Battle Royale: Apocalyptone

The Final Minutes: Reclaiming the Throne

Reaping Jack talked, "I want to use the Grail to bring back what must have done." 

What he must have done. What is it?

"What do you want? After you killed my friend back there, what's the prize?" Artemis suddenly shouted. 

"I wanted to go back where I make emptiness full again," he spoke. What emptiness?

I asked, "Emptiness? What do you mean?"

"YOU ASKED FOR THIS!", he shouted at me. "I am thankfully here because if the connections were destroyed, nothing will suffer anyone. YOU SEEK IT, AND THAT'S BECAUSE OF THE PAST! IT'S NOT WHAT THEY DESIRED. THEY DIED BECAUSE OF SUFFERING!".

We started to draw our weapons. He continued, "I am corrupted because of that CONNECTION! YOU GAVE THIS CURSE TO THIS TORTURE GAME OF NOTHING BUT A LOOP!"

"What you said is nonsense. You killed millions, and you wished to destroy more," Artemis forcefully spoke out. I tried to halt her, but she used her illusion magic to attack him surprisingly, but every swing of her glass spear she makes, he parried it. I told her to stop, but whenever he parried, he has counterattacks. She didn't listen. 

"I knew it. YOU CAME TO KILL WHAT IS RIGHT. YOU ARE THE COUPLE OF THE REAL CORRUPTION!" He exclaimed.

I only helped her by blocking him with four "Shield Walls". At least, she can't attack. I switched to Musketeer paradigm to get her to safety, but he quickly destroyed my created cage.

She gripped me hard, letting us transport to her illusion world. At these moment, he can't attack us, for now. We already knew what the "Third Layer" is. He can only transport into it, which it can attack us in both illusion world and reality without being seen. I switched to Guardian mode, and summon an immunity buff for at least one heavy attack. She created illusions of glass lance that can be homed to the enemy. 

Knowing that he is destructing the illusion world, she fired all the glass lances to him. He suddenly switched his target to my buff, shooting three heavy damaging swords. My immunity buff is gone on first hit, and we dodged the second and third hit. 

I used my Guardian ultimate, "Quake of Swords", to make him damaged destructively. He just passed the fields of giant swords I created and summons more homing heavy swords targeting to Artemis. 

She tried to block it by using her reflecting illusion attacks, but these won't help her. She was stabbed many times. I shouted her name. I am worried. My friend, my ex, my first love. She's about to die. 

"What I want to deal with is you! YOU CREATED ME, AS I AM CREATED WHEN YOU CREATED THE FIRST GREAT SIN!" He shouted. 

About to die, she used her remaining power to stab him with a cursed lance that can make the fight against me become balanced. He has low life force, but his strength is strong. I noticed that he was weakened and cannot dodge with a zap. I wondered if the other participants did this, but I knew this is for the last fighter. 

"Good luck, Francis," her last words before she became dust.

"How sinful you are. You created a family where chaos began. Weakling, you became a part of the curse. I wanted to use the Grail to fix it. I want you to die," he talked like a man of dealers.

"Then do you know what I wished for?" I countered him. "A non-coincidental peace?," he guessed.

"Not like that, but yes. It's peace. A new world where we are not involved as humans, but we can share our past with our creations buried in this world." I answered.

"Pitiful, that wish will not change the fact. I will be reincarnated. I don't want that. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS BEING A REINCARNATED ONE!" He replied angrily. "You don't even know that if you choose that, he will appear again, and I want to BREAK THAT TORTURING LOOP. That Grail is also cursed, because YOU, YOUR FAMILY, YOU ALL CREATED THIS UNFORGIVING CURSE."

"Too much excuses. That peace can silent everything!" I charged a heavy weapon slam.

He suddenly summoned a black sword, that is fully dark and doesn't reflect light. It's not a rule breaker, nor a relic, or a sacred one. He stabbed me with it. That one can instantly kill me. 

I am downed, and about to die. He said his unforgivable farewells, "You never listened to me. I am as good as you, but not as how I've been reincarnated for too long. I always failed. You never listened for millions. This is me as corrupted one, as the 201st participant."

I saw darkness. I saw kaleidoscopes of life, and I saw that there are 200 souls are watching to the Grail. I am one of those souls.

----------------------

I saw the soul of the same thing. There's no him nor her, because that soul is part of the cursed, as what I am. I am repeating, singing the same song, helping the similar ones, and ended up living up in a million loops that doesn't end in the ground's surface. 

The same Grail. That Grail, is trivial, as if, no one wished from it endlessly, because it is looped. That Grail is only one not reincarnated. This battle royale, it is endless. No matter how many times it looped, the same thing happens. Difference? It is just layered simultaneously.

I wished that this loop will be broken. I've been telling it to the same soul all over again. That Apocalyptone, it already happened that is countless, yet it is still the first one. Actually, there's million of Apocalyptones. Every loop doubles the layers, which creates more suffering.

The Reaping Jack. He's about to wish something, but he became a portal for the god of who made this curse, and steals the Grail's power, which creates a new layer suffering, a new layer, a new loop in the new page of his entertaining battle.

I am speechless, because I knew what will happen. 

My father just came. I sent him far away from the participants since they knew the truth of this layered sufferings. I started to talk to him.

"Dad, listen to me. I've been seeing this endlessly, but you never listened for endless time. And, we are to be blamed," I said.

I pointed him the portal to the other layer, and a new Apocalyptone. "The second page. I wish you end this suffering we created."

My mother came to grab me, just to witness the same feeling, and same departure of the same soul. He will never look back as always.

About to leave, he stopped just one step before he enters. I saw a dust came from an Illusionist's illusion fragment which he didn't know he is holding it. He looked back to us. He acted like not what a loop should do. 

He came by. He just stood up in front of mommy. He started to hurt mommy, but she never fight back. She became a string that can be a necklace. He came to me and started to hurt me, and he's crying. 

And that time, the portal changed its destination to the "cursed core of the loops". He entered the portal with three objects from three destructed objects; from me, my mom and Maurice. Those fragments became a necklace. I never see his progress, but I felt like I am going to fulfill my last mission; to be as him.

That cursed core is where the true battle happens, the race of the true throne. The four of us will help to reclaim what should be done:

and the thing to do to reclaim the throne.