Since the damned are dumber than Luke, they’d walk right into that spinning lava-circle-whip-thing Dan was twirling around him. With all those idiots clamoring to help Dan out, it didn’t take all that long for his core to fill, and it didn’t look like it was tiring his arm out either.

Healing took a lot longer. The door to the Trial was open for about 15 minutes by the time his body had fully healed.

I really can’t believe that fat prick figured out a way to survive this Trial at low tiers without a stealth Orbment. This guy was killing me.

But this Trial did have a unique surprise in store for him. As he was making his way back to the door, all the damned started fleeing. The damned don’t flee. I was trying to figure out what the Heaven was going on when I saw all the flies.

One of the hotshots was about to visit Dan. And a major one if the damned were fleeing. High pantheon.

Just to clarify – the high pantheon muckamucks don’t visit the Game. That just doesn’t happen. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.

I saw goat horns poking out of the ground where most of the flies were. I thought he was being visited by Baphomet at first.

Then I noticed there were three horns. The grotesque head of the ugliest goat I’d ever seen came into view. Then a muscular and mannish-shaped body with skin as black as the abyss. There was no doubt. It was Leonard.

I became worried. The fancy-schmancy bigwigs at the top don’t care about rules. Because the rules don’t apply to them.

If Leonard did anything considered interference, this Game would be invalidated. The other side would automatically win due to our side interfering.

You won’t catch me saying anything bad about any of the high pantheon muckamucks, but if Leonard did something considered interference, since Dan was on my team, not only would I not get paid, but I’d also probably get blamed for whatever happened and horrifically tortured to death, so I was more than a little worried.

Dan fled right along with the undead. He tried making a run for the exit, but Leonard froze him in place with a word. “Hold!”

Leonard strode up to Dan and said, “Bask in my presence. The fear will leave if you relax your mind and accept the awe. Control your emotions. Know that I am not here to harm you. Yes, it is slow. Accept these feelings and calm yourself.”

Leonard continued to soothe the shaking Dan. His shaking was understandable. He was in the presence of one of the greatest and most ancient of all evils. But then I noticed a big wet spot growing down his leg.

Bob, Az’ga, and I were dying laughing. He peed his pants like a little baby! Ha!

Once Dan was finally able to stop shaking like a huge sissy, he did about the dumbest thing anyone could ever do. He attacked Leonard. We stopped laughing. I almost had a heart attack.

Dan was letting loose with everything he had, one cooldown right after the other, ending with a long spray of lava.

There wasn’t a chance in Heaven Dan could hurt Leonard, but who knows how one of the high pantheon would react to such an insult? A lowly Copper-tier nobody just attacked him in earnest.

When Leonard just laughed it off, I breathed out a sigh of relief. He said, “Good. You have some spunk. Continue to calm yourself. You need to be of sound mind when we speak. Do try to be quick. My schedule has been inordinately full of late. You know how it goes. He that would have eggs must endure the cackling of hens.”

Dan closed his eyes and continued to calm himself and adjust to Leonard’s presence.

Leonard studied Dan for a moment before saying, “Hate? One of my favorite revelations, especially for the first. It makes a fine base of a Spirit Nexus. Though I don’t feel much hate within you. Not much of anything really. Not even…oh! I see. You hate yourself.

“I personally wouldn’t recommend such, but what can't be cured must be endured. You have put to good use what others would purge. I like that. It shows unconventional thinking and creative problem-solving. Two traits I admire.”

After another minute or so, Leonard asked, “Are you calm? Ready to speak?”

Dan said, “I ain’t got much to say to you or your kind.”

After chuckling a little, Leonard said, “That’s certainly understandable. Still, hear me out. Murder most foul. The only one you feel true remorse for is that of Winston Green. No matter how you feel about us, how you feel about me, this ends the same for you.

“You don’t know what Hell is like. We go out of our way to ensure it is a truly terrible experience for those damned to it. Some would say we take great pleasure in doing so. They’d be correct. He that would eat the fruit must climb the tree. I have been climbing trees for a very long time.”

Leonard began to walk around Dan, looking down at him, as he continued. “Speaking of time, have you ever thought about just how long eternity is? It is a very great amount of time. So great of an amount, it truly is endless. Forever. That’s how long your existence in Hell will last. Forever. An eternity of which every second will feel as a lifetime of torture and agony.”

Leonard stood in place. “It doesn’t have to be so bad,” he said with a soothing tone. “I can make it mostly pleasant for you. And before you twist yourself into knots wrangling morals, remember that every tub must stand on its own bottom. Your world will lose this Game. Even if you defeat Agares’ champion and advance to phase 2, you will lose, and your fate will still be Hell. No matter what you do, you will be damned to spend an eternity in Hell.”

I think Leonard attempted to smile reassuringly. It was very frightening to see. He then said, “The fate of your world is a forgone conclusion. You can only influence one thing – will your eternity in Hell be completely and always terrible, or will it be far more pleasant?

“Swear to me. Swear to me your soul. Do all of which I ask of you. Serve me well in life and you will continue to serve me in Hell, far above the station and comfort of most born to our realm and the refuse and riffraff of the lower layers.”

Dan said, “Naw.”

Leonard was taken aback. It’s rare, but every now and then, I’d see someone in the Game running around helping us out. I’ve never had one of those participants, but we all know if a participant’s been marked by a bigwig.

And I use the term ‘bigwig’ relatively. There are bigwigs, and there are bigwigs, if you know what I’m saying.

I had never heard of one of the high pantheon making an offer of patronage to a participant before. And I had never heard of any participant refusing an offer of any type of patronage either. Not even from fifth- or sixth-layer shitheads.

Just as Leonard said, Hell is awful for the damned. Just awful. If an eternity of that fate can be avoided, it’s avoided. Even Luke would’ve been smart enough to accept patronage from anyone, and Leonard wasn’t just anyone – he was of the high pantheon.

So, it was understandable why Leonard was taken aback. He said, “Naw? As in no? You understand what this response means? An eternity truly suffering in Hell?”

“Yeah,” replied Dan.

The two just stood there for a few seconds before Leonard commanded, “Explain.” It seemed like a command, like he was forcing Dan to speak. Dan’s brows furrowed as he tried to resist, but he still spoke. “Maybe I end up losing. If so, it won’t be for lack of trying. Maybe I deserve to go to Hell for the things I done. Don’t matter none what happens to me.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Leonard silently studied Dan for a moment before saying, “Ah. I see.” In Dan’s exact voice, Leonard said, “When my daughter looks down at me from Heaven, she’ll see me trying to do right. She ain’t going to see me quitting or making deals with the likes of you. Neither will Paw.”

I assumed Leonard had read Dan’s mind. With his normal voice, he said, “The judgment of the dead matter not at all. What matters is eternity, and how you’ll spend it. Power? I can make you very powerful for the rest of your mortal existence, short though it may be, and your eternal existence after.”

“I ain’t interested,” replied Dan.

Leonard’s skull and three horns lit aflame. He grew many times larger and stood at a great height. He looked down on Dan and said, “In that case, maybe I should find the souls of your daughter and father so they can join your torment in Hell. A torment that will now receive my personal attention.”

Dan’s face crinkled up in rage. He snapped out, “I doubt you can do that, but if you can and do, you better pray I don’t get sent to Hell. I’ll have all eternity to come for you. And I won’t stop coming until you’re dead. I swear to God on that.”

Leonard laughed maliciously as he began sinking back through the ground. He said, “Ah, well, do as you will. Needs must and all that,” before his head disappeared and the flies dispersed.

See? Even one of the hotshots of the high pantheon couldn’t solve my Dan problem. But that conversation gave me a great idea for a new ghost.

All the damned had fled past the Scourge crew site and were all packed in on the other side of it. With Leonard gone, they started making their way back.

As Dan extended a new length of lava to make a new circle-whip-thing, the…

[It’s called a lasso. Do you know if Leonard was certain of Dan’s fate? He seemed certain redemption wasn’t possible.]

What’s called a lasso?

[The…what Dan was making his lava-whip into. It’s called a lasso.]

Oh. Lasso. What a fun word. Lasso. I love the sound of it. It’s magnificent.

[Leonard. Dan’s fate.]

Huh? Oh. No idea. I’ll never understand the stupid and prudish rules of the other side. None of it makes any sense at all.

[Earlier you stated he may not be a true issue despite everything else. Was it because you believe he may be beyond redemption? Or has anyone in your chain-of-command mentioned such?]

Possibly. It seems like it, but it isn’t clear. Something happens in a little bit to make it…well, you’ll see.

[If the full revelation he tattooed on his soul was ‘hate,’ it would lend credence to his status as irredeemable.]

That would make sense. So, Dan had his lava-whip-lasso-thing made and…

[Just lasso.]

So, Dan had his lasso-thing made…

[Just lasso. Not lasso-thing.]

Lasso. Just lasso. What a cool word! I love it! It just rolls off the tongue. Lasso. Lasso. Wonderful!

Okay. So, Dan had his lasso made and ran towards the horde of undead coming at him.

He got pretty close to the Scourge crew’s area. If he aggroed them, he was dead.

The whole demon crew pretend to work in some sort of programmed loop until it’s time for them to fight, then they start acting like normal clones. It’s mostly Balberites, but there’s four of five other kinds mixed in, the Kobalites being the best among them.

That specific mix with so many Balberites is pretty accurate. Most Scourge crews come from a Balberite-heavy section of this layer, just as this section is Asmodite-heavy. Or dumb broad Asmodite-heavy since all their males are forced to join the legions and fight in the war like suckers.

The point being if Dan pulled those demons, he’d be dead as a doornail in two seconds flat. They’re a ton of Jades led by a handful of Silvers. They’d run over him like a freight train.

Dan’s trauma profile stated his father died of cancer, the two had a good relationship, and had gotten along well. Usually not great material to work with for a ghost.

To try and throw him off and make him do something stupid, I had the ghost of his father appear next to his daughter and say, “I’m so disappointed in you, Son. Why don’t you just quit now. You’re right to hate yourself. You’re a coward and a failure. How’d I go so wrong with you?”

Let me tell you, Dan was not a fan, but, sadly, the new ghost didn’t cause him to mess up enough to aggro the demons. Still, we loved it and decided to keep it up permanently.

Dan cleared a huge area, and since most of the damned were all still crowded on the opposite side of the Scourge crew, the area between him and the exit was free of undead.

Once his core was back to full, he hauled ass towards the exit, collecting a few loot drops along the way. Near the exit, he leveled up in the strange way he does without the Class Obelisk, which brought his core down a good bit under half.

The undead were still a way off. He had plenty of time before they’d reach him. He summoned his infernal, lowering his mana significantly. He ordered his summons to stay put and went back to refill his core on the undead.

When that was done, he ran back to the exit, invoked Molten Armor, and headed outside with his infernal.

Everything was waiting for him. Everything. While he was in the Trial, all the apparitions and other slower Sortilege creatures had had time to finally catch up with the rest.

This didn’t go like the first time. All the creatures with ranged attacks were right there near the Trial, right along with everything else. As soon as Dan appeared, everything attacked.

If he had completed the Trial, it would’ve been on cooldown. Since he exited without completing it, it still had to reset, so he was locked out for three to six minutes.

Still, with all the shit Dan was facing and all the hits he took upon exiting, I thought there’d be no way he’d last 10 seconds.

The fat prick proved me wrong once again. Even when the Trial opened back up, he kept fighting. He was using everything on cooldown and spraying lava like mad, not caring about mana expenditure.

He didn’t last until his core emptied though. After he took a massive hit that left his face mangled, he made his way back to the Trial and dove in but left his summons out there to continue fighting.

I won’t bore you with the details. He used the lasso to level up twice before running out with a fresh new summons to do the same as last time. Then he did the same again, leveling up to 18.

But the third time he exited the Trial, there should’ve still been a small force waiting to meet him. There was nothing there. He could hear some fighting off in the distance and ran towards it.

Some participants popped into the Boneyard. Some had left, some had stayed and fought the aberrations they or their party spawned. After, they all just went ham stealing all the frags, beast cores, and everything else dropped by all the creatures Dan had killed earlier.

Then more participants showed up and joined in on the looting. Until the creatures outside of the Trial of the Scouring noticed new things to kill and went to do so.

Many participants fled. The rest were all fighting the little that remained of what once was an army.

Dan and his summons attacked from the rear and made short work of all the creatures left. He was not happy about people stealing what he considered his.

Firstly, he went and grabbed his camera, letting my team know he was still alive, which ruined a little fun Bob, Az’ga, and I were having. My team thought Dan was dead. We were laughing as we watched them sulk around like a bunch of Debbie Downers, especially Nick.

I have a lot of experience looking at vitals and mentals. I can tell when someone’s psyching themselves up to do something they don’t want to. Dan was doing this big time.

After taking a calming breath and resolving himself to his action, he stood in front of the entrance to the tutorial. All the participants there were looking at him. It seemed like he just couldn’t get any words out.

He was standing a good bit away from the group, but his anxiety lines were going absolutely wild. I really thought he was going to enter the tutorial to get away from that situation.

He didn’t. He just stood there like a fat idiot. It was very awkward. Even I felt embarrassed for him.

We flooded the area around him with images. Oh, boy, were we able to startle him but good. He looked very foolish.

Things remained very awkward for a few more seconds. Then a new participant entered the Boneyard, spurring Dan into action. He killed the aberration that spawned with a quickly formed whip a second before his infernal drove both its massive arms down onto the corpse and turned its body into mush.

The newly arrived participant nervously dove back through the exit.

Many other participants took that opportunity to flee deeper into the Boneyard. The dozen or so remaining continued to look curiously at Dan.

He said, “They can run. I’ll remember their faces. Y’all drop everything you stole from what I killed.”

The participants looked around at one another. A few began dropping some Orbment Fragments but not enough and not much else.

“Y’all want to stay on my good side,” said Dan. “It ain’t hard to do. Just act civilized. Don’t steal my shit. Don’t steal shit from nobody else. Don’t kill people that ain’t had it coming. Don’t turn traitor and side with Hell.”

Dan, brows furrowed, took another calming breath and said, “I’m fixing to start regulating soon. Anyone I judge deserving of it, I’m putting down. Drop what was stolen. Then y’all need to either go back to the tutorial or head east. This whole west side is off-limits until I’m done looting what’s mine.”

More and better stuff began dropping on the ground. As the participants started to disperse, Dan told two of them to wait.

He collected everything the others had dropped in his backpack before asking those two to follow him to where more loot and dead creatures were.

He turned to the two and said, “Dotty and Andrew. Don’t matter none how I know your names.”

Dan stuck his hand out to shake. Dotty and Andrew were complete strangers, but they both looked at each other in somewhat of a companionly manner and raised their eyebrows before taking turns shaking the offered hand.

Dan continued talking to the two as he looted. He gave some info on self-cultivation. He also told them to stop leveling until they finished their allotted time in the Sanctuary of Revelations.

The three made plans to meet up again the day after the next outside that building. Before those two took off, Dan asked them to keep an eye out for decent people that showed some promise.

While he was looting, Dan caught two of the participants that had fled earlier. He took everything they had on their bodies besides their clothing before sending them off.

Then he went back into the Trial of the Scouring and leveled up twice more. He stopped there, at level 20. He never once tried to complete the Trial.

That Trial, at least. He was just getting started on the whole reason he had left the tutorial.