No one moved. For twelve long seconds, both teams stood frozen in place. In the Game, twelve seconds was forever—yet no one dared move.

  The Blue team stayed still from fear, shock, and losing all hope.

  The Red team, from pure confusion.

  Why wasn't there a Hero with the Blue creeps? Why were they marching alone? Paik and the IBAA man suspected a trap—but this seemed risky for everyone involved.

  What could they possibly be planning?

  Paik narrowed his eyes at the enemy creeps. Seeing most of them shaking with fear, he made his decision and charged forward.

  If this was a trap, Paik just needed to trigger it—and the weakest part was these creeps who could barely stand straight.

  "I do not enjoy this, but it must be done," Paik whispered as he thrust his palm forward. A violent burst of wind shaped like a giant hand tore through the creeps unlucky enough to be in its path.

  Their bodies didn't stand a chance against the fierce wind. They were torn apart without even time to scream.

  "H-Hiik!" Those lucky enough to be just outside the blast fell backward onto the ground. They shrieked, cried, screamed—making every noise imaginable.

  How could they not, when their friends who stood beside them seconds ago were now splattered all over them?

  Some couldn't even open their mouths for fear the blood on their faces would drip inside.

  When the Red creeps saw the enemies fall apart, they looked at each other before roaring and rushing forward. But after just three steps, they stopped.

  Because the Blue creeps did something unexpected. Though they still outnumbered the Red team, they all turned and ran away.

  They kept running even as the people at the front burst into flames. They didn't care—they ran until their numbers dropped by half.

  Eventually, the burning stopped—after more than half had already died, the Administrators decided the rest could make a valid retreat.

  "E-everyone, follow them! Don't let them go, charge!" The IBAA man shouted, and the Red creeps snapped out of their shock and continued forward. Paik led the charge but didn't attack any of the fleeing enemies—expecting a Hero to appear any moment.

  He let the creeps do their work, silently feeling for those who tripped and were killed without a chance to fight back.

  But even after more than fifteen minutes of chasing, even after reaching the Inner Crystal itself, no Hero came to save them.

  Not one.

  Could it be that their Heroes abandoned them? Was there some sort of infighting between Blues who couldn't stand each other? That happened often enough when Heroes who despised each other were forced onto the same team—could that explain this mess?

  Paik surveyed the creeps trembling before him, something like pity washing over him. As he watched his Red teammates slowly butcher their way through the unresisting Blues, all he could do was offer silent prayers while pressing forward.

  He wasn't alone in feeling sorry for the enemy—many others felt the same tug of conscience, Adam and Grace among them.

  "This is..." Grace covered her mouth with a shaking hand. She'd lost count of how many she'd killed, but those had been attackers, threats. "What... what do we do, Adam? Should we... should we join in? I... we're so close. I never thought we'd get this far."

  Adam stood paralyzed, his thoughts a storm. He'd steeled himself to hurt and kill when necessary, but how could he justify attacking people who'd turned their backs, who weren't fighting?

  Just kill them, Adam. Kill them all. How many times have they stabbed you now? The only reason they're not fighting is because we have a Hero and they don't. If things were flipped, would they hesitate?

  His inner voice snarled the words. He glanced at the people standing beside him and Grace—they weren't attacking either, frozen by the same moral quandary.

  And then—

  "P-please! We... we surrender!"

  "Just... just don't hurt us! Just destroy the crystal! We don't... I don't want to fight!"

  "We surrender, please!"

  The Blue creeps raised their hands, weapons clattering to the ground. Paik immediately stopped his assault, but many Red creeps were so caught up in bloodlust they didn't hear—or chose to ignore—the pleas for mercy.

  Some simply didn't care. Paik didn't stop them as he made his way toward the Inner Crystal, stepping carefully around bodies still twitching with the last sparks of life.

  "No... please! Tell them to stop!" Blue creeps that Paik passed begged him with outstretched hands, but he kept his eyes fixed forward. When the Red creeps saw his indifference, they took it as permission to continue their slaughter.

  Some rushed to help Paik destroy the crystal, but he waved them away—they'd just crowd him and slow the work.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  "Adam..." Grace grabbed his arm, her grip tight enough to bruise. She bit her lip as she looked away, her sword hanging loose at her side. Then her head snapped up at the sound of a high-pitched cry.

  Her eyes darted toward the source—two children huddling together, tears cutting tracks through the dirt on their faces.

  "No..." The whisper escaped her trembling lips. She glanced at her daughter, who was watching the unfolding massacre with a blank expression—as if there was nothing wrong with what she was seeing.

  "Not like this..." Grace's voice hardened. "I'm not going to let my daughter grow up thinking this is normal."

  She released Adam's arm. But before she could take a step, Adam was already moving.

  And for the first time since the Game began, he attacked someone who hadn't threatened him—someone on his own team.

  "Grah!"

  His weapon connected with the man's shin with a sickening crack. The Red creep's body folded as his leg gave way, dropping him to the ground where he curled up, howling in pain.

  The sudden scream cut through the noise, freezing everyone in place—except Paik, who continued hammering at the Inner Crystal. He glanced over curiously but couldn't stop. The Inner Crystal was tougher than the Outer and Middle combined, and with the pillar of light already flickering above them, an enemy Hero would surely arrive soon.

  Whatever infighting or chaos had caused this massacre among the Blues wouldn't matter if he didn't finish the job now.

  For a moment, silence swallowed everything except the wounded man's groans as he writhed on the bloodied ground. Every eye tracked Adam as he crossed the invisible line, stepping into Blue territory to stand before the huddled children, then turning to face his own teammates.

  He gave the children a quick glance, then nodded to the adults cradling them. "Go, take them to the back," he said, voice steady. They scrambled away instantly, clutching the small bodies close. Red creeps lunged after them—only to find Adam suddenly in their path, a human wall.

  "What the hell are you doing!?"

  "We're on your side!"

  "Get out of the way! Don't be fucking naive and play hero!"

  Adam didn't flinch, didn't blink. Just stared them down with eyes that gave away nothing. One of the Reds stepped forward, hand reaching for Adam's collar, before being yanked backward.

  "Wait, dude. It's him... that guy."

  "What guy?"

  "The one that's been killing all those creeps alone."

  They studied Adam's face again, disbelief etched across their features. How could someone so young-looking, with features so gentle they bordered on pretty, have racked up the body count they'd witnessed?

  But something in his stillness made their throats go dry, made them swallow hard despite themselves.

  Adam's beauty only made the disconnect more jarring. Some who'd seen him fight firsthand still couldn't reconcile the contradiction standing before them.

  "Step aside, pretty boy." Another man pushed forward, pressing a dented baseball bat against Adam's chest. Dried blood flaked off it with the contact. "You've already pissed off plenty of people by attacking your own."

  "No," Adam shook his head, glancing back at the Blue creeps. "There are children there."

  "And so fucking what!?" The veteran creep bellowed, jerking his chin toward Samantha. "Tell me, how many of them tried to kill that little girl you've been protecting this whole time!? Don't be fucking naive! You've been in this Game before! They surrendered, sure—but what happens to them if they lose!? They'll be burned alive!"

  That was the problem. These people assumed this wasn't Adam's first Game—but even if it wasn't—

  Why would they want to hurt children? All of us were forced to play the same fucked up game, and we all know what's at stake—but the children don't. They're innocent, just like I was.

  The thought rose, but Julian pushed it aside, focusing on the threat before him rather than the ghosts behind.

  "Please," he said, voice low but carrying. "They've already surrendered."

  "I don't fucking care." The man raised his bat, knuckles white around the grip. "It's fine if you're feeling guilty, or if you want to play nice guy. You do you—but this is life and death, and I choose life. Yeah, they're children, I get it. Just a few hours ago I was holding my son's hand, and you know what happened? I found him. I found my baby boy... with his head twisted backward. Got any idea what that does to a person?"

  Adam had no answer. He glanced toward Paik and said, "He's already destroying the crystal. Killing these people would be—"

  "The right thing to do!" The man screamed, spittle flying into Adam's face. "Now get the fuck out of my way! The only way you're stopping me—stopping us—from killing them is by killing us first. Your own teammates."

  They locked eyes, neither blinking, neither backing down. Before the standoff could escalate further, Grace rushed between them with Samantha in tow.

  "That's enough! Please!" She forced herself between the two men, pushing the aggressor backward. "We're... supposed to be on the same side! Stop this!"

  "Tell that to him!" The man jabbed his weapon toward Adam's face. "He's the one confused about where he should stand!"

  “Just…” Grace couldn’t really say anything anymore. Where was even the right place to sit in this moral dilemma? She wanted to protect the children, but she also didn’t want the team to break because of this.

  Why were they even being asked to choose something like this?

  She wanted to find the right words to say, but nothing was coming out of her mouth. But unexpectedly, she soon heard several more footsteps moving forward—not to aggress or to harm, but to build a wall between the two groups.

  It was silly. Several people have probably already done this before, and they knew it wasn’t going to change anything—but still, they wanted to do it.

  At least, to show humanity in a place where it shouldn’t exist.

  The people who wanted to kill the Blue creeps who surrendered looked at each other, confused as to why the others would even do something like this.

  They’ve already reached this far, and probably killed dozens of people—and yet right now, they were trying to protect them. And for what?

  For just a couple of children?

  “What a bunch of stupid, naive, hypocrites,” the man snarled, “So be it, we’re probably better off without people who don’t know what it takes to get things done.”

  “Stop,” Grace pleaded as the man stepped forward, “It’s enough, please. Let’s set a good example for our children. If not wanting to kill innocent kids makes us a bunch of stupid, naive, insufferable hypocrites. Then, so be it.”

  “I don’t have a—”

  And before the man could finish his words, Grace's entire body shook as something warm splashed onto her face. She blinked a couple of times before wiping the familiar red off her cheeks.

  She then looked forward, only to see the man’s head very slowly tilt to the side, and then just continue to tilt without the rest of its body.

  The small thud the head made as it fell to the ground made everyone confused.

  But soon, the man’s body followed suit. It wasn’t only him, the others who were behind him all fell one by one, some at the same time. And just like the man in front, their heads started to roll on the ground.

  “Kukh…!”

  Another sound caught everyone’s attention, a croak. Not from a frog, but from a throat.

  Paik.

  Very slowly, they looked toward the Blue crystal. There stood Paik, their Hero, arms jerking uselessly, a thin red blade piercing his throat like a needle through cloth.

  And then, with a silent swoosh, they watched as his head also rolled on the ground. And when his body followed, they finally saw the unfamiliar figure beheading everyone.

  No, she wasn’t actually unfamiliar—a lot of people recognized her.

  [Sylvie, the Duelist of Rose.]

  The only S-tier Hero of France, and one of the only one hundred S-tier Heroes alive in the world.

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