The night was thick with the weight of forgotten gods. Judex stood at the edge of the Sunless Hollow, a place where even the stars seemed afraid to shine. His footsteps crunched against the brittle, ashen earth, a far cry from the sacred ground it once was. A faint wind carried the scent of rot and something much older—like the breath of death itself.
'Why am I even here?'
He had been following the whispers of a dying oracle, whose last breath had cursed his name. According to her, the Cairn of the Eclipsed Gods was his fate, a game far more twisted than any mortal could imagine. The gods, she said, had chosen him as their pawn in a game of life and death, and the only way out was to play. Failure meant erasure—not death, but something far worse: a complete unraveling of his existence, as if he had never been born.
'I was just at home, watching TV…'
His fists clenched, the words echoing in his mind: A game of wits, of blood, of sacrifice. Only through your mind and soul can you survive the Cairn. He wasn't a stranger to danger, but this felt different—deeper. It was something ancient, something that pulsed at the core of the world.
'Something's leading me, I have to be dreaming, right? There's no way this is real.'
A path lay before him, leading into the hollow's heart. As he approached the mouth of the cavern, he could see carvings etched into the stone—symbols of gods long forsaken—a circle with jagged lines cutting through it, the symbol of the Eclipsed Gods.
Judex breathed in. His mind was sharp, trained for battle and strategy, but this felt like a trap, a trick of the divine. He tried to pinch himself, but it didn't work. He still believed it was all a dream.
'Fuck this…this dream is too real.'
He stepped into the darkness.
The air grew colder the deeper Judex ventured into the Sunless Hollow. A strange, rhythmic pulse seemed to throb through the stone walls, like the beating heart of some forgotten beast. His sword hung heavy at his side, but instinct told him it wouldn't matter here. This wouldn't be a battle of steel but of minds.
'Huh? When did I have a sword? This is like some stupid VRMMORPG game back on earth.'
After what felt like hours of walking, the tunnel opened into a massive chamber. At its center stood a table, and upon it lay cards—each one encased in a thick layer of dried blood. Across from the table sat a figure cloaked in shadow, only its glowing eyes visible in the darkness. The figure's voice was low, breathy, and inhuman.
"You are Judex," it rasped. "The pawn. The sacrifice."
Judex's hand twitched toward his sword, but the figure made no move to attack. Instead, it gestured to the cards.
"Sit. Play."
There was no weapon drawn. No immediate threat. But Judex felt the weight of something worse than death hanging over the room. He sat cautiously, his mind racing.
"Who are you?"
"Sit. Play."
"Who are you?!" Judex exclaimed.
The god answered back with an even louder voice, "Sit. Play!"
Judex's heart began to beat, and sweat ran down his head. His heart thumped out of his chest, and his legs shook.
'The fuck is he yelling at? Usually I would just fight someone for yelling at me like this, but this…I feel weak right now. Like this is out of my league. This is no ordinary game. Every one of these cards… it reeks of something. Blood? No, not just that—life itself. It's as if pieces of souls are bound to them.'
The figure across from him, s shadow, who is one of the Eclipsed Gods, slid a deck of cards toward him. His voice was a whisper, like dead leaves scraping against stone.
"I am the keeper of the First Cairn. The rules are simple, mortal. You must survive three rounds. Win, and you are free from this chamber and you move on. Lose, and your soul is mine. Deal?"
"I—."
"—Answer wisey." The shadow figure smiled in the darkness.
Judex's eyes narrowed as he scanned the cards. Each one had a grotesque image carved into its surface—a writhing mass of limbs, a beast with too many eyes, a severed hand holding a burning heart. But there were symbols too, and numbers. His mind went to work, instinctively calculating possibilities.
'The hell…how do I even play this?! This is set up for me to fail!'
The god dealt him his first hand, and Judex saw his cards: a twisted beast labeled The Devourer, a figure called The Martyr, and a card with no image but the word Sacrifice written in black blood. His opponent's cards were face down, but Judex knew they would be just as deadly.
'The Devourer has 4 attack, 3 defense. The Martyr… 2 attack, 1 defense, but it says I gain something if it dies. Sacrifice…'
Judex's eyes flicked to the figure across the table. "What are the stakes?"
The god chuckled, a sound like bones grinding in the dark. "You play with your life, mortal. But every card you sacrifice, every piece you place on the table… it costs you more than you know. Blood. Memory. Essence. Choose poorly, and you will lose more than just the game."
'Great. Judex thought. So it's not just strategy. It's a balance between survival and sacrifice. If I play recklessly, I'll bleed myself dry. I have to win…I wasn't always the best in puzzles or card games..but I'm not stupid. At least I think I'm not. Shit..if I lose, I'll just wake up right?'
The first turn began.
---
Judex placed The Devourer on the board. Its grotesque figure loomed over the table, its jaws dripping with venom. His opponent revealed his first card: The Worm, a creature with low attack but insidious defense. The god's hand hovered over the table, his fingers twitching as if savoring the moment.
'The Worm has 1 attack, 5 defense. It will take time to wear it down… but if I commit too much to this round, I'll have nothing left for the next.'
Judex's mind raced. In a game of survival, every card played was a potential sacrifice. Every move had future consequences. He needed to think ahead, plan for the long haul.
He reached for The Martyr.
'If I summon this, it will die quickly. But I'll gain something. What's the trade-off?'
His fingers hovered over the card, weighing the risks. Then, with a swift motion, he placed it on the board. The Martyr appeared, a skeletal figure wrapped in chains, its hollow eyes staring back at him. The moment it touched the board, Judex felt a sharp pain in his chest, as if something had been torn from him.
"Agh!" Judex exclaimed, his mouth gushed with blood. He held his chest, leaning on the table, mouth dripping ominously. His breathing ragged.
'It hurts…it hurts for real!'
The god across the table hissed in approval. "The Martyr claims a piece of you. But in return, you gain power."
'Fucking power…damn you Martyr.'
Judex gritted his teeth as his vision blurred for a moment, a fragment of his memory slipping away. He couldn't even recall what had been lost. But the Martyr had done its job. As the next turn passed, the Martyr was struck down by the Worm's attack, but in its death, Judex's Devourer grew stronger—its attack rising, its form growing more monstrous.
'So that's the trade. Blood for power. But how much of myself can I afford to lose?'
The god revealed his next card, a towering monstrosity called The Decayed Colossus, with 6 attack and 6 defense. It loomed over the board, casting a shadow that seemed to stretch beyond the table, into the very room itself.
Judex's heart pounded. 'This thing will crush me in a single blow if I don't find a way to stop it. I can't sacrifice more of myself. Not yet.'
His hand hovered over the Sacrifice card. It was a gamble, but he had no choice. He placed it down, and immediately felt a cold hand clutch his throat. The god smiled, and for the first time, Judex understood the true nature of the game.
Judex said, "Your turn.."
"Hehe..by all means."
The Sacrifice card didn't just demand a piece of him. It demanded something deeper. Judex felt a part of his soul being ripped away, a void opening inside him. But in exchange, the Devourer roared, its power surging, transforming into a beast of pure darkness.
Judex bled from his eyes, and he wiped them, looking back at the shadow of the god in front of him.
The shadow snickered, "Round two. You're mighty impressive, Judex."
Judex thought. 'Haha, impressive he called me. I'm in serious pain, but it felt good hearing that from him. Feeling all smart, but still…what if this is real? And not a dream? The pain is too vivid, the blood is too hot..'
---
The second round began with Judex's Devourer now at full strength, its attack power doubled. But the cost had been high. His vision swam, and he could feel a part of himself missing, as if the Sacrifice had taken more than just blood. It had taken a piece of his very essence.
But there was no time to dwell on the loss. The god across the table played another card—The Parasite, a creature that fed on the strength of others. Its attack was low, but it had an ability that made Judex's stomach turn: every turn, it would drain the life from one of his creatures, growing stronger in the process.
'Damn it! Of course this guy has that. If I don't deal with that thing fast, it'll siphon off my Devourer's power. But if I focus too much on it, the Colossus will tear through me. Think, Judex..I don't want to feel anything super vivid after losing. This dream is too real for me..'
Judex's mind raced. He could feel the cold sweat on his brow, his heart beating in his ears. He needed a plan, and fast.
'The Devourer is my only shot. If I can just protect it for one more turn, I can take down the Colossus. But the Parasite…'
He glanced at his remaining cards. One was blank—a mystery card, its surface smooth and featureless. He hadn't drawn it before, and something about it unnerved him. But he had no choice.
With a swift motion, he played the blank card. As it hit the table, the god's eyes flared with interest.
"Ah… this one. The Unknown. It could be your salvation. Or your doom."
'Shut up, weirdo…as soon as I win, I'm leaving this dream.' Judex thought.
The blank card began to shift, its surface warping as if something inside it was trying to escape. Then, with a sudden burst of light, it revealed its form: The Mirror, a card that reflected the strength of the next creature Judex faced.
'Perfect.'
The god played his next card, a Blood Golem with 5 attack. But the Mirror reflected its strength, creating a duplicate on Judex's side of the board. Now, Judex had two powerful creatures to face the Colossus.
"Next round?" Judex smiled.
The shadow of the gods smile faded, saying, "Watch it, mortal. Arrogance will be your downfall."
The final round began. The god's eyes gleamed with malice as he played his last card: The Eclipse, a card that would end the game in his favor after three turns unless Judex could defeat him before then.
The shadow thought, 'He'll lose this easily. I made sure The High One made my cards last round ready. This brat's arrogance will be extinguished. Fucking brat.'
'Three turns. That's all I have.' Judex blurted out in his mind, his knees tapping nervously. His breathing became frantic, he was 80% sure this was a dream, but man, it felt too much like real life.
Judex's heart pounded. The Eclipse was a ticking clock, counting down to his demise. The Colossus loomed over the battlefield, and the Parasite continued to drain the life from his creatures. His hand was empty. He had nothing left to play.
'Think, Judex! There's always a way. There's always a way out.'
His eyes flicked to the board. The Devourer was weakened, its life force drained by the Parasite. The Mirror was holding its ground, but it wouldn't last long. And the Eclipse… it was like a shadow creeping over the board, ready to consume everything.
Then, it hit him. Judex, he had a black and red aura flowing off of his body, his smile turned malicious, and he said, "There it is…I see it.."
The shadow of the god said, "What..?"
'What's up with him?! I've never seen a power like this…'
Judex said, "The Martyr's death gave me power. The Sacrifice took a piece of me but made the Devourer stronger. Every card I've played has been about balance—life and death, strength and weakness. If I sacrifice again, I can end this. But it'll cost me. But that's alright with me..I'll win." His smile went even more crazy.
Like a psychopath.
His hand hovered over the Devourer. He could feel the weight of the decision. If he sacrificed it, he'd lose his strongest ally. But if he didn't, the Eclipse would claim him.
Judex made his choice. He placed his hand over the Devourer, and with a single motion, he sacrificed it.
The moment it died, a surge of power coursed through him. His vision blurred, and for a moment, he felt as though he'd been torn apart and put back together. But the sacrifice had worked. The Eclipse faltered, its shadow retreating.
Judex's last card—a simple, unassuming creature called The Lantern Keeper—appeared on the board. Its attack was low, but it had a special ability: it could banish the darkness.
With a final, decisive move, Judex played the Lantern Keeper. Its light flared, and the Eclipse shattered, its power disintegrating into nothingness.
The god across the table hissed in anger as the cards dissolved, their blood-soaked surface turning to ash.
"Impossible…!"
'He still beat me even with the help of the High One?!'
The chamber began to collapse, the walls crumbling around him. Judex stood, his body trembling from the ordeal. He'd survived—barely.
The Cairn of the Eclipsed Gods was only beginning. Judex had survived the first trial, but the dark gods had many more games to play. Each one would demand more from him—more blood, more sacrifice, more of his very soul. The next challenge was waiting, and the stakes would only grow higher from here.
But Judex was ready.
Or at least, he hoped he was.
The god's voice was a low, guttural hiss that seemed to echo from the very stone around them. Judex sat in silence, his head down, the weight of the recent battle hanging heavily in the air. His nose bled steadily, the crimson drops falling into his lap, staining his tattered cloak. He barely registered the pain. His mind was still racing, trying to process the sacrifice, the bloody cards, the twisted essence of the game he had just won.
But the god wasn't finished.
"Life and death," the god began, its voice slithering through the darkness, "are two sides of the same coin, mortal. Each breath you take is a step closer to the grave. Every heartbeat is a reminder of the inevitable decay that awaits you. Life is not a gift; it is a loan. Death is not an end; it is the fulfillment of a promise made the moment you were born."
Judex's blood dripped faster. His smile stayed, His vision blurred slightly, but he forced himself to listen. The god's words clawed at his mind, each one soaking into his consciousness like poison.
"Do you know why your kind fears death?" the god continued, its glowing eyes narrowing. "It is because you humans cling to hope. You believe life is precious, that it has meaning. But the truth is far simpler. Life is fragile. Fleeting. A spark in the void. And death… death is the great equalizer. It is the only truth, undistorted by the lies you tell yourselves."
Judex's breathing was shallow now, his chest rising and falling in irregular rhythms. His fist clenched under the table, blood seeping between his fingers, but he didn't move. Not yet.
The god leaned forward, its voice softening, almost mocking, as though savoring every word. "The difference between life and death is an illusion, a fragile construct of the mortal mind. You are all just waiting for the inevitable, trapped in a cycle you cannot escape. Sacrifice, pain, suffering—they are the currency of existence. And you, Judex, you have only begun to pay the price."
The words dug deep. Judex's thoughts raced, but not with fear. Not with despair. No, something darker was stirring within him. He raised his face, his lips curling into a deeper grotesque smile, his teeth stained with blood. His eyes glinted with something far more dangerous than the god's philosophy: wrath.
In a sudden, violent motion, Judex lunged across the table, his hand closing around the god's throat with a vice-like grip. The god did not flinch, its form still shadowed, but Judex felt the weight of its existence beneath his palm—cold, ancient, and immovable. With a roar of fury, Judex slammed the god down onto the stone floor with a sickening thud, the dark energy in the room rippling outward from the impact.
The god's glowing eyes bored into him, unblinking, unphased, but Judex didn't care. His smile widened, turning monstrous, his aura surging around him like black and red flames, licking at the air, twisting and writhing with malice. His voice was low, guttural, and filled with venom.
"I'll kill all of you," Judex whispered, his breath hot against the god's face.
The god's smile—if it could be called that—flickered beneath the darkness. It was not one of fear or anger, but of something far more chilling: indifference. Slowly, the god raised a single finger and pressed it against Judex's forehead.
The moment the finger made contact, the world around Judex shattered like glass.
—-
When Judex opened his eyes, he was no longer in the dark chamber. Instead, he found himself sitting in a vast, bright space that stretched out endlessly in all directions. The ground beneath him was smooth, almost reflective, like polished marble, but it shimmered with colors that shifted and changed like a dream. The air was thick with an ethereal energy, humming with the presence of something ancient and powerful.
'Where the hell am I now?!'
He looked down at himself, and noticed he was fine. All the damage he took in the game went away. He realized that those who survive the game would gain back their strength, but those who lose would either die or either keep some horrible conditions from the game.
'So many people around me..it can't be..!'
Around him sat over 500 people, all of them disoriented, confused, and whispering among themselves. Some still clutched at their bodies, as if expecting to find themselves wounded, but no blood stained the ground. They were whole, but the unease in the air was palpable.
"Where are we?"
"What is this place?"
"Why did we have to play that damned card game?"
Some people who had lost the game, had lost their memories of who they were, and were laying down bleeding from the head, crying. Some wish they were dead because of this.
Judex saw them, thinking, 'It would've been better for them to die. Why did they have to survive and live with these conditions? And back there..back then..when I grabbed that bastard's nasty face, why did I turn so evil?'
The questions rippled through the crowd, each voice carrying a note of panic, of disbelief. Judex remained silent, his eyes scanning the crowd. He could feel the weight of their confusion, their fear pressing down on the space like a suffocating blanket. But more than that, he felt the presence of something greater. His eyes slowly drifted upward.
A literal shadow sat on a large throne nearby, with a sweet woman's voice, saying, "Oh my goodness. This is horrible."
At the center of the gathering, seated on an immense throne carved from what looked like living crystal, was a goddess—her form radiant, yet terrible in its perfection. Her skin shimmered like alabaster, her hair cascading in waves of gold and silver that seemed to move with a life of their own. Her eyes were deep, endless pools of violet, and her expression was one of both sorrow and disdain. This was Leie, the goddess presiding over them all.
Her form had shimmered over the shadow, revealing her, as cursives words appeared above everyone, saying:
{Goddess revealed: Leie of Order}
Everyone looked at her, they got nothing but peace from her. But some felt malice towards her, especially after what they went through.
Judex didn't know what to feel.
'She's beautiful…did she come to save us..? Maybe this really was some scary dream..'
She said peacefully, "I'm sorry that a thousand of you died in the beginning."
Her words sent a ripple of shock through the crowd. Voices erupted into chaos.
"A thousand?"
"This is madness!"
"They killed us for a game?"
"The fuck are we doing here?! Explain this to us!"
Judex watched silently as the panic spread, but his mind was already working. 'One thousand dead? This isn't just survival—it's a culling. But why? And who are these gods, really?'
One man, standing near the front of the gathering, snapped. His face twisted in rage, veins bulging in his neck as he stormed toward the goddess, his voice a bellow of fury.
"You bitch! You think you can toy with us? We're not your playthings!" He spat at the ground, his fists trembling with rage. "I'll kill you, you—"
Before he could finish, Leie's expression shifted. Her once serene face hardened, her eyes narrowing as they darkened to an abyssal black. The temperature in the room seemed to drop instantly. Without a word, a sword of pure light erupted from the man's mouth with a sickening crack, splitting him in half from the inside out. Blood sprayed across the shimmering floor, his body falling to either side, lifeless and grotesque.
Screams filled the air. People backed away in horror, their faces pale, their voices trembling.
"Oh god…"
"What the hell…"
"No way…"
"She's trying to kill us all!"
Leie's gaze swept over the crowd, her voice cold and unyielding. "Anyone else want to interrupt me?"
Silence fell like a suffocating blanket over the crowd. No one dared to speak. No one dared to move.
Except Judex. Everyone felt a dark energy, they turned around, even getting the goddess attention.
"Hm?"
Judex stood there, the black and red aura covering his body, his body slumped over and his arms dangling, a smile curling his lips.
"I told the last guy I'd kill you all…"
His fury simmered beneath the surface, his blood boiling with the need for violence. He couldn't stand it—the arrogance of these gods, the way they toyed with lives as though they were nothing. His body moved before his mind could catch up, and in a flash, he dashed forward, his eyes locked on Leie.
The players around him were shocked, even a girl who had black hair in a braided ponytail, with yellow eyes, and square glasses.
'Is he a fool?! Who the hell is that brat?'
Those were the thoughts of everyone around. Who the hell is this kid? Why is he trying to kill himself?
A sword etched with runes materialized beneath him, its shimmering blade aiming to impale him from below, but Judex twisted in midair, narrowly dodging it. Another sword shot from the ground, then another—each one faster than the last, each one sharper and deadlier.
His body moved on its own, adrenaline and rage fueling his every motion. He dodged, ducked, twisted, but the swords kept coming, slicing through the air with deadly precision. One cut across his arm, another grazed his leg, but he didn't stop. He couldn't stop.
As he closed the gap between him and the goddess, he reached out and grabbed one of the swords, feeling its icy, divine energy surge through his hand. With a roar, he slashed it toward Leie, his eyes wild with fury.
Leie's eyes widened in surprise as the blade connected, a thin line of blood appearing on her flawless cheek. The sword in her hand pierced Judex's side, pinning him to the ground, but he didn't care. He had marked her. He had hurt her.
Leie reached up, touching the blood that trickled down her cheek. Her violet eyes flickered with something strange, something almost… amused.
"You marked me," she said softly, as if tasting the words. Her gaze fell upon Judex, who lay pinned by her sword, blood pooling beneath him. "Who are you…?"
She stared at him for a long moment, then shrugged, her expression returning to its cold indifference. "Eh, it doesn't matter. I'll go ahead and finish you off."
"Haha! Do it! You failed to do it a long time ago.."