Act 1: Blue Ocean Pavilion - Chapter 327: Cruel Massacre

Act 1: Blue Ocean Pavilion - Chapter 327: Cruel Massacre

'Do I know him?' Demon rolled the dice, obtaining enough moves to reach player eight. Player eight's face looked familiar. He wasn't a friend of Oscar's, yet something stuck out. Stopping a step before player eight's platform, Demon gazed without blinking at player eight's features, noticing how his target shrank in fear before him.

"PLAYER ONE, ADVANCE TO THE NEXT PLATFORM." The voice urged Demon onward, or else it would be a breach of the rules.

'So that's it...You were destined to suffer or die either way.' Demon remembered who this person was. The fellow Blue Ocean Pavilion student was one of the ones he and Oscar saved from the Grovekeepers' underwater prison. All the luck had run short for this target.

'Oscar will be more angered by this.' Focused more on Oscar's future anger, Demon waltzed onto the platform, no longer gazing at player eight. He read the status and saw the current augment cards his target held. Player eight only had a single augment card, owing to his horrible luck.

"Hey! Which faction are you from?" Player eight shouted, retreating from Demon's simple steps. His face paled, dripping with sweat. Anyone could see the fear gripping his heart.

"...." Demon ignored player eight. His feet became bound to the platform, unable to free themselves until the start of the battle.

"Who the hell are you?! If you're one of us, we can reason this out!" Player eight summoned his anima, a panther made of water. It growled and showed its sharp claws of drill-like waters. It was hard to get a feel for it earlier, but now with the anima out, player eight's grade had become known. He was a grade five Exolsia. "I'm warning you right now. We can talk this out!"

"THE BATTLE WILL BEGIN IN 10!"

To get to his best condition, Demon meditated in silence, checking his core and his body as the countdown echoed in his mind. Something started to drag into his head. For the first time, Demon shuddered, trembling from the flicker of emotion which sank his heart, a horrible and repulsive feeling.

"4!"

'What is this?' Demon knew this wasn't him. These trembling hands weren't because of him... 'Oscar? Are you waking up?' No response came, and Demon clenched hard to suppress the weak quivering. 'Even while unconscious, Oscar's instincts scream at me to stop. Will you give up your life to let this one through? You can explain yourself when you wake up.'

"2!"

"1!"

"BEGIN!"

Water gathered into tidal waves under player eight's feet. Player eight and his panther anima streamed ahead in full force, circling Demon like a maelstrom. His speed increased so much that his figure blurred and submerged with the torrential waters.

Demon finally suppressed Oscar's lingering thoughts, not bothering to follow player eight's movements. He knew player eight worked with the assumption of how slowly he moved during his previous bouts against monsters, a deception of a slow and powerful fighting style similar to Orden's. With a single Eirin step, he caught up to player eight, bursting through the heavy, torrential waters which would have torn him apart if not for the heavy shroud of Ein.

When the countdown ended, the Ein enveloped Demon, pulling him through space. Demon landed on a new platform.

"Please!" Someone shouted with a whimper.

A woman wearing the black uniform of the Earth Core Academy bowed her head to the floor, trembling and crying. She shook her head and said, "Please!"

Demon gazed at the fearful woman, knowing his scare tactic had worked to a remarkable degree of success. Her confidence was gone. He didn't say anything. To respond to the other would only lessen the effect. The woman lifted her head, eyes red as tears streamed down her cheeks. She would be considered beautiful if not for the teary mess on her face.

To her shock, the countdown had already begun. She cried more, having lost the will to fight. She pulled at her hair and screamed, "Why me?! Why me?! I don't want to be in this anymore. Please let me leave!"

Her begging and groveling to the unknown voice controlling the game garnered no response. Only the countdown continued, and Demon had enough of hearing her wails. She wiped her face and stared at Demon before averting her eyes away and nearly vomiting.

Demon remembered player eight's blood and brains were still scattered on his fabricator uniform. Seeing her lose her bearings from seeing it wasn't a surprise.

"Monster....What kind of sickening monster are you?" The woman palmed her face and knelt, whispering a little song to herself. Demon paid no attention, only focusing on the countdown.

"BEGIN!"

Demon moved instantly. Before his hammer reached her, he heard a part of her song.

"Feel better in the morrow." Her soft voice whispered.

Her head crushed like a fruit. Demon wondered what sort of song she was singing to herself. Instead of fighting for her life, she gave up and sang. Her will was lacking. In this palace, she should have hardened herself for the reality of death.

Demon looted her space pocket and tossed her into the magma. By this point, the others should be fearing him more.

Several turns later, Demon's plan came to fruition. He killed a member of the Thousand Storm Palace after some hardship, using his spells sparingly and differently to avoid rousing some suspicions. His opponent was a tougher one, but he fell all the same.

Now the path was clear. He stared to his left. Regis was a few squares away. All the preparation was now complete, and the harvest was here.