The Prince of Demons

"Please enlighten me, Lord Utol. I wish to be graced by the knowledge and wisdom of a Lord." I said jokingly. I could feel my soul start to quiver from the glare she gave.

"Do not sass me, mortal." Lord Utol snarled in irritation.

"I was making a light joke." I defended myself, feeling my existence struggling.

"Now, before I was so rudely sassed for no reason I might add, time to announce the game!" Lord Utol chimed happily.

"Yay!" I cheered, trying to sound enthusiastic enough for her.

"We shall play, Liar's Bluff!" Lord Utol declared excitedly.

"What?" I asked. Great, a game I never played before.

"It's easy, do not worry!" Lord Utol assured me with a thumbs up.

"Easy to a Lord, or easy to a mortal?" I checked as I was a bit skeptical of her definition of easy.

"I just realized, with your limited mobility and <Magic>, we will not be able to play that game." Lord Utol grumbled with a heavy sigh.

"Get stronger." Lord Utol ordered me in an annoyed tone after a moment.

"I was working on it." I defended myself. I was glad she was more personable and less stuck up than Dha.

"You mortals are the ones who imagine us all desiring worship. Granted, having a Temple built to you where many mortals bow before your might has a certain appeal and all, but mortals we get to actually talk to are surprisingly rare." Lord Utol explained matter-of-factually.

"Are all of you just, bored? I kind of got that feeling from Dha, and a bit from you." I checked as I was kind of caught off guard by how nonchalant she was.

"Kind of; except Nyx; she has her endless entertainment watching Reincarnators getting slaughtered. She's a bit sadistic and has been a bit of an extra bezka recently for some reason, but probably because her precious Void King didn't do exactly what she wanted." Lord Utol answered with a bit of a shrug.

"Wait, do you know the Void King's name?" I asked. Lord Utol began laughing at me again.

"Obviously, but I am not going to interfere and tell you what his name is." Lord Utol clarified between fits of laughter.

"So how does being the representative of a Lord work? Does it come with cool perks?" I probed, wondering what it required.

"Sadly for you, you wouldn't meet my criteria. Only two of us currently decided they wanted one, and I'm not entirely sure the one representative is even aware he is one, but he might have a good guess, and then of course Nyx has her precious Void King. As for what it entails, do not worry about that as it does not currently concern you." Lord Utol informed me as she was still laughing.

"Why not?" I pouted. It would have been a nice goal to strive towards.

"Because I want someone who triumphs over any challenge through sheer grit and determination, someone who is willing to rip apart their enemies limb from forling limb as the blood of their enemies rains from the sky, and is willing to do what is right no matter how much it costs them. The duality of the hero who is burdened by their duty as they butcher what they have to in order to survive and do what is right. I like that balance, the duality, the two sides of the coin aspect, and that ceaseless willingness to be the one on top. Frankly dear, you lack that kind of hunger and drive." Lord Utol explained. That sounded nothing like me, nor did I want that description to ever match me.

"Ah. You have personality and life requirements." I quipped awkwardly, trying to change the subject.

"Of course I do. You are an amusing little demon that became a soul while not dying. Worth saying hello to, not honoring with anything more." Lord Utol told me bluntly.

"You could phrase it less harshly." I deflected, trying not to let her words sting too much.

"Could, but I am not going to as you asked a highly inappropriate question. None of us ever pick those that seek to become our representative. Now, onto a less annoying topic, I have decided what game to play!" Lord Utol declared with a fist pump.

"Yay!" I cheered again, trying to be enthusiastic enough as to not offend her.

"We are going to be rolling dice." Lord Utol informed me. What? Just roll some dice?

"Exactly." Lord Utol confirmed for me.

"Isn't that just, random chance? How is that fun for you? How is that even a game?" I probed, not grasping what Lord Utol wanted.

"Oh, there's a bit more to it than just rolling dice." Lord Utol taunted. I could tell she was smirking despite there being no expression on her face.

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"How is it a game if I don't know what we're playing?" I checked as I was struggling to understand what she was after.

"You assume it's not for my enjoyment and watching you squirm is fun." Lord Utol laughed. I enjoyed so much existing for the amusement of whatever Lord's path I stumbled upon.

"So much fun." I replied in a deadpan tone.

"Mortals, always wanting more. Have you tried enjoying what you possess? What is within your grasp?" Lord Utol lectured in a condescending tone.

"I do enjoy what I have. I wanted to practice this <Technique> yet I somehow ended up in a game with the Lord of Death. I'm just coming to the realization that while having some talent and ability, I fall woefully short of the unparalleled monstrosity needed to remotely interest a Lord. Just get to be something good enough to amuse you all." I sighed, trying not to feel too bitter.

"Even I can't give you more talent; your feat here while intriguing does not merit much more than a congratulations. What do you want me to do?" Lord Utol inquired with a shrug.

"Is there anything I can do to try and bridge the gap between me and someone like the Void King? Honestly speaking, is it possible?" I asked. Lord Utol paused for a moment.

"No, I could give you countless lifetimes and I do not think you could remotely bridge that gap. You simply lack the innate talent needed." Lord Utol answered. I fought the urge to let out a frustrated sigh as that was similar to what Krahinn had said, and I highly doubted a Lord would lie about it.

"What can I do then?" I probed, hoping there was something.

"Play some dice with me." Lord Utol answered. Fine. I guess it was something I could do.

"You're on." I declared, trying not to let what she just said get to me.

Lord Utol summoned each of us plain, black dice. I weakly reached out to the dice with <Mana>, struggling to lift them in this form. Whoa. Countless things flashed through my mind while I was in contact with the dice as I realized it was the fleeting moments of countless beings right before they died. What a fitting game for the Lord of Death. I rolled them quickly, realizing just how heavy the dice were as they barely rolled from my <Mana>. What were these? I couldn't even attempt to fathom what the result was. Utol chuckled before casually rolling the dice, which caused several symbols to light up on the dice. What did that mean? Wait, there was no random chance in her roll, she undeniably controlled the dice to a specific result that she wanted. This was no game of luck, so what was the game? Utol chuckled scooping her dice back up, casually fidgeting them through her fingers. I tried picking them up again, feeling the incredible weight of these dice. I struggled to shake around the dice, attempting to mimic what Utol had done to roll a specific outcome, but it was fruitless as the dice more slammed into the ground than roll. Utol casually shook the dice before rolling the exact same result as before.

"How are you doing that?" I asked. Lord Utol laughed at me.

"You misunderstand what it's like to control a soul. I'd recommend figuring it out before I'm up five, or else." Lord Utol threatened me. What?

"These are souls? Like, the actual souls of other beings?!" I checked while hoping I misunderstood Lord Utol.

"Exactly. Not just one or two, but rather a number you'd much rather not know just yet." Lord Utol confirmed for me. A chilling thought occurred to me.

"What happens when you get up five?" I inquired. Lord Utol projected a smile into my being. There was nothing but swirling color and blurred forms, but her smile was unmistakable.

"Someone wanted to play with stakes that mattered as they wanted to do more than be fun for a Lord, as they were so mopey about facing their lack of ability. Remember child, my games are always with the stakes my opponent desires. Since someone was so insistent on getting my insight and doing something with merit, I realized the perfect game to play. I just wanted to play a casual, fun little game with a mortal who managed to do something kind of impressive, but alas, here we are." Lord Utol taunted. In what world was she nice? Nil talked well about her, saying she was a pleasant Lord to talk to.

"Because he wanted something low stakes for a treasure as I removed the worry if he was going to die. You're getting your wish, as I am a generous Lord." Lord Utol explained to me. Absolutely fantastic; this was great.

"So, what are the stakes you decided?" I inquired. Please do not be bad. Please do not be too bad. Utol began laughing maniacally.

"Oh, my little child of Death, we are playing for the fates of all these souls! Now I would personally recommend being careful here, as you wasted two rolls already." Lord Utol exclaimed cheerfully.

Was she serious? Could I live with the result if she was, and I lost? Why did I open my mouth? Now was not the time to complain about that, it was to figure out how these dice worked and how she was rolling them. What were the glowing symbols? Each symbol was different, so she was rolling a straight? Kind of morbid calling it a straight. I did not have time to come up with a better term so that would have to do for now. Wait, was I on a time crunch? Utol wasn't rushing me to roll the dice. I took a composing moment, thinking carefully over what she had said in regard to the game. Utol never gave me a time limit, nor did she say I had to roll all the dice at once. To be fair, she never clarified what defined a win or a loss either; that was something I was going to have to figure out on my own. On the bright side, I could use her vagueness to my advantage and try to argue she never made the rules clear. This also hinged on the fact she meant she turned off her ability to read my mind as we played this game. Did Utol lie to me about the stakes of this? She didn't feel like Dha, who was deceitful and malicious, rather someone who was going to give me what I was after in a way I was not going to enjoy since I pushed it.

That was a baseline assessment of what got me here at least. Now the question became how to roll these dice of hers. She also called me little child of Death, but I am not entirely sure what that means or if it is currently relevant. Put that aside for now, as I needed some method of figuring out how the sides were distinguished. I grabbed only one dice, sliding it along the ground as I was feeling the different sensations of people's final moments echoing through my mind. I touched two sides with my <Mana>, realizing only people who were stabbed or bludgeoned were playing through my mind. Was that it? Methods of death? Honestly, it was a soul dice made by Utol, that made sense. I felt each of the five sides I could currently touch with it on the ground, seeing the methods were bludgeoning, stabbing, immolation, suffocation, and disease. Okay, what was the last one? I tried rotating the dice, not lifting it so it didn't count as a roll, but it absolutely refused to budge. You misunderstand what it's like to control a soul. That was undeniably a hint for how to roll these. The problem was, I had absolutely no idea what the proper answer was. How did one control a soul, let alone a dice made of some unspecified number of them?