Sacrifice and Punishment

The atmosphere in the room was chaotic and terrible. The blood pattern created from their battles and sacrifices was clearly imprinted coloring the dark room with a predominance of dark blue. Hands, feet, head, body, fingers, even internal organs were scattered on the floor of the room.

A fitting description of the current state of affairs is genocide. Really describes a room crowned as a cemetery.

Sana who saw Galam's condition rushed to activate his Healing and hoped that his power would be of use. Sana continuously shed tears when she saw how the condition of her partner as well as a figure who might have slipped a little in her heart.

To be honest, Sana wasn't sure if her power would make Galam what it was. He wasn't even sure that Galam would survive. But he warded off all bad thoughts about Galam's condition, he dismissed all the facts that the man's condition was far from fine. He kept trying even though it was a futile possibility, he just wanted to be useful occasionally, especially for the man who made him comfortable around him for a moment.

"There, it's okay. I—I'm still fine."

Galam's words seemed not to be heard by Sana. He remained focused on healing Galam's wounds.

"There, listen to me. You can stop now."

"Shut up! Can you shut that mouth of yours?! Hold on a little longer, I can definitely cure you!" Sana snapped.

Countless tears came out of his eyes, it was impossible to imagine how much energy and sweat he had wasted. Sana didn't feel it all. He just focused, trying to be optimistic about his healing abilities and his efforts to deny the various realities that were in front of him.

In fact, he didn't even realize that his body had already reached the limit of its capabilities. The side effects of using excessive force weighed heavily on Sana's body. Slowly, fresh red blood came out of Sana's nostrils which indicated that her body was no longer able to exceed the limit of strength that her body could tolerate.

"Cough, cough. A—a little more!"

In the midst of the reverse effects of the power starting to damage his body, he kept trying to heal Galam's condition. He didn't feel the pain he was in, he ignored the pain he felt, all for the sake of saving Galam alone.

Everyone who was left was only able to watch the scene with pity and regret. They also didn't know what to do, their abilities weren't capable of providing healing powers like Sana's. Until finally they were only able to see, look, without being able to do anything.

"Damn it! I can't stand to watch this anymore!"

Andras chose to get away from that place and turned his gaze to another direction. Likewise with Varos who also turned his sad gaze to the corner of the room. He then spoke to Andras about the current condition of their teammates.

"Are these people the only survivors now? Our comrades aren't even a third of the party . Many of us are also in critical condition, they don't have much time left."

What Varos said was true. Their current state would not even be able to deal with one goblin per person. If their blood percentage was compared to Health Points like in the game, maybe HP was under ten percent.

"We wouldn't have ended up like this if you didn't have the decision to explore this strange hole, Andras. All this is your responsibility, the burden you have to bear for leading us to death. I hope you are ready to accept your punishment," Varos continued.

"Yes."

Andras pondered what Varos had said to him. Maybe this wouldn't have happened if he hadn't decided to give them a choice. Maybe this incident would only exist in a dream if he didn't decide to go into it. It was all his fault, he deserved the punishment he deserved for his decision, Andras thought.

When their condition was critical, it would be terrible if suddenly the demon in front of them smiled and turned his gaze to them. The demon then moved its left hand slightly which caused a light earthquake to shatter the artifact stone earlier. The stone shattered and was replaced by an altar that emerged from the floor of the room.

"W—what happened?!"

"That bastard! What else is he going to do?!"

Everyone panicked to see an altar suddenly appear before them. At this time in their minds the question arises—What other tragic things will they face before finally dying?

"I—it's an altar."

Galam's words suddenly made everyone look at him. In such a state, he was still able to speak and even give an answer to their surprise.

Everyone was wondering about the meaning of Galam's words, "Altar? Why Altar"

"Have you ever read a book or maybe a story about a demon worshiping sect? As a form of my loyalty to the devil, the servants will make sacrifices to him in the form of living beings."

Everyone still looked confused by the direction Galam was talking about. Realizing this, Galam continued his sentence.

"Don't you remember the first rule? Worship and worship. We've already done that, but there's one thing the demon will believe in our loyalty to him."

"A sacrifice. We must hand over a sacrifice."

Andras' words in response to Galam's intention made everyone slump down and helpless. Fear, resignation, and despair, all these feelings were felt by everyone in the room. They start to panic and think negatively that they will be the ones who will be sacrificed.

In the midst of that tense atmosphere, Varos took his sword and aimed the blade right at Andras' neck.

"Andras, you haven't forgotten, have you? You are the leader as well as the one who led us down this path. Everyone has to give up their lives to be killed by that disgusting creature. Shouldn't you be showing your responsibilities to us this time?" said Varos.

Galam who saw that tried to stop Andras and Varos. But this time his strength was completely exhausted, even he was currently having a hard time breathing.

"You're right. This is all my fault. So I have to carry out my responsibilities as chairman as well as the bad guy who killed all of you."

Andras then pulled away the sword that was aimed at his neck. He walked, alone, to the altar to lay down his life as an offering. Galam was not willing to let this happen. He tried to get up but he couldn't, now he was even on the verge of death.

According to Galam, whatever happened here was not Andras' fault. From the start, Andras even gave the opportunity to refuse, but the majority chose to continue exploring and it was agreed. Galam felt like a coward if he only blamed Andras in this situation.

Andras who had arrived in front of the altar was surprised when a magic circle under his feet activated and emitted a purple light. He didn't know if what he was doing was right or not.

Galam with the remnants of his consciousness, noticed the condition of the altar. He noticed that around the altar there was a magic circle that had not been activated. He then realized, that all the remaining people must be at the altar as a condition for the start of the ritual.

"S—Sana, can you hear me?"

Sana who heard it responded with a nod of her head.

"Alright, listen to me. According to my prediction, the altar will activate when everyone is there. So please direct everyone as well as me towards the altar."

After hearing Galam's words, Sana then gave orders to everyone to walk towards the altar. At first they seemed doubtful because it could endanger their lives, but they also had no other choice but to believe it.

"The altar will be active if we are all there. So please believe me," said Sana.

Then everyone walked towards the altar along with Varos as well as Galam who was already in critical condition. As Galam had guessed, while everyone was there, the magic circle under each person's feet activated and emitted light of a different color. After that, unexpectedly, the exit door was wide open, indicating that they could get out of that place.

"What does this mean?!"

"Can we go home? Finally!"

When everyone started to feel the euphoria of happiness, it disappeared again when a black mist appeared behind them. The black mist then turned into demons with large bodies holding a giant scythe in their hands. This panicked everyone.

"Damn, what's this?!"

"They're moving! Th—they're moving towards us!"

Everyone panicked. They tried to get out of the altar and thought of heading towards the door. But the magic circle suddenly emitted a trap magic that made them unable to move their feet. Right now, their minds only had two things, to die in pieces or die to be beheaded.