Despair

Antonio was blinded by the darkness surrounding him within the sewers of Keldar. He could constantly hear one sound which started to haunt him, "Antonio... oh my dear Antonio. Won't you let me kill you, Please-O-Please?"

Antonio knew that the voice was his imagination but, he had already heard these lines before he died and was revived at the Cathedral and it wasn't the first time but a third time that he was hunted and killed. He neither knew the reason nor understood the motive behind assassinating him again and again.

After Hector betrayed Antonio and backstabbed him, he woke up in a foul mood and wanted to kill Hector with the course of action that he had tried to set in action. Alas! as soon as he went to the Town Hall of the city to submit his quests, he was stopped and denied entry by the guards. Dejected, he strolled through the streets towards the Weapon shop where he met Titan Kronos, but the existence of the shop was nowhere to be found as if it never existed.

As soon as Antonio walked past the Arena, he heard someone whispering, "Antonio... oh my dear Antonio. Won't you let me kill you, Please-O-Please?" and immediately his vision blurred and faltered. Before Antonio figured out what had happened, he found himself back at square one and respawned within the Cathedral.

Antonio tried contacting Leon and Luke via voice and video calls but nothing worked as the signals within the city were being jammed by something or someone. A sudden realisation struck Antonio as he came out of the Cathedral for the second time, "Hector! he must be pulling the strings."

Antonio realised that in his situation, he couldn't trust anyone but himself and his instincts. Right now, his instincts told him to find a way to exit the city which was necessary to establish contact with Leon or Luke. He scratched his head while sneaking around the streets, looking for anyone who might try to kill him.

"Do you know, the current nobility in the city is preparing to improve the quality of the underground sewers?"

"Yes yes! I have heard that the wastes from the sewers were dumped into the southern river, and to reduce the risk of pollution, the sewers will be improved by providing a treatment plant through the use of light magic."

As soon as Antonio heard the talks between a street vendor and an NPC, he started to formulate a plan while continuing to move undetected. He thought that underground sewers could provide him with a great escape but, first, he had to shake off the assassins who were following him. What he needed right now was a distraction.

"Planning to escape through the Underground Sewers, but you just got discovered." As soon as these lines echoed through Antonio's ears, his vision once again started to blur and he lost consciousness. When he regained his vision, Antonio found himself back at the Cathedral. It has already been the third time, and he suddenly remembered something that Leon told him when they first met: "You have triggered the system and now you are vulnerable to death, avoid dying much at any cost."

Antonio yelled at the top of his lungs and cursed Hector, and was forced to think that it might be his last chance at life. Antonio brought out the map of the city, it was the real-time map which showed everything within Keldar in real-time. He zoomed in to try to find a secure way to the underground sewers as he neither had any weapons nor level to fight his Assassins.

Antonio drew a line with his left index finger on the map which led from the Cathedral to the Underground Sewers. He marked some areas as checkpoints where he could stop for a moment and then continue onwards to the next checkpoint. Antonio acknowledged the fact that if he stayed out for too long, he will be discovered and killed without mercy and all he needed was a secure way out of the Cathedral.

Antonio approached the NPC who looked like the Padre of the Cathedral. He had worn a white cassock, A long cape worn by the priests and looked like quite old from his face. He tried to talk with the NPC to help him in some way and the Padre told Antonio that he can escape outside by changing his appearance and then, going out from the back exit which was used by the Padre of the Cathedral. The Padre then guided Antonio to a room on the right corner of the Cathedral, where he gave him a spare cassock and a three-peaked square hat called biretta.

Antonio quickly changed into the clothes which made him reassemble the looks of a Priest. The Padre then lead him to the back exit of the Cathedral and one last time, Antonio thanked the priest before going out of the Cathedral. The Padre had told him that the Cassock he gave Antonio was special as it can make him invisible for a complete five minutes. But, the way to the Underground sewers took ten minutes at a minimum, so he also suggested that the ability should be used when necessary. He also warned Antonio about the cooldown of the ability.

Antonio once again looked back at the old Padre and promised, "One day, I will come back here and return then I will this cape."

Now, Antonio was on the streets and everyone was bowing to him and he was forced to say, "May God bless you!" every time someone did it. He was acting like a true priest as he adapted to his surroundings. He kept checking the route on the map from the corner of his eye and made sure that he was on the right track. As soon as Antonio reached the mid-way he activated the ability of the cape and went on a rampage as he ran toward the Underground sewers.

Antonio could see the ability timer on the top-left corner of his vision which showed only ten seconds remained. And Antonio entered the mouth of the sewers as the timer hit zero. He took out a mini obelisk-like object from his inventory which was also given by the Priest to animate the path inside the sewers. He started moving slowly towards the end of the sewers where his independence waited for him. Antonio's heartbeat increased with each passing minute as he reached the end of the sewers.

Suddenly, he heard a maniacal laugh from a distance. Antonio's heartbeat reached its peak as soon as he heard it. The same laughter that troubled him since he got respawned at the Cathedral. And every time he was killed, he heard it, again and again, replaying in his mind. Antonio was breaking, he was breaking into despair and he wasn't able to do a thing about it. The current situation reminded him of the words spoken by his teacher. Is this the dead end of his already broken life?

"Antonio, Antonio, Antonio... Or should I say, The great Pyroveus. Look at yourself! you were one of the most arrogant guys I've ever seen in my whole life and now, the same guy kneeling in despair. This feels so relaxing, I cannot tell you." someone mocked Antonio in the dark.

Antonio stood up and cried in frustration as he looked around, "Who are you, why are you doing this to me, what do you want from me?"

"What would I want from a scared cat like you, you cannot escape the city, you will be killed as soon as spotted and wherever you go, I can see you until you can leave the city, which is impossible. So, simply revive and die, revive and die, revive and die until I feel satisfied. And you know what?"

"What?"

"I haven't declared you a fugitive in my city, if I did that, whenever you will be spotted by an NPC, they will immediately dispose of you. Also, the underground sewer news was a hoax planted by my men to trap you here and there isn't a way out of here."

Antonio was flushed with anger as he now only wanted to punch the guy in the face. He wanted to get out of this hell, this cursed world and first of all, this wretched city. Antonio tried brainstorming but everything led to a dead end. The dead end further led him into despair and hopelessness. He wasn't able to think straight anymore, he, Antonio, The great Pyroveus was DONE.

"Aww, Don't you worry Antonio. I will make this fun for you as well. I will give you five minutes, the time you used for that foolish ability of yours. You can go anywhere, buy anything, even exit the city and no one will stop you for the next five minutes. If you can pull off the great escape, I will leave you alone but if not, you are in for a good time in Keldar."

"Wait! What will you get by granting me five minutes?"

"A Game of Despair."