Chapter 12: The Betrayal Plot
The Labyrinth of the Lagos Harbor was a shifting architectural nightmare. Massive blocks of granite and rusted shipping containers rose and fell in a rhythmic, mechanical dance, grinding against each other with the sound of tectonic plates.
[Current Candidates: 9]
[Requirement for Final Gate: 4]
The math was simple. The math was cruel. Five people had to be deleted before the path to the Eternity Realm would reveal itself.
David and Emily moved through a narrow corridor of shifting stone. The air was thick with the scent of salt and ozone. Every time David's shoulder brushed against the wall, he felt the vibration of the entire simulation—it was straining, buckling under the weight of the "Final Cull."
Thump-Thump. Thump-Thump.
"Wait," David whispered, throwing an arm out to stop Emily.
His Thump of Dread was pulsing in a strange pattern—a rhythmic warning coming from the ceiling. He looked up just as a shadow detached itself from the gloom.
A man fell from the heights, landing with the weight of a mountain. He was massive, his skin covered in glowing red tattoos that looked like weeping sores.
[Rank 5: The Butcher]
"Seven and Six," the Butcher grunted, hoisting a serrated cleaver that dripped with digitized blood. "The Saint said you two were the 'Rogue Pair.' He promised me a permanent seat in the Eternity Realm if I brought him your hearts. I think I'll start with the girl's."
The Butcher lunged, his speed defying his massive frame.
"Emily, get back!" David shouted. He ignited the Flame of Will, his hands wreathed in violet fire.
The battle was a blur of violence. The Butcher was a tank of raw Soul Force, his cleaver shearing through the stone walls as if they were paper. David used Storm-Step to weave through the strikes, his Soul-Burn passive slowly eating away at the Butcher's red tattoos.
But David noticed something strange. Emily wasn't firing her rifle.
She was standing twenty feet back, her amber eyes fixed on her own system screen. She looked pale, her lips moving silently as if she were reading a long, complicated contract.
"Emily! I need cover!" David roared, narrowly dodging a strike that took a chunk out of his thigh.
Emily snapped her head up. She hesitated for a fraction of a second—a delay that almost cost David his life—before finally raising her rifle and firing a barrage of green energy. The Butcher was forced back, howling as the pulses burned his chest.
Together, they drove the Butcher into a corner. David delivered a final, vibrating strike fueled by the Primal Heart, shattering the Butcher's cleaver and his soul-core in one go.
[Candidate 5: Expunged]
[Rank Update: 7 -> 6 (David)]
[Rank Update: 6 -> 5 (Emily)]
[Current Candidates: 8]
The silence that followed was heavier than the battle. David leaned against a stone block, gasping for air, his black blood dripping onto the floor.
"You hesitated," David said, his voice low.
Emily didn't look at him. She was staring at the spot where the Butcher had vanished. "I... my system glitched. The interference in the Labyrinth is getting worse."
Badum... Badum...
David's heart gave a Neutral Pulse. It was cold. It was hollow. He reached into his pocket and touched the small, rusted key to the Under-City Backdoor.
[Opportunity 'The Lone Ancestor' – 39 Hours Remaining]
"The Saint contacted you, didn't he?" David asked.
Emily stiffened. She finally turned to look at him, and for the first time, she didn't look like his partner. She looked like a stranger who had been wearing his friend's skin.
"He made an offer, David," she said, her voice trembling but certain. "He said the 5th Blessing isn't a gift. It's a transition. It requires a massive amount of Soul Force to activate. More than one person can provide. He said that to enter the Eternity Realm, one of us has to be the 'Sacrifice' and the other has to be the 'Successor'."
David felt the world go cold. "And he told you that you should be the Successor."
"He said you're a glitch, David! You aren't even supposed to be here! If I turn you over, he'll guarantee my advancement. We don't even have to fight the other candidates. We just... go."
"And what happens to me?"
"You get expunged. But you'll be 'stored' in the Saint's archive. You won't be erased completely."
David laughed, a bitter, jagged sound that echoed in the stone maze. "Stored? Like a trophy? Emily, look at me. My heart is a stone. My lungs are a storm. My soul is on fire. Do I look like something that can be 'stored'?"
He stepped toward her, his eyes glowing with violet and silver light.
"I offered you a way out. I found a backdoor to the real world. We could have left this rigged game together."
Emily's eyes widened. "The real world? The wasteland? Why would I want to live in the dirt when I can be a God?"
She raised her rifle. Not at an enemy in the shadows, but directly at David's chest.
"I'm sorry, David. But you're Rank 6. Your heart is exactly what I need to hit Rank 4 and open the gate. The Saint is waiting at the Eye of the Labyrinth. I'm going to take you to him."
Thump-THUMP.
David's heart gave a massive, agonizing beat. The Pulse of Providence wasn't warning him of an ambush anymore. It was signaling the end of the alliance.
"I'm not going to the Saint, Emily," David said, his hand closing into a fist. "And I'm not going to the Eternity Realm. I'm going back to Earth."
"Then you'll die here," she whispered.
She pulled the trigger.