The Strongest Curse Master

"Who are you guys anyway? Assassins trained by C.I.B. to rob innocent curse users that were foolish enough to fall for their lies and register?" I asked the masked cursed masters, trying to figure out who exactly I was fighting.

"You are too confident and self-righteous for a mortal-tier. You have no idea who we are or why we're following you, yet you keep babbling on and on. We haven't met an overconfident buffoon like you in a while. Maybe we should give inventing a buffoon baby test kit a serious test so that mothers all over the world can get a choice to opt for abortion over giving birth to buffoons like you. It would save them a lot of pain down the line," one of the masked curse masters spoke, insulting me with a neutral, almost mechanical voice, making it hard for me to determine their gender.

One would think their tight attire would give their gender away, but the build of these three was too lean to tell if those were male chests or very flat female chests. Even mannequins had ample curves or wider shoulders than these three.

"Fuck, did you guys forget to take your pills this morning before coming to "work" or your parents fucked you guys up so bad that they don't yet have a pill for whatever you're suffering from? Whichever one it is, I promise you death will cure it all. So, are we just going to bicker like a couple of old ladies playing mahjong or am I going to see some foursome action?" I countered, confirming my doubt about these guys being C.I.B. agents, but it was still a question if someone ordered them or they were acting on their own.

"Don't you dare talk about my parents with that dirty mouth of yours," all three of the masked curse masters yelled in unison as they rushed at me, willingly engaging in close combat with me without a hint of caution. Why wouldn't they? After all, they were three hero-tier curse masters facing a measly mortal-tier curse master with a sharp tongue.

Also, all three of them had the same ridiculous gender-neutral voice. I guess this was not their first time. They left no stone unturned to hide their identities. Maybe one of the reasons they were choosing to engage in close combat was because they didn't want to reveal their curse tools and arts that could be traced back to their identities. These guys were both thorough and cautious.

I didn't panic. I stood my ground and intently observed their attack and its trajectory. To my astonishment, these three, even in their anger, managed to pull off a seamless coordination. Even with my stats, it would be hard for me to evade all three of them at the same time without using Curse Clout.

But having decided to test my personal combat prowess against these three, I decided to face without using the Curse Clout. As a result, just like I guessed, I managed to evade the attacks of the two of the masked attackers, but the third one managed to land a punch on me. However, circulating curse reinforcement art to the max, I maneuvered my body and blocked the punch using my right shoulder.

*Boom!*

As soon as a punch connected with my shoulder, my body was thrown back like a ragdoll, I had no idea how long or how many rolls my body did before it came to a halt, but my right arm from neck down was a complete mess and my head was still buzzing. Yet, I slowly struggled to get back on my feet and continue the fight, suppressing my angry toy summons that were raging to kill all three of the masked curse masters as revenge for my current state.

Seeing me get back on my feet, though a little unstable and shaky as my balance was off since the right side of my torso was a mess, one of them exclaimed in surprise, "Not only did you manage to evade two of us but stay conscious after one of our punches. I see where your overconfidence comes from. I have to give it to you, you have a strong body. You would fare better against any regular hero-tier. Unfortunately, you meet us."

"Thank you. But you guys still haven't told me why—" I tried to stall while I used my Apex Earring's fatometer to turn curse energy into fat, which would be used to fix the entire right side of my torso neck down. However, the masked curse master from earlier interrupted me, saying, "Why? Isn't it too late to ask that now? Is it not obvious by now? Geez, how dumb are you? That decides it, we are going to invent the dumb baby test kit and do the mothers all around the world a favor."

"Hey, is it dumb baby test kit or buffoon baby test kit? You need to be specific otherwise people will get confused," I remarked in doubt and as the three of them looked at me in confusion, I added, "I personally prefer calling it the dumb baby test kit. I think it's more alarming and rhyming, at the same time. It will catch on."

"What I call it is none of your business—" the masked curse master from earlier said dismissively, but I cut in, raising my voice, "Hey, it's my business, buddy!"

I glanced over their dumbfounded eyes before continuing with a grim tone, "I'm giving my life for this invention. So, not only does it concern me, but I say I get to name it. I declare we are calling it the dumb baby test kit."

"Fine, we will call it the dumb baby test kit. Happy? Now, where were we—" the masked curse master gave in, not wanting to continue this nonsensical conversation. However, I cut in, aloud, "You guys are the best. Promise me you guys will not let my death go to waste. You will spread the dumb baby test kit across the world and save billions of women from giving birth to dumb babies. Promise me!"

"Wait, who said anything about killing—" the masked curse master suddenly said, but paused seeing the boy suddenly vanish before their eyes, and suddenly all three of them dropped dead on the ground simultaneously.

"What the heck?" I exclaimed, seeing the three masked curse masters drop dead as soon as I used the Curse Clout to ambush them from behind and paste curse suppression squarely on the back of the three of them. Just as I was about to ask DD to use her augmented roots to restrain them, they just dropped dead catching me buy surprise.

I kicked their body to see just in case, only to hear a loud clunk, as if I were kicking a tin can. I squatted next to them and unmasked them one by one and finally understood why they possessed such immense strength for a Hero-tier. They were not human to begin with, they were Curse Droids.

Learning this, my face contorted into a grotesque grimace, understanding that not only did my enemy know everything about me, but I knew nothing about them except that they were part of the C.I.B.

Now, I had two choices: stay and wait for their reinforcement to arrive or just head back home and hide in the Void-tier curse array.