《The Fine Game Of Nil》


 1.1 - Running Start

    I ran up the last steps of the stair, two and three steps at a time, which was what made me slip on the last ones, almost making me smack face first onto the wet concrete floor, the light of the moon being barely enough to see where I was going.


    My heart was pounding madly, my back soaked in sweat from the run and the situation, I stood up as quickly as I could, jumping behind the brick wall to my left.


    I took a moment to simply try to recover my breath, gasping from having just had the most intense run I could remember, feeling like the world was making crazy turns in front of me.


    I wondered if I made it.


    Three slow clicks down the alleyway burned that hope quite thoroughly.


    I turned my head slowly in the direction of the sound to find myself standing ten or fifteen steps away from the same creature that had been hounding me for the last minutes, even if the exact time was hard to tell.


    I held my breath and quickly regretted it, my lungs demanding the oxygen spent on my desperate escape and not willing to comply with what my brain asked.


    Coughing twice, I didn¡¯t even have a chance to think of a plan before the entity was already walking towards me with its awkward gait, as if moving over eggshells on its needle-like feet.


    I measured my chances, finding it unlikely that I could manage another sprint like that. And considering that it was coming from the opposite direction, it was likely fast enough that it was a null point anyways.


    I sighed, both of exhaustion and resignation.


    Deciding that if this was to be my end at least it would be a proper one, I didn¡¯t waste time before rushing ahead with a brief shout of fear and anger, my steps resounding clearly in the silence of the alleyway.


    I cocked my fist for an inelegant punch to its face and the next I knew, I was rolling on the floor, the right half of my face burning with pain, my teeth and skull aching from whatever hit me so fast I didn¡¯t even have an opportunity to notice my folly.


    Stunned, I couldn¡¯t focus on anything for a few moments, turning onto my back slowly and trying to center myself with the urgency of the condemned.


    Opening my eyes, I found the entity just a few steps ahead, standing over me with its eyeless face, the moon behind her as the only spectator.


    Shining silver made its form, sleek angles and profound engravings making it seem like the magnum opus of a mad artist. It was humanoid, yet it seemed like the creator made no attempt to hide its mechanical nature nor to make it easy on the eyes. No, the feeling was decidedly alien, its eyeless face the facsimile of a human, yet with strange proportions that triggered the uncanny valley.


    My inspection of my would-be murderer ended suddenly when it raised its hand to me.


    A roll of paper was held in it, which it flipped downwards with grace.


    ¡®You¡¯ve been chosen.¡¯


    I was immediately confused by the absurdity of the situation, but the entity remained still, which I assumed meant it would wait until I''d read the¡­ scroll?


    First pushing myself into a seating position against the wall behind me, I waited a moment to see if it would hit me again but got only silence in return, the entity completely still.


    Raising my hand to my mouth, it came back with a bit of blood. I huffed, feeling my indignation increasing.


    ¡°Ok. I¡¯ll read your damn paper.¡± I murmured grudgingly, finally taking a good look at the offending message for which I apparently had the most grueling run of my life.


    I was still scared as all hell, but having a chance to actually breathe, as painful as the act currently was, allowed me to put my mind on something other than survival.


    ¡®You¡¯ve been Chosen.¡¯


    ¡®Few are Those that are Granted the Ultimate Honor.¡¯


    ¡®Do Feel properly Grateful.¡¯


    I looked at the face of the creature in disbelief, the ache in my mouth radiating along the rest of my skull not making me feel very grateful at all. But maybe the honor was the one of not dying¡­? I doubted it would find it too difficult to end me, making me decide not to risk finding if there was a time limit for me to finish reading.


    ¡®Endless, the Dangers You will Face. Implacable, the Foes on your Path.¡¯


    ¡®Your Task to Safeguard Creation.¡¯


    ¡®The Rewards Limitless, fit only for the Bold and Daring.¡¯


    ¡®Victorybound would be your Title, if You Accept this Contract.¡¯


    ¡äDecide your Fate, Chosen.¡¯


    ¡®Will You Answer the Call?¡¯


    ¡®Or is Your Choice to be Forever Forgotten?¡¯


    ¡°What¡­?¡± I was severely confused, somewhat distracting me from my fear. Just a few hours ago my biggest worry was whether or not I would be able to buy enough bread for this week or if my neighbor was stealing my laundry when I was not home. Now, I was faced with all of this mess.


    Decide my Fate¡­?


    I was just running for my life a couple minutes ago, creature. It took me a bit of time to switch gears, even if both situations were equally nonsensical, and gritted my teeth with the influx of resulting emotions.


    I was of two minds to say fuck it all and go back home to sleep off the headache¡­ if not for the fact that I was given the choice to be forgotten, not let off the hook. Maybe it was a turn of phrase, but the emotionless metal face of the creature gave me the worst kind of feelings.


    Can someone just walk away after something like this?


    So¡­ to safeguard creation, whatever that means, or be killed, most likely. I just had to give a halfhearted chuckle, risking the ire of my stalker.


    ¡°What creation are you going to protect, silly thing? The war is lost. Am I supposed to put my life on the line for the Pact?¡± Anger leaked into my words. ¡°Guarding the very thing that ruined my home is a bit counterproductive, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    I had no idea when the government had the time or incentive to make this tin-can with flowery language, but the fact remained that it was the only viable source of this mess. A seeker of dissent, maybe? A bit overly dramatic. Deaths squads are much more visible and effective in keeping us all quiet and obedient, so I hoped it was just a passing fad.


    That was what I dearly wanted to believe all of this was. The alternatives would require a couple of shifts in my worldview that I was not at all comfortable with making.


    I am already miserable as it is. No need to add insane to the list.


    The Tin Man moved the arm holding the paper up, rolling it up with a frankly unnecessary flourish, before snapping it back down violently.


    The writing on it was different.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡®Your woes are inconsequential. Your current enemies are trivial.¡¯


    ¡®This is a Higher Calling. Beyond the petty nature of your world and struggles.¡¯


    ¡®Decide. Now.¡¯


    ¡®Ascension or Oblivion.¡¯


    My blood ran cold. It was almost surely a cruel joke. A single candle of hope before the cruel hammer of tyranny came down. After having a good laugh at my expense, that is.


    But¡­


    I suppose I don¡¯t have that much to lose, do I?


    Well, I do. There¡¯s a quite fine line between everything that I experienced tonight and lunacy. Me indulging my own delusions was probably not going to be helping at all.


    That being said, I didn¡¯t want to be forgotten.


    I exist. That I know in my core.


    Against my better judgement, I opened my mouth.


    ¡°I accept. Happy, big fella?¡±


    My answer was the paper bursting into flames, an insanely complex symbol drawing itself upon it before the fire consumed everything.


    I pushed myself as far away from it as I could, my instincts screaming at me to run, to forget all this mess and simply get away to someplace where things made sense again.


    ¡°The Covenant has been struck.¡± The voice came from nowhere and everywhere at once, my mind struggling to make sense of the anomaly without success.


    With that, the entity morphed in front of me, its silver form moving like water before settling into the shape of a silver haired war goddess, rigid posture and cold gray eyes radiating strength beyond what her armored self showed.


    ¡°Embrace your gift, Chosen.¡± Her haughty declaration came with a feeling I found hard to put into words. Like the warm of home and hearth during the harshest winter. The comforting company of family after a huge success. The consoling hug of a loved one after terrible failure. An accomplishment so beyond the norm that it had no equal, now or ever.


    It felt like everything was right with the world.


    Like all the pain and struggle was worth it, as long as I could live to feel this.


    I was so entranced that I only peripherally noticed the medieval cosplayer raise a single finger in front of me. And then she stabbed it into my eye without a single word, my world exploding into pain.


    I pulled away from her, a wet sound barely noticeable to me over the agony. I was blind from one eye, stumbling to pull away from the monster camouflaged as an angel.


    I did not get far before she kicked my hand under me, forcing me to fall onto my side over a dark puddle of water, helpless before her.


    ¡°W-wait, why are you doing this!?¡±


    Can you not see that it was perfect, I wanted to shout, with confusion, rage and incredible pain clouding my thoughts.


    ¡°Learn.¡± Was all she said, voice devoid of care, as if my pain was not worth the effort of emoting anything beyond that bored disdain.


    She raised her armored foot over my face and I could only put my hands in front of it before it came crashing down in a blur.


    I became pain.


    The feeling of peace, somehow enduring through possibly the worst experience of my life, died immediately, replaced with cold and a profound sense of loss.


    And so, the world was back to its usual lackluster self.


    In front of me, a silver haired valkyrie looked down upon me with judgemental eyes.


    My eye didn¡¯t hurt. I could see with no impediments.


    I was healthy again.


    And yet not, the hole inside me I¡¯d just noticed existed now a yawning void again much worse than the loss of my eye had been.


    The woman raised her finger in front of me.


    I jumped aside more from instinct than anything else, falling without grace into a dark puddle of water.


    Back where I was, a gauntleted finger was buried into the wall I was leaning into a moment before.


    ¡°Satisfactory. The One Above All dislikes those slow of learning.¡±


    My heart was trying its damndest to escape from my chest, panic so strong coursing through me that I could not move my eyes from her finger as she removed it from the wall, flicking dust aside without care. Like using your finger as a weapon was a normal occurrence and trying to gouge my eye with it deserved no great mention.


    ¡°This is your gift, Chosen. What marks you above mortalkind. To be destined for Victory, forevermore.¡±


    Victorybound.


    That¡¯s what she¡­ it said I would be if I accepted that accursed contract.


    The crude nature of the lesson left no doubts in my heart, even if my mind wanted to rebel against this sacrilege. This insult to everything I believe about how the world worked.


    And even now, I still felt inside me the void left by the¡­ use/expenditure/sacrifice?


    Whatever it was that happened, I was whole again in body and the miracle inside me was gone.


    Regret was far too little a term to define my emotions in that moment.


    ¡°Give it back¡­¡± It felt pitiful. Disgraceful. But in those few seconds, I¡¯d been truly happy. And even so, the words escaped me without my input.


    I was shocked to discover that I would happily die, if I could do so feeling like that.


    I felt sick to my core.


    I wanted it more than anything.


    Please make everything make sense again.


    The woman looked at me in contempt so deep I wondered how she didn¡¯t try to kill me again.


    ¡°It will never be given, Chosen. Only earned.¡± Her eyes upon me left me feeling inadequate in a way that was not natural in me. Like a world class painter gazing at a childish drawing made of rancid shit. ¡°Twenty and one of your hours will pass before you must pay the price of your contract. Your first task will come without delay.¡±


    Without another word, she turned around and left me there.


    Alone, empty and full of questions.


    There was no one to hear my shuddering sigh.


    <hr>


    The door closed behind me with a scrape of wood and old metal, my mind absently noting that I still needed to trade for a bit of oil, like it did every so often.


    I let myself lean against it, slowly falling until I was sitting on the floor, my eyes staring at nothing.


    After a while, the feeling inside me had been reduced to simple and familiar deep disappointment instead of the utter subversion of my values as a person.


    It was frightening, how sincere it felt. To realize how much I would be willing to cast away for a world that felt right.


    And even more frightening, that it could happen again. But I had to believe that I was safe, for now.


    The darkness of the apartment lends itself well to introspection, as usual. Here, I can calm my breathing and think until the course to take becomes clear.


    It took quite a lot of breathing before I had anything resembling a proper account of events.


    For reasons beyond my understanding, I was now bound to some mysterious random brutalizer of a woman. Or was I¡­? I was not feeling particularly charitable with her in the sanctity of my mind, my eye pulsing with phantom pain and a shiver running down my spine.


    The silver brute did mention a so-called One-Above-All. Never a good sign when your nominal leadership gets melodramatic in their rank designations.


    And yet, given the nature of all that happened, I was understandably reluctant to test the boundaries. It''s not like I could do anything about it on my own, as far as I could tell, so the point was kind of moot anyways.


    I was beyond tired, both mentally and physically.


    Maybe a good rest would be enough for things to recover a semblance of sanity again.


    With those thoughts running in my head, I let myself fall face first into my mattress, still fully clothed except for my boots on the floor.


    <hr>


    ¡°Awaken.¡±


    I was ripped from a dream that was already starting to fade away without warning.


    ¡°Your first task begins now, Chosen.¡± My mind was desperately trying to power up, the voice serving as a very good incentive given my experiences with her tests before.


    I looked around my room frantically, only to find it as empty as before I went to sleep and the door still closed.


    ¡°Arm and armor yourself in preparation for struggle.¡± The voice still came as if she was standing beside me, from either side. I was starting to hate this woman.


    ¡°You¡¯ve 300 hundred of your heartbeats, starting now.¡± And with how startled I was, that was not saying much.


    To my credit, I spent just a couple seconds trying to find my own heartbeat without moving before scrambling for the door.


    With a curse for arbitrary systems everywhere, I ran towards my living room as if the devil herself was chasing after me. Not that she wasn¡¯t, but I still had my doubts. Just about the chasing part, though.


    ¡°Shit, shit, shit.¡± I licked my lips in anxiety, looking around for anything that could serve me for so called ¡®struggle¡¯. I had chosen to not doubt the implicit threat there, what with the whole finger episode.


    That thing in gorgeous form did not mess around when it came to making a point.


    I fumbled my way around the kitchen, throwing pans and cutlery around in my haste, ending up with a somewhat sharp meat knife and a metal tray with a handle.


    And then I looked around the mess in mortification.


    Come on!


    Was I supposed to face whatever horrors the silver witch could conjure with just this!?


    I looked at my feet slowly. My still bare feet.


    Ah, crap.


    It was while I was rushing to get my second boot on that it happened.


    ¡°The One Above All smiles upon you, Chosen. Prove yourself worthy of it.¡±


    Extasis beyond anything before.


    Like the missing pieces of the puzzle that was Me falling into place.


    Five.


    I knew that number intimately.


    It shocked me, how I had not realized before the beauty of it.


    But I had. But I didn¡¯t, not truly.


    In between the glory of the moment and the narrowing of my perception to a needlepoint, I had a recollection of how it happened the first time.


    A single mote of fear and anger flew around the hurricane of perfection.


    Five was how many times I could spit in the face of fate.


    With that thought, the feeling began to run away from me. I could do nothing but stare at my wall in despair while I was left empty of meaning again, with just my reason to incompetently fill the void.


    And yet not. The five¡­ miracles remained. It was just the awe they carried with them that had left the ship.


    They were still precious. Something to cherish in the darkest days.


    But also a chance to escape from sure doom and that was way more valuable.


    After all, the longer I lived, the more chances I would get to live through that first feeling again, no?


    The thought brought me some degree of vicious rage. I was more than just whatever I became when the damn Above jackass decided to share a smile like a saucy prostitute.


    ¡°Good. You¡¯ve passed your first trial, Chosen. Not all have the force of will to look for what wait lies beyond such godly gifts.¡±


    I had the strongest urge to just insult her and see if her bored drall changed. To make a smartass joke about what I thought of her unwanted generosity. To show that I still had a will of my own.


    But the comforting feeling of five of the so called gifts inside me stilled my tongue.


    Without the unnatural pleasure, they were just tools.


    Beautiful and probably irreplaceable, but tools nonetheless.


    Or at least that is what I told myself in unease.


    ¡°And now begins your Task.¡±


    An instant and the strangest feeling of moving air later, I was not longer in my room.

 1.2 Social Pains

    Finding myself considerably colder and with the nostalgic feeling of wet grass beneath my single still boot-less foot was considerably jarring.


    The huge crowd of people around me, which I was fairly sure were not freeloading under my bed all this time? That was frightening.


    And yet, It was the twin blue suns above me giving everything a gentle and calm hue that truly chilled me to my bones.


    It seemed like I was not the only one feeling a bit out of place, given how alarmed whispers started amongs the multitude at about the same time.


    ¡°Where are we?¡±


    ¡°Is this some kind of joke?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I was ready!¡±


    The smattering of different accents was immediately evident and said interesting things about this whole affair. English has been the official universal language for a couple decades now since The Pact, but it hadn¡¯t been even remotely enough time for each country to fully transition into a more neutral pronunciation.


    I was confident at least some of these people were from the old continent and as far as I knew, international travel was still banned at the civilian level.


    Their clothes ranged wildly, from the usual mass manufactured cotton stuff the state factories churned out by the millions to synthetics of those with better means. Some looked to have been taken while on the streets, still dressed for a work day. Office workers, labourers, security guards. A few overly noticeable ones were even in suits or pyjamas.


    The last group at least made me feel better about the whole shoeless issue.


    By now some groups had formed between the more social or perhaps those seeking refuge in numbers. I looked to my sides to find to my right a grizzled bear of a man staring at everyone like they were a piece of juicy steak and a catatonic teenager on a fetal position on the grass to my left.


    Suffice to say I was not feeling inclined to partner up, given the immediate choices.


    I noticed then that the kid was quietly talking while shivering, yet too far to make out the words. I felt some reluctance to get close given the strangeness of the situation but in the end my conscience won. Would hate to be in the same spot and get ignored because it was inconvenient.


    Well, that, and I wanted to get away from Sir-Stares-A-Lot. Really getting a bad vibe from that one.


    I kneeled by the kid¡¯s side slowly, taking care to keep the other guy in my peripheral vision, nerves making me worry my lip.


    ¡°Hey, man¡­ You okay there?¡± I asked with caution. It would really suck if he were to jump at my throat teeth first right now. Overly paranoid, maybe, but given how the last hours had developed one had to keep an open mind.


    He said something in response, but way too quietly to make out. I got myself closer against my better judgement. ¡°Care to repeat that, Buddy?¡±


    ¡°Just a little more, mom. I promise I¡¯m not leaving you again.¡± The kid murmured while looking at nothing with glassy eyes.


    I stared at him blankly for a moment while I digested that.


    ¡°I suppose that answers how you¡¯re doing.¡± I snapped my fingers in front of his face twice, trying to get a reaction without success. Guy was totally lost in his funk. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not one to judge, but this is hardly the place to be doing¡­ whatever this is supposed to be.¡± I swear to all that¡¯s good, if this guy is just stoned to the gills...


    The teen hugged himself tighter. ¡°I swear I¡¯ll be a good boy. Just don¡¯t let this end¡­¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Was all I could say, if only to make the moment less uncomfortable. Hard to keep a conversation going when the other guy is tripping as hard as this one.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t make it.¡± Said a way too deep bass to my side. I looked up fast enough to leave my neck hurting, finding the smiling bearded visage of the man I was supposed to be evading.


    His dressing style went for the rough rural tough guy template. Worn out jeans and a maybe leather jacket over a slightly stained t-shirt. That, and a full on forester beard. Buffed and hovering menacingly. Yeah, I¡¯m not feeling it.


    I sighed quietly in resignation. My new companion seemed to take that as an invitation to keep talking.


    ¡°The wench said not everyone can¡¯t handle her stuff.¡± Said with smugness the hopefully not murderous hairy man. He raised his chin in the direction of the kid. ¡°That one obviously didn¡¯t make the cut.¡±


    I took a moment to take that in.


    On one hand, he was confirming I was not crazy for seeing the silver haired poster child for military brutality, with a side dish of posh contempt. Quite good. It meant that I was sharing the crazy with the world and not just on my lonesome.


    On the other hand, I did remember her saying something of the like. A glance at the rocking form by my feet did make it seem likely. Still.


    ¡°It may be. But what makes you say that, if I may ask, uh, Sir?¡± I hurried to add the last part when his eyes on me got a bit more intense. If he was trying to radiate that slasher aura consciously, let it be said he had natural talents at looking like a serial killer.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Thank you for the dolls, mom¡± The kid picked that moment to share with us his insight. Beardy and I shared a glance, his still kinda evil and mine quite confused.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that proves anything. He could just be very into dolls. For some reason.¡± The absurdity of the situation was not lost on me, but I chose to just roll with it. Debating was an old habit of mine and it did help to calm me somewhat.


    I turned to our fellow kidnapee. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to have accepted five very dubious presents, eh, buddy?¡±


    ¡°Five is the most beautiful number and I will cherish them. All of them.¡± Beardy looked a little ¡ªactually a lot¡ª more smug.


    ¡°Point conceded.¡± I told him with a wry smile.


    ¡°Ferdinand.¡± He said, taking his eyes from me to look at our surroundings. I was surprised at the lack of horror movie tropes there and how he took our interaction as an invitation to present himself, but I decided to embrace the little normality available.


    ¡°Isaac.¡± I told him, giving another glance to our doll lover companion. ¡°Think he will wake up from that?¡±


    I had managed to. But the woman did say not all were able and it even sounded kinda-somewhat-sort of like a compliment. Was that it? A person reduced to a murmuring husk just because they didn¡¯t meet some arbitrary requirement?


    A feeling of anger grew inside me. It is not liked we chose to be here. To do this, whatever this is. To be ¡®chosen¡¯.


    But then I remembered that I had, in a way. It was hard to tell in the heat of the moment and it hadn¡¯t felt like much of a choice. But it was. Some fates are worse than death is a popular enough phrase.


    And yet I didn¡¯t want to die.


    Looking at the kid, it was almost certain he didn¡¯t, either. Bitterness was a familiar feeling to me by now.


    The slight taste of iron made me release my lip in a hurry.


    I noted that Ferdinand chose to reserve his opinion on the matter to himself, his attention already on something else.


    I tried not to hold that against him. It¡¯s not his fault he doesn¡¯t care nor is it his that I do.


    ¡°Look, there are more of them.¡± Ferdinand was pointing slowly from one place to another. Following his finger, I could see that our buddy here was not the only one ¡®not worthy¡¯. I could count at least a couple dozen figures in various forms of prostration around the place, most of the people nearby giving them a wide berth.


    Something else took my attention, though.


    High above us on a boulder, a silver figure looked upon us with her trademark judgemental eyes.


    ¡°Feel privileged, chosen. Your mere presence here is already the height of your existence.¡± And there it was. That witch never lost a chance to remind of us of how beneath her we were. Could do with a bit more enthusiasm, though. Her tone was the equivalent of a veteran literature teacher exposing to a bunch of dimwits the classics of the written word, yet knowing they were completely lost on them.


    It couldn¡¯t be denied she had an insane amount of force of personality, though. With her ethereal voice always sounding like it was in front of you, a proud straight back, elevated positioning and dramatic entrance, basically everyone who still had a grasp of reality in the clearing turned to her with a wide range of different emotions.


    It did surprise me how there wasn¡¯t as much terror as I felt was justified.


    Even now, my hands shook and cold sweat began dripping down my neck followed by a brief but intense needle of pain in my eye.


    Mama¡¯s boy and his fellows were proof enough she didn¡¯t really care that much for fairness in whatever surely terrible test she had in mind.


    Ferdinand to my side lost all trace of good cheer on his face, his look a tense glare at the Witch.


    ¡°Every single virtue of a proud warrior will be expected of you. Might enough to cleave all foes, while outnumbered. Cunning enough to outmaneuver the brightest minds, while badly positioned. Strength of mind enough to endure any ailment, while forced to your limits.¡± Despite it being quite improbable with how many people there were listening to her right now, it had felt like she had looked me right in the eyes for a moment there.


    ¡°You will fail at this.¡±


    The silence in the clearing was so heavy it almost could be called a physical thing.


    ¡°Craven, imperfect creatures that you are, I expect only disappointment in the future, were I to have any hopes for you at all.¡±


    Angry whispers began.


    ¡°No, to do so would be to seek failure of my own making. Instead, I will hold you to a single ideal which I believe would be to your deepest interest.¡±


    Was she taunting us? That¡¯s the only thing that came to mind for what she could get out of this. I had no doubt she could butcher us, despite the fact that she was a lithe and elegant woman against a sizable mob of pissed off and frightened people.


    It went against all logic and common sense. And still I was certain of this. This knowledge came from the animal part of me, in charge of my survival and that of my every ancestor.


    Face her and you will die.


    There was no doubt in me that this was true.


    If this was so and there was no way we could harm her ¡ªShe took me to what most certainly is another world¡ª then what could she possibly obtain from being insulting? There was no need to declare herself superior. She was. The proud way in which she held herself and the dismissal in her eyes showed she was very much aware of this.


    I realized it a moment before it happened.


    Not all of us treated her as the terrifying figure who stalked me around half the city. Nor the cold psychopath that plucked my eye out with casualness and boredom.


    I could be angry. I could hate her. But I had been warned by her actions to treat her with utmost care. I got this feeling that disrespecting her initial offer was what got me my particular treatment, what with how she emoted while she was still cold metal and even colder intent.


    The people around didn¡¯t have enough fear. And just from looking at them, I knew some were looking close to breaking point.


    I refused to think anyone sane could go through what I did and dare to look at her with the defiance of an equal. Maybe one or two madmen without a sense of self-preservation could happen to be part of our group. But dozens? The most logical conclusion is that whatever the nature of their meeting with our lady of violence, it must have been of a gentler nature.


    ¡°Be of some use to The One Above All before you inevitably perish.¡±


    The next I knew, the unmistakable bang of a firearm close by left my ears ringing. Something pushed me to the floor, a heavy weight falling on me and taking the air out of my lungs.


    Again and again it sounded, until finally, a single click called the end.


    Whatever was crushing me lifted itself away, allowing me to breathe again.


    ¡°Sorry ¡®bout that, boy.¡± I barely made out the rumbling voice of Ferdinand above the ring in my ears and the panicked screaming. Guns were apparently a lot louder than I gave them credit for. I still had the presence of mind to thank the surprisingly heroic man for what I realized must have been an attempt at protecting me.


    ¡°Thanks for that¡­ can¡¯t say I expected it to go exactly like that.¡± I took his outstretched hand and stood with little difficulty given the size of the muscled arm helping me, noting how it was very calloused.


    But Ferdinand wasn¡¯t paying me any attention, his eyes wide and glued forward and above.


    I turned and noticed quite quickly why.


    The Silver Witch stood in the same pose as before, with the change of having a ring of slowly orbiting bullets around her in a perfect arc. The look in her eyes was merciless, staring with laser focus at a single man with a pistol held in his limp arm by his side.


    The crowd parted around him with fear painted on their faces, leaving a safe distance between themselves and whatever was about to happen. Some were openly sobbing.


    By the disbelief in his face, he now knew what to expect.


    ¡°Mortal weapons can not hurt the Divine.¡± The bullets stopped in front of her lazily. And then moved so fast they disappeared to my eyes, a sharp whistle the only clear sign they did.


    The man screamed first in shock and then pain, blood being splattered around him where his legs used to be connected to his body.


    Screams came again, people running away in terror while others retched at the sight and brutality.


    ¡°Five hundred of you entered this trial. Only one hundred will walk out victorious.¡± With her punishment delivered, she seemed to forget the existence of the still screaming, but quickly weakening man.


    That brought everyone to a halt.


    ¡°Use whatever means you think best to survive until the end. Do try to move with proper haste, before the predators arrive for their feast.¡± The howls in the distance left little to the imagination about what predators she was talking about.