Chapter 825: Nevermore: No Regrets
Tet undoubtedly had one person he hated more than anyone. An individual that represented everything he despised above all else. Despised how she was just sitting up on her floating ind, staring down with mockery at the average folk beneath. She had been such a shitty person Tet had even awakened his innate curse affinity due to how much he hated her.
This hate was felt throughout a huge part of the as Tet descended upon the cloud ind. The others infected by the cursed gue, even the C-grades, backed away instinctively when they saw the cloaked figure approach. Be it because they sensed the dangerous energies he emanated or simply his power, Jake didnt know.
Landing on the floating ind, Tet began levitating forward. A few times, he reached out and made a guard or servant erupt in ck cursed mes, rapidly consuming them. Jake made the educated guess these were servants of the mansion he hadnt been a big fan of.
Following along, Jake remained true to his promise as he only observed. In his sphere, he saw the woman Tet was aiming for, hiding with two others inside a room with heavy magical seals on it. A safe room of some kind, it appeared.Ccontent ? exclusive by N?/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
Considering the state of the mansion, arge metal box buried toward the middle stood out quite a bit, and Tet approached it at a steady pace, not rushing at all but keeping a calm demeanor. One side of this metal box was partly transparent, allowing the people inside to look out but no one to look in outside of people like Jake who had high enough Perception to entirely ignore the one-way ss. Tet clearly knew they could see out as he floated down in front of the box, and his voice echoed out from beneath the hood, showing the Cursed gue Remnant had gotten a better hold of his new form, even capable of transmitting sound now.
<strong>I hear youve been looking for me well, here I am.</strong>
Promptly, the one-way ss became two-way, revealing to Tet the three within. Standing at the ss was the woman who had originally hired Jake to retrieve her pet.
The woman who had set everything that was happening into motion. She looked through the ss at Tet, clearly unsure what she was looking at.
My dear? What happe-
A huge st of ck mes shot at the metal box, making it rumble, and the magical formations crackle from the sheer energy.
<strong>Do not call me that!</strong>
I why are you doing this? No, it cannot be; my sweet little one isnt like this, the woman said in denial as she leaned onto the side of the wall, looking scared. However, some-fucking-how, she gathered herself and took on an adversarial stance. You are from those dirty slums, arent you!? Ill tell you, when the security forces arrive, youll be in big trouble! Are you also the one who hurt my dear little one and stole its gentle visage?
Tet looked at her, seemingly lost for words for a moment before he just startedughing. The cloud of curse energy around him ebbed and flowed as Jake found not a single trace of happiness or humor in his voice.
<strong>It. You keep calling me an it. Tell me what is the name of your former dear little pet? Do you even know it?</strong>
The woman just stared as she seemed offended. My dear was always called my dear; it didnt have a name.
The response was swift and decisive. A massive inferno of ck mes erupted all around the metal box, burning away at it incredibly rapidly. Curse energy and gues both sucked against magic formations like this, but the sheer energy output was enough to rapidly overwhelm the defenses. One crackle after another sounded out as the magic formations broke, and the metal itself began to break apart.
<strong>Then allow me to remind you. Let my name be thest word you ever hear and your final memory: Tet.</strong>
With that, the metal box broke apart. The two other women in the box died instantly as nothing more than coteral damage as the mes enveloped the source of Tets hatred. She didnt share the same quick death as they suffered. Her screams began to echo as the Cursed gue Remnant floated in front of her, controlling the ck curse me.
For a good while, the only thing Jake heard was the womans screams, with only the faint echoes of battle in the background. Tet was not in a hurry, as he did what he could to make it the most painful death imaginable.
Jake stared for a while at Tets actions before he finally sighed and used One Step, appearing right beside Tet, standing firmly within the cloud of cursed gue energy.
Its enough, Jake said.
<strong>Enough!? No, this bitch could burn for eternity, and it would never be enough! She deserves more than I could ever do to her!</strong> Tets enraged voice echoed out as his curse energy rumbled like a thundercloud. Jake absorbed the pure curse energy of hatred as he understood as least as best as he could.
I said its enough. Simply torturing her will aplish nothing beyond this point, Jake spoke in a calm voice. To end her Path is the ultimate revenge. To sever her impact on the world and allow her Records to fade into obscurity. That is the true way to destroy someone. Erase her from existence and show her just how insignificant she is.
Tets attention was on Jake for a moment as he finally released a pulse of power. The mes intensified, and after a final scream of pain, the womans entire body disappeared, not even leaving ash behind. In the final moments, a bit of curse energy was released from her dead body, but Tet instantly motioned and scattered it, refusing to allow it to be absorbed into him.
Jake had said before he wouldnt interfere, and yet he had stepped in anyway. Not just because he believed that Tet was doing something senseless but because of what had toe next.
It was his time to take responsibility as a teacher. To see if Tet truly realized the consequences of the Path had had chosen.
Sin Curses were the most powerful but they were also insatiable. They would never be satisfied and never reach their goal. Jakes Eternal Hunger would always demand more, always be a glutton, to the level where it would try to consume Jake if it got too famished. In the same way, Tet would always need an outlet for his Sin Curse of Wrath. Sin Curses were based on emotions that couldnt be killed simply by fulfilling them. Wrath was something internal. What you yourself felt, regardless of what you direct your wrath at. You would always find a new target to hate, always find a new outlet. Not feeding the curse would only result in an internal copse as the hatred turned toward the one and the only thing it could: himself.
The anger would be fully directed toward Tet. Toward his own existence. He would begin to hate life itself, hate the entire world. This often resulted in someone infected by a Sin Curse of Wrath simply losing their minds and beginning to mindlessly destroy anything and anyone around them, only stopping when in.
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Thats why people used Sin Curses so sparingly, and if they began to lose control because the curse grew too powerful for them, they sealed it away. A bit simr to what Villy had proposed Jake could do with Eternal Hunger if the weapon ever got too much. He could sever it from himself and have it sealed away and drained of energy until the weapon just became an inert object many, many yearster. It seemed like a waste, but it was better than Eternal Hunger getting hungry enough to just outright eat Jake, even if it would result in its own demise.
Tet couldnt seal away his curse. He was the curse incarnate.
There was no breaking free of the curses influence, no escape from its effects. Tets Path was to be a Cursed gue Remnant until the day he died. He was to spread the Sin Curse of Wrath, with the only reprieveing when the curse also took his own mind or if he managed to fight it long enough and stay lucid, see himself fade away and die in a struggle against his own emotions of wrath.
What will you do now? Jake asked after a long silence.
Tet didnt answer right away as he just stood there, looking at where the source of his hatred had died. Where he had killed her. Jake felt that a sense of emptiness andck of purpose had begun to affect the curse energy around him, but after Jake asked, it refocused.
<strong>End what I started. She was a symptom of a disease one that only a gue can cure.</strong>
Jake nodded, understanding what Tet would do.
Then do as you have to. I will stay and watch as promised and once youre done, let us speak once more. As you said, Ill be a witness to your Path.
Tet turned to Jake, his face clearer than ever, even seeming to have a bit of color to it. He nodded decisively as he took to the air, Jake focusing on reentering his stealth state before following. Jake also quickly saw where his student was headed.
The woman had mentioned it, but the most powerful people on the hadnt fallen yet. While the whole was effectively just one massive city, there were more dense areas than others. Tet had resided in the second-to-most dense area, with only one other ce having more people living there. With more people also came more C-grades and the closest thing to a government this world had.
One could view this fighting force as the army, even if they called themselves security forces. There were thousands of C-grades in the mix, but they all faced an opponent they werent fit to fight. Tet also had an army with him, as the central government was the main focus of the outrage of many. A full-on war was happening as the soldiers tried to defend their stations, but killing only served to turn them to the side of the enemy.
Some could resist, but they were in the minority. Mages and those with high Willpower, more often than not, managed to stay clear-headed even as the cursed gue infected them, but their calmness only made them targets of the irrational rage of others.
As time passed, Jake noticed how Tet had begun to slightly change the target of the curse of wrath. No longer was it merely those in power it became those <em>with</em>power, too. Those with the potential to grow powerful and be the ruling ss once more.
The army quickly fell to Tet and his army of infected. From there, the ughter truly began. Those who had been fighting side by side before began to butt heads, and the D-grades turned toward the C-grades, while the C-grades turned to the C-grades higher level than themselves.
Jakes estimation of the cursed gue taking an entire week to infect the also turned out to be off by two days. Five days was all it took for the cursed gue to infect practically every single person on the entire. Due to how everything was constructed, there were truly no ces to hide, and as long as someone anyone knew who and where you were, you too would be infected. It also helped that the was pretty smallpared to something like Earth.
ughter roamed every street and building. Megastructures fell like dominos, and every single sky ind was brought to the ground, viewed as monuments of oppression. The mines were blown up and copsed, as barely anyone was spared.
A week after Tet had appeared, the was borderline unrecognizable. Not a single towering building remained standing as the entire surface of the world was covered in debris. Trillions had died and killed each other in rage.
Throughout it all, Jake had kept to his promise and witnessed Tet carrying out his Path. He nearly stepped in many times, but at every instance, he stopped himself upon confirmation that Tet remained lucid and in control despite everything. As long as that was the case, Jake wouldnt directly interfere.
Everything seemed senseless, but Jake began to see a purpose. At the end of the day, he also saw that Tet had grown in level far more than he had ever expected possible for a newly evolved C-grade but he had also seen how it hadnt increased in a day,municating he had hit a wall. One he would find very difficult to ever ovee. He had gotten powerful, though.
<strong>[Cursed gue Remnant of Wrath lvl 248]</strong>
Tet himself had finished off thest C-grades on the, meaning none remained. Jake released a Pulse of Perception and did see some survivors. Not many, but there were some hidden beneath. E-grades, children, the weak and oppressed who had been living in squalor only a week prior.
Flying down, Jake appeared standing beside Tet, who was floating above where the governmental head office had once been. Now, it was only a huge ck crater as Tet had burned away even the debris to erase information about the society that once was.
My questiones again what now? Jake asked.
The feeling of emptiness from the Cursed gue Remnant of Wrath was even stronger than before. With everything destroyed, he would soon need a new target. Seconds ticked by before Tet finally spoke, his voice as empty as his aura.
<strong>From the very beginning, I just wanted revenge. I wanted that bitch to die and see the world that allowed someone like her to exist crumble to the ground. Both of those things have now be a reality. The only survivors are those who remember the injustice who were so pitiful no one even felt any wrath toward them. Let them be the ones to rebuild a new world for themselves, one that is better than what was, </strong>Tet said, having clearly given this entire scenario a lot of thought.
Jake simply listened, knowing now was not the time to add his two cents to the situation.
<strong>Even now, I feel it creeping up. I feel my mind being consumed because I suppress my own urges. I want to just fly into the multiverse and look for my next target to infect everything. Without you, Teacher, I wouldnt even be able to remain lucid right now</strong>
Tet looked toward the sky as he began to condense his form. The huge cloud of curse energy gathered into one singr humanoid form as Jake saw the half-elf he had first seen appear before him once more. He kept looking upward for a while before turning to Jake.
<strong>Teacher am I an idiot?</strong>
Very much so, Jake nodded. But you at least chose to be an idiot yourself. Chose your own Path.
Tet smiled despite the Sin Curse. <strong>I did and it was totally worth it. I do not regret my decision to be what I am in order to fulfill my goals. But I do have one regret</strong>
What is it? Jake asked.
<strong>I dont want to just die with this world. Your words that allowing Records to fall into obscurity is the ultimate revenge to be forgotten I dont want that,</strong> Tet said, turning to look at Jake. <strong>Will you remember me?</strong>
I am known for having a shitty memory, but I think youll be hard to forget, Jake shook his head and put a hand on Tets shoulder. Even with his students control of the cursed gue, it still tried to constantly infect Jake, failing at every turn when faced with Pte and Eternal Hunger.
<strong>Thank you,</strong> Tet muttered. <strong>Then, could you fulfill one final selfish request of mine?</strong>
Jake already had a good idea of what he wanted as he nodded. If its something I am capable of.
<strong>Please allow me to die when I am still me and have no regrets of my actions. Consume my existence so my Records can at least still persist in some way, </strong>Tet finally said. <strong>Please consume me with your own Sin Curse.</strong>
Alright, Jake simply agreed, knowing Tet had thought this through.
Motioning, Eternal Hunger appeared in his hand. Without Jake even doing anything, it began to give off a hungering aura toward Tet, wanting to devour him.
Tet looked at the katar as he bowed deeply. <strong>Thank you for giving my life meaning and allowing me to do something with it.</strong>
With those words, Tets form began to break apart. Eternal Hungershed out to eat, and Jake, for once, didnt hold it back but just held up the weapon. Tets form began a torrent of ck smoke that buried itself into the ck katar, getting consumed in the process as one Sin Curse devoured another.
After less than a minute, nothing remained, and as Jake looked down at the mythical weapon in his hand, he could only sigh loudly as he clenched his fists.
My first student Tet and this is how it ends. Fuck Im a shitty teacher