Death Coming

"Sneaking something right under Landel's nose feels impossible."

Landel was sure to be wary of any kind of attempt to free them. If Xilo wasn't careful then they could just die after pissing Landel off. "Lexia." He really hated having to rely on Lexia in this situation especially since she hadn't said anything yet. "It's our only option." Xilo didn't give up just yet on trying to free them however for now he had to. Lexia felt the blood in her veins pumping around her entire body. Opening her eyes she flashed back and forth between Landel and the people who got captured. Her mouth slowly opened as she came to her own answer.

That urge was too powerful for her to deny anymore.

"Landel."

"What is it, Lexia? have you decided on what your answer will be to my question?"

Landel was really keen to hear what Lexia had to say. Despair was the only thing he wanted to cause these two. It was what they deserved for trying to oppose him and his ruling. Lexia tried to open her mouth again as she struggled to speak. Her voice kept getting caught in her throat as she pushed it out. Full of pain she knew that she would hate making this decision for the rest of her life. It was for the best though and the only way that she knew she could sleep at night. Regardless if it ended in failure or not it was what she wanted in the end.

"I have....Landel. Unsurprisingly I've decided and honestly...I would love to pick the option where I trade their lives for yours. It'd be nice to see you fall to your knees and suffer before me. Just to see how much torture I could inflict on you until you begged for death. Would be a dream come true for me."

"Oh?"

It was nice to finally get to see the real side of Lexia once and for all. Years of pretending she was someone she wasn't were tiring. "A fake." Lexia had been dead long ago and he was long tired of the act he had put on. Seeing this side of her though actually got him excited. It felt like she was diving deep into madness with him, even if she wasn't the Lexia he knew. "I'm not alone." He didn't feel nearly as alone as he thought he would be. All she had to do now was take the life of him and exchange it for her friends. "A fair deal." Accepting his fate, Landel tugged on the collar around her neck that connected their lives as he walked forward.

"If that's what you want then, go for it. Once you kill me, this collar will activate and kill everyone else in that cage at the same time. It's just a matter of when you do it, if Xilo over there doesn't stop you before that."

Landel knew once he saw Xilo's reactions that he was heartbroken and betrayed. Another person who joined him in the path of betrayal. He had lost his entire family when he tried to become friends with Cestrin's King and now it was Xilo's turn. No one would accept that kind of fate blindly though. Xilo could already feel his body shaking as he looked at the two of them. Even though his heart bled like crazy, if he could just stop Lexia from killing Landel then he could save the others. "So the collar connects them." Xelfia and Felli were already moving towards the cage that Landel had set up.

They would give him zero time for this game of his even if it killed them.

"We won't let you kill our friends, asshole!"

"We'll fight you even if lexia won't."

Lexia watched them as she finished speaking.

"I really would love to do that, Landel, I would. However you've got one thing wrong. I am not picking that option. Instead I'll have you free them and fight you until the better end. I may want to kill you but I don't want you to simply roll over and die. I want you to struggle and succumb to me. I want you to face the end head on and be beaten by me. If I don't win with you trying then what's the point, there's no satisfaction in that. It's just a hollow victory. You might have thought you came up with a good plan but once again you failed to really think about others feelings. Release them, like you promised now, your game is over."

Stunned by Lexia's reply, Landel froze where he stood. He hadn't expected her to not go with the easiest option given to her. There was no way she could win in a normal fight so it was almost a given she would make the trade with him. "What, why?" Even if she wasn't Lexia, she still had similar thoughts based on past memories and most would pick that option. "It seems like I was wrong." Releasing a sigh, it was no big deal. As much as he would have loved to see it go the other way, this was also fine. Now he could be alive to see the downfall of Cestrin's Kingdom himself.

Detaching the collar from his neck he quickly threw it to the side and released everyone else.

"Fine, Since that's the choice you've made it's only fair I follow through with my side of it as well."

Relief flowed through Xilo's body as he heard their exchange until the next moment when his heart dropped once more.

"I won't kill them myself like I promised, however who's to stop anyone else here from doing it for me?"

In an instant over a hundred people rushed straight towards the cage the second Landel was done talking.

"no!"

Shouting out loud, Xilo felt his body begin to move on his own as he rushed straight to Tearia.

"No, no, no."

He didn't even know if he had enough time to save her.