[Capitaine]

I regretted having those conversations with Ishmael about the world that existed after my death. The wondrous technologies that waited just around the corner. The amenities, the culture, the knowledge; everything was so much brighter just beyond my grave. You could get in a metal tube and fly anywhere in the world. You could eat the finest foods and drink the fullest wines under the electrical illumination of a sprawling city. You could be anyone you wanted, unfettered by nationality or race or identity.

Then, I got on this infernal train and was met with the barbarism of antiquity. But, then again, I never should have raised my hopes in the first place. Ishmael was a man from the future, but he espoused none of the class that I hoped for from someone of his era. Instead, he seemed to prove more at home with the mindless brute of the pre-enlightenment.

Hatred and grudges built from our internment in that stone coffin and before had grown into the perfect kindling for a blood sport that would quickly be taken personal.

Some harlequin named Laugh was more than ready to provide the match that would create the fire that would consume all of us. They giddily described the lack of rules for this game. Teams could be made, you could kill in whatever manner you saw fit, and if you could obtain outside help, it was encouraged. The aristocratic class of Hell was paying very close attention to these results.

image [https://i.imgur.com/LVbayko.jpeg]

Notice

Game: King of the Hill

Be one the 10 surviving candidates to proceed.

Current Alive: 834

Then, we all tore at each other like wild animals. At the center of all of it was the same woman who interrupted the peace of the station.

Vendetta.

I assumed that the death of Armaros and the dismantling of Brunswick would have sated her grudge. But, the raging inferno that swallowed the car I was in whole told a different story. It took everything I had to escape into the next car to avoid being turned to ash. I drove between the metal wall and a row of seats and felt the burst of hot air blast through the doorway that closed behind me.

I had to slap away the errant flames that landed on my fur. I summoned a mirror and inspected the damage done to my meticulously groomed fur. Burn spots covered my neck like hideous spots. Who knows how long it’d take to grow that back properly?

Provided that I survived this in the first place.

I used a repair kit to fix my damaged uniform. No self-respecting officer would be caught dead in such battered equipment. Satisfied with the condition and trying not to mourn my fur too greatly, I hopped to my feet, ready to face a more genteel group.

But, things were not much better elsewhere. People were killing each other and being killed before even a minute had passed. The seats were disemboweled and the filling floated through the room.

Had that time within the station truly built up such animosity?

“Hey, I recognize you,” a voice echoed from down the car. “You’re that dog that was with the Grigori!”

“I’m flattered that I am such a memorable presence,” I thanked with a short bow, using the opportunity to scowl before returning to my regular smile. “For what do I owe the pleasure of being called out in this way?”

“I’m sure that many of us were organized simply based upon which stairs we descended,” I reasoned to the rock-brained fool.

“I don’t care, I don’t like your laugh.”

If they wished to act like animals, I would treat them like animals. After all, hunting is what I did best.

I activated my ability [Death Comes in Threes]. A brilliant red beam of light escaped the barrel of my gun and connected squarely between the demon’s eyes. The top of the brute’s head was melted to paste, leaving only their slack-jawed mouth. They fell to the floor with a wet thud and a beautiful silence born from surprise overtook the car. Fortunately, they were too shocked to think that I may have only a limited number of shots available to me.

“Does anyone else have any complaints about my former affiliation or my musical laughter?” I asked the rest of the car. Head shakes and wary gazes were all I received in response.

“Such starving beasts we have for you today, our dear viewers,” the sing-song voice of Laugh echoed throughout the car. “So many dead already before we have even set the proper stage for you.”

The car began to rumble and shift. Each of the walls fell down and stretched as far as the eye could see while the ceiling disappeared. Seats folded and accumulated together to form rudimentary topography. My own feet were lifted up by a cushion hill that gently formed beneath me.

From my vantage point, I could see the entirety of the car and the adjacent cars. The grisly results of this game were laid bare. No group was immune to the initial thinning of the herd; the ignoble remains of those that did not make it this far were unable to be hidden.

“You little birds were meant to receive so much more space to fly about,” Laugh admonished with the cutesy voice a mother would speak to an infant. Annoying as it was, I had to respect the decision. “Well, anyone that didn’t even make it this far wouldn’t have been that entertaining anyways. You may continue.”

It was appreciated that Laugh bothered to announce that the game was back on, but the raging fire that burned behind me told me that the game had never paused.

I had no intention of squandering the additional space and used this opportunity to slip away from the more populated spaces. Let the bloodthirsty take themselves out first. The game won’t be won by the ones who notch the most tallies in their gun.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

With the space available to roam, my sweet chiens de chasse scampered out from my shadow and began to scour the areas around me. The larger shadow of the Corpse-Seeker prowled from underneath me; it watched the battlefield with an intense gaze. It sniffed several times back towards the bloody remains that I just retreated from.

“Find me a suitable hunting location, my sweets,” I cooed to my pets.

Bound to my orders, they spread out to the four corners of the space. I crouched low, a nearby cushion embankment as cover. I slid the barrel of my gun between the gaps in the material and summoned some binoculars to observe the scene. I would be ready to take an opportunistic shot at anyone who looked like an easy kill.

My vision shook. A dissatisfied bellow rumbled from beneath me. There was one pet that was not allowed to play with the rest.

“Apologies, Aurochs, you are far too conspicuous for this adventure,” I apologized to the disappointed beast. “Worry not, you will have your moment.”

The chiens spread and, with their playful exploration, my map updated quickly. This space was not infinite. Approximately three hundred feet of new territory spread out behind me. From what I could see, the train itself did not increase in length. As for how much vertical room existed…I still had no reliable way of knowing.

I needed to capture a bird at some point. The only fliers I had found so far were hideous beasts that lacked the same visual style as the rest of my pets. Loathe would I be to allow a squawking beast to join my cohort just so I could measure the sky.

After a few moments, some appetizing prey stumbled across my path. They hobbled along, nursing a badly wounded leg. A spear snapped part way on the shaft still jutted out from the thigh. Blood gushed out of the wound and their eyes were more concerned with being chased by whatever harmed them than the danger that awaited ahead.

I pressed the stock against my shoulder and lined up the sights to the target. Were they injured enough that a shot at center mass would be enough or would I need to aim for the head to be safe?

I went for the shot I was already set for. My finger squeezed on the trigger and a loud bang erupted from my relatively peaceful corner of the battlefield. The demon looked in my direction with a stupid expression before the impact struck them in the chest. A powerful force sent their body flying backwards and it came to a limp rest. I kept the gun trained on them, ready to spend some extra mana to forego a reload.

It turned out to be unnecessary. The hunt was successful.

I quickly pulled my gun from my cushioned defenses and moved towards a new location already scouted by my sweets. I reset my weapon and watched the area around the corpse. Perhaps, whatever hunted our dearly departed friend first would come to confirm its kill.

Several minutes came and went, but nobody came for our poor soul. A few demons did move by the corpse, but they seemed more preoccupied with surviving.

But, it was not a pointless effort. The body had remained lifeless far beyond the reasonable time that it would have taken to revive. I wondered if they were simply playing dead to avoid additional pain, so, I dispatched one of my chiens to confirm my assertions that they were still dead without a hope of reviving.

I rubbed my chin. It seemed obvious from the objective of the game that this would be the case. Though, it was a good habit to not be overly trusting in the rules of the game. That was the fastest way to find yourself in a dire position.

With over four-hundred demons still alive and spread to the four corners of the battlefield, it no longer seemed like a smart idea to maintain this position. A bark from beyond told me to reposition myself with haste.

I slipped from location to location, slowly moving my way towards the back of the train where it appeared to be less populated. Most were actively moving upwards in the train to gather close to the explosive brawl at the head. Small groups of wary demons huddled together and the pace of my escape slowed down to a crawl. In some cases, a few of my precious chiens had to serve as an appetizing distraction to allow me to slip by undetected.

They finally found the value in banding together and my hunting strategy was no longer valid. My finger remained a depressing distance away from the trigger.

Eventually, and around fifty deaths later, I reached the tail end of the train. I settled into a comfortable spot near the back wall of the car, directly next to the aftermath of the battle that purged many of the inhabitants. I aimed my gun back from where I came from. The chiens reported a group of four and a group of three on the other side of the car, but they seemed to be more concerned with each other and paid me no mind.

At some point, the flames from the front of the train died down and, presumably, Vendetta’s flames were snuffed out. I would call her foolish, but I don’t think she would have much cared to win this game if it meant dragging as many Grigori to their grave as she could.

The situation calmed down considerably. With a little over three-hundred still alive, most of the demons had now dispersed to their own tiny groups and waited for their opponents from more favorable defensive positions.

An itchy feeling spread over my brain. This development couldn’t be good. When a death game stalls out is when new, far more unfavorable rules get implemented.

“Cowards,” I hissed, willfully oblivious to my own hypocrisy. “Kill each other again.”

“Good news, everyone!” Laugh bellowed out over the car, instantly confirming my intuition. “Our winner from the game behind us has now joined us. Watch out, this contestant eliminated every single one of their competitors personally. Let’s give them a warm welcome.”

I heard some magical mechanisms whirring at the doorway near me. Quickly, I put my pets into position and spun my gun around to intercept whatever horrific beast was about to burst forth. I tried to relocate from my unideal position, but lacked the time necessary to get to a new spot entirely. My mind went over battle strategies and escape plans in rapid succession until I found something satisfactory.

A red-skinned woman dropped out of a beam of light. A long blade that trembled with the power of a storm rested in her extended hand. A pair of hands covered her eyes while another gripped around her neck like a bony noose.

Yoshitsune.

I stifled a laugh of joy at the change in fortunes. How could I not be giddy? The game master just described her as a killing machine and I had the perfect chance to make her a part of my little group. Provided that she didn’t hold as much of a grudge as her partner did.

“So, you were the one who won the death game.”

“Capitaine?” She asked in surprise.

“Quickly, quickly, over here,” I urged before someone else noticed her presence.

She kept low and moved to my position. I scanned the scene with my binoculars and found no suspicious movements. I gave a command to my chiens to keep close tabs on the two nearby groups and focused on my recruitment process.

“So, what’s going on?”

I gave her as comprehensive an explanation as I could pertaining to the game rules and what I had seen so far. I made sure to make it as generous towards myself as possible and contain no mention of the fact that I did not aid Vendetta in her quest for a berserker’s funeral. It was business that brought the two together, but their opinions on one another was a mystery to me.

“Since they aren’t reviving, does that mean that this is a Dungeon?” Yoshitsune asked with a thoughtful expression.

“That, or our demon in charge is capable of making that possible. But, I find that too terrifying to want to consider it further,” I joked.

“Does that mean that there is a Boss somewhere in this space? If we can find it, then we could skip this game entirely.”

I grinned widely. This was the beautiful thing about a newcomer, they actually thought about the game beyond the immediate need for survival that the rest of us were overcome with. She was the only one that might be able to see something I could not. I wouldn’t tell her that though, I worried that my reckless phrasing would pit her against me.

“Thinking like this is why I killed you first last time,” I said; my loose lips jumping from one faux pas to another. But, she smiled as though it were a compliment.

image [https://i.imgur.com/1X078AW.jpeg]

Notice

Game: King of the Hill

Rule Update

You have 60 seconds to kill another demon.

All that fail to do so by the time the timer runs out will perish.

“Let’s get that kill first before we start hunting down a boss, shall we?”