Chương 584: Blood Beneath Fire

Luke climbed out of the pit and made his way back toward the cave passage. Before leaving, he cast one last glance at the hole below, where Yut and his men now lay dead. Predator's Mark had been useful. That skill had let him sense when Yut was getting close. He would mark one of Father's men, sometimes one of Yut's own men, while they were hunting him. Then, once the locator activated the next day, he always knew when they were nearby.

During each escape, he switched the mark to someone else so he wouldn't keep it on the same target for too long.

"I don't need this bracelet anymore." User Rankings! These are the participants with the highest point totals and therefore the greatest chance of winning the challenge!

1st Place: Luke Moon— 1, 348, 187, 654 pts (Bracelets: 5) 2nd Place: Ivor Aaberg — 277, 444, 772 pts (Bracelets: 4) 3rd Place: Elijah Diggory — 218, 993, 142 pts (Bracelets: 4) 4th Place: Madison Sullivan — 215, 424, 973 pts (Bracelets: 4) 5th Place: Wyatt Hill — 183, 761, 478 pts (Bracelets: 4) Once outside the cave, Luke decided to put distance between himself and the area. Far off in the distance, he spotted David, or rather, the orange glow of the bracelet moving with him as the man ran away.

A few hours later, Luke reached the meeting point. Zoe, George, David, and Elijah were already there.

"Looks like you survived the escape," Luke said.

"I didn't have too many people chasing me, actually," David replied.

"They probably assumed Yut and the others were still after us. The part that had me on edge was leading his group to the cave. Even with my teleport skill, there was still a chance the other campfire had already been destroyed."

"I was watching it," Zoe said. The bracelet was tossed to Luke. He caught it, then immediately tossed it to Zoe. She frowned.

"Why are you giving it to me?"

"I'm giving it to all of you as compensation for a few problems," he said.

"You've probably already checked the rankings. I'm in first place. I'm guaranteed to win my own bracelet when this challenge ends. Take advantage of the fact that Yut's death is still fresh and keep moving toward the third zone. It'll be a lot easier now. Get Zoe there first, then focus on whatever points you still need." George crossed his arms, looking pleased with himself.

"With the traps I set that killed members of Father's group, I got a lot of points. I might already be in the top ten." Elijah was already set to earn a bracelet. Zoe had hers, and George would probably have enough points for one soon.

"That just leaves me," David said. Then he gave Luke a crooked smile.

"Your insane plan actually worked in the end. We're basically all in the final challenge now."

"That was your doing too," Luke replied. Zoe studied him for a moment.

"So you're really leaving?"

"I am. After all these days running, I'm going to gear up, recover, and keep an eye on Father's group." David held out a hand.

"Good luck in the next challenge, Luke."

"You too." Luke said his goodbyes and turned to leave. The bottom of that lake from the treasure challenge might make a good hiding place. With the mask, he had more advantages than ever.

"One last thing, Luke," David called. Luke turned back.

"What?" The bolt hit him in the chest. He stared in shock. David had already pulled another bolt from his belt and leveled the crossbow again. Luke moved at once, dodging aside.

"What is happening?!" Zoe shouted.

"Don't let the bastard run!" George yelled. Then something snapped shut around Luke's foot. It felt like a bear trap, except this one was made of wood and spikes. Pain shot up his leg, and a split second later Elijah's fist, hardened with his stone skill, slammed into the side of Luke's head.

"Hold her!" Elijah shouted. David grabbed Zoe. George hurled a flask at Luke, drenching him. A second later Elijah sent a stream of fire straight at him. The oil caught instantly. Flames raced over Luke's body. He screamed, trying to move, but one of his feet was pinned in place. Then a vine looped around his neck and tightened. He was being strangled while the fire kept spreading.

"What are you doing?" Zoe shouted.

"We have to kill him, Zoe!" David yelled back.

"He has to die!" Elijah added. More blasts of fire slammed into Luke. He tried to throw himself against the ground, fighting through the flames, choking on pain.

"We can all make it to the next stage, Zoe," David said.

"If we kill him, we get more points. He's no better than the rest of the monsters on this island. He doesn't deserve to live. The others, all those bastards, maybe not. But us? We were good people. Hero aides. We deserve to survive. He doesn't." This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Another bolt struck Luke. The vine around his neck had been soaked in oil too, and now it was burning against his skin.

"We're helping you finish this battle royale, Zoe!" George shouted.

"You're burning him alive!" she screamed.

"He's evil, same as the others," Elijah said.

"He doesn't deserve to live."

"Zoe, he has to die," David said.

"I'll deal the final blow, Elijah. I need his points. Hold her back for me." Luke let out a ragged cry and grabbed the burning vine with both hands, yanking hard enough to drag George forward.

"Damn it!" George shouted. Elijah kept throwing fire at Luke, but Luke pulled George in front of him and the attack hit the wrong target. George screamed. Using him as a shield, Luke drove his fingers into George's eyes and blinded him.

"He got his leg loose!" Elijah shouted. David came in with his axe, leaping at Luke, but Luke caught the strike with one machete, slammed a fist into David's face, and then cut his leg out from under him. Elijah tried to fire again, but Luke slipped past the attacks, seized David's axe, and brought it down on him. Elijah dropped. Luke turned and saw David dragging himself across the ground. George lay collapsed and burned, still barely conscious.

Before George could rise, Luke buried the axe in his leg and sent him crashing back down. The man looked at Zoe.

"I'm sorry, Zoe." Luke struck again and again until George stopped moving. Zoe had fallen to her knees, staring at everything in horror. David fired a bolt, but Luke dodged it and kept walking toward him, axe raised.

"You should've just died..." David muttered.

"You were supposed to die." Luke lifted the axe, then stopped at the last second and turned it in his hands. He chose the handle instead of the blade.

"You're a bad person! A murderer!" David shouted.

"We were good for society!"

"Fuck that. Even if I have to kill a thousand people to reach my goal, I don't care." Then Luke brought the axe handle down on David's face and kept going until the man stopped moving. Afterward, Luke walked over to Zoe. Tears were streaming down her face. He tossed the axe to the ground in front of her, crouched, and ripped the pouch from her side. Inside were two healing potions. He drank one immediately, then dropped the pouch.

"Like I said, our partnership is over." He turned away, then paused.

"I need to know something. Are you going to tell the others and come after me with a larger group in the next few days, or can I walk away?" Zoe wiped at her face.

"I don't judge you, Luke. But I don't forgive you." She stood, picked up the pouch, and looked at her friends' bodies.

"Can I bury them?"

"No. Just go." That only made her cry harder. Then she turned, walked away, and disappeared into the distance. Luke had marked her with [Predator's Mark], just to be sure. When she finally disappeared into the distance, he dropped to the ground and yanked the bolts from his body with shaking hands. I almost died. One of the bolts had nearly pierced his heart. Missed it by a fraction, right at the last second. Luke pushed himself to his feet, limping. At least the fire hadn't taken his eyesight.

"Interesting twist," Ivor said as he stepped out of the brush.

"Yeah," Luke muttered.

"And not once did you feel like stepping in to help."

"Our deal was that I'd help you deal with Yut and his men," the archer replied. Yut's sword now rested at Ivor's hip.

"Thanks for the payment." Luke glanced at it, then let out a tired breath.

"Just don't decide to kill me too. If that's the plan, get it over with. I need a new bow anyway. Mine just got burned to hell."

"Not worth it," Ivor said.

"If you die now, some unknown enemy takes your place in the next stage." He paused, calm as ever.

"A hunter should know his prey well. Working with you helped me understand how you think. That was my real reward. And now it'll be harder for you to beat me. I know your skills, your habits, the way you move. You, on the other hand, know almost nothing about me." Luke sat down heavily on a fallen trunk.

"Yeah. I had the same thought about those people. I preferred having them take the final spots."

"It would've been a good plan. Now there'll be three unknowns instead." Luke rubbed a hand over his scalp. Parts of his hair had been burned clean off.

"I'm really not in the mood for a conversation, archer. I'm still half roasted." Ivor gave a faint shrug.

"This isn't my first battle royale." Luke looked up at him.

"Wow. You really picked now to start talking."

"My tutorial," Ivor said.

"That challenge was a battle royale too." Luke let out a dry breath.

"Lucky you. Lightning really did strike the same place twice."

"I had a girlfriend back then. It was me, her, and people from the company where I worked." His voice stayed flat, but something colder sat underneath it.

"Less than two months in, she cheated on me with my boss. She joined his side because he had a better chance of making it to the end." Luke grimaced.

"I'm not a therapist, man…"

"What I mean is this," Ivor said, looking past him into the forest.

"I hate betrayal. But I would've hated it just as much if someone had stolen my revenge from me. That's why I didn't interfere." A brief silence passed.

"Are we helping her get to the third zone?" Ivor asked. Luke shook his head.

"No. She'll manage. It'll be easier now." Ivor started toward the trees.

"I'll see you in the next challenge." Then he was gone. Luke touched the cloth around his neck, the Treasure Guardian item, and started feeding mana into it to repair the damage.

"What a day…"

Luke spent the next few days recovering. He searched chests for healing potions, ate whatever food he could find, and rested whenever the island gave him a chance. Now he sat inside a cave, eating fruit while staring into the campfire. The flames brought Zoe's group back to mind.

"Bunch of idiots." [The Orange Bracelet Challenge has ended!] The notification appeared in front of him.

"About time." [The 10 participants with the highest scores on the leaderboard will receive an Orange Bracelet!] Luke's wrist flashed. A bracelet formed around it. [If you have obtained an Orange Bracelet, proceed immediately to the Third Zone of the island! The Second Zone will collapse and sink into the ocean abyss!] A new mission appeared before him. [Escape to the Third Zone!] A moment later, the bracelet notification updated. [If you did not obtain an Orange Bracelet, you still have one chance, and only one. At this very moment, the locations of all participants wearing an Orange Bracelet are public. Find one. Steal it, kill for it, do whatever you must. Because if you do not have this bracelet, you will die in this zone of the island.] The ground began to shake. An earthquake.

"Here we go again." Luke stepped out of the cave and looked into the distance. Far away, something was glowing red.

"The third zone opened." He grabbed his things and started running.