I blinked and squinted my eyes against the light.

The sun shone bright overhead.

Doublerift had released me from his pocket dimension.

I was on my back, upon the soft tufts of grass of the arena. Next to me, Hei had just picked himself off the ground.

The breeze blew. A gentle sound.

Not far away, in the sunlight, stood the walls of our base.

This was our last Challenge.

I rose to my feet.

Doublerift led us towards the exit gate. Now there was only one exit. Doublerift had initiated a 1v1 against Alice and smuggled us in. In a 1v1 match, the entire arena shrank down to just the Middle Lane. A thin, long, arena. There was nowhere else to go.

I followed.

image [https://i.imgur.com/cjam33N.jpeg]

I wondered if things could've ended differently. What if I didn't walk down this path? Perhaps there existed a world where we never discovered 6E12, where we simply continued to take on the Seasonal Challenges as a party of five, the same party we had back in Silver. Maybe we could have all made it to Platinum. Maybe we could have all made it back.

Perhaps there existed a world where I had convinced Saber to ally with the Bounty Hall. Then she'd probably still be here. Would I have joined the LCS if I still had her by my side?

This was the path I chose, and in so choosing, I had forsaken all other endings. I wasn't completely sure where I was heading. I truly wanted to believe I was headed towards a future where these death games would be no more. But I was taking a final step into the darkness, a plunge deep and unknowable.

The only path left was forward.

As we exited the gate, Doublerift passed me a Potion of Austerity, the classic support item. When consumed, it grants a player 80% of gold earned by nearby allies, provided the player had not earned gold directly from golem kills within the last minute.

He handed Hei a Ring of Recall. Since this match was registered as a 1v1, there was only a single Ring of Recall provided to our team. Likewise, the three of us were given a single Death Ward. Doublerift kept that for himself.

The cobblestone road of the Middle Lane stretched out ahead of us, with lush grassland and beautiful groves of trees bordering its sides. Far in the distance, I could make out the artful architecture of our Towers, more like spires of a palace than forts for battle. A dragonfly crossed our path. The grass shimmered in shades of green, gold, and teal blue, all subtly glowing with a gentle, living radiance. There were trees that looked like pines. We used to harvest pine-melons from them. The arena would've seemed serene, if I hadn't known of all the blood spilled here. The lives lost to the enemies.

Alice would be stronger than all the enemies we had faced yet. It wouldn't be a fair fight.

But this world had never been fair.

I reached out, and grasped Hei's hand, and glanced at him with a brave smirk. "Ready to go home?" I asked.

Home. Our families. Our friends. The city we lived in. All the things we once lost. We were so close to getting them all back.

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"Yeah," Hei said. "Let's all go back."

Soon, we took our places under the Outer Tower. Alice waited for us, on the other side, under her Tower.

Doublerift narrowed his eyes.

"This is where I would've told you it's nothing personal," he said to Alice. "If that wasn't a complete lie."

「Is this all for revenge?」

Alice's voice came from all across the sky. It was the same voice as the announcer.

"This is a hundredfold beyond revenge," Doublerift said coldly. "You are a stain upon this world. I have long dreamed of the day you die. Come, gamemaker, and play the death game you've created."

Alice drew her slender, curved blade from its crimson sheath.

「I have always been playing.」

Alice's golems advanced towards us. Ours came to us, too, from behind us. Soon, the golems on both sides passed our respective Outer Towers, to meet in the middle and battle. Alice followed behind her shield-golems, somber and calm.

She was moving into position to farm our minions for XP and gold. The moment she levels up to 6, we'd lose. Level 6 was when she'd become immortal through her Ultimate. We had to win the game before then.

Doublerift dashed forward, matching Alice's advance. As the only one on our side with a Death Ward, his job was to take the most aggressive position.

Doublerift took out a black cube from his suit pocket. He tossed it into the air.

"Inverse Pandora," he declared. "Confirm target, Alice."

That was the only item Doublerift brought with him from the armory. It was the only one he needed.

A purple pulse of power collapsed into the cube, like an implosion. A second pulse followed, stronger and larger.

Then came a third and final implosive pulse. It rocked the earth and sky, and ripped multiple objects from Alice's body. Several rings from her fingers, a strange glowing locket, a feather made of emerald, and a pair of daggers from her waist. And most importantly, about a dozen Ultima Elixirs.

The black cube sucked in all those objects, then vanished in a burst of light.

Doublerift's item, Inverse Pandora, was only useful in PvP. Once a target was selected, it would confiscate all magical items that the user and target brought from outside the arena. The sole exceptions were their starting equipment: Doublerift's guns, and Alice's sword.

It was just as Doublerift predicted. Alice carried plenty of Ultima Elixirs with her. Each one was a free resurrection. If he hadn't gotten rid of those, we'd have no chance at victory.

The first ally shield-golem fell to under a quarter HP. Alice took a step towards it and raised her sword. Doublerift drew both of his guns and fired.

Volleys of bullets, blazing with golden mana, rained down towards Alice. She dodged several, got hit by several, then found cover behind her frontline of shield-golems.

I sprinted towards the edge of the lane and shot a Frost Missile. It ricocheted off a shield-golem to hit her.

Alice swung her blade down in a vertical slash. A wave of flames erupted forth, brilliant and pure crimson. Doublerift ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack.

That was her first ability, and the one we knew most about. Edge of Prometheus. 1 second cooldown, deals full damage to the first target it hits, and half damage to all targets behind. 75 meters range, the same as Doublerift's guns.

I was safe from the range of my Frost Missiles. Doublerift, meanwhile, was in danger.

He weaved in and out of the 75 meters range, watching Alice's footwork and adjusting his own instantaneously. Alice sent wave after wave of fire at him. He'd take cover behind our golems, then feint stepping out into the open to bait Alice's attacks. Everytime one of our golems got low on health, Doublerift stepped forward and shot Alice with full firepower.

That was a tactic Saber taught us. Do not let the enemy last-hit golems without making them suffer for it.

Golems fell on both sides, only to be replaced by more than arrived. Gunfire and inferno ravaged the battlefield. Doublerift shifted his stance countless times every second, switching between offense and defense positions seamlessly. In terms of skill, he was every bit the superior between them. My long range Frost Missile only helped to solidify our lead. But as well as he could dodge, Alice nonetheless grazed him with the occasional hit.

Both their HP fell. Doublerift's to around half, and Alice's to barely a third. At this rate, we could force her to retreat. She'd miss out on XP, and we had a chance to take her Outer Tower.

I almost missed it amid the maelstrom of attacks, but a soft, white glow pulsed across Alice. She had reached level 2 first.

Her lips parted, and she spoke.

「Red team has slain an enemy.」

Doublerift's body burst into flames for but a moment, before he was turned into ash.