On top of a throne made of skulls, sat a hooded figure. It emanated an ominous aura capable of covering the endless waste it resided in; a corpse landscape littered with chained souls, and terrifying beasts imprisoned behind bars made of bone.

The massive amount of death was reflected in the bright red glow of the sky. Like blood flowing through veins, moving. The sky squirmed and screeched as if a monster of its own.

Unfazed, it sharpened its nail using a glowing file. A file made out of a glorious weapon dropped by one of its opponents.

"Master!" An orb suddenly appeared out of nowhere and called.

In contrast to the gloomy and blood-curdling surroundings, it shone a bright white radiance.

Even with a shadow cast upon the hooded fellow's face, its expression was seen through its glowing eyes and mouth; one of displeasure.

"Report." It said in a low voice but made every living being in its vicinity tremble.

Shuddering, the orb materialized a stack of papers and wearily gave it to the person.

A wide grin weaved into his face as he laughed menacingly.

"What an amazing batch!" It stated as the sky slowly turned pitch-black.

The night fell, but instead of stars...

Countless eyes opened in the void, gazing over the chaotic world.

Locked in this perpetual hell they wept.

"Please free us from this condemned abyss!"

---

GRAAAAAAAAWWWRRR!

A beast bellowed with rage. Its roar shook the earth, ripping across the air through the dark cave, like thunder.

BAM! BAM!...BAM!!!

The monster stomped in succession, with each stomp stronger than the previous.

A group was seen running desperately away from it, tumbling out of a tunnel to an open space due to the vibrations whilst they cover their bleeding ears.

They huffed and puffed and held their chest in pain.

The suffocating roar of the beast made their hearts palpitate and weakened their knees from fear.

There were four individuals dashing away from it. One at the front holding a shield, two at the back wielding swords, and the remaining at the middle grasping long-ranged weapons; a bow and a staff.

Though their positions seemed professional and organized, in truth, everyone was running for their lives. The tank being in the front instead of defending from the back gave away their amateur capabilities.

The mage consumed all her mana, but she barely used her body hence being faster than the swordsmen. Same with the archer and the tank who hardly pushed their bodies.

While the blonde and black-haired swordsman held their swords tightly, gasping for air as they ran sluggishly with sweat and blood flowing down their faces, 10 meters behind the rest.

They were the vanguard of the team, the legs and arms of the group, making them the most physically exhausted out of all of them.

The beast's stomp made them tumble multiple times, but they continued running and turned on every corner. Because of it, they were able to gain distance from the monster.

But after a few minutes, the difference in condition became apparent.

The swordsmen were at the brink of collapsing while the others at the front also slowed down.

With each passing second, the stronger and louder the stomps and roars became to the point it was in sight again.

They all look back in horror as they see its faint silhouette charging at them.

Thud! Clunk!

The blonde-haired swordsman fell down head first, followed by a piercing sound of his blade dropping on the hard stone. He had not noticed the knee-high stalagmite on the ground, tripping on it and breaking his shin.

The man screamed in pain as he curled his body on the ground, grabbing his leg with blood dripping down his face.

The others did not look back feeling the presence of the monster just behind them.

Thinking that if they help, they would die with him, but also hoped that one of them would go to distract the beast.

And just as they prayed, the other swordsman dashed to the fallen man and helped him up with a smile.

He had arrived in a split-second thanks to his superhuman abilities. With it, they would be able to continue without losing a lot of distance.

But as the man helped him up, the blonde-haired swordsman grabbed his blade and suddenly swung it at him. Unable to react in time, he was cut in the stomach and fell.

Thud!

"AGH!" The man fell to the ground bleeding.

Clink! Whu-tch!

His sword dropped shortly after, stabbing the gravel floor just by his ear, missing his head by a few centimeters. If the ground turned out to be solid stone, it would have most likely ricochet to his face.

As the man lay on the ground bewildered, the blonde boy quickly gulped down a green pill whilst running limply. A soothing yellow veil covered his body afterward. With his feet gleaming more than the others.

The blood on his face dried and the wound on his forehead closed. His pale skin had turned bright, and his sluggish form became proper.

As if nothing happened, he ran up to the group with a slight grin.

The wounded fellow then kneeled on the cold ground, petrified in fear and disbelief.

He looked at his companions who were also looking back at him.

They had a smile on their faces.

A smile of hope, a smile of assurance.

He looked at them with shock and held his bleeding stomach tightly, sweating buckets.

Crunch!

He grasped the gravel in pain whilst gritting his teeth.

BAM!

The monster stomped, this time louder than it had ever had.

The young man wore a torn leather jacket with a red tainted undershirt, tattered black pants, a brown bag, and a faintly glowing crystal on his hand with a spiky glove on the other.

With blood dripping down his forehead, he unsheathes his sword in a blue scabbard by his waist.

He wouldn't go down without a fight. Or so he thought but the pain was too much for him to handle. He couldn't even stand up.

His feet that were constantly running abruptly stopped, making it freeze.

The boy turned his head to see the shadowy figure slowly walking up to him.

All of his hair raised and his eyes glowed dark red looking at it.

He then once again looked at his "friends", only to see them smiling even brighter than before. Though he didn't hear it, he was sure that the moving mouths of his comrades went along the lines of; "Useless bastard, you finally have done something useful!"

Not a hint of sympathy or regret. It was as if they knew it was the right thing to do.

"WHYYYY?!"

The man screamed at the top of his lungs with anger and sadness, echoing in the dark cave.

Tears went down the young man's face. Why would he do that? He questioned but no one except that man can answer, and he was now running away with a grin.

But the crestfallen expression quickly became one of hatred. If it weren't for him, they would all have died far earlier. He was angry at himself for believing the man.

He had regretted saving him.

But it had already happened, nothing can change that fact.

As the poor young man was in sorrow, the grotesque creature behind them had caught up.

The man felt its chilling breath on his neck and quickly swung his blade behind him, only for it to shatter into pieces from its hard skin.

Unable to escape, he was grabbed.

"KIYAAAHHHHHH!"

The man shrieked in agony as his body was snapped in two.

Blood started gushing out of the teared-up body followed by the horrified but happy expressions of the others. He squirmed in the grasp of the abomination, screaming, shrieking, and wailing.

Constantly begging for help with tears and snot running down his face, only for it to be reciprocated with contemptuous stares.

The monster then threw his upper body away as it chomps down on his legs. Any normal being would have already died instantly, but a mysterious power kept the agonized man alive.

Bleeding, he crawled away as his guts spilled, leaving a bloody trail. Puking out more blood and the food he had eaten in the process. His skin turned pale and his vision became hazy. His mind turned blank.

He was moving on pure instinct and his desire to live. He still had many unfinished businesses and promises. Dying was the last thing he would want.

He wanted to live. And with that resolve, endured.

He tried his best to not make noise despite the hellish pain, but it was all for naught.

He gritted his teeth strongly before he noticed a faint glow behind him.

Thinking his friends didn't actually abandon him, he turned his head around with hope in his bloodshot eyes. Only for it to be shattered almost immediately.

It turned out that the monster didn't need to hear him as the scales on its back glowed, showing his position regardless. Despair devoured the man whole.

At this point, he knew death was imminent. He wanted to believe he could somehow escape like how he did multiple times before. But his luck has dried up. No miracles can save him.

The greenish light emitted from the creature was bright enough to fill the whole room. The cave was orange with a reddish tinge. But it only revealed even more danger as he realizes he's right next to a dark ravine.

The monster stood around 5 meters tall, it had a long and scaly mouth like that of a crocodile but with a humanoid body that has fur like a gorilla. It had 4 arms with short legs but had spider-like limbs on his back along with the scaly glowing tail.

It was truly a creature from hell.

His face ashen at the sight of the monster as it slapped him away.

He landed on the cave's ceiling right above the chasm, cracking it into several pieces due to the strength of the impact.

Splattering it with his blood before falling into the dark abyss along with the fragmented stones from the wall. He had lost so much blood and had broken every bone in his body.

The poor man's companions watch in pleasure as a liability and burden was taken off their shoulders, smiling from ear to ear as they hide in a fissure on the cave's wall.

Finding out all of but one of his prey had escaped, it roared. It had bellowed so strong it made the entire cavern quake. Regretting immediately for not eating the other half.

Dust fell from every crevice and pebbles on the ground vibrated violently before the shaking had stopped along with its dimming light.

Once again, darkness flooded the cave.

As the man fell, before his sunken eyes could close and the blood loss end his suffering, he saw the disgusting smiles of his once called friends.

Anger succumbed to him. His eyes glared with so much hatred that it glowed a faint red in the dark cave, and his face had scowled so hard that it looked like it came from a savage beast.

His comrades were startled, but knowing he was already good as dead, they just scoffed at him.

A gush of air was then heard after the young man had fallen out of their sight. It lasted so long that the abyss seemed endless.

'Why is the world so unfair.' He thought with dead eyes.

Before the man lost consciousness, a blue square holographic message appeared before him,

[ Do you wish to live? ]

Seeing this, the man laughed.

Who or what can save him now? A severed body, that already lost most of its blood with multiple ruptured organs. Not to mention the broken bones and fractured skull. If it weren't for the adrenaline, he would've already passed out.

Ending his suffering was the only thing on his mind.

"Hell no."

Finally, after a few minutes, the sound of a heavy object crashing down followed by a wet splash resonated.

As his lifeless, dismembered body lay on the freezing stone, multiple short piercing sounds rang.

Multiple holographic messages then appeared before him. Lighting up the dark space with its dim light.

[ Congratulations! ]

[ You are now a fallen ]

[ He who has already fallen, must take others with him. ]

[ An eye for an eye. ]

[ For they have killed you, you shall kill them. ]

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