The rare rays of light escaping from the dark clouds illuminated the ground, paved with iridescent alexandrite. A hush frozen in twilight settled over the players, draining into the dried-up stream of their moods. As if time itself was holding its breath. They watched with open eyes as the Shepherd made his next announcement. The swirling, silence-bound thoughts of the lost ceased in the moment:
"Let the Second Round begin. The purple team has one minute to issue their attack."
His words echoed softly in the sky, and like a divine command, shattered the tension of the moment.
"We should accept the alliance..." muttered Louis, turning to the others, his face an odd blend of doubt and calculation.
"What if they're just trying to trap us?" asked Willy, his voice trembling like unsteady ice. "What if they just want to secure themselves while weakening us?"
"Maybe," Tony said quietly. "But I don't feel any hostility from them. They seem normal. Human. Respectable."
"That doesn't matter," Willy stepped forward, his gaze razor-sharp. "The rule here is that we have to attack each other. If we must choose, then let the greater evil be the one to fall. Isn't that fair?"
"Then we should attack Tazold," Tony hissed. "He's the biggest asshole in the whole arena."
"We will get revenge," Louis nodded. "Three people will fall in this game. Tazold will be one of them. I promise."
"If we attack Lillian's team, that means if Saiyna submits their attack first in the next round, they surely won't target us. That also eliminates the chance for retaliation for Lillian."
"What if we launch the attack at the same time?" Tony asks
"Then it'll be decided randomly between the two of us—if we follow the logic of the Wheel of Fate."
"Then we need James too after this round. and Saiyna should say the same name so Lillian wont be able to attack back...Maybe, with a majority, we can override our own teammates' decision."
"In theory," Willy rubbed his chin.
"Maybe that can work" sighed Tony.
"We have to trust them... Besides, we can ask for a break at the end of the trial, so we'll have a chance to talk to them... If we attack someone else, we might lose two potential allies," whispered Louis. "And we might turn against those who were neutral toward us so far."
Louis looked at Kodella and formed a sign with his finger toward the team...
"A six?...
Or a B... B... as in blue...hmm"
"Hey!" came another impatient voice from beside the chasm. "The attack must be issued! If no target is selected within twenty seconds, the decision will be made randomly."
Panic swept over the team like a sudden storm wind.
"Who should attack?" asked Willy.
"I need to make up for my loss... I want to..."
"No!! Tony, definitely not you!" snapped Louis. "We must protect your only point."
"There's a save mechanic too..." Tony noted.
"Still not a good idea..." replied Louis.
"Then I'll do it," said Louis firmly.
Kodella suddenly stood on tiptoe and waved into the air as a signal.
"Kodella, absolutely not. It's best if you don't draw attention to yourself," Louis shook his head.
"I'm happy to take on the challenge too," said Willy.
"No! I'll attack! I'm issuing a physical attack against Lilliana from the blue team!" shouted Louis.
"A... against me? Hahaha." Her laughter faltered slightly. "Shouldn't you be focusing on revenge instead of making more enemies?" As she spoke, she ran her fingers through her hair. "But fine... after all, you can't really harm me..." the girl smiled. "I'm much more than you think I am... Louis... guys like you are the ones I despise the most... Haha, bet you barely even left your house back on Earth..." she kept mocking.
"Just keep talking..." he thought to himself, eyes closed for a moment as her words faded beside him.
"Saiyna, you're behind this, aren't you? I figured that's why you walked to the other team... You played your part just so you could stab me in the back. Pathetic..."
The attack has been submitted against Lilliana. Let the draw begin.
The wheel of fortune starts spinning — at this very moment, faster than light itself...
"We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."
Louis whispered his hopeful words with arms raised to the sky — and as his voice faded, the wheel began to slow.
The wheel slowed, watched by tense gazes and heavy silence.
The name of the next trial: Sisyphus..
In the next game, a stone sphere must be pushed to the target. The goal is 70 meters from the starting point, ending atop the small slope ahead of you. You have 20 minutes to complete the task.
The weight of the stone sphere will be determined by how much pain and negative emotion you've caused to souls purer than your own during your life.
"So it's not the same as the last one... In the first trial, the weight was based on your own repentance. Now it's based on the pain you've inflicted... Interesting..." Neznat ponder to himself.
Let the weight measurement begin:
The sky opened, and a massive stone sphere dropped onto the scale, shaking the very earth.
The weight of the stone: 1300 kg.
"Wooow..."
"That seems impossible for such a frail girl..." said Pekrin.
"Not necessarily... The ball is perfectly round... The ground is smooth... Maybe she has a small chance... The real issue will be on that slight incline," replied Dimeny.
"Every valley shall be lifted up..." Pekrin quoted back.
Lilliana's eyes bulged, then she stepped into the center of the arena and began the trial.
She braced herself and started pushing the ball. At first, it didn't budge. Her body trembled, her muscles protested. Then, slowly, heavily, the ball began to move. First just a few centimeters. Then very slowly, but steadily, it rolled toward its goal... She clenched her teeth, poured in all her strength. She saw nothing else but the task ahead.
The trembling paralysis of uncertainty on her face shifted into a cynical, arrogant glare:
"Haha, see? I told you I could do it," said Lilliana.
"Look! She might actually make it..." James remarked.
The others watched silently. Tony held his breath, tense.
The ball rolled with increasing resistance. Lillian's steps grew uncertain. Her legs shook, her knees began to tire as the goal came closer into sight.
"How much time do I have left?" she asked, panting, glancing at the Shepherd.
"Ten minutes remaining," he replied calmly, in a soft voice.
"Damn..."
Forty... fifty... sixty meters... She struggled, but reached the finish line...
The slope was just a few centimeters... It should easily roll over... I hope...
The girl pushed the ball with her remaining strength... But as the stone tried to mount the edge... it rolled back. Lilliana fell to her knees, sliding backward.
Her energy was slowly draining away. With the next push, her foot slipped backward on the ground. She tried turning her back to the ball, to push it that way — but it rolled back from the edge once again. This time, it didn't even get as close to its "throne" as before.
In the heat of her attempts, the rebounding stone struck her head.
"Damn it... my head... I can't believe this..." she groaned, clutching her forehead. Her voice lost its strength, her tone muddled...
Through her blurred, confused vision, she made out a figure — herself. A child version of herself...
A dusty morning, on the edge of a crumbling city. A single mother standing by the kitchen counter, leaning against it with her back turned. Scattered sedatives lay beside a photo of the man who had fathered the child — and vanished into the night on the day she was born.
All that remained was quiet despair and the faintest spark of hope. The smell of moldy walls, cigarette smoke, and damp clothes soaked the air of the house.
"Mom...?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"I'm going out with my friends. Just to talk for a bit."
She stood there in a mini-skirt, holding a bottle of cheap whiskey meant for the club — which her mother either didn't notice or didn't care enough to.
"Go on, then..." her mother replied, her voice empty and absent.
"Yes... finally they've accepted me, finally I have friends... It's going to be a huge night..."
The next morning:
Her phone rang in her pocket. She groaned, sat up, and answered.
"Hello? Lillian? Where are you? Your friends of yours...they only use you! They came from the depths and they only believe in one thing: if they can drag someone down with them, maybe they'll feel a little less ashamed of their own ruin..."
"Don't say that about them! They meant well!! We're just living life, that's all..."
Her voice cracked with tears.
"How can you be so blind, Lillian?
Freedom isn't found in ruin... Believe me. If you keep living like this, you'll never find a decent man in your life..."
[Sound of the call ending.]
Back in the present, her body shivered from the cold. The massive stone stood before her, almost mockingly.
"Five minutes remaining!"
"Why now... why these memories...? I never dwell on the past...
This place is doing it... it attacks us with our own memories...
But I don't regret anything! Why should I have been a good little girl?!... Ridiculous..."
"Damn it..." she hissed.
Lillian tried again. But the bitterness began to fade...
"Ughhh... Come on... Come on already..."
She stared at Louis's team with furious, demonic eyes... then locked eyes with Saiyna — who was laughing at her.
"You filthy bastards...
How could I be so unlucky? If I'd gotten the last task instead of this one... I could've done it without a problem..."
"As his words fade, the suppressed memories resurface once more."
Faces of men drifted before her eyes, one after another. Gentle eyes, faltering smiles. Each of them sought something within her—faith, beauty, love. And she… she welcomed them all. First with words, then with kisses.
And then, in silence, she shattered them.
She fed on their pain, drawing energy from it—guiding her thoughts during lovemaking to manifest her deepest desires. Now, she stands on the brink of an ancient rite—sexual ritual older than civilization itself. And from the darkness, the answers come to her call..."
"Where am I?... Where is my reward?" her voice trembled, as if calling out from a deep dream.
The darkness didn't answer right away. Only the lightless void pulsed around her.
"Your reward, huh?" a mocking whisper echoed. "We like you. Perhaps you're more than you think. We have a better offer… eternal life. Power on earth."
The girl laughed. It was a tired, cynical laugh.
"Really? Thanks, but I only did it for the money."
The voice fell silent for a moment. Then it returned—colder, sharper, laced with command:
"You didn't receive a blessing. You signed a contract. Now get up… and do your job!"
The girl grew dizzy and collapsed...