Depraved Hero's Path

"Do we really have to do this?" Elijah asked with a sigh, turning his gaze to the right.

He was still shaking the other leader's hand.

Above them floated the King's Crown, held in place by shining chains wrapped around it. The Crown shone brightly thanks to the light let through by the only two windows in the museum's vault.

"Yes♪" Rifna hummed. "Sportsmanship is quite important to me, Elijah♪"

"Sportsmanship, huh?"

"You're against shaking hands? Is it because we're going to be trying to kill each other in a bit?"

Elijah raised an eyebrow for a moment. 'Is he trying to get in my head?'

"We don't know that for sure." He muttered with another sigh.

"Well, it is likely."

"I suppose."

One side disliked that idea more than the other.

Katherine, Léa, and Marianne couldn't hide their frowns. The idea of having to fight Humans felt deeply disturbing to them.

The other side didn't care much.

They were part of a bigger group of looters. One half had stepped into the museum through the main entry, while the other half had walked in through the emergency exit. The second group was the one that Elijah had heard about through the group of newbie looters that had tried attacking the bus.

"Well," Elijah tightened his grip around the other leader's hand, causing his face to twitch. "No hard feelings, ey?"

"Of course, Elijah." The bald man smiled, trying to act like he wasn't feeling the pressure around his hand one bit.

"I see you've heard of me." Elijah let out a sigh.

A silent moment later,

"Both Kings can now re-join their sides♪"

The two let go of each other's hands, turned around, and walked back to their respective sides.

'Heard of him…?' The bald man frowned as he walked back towards his group. 'I only said his name because the cat girl called him by name. Why would I have heard of him? Is this guy a big deal or something-'

"Hey."

"Ouch." He exclaimed as a black-haired woman slapped the back of his head.

"He's not getting in your head, is he?"

"Of course not."

"Good." She sighed. "Let's finish this quickly. We've been waiting for too long."

"Yeah, but…" He licked his lip. "That must mean the Item is extraordinary."

"That's true."

"Yeah."

"Makes sense to me."

"Let's hope it is." The black-haired woman stretched her arms up, staring at the opposing side. "Twelve against five should be easy enough."

"Don't forget that this is a Game, Petra."

"Right." She nodded. "The number of Participants on each side might cause the rules to change, leveling the playing field. That's what you think, isn't it, Gin?"

On the other side of the vault,

"Are we really… Going to have to fight them?" Katherine asked the approaching Elijah.

"We don't know yet." Marianne muttered. "It might come to that, though."

"That's not good." Léa whispered as she let out a nervous sigh.

"Why do you care?" Zarath asked, confused. "They're the enemy. That's all that matters."

"Of course, the Demon would say that." Marianne rolled her eyes before frowning. "Although… You're right."

"Huh?" Léa raised an eyebrow.

"They're the enemy, and that's what matters." Marianne said, her eyes narrowing. "Zarath might look Human, but she is a Demon. Her kind are the enemy. Those guys might be Human, but they are the enemy-"

Marianne's words were interrupted as Elijah placed a hand on her head.

"Cool off, will you? You look ready to tear them apart."

"What if I am?" Marianne swatted his hand off her head. "You're one who got us here in the first place."

"A troublesome Game for a troublesome person, Rifna said."

"And she's damn right."

Elijah turned away.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"Hm…" Katherine thought for a moment. "I really don't want to hurt people. I guess if I have to… But I would much rather things not get to that."

"Alright," Elijah raised a hand. "If it involves fighting, which it will, we'll minimize the damage and focus on putting them out of commission, knocking them out. If they come at us with blades and the intent to kill, then we'll have no choice but to do the same. How does that sound?"

"Hm." Katherine nodded.

"Fair enough." Marianne shrugged.

"Yeah." Léa adjusted her glasses. 'Waiting for them to attack us with the intent to kill… Elijah isn't doing this because he doesn't want to kill. He's doing it for us. At least, that's how I'm reading this.' Her orange eyes studied every member on the opposing side as she thought. 'Winning the Game against the Ghost Of The Past was only the first step. I need to prove myself amongst them. I need to catch on faster than everyone else, and find a way to stand out.'

Meanwhile, both the White King and the Black King noticed it at once.

Behind each one of them, a couple of steps behind the rest of the group, they had appeared.

"Hehe♪"

The White King had noticed a Black Throne appear behind the Black King, and the Black King had noticed a White Throne appear behind the White King.

They both turned around at once, and walked up to their respective Thrones.

"So that's how it is…" Marianne sighed.

Katherine scratched her head.

"Become the Army that protects and fights for the King." Léa muttered, remembering the System Messages.

"So Elijah…" Katherine stared as he prepared to take his seat. "Won't fight?"

"What kind of King fights his own battles?" Zarath asked, tilting her head.

The moment that the Black King and the White King took their Thrones,

[Steps must be completed before the Game can start.]

[Step 1: Make your Army.]

[Step 2: Arm your Army.]

[Step 3: Affect the different available Buffs.]

[The Game will start once these steps are completed.]

'Preparation before the fight.' Elijah smiled. 'What's most interesting is the last message.'

[You are the Black King.]

[As a King, any damage you try to inflict will be nullified.]

'How fun♪'

Rifna didn't miss the smile on his face.

From the start, she had been certain that Elijah would enjoy this.

"Mmh♪"