Leaving the silence of Sisula behind after their little spectacle, the duo set their course for Kirola. They ignored the scorching exhaustion weighing them down.

  As they moved across the vast plains, Sisula slowly sank into the horizon, its heavy fog drifting away. The stars reclaimed their places in the sky, their pale glow seemingly begging Number 99 and 25—drenched in the night’s sweat—to finally sleep.

  Meanwhile, Number 25 drifted in a sea of thought, struggling to process the events of Sisula and untangle the knots in her mind. Even though she believed Number 72 deserved his fate, eliminating a player in a game that felt so visceral left her feeling filthy. It gnawed at her insides.

  She walked blindly for a while, replaying the kill in her mind. Realizing she couldn’t handle it alone, she was forced—however reluctantly—to consult the expert.

  "Umm... I was thinking..."

  Struggling to piece her words together, Number 25 glanced at Number 99, who continued walking without reaction. She swallowed hard, finally spilling the gloom gathering inside her.

  "To slaughter someone... This feeling... How did you get past it?"

  "Hmm... Slaughter?"

  Number 99 kept his eyes fixed on the path. When his dull rhetorical question met with silence, he continued.

  "Let's just call it elimination."

  "Of course, it's a game!" Number 25 snapped back. "But as players, we feel every bit of it. From the wounds we suffer to the trauma we endure—it all stays with us."

  Unable to silence the voices screaming inside her against Number 99’s apathy, Number 25 finally let it out.

  "Tell me! If this is just a game, why didn’t you finish me off right at the start?"

  Drained by the sensation of purging her very soul, her vision blurred. With the last drop of her energy spent, Number 25’s knees gave way, and she collapsed onto the cold earth. Exhaling the fire in her lungs into the biting cold of the night, she turned her misty eyes helplessly toward the stars.

  Number 99, feeling these desperate, ragged breaths on the back of his neck, turned around. Sharpening the edge of his dull monotone, he finally spoke.

  "Do you want to kill Flora?"

  At this familiar question, Number 25 tore her gaze away from the pale stars and locked onto 99’s warm hazel eyes.

  "Yes."

  "What about Number 1? Do you want to eliminate him?"

  "Yes."

  "That desire to end them both..." Number 99 paused for a beat, narrowing his eyes. "Did you feel something similar when you were eliminating Number 72?"

  "I... Umm..."

  "When you were eliminating 72... didn't the image of the female player he eliminated—the one begging him to stop—flash before your eyes?"

  Though the words piled up in her throat, she couldn't force them out. Number 25 managed only a trembling nod.

  "What about your teammate? Her elimination?"

  As the memory of Number 7 flooded her mind, Number 25 went rigid. The tears welling in her eyes could no longer withstand the pressure of those memories, finally spilling down her cheeks.

  "When Number 1 eliminated her, claiming she was nothing but a burden... I couldn't do anything but stand there and watch! Even though I couldn't stand that girl..."

  "No... Perhaps you couldn't save her, but you still risked elimination to rebel for your own truths."

  Taking a deep breath, Number 99 placed his hand on 25’s right shoulder and continued.

  "You didn't eliminate players for the thrill of it like Number 72. Nor did you discard someone just because they were weak, like Number 1 did. Your rebellion, your elimination of 72... It was all an effort made for your own ideals."

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Finishing his words, he removed his hand from her shoulder and offered it to her instead. Number 25 grasped the extended hand tightly and, with 99’s support, pulled herself to her feet.

  "Eliminating someone who chases their ideals and defends them would be a waste. Yes, this is a game... but it is a heavy one for those with character. The burden on your shoulders will get heavier every day. Will you sink under the weight, or will you learn to walk with it?"

  Lifting her head against the harsh touch of the wind, Number 25 brought her hands to her cheeks and tapped them lightly, trying to silence the muffled thoughts within and clear her mind.

  However, the fleeting sense of satisfaction brought by this relief was cut short by Number 99’s intervention.

  "We move on."

  A faint smile accompanied the warm hazel eyes of this man with the dull voice.

  ***

  With every step taken toward Kirola, the temperature dropped. Hours had passed, yet the sky showed no intention of lifting its black curtain, a refusal that weighed heavily on Number 25’s shoulders.

  Instead of setting as it should have, the moon had grown larger with every passing hour, its brilliance intensifying in an eerie manner.

  "It feels like a lifetime has passed since Sisula," Number 25 said, gazing uneasily at the sky. "It is as if the sun has no intention of rising."

  "I think the sun has already risen. I do not believe that is the moon."

  Rooted to the spot by this answer as if her feet were anchors, Number 25 couldn't help but think her exhaustion was mocking her, playing tricks on her mind.

  "How is that possible? It is pitch black, and that white thing above us..."

  She couldn't finish her sentence. When she focused and looked up, she realized there wasn't a single star hanging in the sky. Number 25 swallowed her words whole.

  "But this thing..."

  "The sun has already risen, 25."

  Number 99 didn't let her finish. He kept his eyes fixed ahead as he continued.

  "We are very close to Kirola. I can feel it... I think that hill ahead has something to tell us."

  Climbing toward the crest of the hill, the duo finally reached the top, only to freeze at the tableau before them.

  Spreading out like an ocean, countless graves stretched into the horizon to vanish from sight. Just beyond the ruins in the foreground, a massive tower rose, touching the sky itself.

  "The Great Kirola Cemetery..."

  Number 99 murmured, audible only to himself, then turned to Number 25, who couldn't tear her eyes away from the endless graveyard.

  "We must rest a little."

  "Do you think the Tear is in that tower?"

  "We shall see. At the very least, we will need to climb that tower to see what lies beyond the cemetery."

  Following this brief exchange, the pair withdrew to cast off their exhaustion. Number 99 leaned his back against a hard rock, while Number 25 surrendered her weary body to the cold earth.

  After shifting around for a moment to find a comfortable spot, Number 25 turned her back to Number 99. Hoping the wind would carry her words like a whisper, she began to speak calmly.

  "For today... Umm... Thank you. I know we are forbidden from speaking our names, but... I am I..."

  "Why are you telling me this?"

  "..."

  "Rest well... I."

  ***

  The fleeting moment of peaceful respite was shattered by an ear-splitting bellow echoing from Kirola.

  With her entire body numbed by the sheer force of the sound, Number 25 snapped her eyes open, gasping desperately for air. Scrambling up from the cold earth, she noticed Number 99 crouching low, facing the cemetery but looking back at her.

  He pressed his right index finger to his lips, signaling silence, then raised his left hand to slowly beckon her closer.

  Crawling silently to 99's side, Number 25 peered down at the graveyard sprawling beneath the hill.

  Barely able to see in the pitch darkness, she tried to calm the prickling sensation on her skin as she watched the wild bushes rustle with sinister movement.

  Following the snarls rising from the brush, the abomination straightened up and revealed itself, causing Number 25’s pupils to shrink in terror. She pressed her right hand over her mouth to stifle a scream, clamping down hard enough to nearly suffocate herself.

  Towering like a grotesque stilt, the creature’s legs and arms were so thin it looked as if skin and muscle had been merely pasted over bone. It held a human in its shovel-like hands, raising the victim toward its face, which was hidden behind a thicket of hair. Its beard, merging with its graying hair, trailed all the way to the ground. The creature’s eyes, devoid of color, were pale gray pools flowing into infinity.

  "Is... Is that thing holding a player?"

  Number 25’s face turned white as chalk; she couldn't tear her eyes away from the monstrosity.

  The creature stared at the human in its grasp with piercing gray eyes. Then, it bent its impossibly long, twig-like legs. Positioning the victim with both hands right before its mouth, it unhinged its jaw wide enough to tear itself apart and began to swallow its prey.

  It paused when the victim reached chest level. Smearing saliva all over the prey, the creature stared into the void, its pale gray eyes glowing as it began to drain the very life essence from the victim.

  As the prey shriveled and withered within seconds, leaving nothing but a husk, the creature crunched down with its jaw, shattering the bones and swallowing the final remains.

  After standing still for a moment to absorb the essence, the monster disappeared into the depths of the cemetery. Watching it vanish, Number 25 could no longer suppress the scream building inside her; it hit her stomach instead. Unable to hold it back, she violently retched, emptying her insides onto the soil.

  After an endless fit of coughing, Number 25 managed to recover slightly and turned to Number 99, who hadn't taken his eyes off the cemetery for a second.

  "What in the world is that thing!"

  Number 99’s jaw was clenched so tight his veins bulged, and his hand gripped his weapon as if he might crush it. He answered with a voice dripping with hatred.

  "Gulyabani."

  Hey everyone,

  3 exams left!

  full throttle