…
Caius sat on the throne the disciples had brought to him, dressed in the regalia of the Church of Malzaphor, as he glared down at the person chained to the pole in the underground bunker, body limp against the cold, concrete floor.
The mutterings of the chained man was only rivaled by the low hum of the nearby vents as Caius stared silently at the pathetic sight.
The fake moonlight outside, showing a fake image of somewhere in Russia, casted a dark shadow over his face, the embellished gold on his regalia glinting as he let out a twisted grin.
Everything was fake here. As fake as the man's devotion.
Before him, chained to a pole, knelt the man who had betrayed him.
Priest Isaac.
His face- once so full of conviction, had withered into ashen skin and sunken cheeks. A ghost of his former self.
The four silent shadows behind Caius did not move, but their presence was a weight upon the room.
Caius tilted his head, a grin stretching across his face. With slow, deliberate cruelty, he pressed the tip of his boot under Isaac's chin, forcing the man to meet his gaze.
"...Tell me, my dearest Priest Isaac. You were a man with such potential."
His voice was smooth—mocking.
"So tell me… Why did you betray me?"
Isaac's chains rattled as he lifted his gaze, those same determined eyes still burning—the ones Caius despised.
"...The sovereign won't forgive you for this," Isaac rasped, his breath labored. "At the End of Time, He will remember what you've done…"
"...And you will rot in hell with the other sinners."
A silence.
Then, Caius lowered his head.
Shadows obscured his face. His fingers twitched. His jaw clenched.
And then…
"Pfft… KUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
His laughter exploded into the chamber, distorted, wild, unhinged.
He leaned back on his throne, reveling in the moment, a gleam of amusement flickering in his crimson eyes.
"Hahhh…End of time, is it?"
His voice dropped to a whisper as his fingers curled.
In one sudden motion, he snatched Isaac by the throat, lifting the frail man like a ragdoll.
"Disciple Petros. Sacrificial blade."
One of the shadows stepped forward. Without hesitation, he unsheathed a jagged, blackened dagger and placed it in Caius's outstretched hand.
Caius toyed with it. Spun it. Admired its wicked edges like it was a lover's smile.
His smile widened.
"...My dear priest," he murmured, twisting the blade between his fingers. "It seems the idols have claimed your soul. Tell me… this 'End of Time' you speak of…"
His grip tightened.
"What, exactly, are we implying?"
Isaac did not flinch. Even with death staring him down, his faith did not waver.
"...Armageddon. The final judgement. Our sovereign will send his forces and-"
But he was cut off.
A glint of a blade.
A dizzying moment of confusion. A sense of falling.
And then, Isaac was staring at himself.
"You speak of Armageddon," Caius murmured. "But tell me, old friend…"
His body.
His headless corpse.
"Do you really think I fear Hell?"
No response. Only the low, sterile hum of the vents, and the pooling blood.
Caius let out a quiet sigh as he flicked the blood from the blade. He dropped the body onto the floor. His expression bored.
"Such a shame," he said coldly. "He really should've kept his heretic hands out of the treasury."
However, as he glanced at the head of the former priest, he couldn't help but see something deeper within the surprise…
Pity.
Caius scowled. That ruined his mood entirely. The same look that he was so familiar with.
"Disciple Petros. Cleanse this mess."
The shadows moved.
"Disciple Loudas," Caius continued, throwing the knife back to one of the shadowy figures, which caught it in a split second, as it disappeared into their robe. "Send my deepest 'condolences' to his friends and family."
A ripple of movement. Caius blinked.
And then- Isaac was gone.
No trace. No body.
Only the empty chains on the pillar remained, like a forgotten whisper of a man who once existed.
A familiar chill crawled up Caius's spine. He felt the gaze of the four shadowy figures in the room, the sense of pressure accumulating. They were monsters.
But he did not shudder. He did not blink.
Because these monsters were his.
He must not show fear.
As Disciple Loudas vanished into the darkness, Caius exhaled, turning toward the exit. He was feeling quite hungry. He wondered if the beef sandwiches from flamehouse were still on sale.
And yet, he couldn't help but linger on Isaac's finalwords.
Armageddon? Ridiculous.
He didn't believe in God. Never had.
But even he had to admit…
If there was ever a word to describe what was happening right now…
It was that.
Caius was snapped out of his memory as the sky above the colosseum cracked, as uncountable monstrous limbs slipped through the cracks. Tentacles. Claws. Hands. Bones. Snouts.
The red window in the sky was a constant reminder about the severity of the situation.
Caius felt a shiver run down his spine, as he felt the feeling of unsurmountable horror. Something he would never be able to face and come out alive…
But just then, he slapped himself in the face.
And steadied his breath.
The red window in the sky was a reminder for severity, but also…
Survival.
Ten minutes...
He wasn't going to die like this. Not after being given a second chance. The determination that allowed him to rise up in the ranks of the church of Malzaphor, making it to the Vice cult leader.
Right now was the moment he needed it most.
The people around him were in chaos. Some cried, some screamed, others ran, stepping on the fallen as they rushed, trying to escape the damned place. The old lady beside him fell to her knees, as her clenched hands went to her forehead.
"...Oh, merciful god… Save us from this hell…"
Caius clenched his teeth as he ran his hand exasperatedly through his hair, as his mind ran overtime.
If only it was that easy.
But no dieu ex machina would be saving them today.
It was clear as soon the first monster appeared from the crack.
It was like a wolf. Fur running across its elongated body, as it flailed through the air, it's arms resembling more of a human than an actual animal…
But Caius didn't stand there idiotically to see what it was. He sprinted towards the crowd, who could at least become his meat shield during times of need.
This wasn't a game. There wouldn't be a reset or respawn button waiting for him.
Only death.
His ears picked up everything around him. The same ears that he had trained for decades, listening in to the mass of people in the cathedrals and churches, making sure everyone was showing devotion.
But now… All they picked up was the desperate cries of the dead…
…But then…
"Everyone! Stop panicking! We have to team up!"
A sensible person in a crowd of panicking cattle, about to be slaughtered. Brave. Foolish.
'Epitychia.'
Caius managed a sneer, as he ran towards the voice.
The sky cracked even more, as more monsters fell out of the sky, descending around him.
He saw the splashes of blood and bones as most of the monsters around him crashed onto the floor from miles above, leaving only the unmoving bodies of fur, blood, bones and flesh, crushing the people around him as they fell...
But some didn't die. Some smaller monsters landed on others, forming a pile that would eventually save another's fall... The twitch of monstrous limbs as they slowly recovered...
Caius had to hurry.
He pushed through the panicking crowd, dodging a flailing green creature falling from the sky, before suddenly feeling pain in his legs...
A bone. The impact of the fall broke the monster's bones, sending them flying into him...
F*ck...
It hurted. It burned. Way more than it should've.
Instead of a simple bone, it felt like his leg was completely torn through...
...Why?
He clentched his teeth as he tumbled forwards towards the voice...
As a pair of rough hands caught him.
They were warm and alive. "Brother! Are you alright?"
He looked up, seeing a face... With the most striking eyebrows he had ever seen. Chizled form. Large frame...
Justice oozing from his body.
Ah. This was almost too cliche.
Caius managed a smile, as he opened his mouth... But stopped as he saw a glint in the air. Something descending quickly. Too quickly.
He grabbed the man's collar, pulling it towards him, as his body suddenly leaned forwards, covering Caius as...
CRUSH.
The man's eyes went blank as something hit the back of his spine, killing him instantly, as Caius found himself being crushed by the falling body...
'Hell... This pig.'
He ran all the way here just for the puppet to die. His luck was truly the worst.
Slowly, as he inched himself out, he glanced at the surroundings...
It was simply pandemonium.
He slowly used his arm to pull himself out, ignoring the overwhelming pain in his leg.
Pull...
A long-limbed monster decapitated someone's head.
Pull...
Someone was slowly being devoured by a slug-like monster with small hands.
Pull...
He could hear screaming in the distance... As somebody's skin turned into metal?
What the hell?
Caius pulled himself out as he looked around, realizing that something was happening to the people around him.
A single word popped into his head. Something the angel said before the sky collapsed.
Abilities.
A woman breathes fire but can't control it. A kid was flying through the air, flailing as he dodged a clawed hand. A black haired man cut through a giant monster, cutting it into pieces... With a sword..?
Weapons.
He looked back at the dead body of the man with the striking eyebrows... And sure enough...
Stuck in his spine, was a hammer.
...How awfully convenient.
He grabbed the handle, unflinching, pulling it out of the man with a sickening SCHLK, as he assessed the battlefield.
He sees the chaos, the confusion. The same as lost lambs, waiting for their shepard.
The people need a leader.
He cleared his voice, the same one that he used to call out to every one of his hundreds followers in the cathedral, making sure everyone was able to hear.
"Do you want to live?! Then follow me! Survive together, or die alone!"
He saw heads immediately shoot twards his direction. Thoughts flashing on their faces.
Fear. Confusion. Distrust... But more than the others...
Desperation.
And so, they came running towards him.
No questions asked.
A shadow loomed behind him. The giant wolf-like creature, its grotesque form twitching as it tore through the crowd, was now charging at Caius, its eyes glinting with hunger.
Without hesitation, Caius swung the hammer in a wide arc, smashing it into the creature's face with a sickening crack. It stumbled backward, disoriented, but still alive.
And so, he didn't stop.
He kept on swinging. Breaking. With the goal of killing.
No hesitation. It's killed or be killed.
And soon... The monster became unrecognizable. The final twitch in it's neck disappeared. Caius stood up, wiping the blood from his face.
Another monster lunged. Short, green-skinned. Bald.
Caius suddenly felt oddly enraged.
He pivoted, bringing the hammer up in an arc. The impact detonated the creature's skull like an overripe fruit. Gore rained down.
His makeshift group of survivors watched, stunned.
He made sure his leg injury was seeable, as he clentched his hammer until his knuckles were white.
'...If an injured person could do that much... Then could I..?'
He could basically see it in their eyes.
"Don't just stand there! FIGHT!" Caius barked, wiping blood from his cheek.
The fear in their irises flickered into determination.
A woman, still crying, but with clenched fists, stepped forward. She had no weapon, no ability, but she picked up a discarded spear and thrust it into a monster's eye socket.
A man with shaking hands raised his arms, and a jagged wall of ice erupted from the ground, shielding them from another oncoming beast.
The people who gathered around stared wide-eyed at his display. Caius sighed, before opening his mouth once again.
"Form a defensive circle! We are not fodder for these beasts!"
'They're fodder for me.' He thought, as he wiped the blood from his hammer.
The crowd's panic seemed to slow as they processed his words. Caius's voice rang with authority as he raised the hammer again. His hands were steady now, as if the chaos around him was nothing more than a prelude to something he had already planned.
And it was true. Caius had always thrived in chaos, bending the world to his will, manipulating people to serve his goals. But this... This was different. The stakes were higher. The stakes were life and death.
But just then, as the crowd began to form a circle around him, being the glorious meatshields they are... He heard a familliar distorted voice.
"...Vice-Cult leader..?"
He didn't even need to turn his head to know who it was.
He rubbed his temple, as he turned around, forcing a smile. If he didn't...
Well, he would probably die.
The familliar grey thorned cloak that seemed to always have blood on it. The jingling gold chain. The somewhat cute bone ceramic mask with the painted red eye. The cold, blue eyes staring back at him.
"...Hah. It's seems like you're here too..."
His warm smile widened.
"Bishop of the Bloodied Eye."
...Just as things were getting better.
[ Time left: 6:43 ]
[ Objective: Survive. ]