Staring at the gun barrel pointed at him, Lucian felt helpless. Who was he kidding? No matter how bold he seemed, or brave he sounded, he was still ultimately helpless before a loaded gun. He was tied, bound to the ground, surrounded by a bunch of gunmen, and while he was somewhat of a good fighter, that was only in street fights where the most an opponent could bring to a fight was a knife. Not that they weren't willing to bring guns, but those were so much of a rare commodity that if someone were to be caught with it, the local gangs would hunt them down to obtain it. But there were so many here a single wrong move could fill him with lead. And no matter how strong-willed he was, he wasn't able to easily entertain the cold thoughts of death. Hence his cowering the moment Ry had pointed the gun at him.

  But seeing Kadrian, his supposed best friend, saving him from certain death, he felt... anger? Yes, anger. Anger unmatched and unparalleled, stronger than anything he had ever felt before in his entire life.

  'What is this... feeling?' Lucian wondered, disgust filling his entire being.

  'Am I feeling relief?

  Safety?

  Gladness?

  That I'm still breathing...

  only because that piece of shit who murdered Mom didn't pull the trigger?

  And the only reason he stopped...

  is because this bastard—this so-called brother of mine, the one Mom treated like her own son—betrayed me...

  and then begged for my life?' Lucian processed everything, digesting it difficultly but surely.

  He was repulsed.

  'I've been betrayed, my house has been burned to the ground, my mother's dead, and I have no one left in the world I can trust. I have nothing left to live for...' he thought, his will faltering at the thought of death.

  'But then again, almost any situation is better than death. I could always salvage what's left of my life and make something of it. There's always hope as long as I can breathe... But...' His gaze landed on Ry's retreating back and Kadrian's untensing figure, fury overtook him, drowning his formerly more rational thoughts.

  He ground his teeth as his thoughts continued roaming. '... I refuse to let the reason I live even a day longer to be because of these two bastards!'

  With his eyes glowing fiercely in the illumination of the bonfire, he proclaimed to himself, 'I reject it!'

  And so, with fury taking over, he snarled out these words, "You had better come put that bullet in my head because I swear to the living hell that governs us in this torment of a world, gods rise, demons fall, I will stop at nothing till I'm drinking wine off your skull!"

  ...

  Ry turned around once more, his anger seething as he stared down at Lucian's bound figure. He could hear the growing discussions and murmurs coming from the crowd. It felt almost as if his authority was being undermined. His gaze shot over to Kadrian, and he growled, "Boy!"

  Ultimately, he was losing his patience.

  Kadrian saw how pissed Ry was and immediately knew he was on a ticking clock with not much time left. He didn't want to lose his best friend. But when he turned back to look at Lucian and convince him to take back his words, his heart skipped a beat as he saw something he hated with all his being before being manifested on Lucian.

  His eyes–they were giving off the extremely rare glow of defiance, a tenacity to not go with the flow of the world, the very same thing that made him hate Lucian's mother.

  Like mother, like son.

  Seeing the fiery look in his sunlit brown eyes, that shone even brighter thanks to the fire, he was almost certain that there was nothing in the world he could say right now that would change his mind. This wouldn't stop him from trying though.

  Kneeling before Lucian in a hurry, he grabbed onto his shoulders and began, "Lucian, please snap out of it. You're going to die if you keep up with this..."

  "Shut up! You're next right after I'm done with him," Lucian snapped at him with a murderous glare.

  But Kadrian shot back at him with equal fervor, "I know, and I don't care! But you won't have a single chance for that if you keep this up. Don't you see that?"

  "What is there to see? I have nothing else to live for. My mother is dead!" Lucian roared, his shout temporarily silencing the murmuring crowd. Even Kadrian went silent, having no comebacks.

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  He went silent for a bit, his head low in thought and sadness. Eventually, he raised his head and stared back at Lucian with remorse in his eyes as he said, "Sorry..."

  But Lucian cut in, pain lacing his voice, "It's too late for..."

  "I know it is, but I'll still say it," Kadrian interrupted him. He continued, tears already falling out of his eyes, "I betrayed your trust and got mom killed, and I am sorry for it."

  But his gaze hardened as he continued, "But doing this won't bring her back. And I'm very sure that she wouldn't want you to go down like this." Hearing his mother being mentioned, Lucian's tense muscles seemed to relax, seeming as though he was considering his words.

  Kadrian noticed this and pressed on. "Just this one time, bow your head and lay low. I'm sure Mom would approve of your happiness. Of you not seeking certain death."

  Kadrian was actually kinda hopeful about his chances of having convinced Lucian. Even if he wouldn't forgive him for the rest of his life and still harbor these suicidal thoughts he had declared, at least, with time, he'd come to.

  But Lucian's next words thwarted these thoughts.

  "For you to say all this, then you never knew Mom. She is..." he paused, his fist clenching so hard his knuckles turned white.

  "Was," he continued, "a strong-willed woman and would be completely disappointed if her son was anything less. So no, I refuse to live and watch you two do the same," Lucian said in cold determination.

  Growling, he added, "And stop calling her Mom. You are not her son."

  Looking at his pained but cold gaze, Kadrian froze, staring Lucian dead in the eye, Lucian looking back as well. Both had a million thoughts in their head and thousands of raging questions, but they remained silent. There was nothing more to be said. They had made their decisions.

  Ry finally got impatient with the duo and walked up to them, his gun already in his hands once more. "So what's it gonna be?" he asked coldly. And to which Lucian answered with equal mettle, "Make sure the gun is pointed at my head to ensure I die, else I'll come after you even halfway to the grave."

  Ry heard his words and became livid, pointing his gun once more at Lucian. Lucian flinched, feeling the warm barrel pushing against his skull, his confidence wavering slightly. But he quickly gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, steeling his resolve. Kadrian was nervous as well but ultimately, there was nothing he could do but watch.

  Lucian waited a few seconds, waiting to maybe feel pain, hear the gunshot, or even for his consciousness to go blank. But none of that happened; instead, he felt the gun barrel being pulled away from him. Somewhat confused, he opened his eyes only to be greeted by the sight of Ry staring straight into the bonfire with something of interest. This gave Lucian a bad feeling, so he decided to taunt Ry once more.

  "What's wrong? Scared to kill me? Because I might crawl right back from hell?"

  Ry flinched a little at his words but quickly regained himself as he let out a smirk. His gaze went to his gun as he began, "Of course not. I was just thinking how wasteful it would be to use my precious bullets on you."

  Lucian was confused by his words a bit, and so was Kadrian. But when they saw Ry's gaze once again returning to the illuminating flames of the bonfire, their eyes widened in horrible realization.

  "Boss Ry, I..." Kadrian began, thinking about trying to convince him otherwise, but his cold glare shut him up. Anymore words, and he might receive a bullet instead.

  Clapping twice, Ry said out loud, "It's been far too long since I've witnessed this, and I think it's about time to do it again." Giving Lucian one more look, he snickered at him and said, "Throw him into the bonfire."

  Lucian's eyes widened, and panic spread in his expression. Kadrian was also somewhat frantic, but he did nothing. There was nothing he could do.

  Before Lucian could react, a bunch of lackeys had already reached him and were lifting him up.

  "No! Let me go!" Lucian squirmed, struggling to fight them off, but their grips on him were firm. They restricted his movements and began moving him. Of course, Lucian still fought, but it was futile. In no time, he was already before the fire.

  "No, please, anything but this," Lucian pleaded, all his confidence gone with the wind, and his entire being filled with fear. Ry scoffed at his pleading, "Where's all the confidence from earlier? Huh?" he asked with contempt, to which Lucian remained silent.

  Shaking his head, "It's too late anyway. Drop him in."

  "Wait, nooo... ARRGGGHHHH!" Lucian screamed out in anguish as he was roughly thrown into the fire, the flames glaring at him and licking at his skin ferociously, rushing to consume him. He squirmed and convulsed, struggling to scramble to his feet and run away from the raging flames dancing elusively upon him. Unfortunately, he was still bound, and while the ropes were slowly devoured as well, it wasn't nearly quick enough. His heart raced, his mind's gears spun, his muscles tensed, his instincts roared, his vocal cords echoing its desperation. His entire existence right now was focused on how to escape this agonizing pain.

  Unfortunately, that was no more than a fool's dream.

  He could feel every single inch of his skin burning, some parts having already been breached, and his flesh was being smoked. The fumes of smoke had risen and broken into his lungs and caused even more havoc with every vain breath he took. His hair was only a minute or so from being completely incinerated, and he was having difficulty breathing. Every movement drained his energy, and while his focus was still desperately sharp, mostly because the pain wouldn't let otherwise, his consciousness was having difficulty keeping up. And to top it off, his vision was majorly obscured, seeing nothing but the bright and vivid red and orange of the flames.

  'So... this is death,' Lucian thought as he finally felt most of his strength abandon him. At this point, his shouts had died down to mere moans and groans, his entire body had already been charred black, his internal organs already a hot mess. The once mighty ropes that bound him had already loosened, being burned to a crisp and losing all their integrity. Not like it mattered, they had already accomplished their mission. Lucian didn't even have the slightest ounce of strength or ability to pull himself from the raging flames. Even his will had been burned away.

  'What an unfulfilling and excruciating event. All those books I read are scams. How can you actually smile during this?' The thought floated in his mind as another wave of pain in the form of a throb assaulted his body, drawing a hiss from his parched throat. His survival instincts were still there, pounding on his mental faculties, urging them to send orders or even just signals to the body. Unfortunately, his body wasn't listening to commands anymore, the nervous system seemingly in charred tatters.

  Feeling the pain assault him once more, and losing the ability to breathe, Lucian wondered to himself, 'Was this all truly worth it? All this pain just for a trash ego. One I won't even live to tell the tale of. I've given up on life, no matter what form it came in, joy and laughter, sadness and tears... literally, I think my tear glands have been damaged.

  And also... I've forsaken love... forever.'

  While still writhing in his thoughts and flames, he could just barely glimpse figures standing close to the flames. He couldn't be sure, but since they were a duo of figures, they automatically reminded him of the two people who put him in this situation. His gaze blurred once more, and his teeth ground together.

  With maddening hate, 'I could never exist in the same realm as them and live peacefully. Not even for a second more. I could never bow my head down, even in the name of pretense. One of us had to die... now.'

  With this last thought, he felt his consciousness finally slipping from his grasp. Urging his entire existence one last time, the remains of his muscles tensed, his heart gave one last heavy pump, and he drew in one last puff of air... well, of smoke to be more precise.

  Holding it in for a second, the very next he released all the accumulated pressure, unleashing a croaked and broken voice that sounded both grating and frightening.

  "Pray that I do not meet a trial down there because I swear, I... will climb all 18 levels even, just to claim your lives!"

  Both Ry and Kadrian flinched hearing his chilling declaration.

  Having said his piece, Lucian let go of whatever tethers that held him to life and allowed eternal darkness consume him.

  'I guess this is the end...'

  ...

  [Welcome Damned one! Your presence has been acknowledged. Your first trial will now commence.]

  ...

  'Huh?'