Five seconds left.
It felt like eternity.
Inside his mind, a whirlwind of thoughts spun past, an ocean of running questions that crashed against each other and dissolved into foam.
'What am I supposed to do?'
'Am I going to be responsible for another death?'
'Why should I care about this useless baggage?'
'What is the worst that could happen? I die? Please. I will just live.'
'I need your help, Alice. Please guide me.'
'I do not have time. Shit.'
A hand shook him firmly from behind, gripping his shoulder as he knelt on the crumbling pillar.
"Snap out of it!"
He looked back.
The so called useless baggage was helping him out instead.
He didn't have enough time to scoff at the irony.
Less than two seconds remained.
It was enough.
Before the voice could announce the end, Lucid stood.
'I guess I will just have to go with plan C.'
He breathed.
In and out.
It was as if he was about to jump form the pillar.
He braced himself nonetheless.
He put his hand forward. It immediately burst into white-golden flame essence. Fate essence. The light poured from his palm like water from a cracked vessel, bright and hot and alive.
Valen stared at Lucid. His golden eyes widened, the nonchalant mask slipping for just a moment. Something flickered there. Recognition. Perhaps amazement.
Celeste looked at Lucid. Her face was pale, her white hair disheveled, her composure crumbling at the edges. "Y-You could use it within the Domain after all. It was not luck."
The cultists under their purple hoods looked at him with amusement. Their lips parted, revealing teeth that were too white and too sharp. Their purple hair moved as if stirred by a breeze that did not exist. One of them licked its lips. The gesture was slow and deliberate and sickening.
Mercyros had turned away from Lucid. The Monolith's measuring eyes were fixed on something else, some other corner of the golden void. But then it turned back. It noticed the presence. The potent presence. The important presence. Something that needed to be dealt with. Bought. Sold.
"That is unexpected," Mercyros said. Its voice was formal, measured, the voice of a Greek god addressing a mortal who had done something mildly interesting. "A human like you possesses such a radiating thread of fate."
Lucid breathed in. He breathed out. The motion was steady, controlled, the breath of someone who had learned to find calm in the center of chaos.
Immediately he could feel the backlash. He could feel the pain. His eyes started to bleed, red tears carving paths down his cheeks. His mouth started to bleed, blood pooling on his tongue and dripping from his lips. He hunched over and threw up a mouthful of blood that splattered across the golden stone.
"Y-You said," Lucid gasped. "You said ten diamond marks."
[Time is out. Commencing Judgment—]
Mercyros put its hand forward. The clock suspended in mid-air, frozen mid-tick. The golden light stopped moving. The particles of dust stopped falling. Everything stopped except the Monolith and the bleeding boy in front of it.
"I am curious now," Mercyros said. Its voice was calm, almost bored. "I will grant you more time, human."
Lucid grinned. His teeth were stained red. "You made a foolish mistake."
"There is no such thing as mistakes, my subject."
"You will regret it."
He looked around. The painful part was gone now. His vision felt much clearer. The Chain of Heart had been activated. Better vision. Better fate essence regeneration. Enhanced by the other traits he had accumulated. The pierced spine. The silenced throat. He had every ability at his disposal. This was his idle state. Manifesting one wound would be another story, carrying another backlash. But for now, he could stand like this.
"Alright. Alright."
Celeste spoke. Her voice was desperate, the voice of someone covering up her own fragility with layers of arrogance that were crumbling fast. "Young boy. Trade your essence. Override the Domain. I will reward you handsomely."
"Our martyr. Our saving grace," the cultists chanted. Their voices blended together, soft and wet, like maggots squirming in a single throat. "Our prophet. Our love. Let us worship you. Let us consume you. Let us become you."
Valen stood quiet. His hands were in his pockets. His expression was unreadable. But his jaw was tight and his eyes were fixed on Lucid with an intensity that betrayed his calm exterior.
Lucid thought for a while. Mercyros stood and observed him, fascinated, like a collector examining a curious specimen. The Monolith's measuring eyes tracked every movement, every breath, every drop of blood that fell from Lucid's chin.
'What can I do other than trading a tremendous amount of fate essence equivalent to whatever the price is?'
Something told him that would backfire tremendously. He pushed the thought aside.
'Focus.'
"Manifest."
Two chains materialized. They slid over Lucid's throat, cold metal against warm skin, and made their way toward Mercyros's throat. They slid and bit into Lucid. He grunted.
That was not the important part.
The important part was how Mercyros would react.
The chains entered Mercyros's throat. The Monolith did not move. Did not flinch. Did not react at all.
'Yes. If I can force it into a binding contract of a truth game, I can kill it and inherit its essence. Checkmate.'
Before Lucid could speak, Mercyros made its hand find his throat. The Monolith's fingers wrapped around the chain and tore it away like it was some living snake trying to crawl toward its neck and suck its vitality out.
Lucid was shocked. The chain constricted. His windpipe closed. His vision darkened at the edges.
Mercyros crushed the chain. Shattered it into bits and pieces. Made it into glowing white fate essence that scattered across the golden platform like snow.
An indifferent voice carried through the air. Simultaneously inside his mind, the system announced.
[The stage of the opposing party is too high.]
Lucid threw up blood. It splattered across the golden stone, mixing with the earlier pool, spreading in dark red rivulets.
"Was that supposed to be a contract?" Mercyros spoke directly to Lucid, judging him with those cold, measuring eyes.
Fenwick rushed to Lucid's side. His hands were shaking, his face pale, his eyes wide with terror. He had spent his whole life avoiding danger, and now he was standing in the middle of it. "Oi there, buddy. Take it easy." He supported Lucid's weight, his arms trembling under the strain. "You have lost too much blood."
Lucid supported himself with one arm pressed against the pillar. His legs were weak. His chest was burning. His throat was raw.
He was not done.
"It is alright," he said.
He noticed something. He was healing much more slowly now. The green glow from Alice was gone. Instead, a white ethereal glow surrounded him, healing him at a fraction of the previous speed. It was the Chain of Heart. Weak regeneration. Though it was E rank, it could keep up. There used to be another passive trait as well. Both the passive and the Chain of Heart combined could heal great deals of damage.
But for now he had to make do with what he had.
He could feel resolve accumulating in his fractured spine trait, it allowed for brief healing as well. The more damage he took, the more he could lash out if he decided to attack. That was something. That was leverage.
He stood. He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
"My subject," Mercyros said. Its voice was patient, almost kind, in the way that a blade was kind. "My patience is wearing thin."
Lucid looked around at the gathered participants. At Celeste, desperate and crumbling. At the cultists, vile and sickening. At Valen, quiet and tense. At Fenwick, scared and cowardly but still standing beside him.
He sighed.
"Fine."
He opened his arms wide.
"You said ten diamond marks?"
Mercyros tilted its head. The motion was slow, deliberate, curious.
"I will trade my very essence!"
Mercyros smiled. It was an imperceptible smile, barely a movement of the lips, but it was there. The Monolith was amused.
Valen's composure cracked. His hands came out of his pockets. His golden eyes went wide. "You cannot be serious."
Everyone stared at Lucid. The cultists leaned forward, their purple hood swaying, their lips parting to reveal those too-white teeth. Celeste covered her mouth with her hand. Fenwick tensed up.
The voice carried through the golden air.
[Do you wish to convert Fate essence into currency?]
"Yes," Lucid said.
[The following conversion. One million Fate essence into diamond.]
Lucid was shocked. A half grin spread across his face, disbelief and something like madness dancing in his eyes. One million. He had no idea if he could handle hat much. He had no idea if he would survive the backlash. He had no idea if this would work at all.
But he was out of options. Out of time. Out of anything except the burning light in his chest and the desperate hope that Alice would let him and make this work.
"I convert one million fate essence into a diamond," he said.
The air held its breath. The golden light flickered. Mercyros's smile widened. And somewhere deep in Lucid's chest, something cracked. Something broke. Something that would never be whole again.
But the Domain accepted his bid.
[ Converting ]