Will of chaos

This forest was horrible to be in. Death itself has little significance to me. What really bothers me is their torment even after death. These Souls came from somewhere, not out of nowhere, and they certainly weren’t brought here by them. They used the remaining Souls in the place, even an idiot can see that.

“Yaffe, can you let me know if there’s anything nearby that might detect us?” (Me)

“I can, but that won’t be necessary; they don’t expect a visit.” (Yaffe)

“The curse on this place, even incomplete, still cloaks it from both the Ascendant Laws and other Entities.” (Yaffe)

“It must have taken months to do this without using the Entity’s direct power.” (Yaffe)

“No, that’s Raakoy’s unique ability, Cursed World.” (Ronan)

“He can terraform entire planets into Cursed Worlds. That’s why Pride chose him as Avatar. He could do it with continents before becoming Avatar, then he was able to do it with entire worlds, and now that he’s the Avatar of the Curse…” (Ronan)

“How long does he need to finish?” (me)

“I’ve never seen him do it, but from the information I’ve gathered, even considering his speed should be even faster, it should take 3 days.” (Ronan)

“That’s absurd, doing all that on an entire planet… a Cursed World requires a lot of rituals and preparation.” (Yaffe)

“Living sacrifices, Souls, magic circle diagrams for control and Runes for function, a core for concentrating power, an artifact to serve as a key that will also require rituals performed separately on site—those are just the main things. There are also the requirements in materials and Cursed energy, all of this without taking into account the capabilities of the curse master himself.” (Yaffe)

“Exactly. That’s why Ronan was so unique. He uses himself as a core, and also as a vessel for the necessary Souls and energies. His body itself is a cursed storage.” (Ronan)

“This allows him to create rituals quickly and en masse, almost instantly. He skips all preparation, always being prepared. All creatures he kills instantly have their Soul, Vitality, and mental power drained by him precisely because of this. Even materials are devoured by him to be stored in a refined form within him.” (Ronan)

As we walked and talked about our target’s capabilities, I began to notice something different: the Souls were trying to move away from the direction we were heading, which was also the direction where all the cursed energy of various types flows.

Since Yaffe understands curses better and Ronan understands our target better, I let the two talk while I observed the surroundings, and we soon left the horrific forest. But what revealed itself beyond the forest was even worse.

“Wait, what’s that?” (me)

“Just as I suspected, he did this…” (Ronan)

“…” (Yaffe)

“What did he do?” (me)

“…” (Yaffe)

“A curse factory…” (Ronan)

“…” (Yaffe)

What lay beyond the forest was a city, a city whose walls lay in ruins on the ground while it was surrounded by columns made of skulls, each column bearing millions of Runes glowing within the skulls’ eye sockets.

The most horrifying thing about these columns was that the skulls still moved their jaws while endless wails sounded from them. Each of these columns was 60 meters high and 10 meters thick.

Above the city was a large spectral creature whose tentacles connected to each of these columns. The cursed energy from the surroundings was absorbed by these columns and concentrated before flowing through these tentacles to the center of the spectral creature that was right in the middle of the city in the sky. The creature had a triangular mouth creating a column of light that descended to the middle of the city. It was a horrible amount of power descending there and I couldn’t see what was happening. Hawk had a large circular barrier there preventing me from seeing the inside.

Looking at the city from the other side, one could glimpse flickering lights, eerie hues, whispers of wailing carried by the wind, and a macabre sensation; it was as if the entire city had transformed into a horrific creature.

Furthermore, just as the forest was covered in an illusion, the city was also covered in illusions.

The horrific columns were covered by illusions of large watchtowers attached to the city’s incredibly high wall. The spectral creature connecting the skull columns was invisible, and in its place were thick dark clouds with heavy rain, blocking much of the view.

The city itself was also covered in illusions, as if it were a normal city. The triangular columns of light descending to the center of the city gave way to a large tree rising to the clouds, a striking feature throughout the city. Even the circular barrier in the center of the city had been transformed into a beautiful castle of Gothic art.

If I couldn’t see the truth beneath the illusions, this city and everything around it seemed beautiful. It was a vision of a magnificent fantasy city like I’ve seen in many medieval fantasy games in the past. But all of this was just a mere illusion, probably just there for camouflage.

I was surprised by all of this, but I was also aware of my surroundings enough to see Ronan moving to stand in front of Yaffe. Her expression was serious, while Yaffe seemed to show nothing. Even so, my hair stood on end just looking at her. It was clear she was on the verge of losing control.

“Calm down, Yaffe… we can’t afford to be discovered now.” (Ronan)

“You knew about this?” (Yaffe)

“I heard, but I wasn’t sure… you know this was difficult to realize even for you.” (Ronan)

“Can you explain to me what’s going on?” (me)

“This city has been turned into a Curse Factory; that’s taboo even for curse masters.” (Ronan)

“I thought those who deal with curses would be willing to do anything.” (me)

“Curse Masters have their limits. We can be willing to do almost anything for our curses, but there are things so repugnant that even we can’t accept them.” (Yaffe)

“A Curse Factory is an Origin Level ritual that doesn’t require the power of the Concept. It can generate two things depending on how it’s configured. The first would be an Anomalous Cursed Creature, the second would be mass apocalyptic-level curses.” (Yaffe)

“That sounds like the production of apocalyptic weapons, the risk of that.” (me)

“Do you think a Curse Master would care about mass destruction or risks of any kind?” (Ronan)

“I care, but I must admit that the morals of Cursemasters vary at ridiculous levels. Even though I avoid harming innocents, I’m still fully aware that others use live babies in their curses. This just goes to show you how extreme something has to be for everyone to agree that a curse becomes Taboo.” (Yaffe)

“…” (me)

“What’s different about that?” (me)

“A curse factory consumes the Existential Spark of people, plants, and even planets where they are used. They do so en masse, causing total annihilation.” (Ronan)

“Wait, that shouldn’t be possible. The Entities of Life, Death, and Reincarnation wouldn’t allow it.” (me)

“They don’t allow it. That’s one of the reasons it’s taboo. Using Souls in curses is routine for us, but the Existential Spark represents unlimited potential and infinite lives that haven’t even been born yet. The weight of touching something like that is too great for those like me, while the risk of angering these three Entities that guard the Natural Cycle is a limitation for the craziest among us.” (Yaffe)

“For me, it’s a horrendous and unforgivable act. I tortured a curse master for centuries who tried to do this before selling his wretched Soul to Hell, where he would be tormented eternally.” (Yaffe)

“The level of complexity you speak of can’t have been something he just started… unless…” (me)

“I knew Raakoy studied this while still serving Pride. At the time, he said he wanted to use this ritual to perfect his terraforming abilities, but he was prevented from continuing to some extent by precaution.” (Ronan)

“This universe controlled by the Ascended has abandoned the Natural Cycle; they’re out of danger here…” (me)

“That’s why the Curse Entity is in this universe. This is the perfect place to set this thing up…” (me) The reference version of this chapter is on M*V*LEMPYR.

“That was my suspicion too… that’s why I was in such a hurry to find him. I only realized this possibility recently, or Pride would have acted personally before a Rules Meeting was called.” (Ronan)

“This kind of action is a shortcut. There are more shortcuts in curses than any other art in existence. Curses arose from these shortcuts.” (Yaffe)

“Can’t use fire magic? Then use a curse that burns the life force.” (Yaffe)

“Can’t seal a powerful enemy? Then use sacrifices to make up for the power difference.” (Yaffe)

“You want immortality? There are billions of ways to achieve it through curses, as long as you’re willing to pay the necessary price.” (Yaffe)

“Studying curses is about going beyond these shortcuts, balancing the costs, and achieving the creativity to achieve what you seek without losing anything—limitless freedom, limitless creativity, and possibilities limited only by your mind.” (Yaffe)

“Using something like that!” (Yaffe)

“This is using the shortcut in the most unorthodox way possible, something that goes against the very study of curses!!!” (Yaffe)

“(She doesn’t care about her victims, her fury is purely for the curses… completely insane…)” (me)

I was furious about what was happening here, but I wouldn’t lose control. The enemy being so bold as to do this shows their level of danger; they must be prepared for invaders.

“(I should have refused to participate in this hunt…)” (me)

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!