Chapter 36: The God of Jokes
The massive door of grinning faces stood ajar, darkness swirling beyond it like a living thing. Tara's heart pounded as Ludicar's voice drifted out, smooth and amused, wrapping around them like a whispered secret.
"Come in, come in! You've walked all this way, endured so many trials. It would be terribly rude to keep me waiting."
Kael tensed, his daggers in hand. "Yeah, I'm really not in the mood for a punchline."
Emrick gripped his sword tighter. "We go together. No hesitation."
Tara swallowed her fear and stepped forward. The others followed, their bodies swallowed by the unnatural darkness beyond the threshold.
The moment they crossed, the door slammed shut behind them.
For a heartbeat, there was only nothingness. No sound, no air, no sensation.
Then—
A spotlight flared to life above them.
They stood on a vast, empty stage. An audience of shadowy figures loomed in the darkness beyond, their eyes glowing like dim embers. The stage floor gleamed beneath their feet, polished and reflective, distorting their images like a warped mirror.
And at the center, lounging in a grand chair like a king of madness, sat Ludicar.
He was unlike the other gods they had encountered. There was no divine radiance, no overwhelming presence of authority. He was casual, dressed in a mismatched coat and tattered scarf, his boots resting on a floating stool. A half-empty glass of wine hovered beside him.
His mask—a permanent, wicked grin—tilted as he regarded them.
"Well, well. My favorite mortals! You don't know how long I've been waiting for this moment."
Tara forced herself to stand tall. "You set this all up. The Seal, the First—this was your plan from the beginning."
Ludicar clapped his hands together. "Oh, you caught on! Brava! Took you long enough."
Emrick stepped forward, eyes blazing. "Why? Why help make the Seal just to break it?"
Ludicar leaned forward, resting his chin on his palm. "Oh, my dear boy, because it's funny."
A hush fell over them.
Kael exhaled sharply. "You think this is a joke?"
Ludicar snapped his fingers.
The stage shifted.
The polished floor turned to glass, revealing the world below—their world. Cities, oceans, mountains, all laid out beneath their feet. But something loomed above it all.
A crack in reality.
A wound in existence, where something vast and endless was awakening.
The First.
Ludicar spread his arms wide. "Do you see it? The ultimate joke! The gods built a prison for something unkillable. They shackled a concept—hunger, oblivion, the end of all things—and thought that was a solution."
His masked face tilted. "But what's the punchline? Ah, yes. It was never meant to last."
Tara's hands clenched into fists. "So you just… let it happen?"
Ludicar wagged a finger. "Not just let it happen. I helped. I designed the Seal with an expiration date." He leaned back, his laughter echoing. "And now, my dear heroes, it's time for the final act."
The shadowy audience began to applaud, slow and eerie, like the sound of a ticking clock.
Kael's eyes darkened. "What do you want?"
Ludicar rose from his chair.
"I want to see how the story ends."
The glass beneath their feet cracked.
And the final game began.