Chapter 290: A Life For A Life

"Stop!" Percival yelled.

The roar echoed through the cavern.

Akira, Melody, and Karrakas froze in place.

Lukas grunted, straining against the force that pinned him flat against the stone floor. He dug his boots into the crystal and planted his palms against the ground, trying to push his chest up.

Power poured through his muscles, but his body refused to budge. It felt as if the more he tried, the greater the force grew, preventing him from even moving an inch.

He tried to call on [Void Step], but nothing happened.

He reached for his trusted [Hex Shield], but his mana did not flow. He tried to summon [Bone Wall] and [Smite], but the skills stayed silent.

Something was blocking his connection to his own abilities, and interfering with them.

Lukas slowly, with a lot of effort, turned his head to the side, his cheek scraping against the crystal.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the small stone Percival had thrown.

The stone sat three feet away, resting in a crack between two crystal tiles. It glowed with a soft light, pulsing like a slow heartbeat.

He should’ve known that the stone was an [Item]. Now, it glowed in plain sight, anchoring the crushing force directly on top of him.

Percival walked over and stopped beside Lukas. He rested his foot on the haft of Lukas’ dropped poleaxe and looked across the cavern.

His chest rose and fell in ragged bursts. His usual smile was gone, replaced by a dark, twisted scowl.

Akira held her flail across her chest, her eyes locked on Percival’s face.

"Percival," she said, speaking softly as if to a wounded animal. "We can still resolve this. Nobody has to die here."

"Shut up!" Percival snapped, his voice cracking. "Don’t talk to me like I’m a fool! There’s no resolving this! There’s no going back!"

Karrakas kept his bow half-raised, the arrow pointed at the ground between them. "Percival, think about—"

"I said shut up!" Percival kicked the poleaxe haft, sending it skittering across the floor. "I have your leader right here. He’s under my boot. You don’t give the orders anymore."

He reached down, his fingers closing around the back of Lukas’ collar. He pulled Lukas’s head up an inch before slamming it back into the crystal.

Blood dripped from Lukas’s nose onto the stone, with pain exploding across his skull.

"Don’t move," Percival warned, glaring at the three of them. "Don’t take a step or use any skill. If any of you so much as twitches, I’ll crush his skull into powder before you can get to me."

Melody’s eyes moved from Lukas on the floor to the glowing stone, and then up to Percival’s face.

"What do you want?" Melody asked. "Maybe there’s a way we can solve this with everybody getting what they want."

Percival scoffed, shaking his head.

"I know how this works," he said. "I’ve already attacked you. I pinned your leader to the floor. There’s no way all this ends with just an apology. Which means the only way this ends is if you all die, or I die."

"That isn’t true," Melody said, taking a step forward. She kept her mace lowered at her side. "Listen to me, Percival. As long as you don’t kill or maim anyone, we’ll let you go. We won’t chase you. We won’t even attack you."

Percival laughed, the sound dry. "You really expect me to believe that? You’re four Climbers, and I just ambushed your team. The moment I lift this stone, you’ll jump me."

"We won’t," Melody said, meeting his gaze. "We aren’t people who go back on our word. If we promise to let you walk away, then you walk away."

"It doesn’t matter if you keep your word or not," Percival said, his eyes moving to Karrakas. "Even if I walk away unscathed today, what happens when you leave the Crystal Caves?"

"What if you go straight to a pavilion, give them my description, and put a bounty on my head? What if you gather a crew and come looking for me in Salaria?"

"If I let you walk away, all I’m doing is creating future problems for myself," he snarled. "I’ve seen it happen too many times. People smile, they make promises, and then they bring ten men to hunt you down in the streets. I won’t make that mistake."

Lukas’ mind raced as he tried to figure out a way to escape the crushing force. His skills were out, and he couldn’t rely on his strength for this.

Which left only one thing. [Items].

His eyes widened fractionally as he realized that he did have something that would work. All he needed was for Percival to be distracted.

After all, there would be a split second between removing the [Item] from his spatial ring and activating it.

Ahead of him, Melody held out an open palm, keeping her voice steady as she spoke.

"Then tell us, Percival," she said. "What will it take to resolve this?"

Percival tilted his head to the side, tapping a finger against his chin.

His face shifted, the dark scowl vanishing as his expression brightened into an excited smile.

"I have it," he said. "Pick one person from your team. That person voluntarily kills themselves right here. Do that, and I’ll lift this stone and let Lukas go. A life for a life. That’s a fair bargain."

The cavern fell dead silent.

Melody, Akira, and Karrakas stared at him, stunned.

"Ask for something else," Melody said, raising her mace. "That isn’t happening."

Percival chuckled in amusement. "That’s my only offer. Take it, or I’ll crush your friend’s head right now."

Before anyone could speak, shadows peeled away from the tunnel walls.

Seven figures stepped out from the darkness, surrounding the group on all sides.

They wore dark red cloaks covered in jagged black lines, which meant they were members of the Fated Brotherhood.

Melody, Akira, and Karrakas snapped into defensive stances, weapons raised.

A translucent red barrier slammed down across the cavern exits with a crack, sealing every tunnel and locking them inside.

One of the cultists stepped forward from the line. He reached up and threw back his hood, revealing long red hair tied into a neat ponytail and small golden earrings.

His face was handsome, his dark eyes fixed on the scene.

Young Master Sol stared at Lukas pinned to the floor, then turned his gaze to the blond man.

A grin spread across his face.

"Good job, Percival," he said. "You did your part well."