Decision.

First, faint and rising, was a tremor of disbelief and shock that ran through the gathering. All of them, each and every single one, were Awakened at the very bottom tier, and for that reason, if ever, they had participated in a dungeon raid at most once.

And now, lying headless before them was the only supposed trained expert who was to lead them, killed in one attack by a Knight radiating an aura of bloodlust one could practically choke on.

It wasn't looking good.

"Crap, we need to get out of—" The man in cheap armor began, but the words along with his plan were cut off by the chilling groan of both stone doors swinging shut.

Now, they weren't just trapped in the temple but inside this room as well. Swiftly, eyes clouded with fear, they turned to the blonde-haired man who was supposed to be Mia's partner - Alzine.

As Aldric also turned to him, he could only think:

'Surely, if not her, he has the situation under control.'

The man stood rooted in place as his gaze locked on the large Knight, not with cold calculation or with raging vengeance or even anger, but simply raw and primal terror, one that far surpassed the one they felt themselves.

Almost as if he knew something they didn't, or were yet to.

"Well, crap," Aldric cursed as he looked around. It seemed if the Knight decided to get hostile any further, no one would be capable of opposing it. However, for now, it looked to not be keen on attacking, and Aldric wasn't sure why, but he felt certain that it was a result of the fact nobody moved yet.

"We'll have to kill this bastard if we want out of this creepy temple," the man in cheap armor declared, echoing what everyone else was thinking. Although, the thought is one thing, and execution is another.

As Aldric had noticed moments ago, the current demographic present was weak and low-ranked awakened, basically the worst group you'd want going against a dungeon lord.

"Fine," the man in the chest plate exclaimed defiantly. "We can just rush and overwhelm the thing. We've got the numbers."

He wasn't lying. They indeed had the numbers, a total of thirty-six awakened had been brought for this raid, and when they heard chest plate's words, they saw a chance in them. They were sure they could not dent it individually, but all at once they'd have better odds.

However, Al knew their plan was the quickest way to their demise. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu, almost as if he was certain that the moment they moved, they'd all die.

This realization left him with two options. He could tell them this unreliable information based on but a gut feeling, and if they chose to believe it, no one would move, and they'd be stuck like this until a way out fell from the sky. Or he could remain silent, and they'd attempt their plan. Worst-case scenario, they die and he remains alive; best-case scenario, they manage to take it down.

Aldric found more logic in the second option.

"Okay, let's do it then," the man in cheap armor agreed as he tightly gripped his spear, preparing for an attack.

"On my mark."

All the Awakened readied themselves at his words, hearts beating with fear and anticipation.

"Attack!"

The man in cheap armor's bellow drew an echo of defiant screams from the rest as they charged at the Knight, preparing to hit it as hard as they could, give all they could muster. Then, with a movement that defied their perception, the Knight swung its blade, cleaving through half a dozen of them.

That singular act, just that one swing, swiftly changed every Awakened charge of attack into terrified scrambles for their lives. They all began to run in every direction like sugar feasting ants exposed to sunlight, and although they knew it not, this particular action spelled their doom.

"Stop running!" Aldric exclaimed in an attempt to save their lives—if they all died uselessly, getting out of here would only get more difficult. However, they were too preoccupied with a flawed attempt at survival and drowned in their own screams to hear Aldric's.

'These idiots,' Aldric thought to himself.

He looked around, making sure to remain as still as he could. His eyes scanned the entire room for something, a way to survive, but he found none.

With nothing capable of saving him, as a last resort, he decided to see if he could save himself.

"Status."

The blue screen flashed before him upon his mutter.

======

[ Aldric Voss ]

======

Markings: [The remainder] [A false existence]

Affinity: [Null]

Rank: [Warrior(0)]

Xai Energy (XE) Reserve: 10/10

Returns: (__)

----------

Stats

----------

| Strength: [2]

| Agility: [3]

| Durability: [2]

| Intelligence: [10]

| Memory: [0.3]

| Xai control: [0]

----------

His stats were nothing to look at. They wouldn't even win him a fight against a good boxer, let alone against a dungeon lord. So he didn't seek hope in them, but instead in what had changed, in what he didn't understand.

"List markings."

[The Remainder:

The universe will continue on, again, and again, and again. And yet, you will still remain. Expelled from the principles of causality, albeit, a silent orchestrator of it.

Effect:

You will be sent back to the last set time point after death.]

[A false Existence:

You should not exist at any point in reality, and somehow, you do.

Effects: ?]

[You have been rewarded: One Checkpoint.]

[Checkpoint:

The ability to save any point in time to be sent after demise. When a checkpoint is saved, it is final and you will be made unable to go any further back.]

Aldric read through the text with a cold, calculating glint, burning with his desperation for survival. Most of what he read would normally make no sense, but he had no time to be clueless or doubt.

If he read correctly, [The Remainder] allowed him to somehow come back when he died to a set time point, but to set that time point, he'd need to use a checkpoint, basically like a game.

Aldric looked up. The numbers of living people were now a scanty seven. The Knight would run out of awakened to kill soon—leaving only him, so as he turned back to the screen before him, he wished he could set a checkpoint somewhere safe, but he really didn't have a choice it seemed.

This, right at this moment, felt like his only way of survival.

"Yes, set checkpoint."

[Checkpoint has been set.]