[You have died]
[Regression Activated.]
The world reassembled itself around Lucas near the bridge stretching out ahead exactly as it had before, and he staggered, the memory of Eleanor’s charred, crushed body and Mark’s ruined skull crashing flooding hisn memory almost immediately.
’They die. Everyone die’’
[Player has returned to designated checkpoint.]
[Checkpoint has been restored to the last stable moment prior to death.]
He pressed a hand against his chest, forcing air into lungs as it felt like he had suddenly forgotten how to breathe.
His eyes darted shakily across the battle field, looking as everyone stood ready to face the beast, unaware of the horror that awaited them...
’Fire breath.... It has fire breath. Nobody accounted for that.’
He clenched his teeth. There was no one to blame. No one knew this beast could do anything like that.
Then again, it was a Golem. And so far, golems had shown to be able to pull of unexpected things. So this, in all honesty, had to be expected.
’Since no one accounted for it, I’ll have to account for it myself...’
He forced himself to think, cataloguing everything he’d learned in the last round before he died.
The beast used the ranged attack when it was cornered, and so far he knew that it needed space and time to charge the breath.
From the way he saw it, it was a vulnerability if someone could close that distance fast enough to exploit it.
’Someone fast. Lora, maybe, with her speed skill she should be able to get in close before it can—’
He dismissed the thought. ’No that won’t work. This is a flaming beast we’re talking about. Getting too close means risking being set on fire. Unless she can survive the flame or have any way to defend herself, she’s as good as dead.’
He didn’t have an answer yet. He didn’t have time to find one, either. The Hestia was already surging across the bridge exactly as before, and the front line scrambled, moving the same way it did in the last round...
"It’s crossing the bridge!" Someone shouted exactly as before, and the battle began.
Lucas didn’t waste time on panic this time. He was already moving toward the nearest fighter retreating from the front line. It was a man he didn’t recognize. His legs were shaking as he held his weapon in shaky hands.
"Your sword! I need it," Lucas said, reaching for the weapon. "Get to the centre."
The man didn’t argue. He simply looked at Lucas, then the charging the beast and shoved the weapon into Lucas’ grip and began sprinting toward the centre formation without hesitation.
Mark caught sight of the exchange from a few yards away, and raised an eyebrow. "That’s new..."
"No time," Lucas said, already falling into defensive position as the beast landed in front of him, the borrowed blade heavy and unfamiliar in his grip.
And then, as expected, his system did what it did best...
[ERROR]
[Skill: Ignition has failed to be Activated.]
Lucas glanced at the notification and gritted his teeth.
’I saw this coming but still doesn’t sit right with me...’
They fought in the same rhythm as before; Eleanor calling the angles to strike, Mark absorbing the heaviest blows, and Lucas defending purely on instinct while his own skill sat dead and useless.
As time went on, the succeeded in pushing the beast back, effectively cornering it just like last time, and the beast knew that this was time to strike back...
Lucas watched the Hestia’s stance carefully this time, cataloguing everything and anything that would tell when the beast was ready to fire.
His eyes narrowed.
’There.’
"It’s about to fire!" he shouted the instant the beast raised its head.
"Everyone down!"
The warning gave them just enough time to react, the torrent of flame erupting a moment later.
The front line scattered in every direction, and the blast tore harmlessly across empty ground instead of at the people it had incinerated in the previous loop.
Eleanor glanced at him as they ran, suspicion flashing across her face.
She wanted to ask... to ask how Lucas knew that but she knew that now was not the time...
They adjusted their formation on the fly, spreading wider and giving each other room to scatter the instant the beast was about to fire again.
For a few minutes, it actually looked like they might survive this properly, all that was left was for Lucas to think of some kind of plan to take on the beast.
Ignition sparked back to life.
[Ding!]
[Skill: Ignition has been activated]
Relief flooded through Lucas as the flame roared around his fists.
However, something it felt wrong. The flame was... hotter than he remembered.
Suddenly the flame roared out of control, blazing hot and wild around both fists and refusing to settle no matter how hard he tried to calm it down.
"Lucas?" Mark’s voice came with concern as he watched Lucas uselessly wave his hands trying and failing to put the flames out.
He backed away further, desperate not to catch anyone in the uncontrolled blaze. "Stay back!"
Eleanor and Mark both broke formation to keep him clear of the survivors, and the gap they left behind opened exactly wide enough for disaster.
The Hestia surged through it.
"Shit!" Lucas watched helpless, his flame still roaring uncontrolled around his fists as the beast crashed into the formation, claws and fire tearing through fighters who’d had no time to scatter.
"Lucas! Get it under control!" Eleanor yelled as she looked between the beast and the dying survivors.
Mark was already moving to intercept the Hestia’s charge alone, seriously outmatched as he was literally the only thing standing between the people and death.
Lucas waved his hands more desperately. "I’m trying! It’s not going off!"
’I’m the reason this is falling apart. These people are going to die again and this time because of my system and this stupid glitch.’
He tried desperately to force the flame down and instead it flared hotter, spreading fast up his arms.
Something sparked beneath his feet and his stomach dropped as [Ignition] ignited in a burst that sent him rocketing sideways off his own feet.
"Arrgh!" He had half a second to register the sensation of flying before the momentum carried him over the bridge’s edge.
The fall didn’t take long...
He struck a jagged outcrop of rock jutting from the ravine wall, the impact driving straight through his chest brutally tearing through his heart.
Lucas hung there, impaled and staring up at a sky he could no longer properly focus on— something like a shout of him name echoing through the ravine and a trail of smoke that followed behind him.
He coughed up blood as his vision blurred. He could no longer breathe, or rather, no longer had the strength to as the absence of a beating heart left him hanging like a ragdoll.
He clenched his teeth, the mentallic taste of blood filling his mouth.
"This.... Is.... Bullshi—"
[You have died.]
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