Depraved Hero's Path

An instant was all it had taken for Petra to stand up and behead both Corrupted Harpies.

The shining light that covered her knife, however, slowly grew dimmer.

"What?!"

[You have been Demoted.]

[All Stats decrease to 5 Stat Points.]

[Your "Berserker" Skill…]

***

The only one to have seen it coming, apart from Elijah, who had come up with the plan, was Marianne.

On her knees, with an expressionless face,

'This timing…' Her Golden Eyes shone. 'It's Chief. The White Queen barely has the time to get to the White King. The Corrupted Harpies are hanging around above the building. They'll start their descent anytime now. Aiming for the White King? No, alert the White Queen in that instance. The target is the White Queen. With Chief's roar, the sound made by the Corrupted Harpies breaking the only two windows here will be drowned. The Trickster's Amulet can also be used… Why target the White Queen? Léa is still standing with him. Why choose a pawn? Promotion. There's no end of the board to get to. Roles are differentiated by the Crown, Tiara, Helmet… All things on one's head, apart from the Pawn who has a ribbon around the arm. Stealing the White Queen's Tiara is the way to Promote Léa into a Queen.'

Seconds passed, and everything happened exactly like she had theorized.

On her knees, Marianne watched with an expressionless face as the Chimera ran, as the White Queen was caught in the Trickster's Amulet's illusion, as the Corrupted Harpies descended… As Monsters were used to hurt Humans. She watched as Zarath, giving not a thought to what was happening in the center, passed by the White King and thrust her sword into one of the White Rooks' backs.

"This…" She muttered, lowering her gaze to the ground. "Isn't how it was supposed to go…" She clenched her teeth and fought back, but couldn't win against it. "This isn't how…"

I'm not mad enough to kill them-

Two tears slowly went down her face.

"I was supposed…"

Monsters and Humans fighting to the death… Monsters fighting on her side… Kill or be killed.

We're already outnumbered, and we certainly don't need deadweight! Get your head out of your ass if you don't want all of us to die-

"I was supposed," She shut her eyes, but the tears descended anyways."To become a doctor."

Retreat.

The order suddenly echoed in her head.

Marianne moved as fast as she could until she reached Elijah, and moved past him. There was no way she was letting him see the expression currently on her face.

A moment later, Marianne, Zarath, Katherine, Léa, and Chief all stood by Elijah's side.

The two Corrupted Harpies lay on the ground at the center, beheaded.

On the White King's side remained one Rook, one Bishop, one Pawn… And Petra.

"Fuck." She cursed, staring at the ribbon that appeared around her arm. "We can still turn this around." Petra whispered through her clenched teeth.

[You have been Promoted to a "Knight".]

[All of your Stats have increased to 15 Stat Points.]

[You have been Promoted to a "Knight".]

[All of your Stats have increased to 15 Stat Points.]

'She thought about taking the Harpies' helmets.' Elijah smiled. 'Good thinking.'

Black Side: Two Queens, Two Rooks, One Bishop.

White Side: One Rook, One Bishop, Two Knights.

[Time Limit: 30 seconds.]

"You had the right idea when you ran to fight." Elijah muttered, and Léa immediately understood.

It was her job to finish this, even if it meant killing all of the remaining participants.

[Your "Quickstep[D]" Skill is Activating!]

[Your Agility Stat increases by 50%!]

With how quickly she agreed to fulfill her role, Elijah decided that there was no reason to push all the weight on her.

"Zarath, Chief."

"Yes," The Succubus took the Black Knight's Sword out of the Knight's Scabbard. "Your Majesty."

Marianne clenched her teeth as she watched them go.

Between Monsters and Humans, it was only right to choose Humans. But when the Humans are aiming to kill, when the Monsters are helping you not just to survive, but actively keeping you from becoming a murderer… Because she could see that this was what Elijah was doing. He wasn't sending those two simply to help. It was because someone had to finish the Participants. Putting them out of commission wasn't enough. Léa's job was to defeat the enemies, while the Monsters finish them off.

'How cowardly,' Marianne thought, clenching her fist. 'I'm letting them do it for me… Letting Monsters kill in my stead… What difference does it make? They will die anyway, so I should be the one to… I should be the one to…' She clenched her teeth, staring at the ground.

[Time Limit: 10 seconds.]

"All of them are dead." Elijah said as he arrived in front of the White King's Throne. "Only you remain."

By the Black King's side stood his Army.

"What will you do now?"

"W-What…" The White King lowered his gaze, his whole face twisting and contorting. "Is there to do?"

Elijah's eyelids wavered, and four Fire Balls appeared around the White King.

"This is Checkmate." Elijah muttered, slightly confused.

He had expected Checkmate to bring on the end of the King's Game, but it didn't.

"Will you die or Resign?"

[Time Limit: 3 seconds.]

The White King's arms trembled as he gazed at the Fire Balls surrounding him.

He could almost feel them start to burn his skin.

"I Re… I Resign."

[The White King has Resigned.]

"Good." Elijah smiled and turned around.

He walked away, and took a seat on his Black throne.

"What's good about this?" Léa muttered, her teeth clenched. She hadn't delivered the final blow to anyone, but all the same. Her gaze moved from one corpse to the next.

"I'm sorry…" Gin muttered with a face full of tears. "I'm so sorry…"

"What are you sorry for?" Elijah asked. "You didn't think they were actually dead, did you?"

Gin's eyebrow twitched as he noticed the pools of blood that surrounded each and every Participant start to recede.

"The winner isn't decided by a single game," Elijah explained. "It's a best-of-three."

Slowly but surely, the Participants' wounds started to heal. The Corrupted Harpies' severed heads were re-attached to their bodies.

In mere seconds, every fallen Participant was back from the dead.

"The question is," Elijah rested his cheek against his fist, elbow on the Black Throne's armrest. "What will you do now?"