Clap. Clap. Clap.
"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT…" S repeated, but not through the fortress speakers.
This time he was there in person, on the theater stage, clapping as he approached with his usual smile — the one that knew no limits and no remorse.
Four months had passed since the start of the "King's Game."And of the one hundred and thirty-seven children who entered in this batch, only nine remained alive.
"WILL YOU FINALLY LET ME BE FREE, YOU SICK PSYCHOPATH?" 1305 shouted, his voice raw with rage. He was the only one S had never touched. S had left him alive because he knew the boy craved pain. For S, that was boring.
"Hahahahaha… calm down, brat." S returned to the center of the stage, his coat billowing under the flickering lights. "I can't believe what I see… From one hundred and thirty-seven brats… only nine! After a year and four months… It's so, so satisfying. HAHAHAHAHA."He cackled, staring at the ceiling, ecstatic.
"But I'm not here today to give you a new test. No… Today I came to see you… to enjoy what's left of you. The 'King's Game' was beautiful: you murdered a child every week just to keep breathing. And the best part… 1317 is still alive."
S widened his grin to the extreme."You, bastard, are the pebble in my shoe that I put there myself. HAHAHAHAHA!"
"1317 this, 1317 that… ENOUGH WITH GIVING THAT BRAT YOUR DAMN FAVORITISM!" 1305 bellowed, his voice cracking with fury. "I AM THE BEST CANDIDATE FOR YOUR EXPERIMENT, YOU SON OF—!"He didn't finish the sentence.
S appeared in front of him in a blink and grabbed him by the throat."Do you know why I don't kill you, kid?" he whispered as he lifted him. "Because the day you nearly beat 1317 to a pulp, you made me laugh like no one else. Just for that you're still alive. HAHA."He dropped him.
1305 collapsed to the floor, gasping, eyes fixed on Elian. In those eyes there was a promise: I will make you pay for this.
S stretched as if nothing had happened."Well, excuse my enthusiasm. Sometimes I forget how fragile you are." His smile didn't move an inch. "But today I came for something else… 1317, come with me."
"Why should I, asshole?" Elian replied, distrustful of the soft tone in S's voice.
"Because if you don't come… I'll kill them all." S tilted his head ninety degrees, smiling with that unnatural calm that chilled the blood.
Elian stared at him, fists clenched."You're sick."
"I know," S said, almost delighted by the accusation.
They rode the elevator up together.
"Today I'll show you the only level you haven't seen… Level -4," S whispered with pleasure. "Not the survivors' level… the one for those who failed the Final Test."
The doors opened and a hallway greeted them. Slow, silent, lit faintly by yellow bulbs. At the end, a single door."Follow me," S ordered.
Elian obeyed, though his whole body trembled. He knew what lay behind that door should not be seen by anyone.
When S turned the latch, a chorus of voices hit them instantly."HE-E-ELP! PLEASE! KI-ILL ME!"The pleas came from everywhere.
Elian took a step back, horrified.On the other side of the glass were children… or what was left of them.Deformed bodies fused with animal forms. Human faces mingled with claws, fangs, crystalline skin or bones jutting out like blades. All conscious. All begging to die.
"Buaaaargh!" Elian vomited bile; his stomach had been empty for days."W-what did you do to them?" he asked between retches.
S applauded, ecstatic."HAHAHAHAHA, I LOVE THAT QUESTION." He slammed the glass; the mutated beings drew back, terrified."This… is what happens when they fail to absorb my power correctly."
Elian froze."Y-your… what?"
"My Elyth. My gift." S spun around, euphoric. "The purpose of Project Weapon X is to create a being like me. A second Genesis."
He pointed to another door and opened it. Inside, more capsules. Children sleeping, floating in fluid, connected to tubes and machines. Black blood ran through their veins — S's blood.
"These… are the ones who did survive my blessing. My Legion. The one I was ordered to create."
Nausea came over Elian again."Who ordered you to do this?"
S smiled."That's none of your business, brat. You only need to know this project will end with you."
"W-with me?" Elian echoed.
"Exactly." S took his face and squeezed his cheeks. "I'll give you two weeks. In that time I'll eliminate the others. And then… you will be my masterpiece."
Elian looked at him with disgust."And what if I kill myself before you finish them all and ruin your project?" he spat, forcing a smile.
S answered with terrifying calm:"Then I'll revive you, kill everyone else, and use you anyway." He lifted the boy off the ground with one hand, gripping his head until the child gasped for air. Then he released him.
Elian fell backward, wheezing.Do whatever you want, you sick bastard, he thought, though he didn't dare say it aloud.
The elevator brought them back to Level -5. S kicked him out of the cabin before ascending back to Level 1.
Back in his personal laboratory, S spoke aloud, tapping his own head like it was a door."Hey, sleeping beauty… I found the perfect child for your revenge," he said, smiling at the ceiling. "And it only took us a century and a half." He broadened his grin.
Meanwhile, below, 1305 poured his frustration onto Elian."Why does everything revolve around you, you piece of shit?" he screamed as he beat him.
Elian didn't answer. He barely breathed.
He knew the truth. He had always known it.The survivor would not be the strongest, but the most necessary.And that was him.
He carried on his back the deaths of one hundred and twenty-eight children… and soon he would carry the deaths of the eight remaining.He carried their fears, their dreams, their broken promises.And although the cross was too heavy, he had no option but to hold it.