Chapter 178: The Yellow Sign - Gift or Curse?
The Existence lifted the knife, ran it over his wrist lightly, and let the blood fall into the pot.
His blood had the color of a pale purple, with sprinkles of gold in it, like some divine mead. The wound didn't heal, so the man tore his robe and wrapped it around the wrist.
"The boy didn't return," the Existence said. "The beasts couldn't keep the broken mother for long, fearing a breakout and another slaughter. So they burned her and did that poorly. By the time the older brother found her, life was all but gone from her eyes."
Only now the Existence lifted his face and looked into Kai's eyes.
"This is your Karma, Red," he told Kai. "And here the Tale ends. Now hear the rest.
"We give you the life, body, and soul of Selena Hao, 10 Million Mission Credits, and a chance to untangle the highest Mysteries of the Primordial Tower and the Multiverse as a Gift.
"However, under the rules set by Chaos and Order, We will have to Curse you in return. Do you accept?"
Kai roared. Thoughts exploded in his mind, and using his bond with her, he passed his intention to Selene, ordering her to come out and kill this man.
The silver mist, resting in his heart, churned and exploded out. But the moment it touched Kai's skin, it bounced back as if whatever it was outside the boundary of Kai's skin had repelled her. Once more, and then again. Selene kept trying to seep out from one hole or another, but by now, Kai had already given up on her. Now he shouted his minor epithets, hoping that it would let him resist the confinement of this Limbo. No reaction.
Only one path left, Kai told himself, steeling his resolve. Come out, Petyr.
He didn't need to speak. Like his Items, he only needed to will for his presence and Petyr would come out of him, materializing into a soulless but solid being.
Yet, like his inaccessible Inventory, even this failed.
Now he had nothing left. His Instinct told him that if he wouldn't accept it, then a fate unimaginably worse than this waited for him.
"I… accept."
"Admirable!" the Existence praised. "You have the Will, Mind, and Attitude to become an Emperor."
The white-skinned man flicked his hand, and a tank appeared in the room, filled with light green fluid. And curled inside this fluid was a mass of blackened flesh. Only when Kai concentrated enough did he make out hands and legs.
Then came the notification.
…
[
Contestant ?!?###?!! is requesting to deposit a payment of 10,000,000 Mission Credits.
Do you accept the transfer?
]
…
Kai had yet to take his eyes off the tank, so he just willed it. The hazels of his eyes were vacant. Yet, hidden deep in those eyes was profound ridicule.
A silent scream of victory.
The Existence again took a deep breath.
Kai noticed he couldn't fill his lungs properly. The System's restrictions were killing him just sitting there. The Existence lifted the Elder Wand, and then swished it in the air, drawing something unseen on the canvas of space itself. Yet, with every passing moment, Kai felt he was losing the tip of the wand, and he couldn't trace its path. When the wand stopped, there hovered a pale sign in the air between the man and Kai.
The Yellow Sign.
"It is the Origin of all languages, written or spoken, in all Universes, and it is much more than that as well," the Existence proclaimed. "Even We have failed to master it, so deep are its mysteries. This is Our last Gift… as well as the Curse upon you.
"If you are capable, then you will find a way to gain immense powers through it. If you are not, then that's also your Karma."
Fuck you! Kai cursed, looking back at the man in sheer defiance.
Then the horned being muttered under his breath, his speech incomprehensible. The flame over the candle brightened, swelled, and then engulfed the blood-filled pot. Some words appeared over the flame that Kai couldn't see, but when they disappeared, he found the white-skinned man looking at him oddly.
"Now this is peculiar," the Existence muttered, frowning, "but also interesting."
Kai's eyes widened. This was the first time he was seeing such an emotion on the Existence's face.
The horned being looked up, sensing the horror on Kai's face. He smiled. "Something, or Someone, is preventing Us from finding out the Random World of your Initiation Mission. Hmm… Let's check it out."
Under the stunned gaze of Kai, the Existence lifted his finger and put it on the part between Kai's brows.
Boom!
The Existence's entire right arm exploded, pale purple color washing the walls.
What the… Kai couldn't fathom the progression of these events. What's going on?!
Interesting… the Existence thought, uncaring of the lost arm. There's a Seal on his mind… He doesn't seem to know about it as well, but it's related to his Initiation Mission. Hmm… I wonder… I wonder if placing the Yellow Sign on him will weaken the other as well… Now… that will be an interesting development.
Then the Existence said the words that Kai would remember for years to come.
"You," the horned being smiled, his eyes beaming with interest, "are lucky, Contestant Red."
Kai was gobsmacked, lacking the words for the ironic remark.
"Tell Us the Random World where your Initiation Mission took place," the Existence asked.
"Harry Potter," Kai replied unwillingly.
"Is that so?" the Existence smiled again, the humor spilling out from his entire body.
Before Kai could process that humor, though, words rang out from the horned being's mouth, sealing his fate.
"I, ?#???!!!#?, curse Contestant Red that until he resolves his Karma with Selena Hao, no true Wand, existing in the Harry Potter Random Worlds, will ever choose him as its master. And as HIS scalloped tatters hide Yhtill forever, let HIS Sign hides this curse from foreign eyes forever as well. I curse him. Curse! Curse! Curse! Thrice I curse in the name of Hastur; HE who is the Dweller in the Depths, the Bringer of Madness and Doom, the King in Yellow."
When the Existence was done, Kai, now like a statue carved into a boulder, saw him pointing the Elder Wand towards his forehead.
The Yellow Sign hovering in midair rushed in the same direction. The wand touched the point in between his brows, and the Sign entered him. Kai saw a profusion of yellow color taking over his thoughts, his skin prickling where the wand had touched him. Then, a snap resounded around him, within him, and in some distant ethereal place like tensed threads.
The Yellow Sign appeared on Kai's forehead, between his brows.
It flashed thrice before disappearing, leaving no trace whatsoever.
The Existence nodded to himself as he saw that, a blue light shimmering around him.
"When the day comes that you have resolved your Karma," the Existence said, "then you can come and seek Us out for revenge. As We said, our meeting had nothing to do with Priestess Margrethe, so you must handle the Effect of that Cause by yourself. She is your responsibility now."
As he said the last words, the Existence vanished.
The gray and bleak colors vanished along with him, along with the room. The objects vanished, the carved Signs and the yellow-painted walls all disappeared one by one. Now, in a completely foreign room, only two were left as a hint of those strange events' proof.
Selena Hao's charred body…
… and Kai, with a demonic grin planted on his face, his mind already tracing the boundary of a black book in his Inventory.
Let's see what you can do, Kai thought, lifting his bloodshot eyes. D-Mail!
***************
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