I remained rigidly dormant upon my inky grave while the sounds of intense battle crinkled my ears. Small waves of the black liquid, displaced by the explosive combat, washed over me and forced me to breathe out of the corner of my mouth to prevent suffocation.

Victory was not coming easily to the remaining blessed demons of this battle. I could not see what the octopus had done, but it appeared to be far more agile than the lumbering beast that dropped from the ceiling. The ground shook and I opened my eyes slightly to see the creature, its health reduced to a pitiable amount, take to the sky. Ripples washed down its skin and it slowly changed color from a deep black to the strange blue pattern that was on the cushions.

A loud slam could be heard within the cushion piles where the beast intended to try to recuperate however much health that it could.

“Coward!” The bird-headed warrior shouted in frustration at the octopus who disappeared into thin air. “Get back here and die with pride!”

“Where did it go?” A metallic golem demon asked.

“I can find it!” A frog-faced demon proclaimed.

They crouched down low before their spring like legs propelled them high into the air. Its eyes moved independently of each other to seek out every corner of the remaining space. The first leap appeared unsuccessful and the frog repeated it twice more before their eyes grew large and their arms reached out.

“There!”

A javelin appeared and the frog wrapped its tongue around it. It spun around and released the weapon directly towards its target. However, the tongue did not detach from the javelin. Like the chain to an anchor, its tongue continued to spool at a ridiculously long distance before it crashed into the ground somewhere outside of my vision.

The tongue became taut and the frog was sent on a vicious trajectory towards its target. A roar followed by a shaking impact told the rest how the frog’s aim was true.

Unfortunately, the rulers of the game were not going to make it easy.

image [https://i.imgur.com/AJM4kvC.jpeg]

Notice

Game: King of the Hill

You have 60 seconds to reach 5 living candidates.

If number is failed to be met, all contestants will lose.

“Curses!” The bird warrior screeched in frustration. “Quickly!”

I was instantly abandoned to my pool of filth. A sharp exhale left the side of my mouth and my eye opened fully to observe the scene. The entire area was now in tatters. Restraint was not a world in the dictionary of demons that were bestowed with such raw and violent strength. It was meant to be used viciously to show the gift givers that they did not err in choosing them to be the ones to hold onto this might.

And, near the area where the octopus leapt, I could see the ruined red-skinned body of Yoshitsune. Limp and twisted and broken like a doll trampled by a carriage, she had become the best showcase for the sheer power that the beings that dwelled in the upper levels possessed.

Uncharacteristic frustration took hold of me and I felt a pang in my heart as though I had dealt those blows myself. I curled my hand into a ball. What compelled me to feel this way?

I’ve jammed my bayonet into people I’ve known personally. People with families who begged for mercy. I ordered harsh executions and provided clemency to the undeserving based on which way a coin purse jangled its shiny contents. I joined wealthy aristocrats on safaris hunting down men for sport and watched them select individuals to bring back on ships to set on display next to other animals for the people of their home countries to gawk at.

I knew that, if fortunes turned for me slightly, I would be one of those helpless victims too. I had to be the one to fire the rifle. I had to be the one who was most enthusiastic about their heinous decisions. I had to be the most willing one of them, the savage they dressed in the clothes of men.

Everything I did, I did with a smile. I was owed these rewards for the acting that I had to do. If those that suffered were in my position, they would have done the same thing.

I was given none of the power and took all of the blame when the French army vacated the country to fight their Emperor’s war. It was not the nobility or the businessman who took the ire of the people. It was me, the one who was not allowed to be one of them.

It was a smile I gave to the world when they wrapped rope around my neck and kicked the ground out from underneath me.

I didn’t see her there. When the force of my fall popped my neck. When my vision went blurry and the feeling disappeared from my extremities, I had no delusions that you would come to watch. It was not that you could bear to see what my fate would be. It was because you never really loved me at all.

“Mother.”

How pathetic. Me whimpering to some dead woman like an imprinted pup. One shout of genuine regret was all that it took to alter my mind to such an outrageous effect. I could feel the very fabric of reality taunting me for the pathetic display. What magic did she possess that had me feeling this way even after death? When would the mana subside and I would be freed from my helpless stupor?

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I opened my status screen to watch the timer tick down. They hadn’t culled their population at all, perhaps they believed that there was enough time in this window. Should I get up now or should I wait?

"I will help you."

A supernatural voice entered my ears. So there was someone watching this dead fish of a performance. I supposed that there are people who appreciate all sorts of strategies, but whoever relishes this form of entertainment must have deep perversions within their hearts. It would do me well to avoid them as I had failed to do in life.

“You all want help with a price,” I murmured. If they were watching closely, they would hear. “So tell me, what is it that you want?”

A few seconds replied with no response. In the distance, I could hear the octopus roaring in pain. I craned my neck slightly, but failed to see what its current health was. The ground shook again, but I knew that these fighters would not be fooled a second time. I watched spells and the toad’s tongue guiding a javelin directly towards the octopus’ tattered body.

"I wish to watch more suffering and to see more lies."

“I can show you plenty of that, sadique.”

As soon as I spoke, the voice showed their sincerity. Like the lights that had descended upon the contestants, one now fell upon the octopus. A thick coating of ink was reapplied to the skin right before the damage could reach. The javelin collided with the ink and failed to penetrate flesh.

A quick color change and a flattening of its body allowed the octopus to escape for, at least, one more time.

One failure at the finish line was all that it took for the contestants to give up on victory for the time limit. They could have been tenacious and stuck with it until the end, but it would have been so counter to their nature that one would have wondered if the entire cast had been swapped at the last second.

Such a breakthrough would not occur. More had to die before the attack would resume.

I watched ten become nine and eight and seven and six. It stopped momentarily at six. Confronted with a strange overage on the head count for a second time would likely confuse them.

“There must be one hiding!” I heard an intelligent demon shout at their fellow compatriots. “We just have to find that one!”

“Not in twelve seconds!” I heard another one argue with the rest shouting in agreement.

The lone dissenter was struck down for suggesting cooperation in such a dire situation. Maybe, if they had not been so hostile towards Yoshitsune, I may have had the conscious to off myself at this point. Hopefully, that was the last clever member of the bunch.

I heard them run by me towards the other side of the car. My half-opened eye monitored their condition. Even if they were dealing respectable damage against the boss, they were still being injured in response. In a Dungeon environment, their wounds were not healing and inspecting my own inventory told me that potions were not available for use.

After fighting the octopus for several minutes, they were more adept at tracking it and assailing it. It took less than a minute to rediscover the beast and reignite their attack.

I could see that there were no more boons from above and that the four of them would be enough to finish it off even if a countdown timer began this second. If I wished to inflict this petty revenge, now had to be the time.

I remained in the ink and shifted my body and rifle into position. Through the sights, I observed the battle closely to carefully pick out my first target. It had to be a strategic decision based upon the abilities that I had seen so far and their value for the fight as a whole. The metallic golem who used a steam attack or the frog with their keen senses were my optimal targets.

But, I was not feeling very tactical.

[Death Comes in Threes] emitted a thick beam of red light that caught the bird warrior in the midsection. The attack melted through their abdomen as their torso and legs folded into a neat pile. The beautiful bone axe fell into the flowing blood before the one who bestowed it recalled it back into the sky.

The surviving three were temporarily shocked. The frog demon took a tentacle to the face that sent them airborne and beautifully aligned with a mana bullet that would finish the job that the octopus started.

The golem attempted to look in my direction, but I went limp as soon as the bullet left my gun. Unable to scan for the hidden attacker and fight simultaneously, they focused all of their attention on finishing the octopus off as quickly as possible.

It was the right decision, but it was made far too late to matter. With a snap of my finger, my gold-eyed friend popped out of the shadows and pounced on the gilled warrior. If the teeth plunging into their neck was not fatal, the punishing smack of a tentacle surely was enough to send them to the afterlife.

Low on mana, low on health, the golem was a sitting duck. Scream and rage all they wanted, but steam did not flow from their hands and mana did not ripple around their body. I set my gun to full automatic and depleted the last remaining portion of my mana bar riddling the golem with so many holes that I could see through to the other side.

“What a fated pair we make,” I said to the octopus who shook with anger. “Are you surprised to see me well?”

Killing it with my regular spells was not in the cards. Not only were my attacks unable to counteract the boss’ regeneration, I lacked enough mana to even summon a single chien. If I wanted to succeed, I had to do it at the expense of myself.

“How about we die together?” I suggested, even though there were no other choices.

[Death Comes in Threes] killed me as soon as the beam left the barrel. I knew that it would hit the octopus in the middle of its bulbous head. Whether or not it would die from the attack was a question that I no longer really cared enough to find the answer to.

I woke up on the cold metal ground. The ink that caressed me disappeared and all signs of the octopus along with it.

I rose to my feet along with the rest of the contestants. Those that knew each other discussed how far they had gotten and the powers of those that had killed them. The survivors refused to speak to each other, clearly believing that the others were responsible for their downfall.

“Capitaine.”

I suppressed those immediate emotions and turned to face Yoshitsune. A dark expression crossed her face and she did not smile at me.

“What’s the matter?” I asked. “Did you not win?”

“I didn’t,” she replied regretfully. “I also wanted to apologize.”

“Whatever for?”

“I was overeager and forced you into a position that put you in danger,” she answered. “If you had just remained in your safe spot, you would not have had to die.”

“It was my own fault for failing to dodge in time. Hunt one animal for too long and no other beast feels right. Besides, it appears that there were no winners to this game,” I said with a hearty laugh, gesturing towards the downtrodden faces of the ones that outlived Yoshitsune.”

“With that, we have completed King of the Hill,” Laugh’s voice echoed over the space. “What an unconventional finish to an unconventional game. But, fret not, dear viewers, there is plenty more to see and plenty more to bet on.”

A bright white light emerged at the front of the cars. Demons that were close enough to it began to warp into the new space.

“It seems that our games haven’t ended yet.”

“I haven’t seen Ishmael-san yet, do you think that he’s further ahead?” Yoshitsune asked, her head on a swivel for a demon that was just not there.

I bit my tongue to hide how little I cared for the lizard at that moment. I would need to pay close attention to how they interacted in the future. For now, I just had to put on my usual smile and play along.

“Well, I can only imagine what waits further up the way for our poor reptilian friend. But, knowing him, I’m sure he’s fine.”