"Pro... victoria mea..." Rome's voice was a rasp. "Peto... salvum conductum... pro ea."
For my victory. I ask safe passage. For her.
The arena went silent.
The giant statue turned its massive head. Those burning eyes fixed on Rome. On the broken hunter lying in a pool of his own blood beside the corpse of its soldier.
Seconds stretched into eternities.
"INSOLENS." The giant's voice rumbled like thunder. "SED... IUSTUS."
Insolent. But... fair.
"UNUS VICTOR. UNUS SALVUS."
One victor. One saved.
"CONCESSUM EST."
It is granted.
Rome let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
She's safe.
Kiona's safe.
That's... that's enough.
He fumbled at his pocket. His remaining hand, his only hand now, was clumsy. Numb. The essence stones he'd collected earlier spilled across the sand. Eight of them. Maybe more.
"Kiona."
She was still beside him. Still crying. Her hands pressed against his stump like she could somehow put him back together through sheer force of will.
"Kiona. Take them."
"What?"
"The stones." He tried to push them toward her. Managed to scatter them further instead. "Take them. Go."
"I'm not leaving you!"
"You have to."
"NO!" Her voice cracked. Raw. Desperate. "I won't! I refuse!"
Rome laughed. It hurt. Everything hurt. But he laughed anyway.
"Dumbass." The word came out soft. Almost fond. "I'm dying. Just... go. Please."
"Rome—"
"Put in a reservation for us." He forced his lips into something like a smile. "Somewhere nice. With candles."
"Stop it."
"You said I'm paying, right? So pick somewhere expensive. Really... really bleed me dry."
"Stop TALKING like that!"
"Kiona." He found her hand. Squeezed it with what little strength he had left. "Go. Come back with help. Or don't. Either way... you live. That's... that's the deal."
She stared at him. Tears carved tracks through the dust and blood on her face.
"I'm coming back for you." Her voice shook. "Do you hear me? I'm coming back. Don't you dare die before I get back."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
Liar.
You're such a liar.
Kiona grabbed the essence stones. Shoved them into her pocket. Her eyes never left his face.
Then she moved.
One of the fallen knights lay nearby. Its sword had fallen a few feet from its body. Kiona crawled to it. Grabbed the hilt. Used it as a crutch to lever herself upright.
Her broken leg dragged behind her. Each step was agony written in the lines of her face.
But she moved.
Toward one of the archways. The one the giant had indicated with a slight tilt of its head. The one that led somewhere other than death.
Good.
Good girl.
Keep going.
Rome watched her hobble toward the exit. Watched her silhouette grow smaller against the torchlight.
At the threshold, she turned.
"I'm coming back!"
He nodded.
She disappeared into the darkness.
She made it.
She actually made it.
Okay.
Okay, that's...
That's good.
That's really good.
Rome lay there for a moment. Let the relief wash over him. Let himself feel something other than pain for just a few seconds.
Then he moved.
What the hell are you doing?
His body screamed at him. Every nerve ending lit up with white-hot protest. But he moved anyway.
You should stay down.
His hand found something in the sand. A staff. Long. Wooden. It had belonged to the spear woman. Sarah? Sandra? He couldn't remember her name. Couldn't remember if she'd been one of the ones who ran or one of the ones who'd died in the fall.
It didn't matter now.
You should just let it end.
He used the staff to push himself up.
One knee.
Then the other.
Then his feet.
The world swayed. Tilted. Tried to throw him back down.
He stayed up.
The giant statue watched him. Those burning eyes held something that might have been curiosity. Or amusement. Hard to tell with a face made of stone.
Rome pointed the staff at it.
His arm shook. The staff wobbled. He probably looked ridiculous. A one-armed, half-dead OIne-Star threatening something that could crush him like a bug.
"You're next." His voice was barely a whisper. "Asshole."
The giant didn't respond.
Kiona made it out.
That's what matters.
She'll find help. She'll tell someone. She'll...
She'll be okay.
His thoughts drifted. Scattered like leaves in the wind.
Calypso.
Her face swam up from the darkness. Sixteen years old. That smile she got when she thought she'd fooled him. The way she pretended not to care about things she cared about more than anything.
I'm sorry.
Your big brother wasn't strong enough.
I wanted to give you everything. College. A house. A car. A life where you didn't have to worry about bills or groceries or whether the heat would work this winter.
I wanted to be the kind of brother you deserved.
But I guess...
I guess this is as far as I go.
His eyes drifted to the wall. To that pillar with the Roman numerals.
The shadow crept across the stone.
IV.
Almost at V.
Huh. Guess time's almost up anyway.
The giant raised its sword. That massive black blade that could cleave him in half without effort.
"TEMPUS FINITUM." Its voice echoed through the arena. "MORS TUA ADVENIT."
Time's up. Your death arrives.
Rome didn't lower the staff.
Fine.
If I'm going to die, I'm going to die standing.
I'm going to die fighting.
That's...
That's all anyone can do in this accursed world.
Be strong enough.
And when you're not strong enough...
Die trying.
The shadow touched V.
The giant's sword descended.
And then.
Everything.
Stopped.
The blade hung frozen in the air. Inches from Rome's head. Close enough that he could see his own reflection in its surface. A broken, bloody, one-armed mess of a man who'd somehow made it this far on spite alone.
The giant didn't move.
The remaining knights didn't move.
Even the torches seemed to pause, their flames locked in place like a photograph.
What...
What's happening?
A voice.
Not the giant's rumbling bass. Something else. Something lighter. Feminine. It echoed from everywhere and nowhere at once, like it was being spoken directly into his soul.
『Such an unjust game, wouldn't you agree?』
Who...
『The deck was stacked against you from the very beginning. No power. No backing. No chance of victory. And yet...』
Rome's vision blurred. Darkened. The arena faded at the edges.
『...you fought anyway. You bled anyway. You sacrificed everything you had for someone else's survival.』
I don't... understand...
『If my voice is reaching you, there may yet be hope. A spark in the darkness. A seed waiting to bloom.』
Seed.
The word resonated. Vibrated through his fading consciousness.
『You have the makings of a farmer, Rome. One who can sow the seeds of others and make them grow. One who can nurture potential into power.』
That doesn't... make any sense...
『It will.』
A window appeared.
Green text on a translucent screen. Floating in the void that his vision had become.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
SYSTEM PROMPT
You have been deemed worthy.
The ARCAN System has chosen you as a potential Scion.
Designation: Ancestral Resonance Cultivation Ascension Nexus
Class: Sower
Potential: Unmeasured
Do you accept the rights and responsibilities of this covenant?
[YES] [NO]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A system?
Like a video game?
『Choose, Rome. The reaper's blade waits for no one. Not even potential Scions.』
His vision was almost gone now. Just a pinprick of light in an ocean of black.
The YES button pulsed.
Calypso.
Kiona.
I still owe them both so much.
I can't...
I can't die here.
Not like this.
Not without...
His will reached out. Touched the button.
Yes.
[ACCEPTED]
『Welcome to the game, little farmer. Let's see what you can grow.』
The light went out.