Chapter 15- Recollection and Morales

The sounds of the destruction of the Mansion still somehow reached the white room, leaving many to their thoughts and imaginations. 

But more than that, all were relieved, and perhaps mentally drained from the situation. 

Two figures, Dollina and Zon, were panting while resting on the wall, their gazes lingering on one another before shifting to Bryan and Paxton, who stood by the other end. Both were just as tired, but something felt amiss at this point. 

With a sigh, Zon pushed himself from the wall and approached them. 

"Who's the killer?" He asked. 

Paxton and Bryan looked up at him, Bryan's flickering with intensity while Paxton remained indifferent. 

"Bryan. I was his accomplice." 

He replied, without as much as batting an eye. 

Bryan flinched and snapped his gaze at him.

"Relax, Bryan. You did well following my plans and survived. If there was a way to kill you in this white room, I would have done it a long time ago." 

Of course, Paxton had raised questions on that as well, but for some reason, he preferred this ending. 

A loud slam echoed, grabbing their attention. 

"Plans? Plans?! You mean, you planned all that?" 

Goliath's rage was palpable while Dollina stood in surprise and perhaps a bit of confusion. 

"But how?" She wondered. 

Zon shifted his gaze to her, a sigh escaping his lips. "I'm also curious how. Was there really a different Blueprint?" 

Bryan nodded, scratching the back of his head nervously. "I'm sorry, but Paxton promised I would survive if I do as he asked. He was really helpful and set up the play so I could kill with ease. He also pulled most of your attention on himself, trying to shift attention away from me." 

It wasn't like he had a choice in the matter, but it would be wrong to assume that he wasn't affected by what he did. 

Bryan was currently hurting on the inside, and perhaps twice as guilty as he usually would. After all, he did kill people, for survival or not, it would naturally affect someone as sensitive as Bryan. But his motivations held him strong so far, and he intended on making it that way till the end. 

Zon raised a brow. "Oh." He said, unable to say anymore. 

He turned around and walked back to the wall, his hands folded as he rested on it. 

"....you, you are much smarter than you make it seem, Zachary." 

Paxton smirked. "And you're just as troublesome as you look. I wanted to kill you first, but your strategic mind made me not want to." 

Dollina's gaze seemed fixed on Paxton, the images of the dead bodies playing in her head as her fists curled tightly. 

"Five lives. Are you fine after taking five lives? Do you not have any sort of moral compass?" 

Bryan slammed the wall before Paxton could reply, his gaze dilated, his voice and fists shaky as he said. 

"Moral Backing? What moral backing? If even the Server Lord that we serve as our gods hasn't shown an ounce of it, then why should I?" 

Paxtons smirk widened into a grin. 

His expression was cold enough to send a shiver down the spine of anyone. 

His malevolence when he smirked or grinned made him twice as dangerous as he seemed, and this further helped fuel their suspicion. 

"So because the Server Lord didn't show us mercy, you decided not to as well?" 

Dollina scoffed. "That's dumb." 

"Do you know what the 1st rule of a Red Tasker is?" 

They glanced at each other, Paxton's smirk slowly fading as he turned away. 

'Not something I would want to hear again but the Server Lord really makes me think.' 

The others shrugged. "What is it?" Zon asked. 

"Failure to kill an individual due to moral uprightness will be severely punished and the Red Tasker's generation of Challengers shall bear that punishment." 

Their gazes slowly widened in shock, their pupils dilating. 

"The Server rules pushed you to do so…while making you forfeit your moral upbringing, but why?" 

"I do not know, but I do know what I did was wrong…..but it was my only way of survival." 

In the end, what Bryan said didn't matter because what he did was inherently wrong, and Paxton's colluding with him made him just as guilty. 

His reasons could be logical, but the death of five people who they once knew would continue to linger in their minds and perhaps haunt them for a long time. 

Dollina especially found this unappealing. 

'This Zachary…..I shall never forget his name. I will search for him if I have to when I get out of here.' 

She was more concerned with the mastermind than the killer, after all, the killer would have never gotten his name without the help of the Mastermind. Just then, an image played in her head, the sounds of gunshots erupting and a nimble boy dodging. 

She raised a brow and turned to him. 

"Zachary, what was that?"

"What was what?" Zon asked. 

"His…speed?" 

She didn't need to explain more as they recalled the scene vividly. 

It was something that would remain rent-free in their head, and Paxton didn't seem like he wanted to reveal anything about it. 

'Pixefication Syndrome isn't something that's well known after all'. 

He thought, ignoring the throbbing headache at the back of his head. 

"I don't have to answer that." 

They were about to protest when a whimsical sound projected, the sound of glass breaking as the space in their presence fragmented into a slit. 

The slit was widened, a white void hidden behind as a familiar, yet dreary figure walked out of it. 

The people gathered had their expressions twisted at just the sight of her, their thoughts reeling in. 

'This bitch…' Paxton thought as the slit closed on her entering.

Her smile was just as devious and angelic as it had always been, her pristine wings telling tales of mysteries and divine wisdom. 

She floated in the air, her gaze scanning the people gathered. 

"I'm intrigued. Out of all those who took the test, you were the one with the most unpredictable ending." 

She said, her gaze lingering on Paxton. 

"Challenger….Zachary was it?" She asked. 

Paxton raised a brow, his thoughts reeling in and his lips curling into a grin. 

"You fucking bitch." 

His words seemed to have caused a stir of shock within the others. 

Their gazes widened in shock, and Bryan quickly walked away from Paxton's side. 

'What?' 

'What did he just say?' 

'Was he referring to her?' 

'Paxton, damn it! You don't say your mind to a freaking floating being!' He thought, fear gripping his heart that he may be associated with him. 

The angelic figure remained still, a bulge of veins popping on her head, and her teeth clenched against each other. 

"Do you have a death wish, Human?" 

"A death wish? I can ask you the same ugly bird." 

His voice dripped with malice, and a bit of excitement. 

'Hah….she can't do shit in this space either, can she?' He wondered. 

The rules stated for the Red Tasker pointed out how all Deaths in the white room were reversed without a probable side effect. 

'Other than that, I was just curious to see her reaction….it must be quite comedic' 

"This…This human! How dare you!" 

A ghastly aura poured out of her body, her gaze growing ferociously over time. 

Her hands gripped tightly together, her nails leaving ghastly wounds that healed in an instant on the palm of her hand. 

"What about me? Huh? Fucking Bitch. Must have been nice to insult humans when you knew nothing about them. Crazy bastard, what's your Server Lord thinking, sending an incompetent bird like you? Huh?" 

Her fury had reached an all-time high, her gaze contorting with fury. 

She stretched her arm at Paxton, a ball of light igniting at the tip and growing into a beam that was about to shoot out. 

But in the next second, as if possessed, the beam shrank into nothing and the energy disappeared. 

She clicked her tongue and turned away. 

"The Test Of Wits has now ended, and you will be taken for the next test if you so wish for it. 

Also, I hope you've learnt valuable lessons on this journey…"

Her gaze lingered on Paxton's and shifted away, a slight frown on her face. 

'Bastard! Did he figure out I can't kill them from the second test directly?' 

She wondered. 'Well, knowing the human, he would want to go for the third. I'll make my move then.' 

"There are people that are worth trusting and others that are not. Humans play mind games with themselves all the time and those who died were those that got the short end of the stick in their games." 

She smirked noticing the change in their expressions. 

'No matter how the Server Lord chooses you, I will continue to despise these useless creatures. Grow hate for one another and destroy yourselves from the inside'. 

Her smile returned as she flicked her finger, causing their bodies to disappear from the white room, one by one. 

It started with Goliath and their surprised expressions turned to Paxton before returning to the angelic figure. 

"Hey, it was Zachary who pissed you off, why are you taking it out on us?" Zon spoke out as Dollina suddenly disappeared. 

His gaze narrowed in shock when he heard a startled scream and turned around. Bryan was gone as well. 

With a raised brow, he turned around to glance at Paxton, his brows arched deeply. 

'That bastard.' 

And with that, he disappeared, leaving two figures in the white room.

Paxton and the angelic figure. 

He had been surprised by her sudden action as well, but on second thought, it didn't quite add up. 

"Now, human, I will ask the second time. Do you want to go on to the third test or quit here?" 

Paxton looked up at the angelic figure, his worry easing up. 

'Oh, so that was it. From here on out, it's a personal decision that shouldn't be influenced by others….and thus, whoever agrees to move on can blame no one but themselves.' 

With a smirk, he replied. 

"Of course, yes." 

There was a solemn silence at first, but the Angelics figure's lips suddenly widened into a grin causing a shift in the aura of the room. 

Her once angelic face had been replaced by wrinkles and a devilish grin, revealing her unfiltered intentions. 

"The Test Of the Hunt shall begin soon."