---
Lian's heart pounded like a war drum.
The system window blinked coldly before him:
---
System Emergency
> [ Sacrifice one team member to skip Phase 1. ]
[ Confirm: Yes/No ]
---
The choice hung in the air like poison.
Seconds passed.
The battlefield rumbled.
The shadows closed in — endless, grotesque, howling with hatred.
Every second of hesitation meant death.
Jayce, panting, laughed weakly:
"Hey, Captain... no hard feelings if you gotta pick me, y'know? I lived a good life. Got to piss off a Demon King. That's pretty cool."
Demist, leaning heavily on his axe, growled:
"If one of us dies... let it be me. I'm already half-dead anyway."
Elyra's eyes glistened with unshed tears, but she said nothing.
Her silence was more painful than any words.
Lian's fists trembled.
How could he—
He couldn't.
He looked up.
"No."
"I won't sacrifice any of you," he said, voice firm, cutting through the fear.
"I'd rather die fighting together than live as a coward."
Jayce grinned so wide it almost looked painful.
Demist barked a bloody laugh.
Elyra finally smiled, just a little.
The system flickered violently as if shocked by the rejection.
---
System Response
> [ Choice confirmed: No sacrifice. ]
[ Warning: Difficulty adjusted to Maximum Threat Level. ]
[ Survive 10 minutes or be annihilated. ]
---
The world roared.
The Demon King laughed, a terrible sound like mountains collapsing.
"Fools! Very well. DIE WITH HONOR, THEN."
The shadows rushed them.
---
Battle: Survive 10 Minutes — Begin
---
9:58…
The shadows hit like a tsunami.
Lian swung his sword in tight, controlled arcs, cutting down nightmares left and right.
Each swing burned his stamina like wildfire.
Jayce fired a modified pistol, every shot precise, but for each shadow he downed, three more rose.
Demist fought like a wounded lion, roaring, bleeding, refusing to fall.
Elyra unleashed spells that cracked the air, her body glowing with unstable mana, casting flame and ice and lightning together in a frantic ballet.
But it wasn't enough.
The shadows adapted.
Grew tougher.
Faster.
Smarter.
Lian gritted his teeth.
They couldn't hold back.
"Jayce! Demist! Elyra! Full release! No holding anything back!"
They responded without hesitation.
Elyra activated Forbidden Spell: Soulflame!
Blue fire consumed dozens of enemies at once — but Elyra screamed, her body burning from the inside.
Demist used Final Stand: War God's Reckoning!
A red aura exploded from him, doubling his strength, ignoring all wounds — but it would kill him after ten minutes.
Jayce activated Last Trick: Joker's Gambit!
A twisted card spun in his hands, a gamble: either doubling his damage for the rest of the fight, or... instantly dying if unlucky.
Result: Lucky Draw!
Jayce roared, dual-wielding now, bullets tearing through the horde like meteors.
Lian didn't have a secret technique like them.
But he had something else:
Unbreakable Will.
A hidden stat, invisible on the Status Window.
Built over endless hardship.
Forged in desperation and loss.
His swings grew faster.
Sharper.
More lethal.
For a moment — they began pushing back.
---
7:41…
But new enemies emerged.
Greater Nightmares.
Monstrous beasts, each the size of a truck, eyes gleaming with malicious intelligence.
The shadows had evolved again.
Jayce cursed, reloading frantically.
"We're not gonna make it at this rate!!"
Lian scanned the battlefield.
There —
A pillar of dark energy feeding the nightmares.
A weakness.
If they destroyed it, maybe, just maybe, they could survive.
But reaching it meant splitting the team.
Risking being overwhelmed.
---
Third Choice: Tactical Decision
---
Option 1: All push forward together.
(Slower but safer — risk timer running out.)
Option 2: Lian goes alone, draws enemies, destroys the pillar.
(High risk. Possible death.)
Option 3: Sacrifice Elyra's remaining life force to teleport the team to the pillar.
(Permanent death for Elyra.)
---
Lian made the call.
Without hesitation.
---
"I'll go alone."
---
Elyra shouted, "No! You'll die!"
Jayce swore, furious.
Demist growled, "Don't you dare die, kid."
But Lian was already sprinting.
Sword flashing.
Wounds tearing open across his body.
Blood misting the air.
He forced a path through the nightmares.
Dodging.
Rolling.
Sliding under clawed arms.
Every second was a miracle.
His stamina bar blinked red.
Low.
Critically low.
But he didn't stop.
---
5:23…
Lian reached the pillar.
It pulsed with dark power.
Without slowing, he raised his sword — both hands — and drove it deep into the core.
BOOM!!
A shockwave blasted out.
The nightmares staggered.
For one precious moment, they were stunned.
---
System Update
> [ Pillar destroyed! ]
[ Shadow Reinforcements disabled! ]
[ Survival chance increased! ]
---
4:57…
But Lian collapsed to his knees.
He was barely conscious.
The others fought like demons possessed, protecting his body.
Jayce shielding him with gunfire.
Demist standing like an immovable wall.
Elyra raining meteors from the sky.
The minutes crawled by, each second an eternity.
---
0:03…
The Demon King rose from his throne.
He was done watching.
He began walking toward them.
Each step cracked the world.
The survivors braced.
There was no running.
No escape.
Only one thing left:
Fight.
---
Chapter End
---