The Demonic Games (Disgardium Book #7): LitRPG Series, Dan Sugralinov [the read aloud family TXT] 📗

got eliminated. But her idea of rock bottom was a kingdom in the clouds for billions of non-citizens. All the same, seeing the girl’s sobbing face, the horror in her eyes and the shake in her shoulders, I felt sorry for her for the first time. Sure, her problems might not seem real to me, she may have been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she was suffering as much as anyone in that moment.

Destiny slowly calmed down now that she knew there were no enemies or scary demons nearby. She stood up. Her usual mask of equanimity covered her beautiful face again.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Go get Quetzal and Hellfish.”

“You sure? Let me take you to the others first, I can go to the graveyard after.”

“I’m fine!” she repeated. “Go, I’ll get there on my own.”

“You won’t make it! Despot is slow, but he has a strange way of always showing up…”

“Scyth!” The princess mask fell from Destiny’s face. She grabbed me by the arm and wailed, pointing behind me and down.

Turning, I saw a familiar heap of bones on the opposite side of the Pitfall, with that flaming forge at its center. The damn demon had somehow gotten up already, and was now skittering up the stairs.

“Get away! Hide!” I shouted into the girl’s ear. She didn’t seem to hear me, just stared in terror at the rampaging monster. “I’ll hold him off!” I shouted. “Run!”

Pushing her away from the Pitfall, I took off and flew toward Despot. I landed next to the edge opposite the staircase, blocking the path up. If the creature hadn’t learned to jump or teleport, he would have to go through me. And I doubted he’d dare attack his ally.

Despot stopped midway to the surface. He waved a halberd arm and sparks fell from the air as it seemed to hit something. Stuck on the invisible obstacle, he pressed against it, but it didn’t give. The demon emitted a frustrated roar, loud enough to make my ears ring. Was he really unable to leave the Pitfall?

“What’s wrong, Horns, you stuck?” I said with a mocking grin. My smile was sincere; I felt a flood of relief. “Can’t get out?”

“Groghkhgr!” Despot boomed. “This is the border that separates the Inferno from your world, mortal! Summon me so that I might cross it! I will teach you how to create a Summoning Pentagram…”

“No, Horns, you don’t get to eat the mortals of the Cursed Chasm. There are plenty of your kind below, how about you try their souls? I’m planning to go through all the floors and get all the way to Abaddon. You can help me if…”

“Demons do not have souls, idiot!” Despot interrupted me. “And I do not touch my own! We may not get along at home, but here we bow to the will of the great princes — we protect the interests of the Underworld! Together! Do you really expect me to help mortals win the Demonic Games?”

Some ally Despot was. He would be no help for clearing instances, and my raid would now always be under threat. How could we even move from floor to floor? I still didn’t understand why he refused to carry out my orders…

Despot silently awaited my answer, his breath an audible growl, and then I looked at the ‘ally’ description:

Despot, level 531 demon

 

Event ally of Scyth.

 

Attention! Pets of the ‘ally’ class make their own decisions; they cannot be controlled.

 

The description yesterday had said that I could give him orders! Now that part was suddenly gone? It started to hit me. This was the same thing that happened with the Aegis, the so-called ‘perfect’ shield that suddenly started cracking beneath Abaddon’s attacks the next day. Considering that the Cursed Chasm and the Pitfall were entirely artificial locations created anew for every iteration of the Games, the developers had full control over the mechanics.

Although… it could still be part of the damn gameplay — the demon could have somehow gotten his heart out of my inventory and stopped following orders. Whatever. Time to try something else.

“Despot, I order you to stay on floor ten…”

“Only Great Prince Diablo can give me orders!” the demon interrupted me, but I finished:

“…and wait for the mortals to come. Around a hundred souls will come here. They won’t go down if they see you. Hide in the shadows and wait. They’re undying, so even if you kill them all, they’ll come back. You’ll get to eat your fill!”

“I hear pathetic attempts to trick your ally in your words, mortal…”

“Allies stick together, but you’re one big problem. I wouldn’t wish an ally like you on my enemy! If I could, I’d give you to them. But since you don’t want to do things the easy way…” I sighed. My idea hadn’t worked, but I suddenly had another. “I’m going to have to kill you.”

Repeated echoes of ‘Groghhrr!’ rolled out from the demon — he was laughing.

“Delusional mortal! Not only are you weak, you are foolish. The contract between us does not let you do me harm!”

“Oh, so that means the heart is in you after all? Without it, you’d be invulnerable, but with the heart… I’ll take the risk. I’ll try to send you back to the Inferno, where it’s warm and you’ll be with all your demon buddies. I’m sure Diablo will accept your excuse for failing. He’ll forgive you…”

While speaking, I got close enough to make sure I wouldn’t spend too much spirit, then went into Clarity. Keeping my range at a couple of yards away, I dealt a strike, carefully watching the demon’s health bar — it didn’t move at all. We couldn’t deal damage to each other, but that wasn’t what I was looking for.

Another strike. Another. Copies of my fists took