CHAPTER 68: SLAY THE STRANGER III

***

Only Arc had remembered, and through him, they did as well.

At least for now, that was by design...

But Xenos?

Despite the fact that he was forced out of the loop, he gained an inclination.

"HOW IN TARTAROS DID THAT HAPPEN?!"

Something that Lathor seemed to have never witnessed before.

"NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF THIS DUNGEON DID SUCH A SCENE PLAY OUT!"

Xenos almost remembered before forgetting, and that memory decay was the Hanged Tree, or rather, its owner, coming directly to... edit his cognition back in line with the rest.

"I CANNOT IMAGINE HOW THE BOY FEELS."

Indeed, for Xenos to have come to a conclusion that fast was incredible.

He realized that he had died, without knowing how or why, and yet he chose to die once more, understanding that the reset had yet to reach its final form.

"NEVER HAS ANYONE SOLVED THE PUZZLE THIS FAST!"

Though that wasn’t the end, far from it.

"BUT NOW COMES THE REAL TEST!"

Their final trial before reaching the Runes.

"WOULD THEY BE ABLE TO DEFEAT THE LAST ONE STANDING?!"

The Colosseum could only watch to find out.

And that they did, but while doing so, many began to share the little details they picked up, until eventually, a certain group of Colosseum newcomers, particularly fans of Xenos, had come up with some sort of theory.

"This has to be some sort of sacrificial rite, no?"

"Yeah, each loop gives the Hanged Tree some blood to absorb."

"But wait... does that mean that most of the dungeon’s blood is from those who tried to clear it?!"

Whether that was the truth or not, they didn’t know.

Honestly, they didn’t even want to know.

That’d be too cruel...

Even by this realm’s standards.

***

When the world rewound the second ’time,’ it carried a price they hadn’t understood at first.

Arc had remembered the first loop, the grotesque murders, the rewind, and the sick curl of ’time.’

That had been his burden.

After the second rewind, Aspen remembered too.

And whoever remembered, it turned out, was immune to whatever infection the corridor spread.

They didn’t become strangers to themselves, they didn’t snap on command, and they kept their minds until the end.

That fact changed everything.

Or at least, it should have.

They tried to use it.

’Tried...’ they really did.

What followed was nothing short of pure insanity.

With Arc and Aspen remembering, the two argued about tactics.

Gag them, chain them, or bind them; maybe just knock them out in the beginning.

They couldn’t do the last one; Dei was against it, thinking that they were hallucinating.

It would’ve gone much like last ’time,’ but Aspen proved steadier:

He’d seen a lot more than his Lord; he’d not panic like he did.

Together, they delayed it with their ice.

Dei raged against her confines; Gaia sobbed, panicking, while Ari stood stone-still this ’time,’ perhaps because Aspen was no longer pushing her, and that steadiness, strangely, bought them much-needed ’time.’

Still, as soon as the pressure hit its tipping point, rage snapped out like a switch.

Xenos, much like the previous ’time,’ was the last to be infected by this rage...

But that didn’t matter.

He had reached the same conclusion.

"Reset."

They all died.

And before they knew it, the third run arrived.

Arc, Aspen, and Gaia, making the selection criteria obvious to any outsider looking in.

Still, and thankfully, those three didn’t pick up on it yet, keeping their hope alive.

With Gaia’s insistence, they tried to reason further and restrain them.

She was a wall of pleading, and yet again, they didn’t believe her or them.

It wasn’t too bad, however.

Gaia had focused on the girls.

She spoke to Dei and Ari with everything she had.

And yes, ’with,’ trying her best, focusing on the fact that she was supposed to be the oldest one here.

Using the small facts she learned about the others, she tried to push away their irritation, making them remember what made them laugh, what kind of musical instrument they liked, and what little petty hates they held.

Gaia used those tiny human anchors as lifelines.

Meanwhile, Arc and Aspen prepared their spells, knowing it wouldn’t work.

Sure enough, it didn’t, even though they lasted the longest yet.

It seemed to be inevitable; no amount of talking could change it.

A fact that Xenos seemed to know very well.

"Reset."

The fourth loop welcomed Arc, Aspen, Gaia, and Dei.

Now, their strategy became surgical as they stopped trying to argue feelings and went hyper-practical, going through the corridor as fast as possible, barely explaining what happened to Xenos and Ari.

Thankfully, those two were extremely quick on the uptake and played along.

Even though Ari didn’t fully believe them, their numbers convinced her.

And yet, that was the fastest that they’d gotten infected.

Even though they had barely spent ’time’ in the corridor.

That gave Xenos yet another puzzle piece.

It wasn’t only ’time’ in here that mattered, but ’space’ as well.

The closer they were to reaching the other side, the faster their infection.

Since this ’time,’ they hadn’t focused at all on binding them; both Ari and Xenos attacked first.

It was sudden with no sign of the usual frustration, rage, and hate buildup.

A worse version of the grim script played out.

"Reset."

By the fifth run, their worst fears had come true.

Aspen had realized it in the fourth run but didn’t dare say it out loud.

Now, he, Arc, Gaia, Dei, and Ari remembered.

Only Xenos, their strongest, didn’t.

He was the one who first entered.

The tree had chosen them in sequence.

And unfortunately for them, their strongest was now their opponent.

Yet, they didn’t feel despair but rather the opposite.

Xenos, throughout all runs, had accepted the truth.

They didn’t doubt that he would this ’time’ as well.

The only question they had was this...

Was the puzzle complete?

Or did he see the need for more resets?

The five were scared to find out.

Yet ’time’ moved as it did.

And before they realized it...

"Hmm... one more ’time,’ let’s..."

They heard a dreaded word.

"Reset."

Xenos became their final boss.