Chapter 268: The Last Campfire

Chapter 268: The Last Campfire



Minutes later...

"So we're going to be asking them some questions now?"

Emir nodded at Aquila as they walked together towards the elevator.

"Yeah... 'We' being us, the professors, you'll only be watching from the sidelines."

"That's alright, I'll just have you do my job for me!"

They turned right at the end of the hallway, with Emir leading the way to their destination.

"Just know that you ain't getting the ones I have my eyes on."

"Fine, but since I'm not the one talking to them, I need you to ask something good."

"Sure, but weren't you supposed to know this already?"

Aquila stepped to the side, ensuring that the elevator would scan Emir's bracelet first; only after that would it scan his, thus allowing him entry to the exclusive elevator.

"Nah, this is something new; last year we could watch them from afar and snatch them up in secret."

Emir chuckled.

"Well, the second one still stands."

"True..."

Ting!

The professors' elevator arrived, and they stepped in.

Emir pressed the button for the second floor.

"And by the way, is your friend alright?"

Aquila seemed to have had this question bubbling in his mind for a while.

"He'll be fine; it's just that... Your dog brought some bad memories."

"That bad?"

"Yeah, only if you times a hundred of whatever's on your mind right now."

They shared a silent laugh as they exited to the second floor.

"So I guess you don't regret taking that favor then?"

While they walked out of the lobby, heading in the opposite direction of where the train came through....

"Of course not."

Emir spotted Ragnar waiting on them with Morgiana.

"Bro... What the fuck did you do?"

A grinning Emir approached Ragnar until they stood facing each other.

"Didn't Mag tell you?"

"Mor-Ahem."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Morgiana almost interrupted them by reflex, but she knew that it was a serious moment, so she shut herself up.

"I want you to say it."

Emir's grin widened even further until it was a full-on, toothy smile.

An unnatural one.

"I pulled her skull out of its body and crushed it beneath my foot..."

He took a quick glance at Aquila.

"I put him out of her misery."

Neither of the two reacted much to what he said, as they were already used to even gorier deaths than this.

However, Ragnar soon showed a saddened face.

Obviously, it wasn't because of what happened to his ex, but...

"I should've killed her myself... I thought that I was over it—"

Emir gestured for him to quiet down as he spoke, cutting him off:

"It isn't easy."

Ragnar's brows twitched.

"Hah? You out of all people shouldn't say that!"

"Why?"

"You make everything look easy."

Emir sneered.

"Right, I make it 'look' easy."

"But the fact that you can do that is..."

Ragnar sighed and left his brother to watch his back as he led the way toward the 'Rite.' "Emir... I can't even do that, so what does this say about me? Am I—"

He, who was following behind, smacked Ragnar's back, causing him to swallow his words.

"Look, you'll learn from this, but in the meantime, know that the world is better with you in it... Your existence is mandatory."

|| ||

Flabbergasted, Ragnar silently started at Emir, never once did he expect such words from his brother.

And neither did those around them.

"You get that? So shut up."

Emir didn't care for their reactions though.

"But I'm weak..."

"Weak? Look at you..."

He chuckled.

"A man who's almost as big as me has no right to say that."

"..."

Ragnar didn't know what reply to give so he kept quiet, allowing Emir to end his point.

"So no... you're strong... The weak... they already died."

"...You mean her? The bitch I was supposed to KILL?"

Emir laughed aloud while cracking his neck.

"Right, the one you passed out after seeing."

Ragnar's brows twitched as he stopped moving and turned around to face his brother.

"But you knocked me out!"

Emir shrugged his shoulders.

"No one told you to play freeze."

"Guys, chill out-"

And it wasn't just that...

I, Elijah, a student, had no reason to lie.

Right?

Well, yeah, I did.

But how would they know that, though?

'Hah.'

Aria didn't catch me on that lie however, she simply had an emotional outburst.

Similar to Ava and Arthur, who stayed huddled up in the corner, awaiting the fire to reach

them.

Oh... yes.

Right. The fire.

Our campfire.

Our last one.

It was coming.

It caught on to the fur and quickly spread everywhere.

It took no more than a minute to engulf the mammoth's back.

Now, we six hid above a few hill peaks, watching as it approached.

We awaited our deaths like good little souls...

And with every blink of my eye, the fire surged forward.

'Wow.'

Arthur truly was the protagonist of this world.

I tricked him into writing down the runes for fire on a piece of wood...

Then it spread.

From a house.

To another.

From a family.

To an entire tribe.

From insiders.

To outsiders.

Us.

Yes.

It reached us.

I was currently being engulfed by flames.

Should I have run away like Max?

No...

Dropping from that height was suicide.

We couldn't go slow either, the mammoth shook continuously.

Max certainly fell to his death by now.

And I was to join him soon as well.

'Oh.'

I heard screams.

It had been a while since I last heard something... Screams weren't at the top of my list of things to listen to, but at least it wasn't dead air-

'Wait...'

'Are those mine?'

'Probably.'

But some also came from behind.

Is that where the others were I wondered...

I truly couldn't know.

Why?

Because I died.

...

'Hm.'

I blinked.

'Hmmmm.'

What?

Didn't I die?

So why was I standing in this room?

It was dark.

But I still saw others next to me...

Was this Hell?

'No wait.'

Something appeared before my eyes.

A hologram.

'How?'

'Do they have technology in Hell?'

Well, Hell looked like a better place than I thought. [Test Completed.]

[Objective: Survive.]

[Time: 2 Days.]

I blinked.

"Ah."

I... only needed to run away from the mammoths.

Everything I did was unnecessary. And it was nothing but a fucking simulation.

Something that I had eluded myself into believing as the truth, all so I could finish the

mission, turned out to actually be true.

'Damn it all.'