Chapter 90: Forty-five Minutes
Two days passed, and the crimson notification found him again on the second night, exactly as it always did the last two days...
[You have been marked by the Grim Reaper.]
[Prepare to be hunted.]
Lucas stared at it for a long moment, something akin to an expression of tiredness and shock flickering across his face.
’Fourth time. This is the fourth time in two days.’
The pattern was impossible to ignore now — what had once been a rare and dreaded occurrence had become something closer to routine, the Sovereign’s hunts arriving with frequency that he found alarming.
He walked towards his room, looking at the notification with open alarm.
’I did this twice yesterday, and now I’m going to do this twice again...’
He went into his room and locked his door. He leaned on it and looked up heaving an exhausted sigh...
"Ahhh, I’m tired...."
The world then dissolved into white around him.
***
He landed in a barren, cracked plain this time, the horizon stretching flat and grey in every direction, no cover, no terrain to exploit. Nothing but open, empty ground.
[Ding!]
[Main Objective: Survive for 45 minutes.]
Lucas stared at the timer, something calculating flickering across his face after a brief moment of shock.
’Forty five. It was thirty three last time. It keeps getting longer.’
The realization settled with in a way that he felt a chill run up his spine.
The mark had apparently began extending the hunt itself. And if you put into consideration the fact that the last system notification he saw was the Goddess’ infatuation with him growing, one could only deduce that she was looking for ways to claim him as fast as possible.
He flexed his fingers, reaching instinctively for [Ignition] and found nothing
[Warning Skill: Ignition has been disabled.]
’Of course. Of course it is...’
The Reaper emerged from nowhere in particular, like it had always been there, scythe resting easy in one hand, and Lucas didn’t wait. He turned and ran.
[Time remaining: 44:02]
The open plain offered nothing to hide behind, no cave to pass through and no terrain with a hidden trick to exploit.
It was just flat, endless ground and a predator that never got tired, never slowed and never lost sight of him no matter how far he ran.
The scythe swept close in a wide arc that Lucas barely cleared, feeling the wind of it against his back as he dove sideways and rolled back up as he stumbled back inro a sprint.
[Time remaining: 38:47]
He changed direction, praying unpredictability might buy him something the terrain couldn’t, and the Reaper adjusted with an ease that terrified him, closing the gap he’d just tried to create like it had never existed at all.
’Forty five minutes? I can’t outrun this for forty five minutes especially since I got nothing to work with.’
The scythe grazed him across the shoulder near the ten minute mark. Though it was shallow, it burned, and Lucas staggered, catching himself before his knees could fully buckle as he continued forcing his legs back into motion through desperate will.
[Time remaining: 34:15]
He nearly lost the whole fight there. The Reaper pressed the advantage of the graze, its scythe rising for a strike that would have ended things cleanly, and Lucas threw himself into a wild, uncoordinated dive that carried him clear by a margin so thin he felt the blade part the air an inch from his spine.
"Come on!" The words tore out of him, raw with exhaustion and fear as he forced himself back to his feet. His legs shaking, his chest heaving, as he ran across the endless grey plain with no sign of relief no matter which direction he turned.
[Time remaining: 27:33]
The middle stretch blurred into a haze of near misses and desperate scrambling, Lucas’ body running purely on adrenaline and the sheer, stubborn refusal to simply stop moving. He lost count of how many times the scythe found him. A cut along his forearm here, a burning sensation across his ribs there. Each wound shallow enough to survive but deep enough to remind him exactly how close he was to actually losing his life...
[Time remaining: 15:09]
The Reaper’s presence seemed to grow heavier with every passing minute, and Lucas fought the growing, horror that this particular hunt, unlike the ones before it, might genuinely be the one that finally caught him for good.
[Time remaining: 8:41]
He stumbled, exhaustion finally winning out over adrenaline, and the scythe swept in low, aimed clean at his legs.
However, Lucas threw himself into an ungraceful, desperate roll that carried him just barely clear as he gasped, dragging himself back upright through willpower alone.
[Time remaining: 3:12]
He clenched his jaw, pushing himself as hard as he possibly could...
He had completely ran out of steam, the only thing keeping him up was sheer will and the feae of dying.
’Almost. Almost there... just a little further—’
The Reaper’s next strike came faster than anything before it, and Lucas barely twisted aside in time, the blade catching a shallow line across his cheek that stung. It felt like being touched with an iron rod...
**HUFF**
He ran...
[Time remaining: 0:47]
**HUFF**
[Time remaining: 0:12]
He kept running.
Howevere, he didn’t have anything left to dodge with anymore. His legs were shaking, his vision blurring, and his long feeling like something was piercing it with each passing minute...
The Reaper swung again, this time aiming cleanly at his head, and Lucas tried to move but his leg suddenly felt heavy, rooting him in place...
**CHING**
[Ding!]
[Objective complete: Survived 45:00.]
[Returning player to origin point.]
"Hah!"
The world dissolved into white, and Lucas gasped back as he was thrown back into his room, collapsing against his bedroom floor. His chest heaving, and every muscle screaming in unison as sweat and blood mixed against his skin.
He lay there a long while, simply breathing and staring at the ceiling, the phantom ache of over a dozen near misses still rippling through his bones.
’Forty-five minutes. I just hope it wouldn’t be longer next time...’
He didn’t know how many more of these he could survive before the escalation finally outdid whatever he would be able to give it, and he ran a hand through his hair, frustration and exhaustion leaking through as he sighed...
A knock sounded at his door, and Mark’s voice came through, muffled but clear.
"Lucas? You in there? Elle’s got a plan ready for the Gateway. She wants everyone in the war room."
Lucas closed his eyes for one more brief moment, gathering whatever strength remained, before forcing himself upright.
"Yeah," he called back, his voice rough. "Coming."
He took a deep breath, straightened his shirt and opened the door with the same practiced composure he had worn through every one of these hunts so far.
He walked through the hall, trying to keep a straight face as best as he could before reaching the doors to the war room.
He placed a hand on the door and exhaled. "Right. Let’s get this over with..."