So… that dragon was not about to stay hidden from me at this rate, but then, I didn’t know how much trouble I was going to get myself thrown in because of the scales it produced. No, the scales weren’t cursed, but they had a few strings attached.
~Gato, talking about the dragon and the scales as he remembered it.
#
A few minutes of walking later, Gato came to a complete stop as he saw something strange. The heck? Who put a trap in the middle of the woods here? Especially one that’s so basic, at that…
What Gato saw was a barely covered pit trap, with nothing to suggest that it was an old trap that needed to be filled in after so long. On top of that, the trap had some signs it was being used recently, which made Gato’s blood freeze. In fact — he shook his head.
This is not the time, nor do I want it to be the time, he thought. I just need to figure out who made this trap, how long ago the trap was made, and so on… what would the “and so on” part be, anyway?
He shrugged, before he walked over to the edge of the pit trap, hoping to get barely close enough to stay out of the trap’s range so he could still inspect it. From the looks of it, it had to be a relatively recent job of setting up the pit. Plus the spikes that were all in the trap’s bottom were too unnatural for the use of magical power to have made spikes out of the earth below. Instead, the spikes were more akin to spears with iron heads.
If only there was some way to see what the pit trap was doing here for… Gato thought, a depressed sigh escaping his lips. I can only imagine that this is going to be a massive problem at some point —
[Because of taking an in-depth look at this idiotically designed pit trap, you now have access to the {Analyze} skill.]
Gato felt his left eye twitch in response to the sight of this new box. You’re… kidding, right?
[{Analyze works by giving you a detailed description of what it is you’re looking at, based on the level of the skill at the time of acquiring the description. For instance, Level 1 skills are less powerful than Maximum Level skills of any sort. Also, when Analyze reaches its Maximum Level, it will be impossible to hide anything from you when in the mortal realms.
Analyze costs 5 MP to use each time.}]
Gato sighed in irritation this time. Well, crud. How am I supposed to fix this mess up? I mean, do I need to say the name of the skill out loud or something? A separate box showed up in front of the box he was reading before. Oh, for —
[Because of following a simple train of logic to its conclusion, your Wisdom stat has gone up by 1.]
Gato groaned. “Very well, let’s do this,” he said. Closing the boxes in his vision this time, he looked at the pit trap and said, “Analyze.”
[Bandit-made pit trap. This particular pit trap has a danger rating of 1A, meaning its base rating is 1, but the modifier is based on your ability to survive just about anything. The higher the modifier, the more dangerous it is for you. The ratings are based on how much damage they deal to a regular person, with 10 dealing the most damage pre-modifier. The modifiers are as follows:
F means it fails to add a proper modifier.
E means it multiplies the damage dealt by 10.
D means it multiplies the damage dealt by 20.
C means it multiplies the damage dealt by 30.
B means it multiplies the damage dealt by 40.
A means it multiplies the damage dealt by 50.
S means it multiplies the damage dealt by 200.
EX means it multiplies the damage dealt by 1,000.]
Gato blinked as he read the box that happened this time. “What does danger rating mean for the damage dealt by this pit trap?”
[Good question. A danger rating of 1 means the possible damage to be dealt is 15 at its base damage output, while a danger rating of 10 means the possible damage is a base of 150.]
Gato gaped when he read that. “This has got to be a terrible joke. I can tell that much right now,” he muttered. “So… looking out for further traps sounds like a fantastic idea right about now.”
As he walked around the pit trap, he realized something rather important. Wait just a second… a bandit-made pit trap?! Does that mean that there are a bunch of bandits to worry about?! I hope not… but then again, when am I ever that lucky?
He knew he had to be careful, but how was he going to evade the bandits behind this? He wasn’t really sure. It might be easier to find a pool of mud to drown in than to evade bandits at this rate… or was he mistaken? He couldn’t really tell.
Well, on my way to finding the dragon, then… I hope it doesn’t take me so long to find.
Close to about fifteen minutes later…
#
Within the nearby foothills to the west of the forest, a platinum-colored dragon snored fire out of its nostrils, an atypical sight amongst the dragon community. Of course, to be sure, hardly anyone has seen a sleeping dragon like this one in person. As it was dreaming, though, it couldn’t help but find something remarkably strange about the bed it slept on… or what made up as a bed for a dragon, anyway.
Hmm… this pile of treasure is losing its luster for me, the dragon thought. It almost feels like I’m sleeping on the floor of the cave I sequestered myself into… but that’s impossible, right? I mean, who is possibly that suicidal to steal treasure from a sleeping dragon? It doesn’t even make sense.
Finally, though, the dragon sleepily opened its eyes for about five seconds worth of time, looking around the cave it called its lair during that amount of time… before snapping the eyes back open in a panic. My treasure! It was stolen! Shifting into a standing position, the dragon looked around even more. No good… whoever stole it was sneaky in how they got it out of the place. I’d better go fly out into the open sky and find the culprit. Wait for me, my treasure!
With a great flap, the dragon lifted itself off the ground before flying out of the cave to look for the thief… or maybe thieves, at this rate. The dragon didn’t know for a fact, but it didn’t matter. Either way — a sudden movement from the forest caught its eye.
A human boy, from the looks of it, the dragon thought. Blond hair, blue eyes, and wearing an interesting outfit for someone of his species. I don’t know who he is, or who he works for, but I better interrogate him immediately. After all, he might be the sole way to get my treasure back, and that’s saying something.
At that thought, the dragon descended to the ground below, landing right in front of the boy in question. With a guttural roar, it demanded, “Where is my treasure?!”
The human boy facing him backed up a little, looking every bit afraid before his expression changed in a flash to a straight face… after five seconds of fright. What gives? What made the human boy not afraid any longer?
#
Gato, for his part, screamed internally. Argh! A dragon’s in front of me, and I’m not able to show my fear whatsoever?! What gives?!
[Player’s Soul Active.]
Gato eyed the box that appeared in his field of vision. What does that do?
[Player’s Soul forces you to act logically and without fear. If you ever run into the situation of fight or flight, you will not choose either as a reaction, but as an intended action.]
Gato’s eyes twitched. Why did it even activate for me at this time?
[You were going to run for it from this dragon, and you might have gotten eaten if you didn’t stick around and face the dragon like this.]
Just my crummy luck… Gato groaned out.
“Young human?” the dragon asked in its guttural tone. “Where is my treasure?”
Gato blinked when he heard the question. “I’m not really sure I know the answer to that question right now,” he answered as he mentally closed all the boxes to that point. “However, I have this feeling that a group of bandits in the nearby area are responsible for stealing your treasure. I don’t know how accurate that is, though—”
[For guessing a situation accurately on a whim, you gained +2 to your Luck score.]
Gato’s eyes widened immensely. How in the world did that happen?!
[Part of the system as a whole. Don’t worry, I’ll explain the luck stat to you, as well as all the other stats you have access to. Now, you have a dragon to appease, do you not?]
Gato facepalmed. Okay, fine, be that way…
“Young human, what were you going to say?” the dragon questioned Gato.
Gato mentally closed the new boxes as he answered, “Well, this might be crazy to believe, honored one. However, what I’m about to say is the complete and honest truth. Can I trust you not to roast me before I tell you everything you need to know?”
The dragon blinked like an owl about to hunt after a mouse, before it said, “Very well, young human, but you only have one chance to tell me this. You had better not waste it.”
Gato nodded, before he said, “Thank you. Now, to begin with, I woke up yesterday morning after experiencing a strange dream. That dream, I feel, was what lead to me getting this strange power… a power that I’m still not sure what to make of it. Last night, I awoke to do some chores around the house, but then I found a pair of thieves on the family farm, forcing me to confront them. One of them waved a hand in front of me, expecting that to do something out of the ordinary… it didn’t work, though I’m starting to think it was my power that prevented it from happening. Ever since then, I’d been getting these strange boxes in my field of vision, and I don’t know how to best show them to anyone else.”
The dragon nodded, before asking, “Have you explored all the avenues of your power so far?”
Gato opened his mouth to answer, but paused. “Actually, no,” he answered a few seconds later. “I didn’t explore them all yet, oh great one.”
“Look for an option that will allow you to show me the proof you so desire to share, then,” the dragon decreed. “That way, you won’t be wasting any time in the future, supposing you tell me the truth.”
Gato nodded, before he cupped his chin in a hand. What do I do to convince the dragon I’m not making things up out of my rear end? I don’t want to be seen as an idiot, of course, but how am I supposed to fix this?
[To do as you desire, you need to say “Invite x to Party.” Substitute the x with the name of the person or being you intend to join your party.]
Gato dropped his hand in shock. I can’t believe I didn’t know to do that earlier! Is it required to use their exact name in this instance, or should I use a species name in this case?
[You need to use their exact name. Otherwise, you’ll be getting all the dragons of that particular species notified, and they wouldn’t like that.]
I should’ve figured… “Excuse me, honored one,” Gato said. “What’s your name?”
The dragon looked Gato in the eye. “What do you require my name for? Is my species name not enough?”
Gato shook his head. “If I used your species name, I’ve been notified by my power that I would get the attention of all dragons of your species,” he explained.
“A very strange power you have,” the dragon groused with a shake of its head. “Does it require my True Name?”
Before Gato could open his mouth to ask his power, he noticed that a new box appeared in his field of vision. Eh? How did that happen?
[No, it doesn’t require anyone’s True Name. That’s an invasion of privacy, and you need to respect that boundary regardless.]
Gato dropped his head. Oh, great… he thought.
“Young human?”
Gato looked up at the dragon and shook his head. “No, it doesn’t require your True Name,” he said. “It’s apparently an invasion of privacy, and I need to respect that boundary regardless.”
“Very well.” The dragon gave a slight nod. “My name is M’thr’ln, and I am a Platinum Dragon, in case that is needed.”
“Okay, then,” Gato said with a slight smile. “Invite M’thr’ln to Party.”
A few seconds later, M’thr’ln gaped as it seemed to see something new. “What in the name of Lord AO is this?!” it exclaimed. “Is this your power?!”
Gato nodded, before asking, “What do you see in that box?”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I see ‘Gato has invited you to join his party. Do you accept?’ Then I see a pair of options for if I do or do not…” M’thr’ln answered. Looking Gato in the eye, it said, “I may as well accept this invite…” At that point, Gato saw some new bits of information appear around the dragon. “Eh? Where did the box go?”
“Do you see anything around me?” Gato asked.
“Yes, I do,” M’thr’ln answered. “What does it mean for you in particular?”
“Well…” Gato paused to consider his options. How am I supposed to answer this question? I don’t even know… At that point, another box appeared in his field of vision. Again?
[Look carefully at the options surrounding the people and beings in the party, both of you. You should be able to see a bright green circle around the two of you, to signify that you are allied with each other in the same party. Do you see them? They should be on the ground around you.]
Gato and M’thr’ln looked down to confirm what was said. They looked back up. “What is with the circles?” they asked in unison.
[Bright green means allied with each other in the same party, dull green means allied but not in the same party, bright red means they are your enemy and allied with someone else as of the start of combat, and dull red means an enemy that is not in alliance with anyone at the start of combat.]
Gato and M’thr’ln looked at the box in their respective fields of vision, before they looked at each other with a raised eyebrow. “Uh…”
[Don’t you have something you wish to say, Gato, to this great dragon?]
Do I have something… to… say… oh, right, almost forgot. Thanks a lot, boxes…
[You are welcome.]
Gato growled when he saw the latest box. I was being SARCASTIC! After a few deep breaths, he calmed down. “Well, M’thr’ln, I have to say this immediately. I need to obtain dragon scales somehow, and I don’t want to force you to give them up… how about we do a trade of sorts?”
“What do you mean?” M’thr’ln asked.
“I help you out with recovering your hoard from the bandits who stole it earlier, you help me out by giving me some scales for making armor with,” Gato elaborated. “Deal?”
“Before I answer, how did you know it was bandits who stole my treasure?” M’thr’ln asked.
Gato gave an aggrieved sigh. “That’s thanks to my power telling me I guessed correctly, before upping a stat of mine by two at this stage,” he said. “I don’t get this power of mine at all.”
“Which stat?” M’thr’ln asked.
“Luck, believe it or not,” Gato answered. “So… do we have a deal?”
M’thr’ln put a claw to its chin, before lowering it and nodding. “Deal, young Gato.”
#
Well, this is going to be a problem, the priestly man from earlier thought as he wandered through the woods. He looked around to see evergreen trees with about a minimum of a meter of space between them, a clearing with an obvious pit trap to his left, a camp full of idiotic bandits to his right, and a clear trail in front and behind him. Where could that boy even be? I hope to find him immediately, especially when he’s got a lot of cultivation materials within him. Now, I hope I don’t run into any idiotic traps. With a sigh, he walked ahead, and —
*YOINK!!*
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!”
—activated a rope trap?
How in the name of the Jade Emperor did I activate a trap this basic?!
“Hey, boss, did you hear that?” a bandit called out to the self-named boss.
“Sure did, fatso,” the boss called out. “Someone activated the rope trap!”
The priestly man scowled when he heard that. Okay, so they aren’t as idiotic as I’d assumed them to be, he thought. Still doesn’t mean anything if they just decide to ignore the somewhat obvious plight I’m in. May the Jade Emperor cloud their minds and prevent them from —
“Boss, I think he’s a noble from somewhere else in the world,” another bandit called out, this one closer to him than the prior one. “What do we do?”
“Midget, you know what the answer is by now,” the boss called out. “We strip the noble of everything he’s wearing, then we stone him, and then we drop his body into the river and let the big fishes eat him up!”
—thundering damnation! The priestly man scanned the area around the bandits, before he noticed they had a huge amount of treasure in the whole camp. Wait, what do we have here, hmm?
“Hey, boss, he’s looking at our loot,” a third bandit called out. “Do we need to strip him now?”
“What are you talking about?” the boss asked. “We can afford to tell him where the loot came from, Danny, because nobody else will even be in the area for him to rat us out to. Besides, there’s nothing allowing him to get out of here without our say so, which I’m definitely grateful for.” A few moments later, the boss left his prior position and walked over to the trap. “Well, then, stranger... why did you decide to… hang around here?”
This is bad… the priestly man thought. How am I supposed to get the bandits to leave me alone for even a single second? I don’t want them to do anything that would result in the whole place going up in flames, with me included as a casualty.
“Hey!” the second bandit yelled out, marching up to the priest and smacked him with a fist. With the bandit up close, the priest noticed that the man was indeed a midget. “When the boss asks a question, you answer right away!”
As the other bandit underlings cheered this action on, the priestly man snarled at the bandit who hit him. Just wait, you little punk, he thought. You’ll get what’s coming to you right away.
“Alright, everyone, that’s enough tormenting the stranger for now,” the boss said, walking up to the midget and putting a hand on his shoulder. “You, too, Midget. You’ll get another chance for this with him later, depending on the treasure he has on hand.”
“I understand, boss,” Midget groused. “I’ll step backwards and let you take care of this.”
As Midget did what he said he’d do, the priestly man eyed the situation critically. Well, that’s one thing going right so far, he thought. Now for the idiots who think it’s a good idea to bully Shenlong, it’s time to make sure they fail at their task of robbing me.
“Okay, let’s start this over from the beginning,” the boss calmly said to the priestly man. “How come you’re here, this close to our camp, when you don’t look the type to leave your cloister of fellow priests?”
“I’m looking for someone,” the priest answered, swaying about still. “Have you seen anyone that matches the following description? Standing at five foot nine, has the same skin tone as the rest of you, thin as a twig, dirty blond hair that is cropped rather short, deep blue eyes, and happens to be a guy wearing an embarrassing outfit that nobody sane would be caught wearing.”
The boss of the bandits put a hand to his chin. “No, can’t say I’ve seen anyone like that,” he said, shaking his head. He turned to face his subordinates. “Any of you bozos know about this?” he asked.
The subordinates shook their heads. “Sorry…” they said as one.
Well, great… “I see,” the priest said. “I doubt anyone would believe me about this meeting, especially since I got myself caught in such a basic trap.”
The bandits perked up when they heard that, before they all started laughing like a pack or twelve of hyenas.
Uh… “Is there a joke I’m missing?”
The leader was the first one to calm down from his laughing spree. “You call the trap you’re in basic?” he asked, walking over to the priest. “Listen, that trap was carefully rigged to look basic, but only because of certain misdirection properties that were applied in making the trap from the ground up.”
“Misdirection properties?”
“Indeed.” The bandit boss nodded, waving his right hand around himself. “All of this was done without any magical power, mind you, but it just proves that we’re smarter than you give us credit for. After all, the Divine Spirits don’t take too kindly to any of us mere mortals using magic whatsoever—” He paused in mid-breath, before he facepalmed. “Oh, right, you’re a priest. Of course you know how it works around here.”
“Who in their right mind thinks that I’m a priest?”
That brought everyone else in that part of the forest up short. “Wait, if you’re not a priest, then explain why you wear their vestments,” Danny marched forward, drawing a short sword from the belt at his left side. “After all—”
“Stand down, Danny,” the boss ordered the bandit.
“But, boss—”
“I said, stand DOWN!”
“Y-yes, boss,” Danny backed up a few feet, sheathing his sword.
“Thank you, kind sir,” the knock-off priest said. “Now, then, permit me to ask a question and a favor of you.”
“Huh?” the first bandit, who was really chubby and big boned, let out. “What do you mean?”
“I’ll permit that,” the boss said, nodding. “Go ahead.”
“The question is, who owned that treasure beforehand?” the priest-like man asked.
“Oh, the treasure? That’s actually from a sleeping dragon from nearby,” the boss answered. “Hard to believe that the dragon had that much treasure hidden in its cave when it looked to be rather young.”
“Thank you,” the priest-like man said, “that means a lot to me. Now, for the favor, if that’s alright.”
“It better not be letting you go free as a bird, mister priest,” the boss said, walking closer to the trapped man with a hand reaching for a dagger.
The priest-like man chuckled for a few seconds, before he said, “oh, perish the thought. I’m not suicidal enough to try that sort of stunt. Actually, I want you to grab a single slip of paper from my left arm sleeve, the one closest to the front.”
“Eh?” the boss asked. “What’s this about a slip of paper?”
“It’s part of the favor,” the priest-like man said. “I need you to pull it out, show me the marking on it, and toss it into the air. Can you do that?”
The boss snorted. “You got it,” he said, before pulling out a slip of paper and showing the marking side to the captive. “That good for you?”
Ah, yes, thank you for the fuel needed to pull this off, the priest-like man thought. The kanji for Fire and Wind are written down on that talisman perfectly. I’d better prepare the spell. “Yes, it is,” he said. “Now, please toss it into the air, like you would toss a dagger at a person.”
“Hah! I’ve got that in the bag,” the bandit leader smirked, before doing as instructed. Just when he was about to do something more, however…
“Talisman of Fire and Wind, come to my aid!” The priest-like man began flipping through different hand signals as he began chanting. “Azuma no ryū wa maiagari, minami no tori to nishi no tora o kurai, shin no chikara o eru. (The dragon of the east soars through, devouring the bird of the south and the tiger of the west, thus gaining true power.)”
The bandit leader blinked when he heard the string of foreign words flowing out of the priest-like man’s mouth, before he looked up at the slip of paper he had tossed into the air for the other man. “What in the—?”
“Fukitobase! Fū ryū no hi! (Blast away! Fire of the wind dragon!)” the priest-like man yelled, stopping his hand signals with his hands clasped together, but the thumb, index, and middle fingers were stretched out and extended.
At that, the paper burst into flame, while a great blast of wind began to feed the growing fire and shape it into something that vaguely resembled a dragon of the realm. However, instead of a stocky and winged dragon, this one was thin and wavy, with whiskers flowing from around the mouth area. Indeed, this dragon was a construct based on the priest-like man’s imagination.
“I’d suggest running, but there’s no escape,” the priest-like man said, even as the dragon cut the rope binding his leg in midair with a windy talon. Getting back up, he said to the bandits, “Tell the Shinigami that the Hunter from the Onmyoudou is still hunting for his prize.” With that, the wind dragon shot out a massive burst of fire that incinerated the bandits where they stood, leaving only their gear and skulls behind. Walking over to the skull where Danny once stood, he said to it, “You shouldn’t have listened to your boss.”
He pulled out a separate slip of paper, now identified as a talisman, and flung the item into the middle of the camp of the formerly living bandits. With a one-handed gesture, the talisman flashed and became an active portal, near as he could tell. He then spotted someone, or something, heading out of the portal.
“By the power invested in me, I command you to slay anyone else that enters this area, so long as they are not with me,” he said to the newcomer, his other hand forming a different gesture as he did.
“Very well, ‘master’, I will accept that order,” the newcomer said. “But where will you be at this time?”
“Keeping an eye on the situation from afar,” the Onmyoudou Hunter replied, before heading out.
#
“Okay,” Gato said as he and M’thr’ln entered the forest together. “I don’t get what could’ve happened, but I think someone out there thought to use fire power inside the forest.”
“Indeed,” the dragon of the two said. “Now, where’d the bandits go in this forest?”
Gato activated his minimap and zoomed in on the two of them. “Well, I can safely say that this is about where I ran into the pit trap that they had set up for me to fall in,” he said. “I don’t see anything resembling a large number of bandits, but that’s probably because I’m still new to this power, which is never a good thing.”
“I can imagine,” M’thr’ln said, before he began to sniff. “I smell my treasure!”
“You can?!” Gato spun to face the dragon. “That’s amazing!”
“It’s a general species trait of all dragons,” M’thr’ln admitted. “I’d explain how it works, but who knows who’s listening in right now…”
“Ah, say no more,” Gato said as he held up a hand to stop conversation. “Now, lead the way, please.”
“On it,” M’thr’ln said, hurrying over to where his nose was leading him.
As they hurried to find the treasure, Gato couldn’t help but think of something. Isn’t it odd that the treasure is that easy to find? I mean, I doubt that the bandits would be that dumb to leave the treasure out in the open, would they?
Eventually, they made it over to the spot where the treasure had to be located, before Gato skidded to a stop at the amount of treasure that was there. “That’s… an awful lot of treasure, M’thr’ln.”
“I know, right?” the dragon asked. “I’m just glad that my treasure is still all together.”
Gato nodded, before he began to take a step forward —
[Warning! Interplanar enemy approaching!]
—Gato and M’thr’ln looked at each other. “Interplanar enemy?” they asked simultaneously.
[In short, a demon is approaching your position.]
Gato and M’thr’ln gaped as their eyes bugged out. “A demon?!”
“Why, yes, I am a demon.”
Gato and M’thr’ln turned and looked at the source of that voice in front of them. It was a goat-like man, one who had the lower body of a goat on its hind legs, and the upper body of a man, except that his head was that of a male goat, with spiral horns over its ears. To top all of that off, the demon had a giant battle-ax leaning up against one of its shoulders, the blades of the axe looking as if they’d been sharpened excessively.
“Um...” Gato said, before he turned his head to his right… and immediately turned green. “Those skulls… and all that gear…”
[Er… normally, you’d have Player’s Soul active, but this is extra serious on your end. You are free to barf at any time.]
Thank you… I think I’ll do that right away.
“No, I didn’t kill these pathetic humans,” the demon said, waving a hand around the area. “That was done before I was summoned here, by a certain man who doesn’t want anyone here whatsoever. Instead…” The demon moved its battle-ax and swung it in front of it.
At that, a burst of wind flicked through and at Gato, causing the teenage human boy to cross his arms in defense of himself. In fact, when the wind got to him, he felt the wind try slicing at him, before he saw a new notification in his field of vision.
[You’ve taken 100 points of health damage!]
Gato gaped at the notification. 100 points of health damage?! Out of how many points total?!
[Out of 300 hit points.]
Ouch… don’t want to be hit by any more of those attacks that might hit.
[You’re right about that. Don’t forget to get ready for battle.]
Understood…
“Gato, isn’t it time to kick that demon out?” M’thr’ln asked.
Gato looked at M’thr’ln out of the corner of his eye and said, “Gimme a moment.” Looking at the demon, he saw something above the demon’s head.
Caules of the Prideful Wrath LVL 40
Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me… Gato facepalmed when he saw that. What level am I supposed to be, when compared to Caules?
[Oops… this is going to be a problem.]
Gato removed his hand from his face. What do you mean by that?
[You’re at Level 1, almost at Level 2.]
Oh, for the love of…
“Gato? You okay?” M’thr’ln asked.
“Peachy,” Gato drawled. “However, we need to send this guy back to where he belongs, right away.”
“Try... if you dare,” Caules said, his tone full of scorn and mocking. “Not like you’ll be able to do more than scratch me.” He chuckled for a few seconds. “Tell you what. If you want to fight me that badly, I’ll let you deal the first blows of the fight,” he said, showing a grin full of sharp, jagged teeth. “Be prepared to lose this fight.”
“Like hell we’ll lose, vile demon,” Gato growled in anger. “Just you wait. We’ll kick you right back to the demon realm where you belong!”
“I couldn’t agree more,” M’thr’ln said, nodding. “Now, then, you should be prepared to lose.”