Rey smiled as their brains processed his words. He had decided to part ways with them about as soon as Sergei painted that door, a lovely scarlet hue with his blood. Rey had given fate the middle finger, and it gave him a full-body suplex in return.

  No matter how hard he had tried to fight fate, in the end, there was no fighting it. Some things were written in ink, and he had thought they were written in pencil and could be erased and rewritten. But at least he had gotten Sergei out, even if he was a demon now.

  Rey would carry the guilt for killing him for as long as he was a human. Once he died and turned into a demon, things like these pesky emotions, such as guilt, honor, and caring for others, would be a thing of the past. But there was still some time till then.

  If he wanted to become a demon. The best thing for him would be to die now, but he couldn't kill himself, nor could he just ask a demon to off him. Hell hated quitters, and if he did that, he might not even reincarnate to chase after his soul. He had to die, really die in a struggle against a demon or face the nothingness that awaited a demon.

  But right now, the guilt of killing Sergei, who had done nothing but back Rey all this time, and then even decided to stay behind with that rage puppy on steroids. A dagger to the neck wasn't fair payment, even if Rey did it with the best of intentions.

  He looked at Sergei. "You trusted me, and I stabbed you in the neck. I did that to get you out. That was the only way. Otherwise, you would have been buried under piles of stone. Your soul would have risen, and there would have been no way for you to get to it. You would've become a mindless demon. This was the only way. By killing you, I was only bringing your body out. No soul, no you. I figured, since it was just your body, the castle's rules wouldn't have applied, and look, you're you again."

  "I a demon now," Sergei drawled. His anger still hadn't dissipated.

  "Yes, but at least you have your mind," Rey replied. "The alternative was you would've become a mindless monster roaming the forest until someone put you out of your misery. While your soul awaited in darkness for a demon strong enough to chuck the rocks away so that it can have a nice soulful meal."

  Sergei contemplated that, and was quiet for so long that Rey figured he was going to say nothing. Finally, he nodded. "Okay."

  "That's it?"

  "I don't forgive you," Sergei said. "But I understand."

  Rey nodded. "That's fair. Well, see you around, Sergei."

  Rey stood, dusted himself off, picked up his scythe, and looked around, trying to find north, as that was the direction he was headed, or he was supposed to go towards. After all, he had to reach the D-tier before the year ended. His only goal was to kill Zalathar, and for that, he had to attain more power. Good thing, he knew exactly how to do that. All he had to do was lose the excess weight.

  "What do you mean, part ways?" Filomena asked.

  Funny, I was expecting Kassi to ask this, but she really must be angry with me.

  "Exactly that. This is where I leave you to make your own terrible life choices," Rey replied.

  "And what are you going to do?" Ajay asked.

  "Oh, you know, stumble around and try to reach the goal that our loveable master has set for us before the year ends."

  "What about us?" he asked.

  "Well, you should also try to do the same, if you don't want to be stuck here for the rest of your lives," Rey replied. "Because you know, like Zalathar said, this isn't really Hell. It's just purgatory. I have aims to be much stronger, and I cannot do that if I'm worrying about you all."

  "And what about the goal Zalathar set for you?" Filomena said. "To get six people to the D-Tier prior to year-end."

  He didn't know how to answer this. If the last month had taught him anything, it was that there was no point taking a wrench to fate's nuts, because it would always swing them back and teabag Rey in the worst way possible.

  And he did not want to see them die again, especially her. Even if he somehow managed to get them to avoid their gruesome deaths, it would eventually catch up to them. It had happened to Maria and Jerry, who were supposed to die in the early skirmishes. Rey had just begun to think that they were safe, but nope. He had tried to get them to dodge fate, but that sucker had an aimbot.

  This past month was clearly a lesson in fate's undeniable powers, but Rey was always a bad student. So, he was going to try to give it the middle finger one more time.

  Rey sighed. "I'll tell you the truth this time. No more hiding anything from you all. Come close, children, I'm about to tell you your fate, in other words, how you will die."

  If he didn't have their attention before. He truly did now.

  "You will die if you stay with me," he said. "Every single one of you. The future states, I will lead you all to your deaths like poor Sergei here."

  "So, you'll kill us like you did him?" Doctor Bahar asked.

  "Is that what I said?" Rey raised an eyebrow. "You really should check your ears, doc, because I don't think they're working right."

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  She huffed and crossed her arms. It was okay if she was mad at him.

  Who cares? I'm leaving them all anyway and will never see them again. So, I can say whatever I want.

  "I said," Rey continued. "That if you stay with me, you all will die, and you'll be the first to go. Yes, that's right. Well, maybe it'll be Sergei, because he'll turn into a full demon, and you all will take him down. Since I just recently changed his fate, I can't see what his end will be. But you, yes, you will most definitely be first to kick the bucket."

  "How will I die?" She asked.

  Rey noticed her hands were shaking. He would be surprised if they weren't or if she weren't showing any outward sign of fear. After all, the doctor was the only one who hadn't done any fighting at all. The others, he had whipped into shape by forcing them to fight for their lives.

  "You die or will die when we, or should I say you all, will enter the Kingdom of Night. The group is set upon by a caravan of traveling Tigermen, or as they call themselves, Baaghror. And yes, they are as scary as their name suggests. They are walking, talking tigers. They're not demons, but they just come from a world that tigers evolved…actually, why spoil everything? Just avoid them at all costs."

  "But how will we know we've entered the Kingdom of Night?" Ajay asked.

  "Oh, you'll know. Next to go into the void is you, my friend." That stumped him. "Though you don't die right away. First, you'll lose a leg when we stumble into a room with a shadowy demon. I unfortunately make a bad call, and it munches on your right leg. But don't worry, you don't die then."

  "T-Then how?"

  "You stay behind to give the rest of us, and especially her…" Rey tilted his head towards Filomena. "A chance to get away. However, it is in vain. The Luthrol is too strong and overpowers you; well, you can imagine the rest. Seeing this ignites the passion in Filomena's heart so much that she falls upon the Luthrol, and she too ends up getting a mouthful of acidic mouthwash."

  Neither of them said anything for a long moment and kept throwing awkward glances at each other. And maybe it was the red, veiny sky-roof above their heads that was throwing a reddish light on them, or maybe they were blushing.

  Rey squinted at them both. Yeah, they're both blushing.

  "So, we end up together?" Filomena finally asked.

  He couldn't help but grin. "Oops, spoilers. But you didn't need me to tell you that. You two would've arrived there thanks to your hungry loins."

  This made them blush even more. Rey would swear on any holy book that he wasn't a sadistic person, but he was enjoying all this awkwardness in the air far too much. He wondered if he could pour more fuel on this fire.

  "Wait, Luthrol?" Filomena said abruptly, dashing the mood. "Like the one you killed. Is that why you told us to back off from it, because you thought we would die from it?"

  Rey shrugged. "Maybe or maybe I just wanted all the experience and stats by killing it alone."

  "And Kassandra?" she asked. "How does she die? As a matter of fact, how do you?"

  "I don't," he replied. "Well, not here anyway. I make it to the D-Tier, leave Purgatory, and die much later."

  "Well, you can see the future. No wonder you don't die so easily," Ajay grumbled.

  Rey sniffed the air. "Do you smell something burning?"

  They all looked around, frowning and sniffing the air.

  "No?" He said. "Because I could swear, mister arsonist was burning up with jealousy."

  Filomena groaned as Rey laughed. "Quit stalling. What about Kassandra?"

  "As for her…" Rey's eyes met hers. He had already told her a bit of her demise, though not everything. "She has the worst death out of us all. Well, maybe mine's worse, but I'm biased towards myself."

  He sighed and looked away because even after all these years, dying, a demon transformation, and being blown apart by the Eternal Heart, he still couldn't get the words out properly. "She gets dissolved in an acid pool by Razgorel, a fucking triclops. Her body is perished so thoroughly that her soul never manifests, so she doesn't even get a second chance to live as a demon. She…She turns into a mindless demon, and it-it's all my fault, because I will lead her to Razgorel's castle, which lies towards the east of the capital."

  Just saying it was like taking a knife to the heart. It was all he could do to keep himself from tearing up. It was like he was back in that fucking triclops's lair again, watching her die, watching her scream and thrash as her flesh was dissolved. In the end, Rey shot her with a lightning bolt and exploded her heart, so she wouldn't have to be in pain. The worst part was that killing her pushed him to Rank 9, giving him enough power to exact revenge on the Triclops. He had begged Zalathar to bring her back, even as a demon. That he would be his eternal servant, or even willingly give his soul to him, if he could bring her back, but he said it was impossible without her soul, which had perished completely.

  "But why doesn't her soul manifest?" Filomena asked.

  "The soul is tethered to your body," Rey replied, doing his best to keep his voice steady. “No body, no soul. So, you're just reborn as a brain-dead fiend."

  He looked at Kassandra tentatively, and she was staring at him, but he couldn't read her expression. There were times when the girl was so good at hiding her inner workings from him. He eventually looked away before it got too awkward. He figured it had gotten awkward enough.

  He clapped his hands loudly. "So, now you know your fates, just avoid all the people that bring about your deaths, and you should be golden."

  For a little while, until death decided to claim its prize.

  A demon howled in the distance, and more demons answered the first one's call.

  "Alright, that is my exit cue," he said. "Now, I'll be on my way to make my own mistakes while you go make your own. Try not to die, folks."

  He had just turned slightly when Kassandra finally spoke. "So, that's it. You're just going to leave us?"

  It was like she was asking—'so, you're just going to leave me?'

  Rey turned to her with a smile. “Yes, Kassandra, I am.” Her eyes widened slightly when he called her Kassandra, and not Kassi, but he went on. "I am the direct reason for all your deaths. Removing myself from your lives is the best way I can guarantee that you survive."

  "How?" She snapped. "How will you guarantee that? I never thought you would give up so easily without a fight."

  Rey breathed in deeply. "Giving up without a fight?" His anger and voice rose with every word. "What do you think I've been doing this past month. I've been fighting constantly against fate. One fight after another, and I've been losing. Jerry and Maria were supposed to die a long time ago. When I avoided their original deaths, I thought I had won, but their deaths eventually caught up to them. I got Phil to turn early so we could kill him, but he ended up killing Gloria, who, by the way, was supposed to die with him. Then I got Phil killed, hoping that with him gone, Unokir wouldn't gain entry into the castle. But guess what, a demon still betrayed us. It just didn't happen to be Phil. Then I tried with all my might, but Sergei still ended up sacrificing himself to open the third door. But I wasn't going to leave him behind like last…And I'm still fighting. I'm choosing to walk away from you all because I cause everyone's deaths. Hoping against hope that with me gone, maybe fate wouldn't course correct and kill you all. And if it does...I can't watch you die."

  Kassandra had nothing to say in response. Her eyes were glassy, and she was doing her best to hold back her tears.

  "So, this is goodbye?" She finally said.

  "Afraid so." Rey smiled. "I seriously hope I don't see you again…for your sake."

  With all the strength he had, he turned from her and walked into the dead trees.