"Change into your chosen attire, and be out in ten minutes,"
A titan guard instructed before tossing Lucivar into a room and closing the door shut.
Lucivar lay still on the ground for half a minute before weakly pushing himself up.
Remaining in a prostrate position, he began to pour his emotions out as he cried, he couldn't believe, that he ended up in this position, "All I wanted to do was to do the right thing... How can I end up this way? Isn't goodness the only thing that never fails? What happens with you reap what you sow?!"
His sobs echoed through the chamber he was in.
Each sob mingled with the soft, wavering sounds of torches and candles in the background.
It took him a moment to collect himself and make peace with his fate.
Upon standing up, he saw a dress form at the center of the room with his supposed attire.
Having no other choice, he began to change.
Several minutes later, he stood in front of a mirror and saw how he looked.
As opposed to his plain clothes earlier, he now wore a white tunic, with black piping and gold accents, cinched by a black belt. Over it, a sleeveless surcoat with a golden crest fell to mid-thigh. A white cloak embroidered in the same contrast, and high black boots with gold lacing completed his look.
For someone who was about to die, he was given such a fancy and proper attire to wear.
Outside, he met with the same titan guard and was given a couple of potion vials.
He took the initiative to drink the potions, before he was led to another path—separate from the other Death Volunteers. Not only him—but another old man was brought along with him, and he seemed to be as scared as Lucivar.
Upon emerging at the end of the path, Lucivar was greeted by a breath-taking sight.
Before him was a massive maze of stone, and he was looking at it from an elevated position.
Just then, the ground rumbled and Lucivar saw eight entrances, were opened on the edge of the maze. Coming out of it were the eight other Death Volunteers, fully equipped in armor. All were shoved into the maze.
Having no other choice, the eight Death Volunteers moved forward, into the maze.
Lucivar was confused as to what is the purpose of this, but his eyes widened, when he found another gate was opened, and sprinting out of it was a shadow moving into the maze with an astonishing speed.
It didn't take long before he realized that the shadow turned out to be a monstrous beast.
"GRAAGHH!! HELP ME!!"
"NO, WAIT!! RAGHKK!!"
Mercilessly, the monstrous beast tore anyone that it encountered in the maze.
Arcs and spurts of blood exploded sky-high right after the shout of the frightened.
Just like the rumors, the Death Volunteers were all dead, but Lucivar couldn't even begin to guess that they were used, as entertainment as even the titan guard seemed to be amused by their deaths, cheering and clapping at the gore.
'How can he enjoy the sight of others' suffering? Is this what happened to Death Volunteers?'
Naturally, both Lucivar and the old man paled at the sight of this.
Lucivar heard from a drunkard who worked with the governor that there's a rule stating that a Death Volunteer could use the Rite of Fate to be freed—once again. He thought that there would be tests to achieve this, but from the looks of the beast, it would be impossible.
In no absolute chance that Lucivar could defeat that beast, not in a million years.
Everything happened in a blur after that.
All of the Death Volunteers in the maze were killed, and the beast savored their corpses.
Soon, it was Lucivar and the old man's turn.
Unlike the other eight Death Volunteers, they were led to another place—the castle, seemed to be way bigger inside compared to what it seemed from the outside. Reaching a gate—the old man and Lucivar were given to choose a weapon of their choice.
Lucivar took a spear, while the old man took a sword.
After picking their weapon of choice, the titan guard left them alone in front of the gate.
Even though the situation was dire, Lucivar still had hope that he could somehow win against the beast. He was expecting that the two of them would be pitted against the beast, and the one who survived would be freed.
'I hope there will be a timer, me and him would have a chance in that case,' He pondered.
Faced with no other path, he decided to try his best to survive.
Unlike him, the old man beside him was already repenting, praying to have his sins forgiven.
Creak!
Just then, the gate was lifted with a loud mechanical sound and exposed an arena.
Lucivar and the old man stepped into the arena with cold feet and waited for their opponent who would come from the gate, opposite of them. Glancing to the side—Lucivar could see a pulvinar, 'Young Master Arkan must be watching from there...'
It was then, another loud mechanical sound resounded.
Firmly gripping the handle of the spear in his hand, Lucivar gazed ahead resolutely.
Eventually, the other gate was opened, revealing an empty darkness.
Sweat could be seen dripping on the side of Lucivar's face, as he waited for the earlier beast to come out. But instead of a beast, he could hear the echoes of footsteps. Lucivar raised an eyebrow before he gasped, seeing that a muscular man walked out from the other side.
He was tall and robust with a shaved head, and his skin was a shade of a pale red.
As he came out, he cracked his knuckles menacingly with a wide evil grin.
'A- A Hyrbid?! I need to fight a Hyrbid with a Titan bloodline to be freed?!' Lucivar paled.
Despite being hopeful earlier, that hope was vanquished at the sight of the Hybrid.
"I'm surprised someone from a low-grade slave city, like yours, knew about the Rite of Fate," the man said as he stopped a distance away. "I applaud your bravery, and for you to survive this, you have to go through me. Forgive my candor, but I must admit a certain fondness, for torturing others. So pardon my smile"
Before starting, the man gave a bow toward the pulvinar.
He then gets into his fighting stance, with one clenched fist extended further than the other.
Upon seeing this, Lucivar and the old man pointed their weapons ahead albeit with trembling hands. A Hybrid is far above a normal human—even those who awakened the lowest-ranking bloodline would be five times stronger than a normal person.
For a Hybrid with a titan bloodline like him, he must be ten or even twenty times stronger.
Time halted momentarily, and the tension rises with each second.
Lucivar could feel his adrenaline kicking in, the impulse of life, and death, and he put all of his focus onto the man's fists. Soon, a loud gong sounded the start of their bout, and also in that very second, the man vanished.
"Kaargghk!!"
Hearing a painful grunt, Lucivar looked to his side and found the old man coughing blood.
Surprisingly, the old man was near him—it seemed the old man ran towards him for cover.
In a blur, the man was able to punch a hole through the old man's stomach.
Staring at the old man, right in the eyes—the man smiled, "The young master would not be in any way entertained by an old man like you. Stay there and wait for death to pick you up," He said before pulling his arm out savagely.
Brak!
Just like that, the old man fell to the ground, gasping uncontrollably.
He was bleeding profusely, and death was nearing for him.
But as the man was about to shift his attention to Lucivar, he saw a glistening object coming from his side. It was a flying spear, and the man was surprised by this. Despite being caught off guard, the man was able to slap the spear away with the back of his hand.
"Hmm...?" the man's brows furrowed when he looked down.
As soon as he deflected the spear, he saw Lucivar sliding and was already very low.
Knowing that this was his only chance, to deal a detrimental blow, Lucivar grabbed the old man's sword and swung it at the man. His aim was clear—the man's throat. He gambled at this strike to save his life.
Under the extreme pressure of the moment, instincts took over his body.
Slash!
However, his eyes widened seeing that the man reacted in time, narrowly avoiding the blow.
Even though the tip of the sword did not find its mark—it still sliced a straight line, from the man's stomach up to his chest, drawing blood, in a crimson line. 'So close! I was so close to taking him down! My opportunity, I wasted it!'
Crack!
"Huargghkk!" Lucivar's eyes bulged—he got kneed hard on the chest.
He could even hear the sound of his ribcage breaking loudly before he fell, paralyzed.
"Good, you must be good at hunting," the man mused, praising Lucivar, genuinely. "I was told to entertain the young master so thank you for giving that kind of stunt. But now that it failed—it's my turn now..."
Lucivar was lifted by the nape and then punched squarely in the guts.
Blood gouged its way out of his mouth as he was sent rolling meters away.
Since he failed to kill the man earlier, his chance of staying alive was now gone.
Used as entertainment, he was rag-dolled across the arena—punched, kicked, and stomped.
No mercy was given to him.
'I've always been the one who tried to do good, and I've been trivialized because of it'
Bam!
'But I always tried to keep positive, and hope someday they will treat me differently'
Bam!
Pinned on the wall, he got punched squarely in the jaw, knocking a few teeth off his mouth.
Trying to push himself up, he tried to look around but his vision was covered in blood.
Sensing something coming from behind—he tried to look over his shoulder with his crimson vision and found a bare foot, heading straight to his stomach. He got kicked in the guts and flew a couple more meters to the side.
'I tried doing as much good as possible, prioritizing others, and now... this is where I ended'
Crack!
"HAAARRGGGHH!!"
Lucivar screamed at the top of his lungs in agony and clenched the dirt desperately.
His right arm was broken as the man pulled on it with a brutal yank.
A sickening crack echoed through the air as his bone shattered.
Under the extreme pain, he pressed his head against the ground hard, gritting his teeth hard.
Because of his internal wounds, his entire teeth were coated in blood already.
'Even when I'm sick, even when I'm wounded, I still help everyone without complaining'
'How could everyone be so selfish?! After all I've done, they still think only of themselves!'
'Rather than face their own fears and responsibilities, they'd rather sacrifice me!'
'My own mother—the one, who should protect me, sold me out for a handful of coins. And Bianca—I even thought of sacrificing myself for her but she pushed me! How could she do this to me?! Scared? I'm scared too! She doesn't fucking deserve to be saved!'
Brak!
Lucivar was stomped on the back by the man, forcing him to cough more blood out.
'Power. It's always about power! In this world, nobody sees the person behind the strength!'
'Everyone will salivate at power, they'd sell their souls for the taste of it!'
'No matter how much good anyone did, no matter how much good I did, it is all meaningless!'
"It's over," the man said as he lifted Lucivar off of the ground, showing his broken body at the pulvinar, at the young master. Seeing this, the silhouette inside stood up and left, satisfied by the sight.
Only then that the man threw Lucivar against the wall, and went to take the sword.
He's going to kill Lucivar with the sword that managed to wound him.
Lucivar, on the other hand, gazed up to the ceiling helplessly—his chest heaved unevenly.
'Nobody is up there in the sky, nobody is calculating my karma and rewarding me for it'
'Nobody is going to help me other than myself!'
Cough!
More blood crawled its way out of his mouth.
'For once, I want to be selfish. For once, I don't want to be the one sacrificed!'
'I'm going to survive this... I swear I will make my own second chance'
Just then, as he swore those words in his mind, he caught sight of a string made of energy.
A trail of pure white energy.
Struggling to look down he saw white energy emanating from his chest, trailing towards the old man teetering on the brink of death on the side. Simultaneously, another trail—dark and foreboding with a tint of red came out from his chest and connected with the man who was slowly approaching with a sword in hand.
He couldn't understand what was happening, but it seemed he was inclined to choose.
To have the power to save himself and the old man or the power to kill the Hybrid man.
'I should save the old man... No, what do I want to do right now?'
Upon facing a choice, Lucivar tried to think for himself.
Had it been the Lucivar from yesterday, he wouldn't hesitate to choose to have the power to save himself, and the old man. But now, that was not his choice, he was not going to choose the path to light.
Lucivar did not need long to make a decision, his eyes turning to the Hybrid man.
"I... I want to kill him!"
Reaching Lucivar, the man stood towering and raised the bloodied sword above his head.
"Hmm...? Who is crying?" the man frowned in confusion.
He could hear an ethereal cry of a woman, but he couldn't deduce where it came from.
Not wanting to delay this any longer, with young master Arkan already leaving, he decided to end Lucivar, with a swift slash to the neck. With a lethal glint—the man swung the sword in a powerful arc.
But as the sword was about to hit, Lucivar caught it in the middle of its arc.
Following that—he raised his gaze to look at the man, showing his glowing golden eyes.
A swirl of divinity could be seen swimming inside his pupils.
Seeing this, the man widened his eyes in shock, "What in the world...?"
Out of nowhere, the man's vision tilted sharply—and as he processed the sudden shift—he realized Lucivar had seized his face. Panicking at the strange development, he struggled to break free, but Lucivar's grip remained unyielding, tightening with crushing force.
'Where did this strength come from?! He was helpless against me before!' the man thought.
He couldn't believe the amount of strength Lucivar was exerting right now.
A Hybrid with a Titan bloodline like him excels in strength, so this was extremely shocking.
Just then, the man widened his eyes when he saw the bright golden color of Lucivar's eyes begin to take a shift, corrupted by a crimson hue. Moreover, a halo of the same color began to manifest above his head.
Coupled with the soulless gaze that Lucivar was wearing right now, the man was terrified.
"Do you also want to sacrifice me...?"