As the holocube showed me sitting motionlessly on the Pitfall floor and meditating, the presenter noted:
“When Scyth was declared worst player of day one for his ‘inaction,’ none could have imagined that it was these very hours spent meditating on the Pitfall floor that formed the foundation for Scyth’s future victories!”
Then they showed that bizarre second day when I flew around with the Paralysis debuff, using my own ragdoll body as a bowling ball and the other contestants as skittles.
I spent day three in stasis with Abaddon’s Curse, but a real slaughter unfolded above me and around me. That was when the paladin Kharmo’Lav broke the seal on floor 666, and Quetzal covered me with the Aegis, saving me from getting zeroed.
On day four, Abaddon managed to damage the Aegis, and his tentacle-like arms allowed me to level up Unarmed Combat and increase my total spirit. Octius replayed the moment when the trio of gankers attacked me in the woods in the very same forest glade where a battle unfolded the next day between almost all the contestants.
On that day, the fifth day, Destiny could have taken me out twice, and both times I was saved by rewards given to the best player: first Tissa with her Banshee Queen’s Cry, then Meister with Escape Pentagram. While the enraged Markers and Desters annihilated the crafters and the members of Quetzal and Hellfish’s groups who couldn’t get away, I ran through Despot’s Labyrinth. That night, I was so pleased to have tamed the demon that I couldn’t imagine the problems he would cause later.
“Truly, the sixth day of the Games was critical!” Octius shouted. “Scyth broke Marcus’s raid, but nearly lost all his allies to Youlang’s trickery! If it weren’t for his demonic ally, that day could have been the last for many of Scyth’s friends!”
Octius dedicated even more time to the seventh day. As it turned out, yesterday Youlang had hidden inside the Pitfall, which was why she couldn’t activate the Pentagram of Freedom any sooner. Climbing out in Invisibility, she waited for us to go down deeper, and only then sacrificed one of the village NPCs to use her reward.
Thank the Inferno for Despot. Without him, Youlang would already have been crowned champion of the Games.
“Miss Hao,” Octius spoke to her. “Are you disappointed that Mr. Sheppard’s raid was able not only to survive the day, but also to profit from it?”
“Only the weak feel disappointment, Mr. Octius,” Youlang answered disdainfully. She sat in proud solitude on the other side of the stage. “I remind you that Scyth must fight Abaddon tomorrow… Or try to find and kill not only me, but his allies too. Alex Sheppard will not choose the latter. His spirit is too weak. So what remains? The final boss will crush them, and I will be champion. I am patient, Mr. Octius. I know how to wait. And I will not have to wait much longer.”
She smiled and laughed happily, clapping her hands.
Listening to her, Quetzal screwed up his face, nodded to something and drained his glass to the bottom.
“Great speech, Miss Hao!” Octius said, encouraging this new intrigue. “Well, let’s see who the best player of the day was according to our viewers! Opinions are split between Youlang and Scyth, but with a small lead, the winner is… Scyth!”
The viewers’ selection for worst player was Bloomer again. The poet just grimaced and waved a hand:
“Give me any debuff you want as long as it doesn’t tie me to one spot! I can’t miss the fight with the final boss!
After declaring the results of the viewers’ vote, Octius finished the recap:
“And so, tomorrow the portal to the Cursed Chasm opened by the elf king Eynyon will close, and the spirits of the surviving contestants will be pulled back to Disgardium. How many souls will return is an open question…”
Guy Barron’s gaze stopped on me and he continued, looking into my eyes:
“Will Scyth’s raid enter into final battle against Abaddon? Or will they negotiate and choose the strongest among them? Remember, in that case they’ll need to find Youlang too! The question remains open! Tomorrow we will find out the answer!”
With the excuse that we needed to prepare for the final day of the Games, we quickly ended our interviews and headed to club Boom Boom. It was as if the place had died — only my group and their retinues were there. The whole Ruhm und Ehre hotel had emptied, actually.
The day had been tough, and tomorrow would be even tougher. We started discussing our plans right away, so we could go back to our rooms and rest sooner.
“There’s just one question,” Quetzal said. “Do we look for Youlang, or head straight for the final boss?”
“Can’t the demon find her?” Hellfish asked.
“I need enemy blood to release Despot from the Pitfall to search for Youlang. There’s nowhere to get any, so there’s no point wasting time looking for her,” I answered.
“But if we lose to Abaddon, she’ll be the champion!” Destiny burst out. “That’s not fair!”
“One hour to get to the bottom, another hour for the battle. We can spend the first half of the day looking for her. If we don’t find her, then we head for the boss,” I suggested.
We settled on that, then went through our plan for the fight with Abaddon in detail. Finally, we parted ways.
Only back in my room did I let my true feelings come to the surface. There was a reason Octius had looked at me so piercingly at the start of the night, when he
