being in this world and spreading his misery was partly his fault. If he had never helped that foolish boy that day, it wouldn’t have been long before that boy’s soul would slowly dissipate from the world of mortals.

’But he is not evil, not like others had been expecting him to be.’ Were his thoughts as Farhad arrived in the house of Dhumas. Though, unlike the faces from before that held some curiosity, the faces now only held distrust.

"This is the failure on my end, and I have seen to understand the problem might be more troublesome than I had expected." Spoke Farhad, looking toward the people as well as the child who seemed to have cried not too long ago. ’Scared bunch.’ Farhad could understand what they were feeling at the moment, but now was no time to coddle them up. "So if you can explain the symptoms or problem, I can target the issue at its core." At those words, Farhad met with some derision from the people.

"But he didn’t mind it, as there were more than just the prior young head of the family. The older heads as well as the patriarch of the Dhuma clan were here. A man with sharp eyes and carrying an air of expert.

His toned muscles and dark skin told enough that this man was not someone who rose to power through connections or legacy but through his own hard work as well as the hint of Curse energy that was not present in others here.

Farhad would even go so far as to say. ’A curse master definitely a curse master that had been able to hide that corruption inside his body.’

’Is he the culprit?’