I chose to ignore the fact while I was doing this for fun and to show off to my found family, many demons were dying today. Having the Redd Death gang member here was the only reason it crossed my mind, really. No point really humanizing things when even he was a demon like the others, but it made me… double check that I wasn’t letting myself get drawn down the wrong path.
“That’s about as good as I can do,” I told the croc-demon, as I moved my hand away.
He bowed his head to me. “You have my thanks, Eric.”
Tuppa was still in a bad state, but wouldn’t bleed out now that I had put some demonic healing through him. I felt top form, even if I was already tired of this whole event. The number of demons surrounding me threatened to buckle my otherwise iron-tight corruption resistance. And the less said about the oppressive smell, the better.
“Grab yourself a better weapon from these corpses. Just watch out for the pig.” I gestured my head back at the dead demons strewn about. His knuckle dusters wouldn’t carry him too much further, and he accepted my order.
I could feel eyes boring into me from all directions. Dabbling with
[The Higher demon and a group of Mids.]
Out of revolver range, even if I had the inclination.
//Just waiting on one pit to finish and then they’ll move you.
I caught the attention of the vulture-demon standing by our pit by waving my arm. His attention was drawn away from the direction of wherever the fight was still in progress.
“Yes, worm-food?”
“You said I can use my gun next round, right? Anything goes?” I fought the urge to get my hopes up, just in case I was mistaken.
“That’s right.” He turned back to whatever he was interested in before engaging me. “As long as you aren’t destroying the arena or too much of the crowd.” He gave me a quick glance and pulled a face, as if that was a silly thing to say given that I was a human.
Despite the fact that I had held my own against the current lot of demons, I still garnered no respect in their eyes. In fairness, I had no respect for them either. That they allowed me my pact weapon in the next fight meant that the odds were now strongly in my favor. If I had been able to use it in this first round, I would have just used True Hell Shot and killed them all in a couple of seconds.
In fact, that was partly my plan for the Greater Pit as well. They’d be foolish not to have put something in place to limit ranged weaponry or demonic magic… and although demons weren’t usually the sharpest tools around, I had a feeling this place was set up by someone with more than a handful of brain cells to their name.
//I don’t understand how gambling works, but Pearl is saying there’s a lot more interest in your odds or something.
I nodded, but didn’t care to wonder how she was receiving updates on that kind of thing from the basement. Probably demon magic.
The vulture made something of a snort noise, before turning to us. “Three has finished, so just wait for the announcement, and then… good luck.” He smiled, exposing more sharp teeth than I thought necessary for a beaked mouth.
Tuppa returned to my side. “Might be best if we split up next pit. If we help each other, we will create a future where you have to slay me.”
“We would, wouldn’t we?” I clicked my tongue and sighed. He had full faith that I would win. That made two of us, and keeping him alive by my side would only mean he’d need to face off against me at the end. “For what it’s worth, Tuppa, it’s been a pleasure.”
“Same, Eric. I’ll take some down with me, if possible.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but was promptly interrupted by the loud voice that boomed throughout the whole building.
“Congratulations to the survivors! What a great show we have had so far. One minute until our next fight in the Greater Pit where only one combatant will survive to face our Bronze Champion!”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
I worked out my shoulders. “Pit three will have had a lot less resting time.” Tuppa grunted before I continued. “You know how this whole tournament thing works?”
He raised an eyebrow and scratched the underside of his chin. “Not especially. It was a rather last-minute decision.”
[Same here, the Tuppa.]
“Being constantly possessed is quite tiring,” I smiled at the croc’s intrigue at hearing Wight’s voice. He could probably sense him, or knew he was there some other way. “I didn’t expect this to be such a properly constructed thing.”
His mouth opened to reply, but our time was up.
Vertigo ran through me as the floor dropped out. Amongst dust, dirt, and several bloody corpses, I bounced down into roughly made tubes in the world’s worst water park. A few moments of thudding and disorientation, before I was jettisoned out into clearer air and a second hard surface.
[To your feet, Hunter]
With Wight’s energy flooding through my system, I rose up quicker than my aching muscles would have been able to on their own. This second area was gloomy, and it took my eyes time to adjust. Built up, too. Like a maze, built from dirtied sheets of metal or boards of wood. Some of them with damage or holes pierced through them.
Aside from the broken corpse of the purple-clad wizard, I had arrived into this little corner of the Greater Pit on my own. Cover was mostly floor to ceiling - the latter just being rough dark brown stone, as far as I could make out.
“How do they even see us?” I murmured to myself.
[Demon magic.]
//I have eyes on you, the picture isn’t as great. Something is nullifying the tracking. I can’t pinpoint anyone close.
I held up my arm to show my wrist - the gift that David had given to me, hopefully leading him to how I was going to track targets. Or… at least not get ambushed.
[I suggest we keep moving until we know what we are up against.]
A sound plan as any - I started off to the right. Open doorway that led to more gloom and walls. It would be odd to say that the air here was clearer underground, as it still had an odd musk to it. Cooler, being that it was underground, so still refreshing despite the fact.
The sounds of combat came quietly from the left area, echoes and vibrations that were rather brief.
“How many original pits were there?” I whispered.
//Ten… Pearl says there are sixteen combatants that made it through.
She probably would have been able to tell by the betting, I assumed. That wasn’t too bad… although closer to the maximum of twenty than what I would have thought. It stood to reason that more pragmatic demons would want the extra chance of staying alive rather than have to run the risk of dying in the one v one.
Assuming things went well, I’d only have to face a handful at most. Even less if I was lucky and stuck to hiding away. I should probably stop trying to talk to Rodney and keep hold of what stealth I was able to pretend to utilize. But… I hadn’t been humbled by it yet.
“How’s David enjoying things?”
//Captivated. Has only thrown up twice.
There was an amusing tone to the Blank’s response. I could clearly picture Pearl assisting the Church man yet still admonishing him throughout the whole process, all the while Rodney tried to do his job and watch me hopefully not die.
Revolver spun up into my hand as I felt the prickle of energy in my detector. It was coming from… the right, again. I turned my head and furrowed my brow. Couldn’t hear any movements yet, and I wasn’t sure the wrist-mounted artefact could determine if things were getting closer or not.
The floor had about an inch's worth of sand or something similar before the rock beneath. Enough to soften footsteps, at the least. I ran my tongue across dry lips, only realizing how soaked with sweat I was as my body temperature cooled. After a quick shiver, I withdrew my knife into my left hand as I aimed the gun toward the next wall opening.
One eye narrowed over the sight, I used my left hand to push up my glasses and activated
I stepped forward slowly, edging closer to the next room. Perhaps going slow and steady was the wrong way to go about this. Erid Redd could always just blaze a trail, safety be damned.
//Pearl said someone was just eliminated by a trap… so be wary of that.
My eyes rolled before I set them back on target. As if I didn’t have enough to worry about - and that really nipped the idea of rushing things in the bud. I knew better to lower my guard, so I stepped through into the next room, checking the corners immediately. Nothing.
Another oddly shaped space, no more than a dozen feet wide. Two exits leading to the left or straight forward. Tracker told me to go to the left, and I was thankful that it didn’t pick up Wight while he was possessing me. My feet took me to the edge of the doorway and I peered through.
I paused, catching sight of someone at the end of this room. Dozen feet wide again, but it was twice that long. They were obscured by shadows and currently peering through the opening at the other end - to the point where I was momentarily willing to believe it was me and it was a mirror trick.
Although, I didn’t have a long, pointed tail and spiky armor.
Now, I was not proficient at mazes, but it looked as though he was circling around to where I would have dropped down from. I had nothing to add to this observation. But to the back of their head, I had one point to make.
The red beam briefly illuminated the corridor of metal panels and ramshackle wood, and the figure dropped to the floor. A pretty underwhelming ending for them, certainly. Now I just had to repeat that process for however many demons I ran across.
//Confirmed neutralized.
It was nice to get the affirmation. My brow furrowed as the wrist tracker burned again. This time, it was pointing…
Realization flashed through me just as shadow enveloped my vision.