Memory Reaper's Ascension - Chapter 158: Game of Choice

Chapter 158: Game of Choice

The man’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly. No words came out of his mouth as they had died in his throat… his war hammer slipped from nerveless fingers and hit the ground with a dull clang.

The dragon looked past him, taking in the other players. The man with the hammer, and three others who were standing not too close to him.

The dragon made a show of thinking, bringing one hand to its chin in a pose of exaggerated contemplation. The gesture was almost comical.

“I have an idea,” the dragon said suddenly, snapping its fingers. “Let’s play a game. I do so enjoy games. They make the hunt more… interesting.”

None of the players responded. They just stared, frozen like rabbits before a serpent.

“A game of choices,” the dragon continued, its smile returning. It pointed at the man with the hammer. “You… the one who gave me the clever idea. Here are your options.” It gestured to the three other players nearby. “Kill all three of your companions. Do that, and I will spare you… No let’s increase the rewards… I will save you and make you the first official member of my new empire.”

The plaza went deathly quiet.

“You’re insane,” one of the other players, who was a woman whispered as she summoned a bow. “He would never—”

“I wasn’t speaking to you,” the dragon interrupted mildly. Then, to the man with the hammer. “What do you say? Three lives in exchange of one? Their deaths can bring about your survival? It’s quite generous, really. Most predators don’t offer their prey any choices at all.”

The man just stood there, his legs shaking. His eyes were wide and his pupils dilated with terror.

One of the other players… he was a younger man, maybe twenty, wearing summoned plate armor. He suddenly moved, with frustration evident on his face.

How could he not feel frustrated… life was not so fair to him. He saw his parents getting buried in the rubble back on earth. Then he saw several of his friends doe on his way to this cursed island.

Now the damned blast and this dragon that seemed to not care about anything. His mind has reached a point where he could not take anymore of this insanity.

He raised his hand, and light coalesced into a longsword. The blade gleamed in the crimson moonlight.

“Fuck this,” the armored player snarled. “Fuck you and your games!”

He charged.

The dragon didn’t even turn to face him. He just floated there, watching the man with the hammer with those golden eyes.

The armored player swung, his blade cut through air with a whistle, aimed at the dragon’s exposed back.

The dragon shifted slightly and the blade missed by centimeters.

The player recovered and pivoted instantly, swinging again. This strike too was perfectly aimed, and equipped with all the enhanced speed and strength the Nexus system provided.

But it too missed the dragon by fractions of inches.

It was like trying to hit smoke. The dragon simply wasn’t where the blade passed through, even though he barely seemed to move at all.

“Impressive form,” the dragon commented, still not looking at its attacker. “Whoever taught you swordsmanship was competent.”

The young man stepped back and smirked… “No one thought me anything… I learned it all by stealing my life from the jaws of death.”

Then his eyes seemed to glow with a faint glow as they turned dark. Then his blade suddenly shimmered and within a few seconds he was standing inches away from the dragon. His sword was piercing the soft skin of his forearm.

Suddenly the young man’s eyes widened, he pulled out his sword and tried to jump back.

The dragon’s hand moved.

It was faster than the guy could jump… One moment the dragon’s arm was at its side. The next, his finger was buried in the armored player’s head.

The armored player froze mid-jump and his mouth opened in a soundless scream.

And then his head exploded.

The skull burst outward from the inside turning it into brain matter and crimson mist. The headless body stood for another second before collapsing like a puppet with cut strings.

Blood and worse things painted the plaza floor, the nearby players and the dragon’s naked body in spatters of red, grey and pink.

The dragon looked down at itself, frowning slightly as if noticing an annoying stain on expensive clothing.

“How inconvenient,” it said with theatrical disappointment. “I’m absolutely covered in gore now.” It wiped some brain matter from its chest, then looked at the substance on its fingers with distaste. “You know, if that demon was still here, his blood manipulation ability would be quite useful for cleaning my body. Such a waste that we couldn’t come to an arrangement.”

The dragon flicked its hand, sending bits of the dead player splattering across the plaza. Then it turned its attention back to the three remaining players.

The woman with the bow was on her knees, vomiting. The other man had backed away several steps, his face was utterly colorless. And the original speaker just stood there, trembling as he stared at the headless corpse.

“Now then,” The dragon said pleasantly. “Where were we? Ah yes. The game.” It looked at the man with the hammer. “The terms have changed, I’m afraid. That guy’s death was… regrettable.”

The dragon spread its wings slightly, and somehow the gesture made it look even more terrible.

“New offer… kill the other two,” it gestured to the woman and the remaining man, “Earlier I was gonna make you a High Priest, but now I will make you an archbishop in my cathedral.”

The man’s eyes went even wider.

“No,” the woman gasped from where she knelt. “Please. Don’t listen to it. We can fight together-”

“Silence,” the dragon said, not even looking at her. “This is his choice and his chance at salvation.” The golden eyes blazed brighter. “So what do you say, human? Will you kill for the privilege of survival? Or will you die for the empty comfort of morality?”

The man stood frozen for a long, horrible moment.

Then, slowly, his hands moved. Trembling fingers closed around the handle of his war hammer. He lifted it from where it had fallen and then he turned around.

He looked at his companions. The woman who was still on her knees and the man who had backed away, shaking his head in denial.

The terror in his eyes was absolute. But there was something else too in his crazed eyes…. he was Infected by seductive possibility of survival that could be purchased with another’s blood.

He knew he was stronger than these two and given that he knew their skills, he could easily kill them.

“Please,” the woman whispered. “We’re friends. We survived together, didn’t we… please come to your senses.”

But the man wasn’t hearing her anymore. His eyes had gone distant and empty.