The Last Laugh

In the enduring annals of the World of Goetia, a realm steeped in the echoes of a tumultuous past, the very fabric of existence resonated with the symphony of war for millennia. The elves, guardians of nature's arcane secrets cloaked within verdant woods; the dwarfs, stalwart sentinels ensconced in the heart of craggy mountains; the orcs, rugged denizens of the vast desert expanses; and mankind, rulers of lofty citadels—all embroiled in a ceaseless conflict born of base prejudices and territorial disputes.

Amidst this senseless theater of bloodshed, a figure emerged from the crucible of chaos to rewrite the destiny of Goetia. Helena, a paragon of indomitable spirit, forged a guild that transcended racial boundaries, inspiring fear and respect in equal measure. In the crucible of blood and guts, she became the linchpin of unity. Helena's guild stood as a bastion against the demonic incursions, extending its protective mantle to all races. Her valor earned her the exalted title of "Hero," a name whispered in reverence across the expanse of the war-ravaged world.

Yet, the true metamorphosis occurred when Helena, as the Hero, persuaded the disparate leaders of the races to converge at a single table. Months of arduous negotiations ensued, resulting in a historic treaty of peace. The leaders, once ensnared in the web of animosity, now penned an accord that delineated terms fostering coexistence.

Amidst this epoch of peace, a new enigma loomed—the mysterious phenomena known as Gates. Randomly manifesting across the world, these Demon Gates harbored malevolent entities. The urgency to close these gates within a six-day window intensified as unchecked portals unleashed demons to wreak havoc. In the years preceding the treaty, Helena's guild was the vanguard against this demonic scourge, evoking cheers from a grateful populace.

However, the aftermath of the peace treaty revealed a complex tapestry. With racial animosities quelled, attention shifted to the shared threat of the Demon Gates. No longer bound by territorial disputes, a new wave of adventurers embraced the perilous quest to seal these gates. The allure of treasures hidden within high-ranked gates fueled the ambition of countless souls, willing to brave the perils for a chance at transformative knowledge and technology.

The once-straightforward equation of land disputes equaling gate proximity had evolved. Post-treaty, leaders decreed that access to gates was universal, transcending geographical constraints. A council, representative of all races, was forged to evaluate and allocate gates impartially to guilds based on their prowess and rank. As the specter of war receded, the World of Goetia found itself standing at the crossroads of peril and promise, where the pursuit of treasures held the key to a new era.

---

Ariel;
Great Capitol of Mankind;
Year; ????

Dhuuuuum!

The castle's throne room door, closed by the hands of an orc of sinister allure, the embodiment of stealth and malevolence. Unlike his burly kin, his sinewy muscles were sculpted with a dark elegance, draped in taut, obsidian-hued skin that seemed to absorb rather than reflect the ambient light. His movements were a macabre dance, a silent waltz that betrayed none of the brute associated with orcs. His visage was a canvas of vile artistry, marked by a pair of sharp, predatory eyes that gleamed with a twisted delight in the suffering of others. The pupils were like shards of onyx, cold and unyielding, radiating an eerie intelligence that belied his brutish lineage. A cascade of ink-black hair framed his face, falling in unkempt waves that mirrored the chaos of his inner darkness.

Unknown; “You’ve left him to die out there!”

Ramiel; “Hummm? Is that so? From what I’ve seen… It is the he wanted, if that troubles you, you’re free to join him, or you can start tending to the living… the choice is yours…”

Unknown; “GUrhhhhh…. *Spits* For the Guild….” He responded as he left the throne room.

Unknown; “Have we started the fire?” She asked in a saddened and quiet tone.

Ramiel; “Yes, the fire rises,” he responded, while gently caressing her cheek.

Ramiel; “You know what must be done, go… my chosen…” Ramiel asked of her, as he placed his katana into her hand.

She slowly leaves the throne room.

Ramiel turns around, noticing the high lion themed throne.

He slowly walks towards it.

Upon reaching it, he caresses the throne with his right hand, before sitting down.

DHUUUUUUM!

The throne room’s door is carved in half.

Ramiel; “Look at you… The little boy playing soldier….”

Unknown; “Grughhhhhh! OUR KINGHHH! JUST DISMANTLED YOUR ARMY!”

Ramiel; “Ahhhh….. Muzzle this half breed, your majesty…” Ramiel responded, sarcastically, while looking at the werewolf that was growling at him.

Unknown; “Gruugghhhgghhhhhh!”

The young king places his hand in front of the werewolf, stopping him from walking towards Ramiel.

Unknown; “Ramiel Pheles, you have led the Guild to a place without honor, Ariel is ours, it’s over…”

Ramiel looks at the young king, noticing his sword was dripping in red blood.

Ramiel; “Your mother would be soooo proud…. Is that hers? You’ve gotten it all bloody… Come to think of it, where is she now?”

Unknown; “I’m not here to answer your questions…. Always remember, only one of us wanted this…”

Ramiel; “You call for peace when it suits you little lion, but you’re quick enough to kill…”

Unknown; “I should’ve killed you when we last met!”

Ramiel; “How rude, *Inaudible* , you’re a guest in my home…”

Unknown; “YOUR HOME!? GURRGhhhhhH! YOU DESECRATE THAT THRONE WITH YOUR FILTH!”

Unknown; “ENOUGH! *The King hits the ground with his greatsword* You put the torch to Ariel, but I failed those who burned… Surrender… Or die here…”

Ramiel gets up from the chair, slowly walking towards the young king.

Ramiel; “You’ve won….”

---

Plains of Tavel;
Year 1134, March 23rd

Six adventurers stood in front of a demon gate in the middle of a green field.

Vian; “An A ranked gate? Why are we even here? I'm sure there were others who could waste their time with this,” he said, noticing the shape of the gate and the letter A drawn near the gate by the council.

Vian Baskerville
18 years old, A class adventurer.
Member of the Titan Cliff guild.
Inventor, no magic attributes.

Morrigan; “So stated the A ranked,” she replied in an unbothered and tired tone.

Morrigan Darkstalker
21 years old, S class adventurer.
Member of the Titan Cliff guild.
Mage, Dark attributes.

Vian; “What was that?” Vian responded, annoyed by Morrigan’s statement.

Akazan; “Trust me, you don’t want that problem, kid,” Akazan stated as he poked the gate with his finger.

Akazan HighBrand
24 years old, S class adventurer.
Member of the Titan Cliff guild.
Fighter, Fire attributes.

Vian; "It’s because of him anyway, he drags us down, that’s why we’re even assigned this, traveling for three days for what? Do you know how much studying I could've done in three days?” Vian said, looking at Rain.

Damien; “Enough of this! If you could not understand the reason Helena accepted to clear this gate and only took us with her, I question the viability of your presence here,” Damien said, angered by his son’s incompetence.

Damien Baskerville
36 years old, S class adventurer.
Advisor and second in command of the Titan Cliff guild.
Archer, lightning attributes.

Rain; “To test my abilities and yours Vian, to see what Akazan is capable of first hand, my mother and your father are only here to observe us not to fight or help us in any way, Morrigan is our leader for this mission that’s why she’s here, my mother wants to test her ability to lead a squad into the gates. This is also the first time Morrigan will lead a squad as she mostly just fucks around all day and never takes anything seriously, she also never entered a gate without my mom or your father as leaders, they gave her Akazan to see how she will handle insubordination, is this enough or should I explain more plainly for you?” Rain responded while looking at Vian.

Rainheart Heydrich
Member of Titan Cliff guild.
18 years old, B+ class adventurer.
Katana user, Wind attributes.

Morrigan; “Heiiiiii! I don’t and i quote “fuck around all day!” Morrigan shouts at Rain as she pouts.

Damien; “How is he able to deduct that from simply knowing the party members and you’re not?” Damien responded, clearly, still angered with his son.

Vian; “I’m sorry, father, I've let my emotions cloud my judgment,” Vian says while slowly bowing his head towards his father.

Helena; “Thank you Rain for the short explanation, now that everyone knows why we’re here, let’s go,” Helena says as she moves at the back of the party.

Helena Heydrich
Guild master of Titan Cliff.
36 years old, S+ class adventurer.
Hero of mankind.
Sword summoner, Light attributes.

---

They all start entering the gate one by one.

Morrigan first followed by Akazan, then Rain and Vian and finally Helena and Damien.

As they enter the gate, Rain finds himself in a citadel. He looked around and noticed an altar with a knife placed on it. He move towards the altar.

All the members of the party start looking around, searching for demons, nothing could be found.

Unknown; “Ahhhhh, are you perhaps looking for me?” A voice echoed from the skies.

A large amount of mana started to fall down on all of them, bringing both Rain and Vian on their knees, barely breathing.

Everyone else took up a fighting stance, looking up.

The demon started descending towards them.

Noticing the high mana that she never sensed before, and the presence of the demon before her, Helena drew her sword.

Helena; “FORGET THE TEST! Morrigan! Protect the kids! Everyone else, attack!”

Helena jumps into the air near the demon.

Helena; “Heavenly Judgment CUT!” She shouts as her blade lights up with light magic attempting to cut the demon in two.

Unknown; “Ohhh!” The demon said in exclamation slightly surprised by her attack.

It had little to no effect on him.

Damien; “Let my arrows pierce through the Heavens!” Damien shouts as he launches a volley of lightning arrows to the demon.

It has little to no effect on him.

The demon starts to remove the dust from the explosion of arrows that happened near him with a small and slow movement of his hand around his face.

Everyone starts to panic as they notice the demon was not fazed by any of those attacks, attacks that shook up the entire citadel as they were blocked by the demon.

Helena; “Akazan! Damien! Keep him busy!” Helena shouted as she started to chant, “I pledge my loyalty to you all mother, goddess of all, let my magic be worthy of your praise, let my enemies tremble at the power you bestowed upon me…” Helena continued her chant.

Akazan started to fight hand to hand with the demon in the air while he carefully avoided all the arrows that were shot by Damien towards the demon.

Rain looked up and noticed what was happening, the demon barely broke a sweat and was grinning as he avoided punches from Akazan and arrows from Damien that he barely even saw going towards him, yet alone be able to dodge.

With a small flick of his finger the demon hits Akazan in the forehead, launching him instantly into the ground. Rain noticed Akazan was trembling, barely able to get up from that.

Rain; “How is this a A ranked gate? What happened, were we lured here and if so by whom and why?”

Rain looked up again at the demon who stood in the air looking down on all of them in disappointment.

A light starts shining above the demon.

He looks up and notices what seems like a thousand light blades pointing towards him.

Unknown; “Ohhhh, what’s this now?” He questioned, not impressed by what was going on above him.

Helena; “GREAT LIGHT MAGIC: REA BALDOOO!!!” Helena shouts as the light blades start moving with lighting speed towards the demon.

All the blades explode on impact with the demon, Helena drops to her knees, exhausted after using that magic.

They all wait for the dust to settle.

They are all in shock to notice the demon was not fazed even by that.

Fear starts gripping down on everyone.

Unknown; “To possess such a blessing from her and be able to only do this much, I'm disappointed,” the demon states as he gently starts flying down towards them, looking at Helena.

Unknown; “Was that all? Are we done now? Can we talk?” The demon said as he sat down on the altar.

Morrigan; “Who... Who are you?” Morrigan asked, trembling, in fear.

Mephisto; “Well…allow me to introduce myself, my name is Mephisto Pheles, first prince of Purgatory, and this here is my little game gate that I created out of boredom, I managed to make it only as what you perceive as an A rank gate, as the clearing of my little game is not that hard, rest assure it does not revolve around you defeating me, and did I mention, clearing my gate will gain you ALL a reward, a reward that not even the S ranked gates can give you, so it balances out you see,” Mephisto said as he grabbed the knife from the altar.

Damien; “What game?” Damien asked, while giving Mephisto a stare.

Mephisto; “I’m glad you asked, let me explain to you, but first….” Mephisto said, lifting his mana aura, making Rain and Vian able to stand again.

Mephisto; “Good, now that that’s settled, let me explain, it’s a simple game of choice, you will all have to decide between yourselves, who lives and who dies, and of course you will be the ones that have to kill the one you decide that has to die, I require only one sacrifice, that’s it, and it has to be done with this knife,” Mephisto said, placing the knife back onto the altar.

Mephisto; “Also, I’m an impatient type so, let’s say…..6 minutes, you have 6 minutes to decide which one among you will sacrifice today, good luck! See you in 6 minutes, ahhh and by the way, if you don’t decide who by then, I will kill all of you and I'll be out within the human realm, as the gate does not have that much time left,” Mephisto said, giving them a grin as he stared fading away.

Morrigan; “What? Sacrifice one of us? We can’t do that!”

Damien; “Then what do you propose we do? Let him out in the human realm? That demon? He will kill and destroy everything in his path, everything that we helped build, we all have families back home for Christ’s sake!” Damien stated.

Morrigan; “I…..don’t know! OK!” Morrigan said, trembling with fear.

Helena; “I’ll do it, it has to be me,” Helena said, as she started to get up.

Rain; “Mom, NO!”

Damien; “The boy is right, without you the world will plunge itself in war again, you’re the piece that holds everything together, we have to decide who, but you’re definitely out of the question!” Damien said, as he went to her, helping her get up.

Akazan; “Then who?”

Morrigan; “You all can’t be serious with this, let’s fight him again, all of us, maybe we can do something, hurt him at least, make him not able to hurt humanity and the other races for some time after he gets out, my father will think of something in the meantime, I’m sure of it! At least we won’t die for nothing!”

Akazan; “Hurt him you say? I’ve given him my all, and I wasn’t even able to touch him, Helena used her strongest magic and it drained all her mana and it barely scratched him, with her out of the fight, me taking a finger slap that put me on my knees, Damien that used all he could, it did nothing to him, how are we to fight him, FUCKKKKKKKK!”

Vian; “We have , we have to play by the game’s rules or we doom the entire world, all in favor raise your hands.”

Helena looked at Vian, she was clearly upset with him but she understood, she tried her best and she failed, but there was still a light of hope, only one must die here in order to save the billions of people back home, the people she cared for and protected, she also understood why she can’t be the sacrifice, her will only lead to more bloodshed, something she strived all her life to stop, with tears in her eyes she raised her hand and everyone else followed.

The only two that didn’t were Rain and Morrigan.

Vian; “4 to 2, I guess we’re doing it.”

Akazan; “How are we going to decide? Time is ticking.”

Damien; “Each of you except Helena will give a statement as to why you should not be the sacrifice, 30 seconds long as we don’t have much time left, then we will all vote who will be the sacrifice, I’ll start, I’m the third strongest human alive, I’ve saved countless lives and dedicated my life solely to protecting people along with Helena, I’m the King’s son, albeit a bastard but my father still views me as his own and cares for me more than my other legitimate brothers, I don’t know how he will react if you are all to decide to kill me here, but I assure you it won’t be pretty for any of you or humanity for that matter, next.”

Akazan; “I’ll go, I know I’m new to your guild and you’re all looking at me, but I care not for your existence, I merely joined this guild in order to become stronger and I assure you if you want to kill me I won’t go down easily, as injured as I am I can still take two or three of you down with me, so think carefully, that’s it.”

Morrigan; “I guess I’m next, all I’m going to say is that I’m against this, but I don’t want to be sacrificed either, if you choose to kill me here, my father will see that all of you will follow me to the grave,” Morrigan said in frustration.

Vian; “I know I’m young and I have been born with no mana, yet my academy prowess is unmatched even by my peers, the things I’ve build so far and I’m only 18 have helped humanity immensely, if you choose to kill me here you will regret it later, who knows what other things I can create, I’ve been looking into the books of the Ancients since I was 6 years old and I may even have found a way to stop the gates from appearing, it’s a work in progress and my father is aware of this knowledge and can testify to its existence, maybe not today or tomorrow but in 10/15 years I’m sure I can stop the gates from appearing,” Vian said looking at his father.

Damien; “He is not lying, I have not said anything about it myself as it’s nothing more than a hunch at the moment, yet I'm sure one day he will do it,” Damien said with a sad look on his face.

They all saw his expression, he was not lying either and Damien may have been many things but a liar he was not.

Rain; “I guess I’m the last one, compared to what you all have said, I have nothing, I’m the son of the hero, that’s all I have going for me, perhaps one day I will reach my mother’s level perhaps not, but you all already decided who you’re going to kill anyway, the moment you all raised your hands up in agreement, I just hoped at the very least you wouldn’t do it,” he said looking at his mother.

Helena just realized what she voted for, she wasn’t dumb by any means but the situation she was in right now was happening for the first time in her life, never has an enemy defeated her, she was lost in her thoughts and couldn’t fully comprehend the situation at the moment of the voting, she realized why Morrigan was so against it, Morrigan was fighting against the killing of her son, she felt played from the beginning yet she only had herself to blame.

Helena looks up at her son, she is broken in tears, trembling.

Damien; “One minute left, are we doing it or not? Let’s vote again, who’s in favor of killing Rain, raise your hands up.”

Damien raises his hand.

Vian raises his hand.

Morrigan does not.

Much to Rain's surprise Akazan does not.

Akazan; “I don’t want the gates to be closed. I choose Vian as the sacrifice.”

It all came down to Helena’s vote.

Damien; “30 seconds....”

Helena did not know what to do, was she about to doom the entire world for the life of her son? Not to mention he would’ve died anyway if they did not vote, she was in tears trying to make sense of all of it, she started to think.

Helena; “What choice is right? What do I do in all of this? Goddess please, please, please, please, please give me a sign.”

No sign was given to her. She looked at the knife thinking she could grab it and maybe kill Akazan in time, she was drained of all her mana, she was barely standing yet alone move at a speed that surpassed Akazan’s, she remembered what the demon said, you will all have to decide, killing Akazan would’ve been a decision that only she made and probably the demon wouldn’t agree to with it.”

Damien; “15 seconds....”

Helena pushes Damien away from her while looking down.

Helena looks up and locks eyes with her son.

Rain could see determination on her face, she came to a conclusion, what that decision was... he was not sure in that second.

Damien; “5 seconds, 4, 3, 2…”

Helena lunges at Rain, punching him in the stomach while holding him with her hand as he was falling and losing consciousness.

Rain's vision started to get blurry, he saw her punching him due to the fact she was not at full power, he looks up at her, her gaze was fixated on the altar, dragging his body towards it, he looked at the other members of the Guild, they were all looking away from him and her, Morrigan was down on her knees with her hands near her face.

Helena throws his body onto the altar, the impact makes him wake up slightly from the blow as adrenaline was pumping from his body.

Helena grabs the knife with one hand and with the other holding his body in place.

Rain locked eyes with her again, he could struggle and attempt to stop her, but he knew it would’ve been in vain, even without her mana she was still far stronger than him.

He noticed she was not crying anymore, she was determined to do what she decided.

Helena; “Know that I do not make this decision lightly my son, the fate of humanity yet again rests on my shoulders to do what is right,” Helena said, placing the dagger near his heart.

Rain locks eyes with Morrigan, she always used to come to his rescue and help him, she probably could’ve done it this time too, her mana was still up, she did not fight the demon, she clearly had the upper hand if she wanted to stop Helena or anyone else.

She did not.

Rain locks eyes with his mother, clear determination on her face and maybe a slight of guilt.

Memories of Rain's childhood start roaming through her head, how she kissed his every injury and he pretended that it didn’t hurt after, how he always ate everything she cooked even though she knew it was terrible, how he always came home with a starving animal in his hand giving it his own food, how he always took his sick father out, pushing him on his wheelchair everyday to take a stroll around the town, staying in his room not wanting to leave until he took all the medicine that was prescribed for him, Rain promising on his grave that he will become the greatest adventurer he’s ever seen.

She stopped from her thoughts as Rain started to speak.

Rain; “I’ll prove to you one day mother, I’ll prove to you that my life is was worth more than what you decided it was today, even though I will walk through the valley of shadows of I shall have my , let my blood taint your dreams, let your rewards be cursed, and when you will all fall into the frying pits of hell …I shall be there waiti…..”

Stopping Rain from his speech, Helena plunges the knife within his heart with a swift and fast stroke, not wanting to hear his final words, she wants to remember him as he were before, her happy kid that loved her with all his heart.

Morrigan starts crying.

Mephisto gives an evil satisfied grin as he watches from afar.

Rain could hear a soft “I’m sorry…” from Helena as she plunged the knife deeper with tears in her eyes.

Fade to black.