Disloyal! But for whom?

The ascent was slow. The cold stone under my feet and the damp walls with the smell of blood and ash whispered to me the secrets of the dead. I felt like the palace itself was watching me, waiting for my reaction.

"No trace of anyone here!"

On the whole way to the cell, I didn't meet anyone on my way, neither guards nor Gosho, perhaps Claudius took care of them. Or that thing that I heard shouting.

When I got to the cell, the door was open, teetering with the wind, as if to invite me in. I stepped inside slowly, my eyes carefully wiping the place, not out of fear of what I would see, but out of malicious curiosity to see the traces of the story.

The bodies were there.

Edward, strong and aggressive, fell to the ground like a doll cut strings. His hand, that hand he had always thought was invincible, was cut off beside him.

Klaus, that cocky genius, sat leaning against the wall, his broken glasses next to him. Even after his death, he seemed to think of something.

Always reckless, Theodore had a dagger on his knees, but he didn't get to anything of value.

"Edward... Klaus. Theodore..." I whispered my voice dripping with irony. "Is this the honor? Is this how you wanted your life to end? So congratulations."

I stepped slowly between the corpses, my feet pushing some blood that didn't dry completely. I didn't feel really angry or sad? I felt nothing at all.

I turned my back on the bodies and stood at the door for a moment.

"Life is ridiculous." I said quietly, my voice full of coldness. "But death is more ridiculous. At least in life, you can fight to be something."

Then I turned around and continued on my way, leaving the past behind.

She laughed softly, but the laughter was lifeless without heat. That's the world we're clinging to, isn't it? The strong crushes, the intelligent deceive and the reckless... Well, it ends up like this.

Oliver... Ratos. Where are they?

I progressed slowly, my head tilted as if thinking deeply. Maybe I didn't like Ratos from the beginning but Oliver? It was different.

Why?

I asked myself silently. Why am I looking for it? Is it just curiosity? Or is there something else?

But I stopped when I spotted Oliver, who was looking at me from afar. His face was pale and his eyes filled with tension, as he tried to smile with that familiar smile that had always been his weapon in hiding his weakness.

"White!" he said as he approached me quickly, "Where have you been? I... It was a disaster. Ratos is the one who killed them all. We are the only ones who survived us."

His voice was trembling as if he was trying to convince me of something, but I didn't need to convince him. I didn't care who killed whom. I didn't care about betrayal at this moment, not even who was standing in front of me. I knew very well that no one could escape from nature.

"Ratos?" I said in a quiet voice as I looked him in the eye directly. "You did this, didn't you?"

Oliver froze for a moment, as if the words that came out of my mouth were a lightning bolt for him. Then he smiled broadly, narrow-edged, trying to hide his confusion. "You're wrong. You can't accuse me like that... You don't understand the situation."

But I didn't back down. I looked at him with deadly coldness, as if I was watching the moment he was exposed. I knew what he had in store. "I wish Ratos was the traitor, but it was clear it was you."

He got confused, then whispered to himself: "How... How did you know?"

I smiled sarcastically, without raising my eyebrows. "Everything became clear to me after I thought twice. Whenever the task is sideways from the system, it is either fasting or vomiting. I thought it was just joking at first, but after thinking, I started to see the picture clearly. The food was poisoned."

His expressions changed quickly, but he tried to stay calm. "But has your mind gone crazy? What system are you even talking about? "

I ignored his question and continued. "You were giving food, and you were the only one who was urging me not to refuse it. Whenever the moment of eating food approaches, the system prevents me from eating it, and forces me to vomit if I eat it. Oddly enough, this only happened when you gave me food. How could you take everyone's food and just leave it to me?"

Confusion was growing in his eyes. He was trying to escape the truth that was beginning to unfold in front of him, but he was stuck in every word. "This... It's not possible!"

"And that's not all, Oliver." I continued, my tone of voice cold and harsh. "How could everyone come back after the ritual exhausted and in pain, except you? You had stamina, even though you usually can't tolerate a fever."

His heart was accelerating. He knew I was approaching the end point. But I wasn't done yet.

"And more..." As I took him one step closer to him, I said, "You've always said your hatred for your parents, even though each of us lost parents at a young age. The answer was clear throughout. Your parents sold you, and you became Goshu's slave."

At that moment, his words completely receded, and his self-confidence waned. He knew he had no escape. The words that came out of my mouth were fatal, you can't escape them. He knew it was over.

"Now, Oliver," she whispered in his ear, "Do you remember that life is not just about being survived?"

"Do you think you understand everything now?" said Oliver, laughing sarcastically. Do you think you won? Do you think that betraying someone inferior to you deserves to be the end? You don't know what I went through, I was sold like a bag of potatoes to someone who used me for years, but now I have the opportunity to break free. To become stronger"

I laughed out loud, as if my laughter was the result of a huge madness boiling inside me. Something in his heart was broken by now, and he could have felt it. But I wasn't interested in explaining it.

"Strength?" I said in a sarcastic tone, as I took a step towards Oliver. You were a traitor before you were strong. And here you are selling yourself again to others, so what is the use of your power in this case? I've always been too weak to realize something deep in this world, Oliver."

His eyes began to widen in mounting anger, but the trick had suddenly fallen, and with astonishing speed Oliver pulled a knife from under his coat, and tried to stab me with it. The movement was fast, but I was faster.

In an instant, I grabbed him by the wrist and forced his hand to bend by force. His eyes filled with astonishment, but I wasn't ready for mercy.

"I was looking for something exciting in you, Oliver," she whispered as I pressed the knife in his hand. "But all I've found seems to be the same never-ending repetition of constrained ambitions."

Then in a lightning motion, she grabbed the knife more forcefully, pushing it through his body harshly. His gaze was laden with surprise and sparks, as if nothingness was devouring him in one moment. The blow was knockout, and he had no chance of survival.

Blood was splattering around me, staining my hands and clothes, but I felt nothing. It was a strange feeling. All I could think about was that moment when Oliver's eyes were closed forever. The moment of calm that followed the end of his character. His death meant more than a triumph to me, it was a confirmation of something I had been hiding from myself for a long time.

I remembered the rituals, how I used to see them all, when I was not chosen and someone was chosen instead of me. I could see their faces, distorted by pain, with their eyes full of hope, begging. I used to think that I was different from them, that I sympathized with them, but now, when I honestly look at myself, I see the truth.

I had no sympathy. I was just relieved that I didn't choose me, their comfort was in the position of my fear, while they were in the position of my weakness. I was watching them from afar, returning to my corner, and inside the only feeling that troubled me was relief. I'm not their place. I've never been like them. "When did we turn into monsters?""I said in a low voice, whispering.

And then I turned around, as if nothing was. But I felt something, a slight movement behind one of the corners. It was his eyes, watching me, he knew that I was more than just a person suffering from internal conflict. I was hungry for this moment.

Ratos..." I said in a dry voice, covered in blood, as I slowly walked toward the corner where he was hiding. "You were like me? You didn't know something that we were going to be sacrificed, did you? "

Ratos was hiding in the shadows, scared, trembling at the horror of what had happened. He looked at me with his wide eyes, as if the whole reality had fallen on him all at once.

"I didn't think I'd find you here, Ratos. But now it's clear. You didn't run away. You were just trying to survive," I said, then she smiled coldly. "Do you see?, some of us find comfort in manipulating others, and some of us find comfort in eliminating them."

I smiled a comical smile Oliver's blood on my hands dripping, every dot that descended on the ground as if to foreshadow a tragic end. That's the reality, Ratos, that's what makes us the damned. Life is just a series of choices, and each of us comes at a price. No one escapes reckoning."

He took another step towards him, as he hid in the corners. Have you ever thought about the meaning of life? Did you think it was this power you had that made us excel? No... We only have the ability to endure more pain, to swallow more pain, to make the world recognize you in its cruel way."

But now I'm learning, Ratos, that we're all just tools... Tools for something bigger, tools for inevitable destiny – the power we thought would make us free, was just another constraint. Do you know that? You can't run away from yourself. This is the thing you've been running away from all your life, and you're "there's no escape from the end."

I watched his hands tremble and the illusions he was living in were collapsing. He was still trying to keep his cool, but his eyes were full of panic. He thought he could survive, to remain in the shadows far from the truth, but the truth was here before him, in Oliver's blood lying on the ground.

You see now, don't you? I whispered as I got closer, my voice became deeper, more threatening. "All that power, all that charisma you thought you had... You were nothing but a curtain behind which hides your fear, your fear of this moment, the moment when you can't escape."

She smiled a smile that contained no mercy. "Are you ready? Are you ready to accept who you are? Or will you still remain in the shadows?"

Ratos didn't answer, his hands were shaking, his eyes couldn't find the way out.

As for me, I left him behind and headed towards the exit.

"Goodbye Ratos, nice to talk to you"

I didn't know at the time that this was the first conversation we had... And it won't be the last.