"As long as you willingly jump into the sacrificial pool, I can open the passage. Then everyone will be saved. Otherwise, we'll all die here together. It really doesn't matter if you refuse. At worst, we'll all die together."
He could have just told me the real reason he brought me here. Wasn't it to trade my life for everyone's? Why go to all that trouble to deceive me, using such methods to trick me into coming here? He could have just told me that there was no point in living anyway, that death was nothing to fear. What was frightening was trying to fathom his inscrutable thoughts.
My heart was already dead. Numb, I walked forward one step at a time, sinking into an abyss of despair. Dragging my heavy feet, I climbed onto the altar and finally closed my eyes in despair before jumping down.
