The two were broken out of their reverie when Savior crashed beside them, a plume of dust rising upwards. Her armor was shattered, slick with something wet, a mixture of green and her own twisted blood.

Cracks spread across her infernal armor, a beautiful tapestry of destruction. Savior grunted and stood, brushing off the broken parts of her armor.

She gave a hateful look to the damn pilgrim, darkness burning within her visor. Leonidas smiled at her antics; she was acting like a spoiled child.

But his smile transformed into grim realization when he heard Root scream, an ear-piercing cacophony.

What do we do now...I feel like we’re about to die...

He could run into the Sanctum for safety, but Willow would be unable to come with him...the Sanctum was his and his alone; anyone else who tried to enter would pay a price worse than death.

And even then, that thing is a Vis-ranked pilgrim...a demi-god.

There was no telling whether the defences keeping the Sanctum functioning would serve to stop the infernal Root.

About to suggest a retreat, Leonidas opened his mouth, but no words came out...instead, he choked. His mind spun, dizziness assailing him in violent waves, like a turbulent sea.

The world suddenly changed, green flames drowning everything, spreading like an ever-consuming hunger. The ground burned, the earth burned, the very sky itself burned.

Leonidas looked around in panic. Behind him stood the Sanctum of Sacrifice, a monument to Sacrifice, husband of Bloom.

The obsidian walls that had towered over everything had collapsed into each other, nothing more than rubble.

Hellish flames were climbing over the collapsed temple, spreading over it like a blanket of incineration. Leonidas felt something touch his feet, only to realize it was a helmet.

Dread crawled over his spine, a chill making its way into his mind. His gaze traveled in the direction where the head would have rolled from...and there, lying was his knight, her headless body standing defiantly even in death.

Her body was covered in grievous wounds, a hole punched straight through her torso, blackish crimson ichor frozen halfway to the ground.

She looked like she had been shielding something...or someone before she died. His eyes naturally moved behind her...landing on...himself. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

There he was, lying dead on the obsidian floors of his newly acquired Sanctum, seeping viscous blood onto its pristine floor.

It was a weird feeling...seeing yourself dead. It was also wildly uncomfortable. Leonidas stared at his dead form for a few long moments before he turned towards the far end of the battlefield, where two figures stood.

There was Root, who was now encased in a mantle of green scales, shimmering in the dim light.

Just like everything else, it was also frozen in time. Leonidas really wanted the damn thing to drop dead, if only he could wish upon a shooting star or something.

He clicked his tongue, his cerulean eyes moving towards the second figure...the one that had soaked up most of his attention, after all, back in the real world, it did not yet exist.

The object was shaped like a shrimp, with a long, elongated body, six spider-like legs jutting from its underside, and a body ending in a curved tail that pointed downwards.

Two pincers protruded from its eye socket, long crab-like claws. Its body was entirely green, not a hint of anything else, shining brightly under the radiant sun.

It too was frozen in time, but Leonidas could tell...that thing had killed Savior. The shape of its pincers was far too similar to the size of the hole in her torso.

So that darned thing is what killed all of us...annoying indeed.

By now, Leonidas was completely sure that he was stuck in a time loop; the memories he kept seeing, before and during the fight, were indications enough.

Yet he still wasn’t comfortable with dying...who would be? It was utter insanity!

Shaking his head, Leonidas took a deep breath as the world around him disappeared; the flashback finished.

"Art...what is that?"

Willow’s voice was wary, carrying underneath it multiple layers of hesitation and fear in different measures.

He looked forward, expression calm, and there it was, the hideous mantis-like abomination.

However, Leonidas didn’t pay it mind, focusing instead on another question.

How do I make my memories travel back with me after I die?

He had been wondering for a while, and every time, he came back to a single answer...Shroud of Sacrifice.

Name: [Shroud of Sacrifice]

Type: [Charm]

Hex: [Anonymous] [Worse Than Death] [Connection]

Description: [Sacrifice excelled at everything he did, crafting being one of his many talents. In his final days, right before he sensed his end, Sacrifice spent his time isolated from everyone, making something secret...something even the gods did not know about.]

Hex Description:

[Anonymous - When wearing the mask, a passive effect hides your identity. No one can perceive who you are, what you are, and why you are.]

[Worse Than Death - Sacrifice a concept related to your very being, something worse than death, to receive a boon in battle.]

[Connection - Your connection to your Memory has strengthened with the Shrouds integration. You possess the ability to remember everything you witness, whether you wish to or not.]

* * * * * *

Leonidas had remembered the description perfectly because of the Shroud’s last Hex, [Connection], and Leonidas guessed that he had been able to remember versions of his past lives because of that precise relation.

So logically, all he had to do was find a way to strengthen his already impressive Memory.

How simple.

He chuckled, then summoned the Shroud of Sacrifice. Almost instantly, his skin tingled, as if he had been pricked by a metallic feather.

His bones deformed with a sickening crunch, his muscles exploded, and skin peeled off like wet paint...yet Leonidas felt no pain.

The process finished as soon as it had started; the injuries caused by the mask’s appearance already healed.

A nearly shattered porcelain mask sat on his face like a shroud, crimson light seeping from the cracks, giving him a ghastly look.

His preparations were completed, and so was the summoning of the mantis. The beast disappeared with a massive boom and reappeared right in front of Savior, punching through her torso with a single, incomprehensible move.

Blood burst from her chest, the light leaving her eyes instantly, as she disappeared in silver flames, returning to be nurtured in Leonidas’s phosphene space.

Willow raised her sword to strike...but halfway through, she too died, a punch tearing through her head before she could even think.

The mantis turned its gaze towards Leonidas, chittering claws snapping at him.

...

Leonidas died once more.