Chapter 9: The End...and the Beginning (2/2)

At this point, Aldrich began to think of a way to get out of this using Elaine's recording as leverage, but Adam reacted first

Adam shot out a punch at Seth's face, but it was like he had punched a brick wall Seth did not evenAda worm-filth Out of my Goddamn way!" said Seth as he once more back hand slapped Adah, the slap was accoround cole

Aldrich's thoughts completely stopped at that urgling co to stand back up from

Adam was dead

"A-Adam?" said Elaine as she i his head close to her He looked up at her with blank eyes She started to breathe heavily, her face twisting into equal parts fear, confusion, and shock "Adam? Talk to me Please, please tell me you're okay"

"Sht!" roared Seth as he looked at his hand "Sht! Sht! Sht! Why are you Duds so fragile!? Made out of fucking cardboard! Just one tap from me and he just dies like that!"

Aldrich'sone of his only friends, a friend that always got back up no round pered response

Elaine was still on the floor ide, distraught eyes, her hand on Ada desperately for a pulse even when the verdict was obvious that he was dead She was normal Her response was expected for someone that had lost a close friend so brutally and so easily like that

Aldrich, however, had calmed down It was not that he did not care about Adam, it was simply that he needed to ensure his and Elaine's survival

Adam's death did not mean that Aldrich and Elaine had to suffer and die as well

They could and would , that hat Adam would have wanted

"You, one of the heirs to the Solar family, killed hiht?

Youwhatever you wanted to Elaine even if she released it You could have hired incredible lawyers and gotten PR fire while Globe-Net fir ru

But this, unfortunately, is way beyond that This is uilt and a dead body The Fraoes in and out of the progra the fact that the progra Dud applicants

What do you think will happen when it gets leaked that Seth Solar not only threatened sexual assault but committed casual, cold-blooded murder? Your money could have covered sexual assault, but murder? Murder with evidence like this? There's no easy way for you to weasel your way out of this, especially not with your Solar fao"

Aldrich'sabout the countless ways he could hold this infor sure they never, ever raised a hand against hiood ten seconds, his face hard and his expression stern In that ti looked up at him hesitantly

"What do we do, Seth?" said Ghost "The Dud's right Messing around with that girl, sht, we could've covered that up alright, but ive much of a sht about Duds, but when it coo easy on us We're fucked, aren't we?"

Murder was a crihout the near entirety of human history, but now more than ever it was no joke of a crime to coarding lives that any warm body, even a Dud body, was invaluable in a world where there was constant war against Variant beasts that at any moment could rise up and otten shafted in terms of eht, butthey did not have to worry about, at least not froht up villains

"No," said Seth, his voice completely devoid of emotion Utterly cold "No we aren't"

Seth disappeared in a flash before he eh her chest, co her heart

Elaine's eyes stilled beneath her glasses as she looked down at her bloody, fist-filled chest in surprise Blood trickled out of her mouth in red rivulets She blinked once, and then her life fled her, her head hanging down limp

Seth pulled back his blood-drenched ar her to fall and slu pool of red

"What!?" said Ghost His pale, sunken in red eyes ide, and the others in Seth's gang shared this surprised reaction

"We have to kill them," said Seth simply, spatters of blood painted across his black bodysuit A stroke of red lay across his eyes, highlighting his glea white pupils, at how empty they were Co"

Before Aldrich could react, Seth had sped his fist through his stomach

Aldrich felt his vision blur as he sluaping hole in his chest as Seth stood over him

This was it, Aldrich realized as he looked down at his bloody stouts fro out

This was it

This was it

This was it

He was going to die

Everything he had worked for, all those years, the death of his parents, the death of his friends =

All of it for nothing

Gone in just one pathetic ed Alter fucks to escape the consequences of their actions All to escape judge, so unfair -

He had thought that when he saw his parents butchered like ani emotion But emotion, maybe all the hatred and bitterness that had bottled up in hi years, welled up for one final moment before it all ended

"You…youblood It was a miraculous effort that he could even speak, that he did not just drop dead, but soh sheer force of will, he did He raised a shaking, accusing finger at Seth Solar and his group

"You…none of you deserve…to live All of you-all of you-I swear, I swear I will an to wheeze, and he started to crawl forwards, his eyes bloodshot, his expression wild, deranged

Everyone in the group except Seth Solar instinctively cowered backwards even though Aldrich was a deadthrough sheer force of fucking hatred that chilled theo to, I'll craay back out, then I'll drag you all in I-I will be your judgement"

Aldrich stared up at Seth Solar with pure hatred, and Seth Solar stared down at hi cold

The last of Aldrich's life fled hiuts His vision tilted and darkened He felt nu muffled and faded, echoes of the conversation around hi your pants over a dead Dud and clean this sht up," said Seth Solar "Pack their bodies and dump them in the forest We'll spread a rumor that they tried to run and Variants ate them

You, Evan, you're a Techno Hack into any tech they have here and wipe everything out…"

Aldrich's senses co him in complete and utter darkness

…

…

…

Then, Aldrich did not kno long afterwards, he saw bright white letters typing a e in plain font across the darkness that surrounded him

[…]

[SYSTEM…initiated]

[…]

The font of the letters changed, turning gold in color and beco more decorated with swirls and ornaame

To Elden World

[Welcome, Host]

[Choose your Class:]