Endgame

Silence, with only the sound of twirling fumes that encircled the tower. The tournament had fallen down to just four final contenders: Ian, Veronica, Gian-Luca, and Venus.

Only one could win.

The Sins looked at the wall of death and at each other. It was one or the other; to die by each other's hands, or to die altogether. They couldn't bear to take each other's lives, and so their minds and bodies paralyzed before the oncoming petrification.

Crumbling, all the tombstones had fallen. The cemetery of a thousand deaths was now covered with the crumbled remains of fallen graves, sitting atop the dirt of the many fallen lives.

Dong! Dong!

The Sins turned around to see that the bell had begun swinging. Side to side, it rang its noise. Death was coming, and death was inevitable.

Ian turned back towards the wall of death, screaming like he did before. But nothing could be heard anymore. The gas had now enclosed the noise within its walls, so only the vibrations of the bell ringing could be felt. It was just a silent moment to admire before succumbing to the cruel crumblings of the gas.

Veronica fell to her knees. They contained no more hope to keep her on her feet. She looked as the other two watched the impending demise that approached.

"It's over…" She couldn't hear herself say. "Why…"

Veronica looked into her reflection of the bell. All she could see was a blurry image of herself, as if she couldn't see clearly. She reached out towards the bell and wiped its dusty surface, revealing a cleaner and clearer image to her reflection. The bell shone bright and golden.

"Wait…" The familiar golden glow took hold of her dying faith. She was reminded of something all too valuable to forget. "The Pendant of Undying…"

Veronica quickly took the necklace out of her pocket, recognizing its familiar golden shine, and immediately locked it around her neck. She then quickly observed her surroundings. There was Ian, who continued to scream inaudibly at the gas, Gian-Luca, who watched the Bell swing back and forth, and Venus, who lay unconscious on the floor.

"Four… Four evasions of death…"

The gas was coming upon contact with the tower in one final minute, and when it did, everything would crumble. Within this final moment of time, Veronica scurried over to Venus and grabbed his hand.

"IAN! GIAN-LUCA!" She yelled to get their attention. But then again, their little zone had become void of sound. She dashed over to Ian and grabbed his hand.

"—?!" Ian was surprised. He saw that Veronica began to tug him in Gian-Luca's direction, whose hand she also grabbed. Looking at the two of them, she brought their hands together and clasped them tightly. She maintained her grasp with Ian's hand, but let go of Gian-Luca's. Using this free hand, she quickly stretched over to grab Venus' hand in the few remaining seconds that they had.

Darkness began to envelop as this happened, as the gas walls were now petrifying even the flames of the torches. Light and life was abandoning as they rushed, and the crackling crumbles of the gas' petrification slowly began to etch its way towards the highest platform of the tower. It was then that Ian and Gian-Luca noticed that Veronica had formed a chain among them. They were all linked to one another by hands, with Veronica sobbing in desperation in the middle.

"FOUR EVASIONS OF DEATH TO THOSE LINKED WITH MY HANDS!!!" She screamed one final request. The floor beneath them began to crumble, and as they all felt themselves fall through the cracking foundations of the tower, Veronica's Pendant of Undying began to glow a brilliant golden light. Beams from the pendant broke through the gas walls that already began to engulf the Sins, stretching outwards into the everlasting desperate entirety.

Everything that remained within the ending boundary had finally crumbled down to the ground.

The tournament was finished.