Chapter 234: To Move Forward Something Must Be Left Behind
The moment the door sealed shut, the crystals lighting the chamber changed.
The white light bathing the room turned red all at once, plunging everything into a crimson glow that made the entire atmosphere feel threatening.
"Stay calm!" the elf ordered, raising a hand. "Don’t let panic take over."
While the rest tried to keep their composure, the dwarf approached the magic circle at the center, intending to check the runes again.
But the moment he took a couple of steps toward it, an invisible force threw him backward, sending him rolling across the floor.
And then the runes began to move.
The symbols engraved on the floor rose into the air, glowing with a blue light, rearranging and shifting shape until they became legible.
[Reference Point "A" activated successfully.]
[Initiating dimensional link protocol...]
[Establishing connection with cloud server...]
[Connection established.]
[Tracking coordinates of Reference Point "B"...]
[Reference Point "B" located: safe zone on the surface.]
[Preparing portal opening between both points...]
"What the hell...?" the dwarf muttered, getting to his feet.
"Does anyone understand what’s happening?" the other human, a support, asked, staring at the floating text.
But no one answered.
None of them had the slightest idea what it meant.
Then the letters moved again, slowly rearranging until they formed a new message that chilled the blood of everyone present.
[ERROR]
[ERROR]
[ERROR]
[Insufficient magical energy to sustain the portal opening.]
[Alternative energy source required.]
[Searching...]
[Solution found: offering of a soul]
[By offering a soul, it will be fully consumed to power the portal opening.]
[The portal to Reference Point "B" will remain open for 60 seconds]
[WARNING: the offered soul will not be able to cross the portal. The sacrifice is irreversible.]
[Awaiting offering...]
Silence fell over the chamber like a slab of stone, while everyone stood frozen, unable to utter a single word.
A soul.
A sacrifice.
In exchange for everyone else’s freedom.
Mary was the first to break the silence, her voice trembling.
"W-wait," she said, looking at the text and then at the rest of the group. "That... that’s not referring to... it can’t be suggesting that one of us has to..."
But Mary couldn’t finish the sentence, because something pierced through her body.
Arrows of magical energy, fired from multiple directions at once, sank into her with brutal precision, dropping her to her knees.
The pain arrived an instant later, sharp and overwhelming, knocking the air out of her.
With enormous effort, Mary slowly turned her head back and saw the archer still holding her bow extended.
She was breathing hard, her face twisted with hysteria, fear, and desperation.
"I’m sorry..." the archer stammered, her voice breaking. "I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but I can’t take it anymore... I just want to get out of here... it’s been three years... three damn years..."
"..."
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!"
The wolf-eared woman’s scream echoed through the entire chamber.
She lunged at the archer with overflowing fury, while the vampire also moved, materializing a spear of blood in his hand.
But before either of them could reach her, the lizard man and the elf blocked their path.
"Stop!" the elf shouted, intercepting the blood spear with his sword. "Calm down, both of you!"
"Calm down?!" the wolf woman roared as the lizard man struggled to hold her back. "That bitch killed her in cold blood!"
"You read it too!" the elf shot back. "We all read it! One soul so the rest of us can get out! It’s the only way out of this hell after all these years!"
"Have you completely lost your mind?!" she screamed at him, tears of rage in her eyes. "She was one of us!"
"We had no other choice!" the elf replied, beginning to fight against the vampire. "Do you think I like this?! Or were you going to sacrifice yourself instead!"
While they fought, the runes of the circle began to react.
The symbols started spinning around the center, slowly at first, then faster and faster, accelerating until they became a blurred ring of light.
At the center of the ring, the air tore open as a portal formed. Through it, a small clearing in the middle of a forest could be seen, lit by daylight.
And above the portal, a countdown appeared, floating.
[01:00]
Noticing it, the fight stopped at once.
Everyone stared at the portal, and for an instant the resentment, the guilt, and the horror were suspended before the sight of the very thing they had waited so long for.
A way out.
But then the countdown began to fall.
[00:55]
The dwarf and the support were the first to react.
Without saying a single word or looking back, both ran toward the portal and crossed through it, vanishing instantly into the forest clearing.
That was enough to break the rest free from their paralysis.
The archer ran after them, followed by the lizard man, who released the wolf woman and followed immediately.
Only the elf hesitated for a second before sprinting toward the portal.
"WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?!" the wolf-eared woman screamed at them, but none of them so much as flinched.
One after another, they crossed through the portal without looking back, leaving behind the full weight of what they had just done.
The wolf woman, her face soaked with tears of helplessness, ran to Mary, knelt beside her, and carefully lifted her to hold her in her arms.
"Are you okay? Talk to me!" she asked desperately. "Hey! Stay with me!"
Mary tried to respond, but the moment she opened her mouth, blood began pouring out uncontrollably, sliding from the corner of her lips.
"No, no, no," the wolf woman murmured. "Hold on... I’m going to get you out of here, you hear me? I’m going to get you out of this damn place."
But when she tried to lift her, she realized something.
She couldn’t.
Mary’s body was practically fused to the floor, as if an invisible force had anchored it to the center of the ritual.
And no matter how hard the woman pulled, she couldn’t move her even a centimeter.
"What...?" The wolf woman’s eyes went wide with horror as she understood. "No... it can’t be..."
[00:15]
Suddenly, hands grabbed her from behind. It was the vampire, who tore her away from Mary’s side and threw her toward the portal.
"There’s no time!" he said, his voice tense.
"Wai—"
The woman barely had time to scream before crossing the portal and disappearing on the other side.
[00:08]
The vampire turned and looked at Mary drowning in her own blood, her eyes fixed on him.
And for a fraction of a second, his expression wavered.
"...I’m sorry," he murmured quietly.
Then he turned and crossed the portal.
[00:01]
Finally, the portal closed.
And Mary was left completely alone, feeling her life slip away drop by drop.
"I’m... I’m scared..." she sobbed with difficulty. "Mom... please... help me... someone... anyone... I don’t want... to die... not again."
But no one answered her plea.
Her voice faded, unheard by anyone, unimportant to anyone.
And then only silence remained.
...Or at least, that’s what should have happened.
Suddenly, a strange voice echoed through the entire chamber, as if it came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
"Well, well, well," the voice said in a tone heavy with annoyance. "The same scene again... how unoriginal."
Mary, with what little strength she had left, tried to move her eyes searching for the source of that voice.
But she found no one.
"You know? I’m sick of this," the voice continued. "That idiot rips people from their world, drops them here with no guidance or purpose, and then watches them tear each other apart. Over and over. It’s unbearably boring."
Mary understood absolutely nothing, as she could barely stay conscious.
"You shouldn’t be here, you know?" the voice explained. "None of you, actually... But since he insists on continuing his little game, maybe it’s time I start having some fun myself."
And from the shadows, something began to take shape in front of Mary. An immense presence rose before her, making the air around her grow heavier and heavier.
"So let me help you, Mary," the voice said, growing closer to her. "All you have to do is say yes and all this pain will disappear... I promise you."
She tried to speak, but every word tore at her throat and came out as barely a trembling thread of voice, mixed with blood.
"Y-yes..." she murmured, her eyes full of tears, her gaze lost in nothing. "Whatever... it takes... I accept... just... just don’t let me... die here..."
The last thing Mary heard before passing out was a satisfied laugh.
"Good choice, little one."
