Chapter 336.2. Taira Masakado

“Curse… a curse, huh? Fufufu, the heroes who always make it this far say the same thing. It’s quite amusing.”
An event has started. In reality, there’s a conversation event! It’s rare, very rare.
Mii-chan, excited, sits cross-legged. Everyone remains alert, but she wants to enjoy the conversation event without skipping it.
The mass of vines around Taira Masakado begins to writhe, and the room trembles slightly as he starts speaking.
“You are all so young… Among those who have reached this far, you are the youngest. You must have undergone quite extensive training. To come to me, you need extraordinary talent and unwavering effort. What a shame.”
A hollow voice escapes from Taira Masakado. It’s not the voice of a vengeful and evil spirit filled with resentment; it’s that of a tired man.
Sensing that something is off, Yamiyo and the others exchange glances, showing their confusion. Ranko-san blushes a little, possibly thinking of herself as the “young” one. It’s okay, Ranko-san, you’re young too! Learn from Nimue, who blends in with the girls with a calm face.
“It seems a bit different from what we expected.”
“I thought he’d be like the final boss in a horror game, you know, attacking aggressively.”
Yamiyo and Tamamo’s words resonate with everyone except Mii-chan.
Yeah, I understand. I probably imagined Taira Masakado would speak in a hateful, resentful tone.
Given the power of Taira Masakado’s vengeful spirit, even though he plunged Tokyo into chaos. But as it turns out, he doesn’t seem to bear any hatred and is rather calm.
Strange, right? Taira Masakado’s curse was supposed to turn Tokyo into an uninhabitable world because of his grudge. Well, I had my expectations, but…
“My resentment would turn into a curse, contaminating this land. Is that what you thought?”
“Could it be that your bitterness and resentment turned into a curse, transforming this land into an uninhabitable world?”
Taira Masakado spoke with a parched voice. As everyone focused on Taira Masakado, he let out a dry, humorless laugh.
“Where did the information get distorted, I wonder… No, I merely wanted to rule this world. Young one.”
“Considering your contempt for us as young ones, it seems you are not just an evil spirit. So, what’s the meaning behind this ominous scene?”
Stepping forward, Nimue asked, her words calm yet powerful. The representative of the children, Nimue. As for Ranko-san, she blushed and seemed to endure the embarrassment, as there was no one stopping her.
Just wait for my answer, Taira Masakado said without stopping Nimue, and again, he let out a dry laugh.
“It’s strange, isn’t it, that the plants have flourished so much due to my curse? This isn’t my intention; it’s merely the result of a mistake.”
“What do you mean by a mistake?”
Caution in her eyes, Sena asked.
“…I merely obeyed the God. By divine command, I built a capital in this distant land of the East, reached the pinnacle of vassals, and finally made the God descended to become the ruler of this world… That’s what I intended.”
Taira Masakado let out a weary sigh that made even my spirits tired. He must be reminiscing about the old glory.
“But… what awaited me was destruction… Sacrificing people, raising myself to a higher being, and eventually touching the origin of this world… That’s what I intended.”
“You failed, didn’t you? You couldn’t reach the origin of this world, right?”
With a voice full of pity, Yamiyo spoke, but Taira Masakado shook his head and twisted his lips in self-deprecation.
“How much better it would have been. If my experiment had failed and I had merely died, how fortunate that would have been. But, I succeeded.”
From the mass of vines crawling around him, he extended a withered arm that resembled deadwood. Thin vines sprouted from his arm like downy hair, wriggling and making one uncomfortable.
“Look at this arm. This body. I can no longer die; I have become a living corpse, eternally enduring pain.”
“Are you parasitized by plants!?”
“No… I absorbed them myself. To manipulate the power of the origin, and make the God descended myself.”
Trembling, he muttered with resentment.
“But I made a fundamental mistake. To control the absorbed power, I shouldn’t have let my human will flow into it. Just like trying to change the course of a pure stream by building a dam with mud, I absorbed only a small portion of the power of the origin, but tainted by my human intentions, I transformed into this dreadful existence.”
With a deep breath, Taira Masakado glared at Mii-chan and the others.
“Human impure intentions are no good! After knowing that, the God easily abandoned me and sealed me in the depths of the earth! Since then, I’ve lived for eternity. Until you foolish people dug me up from the depths of the earth.”
“Impure human intentions… that’s because you tried to control something like the origin of the world. It’s your own doing.”
Sena said with pity but made it clear.
“That’s right. I can’t argue with that. But when I learned the secret of this world from the God! I never imagined that this world…”
“Taira Masakado-san! Why did you tell Mii-chan and the others about this? You’re not asking us to kill you, are you?”
This is information that humans should not know more about. So, let’s just skip-skip-lalalalan. I’m sorry, everyone.
In response to Mii-chan’s question, Taira Masakado grinned slyly. His face was downright villainous, and I’ve seen that type before. It’s a grin that says, “I’ll make you suffer just like me.”.
“Of course, you can’t escape from here anymore! Once you entered this room, you were also absorbed by the power of the origin, just like me. You’ll live eternally as plants, just as I do!”
With a maniacal laugh, Taira Masakado and the sinister purple vines around him all began to attack.