The excruciating pain from the slash wound on his neck still throbbed, but when Hegemon opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in a meadow on the outskirts of the village. The respawn point had shifted to one day before reaching the village. His chest heaved, and cold sweat poured down him.
"Hegemon? What's wrong? Your face is pale," Lily asked worriedly beside him.
"Nothing... let's keep going," Hegemon gritted his teeth.
Knowing the impending tragedy, Hegemon didn't choose to remain silent. This time, as soon as he arrived at the village, he deliberately approached the village chief and the soldiers patrolling the outskirts to warn them about the mysterious cult kidnapping children. However, things weren't as easy as he thought. The village chief looked at him with suspicion, while the soldiers chuckled, dismissing him as delusional. The words of a newly arrived immigrant and caretaker were nothing compared to the village's false sense of peace.
The will to save the children compelled Hegemon to act alone. That night, he didn't sleep, gripping his weapon and lying in ambush at the edge of the forest. Precisely at midnight, the children wandered aimlessly again. Hegemon rushed out to intercept them, but once more, the disparity in numbers and the cunning of the enemy crushed his plan.
This time, they didn't kill him immediately. They used magical chains imbued with evil energy to bind Hegemon's hands and feet, dragging him deep into a dark, damp cave within the mountain.
Under the flickering torchlight, Hegemon vaguely recognized the symbol embroidered on their cloaks. It was a blood-red inverted cross—the symbol of the "Western Cult," an extremist cult that sacrificed lives to summon ancient beasts.
"Release the children! You beasts!" Hegemon roared, the magical chains tightening and burning his flesh, locking down his magic, rendering even the Leviathan's mark ineffective. The cult leader stepped forward in front of the introverted child Hegemon had once given candy to. He smirked cruelly, raising his saber high.
"Thump!"
"NOOOOOOO!"
Hegemon screamed until his throat ached. The child's blood splattered on his face, icy cold. Before Hegemon's wide, helpless eyes, the leader ordered his subordinates to open the iron cages, releasing a horde of bloodthirsty, roaring beasts. "It's time to purge that lowly village."
"I'll kill you! You dog! I swear I'll chop you into a hundred pieces!" Hegemon thrashed wildly, his screams echoing against the rock walls, mingling with the cries of the other children inside the cave. He screamed continuously, biting the chains with his teeth until blood oozed out, until his body and mind were completely overwhelmed and he sank into the thick darkness of unconsciousness.
When Hegemon vaguely regained consciousness, he was surrounded by a pungent stench of blood and death. He thought he had died and reset, but no... his body was still there, in the cold corner of the cave. The cult members had left, abandoning him to his fate, believing he couldn't survive the amount of evil energy from the magic chains.
"Hegemon! Hang in there, I'm here to save you!"
A choked voice rang out. It was Lily. She had used her knowledge energy to erase her presence and sneaked into the cave at some point. Lily frantically used magic to break the chains, lifting Hegemon's weary body.
Hegemon struggled to stand, unable to speak, and rushed madly out of the cave to return to the village. But as he emerged from the forest, he was met with a horrifying sight: the small village was now a sea of raging flames. The sounds of collapsing houses and raging fires filled the air.
"Is anyone there?! Village chief! Everyone!" Hegemon rushed into the fire, desperately searching for survivors.
"ROAR!"
From within the burning houses, man-eating monsters emerged.
Having absorbed the evil energy from the sacrifice, they were incredibly ferocious, their eyes bloodshot and crazed. Seeing Hegemon, three wolf-like monsters with spiky manes lunged at him at terrifying speed. Hegemon, exhausted, couldn't dodge in time. A fatal pounce sent him tumbling, and in the next instant, the monster's sharp teeth lunged directly at him, crushing his head.
"Crack!"
His vision shattered. The automatic reset mechanism activated again.
Hegemon awoke on the green grass. The morning sun was still warm, and birds were still chirping as if no massacre had ever occurred.
But this time, Hegemon no longer screamed or panicked. He slumped to the ground, his eyes vacant and staring blankly into space. His soul felt drained, an overwhelming sense of helplessness filling his mind.
He realized this loop was no longer a game of challenges, but a hell on earth gnawing away at him little by little.