[System termination immineint...]
It was a familiar robotic voice that had accompanied me every second of my new life.
[All restrictions lifted]
[All side effects lifted]
[All functions fulfilled]
I felt my body rid of all the burdens I didn't even know I was carrying. It was like taking a cold shower, it felt refreshing and my mind felt rejuvenated.
My mind showed the most results as I finally felt like myself again. The sensation was comparable to being sober after years of being intoxicated.
[Template Successfully Integrated : Ryomen Sukuna = 100%]
[Host has grown beyond the character Ryomen Sukuna!!]
[Removing Alter Ego]
[Complete!]
[*Ting!!* The host finally acquired his own cursed technique after absorbing Ryomen Sukuna's curse technique!]
[Error... The new cursed technique is beyond the System's jurisdiction!]
[Error... System failed to assimilate the cursed technique]
[Error... Failed to represent the cursed technique in Status]
[....Final Process Completed]
[Purpose Fullfiled!!]
[System Termination Complete!!]
[Goodbye Host! It was a pleasure serving you]
....
I stared at the blue screen in front of me. The screen was glowing in the dark room but no light fell on my face as the screen was and had always been something only I could see.
I read the final message written in bold letters again and again. And then I read some more.
Each time I read those sentences, forgotten memories surfaced in my mind. In truth, they were not forgotten, only ignored. You never truly look back on your memories while making new ones.
But now that it was gone and no new memories were made, the old memories played back in my mind like a flipbook album. All 17 years' worth of memories passed by in a flash.
I think...I think I am going to miss it.
It was strange. I always cursed the damn thing half the time but somehow I missed it completely after it was gone.
At last, the blue screen in front of me faded into nothing. The darkness and silence filled the huge absence almost immediately.
"...System," I called out.
"System," I did it again.
"Open guide, show objective,"
Nothing.
"Show status,"
....
I stopped there. It was real, no doubt.
The system was gone. Its purpose was now fulfilled.
"Haaaa..." I sighed and ran my hands through my hair, slicking them back while massaging my scalp. My other hands pressed against my face and slid down along my visage.
I looked at the four hands in front of me. The mutations were because of my so-called quirk, that was the lie I had been feeding almost all my life. But in reality, I took this form because it was the real body of Ryomen Sukuna, an entity I swallowed whole.
I absorbed everything he was, including his body which was now my body just as much as it was his.
That was what the template system could do.
That did not come without its own sets of challenges though. Sukuna was the worst piece of shit that could ever exist and he had a massive ego. My 17 years of life was spent wrestling against that ego.
It was an unavoidable challenge as I had to become Sukuna in the truest sense to fully integrate him. That included his name, titles, morals and even his crimes. Only after I became all of those was I able to fully absorb him and was allowed the opportunity to become more.
That was the price of power and a test to see if I could handle it.
The guides and the objectives bestowed upon me by the system were ways to achieve that goal and mould me into a character similar to the King of Curses.
The so-called alter ego was also there to help me become Sukuna. It was the direct influence of the King of Curses, trying to make me yield to his will.
It did not mean that I was mind-controlled all this time. If I had to explain, it would be more like being on drugs like meth or being drunk. It started to become noticeable when I crossed the 50% benchmark and it got worse from then on until now when I fully absorbed the King of Curses and was rid of all influence.
It was a difficult journey but in the end, it allowed me to make my powers my own. Sukuna's power was mine in the truest sense of the words, imprinted on my very soul. It was not borrowed power or stolen power.
It was mine.
....
But perhaps all of this was for nought.
Because I sensed multiple presences quickly surrounding the building I was in. Their presence was obvious due to the negative emotions they were feeling - fear, anger, envy, and most obvious of all, hatred.
Nevertheless, I did not run even though I should. The thoughts barely even crossed my mind and that too was to affirm my denial rather than to consider the possibility.
I looked around the room, my four eyes were beyond being affected by the darkness. Every inch of the place was familiar to me - as it should be. After all, this was the place I grew up in.
My home.
Although a part of me tried to ignore it with all its might, one of my eyes looked to the floor where cold corpses lay. Again, they were familiar to me even when they were littered in pieces.
I recognize familiar body parts from the chopped-up pieces of flesh. My father's finger that had his wedding ring, my mother's eye that was stuck to a small part of her remaining head, my brother's arm and the matching tattoo we got on my birthday.
The final corpse was fully intact, maybe as a show of kindness or cruelty. My little sister had her throat slit and her corpse was sickly pale due to blood loss. On her fingers were two dolls, one that of All Might and the other that of mine. It was one of the limited-edition toys they made for me after I had won the UA festival.
Her eyes were open and stared hauntingly at the ceiling. I never knew her eyes were black because they were always shining with life and energy. But as they were hollowed of life, I realized her eyes were black.
They were killed with a blade. This was evident in the way their bodies were perfectly cut into many fine pieces.
What I was looking at was the corpses of my family.
I watched them with no empathy in my eyes. I was a master of curses, it was impossible for me to be overcome with negative emotions. I quickly turned those into cursed energy when they soaked out from my heart.
It was not the right time to cry and I had no right to cry.
The door was smashed open with a loud explosion, and the walls around me followed suit. Amidst the smoke of concrete, pro-heroes flood in like waves.
Although they came with a loud explosion, everyone froze when they saw the sight I was standing on. Every eye widened and stilled as they watched me in abject horror. I could feel their horror and disgust, I could almost taste it.
Out of the thirteen people who barged into the room, one of them wore a UA school uniform rather than a hero costume.
Blood-red eyes shook from emotions so big and diverse that even I could not discern them all. She doubled down, holding her stomach and she emptied the contents on the floor.
Although the others were horrified, they did not vomit as she did. They were more experienced than the students and didn't care nearly as much for the people on the floor. Although they were civilians, they were people who raised the King of Curses after all.
"Why...Why...WHY!!!!" she screamed through vomit and tears. Although surprisingly, her red eyes glared at me with fury and hatred.
"Do you not have a heart? How can you..." she was trying to say something but there were no words. Perhaps the language was too limited for a situation like this or maybe a situation like this warrants no words.
"You monster," Rumi finally said. Her red eyes glared at me like they had never known me, like we never fell in love.
She was only looking at a monster.
At last, I found a limit to love. It had taken her longer than I expected if I was being honest.
A monster, a demon. These were all familiar names given to me after people realized I had no quirk but was somehow able to do all the things that I did.
She was the last person to call me that and I think she deserves praise. Her love was true and strong.
Unfortunately, it was not strong enough.
"You can't seriously believe I did this," I said. I knew it wouldn't matter but I wanted to explain myself. I wanted to tell the truth even if no one believed me anymore.
"These cuts are from wind blades. It is a cheap imitation to try and frame me," I said but even I almost didn't believe myself.
How could they believe me? After all, there was no lick of emotion in my voice, all my negative emotions turned into cursed energy. But if I hadn't done that, I'd have broken down completely, unable to even explain in the first place.
But my truth was an insult to them.
"Spare your words for the court," one of the pro heroes stepped forward but not by much to avoid the blood stains on the floor.
"Daigo Arata, you are hereby charged with multiple counts of genocide, the murder of your classmates, high-ranking Hero Commission officials, and even your own family. Surrender immediately, or we will respond with lethal force," he said. His voice cracked more than once in an attempt to stay professional.
It was only that - his professionalism - that stopped him from attacking me with lethal force, perhaps bringing some vengeance upon the dead.
"Your courts would find me guilty with how corrupt it is," I spat out.
"I will not ask again," he insisted with a firm voice. The other heroes took a step forward, their bodies loaded up like a spring, ready to lunge at me.
I released a breath and met their aggression with my own. My eyes briefly looked at Rumi's red ones. 'Why did they have to bring her?'
Rumi looked like she had the mental equivalent of a beatdown. But her eyes still had that red shine, stubborn and angry.
"I'm sorry," I mouthed softly and she all but growled hatefully at me.
My eyes returned to the pro heroes, "You should've brought All Might,"
That might have as well been a declaration of war. A bright light engulfs the room, even more intense than a simple flash bang. The others seemed to prepare for that though as only I became disoriented.
A beat of seconds later an explosion ripped me off the floor. I felt my ribs ache as the shockwave pushed me through the walls like a ragdoll. Another second passed and I flew out of the building like a cannon ball.
I was partially blind and my ears were numb.
"A light-based quirk produced from the palm, the other threw a marble that could explode and..." my body cut through the air.
"Gravity and Wind manipulation?" I guessed the last two quirks on me and right after I crashed into a tall building.
*BOOOOM!!*
I shrugged off the attack easily enough, I did not even have to use the reverse curse technique. I climbed out from the crash and stood at the edge of the building. A gaping hole that I made from my crash acted as a window.
It was night and you could hear the faint sound of sirens in the air. They had done well enough to evacuate the people from this block. There were probably more pro-heroes surrounding the block in order to contain the conflict here.
It was a foolish endeavour but considering I never showed my full power before, it was understandable. I was never really a show-off and the more powerful abilities in my arsenal were quite lethal, unfitting for an aspiring hero so I never used them.
I leapt off the building and waited for the heroes on the ground. At this point, they already surrounded me in strategic positions.
It was not long before three heroes shot at me, their quirks probably more suited for close combat considering they didn't use their quirks in the last attack. And I was proven right.
A hero dressed in silver armour came running along the empty road. The style was similar to mediaeval armour and he had engines on his calves and back. He blitzed at me with a trail of yellow heat, he was the fastest amongst the three heroes.
I got into a fighting stance and met his charge head-on. He was fast sure but his attacks didn't pack the punch I was expecting considering his speed.
Well, he might not be strong but he made it up with sheer speed. His fighting style consisted of spinning around like a Beyblade, utilizing centrifugal force to increase the force of his attack.
The engines in his claves and back exploded like the end of a rocket. They made every motion blur with speed.
It was not remarkable compared to the sheer combat experience I had but he was strong. I easily met him in the middle ground, he used both arms and legs to attack and I met him with my four arms. We exchanged a few explosive attacks that broke aspal.
Then I sensed two more heroes running at me from opposite sides so I lowered my centre of gravity. I bent my knees and planted my body firmly on the ground. My hands caught a punch and a kick simultaneously.
The ground cracked like glass and I grunted at the force. I was right, all of them had body-enhancing quirks.
"Igneum! Do it!!" they screamed and then the engine hero charged at me from the distance he had created.
A combination attack.
....one I didn't allow to happen.
Igneum tripped on his own leg and fell to the ground. He was moving at such speed that he skidded on solid earth like it was liquid. When he stopped and checked on himself, he was shocked to realize he had left his legs behind.
Cleave.
An invisible slashing attack that adjusted according to the target's strength. They probably thought I needed the hand gesture to release my qurik but that was just a deliberate habit from when I was young.
"AHHHHHH!!!!" Igneum screamed, more in horror than in pain. The sight of his stump legs traumatized him mentally.
"NO!!" the heroes to my side screamed. They immediately moved back from me even though I was grabbing their feet and hands respectively.
They succeeded in moving away but not because they managed to get out of my grasp. Their eyes widened when they saw the bisected arm and leg in my hand.
"AHHHH!!" they screamed in synch. Blood splurted out like a fountain and painted the ground red.
I threw their body parts at them and said, "Get out of here while you can still reattach your limbs,"
Although regrowing or reattaching limbs was no unique feat with the advanced technology and qurik, there were still risks. This threat should keep them off the battle.
Just then a bright flash hit my face. I instinctively brought my hands up to cover my face and I sent dismantle with a wave of my third hand. An invisible blade flew towards the light and the light beam stopped immediately.
That was a distraction though, I moved on instinct again and dodged the bullet that was aimed at the side of my body.
My eyes narrowed to the direction where the bullet came and I saw another hero sitting on the roof of my house. She had a sniper for an arm and she moved away from the scope when she saw me looking at her.
I waved my hand towards the building. An invisible blade - cleave - cut through everything in its way and sliced through the building In half.
After a second, my home came crashing down. The top part of the building slides off the diagonal cut of my attack.
*BOOOOM!!!*
'She shouldn't die from that,' I thought while looking at the hero leaping off the crumbling building with great agility.
The scent of fear became strong after that display. The heroes thought they were going after a student. The strongest student UA had ever seen but a student nonetheless.
Only a few people in the world knew I was this strong while no one knew my true strength. The fact that I could casually cut down buildings like grass shocked them to the point of inaction.
I was easily an S-Class villain.
The heroes who were waiting for a chance to attack me stopped in their place, frozen in fear in a moment of panic.
I blurred in their eyes as I started taking them down one by one. I did not take their life or leave permanent injuries but I made sure they stayed out with ruthless efficiency.
With the difference in our strength which they realized just now, they did not stand a chance.
It was like bullying infants.
..
..
..
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