The Past Will Remember.

His face resting on his left hand, Aldric watched as the Reaper approached the two lost men. Fear had completely overtaken them, so much so that Basid had not noticed that the suppression on his Xai was lifted.

Suddenly, one of the creature's protruding strings shot at Basid at a speed imperceptible to anyone present. The wire-like tendril wrapped tightly around his arms and legs. The man struggled and shouted in terror, however, his screams fell on deaf ears.

The sickening sound of snapping bone echoed through the entire throne room as the creature's wires tightened and bent Basid's arm—a scream, deep and guttural, shot from the lungs of the Xai user.

[The Firsts are pleased by your actions.]

"Stop! Stop this now!" Watching the torture his brother faced, Hariga exclaimed pleas to the self-proclaimed king of the impending massacre—Aldric.

In turn, Al looked down at the pleading brother, and in that moment, he searched for something within himself, perhaps a strand of humanity to ignore, or a feeling of sympathy he'd have to suppress. Yet, he found none. As he watched the brutal scene, he felt nothing but satisfaction in his victory.

Another sickening snap echoed as more of Basid's bones were broken, shattered, and twisted in ways they were never meant to be. The constant screams of the lost man now a repetitive backdrop to the chaos.

This wasn't simply a pointless act of torture. Aldric would have opted for giving them swift deaths. However, by doing so, that would immediately end the trial, meaning he would have to split the blessings of the Firsts with the other candidates. And if he chose to do the opposite first by killing the candidates, that would have the lost men with a chance to attack him. Like Aldric expected, the elf had removed her Xai suppression, giving Basid a power of which he did not know the extent.

Although as the Reaper took care of the lost men, that left the candidates unoccupied and with two options. The first of which was to attempt an escape. This was simply a foolish choice. Attempting to walk past the Reaper was only a quicker way to their demise.

The second option, however, was more logical, and with how the candidates stood unmoving, it was obvious that was the choice they made—they would kill Aldric while the Reaper was busy with the brothers, although they were in no rush to. If Aldric should die, that would make Hariga the next person with the most of the reaper's serum and ultimately put them back in the same situation—they needed Hariga incapacitated first, screaming in pain and unable to order the Reaper.

So as the screams of the creature tamer shot through the room, both of his legs crushed and twisted—Blindfold saw the chance he had been waiting for.

Then, with speed usually untraceable, he moved, appearing before Aldric as his sword swung down upon him.

However, with his blade only mere inches from Aldric, blindfold became frozen in the air, unable to move a muscle as the strings of the Reaper wrapped tightly around his entire body and sword, holding him in place.

Aldric, his head still leaning on his left hand, had on an expression that showed he was un-amused, disappointed even.

"You're so predictable, I don't need returns to know your next move."

Aside from the fact that the reaper's strings surpassed his speed, Blindfold was also unaware that possession of the reaper's serum also allowed telepathic commands, something Hariga would have added if Aldric didn't cut him off—Al had silently ordered the Reaper to be alert of blindfold.

"Not long after we started this trial, you had taken my head off, although I'd still have killed you regardless of if you did, but we can call this revenge."

"You—"

The strings tightened around the throat of Blindfold, and squeezed tightly before cutting through his neck, blood spluttered on Aldric's face and across the throne he sat as Blindfold's head fell to the floor with a thud and rolled to his feet.

In doing so, the blindfold that wrapped around his face was undone, and it revealed a mesmerizing pair of blue eyes that looked as far off from blind as possible, but around his eyes were a more horrific sight of charred flesh and bloody thick veins, like that of a rotting corpse. Perhaps what the blindfolds truly hid.

"Disgusting." Aldric wiped the blood off his face as he turned to the candidates, most watched in terror, their last plan dying along with Blindfold.

"Finish the rest." Aldric gave his command with chilling finality.

The Reaper's strings, swift and unavoidable, shot at the rest of the candidates, piercing through them. Well, all of them aside from Asari, who still watched with the same calmness she possessed from the start.

For the other candidates, however, being impaled by the strings was but the first of their problems, with a slowness as terrifying as could be, the Reaper approached them, its claws dragging across the floor in an eerie manner.

* * *

The smell of iron was now thick in the air, almost more overwhelming than the irritating stench of the creature. Crimson now covered the floor in generous amounts as what were now corpses of the candidates sprawled across the throne room.

They did not put up a good fight. In fact, they did not put up a fight at all. They simply died, screaming for mercy, pity, or whatever it took to save their lives. Aldric found the elf's pleas particularly amusing. For someone who he watched take a life so easily and coldly, she was quite keen on pleading for hers.

Their screams had died out along with them, leaving only the occasional grunts of the lost men as they slowly bled out, along with sounds of frustration that escaped the creature's maw as it continued its attempt at killing Asari—a failing attempt, one must add.

The seemingly untouchable creature had now become a mess of wounds and emerald blood, damaged by its own attacks, while Asari stood, exhausted and growing tired of the charade.

"There's no way you forgot about my ability, so why are you still trying? It can't kill me," Asari stated.

Aldric sighed at Asari's words before speaking.

"It seems you're terribly mistaken. It can indeed kill you."

Asari's pupils dilated at Aldric's statement. Most people did not give it any thought, but if anybody would, she knew it was Aldric.

"What?" Asari asked, hiding her faltering confidence as she hoped it wasn't what she's thinking.

"You said your marking will reflect all active intent at harm towards you back unto the originator," Aldric grinned slightly. "But if I tell the Reaper to attack your clothes, for example, that isn't an intent to harm you, but will most certainly do so."

Asari gritted her teeth and looked at Aldric.

"So why haven't you done that yet?"

"I need it to keep attacking you so it damages itself enough for me to kill it, and as for you, you'll live. If you'd left me in the forest like the others, the dark stalker would have killed me. Regardless of your motives, you saved me a life."

Asari managed a small smile.

"So what about being a terrible and greedy man?"

"I am..." Aldric reached behind, pulling the knife that Asari had given him, then tossed it towards her, causing it to bounce across the floor and slide to her feet.

"... But even the devil pays his debts."

"Come," Aldric instructed the creature, which was now bloodied and battered from its own powerful attacks.

The creature swiftly made its way towards Aldric, now a mess of punctured limbs and exposed flesh. As Aldric smelled its blood, just like before, he could feel himself almost lose control, his hands wrapping around the hilt of the black star blade.

"Your soul... I want it," Aldric muttered, putting his hand on the creature's face as he raised his blade, placing the tip on the reaper's chest, which was once covered by the metallic weaving, but now destroyed and exposed.

"You've done well, so please, die now." Aldric thrust his blade through the heart of the Agraedian Reaper as it let out a screech of pain before finally falling to its death.

[You have slain a Dominative Creature: Agraedian Reaper.]

[Your blade has feasted on the soul of a Dominion.]

[You have obtained one soul shard.]

Then Aldric stood from the throne he sat on. With exhausted steps, he walked over to the lost men, both already unconscious. He raised his sword and thrust it through their hearts.

[The main Trial has been completed.]

[You are one of two surviving candidates.]

[The Gods of the Expanse have taken note of this event.]

[The Expanse shall know your title.]

[The Firsts are pleased.]

[The Firsts deem you a new name: Retribution.]

[By your hand, all three lost men were slaughtered for their sins against existence. The past shall remember, and so will the future.]

[You are the Firsts' Great and Terrible Blade, and reality itself will crack at the weight of your failures.]

[Step through the gate, candidate, and receive your rewards.]

Upon the final notification, two individual gateways opened before Aldric and Asari.

The two surviving candidates stared at each other for a while, in silence, saying nothing. Possibly, there wasn't anything else to be said.

"Thank you, Voss. I hope we meet again," Asari smiled, a genuine one, as she stepped through the gateway.

"I have a feeling we will," Aldric muttered, stepping through the gateway as well.