Lukas didn't flinch.
He wasn't the same kid who walked into the ruin a while ago.
Lukas didn't lower the pistol.
three bodies wasn't enough. The ruin had made its demand ,four lives.
His gaze swept the room and locked onto the archaeologist.
The same man who, just hours ago, had tried to drag Ruby into the dark while the others slept. Lukas hadn't forgotten. He never forgets.
The archaeologist met his eyes, wide, sweating, trembling. "W-Wait… wait, please! I didn't do anything!"
"You did," Lukas said, calm as frost. "You just didn't get far enough."
The archaeologist stumbled backward, tripping over rubble. "I-I was scared. It was the fear that made me do it , not me . please! I don't want to die!"
Lukas didn't blink. "None of us do."
Lukas pulled the trigger.
The shot echoed like thunder against the stone walls.
Another body dropped.
four down.
The ruin didn't speak ,but it didn't need to.
It was listening.
Watching.
The silence in the room stretched on, heavy and suffocating, as the last remaining survivors were left with the weight of what had just transpired.
Lukas stood there, his eyes distant, emotionless. He was a predator now—a person shaped by cold necessity, his actions no longer driven by mercy or hesitation. He hadn't thought twice about pulling the trigger, each shot a calculated response to the inevitable—survival. He had done what was required, and now, there was nothing more to say.
Ruby's hands shook uncontrollably by her sides, her breath shallow. She had never imagined she'd witness such brutality—never imagined the people around her could become so… expendable. But Lukas hadn't hesitated. He had killed them. She had seen it. And in that instant, the world felt darker. She wanted to scream, to run, to forget it all. But the gravity of their situation held her in place. Her heart was in turmoil. Was this really the Lukas she had known? Or was it some part of him that had always been lurking, hidden until now?
"Lukas…" she whispered again, her voice cracking as she took a tentative step forward. "Please, tell me this isn't who you are."
Lukas didn't move. His gaze remained steady, unflinching, as he looked at her. "I never had a choice," he replied flatly. "None of us do." His words were devoid of emotion, yet the silence between them seemed to tremble under the weight of their meaning.
Albert, on his knees now, hunched over as if the entire world had suddenly come crashing down on him, muttered a string of incomprehensible words. "This is insane," he whispered, his voice breaking. "They're all dead. All of them. Just... just like that." His breath hitched as he clutched his stomach, his whole body shaking, but it wasn't from the cold. It was from the sheer horror of what had happened, what they had all witnessed.
The final archaeologist, the last one left standing, was frozen in place, his body rigid with fear. He had been a part of the group who had scoured the ruins, but now he was just a shell of the person he once was—his mind consumed by the terror that Lukas could turn on him at any moment. He didn't speak, didn't dare to. He simply waited, eyes wide with panic, praying that he would be the next to go.
Ben watched Lukas, his friend, or what he thought was his friend. Lukas had changed—no longer the same person. His eyes were cold, distant, like a predator that had forgotten what it meant to be human.
Lukas stood silently, but inside, a strange feeling stirred.
I killed him, he thought. I killed a man.
It had been necessary. Logical. But still, something gnawed at him.
Why am I smiling?
His grip on the gun tightened, and a subtle tremor ran through him. It wasn't fear, it wasn't excitement. It was something darker, something he didn't fully understand.
I did it to survive, Lukas reminded himself. But even that didn't sit right.
He had saved them. But was that the real reason? Or was it something else?
What have I become?
Just then the door, which had remained shut for so long, suddenly trembled. The coiled snakes around its frame writhed, tightening their grip, and with a loud groan, the door creaked open. The remaining survivors hesitated for a moment but, driven by the desperate hope of escape, stepped forward.
One by one, they entered, hearts racing, their breaths shallow. As the last person crossed the threshold, the door slammed shut behind them with a deafening crash, trapping them inside.
The room was circular, its walls smooth and imposing. At the center stood an altar, its surface etched with strange symbols that pulsed faintly with an unnatural energy. The room was eerily silent, the air thick with anticipation. There was no sign of a way out, no windows, no exit—just the altar, and them.
The door was now sealed. There was no turning back.
Albert, his body trembling with fear and frustration, let out a loud, guttural cry. The words seemed to burn his throat as he screamed, his voice cracking with despair. "Yeah, Lukas! Yeah! You die!" He pointed a shaking finger at him, his face contorted with rage. "Because even if you escaped, your life is ruined! You'll have to go to jail! Everything's over for you! So why don't you just sacrifice yourself?!"
Lukas remained silent, his face unreadable. He didn't even flinch at Albert's words. The calmness in his demeanor only made Albert's outburst more intense. The air in the room grew thick with tension, each word a slap in the face of those who had already witnessed so much.
Ben, standing behind Albert, couldn't hold back any longer. His hand shot out, grabbing Albert by the collar and yanking him forward, their faces inches apart. His eyes burned with a mix of anger and disbelief as he seethed through gritted teeth.
"If we were not stuck here..." Ben's voice was low, cold with fury. "I swear to God, Albert, I would crush your face. He did all this ,All of this ,just so we could live. So that you could live!" His grip tightened, his tone now a growl, each word cutting deeper. "And now you want him to sacrifice himself? After everything he did for us?"
Albert, now pinned by Ben's furious glare, opened his mouth to respond, but the words faltered, caught in his throat. The reality of what he had just said hit him. He stood there, stunned, as Ben's anger and the weight of his actions sank in.
Albert's voice cracked with the weight of his words, a raw mix of pain, anger, and hopelessness. He could feel his mind unraveling, his grasp on reality slipping further with every breath. "Did you think I asked for all of this? I never did!" His voice was a scream now, filled with desperation. "I never asked to be stuck in this hellhole! I never asked for him to save me!" He gestured wildly at Lukas, the words tumbling out like poison. "All I want is to go home. Go back to my parents. And Lukas, he doesn't have any parents. They're dead! So why doesn't he just die and go to them? Why is he dragging us through this? He's not even human anymore. He's a freak!"
The words hung in the air, sharp and unforgiving, and for a moment, the room was still, every single person freezing at the outburst. Albert's chest heaved with ragged breaths, the grief consuming him like a wildfire.
Ben's face twisted in rage, a furious snarl curling his lip as he pushed through the tension. Without a word, he stormed forward, his fist flying at Albert's face. The punch landed with a sickening crack, sending Albert sprawling back to the ground. The force of it left him dazed, a trickle of blood slipping from his lip.
The archaeologists and Ruby rushed to pull the two apart, the room descending into chaos.
"Stop! Stop!"
the archaeologists shouted, grabbing Ben by the shoulders, his voice desperate.
"This isn't helping anyone!"
But Ben was livid, his fists clenched and his chest rising and falling with the frantic pulse of anger.
"How dare you say that about Lukas! He's the only reason we're still alive!" His voice was tight with fury, eyes flashing with a volatile mixture of fear and disbelief.
"You think your the only ones stuck here? You think Lukas is the one who chose this? He's the one keeping us alive, and you just—"
Albert cut him off, his voice a guttural scream as he shot to his feet. His body shook, his hands trembling at his sides.
"F*ck you! who cares ,We're dead . We're all dead! Do you really think we're going to make it out of here? Do you think anyone is going to come and save us? We're trapped. We're all going to die in this place, and no one can change that!"
The words were bitter, harsh, and full of finality, and as soon as they left his mouth, the air in the room thickened, heavy with the weight of his declaration.
Ruby stood to the side, her face pale, torn between trying to keep the peace and the dread that was suffocating her. Her hands were shaking, her mind too clouded with fear to process the hatred between Ben and Albert. But all she could hear was the underlying truth in Albert's voice the horrible, undeniable truth that none of them wanted to face.
Albert turned away from the group, his body hunched with exhaustion, his chest tight with the weight of his emotions. "We're all dead," he muttered again, his voice hollow as he sank to the floor, his knees giving out under him.
But the atmosphere around Lukas was different—eerily still, detached from the world.
Around him, there were none.No voices.No pleas.No friends.
There was no Lukas.
In truth… there had never been.
There was only Zed.Him—and him alone.
The man who had killed billions.The man who had died more times than he could remember.The man who had regressed through time itself, again and again, trapped in the spiral of sacrifice.
Time slowed, then stopped altogether as he stepped onto the altar. Blue flames surged to life around him, dancing like spirits called to witness the end.
Zed stood at the center, gun in hand, eyes fixed on nothing and everything.
His gaze was hollow, ancient—telling the silent story of a man so fractured, so worn, that even cruelty had lost its sting. Albert's words hadn't reached him. Not really. Pain had long since become a dull echo in his soul.
And yet…
A voice broke through.
"Stop!"
He turned—Ben was crying, shouting, pounding against the wall of flames.
"Lukas, don't! Please! Don't die on me!"
Zed stared at him.And though there were no emotions left in his heart…
His body betrayed him.
His lips curled into a quiet, sorrowful smile.Tears slid down his cheeks without permission.As if some part of him—buried deep beneath all the deaths and darkness—still remembered what it meant to be human.
Still remembered what it meant to be loved.
"Lukas, stop!" Ben screamed. His voice was ragged, desperate. "There has to be another way! Don't listen to that fool! Please, don't die on me!"
For the first time since entering the ruin, Lukas showed emotion ,an emotion Ben never expected. It wasn't sadness, nor regret, but something far more unsettling: happiness. It was as if Lukas had made peace with his fate, with the choice he was about to make.
Ben's heart sank as he realized the truth. Lukas wasn't going to back down. His sacrifice had been decided long ago. And now, there was no turning back.
Tears welled up in Ben's eyes, streaming down his face. He couldn't hold it in anymore. "Lukas, no... please," he cried, his voice breaking. "I can't lose my best friend. I can't—"
zed closed his eyes, the softest smile tugging at his lips, the first smile Ben had seen in so long. It was a smile full of finality, of peace. He opened his eyes, those dark, empty eyes that had seen too much, and whispered
"good bye."
And with a swift motion, zed pulled the trigger.
The bullet passed through zed's head in an instant, the sound of the shot deafening in the silence of the room. The flames roared violently, swirling around him as if to consume his very soul. The blue fire devoured him, leaving nothing behind—not a trace, not even ashes.
Ben staggered back, tears flooding his face as he fell to his knees. His best friend was gone. His last tie to the world, snuffed out in an instant.
The ruin fell silent, the flames fading as the air around them seemed to hold its breath. The sacrifice had been made.
With a deep groan, the ancient door creaked open.
Fresh air surged into the ruin like a forgotten memory. Sunlight poured in, golden and blinding. The sound of birds so simple, so alive ,echoed in the distance.
Albert didn't wait. He dashed toward the opening, stumbling into the light. "Haa! Freedom! Haa, I'm safe!" he screamed, laughing through tears, his voice cracking from the weight of everything they'd survived.
Behind him, Ruby and the last archeologist stepped cautiously toward Ben, who still knelt at the center of the altar. His gaze was fixed on the blackened stone where Lukas had stood where his best friend had given everything.
Tears clung to his lashes. His lips trembled, but he said nothing.
Ruby hesitated, then gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ben… Lukas is gone," she said, voice soft and fragile. "We have to go. We don't know how long the door will stay open."
Ben didn't want to move. He wanted to stay, just a few moments longer. But he nodded.
They passed through the threshold together, stepping out into the light.
At the foot of the hill where the entrance had been uncovered, they stood in silence. The wind whispered through the grass. Birds called in the distance. The world had moved on.
As they stood at the foot of the hill, the sound of hurried footsteps broke the stillness. Their teacher came rushing toward them, her face twisted with frustration.
"There you are!" she snapped. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're all in? Running off during a school trip, what were you thinking?"
The group stared at her in disbelief. Ben stepped forward, confused. "Ma'am… we didn't run off. Don't you remember? The earthquake… the ground split open. We fell. There was a ruin—"
Her brow furrowed. "What earthquake? What ruin? I've been looking for you since this morning. Enough of the excuses. You're lucky you're safe. Get back on the bus, we're already running late."
Ruby blinked. "Ma'am, the trip was yesterday. We were inside that ruin for a whole day—"
"What ruin?" the teacher cut in sharply.
Ruby turned to point at the hill—but the door was gone. The hill was whole again. Untouched. As if nothing had ever been there.
Then her hand dropped. Her eyes glazed. "There was a… a…" The words withered on her lips. Her expression went blank.
The archeologist, shaken, spoke up. "Ma'am… do you remember a student named Lukas?"
The teacher gave him a puzzled look. "Lukas? No… there's no Lukas in my class."
Ben's eyes widened. "What… no. No, that can't be. He was just ,he saved us, he…"
His voice trembled. "We were in the r—"
But it was gone. The memory. Slipping like sand between his fingers.
The teacher tilted her head. "Yes, Ben? You were saying something?"
He opened his mouth. Closed it. A strange emptiness gnawed at him.
"I… I don't know. I feel like… I'm forgetting someone. Someone important…"
The wind carried the sound of birdsong across the quiet hill. The sun shone brightly overhead.
But the name was gone.
And so was he, as he is who can never be remembered.
he is DIVINE BANE