79 | burning; a stolen victory

Elias watched in cold blood, wiping the red that had splattered on his face as the doctor rushed up to the woman, soothing her nerves with delicate strings that were designed to heal, not kill, wrapping around the severed limb.

Kane dislodged the arm, moving Nora a safe distance before hurrying, sweat beading his forehead and his chest rising rapidly.

The boulder rolled to the top just as the strings snapped the severed limb back into place. It hung loosely at first as if held by a flap of skin and stitches, while Nora groaned in pain.

Despite that, there was a tenacious spirit burning in her eyes. After adjusting to the pain, she didn't utter another sound or complaint.

It was like watching a movie, thought Elias dully with a bored glaze to his eyes. The drumming tension, the rapid beat of the heart—the boulder that grazed the top, ready to fall back down, and the woman with a mangled limb.

Would be an action film, a thriller? A mystery intertwined with horror? Gore?

All the above, most likely.

Suddenly, Elias felt an overwhelming disconnect, cracks severing himself from the others. Cold washed up his body, his mind floating far away while his eyes were open, but not really seeing. They were all fighting for their lives.

But his fight had ended long ago, hadn't it?

Then, a giant's fist swung over his head and a certain white-eyed man lunged near him, slamming his hand to the ground and spinning around.

Elias' eyes snapped open and he ducked, narrowly avoiding the skull crushing punch, before Lucas climbed back onto his feet and swiveled around, breaking into a sprint down the hill.

Kane had flung Nora over his back, following closely behind as the boulder begun its descend.

"Hey now, darling, I think we're too late into this game for you to be trying to kill me." said Elias coolly, striding beside Lucas.

Lucas shot him a look. "You looked like you needed a beating."

"I could've died."

"I had faith you'd live."

Elias quirked a brow, smiling in amusement. "Because I'm powerful?"

"Because you're damn clingy, like a weed. Haven't I told you?"

Elias laughed, feeling the rush of wind on his face and the patter of gravel kicking up in his face, the dust that crowded his lungs and the rumbling ground behind.

It was a rather deadly situation, he knew. But he'd never felt more grounded, as if Lucas' words had dragged him through the mirror of reality and fiction, ordering him back to earth.

Lucas' expression that displayed a clear picture of suspicion, exhaustion and concern to the other pair—the fact that Elias could notice those emotions, was something more incredible than the apocalypse itself.

Lucas tilted his head, shaking it, deciding that the other party was no doubt thinking foolish thoughts that shouldn't be questioned.

They tumbled into the darkness and safety of the cave once again.

Nora collapsed onto her back, the pain a fresh memory but distant, relieved to have been brought back in one piece. Kane also fell back from overexerting his ability, the energy leeched from his body entirely.

Elias gazed at the group and turned to Lucas. "You won't last two more runs."

"One more. This will be the last."

"You haven't knocked down enough debris."

The boulder's speed rolling down had been unsteady and slower due to the amount of rocks scattered on the ground. Even on the way up, Sisyphus had struggled until red bloomed in his face, to push it up.

Another few pieces—large pieces of debris, would be enough to hold the boulder. It would be safer to continue knocking off small chunks at a time, since Sisyphus would always roll the boulder to the top, no matter what obstacles.

But their energy had expended in dramatic rates, while it was unpredictable what other unforeseen injury could occur.

Lucas nodded calmly. "I'll run out when we're close to the hill, and knock down enough to almost hold the boulder."

"And what about the sunlight?"

"I've endured burns before. Can you heal me after?"

Elias shrugged nonchalantly, but his gaze was deep. "You should be aware of what my ability can or cannot do."

"I'm not asking about your ability. Can you heal me after?"

"...I can find a way."

Lucas didn't question it further, closing his eyes as he settled to the comforting darkness. "Then I'll be the one to run into the sunlight."

"I admire your courage, darling, but that won't be enough."

"It won't." agreed the man as he lifted his pale stare, eyes coated in chilling ice that held no mercy for others. Elias remembered, at that moment, that the man before him had once been a feared delinquent. A known mad dog. "But Sisyphus' body will."

Kane swung his head around, and Nora widened her eyes in surprise. Although they'd endured several killing games, they hadn't thought of using the giant as a sacrifice.

In truth, they couldn't. Kane's thoughts habitually strayed from the idea of hurting other lives, friend or foe, and Nora couldn't help but pity the giant who was once against plummeted against the ground, humiliated and in never-ending agony.

Lucas didn't waver, each words spoken with an edge sharper than a blade. "Slice Sisyphus' ankles when you reach the top. Make sure his body falls sideways, acting as a barrier to stop the boulder."

With the combination of debris, and the giant's lumbering body, albeit built of bones and skin, would likely hold the boulder in place.

As long as their timing was right.

Sisyphus needed to succeed in bringing the boulder to the top.

The doctor, listening, understood the reasons behind the cold-blooded plan and couldn't disagree. However, hearing Lucas' intention to brave the boiling heat, he furrowed his eyebrows and leaned closer to speak.

Before he could, Elias laughed. "Alright, darling. I trust you."

Kane felt the words die in his throat. He knew, from watching, how Elias blocked or protected Lucas. That man didn't want his younger brother to die, just like him.

But Elias' protection came with unfathomable trust, knowing that Lucas would survive, even if he was sitting in a pool of his own blood. It was the sort of trust that Lucas wanted, the sort of protection he desired most.

It wasn't long before the giant finished regenerating, painfully rolling onto his ankles, so thin they looked as if they could snap.

The group staggered to their feet. The momentary rest had barely returned a sliver of energy.

"If we're this tired, I can't help but wonder how he feels." muttered Nora, earning an indifferent glance from Lucas.

He frowned. "Don't attempt to sympathize with them. We don't have that luxury."

"I... I know. I'm sorry, I—"

"It doesn't make you a bad person. Whatever you do, whatever guilt you feel, place it on me. This is my decision, and I am demanding you to fulfill it."

"Lucas, that's not fair to you. We're all trying to survive."

"It's fair if it'll ease your hesitation." replied the man coldly through a ragged breath. "I can't have you pitying Sisyphus at the crucial moment. If you have any doubts, it could prove fatal."

Nora sucked in a breath, aware. Everything relied on decisive movements, a certainty that clicked into the puzzle of the scene. Any hesitation creased the edges, and the puzzle would be left with a gape.

And that was deadly.

The climb was more draining, with the possibility of anything going wrong at any given moment, at that their deaths could befall them all with a single mistake.

Elias taunted Sisyphus as they climbed, darting forward to weave between the giant's legs and slicing fine wounds among the tender skin. Hardly enough to knock the giant down, but enough to bother and annoy.

As the top of the hill neared, Lucas glanced back and darted into the heat.

In a moment, he felt as if he were thrust onto a grill, blisters festering on his exposed skin. He'd wrapped himself with the remains of Kane's white coat that had been crushed and damaged.

It was a sweltering heat, and dizziness immediately slammed against his skull. His sprint swayed, unsteady on his feet as sweat pooled down his clothes and skin.

The heat was a thin veil that engraved itself over his body.

[Selfless Sacrifice is activated!]

A surge of strength rushed over, hardly relieving the heat, but allowing him to remain conscious. The consequence, that he would feel this terrible heat with double the agony, would be an ordeal to solve later.

He scrambled to the top, summoning the metal pole, hands wrapped in a thick strip of cloth to prevent it was searing his skin with its imprint.

Staggering, he positioned himself where the boulder would stop, and crouched down to preserve his energy. With a blurring sight, he waited for the signal—Kane's shout, presumably.

He would strike the crumbling walls, casting stone to crush the giant—if Elias kept to his word and managed to weaken Sisyphus' stride—and acting as a roadblock to the boulder.

It wasn't that Lucas felt nothing for Sisyphus, cursed to this fate for an eternity of cycles, never finding peace. And it wasn't as if he held no curiosity for the once human's story, to discover why and how he ended up in such misery.

But there was no helping it. It would be another name printed to memory, another soul's suffering in his hands.

He knew and shouldered the weight of it.

He leaned on the pole, squinting at the scene below. With his failing eyesight, it was hard to make out the darting blobs of shadows below. Blob Elias ducked, flipping backward in the air.

Blob Nora fired two shots, the small bullets embedding into the giant's ankles, two pint-sized holes in comparison to his long legs.

Lucas couldn't see blob Kane around, and felt a little disappointed.

He closed his eyes and inhaled sharply, pretending that the gulp of hot air could somehow stimulate his waning senses. It couldn't, and he wasn't sure how long the sacrificial ability would last.

The aftermath would be dreadful—akin to the feeling of lifting weights for the first time, and the ache of the muscles that followed, only a dozen times worse.

Thankfully, he had a certain agree of physical ability.

He'd read an online novel once, of a regular salary man with slender limbs, that became rich and spent all his money to increase his abilities—speed, strength and further. A man who became a great salvation to many, living off a strength bought by coins.

Lucas decided he'd read that webnovel again if he survived the apocalypse. Imagining the solitude, in a dark room with a lit phone, made his determination increase.

"Lucas! Now!"

Kane's shout reverberated, bouncing between the trembling walls and Lucas snapped out of his haze. He swayed to his feet, condensing all his strength and weight into his raised arms, the metal a searing heat, burnt by the sun.

He saw Elias' blur lift his head and then dash between the giant's legs, and he saw the red that flowed in a bloody gape, a parting of flesh sliced into Sisyphus' ankles.

Sisyphus' fingers grazed the boulder, and it rolled to the top, to its final destination, for the last time.

And for a second, the giant's movement halted, as if he realized that there was nothing he could do to save himself. Devastation warped his features, a glaze forming over his dulled eyes. The repeating deaths would finally conclude, and for a little while, he would be able to rest.

Sisyphus supposed, even if his punishment was eternal, he would like to see the boulder stop just once. An illusion that he'd succeeded his punishment—even if the requirement was his death.

Lucas' brought his arms down with violent determination, the bat plundering through stone as cracks splintered all around his hunched figure.

Elias sliced through the other ankle, strings tossed in the air and coated with blood. Kane and Nora sped past the falling giant, away from the chase of falling rocks. It was wrong—the giant's body was falling forward, and the debris collected still wasn't optimal, but time was running out.

Then Sisyphus suddenly twisted his body with the last remaining strength, attempting to strike at them once again.

Instead, he fell sideways, his fist plummeting into the wall and sending another rush of stone falling. His knuckles were covered in stone and blood as he fell.

Nora glanced back for a second, and in the blur of her vision, she thought she saw a faded smile appear on the giant's thin lips. And a ridiculous thought floated into her mind—it couldn't have been, did he purposely move in order to help them?

A cloud of dust kicked up among the chaos, mixed with the stench of death and debris, obscuring the entire scene. Lucas blinked several times, attempting to lift himself up from his knee, releasing the metal.

He found, the metal bat had melted into his skin, silver mixing with sticky red and flesh.

But his body swayed, and he wasn't sure if he was standing or sitting.

He didn't know if they succeeded or failed.

And for a second he wondered, if there really was any point to persisting to the point of torturous pain, both mental and physical. Why did humans try so hard to live, even if it meant forsaking their morals and society?

Then he supposed it really didn't matter, because apocalypse or not, why did people bother living in the first place?

There wasn't anything wrong with being alive with no particular purpose or meaning. There wasn't anything wrong with not wanting to find a meaning to life, and simply living day by day and enjoying the normality of life.

He fought to protect somebody—no, not just anybody, but the most precious person in any life he could've lived, his protector and caring family.

Kane Silvius. His brother.

Lucas couldn't see anything now, though he imagined his body was a sight to witness, festering in boils and bubbles. His mind too distracted by the idea of family to care for whatever state he was in.

His lips parted, flaking and dry, gaping like a fish out of water.

In the colours of his sight that formed not even the most vague of silhouettes, he saw a shadow cover half of his vision and assumed it to be a human.

"Don't try to speak. It's a waste of effort—save your energy."

Lucas couldn't actually hear the words well, piecing out chunks of sound and words as he tried to focus his thoughts.

Elias scooped up Lucas' charred body gingerly, as if holding something immensely precious. It was a delicacy the man had forgotten, buried in the memories of lost faith and destruction.

Lucas groaned, a hoarse and wretched sound escaping his throat, inaudible and almost animalistic.

"...said... can heal..." muttered the man, limp and unmoving. It was only because Lucas trusted in Elias' words that he dared to risk his life so resolutely.

Elias' cerulean eyes narrowed into slits, a storm over his features. "If I didn't have a method, I wouldn't have allowed you to go there." He stood under the blaring sun, unaffected as if he were made of relenting rain. "You aren't dying. You will not die."

The man stood over the chasm, witnessing the fallen body of Sisyphus, curled up in defeat of a success that was stolen. His clothes were torn and battered, hair slicked to the sharp lines of his face as he held the limp body in his arms.

Kane and Nora stood at the bottom, surrounding by towering piles of rock, equally disheveled and miserable, both wearing different injuries.

The Story was unfolding around them, pieces of paper breaking out to tuck it away into history once more, left to be preyed on by some other unsuspecting victim.

There was no announcement of completion.

No rewards to be given but their lives that had been taken as a game.

It went against the rules that they'd known—that surviving would always make them stronger, prepared for another Story—but Tartarus never played by rules.

Nora collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily as she closed her eyes and covered her face with shaking fingers.

Kane, however exhaustion took him, stared quietly at Elias and Lucas, far beyond his reach. He wasn't sure when the former had ghosted up the walls in between the chaos, but he was sure it was a reason somewhat inhuman.

He mouthed words he wasn't sure would reach. "What are you?"

Elias offered a look of disinterest, already holding the one thing that still made him curious. He shrugged lightly.

He recalled that Kane Silvius had been Lucas' protagonist.

A version of Kane that was stronger with all his suffering and misery, ultimately ending up as the hero of the world. A tragic hero, Elias knew, who never met salvation but only bitter disappointment.

That Kane's ending would've only come after countless more chapters, endless more Stories and deaths.

But the protagonist had shifted—and Elias only knew the story of Lucas.

And he had a feeling that Lucas' conclusion wouldn't wait for countless more Stories, endless more months. It wouldn't want to wait at all.