A deep crater stretching thousands of meters was engraved in a land now ravaged by the cacophony of spells and abilities. The blue sky had turned red as cracks tearing through space itself appeared all over it. In the center of the crater laid the razed figure of a person with half their body missing and the other half filled with holes. A few meters away, a brown-haired man sat against a boulder with deep wounds covering his visage.

“To think I will die here…” In an empty world of destruction, the feeble yet tranquil voice resounded. “Won’t you at least tell me your name?”

The brown-haired man lowered his eyes. “Astolfo,” he said. “And you… what in the world are you?”

“Me? I am the end of everything, the goal, the purpose, perfection. I am Teleios.” Teleios laughed before heaving a deep sigh. “Or at least I was… This dimension will collapse soon. You should leave, Astolfo.”

“I would if I could. It will take a while to heal enough.”

A bout of silence followed as both of them remained frozen in their spots. One awaiting recovery and another awaiting death.

Soon, Teleios spoke up again. “I was a god before I got here. As the strongest, I was uninterested in strength, and as the wisest, I was uninterested in knowledge. I created my own world underground and let my people pursue perfection.

“They built floors to separate themselves, divided each other in ranks. From the greatest of sculptures to the smallest of books, they sought perfection in everything. Their desire fed my godhood, and in turn, my curiosity fed their desires. It was a perfect way for both parties to prosper.”

Astolfo wore a light frown as he faced Teleios. He wasn’t particularly interested in hearing this story, actually, he would prefer not hearing it at all, but he couldn’t really walk until he recovered enough.

“It all went well until word of my settlement reached the other gods,” Teleios continued. “Afraid of my power, the gods conspired together. They used my many own people as sacrifices and expelled me from the world, into this place. Since then, I have lived for thousands of years, crushing everything that dared stand in my way.”

“But it’s over now.” Astolfo interrupted.

Teleios creaked his head to face Astolfo. A small smile appeared on the remaining half of his face as a single eye looked into Astolfo’s gaze. “Yes. You finished it. But this is not the end, Astolfo.”

“What—”

“If not me, then no one can be perfect!”

A sharp white light exuded out of Teleios as the god pointed at Astolfo. Soul left Teleios’ eyes as an amalgamation of energy manifested over him. Like raging waves crashing against the shore, the energy crashed into the stunned Astolfo and disappeared into him.

Still unable to move, Astolfo shouted in frustration. “Fuck! Teleios, you bastard! What did you do?!”

Teleios’ voice boomed into Astolfo’s mind. ‘I curse you, Astolfo! My rage, my pride, and my abilities! I curse you with my imperfection!’

Astolfo bit his lips in rage. The friendliness of exchanging names and the story that followed was all a ploy to get him off-guard. He had to know what that bastard had done to him. With no other choice left, Astolfo shifted his gaze to himself.

“[Appraisal]”

**

The mantis edged closer to the unconscious boy. The child bleeding from its eye and waist had lost all its strength and was now just a treat the mantis had to enjoy. The mantis raised its scythes high and pointed it towards the boy.

“[Ice Magic: Ice Spikes]”

A gigantic pillar of ice rose from the ground, smashing straight into the creature. The mantis flew into the air as it was pushed outside the cave in a single hit.

“Ahh, this stings…” Astolfo said as he pushed himself up. The baffled mantis stared at the back of the boy who was now dusting his clothes off with a click of his tongue.

“Teleios, huh? The teleportation, this place, none of it was just a mere coincidence.” The boy clutched his fist as he continued on without even turning to face the mantis. “Sending me here was your plan all along, Astolfo.”

The boy was ignoring it.

“KRRRA!” The mantis roared and ran towards the boy who had finally turned to face him.

Astolfo clicked his tongue and stretched his palm towards the mantis. “[Wind Magic: Gale]”

The mantis was prepared for a powerful attack, but only low breezes that couldn’t even move dust reached it. Unfazed by the ineffectiveness of his attack, the boy only narrowed his eyes and chanted the same spell again and again to the same effect.

The mantis had reached in range, but the boy was still up to his own antics. Without any theatrics, the enraged mantis swung its scythe in one fatal move.

“[Gale]”

And a torrent of wind blew it away. With the speed of a falling star, the mass of wind violently rammed the mantis shoved it far away from the boy. Like it was only natural, Astolfo didn’t spare the fallen mantis a glance and walked towards the altar in the cave.

“This place… Did the dreams stop because you had to make sure I end up here? Even my soul feels stronger than before, it was all your plan to give me this curse.”

The mantis was utterly bewildered with what was happening. The boy who was talking to god knows who had treated it like a fly and left it bleeding from various places. In a fit of rage, the mantis moved up again, but its entire body was firmly rooted in place.

Astolfo had simply kept a finger in the mantis’ direction without even turning back.

Using all of its senses, the mantis felt that a psychokinesis spell was restraining its entire body. A meager amount of mana was keeping the entire giant monster in place. Such strange phenomena, this absurd ability, it was unforgettable.

“Our lord.” Hundreds of voices came out as the mantis spoke. Astolfo turned with widened eyes as the voices old and young continued in unison. “Is it you, our lord? Have you come to save us, our lord?”

Astolfo’s face wrapped into a deep frown as he looked at the mantis that had now sprouted hundreds of mouths and eyes all over its body. “So this is what happened to the survivors,” he whispered under his breath.

“Have you come, our lord?” the voices asked again as a wide magic circle formed under its body. The simple circle glowed golden, stretching far enough to cover the entire mantis.

“No. Now disappear, monster.”

Scorching blue flames appeared under the mantis, scorching it alive. Screams of agony rang out in hundreds of voices as the flames charred through every part of the mantis. The silhouette of the mantis writhing in pain swayed left and right as the flames went off, leaving only a burnt body in its wake.

Astolfo exhaled a sigh and fixed his clothes again, leaving them unkempt had started making him uncomfortable. He shook his head and turned back towards the altar. “Those were just monsters, not people,” he said to himself.

Astolfo had been overwhelmed since the moment he first met the mantis and was having a hard time understanding everything that had transpired. But he knew for sure that everything was happening how Astolfo had willed it. From the second he came to this place, he had become a part of his plan.

He also found himself sure of another thing. He was sure that he could now get out. While he didn’t know a thing about Teleios apart from what he saw in the dream, his feeling about this place was absurdly powerful. That altar was surely his way out.

Trudging ahead, Astolfo placed his palm on the top of the blue altar and closed his eyes. He tried to force the leftover mana he had into the altar, but it didn’t work. Instead, he could feel the altar’s energy coming inside him.

Soon, a derisive chuckle left Astolfo.

The altar was sensing the curse within him. Even this was something he had set up

A loud rumble boomed in the air as the walls of the cave quaked open. A cloud of dust in the air, slowly paving way to an enormous passage leading away from the ruins of teleios.

“No matter what.”

Astolfo clutched his fists and moved forward. As the dust blew away, a giant monkey-like monster came in front of him. In its hand was the decapitated head of the mantis-like monster he had seen earlier. Astolfo smirked as he boldly continued onward.

“I’ll get out and go back home.”

**

“[Appraisal]”

[Curse of Teleios:

Carries the last of Teleios’ will and ability.

The effectiveness of every imperfect action, physical or ethereal is dropped by 25-100%

The effectiveness of every perfect action, physical or ethereal is increased by 150-300%]