Master arrived second. If he was upset that he lost to Jack, he didnât show it. The others came one by one.
Some that reached the finish line wore confused expressions. Were they locked all this time just for a simple running match?
By now, the one who should arrive last was almost clear. It was amongst three people. Richard, Dina, or the native Glover.
Both Richard and Dina had the magic class so they had the least dexterity. Among the two, Dina seemed to be doing better. She was a bit ahead of Richard and Glover.
Richard and Glover were running at neighboring lanes. They could practically touch each other while running side by side, both competing on not being the last. They kept on glancing at one another. Gloverâs face showed a panicky expression. He didnât want to be the sacrifice.
His hands suddenly grabbed Richard. Richard and the others who watched were taken by surprise by Gloverâs action. The old orc didnât stop there. Gloverâs leg came to Richardâs running legs. Richard lost his balance due to this and stumbled over.
Glover let go of Richard when he was down and ran forward leaving him behind.
âWhat the⊠Thatâs a foulâŠ!â Stefan shouted. He turned to Aglea and demanded, âThat orc should be disqualified!â
Aglea who was also watching the incident, turned to Stefan with her unchanging smile and asked, âDisqualified? Why?â
âHe⊠He broke the rulesâŠ,â Stefan said.
âWhat rules?â Aglea asked back. âI never said you are not allowed to touch your competitors.â
Stefan was dumbstruck by Agleaâs words.
Aglea turned her attention back to the race as if nothing weird had happened.
Dina arrived first among the last three racers. Glover was next. Richard arrived later after getting up and resumed running. When he arrived, he was understandably furious.
âYou cheating piece of sh*tâŠ!!!â He scolded while lunging at Glover.
Glover expected the aggression. His two arms grabbed Richardâs incoming arms. Since the two couldnât use skills nor were they martial artists, they simply wrestled with strength.
âDamn, you! You, mother*cker!!â Richard continued cursing while he tried to overpower Glover.
Glover cursed back. âScrew you! You will just come back to life again. Do you think it is the same for me? I will die for realâŠ!â
The others just watched the tussling without interfering. They did think Glover had cheated, but they also empathize with Gloverâs fear of permanent death. Except for Richardâs friend, Stefan, who went and helped Richard by hitting Glover using his fists.
âHey, leader. Arenât you going to do something?â Jack asked Master by doing gestures.
Master just glanced at Jack but otherwise remained silent. It was unsure if he just didnât care or if he didnât understand Jackâs weird gestures.
Since Master didnât want to do anything, Jack was about to take action to separate the three. But a flash of light enveloped Richard and he was gone. Gloverâs hands that were grabbing Richard a moment ago froze in the air. Stefan, who was beside him, similarly stopped punching Glover. They were all surprised by the sudden disappearance of Richard.
âYou⊠You kill him!â Stefan yelled at Glover. Since they couldnât use equipment, Richard couldnât wear the amulet of rebirth. If he died, he would lose everything and return to level 1.
Stefan resumed hitting Glover. Now that Gloverâs hands were free, he punched back. The two brawled like they were in a bar fight.
âRichard is not dead⊠yet,â Aglea said, which stopped the two.
âNo? But you said⊠He is the sacrifice,â Stefan said.
âHe is,â Aglea answered. âThere is a sacrificial round after a match. This will decide whether the sacrifice will die or if they can be saved to join the next match. We will now proceed to the sacrificial round.â
Once she finished speaking, the world around them changed. Everything appeared to be reshuffled into something else. Before they knew it, the chaos around them stopped and they found themselves indoors again, but not in the dungeon where they used to be chained.
It was still a dungeon. It was an underground room filled with contraptions. At the center of that room, hanging from the ceiling was Richard. His hands were bound by a chain that was attached to some kind of a mechanism on the ceiling. His two legs were also bound together. He had a frightened face.
âEveryone, help me!â He shouted when he saw the others. He wanted to say more but his mouth was suddenly clamped shut. He was unable to speak, the same as Jack.
âSorry, I want to say something, so everybody please refrain from speaking,â Aglea had also appeared in this room.
She floated to Richardâs side and announced, âWelcome to the sacrificial round! Where we have the second most fun part of this game. The most fun part is, of course, the end match. But I assure you all that you will enjoy this round no less. Now, let me explain the rules.âđđđđđłđ§đxt.đ đđ
She pointed to Richard and said, âThis is the sacrifice. You have ten minutes to free him from his binding. He will be slowly lowered during these ten minutes. After that, he will enter the pond below. Any questions?â
Everyone turned their attention to the large hole below Richard. They came closer and saw the inside of the hole was filled with lava. If Richard dropped into this so-called pond, he was a goner.
âHow do we save Richard?â Stefan asked.
âThat is for you to figure out,â Aglea answered. âItâs more fun this way, isnât it?â
âThis is fun? This is torture porn shit!â Stefan exclaimed.
âIf he dies, where will he revive?â Master asked. He didnât see any rune diagram in this room. He didnât care if Richard died, but if dying brought them out of this place, that could be an option for escape. He had the Immortal Soul so he didnât need the amulet of rebirth. The question was whether that skill could bypass the restriction of this dimension.
âIn our nursery hall, of course. Where we will nurse him back to a suitable level so he can join the fun again,â Aglea answered.
The players were dejected hearing that. This means even in death, there was no escape.
âWhat if it is a native who is sacrificed?â Kerry, the ethereal native, asked. âWill we get revived as well?â
âNo,â Aglea answered flatly. She then announced, âOkay, let the fun begin!â
The moment she made the announcement, the mechanism above the ceiling made a creaking sound and the chain that was binding Richard started to lower.
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