Cursed Odyssey

The Fool!? One of the rarest arcana!

"And now! what's your name and arcana?" Aleister, or rather, Joker, asked with seeming politeness. "I'm gonna die right now anyway, aren't I? Might as well return the favour!?"

"That's fine by me!" The old man dusted himself off, straightening to his full height. "My name is Tavis Ontolo! And I belong to the Emperor arcana!"

"Good boyyy" Joker chuckled.

"Huh?" Tavis looked at him, confused with a tilted head.

"You're such a good boy for answering my question so easily." The young man's grin widened. "At least I beat your ass before I gave you the courtesy of knowing mine!" He spun his cane like a fidget spinner, silver catching the morning light.

"Calm... I'm calm." Tavis's voice dropped to a whisper. "You know why I'm calm?"

"Oh, please enlighten me." Joker bowed dramatically, sweeping his top hat from his head with a theatrical elegance.

"Because no one will ever know about this. You'll be dead. And I can move on with my life pretending none of this nightmare ever happened." Tavis's eyes were cold. "You damn liar."

Joker fixed his hat back on his head and made an exaggerated yawning gesture. "You know, all I hear is yap. Just show me what you've got!"

"Oh I'll much oblige!" Tavis readied his stance.

"Good boy!" Joker laughed again, the sound echoing in the dome of Tavis's skull.

A vein popped visibly on his forehead. He took a measured step forward and raised his left hand in an intricate symbol, fingers positioned like he was grasping an invisible crown.

"ARCANE MANIFESTATION!" His voice boomed across the world. "Throne of Eternal Dominion!"

Reality rippled outward from his feet like disturbed water. The ruined landscape transformed—charred earth became polished marble, smoking trees grew into towering silver pillars carved with birds. Golden chandelier light poured from nowhere and everywhere, casting the space in the warm glow of a throne room.

The very air grew heavy, like that feeling of a king's presence pressing authority down on everything within his borders. At the center of it all, a massive throne of black stone and gold materialized behind Tavis, where he sat cross-legged.

The streaks of grey on his hair were no more, and wrinkles faded away. He was an emperor in his prime.

"Hahahahaha!" Tavis spread his arms wide, "Your parlor tricks are useless against me in here! I control everything—every law, every force, every breath you take! I am king, and you are dreg! An Act Two, like you wouldn't know anything about Arcane Manifestations. This is the domain of—"

Joker smiled.

Not his usual grin, entirely different. Something that made the shadows in the throne room recoil.

Tavis instinctively raised his king's sceptre, trying to do something, but nothing responded— like a scorned king with no authority.

Joker raised his left hand in a symbol that hurt to look at directly—fingers twisted in impossible angles.

"Arcane Manifestation." His voice was soft. "Fool's Paradox."

The throne room shattered.

Not destroyed—shattered. Like reality itself was made of glass and someone had taken a hammer to it. Cracks spread through the golden pillars, through the marble floor, through the very air until it all came apart in a cascade of impossible fragments.

The sky returned. The forest returned. The crater returned. In an instant, sanctum was there once again.

How… I… Wha…

Tavis stood frozen, mouth agape, as if his brain was malfunctioning.

Before he could even form words, something tight wrapped around his throat.

He couldn't move.

Joker's polished leather shoe pressed against his neck, not quite crushing but very much paralyzing. The young man had moved faster than thought, pinning the ancient arcanist to the ground with ease.

"I just nullified your manifestation." Joker's tone remained playful despite it all, "If I wanted, I could have overpowered it completely and destroyed you at the same time. But I'd rather capture you. An old fossil like you can be... useful, you know!" The sombre words dissolved into laughter.

An Act Two of the modern age can use Arcane Manifestation? What the fuck has sanctum come to…

I must…

It was then, the pressure on Tavis's neck loosened, ever so slightly.

Huh…?

Abruptly, Joker began speaking again, but his eyes seemed distant, looking afar. It was as if he were addressing someone who wasn't there.

"Yes, yes, I know this is an annoying detour. But opportunities like this don't come often, do they?" He tilted his head, listening to silence. "Oh, don't be such a doubter! Think of the historical significance!"

Is he talking to himself? Tavis thought, cold dread creeping up his spine. What kind of anomaly are you...

For a brief moment, their eyes locked. In Joker's playful gaze, Tavis saw something that made his old soul crackle. It was death itself, wearing a young man's face and grinning like it was all just another joke.

After centuries in that cave... Have I gone insane? Am I dreaming? Some fever-induced nightmare? The thoughts raced through his mind as oxygen deprivation made his vision blur. No... this is definitely real, but it doesn't feel like it. After all that preparation, all that power... am I really going to die the moment I step outside? Killed by a low-rank Act Two arcanist? What kind of cruel comedy is this?

Hahaha... No... I CAN'T ALLOW IT!

He looked away, but Joker's face reemerged in his head like it was a shadow following him.

His heart dropped to an indescribable abyss.

LET ME OUT!! LET ME OUT!!! LET ME OUT!!!!

Using that briefest relief in pressure from the distracted Joker, Tavis forced his hands toward his pockets.

He grabbed something hard, poking out, and gripped it tightly.

Metallic in his grip, it suddenly began to glow.

"The real question is whether we should—" Joker continued talking—

Then suddenly—

Light exploded from beneath him.

WOOSH

...

Gone… Tavis was gone, as though swallowed by thin air.

"Oh wow... He disappeared?" Joker lifted his foot and stared down at the empty ground, "Well, shit…. I guess he had an artifact I didn't know about..." He shook his head.

"Guess that was my fault. Mhm mhm, but I'm sure it'll work out fine!" He smirked, and in the next instant, vanished as if he was never there.

---

Back in Joseph and Rayah's Cave

It wasn't just one explosion—it was several, each one shaking the earth like earthquakes.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it was as suddenly as it went silent.

Without hesitation, Joseph bolted toward the nearest hill, dodging branches and scattered stones.

Something's not right! I can feel it!!

"Slow... down...!" Rayah panted from behind him, her voice still weak from illness.

She struggled to keep pace, stumbling over roots and loose rocks.

Suddenly, Joseph reached the peak.

He stopped dead.

It was a clearing that overlooked the forest. Yes... Overlooked

There was rustling from the bushes behind, as Rayah appeared beside him.

She collapsed falling to her knees and gasping for air. "What—" She started to speak, then looked up.

The words died in her throat.

The forest ahead simply... wasn't. Where miles of ancient trees had stood for centuries, only empty space remained—not burned, not cut down, but gone.

The clearing made it hard to avoid what lay ahead of them.

In the far distance, impossibly large even at this range, lay the corpse of the Leviathan its obsidian scales still catching light despite its lifeless corpse. A monster they thought unkillable! It was that same Leviathan, Lagos, that swallowed half the prison island whole... It had been so easily taken down.

They stared in silence, eyes wide beyond words.

If we had been just a few meters closer in that direction, we would have been erased, We wouldn't have even had time to react before our lives were simply... snuffed out. Like candles in a hurricane.

But this was no natural disaster. This was someone's doing. The idea that my life could end so easily on someone else's whim, that I could be destroyed by accident as mere collateral damage... It's odd...

He had suspected this would be the case on Sanctum, but seeing it made real was beyond imagination. That Leviathan, a creature of legend, was defeated as casually as swatting a fly.

This was not the Warden's doing; she wasn't powerful enough. Perhaps people from her organization? An unknown being or faction? A government power? The possibilities multiplied in his mind, each more terrifying than the last.

This scene will attract powerful individuals like blood draws sharks. We need to leave. Now.

But beneath the shock, something else stirred—a burning need to understand. He wanted to go down there, explore the corpse, perhaps discover something. But he knew he couldn't

I must get stronger. Strong enough to decide my own destiny, so my life becomes worth more than an insect's. So I can choose where and when I die, instead of having it chosen for me. Life is no fair game that allows me luxury or time to prepare. The final boss could show up tomorrow, and I was in no position to call it unjust.

I am but an infant in this world. I wonder, what power struggles lie beneath the surface? Was there another purpose to my being brought here? Too many questions, too much mystery...

Such was Sanctum.

A world where gods walked among mortals, and mortals could be gods if they were strong enough to seize the crown.

To ignore the world, live a quiet life, and stay out of the way was not an option. He knew it long ago.

And infront of him, was the clearest example.