CHAPTER 73: BREAK THE WORLD

"Live, boy."

It disappeared again, and Xenos felt the attack before he saw it.

His steel snapped back and met the claws behind him, sending him flying.

"Ugh—!"

His arms trembled under the blow as his blade screamed from the impact, though he still managed to turn around and keep himself straight, with his feet carving trenches into the rock.

"This is so bullshit."

His words sounded like a complaint, but his manic grin said otherwise.

"—GREAT!"

He laughed loud enough for all to hear.

"AHAHAAHAHAH! I WON’T FALL HERE!"

He dashed forward and swung, preemptively defending.

The masked thing flicked its wrist.

"You’re weak, boy."

Its claws batted him aside effortlessly with a CLANG!

Even though his blade struck back, Xenos was slammed into the ground, rolling once before springing back up, just in time to see the air fill with floating lanterns.

Each one blazed like a tiny sun.

And each one was aimed at him.

The moment they shot forth, he was already upon them.

Stabbing his sword into the nearest one, he kicked off it to dodge the others and flipped back to the floor.

Those that passed beneath him exploded into the arena’s wall, raining down embers.

Yet he wasn’t safe, as more came.

Instead of stepping back, he walked forward once more, dodging them while closing in on Death.

Step by step, breath by breath, until he was right next to it.

His sword stabbed forth—a feint.

Its claws came at him, which he slid under...

"Ah, boy."

And stabbed for real, aiming straight for its mask.

"Making the correct decision doesn’t always mean winning."

BOOM.

Dozens of lanterns materialized around Xenos in an instant, crushing him in a fiery burst.

The air quaked as he was sent to the ground, smoke filling the arena.

"That’s life, boy."

Death lowered its claw, staring through the smoke.

"...it’s death. But still, you could—"

Its claw pointed upward.

"RISE."

The ground trembled.

And through the smoke, Xenos stood.

Blood poured down his face, and many of his bones seemed broken.

Yet he still rose to face Death.

Xenos’s body shouldn’t have been moving.

He could hear it crack when he breathed.

Blood kept leaking from all over like ink through thin cloth.

Still, his fingers clutched around the sword.

A man as uncaring as he was wouldn’t have stood up.

Even though he loved battle, this was a lost cause.

It wasn’t a battle where there was a back-and-forth.

Only a "rise" and a fall.

But he didn’t give up and stay down.

No, like Aspen said, Xenos was defeated.

And the memory of that defeat...

That was what allowed him to stand.

It was a past further than death.

"I heard that you’re the best in the platoon."

"You’re insane, but I’ll follow you anyway."

"You’re not alone, idiot."

Hearing their voices hurt.

"We’ve got your back."

The reason for his clothes...

It hurt way, way more than this.

He spat out blood and laughed.

"I can’t stay down here..."

Xenos ran forward.

’...not when they died instead of me.’

His boots screamed against the cracked floor, and his sword flared with a faint light.

Death raised its hand, its claws brimming with shadow.

CLANG!

Their clash resounded like thunder.

And again—

"RISE!"

Xenos crashed into the wall.

His ribs gave way, and the world tilted sideways from the impact.

He saw flashes of his family and their faces, ordinary ones, yet ones he couldn’t ever forget.

It wasn’t love he felt that made that happen; he couldn’t feel love for long; it was responsibility.

That day... that day was where he’d lost it all.

His jaw clenched, and he pushed himself up.

Lanterns burst overhead as he roared.

"YOU THINK THAT’S ENOUGH?!"

Xenos rushed in again, sword dragging sparks across the ground.

He didn’t even notice the tears from his eyes, only the mad laughter that followed:

"YOU WILL SEE."

A wall met him.

"RISE."

He charged again.

"RISE."

And fell, before rising once more...

"RISE!"

Only for another blow to tear his chest open.

"RISE!"

Xenos staggered up, screaming through the pain.

Every time Death said the word, his body obeyed.

Every time, he hit harder, faster, and wilder.

Their clashes became a rhythm.

His steel on its bone, its Peace on his Divinity, its Death against his Soul.

Each collision lit up the arena, shaking the lanterns loose from their chains.

The audience of eyes watched in silent awe, and they weren’t the only ones.

"RISE!"

One more time, Death’s voice thundered, almost laughing.

Xenos, deep in the rumble, having lost his arm, looked up.

He wasn’t looking at it but at his past.

A charred, bloodied ground.

Mushed-up human remains.

They all died because of his inadequacy...

And yet, each time, even now, they looked at him like they believed.

Xenos dragged himself upright, one shaky breath at each slow move.

"I WILL NOT FALL HERE!"

Once he was finally standing, he roared back and rushed at it for one last time, his body breaking apart mid-swing, his remaining arm tearing, his legs buckling, and yet he still struck.

Their blades met, their forms locked in a final struggle of Will.

"WHY DO YOU RISE?!"

Death roared.

"WHAT DRIVES YOU? WHAT IS YOUR GOAL?!"

The eyes around them dimmed.

"SPEAK TO ME! ONLY I HEAR YOU NOW!"

And Xenos, bleeding, burning, and smiling, screamed back:

"I WILL BREAK THIS WORLD!"

The mask cracked, its black revealed.

"I WILL TEAR ITS VERY CORE!"

Xenos thrust his sword forward, driving it through the being’s chest.

"HOUSE ERIS WILL REWRITE THIS REALM’S LAWS!"

He raised his sword toward the sky, splitting Death in two.

"I WILL REDEFINE WHAT VICTORY MEANS!"

His voice boomed through the arena as he swung down one last time.

"I WILL BREAK THROUGH THE UNBROKEN!"

Yes, he would break the world and damn its rules.

The hold of those Great Houses would be no longer.

It wasn’t noble.

It was far from heroic.

It was barely even coherent.

It was Xenos’s pure, destructive Will.

THAT WAS HIS ULTIMATE GOAL!

"...good."

Alongside its owner, the mask was cut in half, shattering on the ground.

Death was dead... terminated.

Only for him to feel another.

Death materialized, its dark face holding a white smile.

Xenos’s eyes widened as he looked at it, before suddenly—

Ting!

Death snapped its fingers.

The eyes lit back up, and...

"Fall strong, Stranger."

Xenos fell.

...

Ding!

—

[Runebearer: Xenos]

[First Game Concluded]

[Type: Dungeon]

[Number of Participants: 77]

[Main Quest: Reach the Hanged Man’s Tree and face Death.]

[Main Quest Rating: Perfect (S)]

[Side Quest: Explore Dungeon]

[Side Quest Rating: Acceptable (C)]

[Notable Exploits]

[Exploit One: Survive The Minotaur]

[Exploit Two: Man of Corruption]

[Special Exploit: Gain Death’s Favor]

[Overall Placement: Among The Top 0.0001% Who Entered This Dungeon]

[Final Score: S]

—

This was the beginning of an ugly, ugly resistance.

And the end of one man’s death.

{End of Volume One: Break the World}