Chapter 52: Meanwhile, the End of the World began

  “So, that’s what happened…” Yana muttered as I finished telling her the fake story I had already told her guild mates.

  They had gathered with Jax and Henry in the opposite corner of the room, giving us some space.

  I nodded. “Your friends told me how you got here.” I sighed. “Honestly, I didn’t think you’d go so far to look for me.”

  She punched my shoulder playfully. “Stupid. Of course I would. Especially after I was the one who brought you here.” She averted her gaze, her expression hard to read.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that…” I said.

  “How did you mean it, then?” she asked, still avoiding eye contact.

  I wish I could tell her the truth: that she was marked by a world-eating god, that I was trying to keep my distance from her because of that mark, and that despite my attempts, she still managed to find me. And that’s why I was surprised.

  “I meant it like…it’s insanely impressive. It’s crazy how strong you’ve gotten. You descended twelve floors. If the things I’ve seen on my way here are any indication, you went through hell. While also saving those two along the way.” I pointed subtly at Jax and Henry.

  “I didn’t do it alone.” Yana replied, seemingly unimpressed by my flattery. “And not everyone made it. We lost many on the way here. Too many.”

  “I hope you’re not blaming yourself.” I said quickly, knowing the kind of person she was.

  She sighed heavily. “Maybe.”

  “Yana.” I placed a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to face me. When our eyes met, I couldn’t stop staring at them, forgetting what I’d wanted to say.

  “What?” she asked, pulling me back to reality.

  “You can’t save everyone.” I said and immediately realized what a hypocrite I actually was.

  If I was to follow my own words, strategically, my best course of action now would be to leave them. To remind myself that I was in a time loop and that nothing that happens in this run will be set in stone for me. And yet, the thought of these people dying – of Yana dying – made it impossible for me to walk away.

  I knew I was strong enough to keep them safe for a while longer.

  I was a hypocrite because I wanted to save them all, despite knowing it was impossible – and perhaps even foolish to try.

  Knowing this was actually another universe made the people living in it so much more than simple pieces in some game I could reset. They were real. Their struggles, their fears, their hopes – they all mattered.

  They would die in every universe, until eventually – hopefully – I’d manage to bring this to an end. But until then, I wanted to fight for them too. To save them, even if only for as long as I could.

  I never could understand why she always tried to act so heroic. I suspected it had a lot to do with her parents’ deaths before we met as children, but we’d never actually talked about it in detail. Now, though, I think I’m finally beginning to grasp the illogic of wanting to be a hero and save everyone. By understanding her.

  She looked like she was about to retort my earlier statement, so I cut her off quickly, correcting myself. “I’m wrong. Forget I said anything.”

  She blinked, bewildered, then chuckled softly. “Wha – what?”

  Seeing her smile, I couldn’t help but smile back. “You heard me. I’m wrong. But I still think you shouldn’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault this place is the way it is. I’m sure you did your best to help them all.”

  We fell silent for a moment before she spoke softly. “Thanks, Aidan.”

  Before I could add anything else, Jax stormed toward us, looking angry. “We found your boyfriend and you had your moment. Now can we finally focus on finding Master Lorren and Lady Mikaela?”

  “Sure. Do you know where to look?” Yana asked flatly, her tone catching him off guard.

  “Ugh – Well – I – “ Jax stammered, struggling to form a response.

  “Good. I thought as much.” Yana said impatiently, cutting him off. She stood and turned to her guild mates. “Do you think we should climb back up now? Maybe they’ve already returned with the Keystone. Besides, we’re pretty run-down in our current state, and the upper levels we passed through should have fewer monsters than the lower, unexplored ones.”

  “Yeah, I think you’re right.” Luke agreed with a nod.

  “Worst case, the item stash is still in the main antechamber.” Fiona added, agreeing as well. “We could stock up there and then continue looking for them if they hadn’t returned yet.”

  “It’s a waste of time!” Jax growled. “We’ve already descended twelve floors. They might literally be on the next one, and we’ll miss them if we turn around now!”

  “Or they might be twenty floors deeper.” Luke countered calmly. “Chill, dude. We’re too underprepared to venture into the unknown at the moment.”

  Jax let out another frustrated growl before suddenly turning to me. “You!” he snapped. “Where did you come from? We should’ve stumbled upon you on the way down, so you must’ve come from even deeper, right? What did you see down there? Tell us right now!”

  I couldn’t tell them about the claw from downstairs or Diona. Hell, I couldn’t even tell them about the secret passage Goren had shown me, even though it could get us back up fairly quickly. It might alter the loop too much with me being the direct cause.

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  And I still wasn’t sure how much protection from Darkness the radiating sword was actually giving me. My memory about this exchange with Pix was hazy, so it was safer to assume the worst.

  Wait – why did I even feel like I owed Jax an explanation, of all people?!

  “I don’t like your tone.” I said, rising to my feet.

  “I don’t care!” he snapped, aiming his glowing staff at me. “Tell me what you’ve seen downstairs now.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Put that down.” Luke called out, jumping to his feet.

  Did Jax really think he was threatening me? Well, sure, he couldn’t see my true level, so I guess he thought this would work…

  I was about to knock him out with a quick Blade Rush, but Yana already moved. She closed the distance between them in an instant and knocked him down with a single punch.

  Jax dropped his staff, clutching his face in pain. Henry, still dazed and out of it, crawled slowly toward his mentor.

  “Get a hold of yourself, mage!” Yana snapped.

  Jax looked like he’d had enough. He shot an angry glare at both of us, grabbed his staff from the ground, and stormed out of the chamber, pulling Henry behind him.

  “Wait!” Fiona called after them. “Don’t go off on your own!”

  “I’ll get them.” Luke muttered, rushing after the two. Fiona followed him.

  And then, it happened.

  A System message popped up, sending a shiver down my spine.

  [Déjà vu System Alert]

  [Darkness Ascension Imminent]

  [Countdown to the End of the World: 00:19:59]

  [System will collapse after this event]

  What?!

  “No, no, no…” I muttered under my breath.

  “Aidan?” Yana turned to me, confused. “What’s wrong?”

  Déjà vu screamed in my mind. This had already happened in a previous run. Erebus was twenty minutes away from devouring our world.

  I couldn’t believe I was saying this, but…I needed to die and reset. Fast.

  But how?

  The claw downstairs!

  “Aidan?” Yana repeated, her voice full of concern. All I could do was shoot her an apologetic glance, shaking my head.

  “I’m sorry.” I whispered. “I need to leave.”

  Without waiting for her response, I rushed out of the chamber.

  “Aidan, wait! What do you mean you need to leave?” Yana called after me, her voice rising. “I’m not letting you out of my sight again!”

  No matter how hard it was, I ignored her, sprinting toward the staircase. As I Descended, I could still hear her footsteps behind me.

  “Aidan, stop!”

  “I can’t!” I shouted over my shoulder, not slowing down.

  When I reached the bottom of the stairs, and stepped into the large, empty chamber that was floor 13, the scene before me made my heart drop.

  The bodies of Luke, Fiona, and Jax lay scattered across the ground, bleeding heavily, unmoving.

  Henry was hunched over Jax’s body, sobbing uncontrollably.

  The claw. It must’ve gotten them – caught them by surprise.

  “What?” Yana’s voice came from behind me, shaking as she saw her fallen guild mates. “No…”

  I didn’t have time to feel sorry for them.

  My heart raced as I considered what I had to do next. But seeing how Déjà vu reacted earlier, I knew I’d likely already done this before – already chosen to die on purpose.

  It still didn’t make it easy.

  I took a deep breath, steeling myself, and rushed toward the mark I had left on the ground. Stepping over it, I braced myself, ready for the invisible claw to strike.

  Just like before, it tore through the wall, flying at me. I stood firm, prepared for the fatal impact.

  It had to be done.

  But Yana wasn’t having any of it.

  She pushed me aside with a forceful shove at the last moment, stepping in front of the claw. She raised her sword to block it, but the impact was too powerful, sending her crashing against the wall.

  “Yana!” I shouted, rushing to her side.

  Her HP had dropped to about 30%, but she was still in one piece.

  “What are you doing?” I asked frantically, my voice shaking.

  “What am I doing?!” she snapped, glaring at me as she struggled to stand up. “What are you doing?!”

  “I’m sorry.” I sighed. “But please…just stay down.”

  “Aidan,” she said, using the wall for balance as she finally pushed herself to her feet, “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I’m not letting you kill yourself.”

  “I’m…I’m not.” I replied, though I knew I basically was. “I can’t explain…”

  “Then I’m not staying down until you do explain.” She said firmly. “I’ll jump in and let it kill me if that what it takes to protect you.”

  I sighed again, the weight of her words pressing down on me. Tears threatened to come out.

  I didn’t deserve her. I never did.

  I glanced at the timer.

  [Countdown to the End of the World: 00:16:37]

  “And there’s no changing your mind?” I asked softly, already knowing the answer.

  “No.” she said without hesitation, shaking her head. “Tell me what’s going on, and we’ll work through it. Together.”

  I stood there, stunned by her persistence to save me.

  There was no other way.

  “Okay.” I replied quietly, stepping toward her as I reached into my inventory.

  As I approached her, I shot one final glance at each of the people who had died here: Luke, Fiona, Jax. I didn’t know them well enough, but still it pained me to see them like this.

  As I got close to Yana, I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

  She was so startled she didn’t even manage to hug me back before I disconnected, dropping the item I pulled from the inventory beside her.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.” I whispered.

  Using Dash Step, I darted backward just as the Spark Bomb I dropped detonated, electrifying Yana, stunning her in place.

  It was tough seeing her like this - struggling in pain - knowing that I was the one inflicting her this harm. But I had no other choice.

  I turned toward the mysterious wall and used Wind Rush, sprinting forward.

  I could hear Yana’s scream behind me as the claw struck me with full force, killing me instantly.

  [Health: 0% - You Have Died]

  ***

  I woke up on a wooden bench.

  The scent of the forest filled the air, accompanied by the soft chirping of birds all around me.

  Beside me sat a familiar figure, gripping a cane between both hands.

  “Chronos!” I called out, sitting up quickly. “Are you okay?”

  He turned to me with a weak smile, looking tired. “Of course, I am.”

  But he was lying. I could see Erebus’ blight on his body. The wound from before had spread, reaching his neck now.

  He noticed my gaze lingering on it and covered it with his hand, pretending to scratch it. “Yeah, it’s only going to get worse, really…”

  “Worse?”

  “Yes.” He nodded weakly. “Erebus had grown stronger. He always does. He now needs less time in each loop to bring the world to an end. But don’t fret: things always get worse before they get better. You got this. I believe in you.”

  It was strange seeing him so supportive for once. Was getting sick turning him into a nicer god? One could only wish.

  “I know I can do this.” I said, trying to sound confident. I recalled how I failed this run’s Yana. I couldn’t let her, and the others keep dying while I figured this out. I needed to end this faster.

  “There’s a way to slow him down,” Chronos said, interrupting my thoughts. “I can’t tell you exactly how, obviously, but let's just say I think you’re bright enough to figure it out on your own.”

  I chuckled dryly. I take that back. He’s still an asshole.

  “What about that story you promised me?” I asked, not really expecting an answer from him. “About you and a certain ex-assistant of yours?”

  He frowned. “That is…That is one of the reasons I called you here, actually.”