An explosion rang out just as the object Ren had thrown hit the ground.
BOOM!
It wasn't massive, but strong enough to send a sharp tremor through the ground. The cave ceiling cracked open like an eggshell, and massive rocks began crashing down like a hailstorm, sealing off the cave entrance in an instant.
Dust erupted into the air, and the clamor of falling rocks and clashing metal filled the space, making the whole cavern tremble.
The three traitors froze in place, turning around abruptly, their faces pale. There was no way out.
"What the hell…?!"
"The exit…! Damn it, where's the exit?!"
They screamed in panic, hands trembling as they struck the freshly collapsed rocks, as if they could dig through with sheer desperation. But it was pointless.
Ren stood still, smoke still rising from his hand due to the heat of the bomb, his cold blue eyes drilling into them.
"I don't need to chase you," he said, voice hoarse, but each word striking like a death knell.
"Because you already backed yourselves into a corner."
The small bomb Ren had just thrown wasn't something you could buy in any store around the Starting Town.
Even the recipe to craft it wasn't widely known....it required rare materials and had a ridiculously high failure rate.
He'd only gotten it by chance, a reward from a recent hidden quest, one he'd nearly forgotten… until the critical moment.
"Now, now… we can talk this through," the leader said, sensing the shift, and quickly changed his tone.
His voice became pathetically soft, a far cry from the arrogance he'd flaunted earlier.
That sneer and haughty expression had vanished, replaced by a pale, sweat-drenched face and eyes begging for mercy.
"There's no need for this… I know another way out, on the far side of the cave."
He licked his lips, taking half a step forward, his voice rising in urgency like a drowning man grasping at straws.
"We can work together. Push through the Kobolds, if the four of us combine forces, we can escape. We just… we just need to leave those two behind."
Ren said nothing. He only stared.
Stared for a long time.
Those blue eyes now looked like a bottomless abyss, stripped of any hesitation. Only silence remained.
And that silence left the leader speechless. His crooked smile froze on his sweat-slicked face.
"Leave them behind…?" Ren echoed, as if grinding the words through his throat.
"You did that to me and my teammates… and now you want to cooperate?"
His voice was quiet, but it didn't need to rise to cut deep.
"If anyone deserves to be left behind… it's you."
Ren didn't speak further. He simply turned and dashed past the stunned traitors.
The three stared after him, confused. Why wasn't he attacking? Why the silence? They were certain Ren would go on a rampage...but he did the opposite.
That feeling… threw them off. There was no rage, no fierce retaliation, only a chilling calm.
Ren knew he didn't need to lift another finger. The Kobolds would take care of the rest.
These wild monsters, small but ferocious, were already riled up by the blast he'd created earlier.
The scent of blood, the weak presence of the traitors, they'd never escape the keen senses of the beasts.
The Kobolds came charging in, howling like frenzied specters, pouncing on the frozen players who didn't even have time to react.
It was a scene of utter chaos and carnage. The Kobolds swarmed the trio, their attacks relentless, merciless. The whole area became a battlefield devoid of conscience.
Ren kept running, never looking back, never sparing a thought for those who betrayed him. He knew what needed to happen, would happen.
He moved like a shadow between the raging monsters.
With terrifying speed and perfect balance, he darted along the smooth stone of the cave walls, barely touching the ground, almost as if he were running on the rock itself.
Time seemed to stop for a moment. The Kobolds, no longer interested in him, focused only on their prey, those too exhausted to flee.
Ren passed through them like a gust of wind, leaving no sound behind, only the cold trace of calculated intent.
He surged forward, toward Yuna and Nautilus. One goal burned in his mind: save them before it's too late. His eyes were cold, never once glancing back at what he'd left behind.
Each step was sure, each breath steady, as he charged ahead without hesitation.
Yuna and Nautilus, realizing the monsters had shifted away from them, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The Kobolds were no longer focused on them, giving them a few precious seconds to recover and finish off the remaining stragglers.
When their eyes happened to catch sight of the scene ahead, both of them could hardly believe what was unfolding.
The horrifying sight felt like a vivid nightmare.
The three traitors, those who had once strutted with arrogance and confidence, were now being overwhelmed by a horde of ferocious Kobolds.
The crude stone weapons of the monsters fell like a rain of iron. The sound of metal clashing against stone sent painful jolts through Yuna and Nautilus's ears.
The blows came relentlessly, one after another. The Kobolds' stone axes and picks smashed down upon them, piercing through their armor.
They could no longer resist. The ones who once considered themselves strong were now nothing more than victims, crushed under the sheer force of the monsters.
Each strike brought pain, and gradually, that pain not only tore their bodies apart but also devoured the last shreds of their pride.
Yuna and Nautilus stood in shock, yet in their eyes flickered something more, a complicated emotion, a mix of pity, horror, and perhaps a hint of guilt for not being able to save those men.
Under the dim light of the cave, the Kobolds' howls echoed eerily.
Blood, steel, and despair blended together, creating a sound they would never forget.
"Run! Don't look back, leave them!" Ren shouted, his voice hoarse as if clawed raw from his throat. The veins in his neck bulged, and his eyes were bloodshot with suppressed panic.
Yuna froze, her legs trembling as if nailed to the ground. Her gaze wavered, staring at the three figures pinned beneath the frenzied strikes of the Kobolds.
Dozens of stone weapons pounded down, striking the once-proud suits of armor, now nothing more than living coffins, trapping them in unending agony.
"Ren… we can't just leave them…," Yuna choked out, her voice barely more than a whisper in the middle of the nightmare.
Ren whipped around, fury and disappointment flickering in his eyes. "They betrayed you, Yuna. They wanted to leave you both behind to save themselves," he said, each word gritted through clenched teeth.
"If we save them now, they'll toss us aside like trash. What they're getting now is exactly what they prepared for someone else."
A suffocating silence followed.
Ren clenched his fists. His voice dropped low, like a quiet rumble of thunder: "They don't deserve it… they don't deserve to be saved."
In the distance, the screams faded, replaced by wet, sickening sounds and the grotesque laughter of the Kobolds.
And in that moment, the reality of this world became clearer than ever before.
Not everyone deserves to be saved. Not all still have the humanity worth preserving.
Yuna stepped back, her hand gripping the sword handle trembling slightly.
She no longer looked at Ren the way she used to. In her eyes now was confusion, doubt… and a faint trace of fear, like a flickering flame in the cold night.
"Ren…" she whispered, her voice dry as if filled with sand. "I… I don't recognize you anymore."
Ren stood still. His eyes remained unchanged, not cold, not cruel, just deeply tired.
As if he had made that decision hundreds of times in his mind… and each time, it cracked something further inside.
"Because you've never been stabbed in the back," he replied, soft but heavy as stone. "I don't expect you to understand. But I won't let you die just because you feel sorry for people who wanted us dead."
Yuna didn't reply. She turned away, her heart in turmoil, filled with nameless shards.
And even though her feet were still next to Ren's, the distance between them… had never felt so great.
"But… they helped us when we got lost in the mine…" Yuna murmured, her voice breaking like wind through a crack in stone. As if even she wasn't sure she still believed it.
Ren turned, his blue eyes meeting hers, deep and heavy.
But there was no anger in them, only a quiet sorrow, almost resignation.
"They helped us just to lead us into a trap," he replied, voice strained from holding back. "If I hadn't shown up in time today… the ones buried under that pile of rocks would be you and Nautilus. All of us."
Yuna bit her lip, her eyes wavering. Her mind understood Ren's words, all of them sharp as needles against her skin, chilling.
But her heart couldn't yet accept the scene of suffering before her. It wasn't yet hardened enough to turn away from those dying in pain, even if they deserved it.
"I'm no hero, Yuna," Ren whispered, as if to himself. "I'm just a selfish guy who chooses whatever keeps you and Nautilus alive."
Ren knew well, Yuna was kind, so kind it bordered on naïve. She still believed that kindness could reach even the worst people.
But he also understood a cruel truth: to those who don't deserve it, kindness isn't a light. It's poison, killing the very one who dares to give it.
"Nautilus, take Yuna and run. This way!" Ren snapped, his voice no longer a suggestion but a command. There was no time left for debate.
Nautilus froze for a split second at the icy steel in Ren's voice, at the absolute resolve in his eyes.
There was fear in him, but more than that, clarity. And trust. Without another word, he grabbed Yuna's hand and pulled her in the direction Ren pointed, even as she hesitated, still looking back.
"Go, Yuna!" Nautilus gripped her hand tighter. "Don't make him choose again."