World's Last Hope

It was bright—too bright. The man in front of Olivia was using his body to block the deadly flames from reaching her position. Even though the flames didn't touch her, she felt how scorching the air was. It was clear Eric wouldn't last much longer.

"Shit, shit!" she cursed internally, straining her muscles as she nocked an arrow. Though the fire obscured her vision, she roughly sensed the dragon's position and released the arrow.

It flew through the air, past Eric, piercing through the flames, and struck the inside of the dragon's mouth—the source of the deadly inferno.

Unlike its armored exterior, the inside of the dragon's mouth was vulnerable. As soon as the arrow hit, the beast shuddered and plummeted into the dark sea below.

With the dragon's fiery assault end, Eric's body emerged from behind the flames.

Olivia gritted her teeth. The man's skin was entirely gone, leaving raw muscle exposed. In some areas, even the bone of his cheek was visible, showing the horrifying extent of the damage he had endured in just a few seconds under the fire.

His black armor was no longer black—it was crimson red, overheated by the dragon's flames.

And it was all because Olivia wouldn't have been able to withstand the attack. So, he took it for her despite knowing the danger.

The most shocking thing, though, was that Eric didn't even seem aware of his injuries.

He continued firing arrows at an incredible rate. His aim was clumsy, with most arrows missing their mark, and the bow's cursed side effect activated with every shot, making him endure the agony of a heart attack repeatedly.

And yet, he kept firing, showing no signs of stopping or slowing down.

"This guy... what is he made of?" Olivia muttered, drawing her bow again.

*****

Aria was currently controlling the worm, so it was critical to maintain her concentration. If she lost focus, they could lose control and all plunge into the sea below.

Despite this, she knew the dragons had fired again after her shield barrier was broken, forcing her to glance back to assess the damage.

Olivia, aside from a few bruises, was mostly unharmed. But Eric...

He looked like a walking corpse. Most of his face was gone. His armor didn't include a helmet, so his face had borne the brunt of the dragon's breath.

Yet he wasn't on the ground, crying in pain. No, he stood tall, firing arrows even faster than Olivia. It seemed sheer adrenaline and spite were driving him forward.

Looking back ahead, Aria gritted her teeth in frustration. She wanted to do more, but her role demanded that she stay focused on controlling the worm.

"If only I were a grandmaster!" she muttered under her breath.

Tightening her grip on the reins, she urged the worm forward.

"Faster! We have to go faster!"

*****

'What's happening?' Eric thought as he continued firing arrow after arrow. He felt disoriented.

'Oh, I'm trying to stop the dragons from getting closer…'

He wanted to turn his head to check how far they were from the mountain, but to his horror, he found he couldn't move his neck.

The muscles refused to respond.

The dragons approached, their jaws opening to unleash another fiery attack. Eric watched helplessly as they prepared to strike again. He wanted to duck, to move—but his legs wouldn't obey. The only part of him still functioning was his arms, which continued to fire arrows at a frenzied pace.

A glow began to form in the dragons' throats. Olivia managed to shoot another arrow, downing one dragon, but the others remained, readying their attack.

'Once more... can I survive being burned once more?' he wondered bitterly. He already knew the answer: no.

He wasn't even sure if he was truly alive now. It felt like if he stopped moving his arms, death would claim him immediately.

The system was flooding him with notifications, each one irritating him more than the last. He couldn't spare the energy to read them, let alone process their meaning.

The dragons' jaws lit up with fire, ready to turn him into ash. It felt hopeless.

Suddenly, a massive tentacle rose from the dark sea below, wrapping around one of the dragons and crushing it instantly like a tomato. The other dragons, startled by the unexpected attack, shifted their attention to the enormous tentacle.

Eric barely registered Olivia's trembling, terrified voice.

"Grade-6 monster…"

With the dragons' focus diverted, Eric smiled—or at least he thought he did. He wasn't sure if he still had the muscles for it. A moment later, he passed out.

*****

[Something far away suddenly approaches.]

"Hm?" Eric found himself in a dark, unfamiliar space. He didn't feel dead, but he wasn't exactly alive, either.

'The system? Something approaches?'

[ERROR smiles and whispers: "You will not escape me a second time."]

Escape? A second time? Eric's thoughts raced until he remembered the description of his cursed trait: You have escaped the jaws of death once... it will not happen a second time.

'Is this… death?'

Recalling the grim warning of his trait, Eric's entire being trembled.

'Death will not let go of its prey a second time. Should the host fail, hell will follow.'

"Hell will follow," he murmured to himself.

"No... if that's true, does that mean—"

[ERROR has reached you. ERROR begins laughing maniacally.]

"Am I going to hell?"

His vision blurred even more, and then he saw something—something immense standing tall in the darkness, towering far above him.

It was shrouded in darkness, hiding most of its details, but the glimpse of its face was enough to terrify Eric beyond reason.

The creature's face was perfectly white, covered in countless wrinkles. Its unnaturally large mouth was curved into a grotesque smile, revealing jagged, terrifying teeth.

Its hollow eye sockets were filled with darkness, and a black liquid fell from them, dripping down its face.

The entity slowly raised one of its arms and pointed a bony index finger at Eric.

No. 

It wasn't pointing at Eric—it was pointing at his soul.

[Now you are mine.]