The Ultimate Regressor System

[You have died]

[Regression Activated.]

"Lucas! This is the part where you tell us what to do!"

Lucas’s eyes snapped open to the sound of Iris’s voice, same tone, same moment, same image of her running after she dodged the attack.

[Player has returned to designated checkpoint.]

[Checkpoint has been restored to the last stable moment prior to death.]

Lucas’ eyes darted around him. The samw beats was going to strike. They were going to have to fight it again. And if they try killing it, they would all be dead.

[Objective: Slay the beast.]

[Survival Probability: 29%]

The survival probability still hung in his vision.

Twenty nine percent, exactly as it had before. His shoulder throbbed from the earlier impact. Lora was still dazed against the boulder. Pyra stood with claws extended, scanning the empty sky. Everything was the same.

Except him....

He already knew how this ended. He knew that going for the kill only meant they would die themselves.

Lucas satggered to his feet and looked at Iris. "There’s no way to defeat it."

She stared. "What?"

"We can’t kill it. Not without making everything worse."

The Avallion struck again before anyone could answer. Same blur, same speed. Lucas twisted, [Ignition] flaring around his fists, and barely managed to turn a direct hit into a graze across his forearm.

The force still spun him around, and Pyra lunged at empty air— everything playing out just like it did the first time. Iris loosed two arrows that vanished into the grey sky with no result.

They clashed. The creature did the same tactical hit and run, and Lucas caught a talon feeling it scrape across his knuckles, then it was gone again. Lora managed a shallow cut that did nothing. Pyra’s claws found a place to strike for before the Avallion twisted and smashed her sideways into a rock

It was clear.... Every successful contact only seemed to make the thing more aggressive.

Lucas’s mind raced while his body moved on instinct.

Corner it and it calls the horde. Kill it and it would most probably do the same thing...

It now dawned on him that the twenty nine percent hadn’t been a glitch. It was the reality of what they faced...

There was only one path that didn’t end with intestines on the stone.

He backed up, and shouted loud enough for them to hear him.

"Run! Back to the main path. Now!"

Pyra spun toward him, blood running from a cut on her arm. "Are you serious?"

Lora pushed herself off the boulder, daggers still in hand. "We can take it if we stay together—"

"No." Lucas’s voice came out harder than he intended. "Killing it makes it worse. Trust me. We run."

Iris’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t argue. She knew that if Lucas said that killing the beast made it worse, chances are, it most probably would...

She had learned that by now, far too many instances proving him rignt. She cursed under her breath, then fell in beside Lora as they turned and sprinted back the way they had come, boots pounding across the uneven stone path.

The Avallion however, did not let them go easily.

It dove from above, talons outstretched and Lucas shoved Lora sideways taking the hit across his already damaged shoulder.

Pain flooded his senses as he hit the ground, rolled, and came back up running.

Pyra used [Skyhop] in bursts not to attack, but to clear the gaps between her and the creature.

Iris fired only when the Avalion committed to a dive, forcing it to veer off course rather than trying to kill it.

They ran, the path twisting between jagged stone. Twice the Avallion nearly cut them off, forcing the group to scramble over broken stone while Lucas lagged behind as bait.

"Go go go!"

He let [Ignition] burn brighter, drawing the creature’s attention long enough for the others to gain ground. Each time the Avallion closed, he felt that if the beast got fed up, it could simply call the horde and force them to relive the same nightmare again.

They kept moving, minutes of running turning into a collection of burning lungs and pounding hearts. The creature’s shadow passing over them again and again.

Once it managed to rake Pyra’s back; she staggered and before she fell, Lucas took her hand, pulled her up as she kept running even with the blood darkening her clothes.

Lora’s breathing turned ragged and Iris never stopped scanning the sky even as she sprinted, firing arrows when the beast dove too close and dodging where she wasn’t fast enough to react.

Slowly, the pressure began to ease.

The Avallion made one final pass low enough that the wind of its wings staggered them and continued onward instead of turning back. It flew over the next ridge and they were shocked when they saw that it didn’t circle back...

Whether it had lost interest or simply refused to chase farther, Lucas didn’t know. Heck, he didn’t even want to know. He only knew the sky above them was empty again and he was more than grateful it was...

They kept running until the jagged stone began to give way to more open ground, until the fork in the road was visible in the distance. Only then did Lucas allow himself to slow.

Pyra collapsed first, dropping to one knee with a shaky breath. Lora leaned against a tree, chest heaving and Iris stood with her bow still half raised, eyes searching the horizon even though she was more than exhausted.

Lucas’ legs finally gave out and he sank to the ground, staring at the empty sky.

For a long moment no one spoke.

Then Lucas forced the words out between breaths. "We head back. To the fortress... we’ll wait for Eleanor and the others..."

Pyra looked at him, something between exhaustion and confusion in her expression. "You knew back there didn’t you? You already knew what would happen if we killed it."

Lucas didn’t deny it. He simply nodded once, still watching the sky.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "I did. Killing it wasn’t necessary..."

Nobody asked why, Lucas wouldn’t even explain if they did.

But they knew that for Lucas to actually back away from a fight that easy, it meant something terrible was going to happen.

The system bloomed into view causing Lucas to turn.

[Main objective: Slay the Beast.]

[Failed]

Lucas studied the screen for a long moment before scoffing.

"Fuck you...."