Prologue 3: Truth

Almost three years have passed since I began living and training with the old man.

I accepted his offer three years ago because I didn’t have much of a choice but it became different.

As I continued to live and learn from the old man, I became stronger, but more importantly, I managed to save enough money in the hopes of coming back to my old country.

I survived and became stronger thanks to his help but I still knew that I couldn't trust him.

After all this time together, I had yet to know his name. I tried asking him several times already, but he wouldn’t tell me no matter what.

I already gave up as I didn’t plan to keep in touch with him when I leave. It would be strange for me as he was obviously a criminal. A criminal who has invited me into his home so that he could train me.

This was way too suspicious.

I wasn't stupid, there was clearly more to this than meets the eye.

Even though he had made huge profits from the gamblings and shares of my winnings, it still didn’t clearly explain why he would accommodate and personally train some random stranger he just met.

As time passed, that single question still circled without end in my head.

What does he want from me?

No matter how much I tried, I couldn't come up with any explanation. After some time, I gave up the idea of understanding his thoughts and schemes.

Instead, I prepared my escape and my life after leaving this country.

I spent a large amount of my time continuously self-studying after buying several textbooks in English. I had troubles finding them, but it was worth it.

I finally knew what I wanted to do as soon I came back home.

I was going to become a doctor.

I knew the road would be long and hard, but I promised myself that I would change and repent, even if my mother didn't support me.

I decided that I would change.

I made this choice long ago.

Mother, Trisha and the rest of my family and friends.

I knew that they probably still despised me, but it was alright.

I was ready.

I will apologize even if I have to spend my entire life. If I wasn't forgiven, then there was nothing I could do.

This was my determination.

At last, after so many hardships, struggles, and painful experiences, it finally ends.

It was time for the last fight.

I remembered our deal.

I will be given what I desired the most if I won one match at least twice a month for three years.

By winning this match, my freedom would be granted.

Fortunately, I haven’t encountered that crazy midget again since our last fight.

I wondered if he was my final opponent. That wouldn't really be surprising considering the devious personality of my old master.

Defeat this man who crushed me along with my dignity and my confidence three years ago.

Defeat him to finish the loop and put an end to all this.

However, even if this was his intention, I didn't intend to follow his plans.

There wouldn't be a final match.

Firstly, I would knock out the guards while they have their guards down and were restricted by the small spaces inside the car. Then, I would steal the car and drive to the airport before leaving this country once and for all.

It didn’t feel right to betray the one who saved and nurtured me, but he was too untrustworthy.

Everything was ready.

I’ve hidden all my savings, passport and other personal belongings on the way to the airport. All I had to do was wait for the guards to call me.

“It’s time.”

The voice came from behind my living room door.

“Coming.” I replied.

I gave a final glance toward my room before leaving with the guard.

As I followed the guard out into the front yard, I couldn’t help but look at the sparse furniture, decorations and the faces of the many stationed guards that accompanied me all this time.

I was finally leaving it all behind.

Even after three years, I still wasn't allowed to be alone in the mansion. That was one of the many reasons why I couldn’t find myself to trust the old geezer.

I felt more like a prisoner than an actual guest, even if I entered by my own will.

As we finally left the mansion, I took one final look.

I couldn’t help but remember the many experiences that I spent in this 'prison’. I learned and I fought for my future. Some happy memories, some bad memories too.

This was farewell.

I turned away to find the same black car that always drove me to my next fight.

As always, the guard leading me will be seated next to me and the driver in the front seat.

I quickly noticed their position and prepared to take action.

After dealing with the guard next to me, then I could deal with the driver.

This will be easy, I just need to get the timing right. As soon as we get far enough from the mansion, my plan would begin.

*Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

“What….”

“Sorry. These are orders from the boss.”

The guard who was behind me said that while holding a taser in his hand.

I was careless.

I didn’t think that he would make his move so soon.

I couldn't move no matter how much I tried

*Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

“Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh…” I cried out.

Before I was able to muster the strength to stand up, I received yet another discharge and slowly lost consciousness.

——————————————————————————————

“It's time to wake up Thomas…”

I slowly opened my eyes to that strange, but familiar voice.

“Urgh… what’s going on.” I said in a groggy tone.

I slowly took a look around but saw nothing.

There was only darkness.

An endless darkness.

“Huh… where am I?”

I stood up very carefully as if I was beginning to stand on my two feet for the first time.

“What is this? What’s going on?”

“It's been a long time Thomas…”

“What…?”

I turned around in surprise. My posture was firm and steady. I was ready to fight whatever I was up against.

“Who are you…? Show yourself already!”

My eyes kept darting around to get a good look at whatever was tormenting me.

“You're as cruel as ever, Thomas. Do you truly not remember me?” The voice sounded sinister.

I fell silent for a while from his words before shouting in anger.

“Do not make me repeat myself. Who are you and what do you want?”

After my angry shout, the voice didn't answer immediately, but I could still sense the atmosphere becoming heavier.

I even had some trouble breathing when the rough yet slightly familiar voice echoed again within the darkness.

"In the past, I was the person who cared the most about you. I stood near you your entire life, waiting for you to accept me. However, you never did. In the end, I became the victim of your selfishness."

The voice stopped for a couple of seconds before resuming its speech in a darker tone and a heavier voice.

"I am the one who hates you the most. I am your sin and I will become your doom...'

I felt a chill run down my spine as he said those final words.

My eyes widened in shock as I finally realized who I was talking to.

“J-Jordan…?” I replied.

My shaky voice couldn't hide the hint of fear clutching my heart. My eyes couldn't either.

“Yes, It's me”

As soon as he said that, he began to materialize right in front of me.

A cruel smile had formed on his lips. A smile that I've never seen on his face my entire life.

“B-But how? You're supposed to be dead.” I cried out.

“I am dead. You were the one who killed me after all.” He said with bitterness.

“Yes, I know that it's my fault… but… but that was an accident.”

My head turned to look at the ground.

I couldn’t bear to keep looking at him as tears began to fall from the corner of my eyes.

Jordan didn't reply.

The silence between us was unbearable as if sharp blades were slowly piercing through my heart.

“Tell me. How can I be forgiven? I will do anything! Just tell me!!!"

“To repent for your sins, there is only one way.”

The voice coming out of his mouth was cold and bitter.

I looked up to meet his gaze. His dark brown eyes were full of hatred.

I felt my heart skip a beat as soon as our gaze met until a single cruel word left his mouth.

“Die."

I couldn't answer anything while the ground under me began to open up. The darkness was swallowing me up as I fell.

“Waaaaaaahhhhh.”

My eyes shot wide open

I was panting quite heavily with my back wet with sweat.

It was just a nightmare.

My breathing began to slow down and relax a bit after I realized this point.

I slowly began to recollect myself from that horrifying dream and focused on what was happening.

I tried to take a look around me, but I couldn't.

I found that I was tied up and strapped to a cross inside a poorly illuminated room.

The situation made my heart beat faster as a feeling of panic began to seize me.

Firstly, I tried to free myself, but the ropes wrapped around my arms and legs were too strong and tight. I couldn't move my members and was barely able to turn my head.

I didn’t know what the old geezer wanted from me, but I couldn’t let him do it.

I had to escape.

“Good, you’re awake.”

As I was struggling, a familiar voice came from behind me.

His footsteps were heavy with the sound of his cane beating the ground each time he moved.

It was the old man.

“Why… why are you doing this!?! I’ve done all that you’ve asked. I’ve trained, fought and won as you told me.” I shouted, unable to suppress the anger and fear clenching my heart.

“Yes, you were perfect.” He replied in a joyous tone.

If I could see his face, I was sure I would have seen his smile that I hated so much.

“T-Then why?”

“Because I prepared this from the very beginning. You really thought I would not see through your little escape plan? Don’t make me laugh. You are a hundred years too young for that, boy.”

“I-I’m sorry. I will fight the last match so please, untie me. I promise I won’t try to run away anymore.”

I was desperate.

“There is no need to beg or ask for forgiveness. Like I told you, I prepared this from the very beginning. All the things I’ve done during these three years were for this very moment. It was a dangerous gamble but I’m glad I made it. With you, I can finally start over once again.”

“What are you talking about? What do you want from me?” I shouted angrily.

“I already told you, there is something in you I'm deeply interested in. It is a rare gift in this world. Only a few people are blessed with it. I have spent the last three years cultivating this gift. Now it is time to harvest it.”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about!”

I heard his footsteps coming closer and closer until I could finally see his two blue eyes as cold as ice staring right at me. His smile was radiant, accentuating all his horrible scars. Slowly, he whispered into my ear.

“You don’t have to know since you will die here.”

It was as if cold water ran through my veins. I shuddered after reminding my nightmare along with the sinister and cruel words coming from Jordan’s mouth.

He wasn't joking.

He was going to kill me.

I was going to die.

I couldn’t die here.

I couldn’t die now.

I still had yet to accomplish anything. I still hadn’t apologized. I had to at least see them one last time.

I couldn’t die yet.

“Why?” I asked with a shaking voice.

I could barely muster any strength. My voice was barely audible, but he strengthened his posture and replied with burning eyes.

“Because it’s the only way for me to live again.”

“What are you talking about? I asked in confusion.

"Why killing me would make you live longer? I never tried to kill you. I’m not a threat, so why?”

My voice betrayed the despair slowly growing in my heart.

“Master, we’re ready.”

The voice of a third man came to my ears. I wasn’t able to see him enter.

“Good, let us begin the preparation.”

He wasn't alone.

Several people wearing the same long black robes with a hood hiding their faces began to encircle me.

I could see by their figures that some of them were women.

They slowly walked around me and stopped. Then, they knelt and placed both of their hands on the floor.

The floor began to emit a red glow illuminating the dark room.

I was in the middle of a huge circle with complex designs and symbols that I couldn’t understand. There were also several weird white stones placed a few feet away from each other.

The circle continued to glow. It became even brighter with every passing second.

Another light suddenly caught my sight.

It came from above.

There was another circle glowing with the same red light. It was as if there was a mirror reflecting the patterns on the floor.

I couldn’t understand what was suddenly happening.

“You owe me an explanation. I did everything you’ve asked of me. I fought in your fucking games. If I must die, then at least tell me for what purpose!”

It was despair.

I was sure the old man could feel it in my voice.

“There is a little time before it activates so I can grant you that wish. Consider it my gift to you. After all, you are my savior, boy.”

My sight was beginning to blur.

I didn't know what he was doing to me. It took me several seconds to notice that this blurred vision was only caused by the tears flowing without interruption from my lonely eye. I realized that escape was impossible no matter how much I struggled.

However, I still wanted to know what purpose my death would serve.

I had to hear what I did to deserve such a fate.

“You’re just unlucky. Just like the eighty-two others before you. You all had bad luck.”

I stopped crying hearing his words.

“Eighty-two? You’ve killed eighty-two other people before me?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“Yes.”

He was too calm. He confessed his murders as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“I chose them carefully just like you. To become my sacrifices, they had to fulfill several conditions.”

“Conditions?”

“Yes. Each one of them had a very strong life force. It was called differently from where I was born, but it’s not important. What is important is that it’s something extremely rare. I think this is something only one human in a million has in enough quantity within them. I have an ability that allows me to see those rare chosen ones."

He made a small pause and turned his gaze toward one of the white stones inside the glowing circle.

"I collected their life force inside these stones. When the circle stops glowing, it will also be able to activate once more. You will die to transfer all the energy that I accumulated within these past fifty years. It will kill you, but I will be able to become young and escape death once again.”

I failed to understand everything he said in his long speech. I simply knew that I would die when the lights stop glowing.

This man was sick.

I was only sure of this.

“It’s like you’re talking about magic. You’re insane.”

“You can call it what you want, but the end result will be the same. Without this I will die soon, this is my only chance. This is why when you entered my office, I almost couldn’t contain my excitement. You were nearly perfect. You just lacked a body strong enough to bear the ritual until the end.”

“So all that training was for this?”

“Yes, to develop your life force and to make you strong enough to support the last step of the ritual. I trained you, pushed you beyond your limits with the matches just as I did with all the others. This was the only reason I organized these fights after all. I don’t organize death matches, remember?”

“Bastard, you’ve already killed eighty-two people, why must you kill me? One more shouldn’t make much of a difference. Release me!”

“You’re wrong. You are special and indispensable to trigger the circle. I am already ninety-eight years old, if I could I would have triggered it already.”

“What is so special about me? I don’t understand. Release me now! ”

I continuously begged, but he paid it no mind and calmly explained to me.

“Your sin, boy. That is what made you special.”

“My sin? What do you mean?”

“I investigated about you after you told me about your brother and I discovered exactly what I was looking for.”

“You mean I was chosen because I’m responsible for the death of my brother?”

“No… that accident wasn’t your fault, but the way you lived before that was. Among the seven sins of humanity, yours is the worst.”

I remembered all these times I cursed my brother.

I knew what my sin was.

“It’s envy, isn’t it?”

He chuckled.

“Wrong.”

“Eh?”

“It’s pride!”

“Pride?”

“Yes, you always considered yourself above all others. You didn't think that someone could be better than you. Just like for your first match. When you first saw the size of the man confronting you, you judged that he wasn’t a worthy opponent.

“No, I…”

“It was just like that with your brother too, wasn’t it? You couldn’t stomach that he was smarter than you. He made you feel inferior to him. It was unbearable, so you beat him to hide your incompetence and shattered pride.”

I couldn't utter a single word.

Every word I heard from him was like a blade slowly piercing into my heart.

Thinking about it made me soon realizes that he was right.

“This circle is special and unlike the ones I used on the others, it will only activate to punish a sin. I have made several attempts and the single time I succeeded was on a man with nothing but pride. Honestly, I’m not sure why but the stronger the sin, better are the chances of success. That’s why I said you had bad luck. You’re a gift from the heavens to me, boy!”

He laughed loudly with a scary expression on his face.

He looked just like a madman.

The happiest madman ever.

However, if what he said was really the truth, then this was really my punishment.

I ran away as far as I could to not face the reproaches and, without knowing, I was just getting closer and closer to my sentence.

You can’t run away from your sin. No matter where you go or what you do, a true sin will never disappear.

I understood that in this instant.

I stopped struggling.

The light also started to fade.

It will be over soon.

I was afraid to die.

“It’s over boy. It was nice knowing you. The days I spent with you were quite enjoyable. Maybe we will be able to see each other again…”

I looked at him with a blank look.

I knew what was coming, but I couldn't do anything against it.

“… but not in this life.”

He took something from his belt.

It was a knife.

My entire body shook violently in a last attempt to escape death, just like a beast before entering the slaughterhouse.

However, instead of cutting my throat, he made a small cut on my wrist and quietly walked away from me to get on another portion of the circle before cutting his finger and letting a drop of his blood fall.

What is he doing? Was he sparing me?

I began to recover some hope as a drop of blood fell from my wrist.

However, as soon as it made contact with the floor, the entire circle glowed fiercer than ever.

It was a beautiful golden light.

It became too bright to look directly at it, it was painful so I squinted my eyes.

However, the pain wasn't going away.

Instead, it began to spread.

Slowly my entire body became painful.

I quickly became unable to control the spasms shaking my body. I felt the rope cut into the flesh of my wrists, but it was just like a breeze compared with the storm of pain that was assailing me. It was far worse than anything I could’ve ever imagined, far worse than when I lost my eye. I felt my blood vessels shatter under the pressure.

I couldn’t hear anything else except for the sound of my own screams.

Make it stop. Please. Anybody, save me. I’ll do anything… stop it.

I begged all the gods to stop the pain, but it didn’t go away.

It only kept increasing, until nothing but the pain remained.

Suddenly, the pain stopped and my consciousness began to fade.

I felt it.

I knew that as soon as closed my eyes, I would never be able to open them again.

I gathered my last strength to look at the old man one last time. It was difficult to see him clearly as my vision was too blurred but I was sure he looked happy.

I should hate him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so.

I didn’t know why myself.

Maybe because I would have died long ago without him. Or maybe because he was the only person I talked to during those three years.

No, that wasn't it.

I knew that it was because he has freed me.

He was the executioner of my sentence.

I could finally free myself from my sin and my guilt.

As those thoughts were circling in my mind, I realized that I only had a few moments left.

I didn't want to have my last thoughts filled with hate and curses.

I already lost too much time doing that.

I silently gathered my thoughts.

My last thoughts.

Jordan… I will be joining you soon. When I see you, I will properly apologize so please, don’t hate me anymore. I wish I could apologize to mom and Trisha too.

Farewell, everyone.

I’m sorry for everything I did. Thank you, supporting me for so long.

Thank you too, old man.

I don’t want to die…

In the end, I couldn’t get another chance.

What a shame…

My entire body was numb. It was difficult to move but I smiled and mustered all my remaining strength and opened my mouth.

“Thank you, master.”

I could see the incomprehension in his eyes.

It was the last thing I saw before feeling my body becoming light and closing my eye one last time.