Games were meant to be played for entertainment. This same reasoning was why people would watch others participate in them.
The crowd had been enjoying the match. So much so that they were gasping, cheering, and screaming at the perfect moments. Many had wanted Pantheon to win, but a few changed their minds when they saw the Squire from Phoenix Flight give an actual chance. The entire crowd, even the two guilds, were all on the edge of their seats.
This feeling only grew when the final game appeared, and Davi and Myth were to do battle. A good performance is proof that tension can be brought on even from an obvious conclusion. As soon as it said Davi and Myth had to fight, everyone knew without a doubt that Myth would win. He was a Captain after all. It was beyond obvious.
And then Davi stood back up after being hit with an attack that should have downed any Knight. And he was even stronger.
The game was getting good. That tension was only growing, and the thought of Myth losing wormed its way into the minds of the people! Davi flickered before him and swung his sword out, leaving a bruise upon the captain, and suddenly, in that moment, the obvious conclusion didn't seem so set in stone.
The hype had never been stronger.
The last thing anyone wanted was for the game to suddenly be called off, and Davi Hawker was announced as the loser.
"I lost?" Davi blinked, clearly in surprise, but pulled his blade back. "Dang. I didn't even get to see what this aura could do." The white lightning that crackled around him faded and vanished, as well as his armor, and he simply tucked Storymaker away.
"A pity." Myth's own overwhelming aura began to die down, getting pulled back into his flesh. "I guess we'll have to put a raincheck on this fight and do it again some other time."
"Sure thing, but are you sure that's a good idea?" Davi asked, casually.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, this might be the only time you beat me." Davi flashed a smile. "The me you fight next time might be far stronger than the me of today."
"Don't get too cocky." Myth also smiled. "Believe it or not, I still have room for growth as well. I welcome the challenge. Davi Hawker? I'll remember this name."
While they were having their friendly chat, the rest of the crowd was in a bit of an uproar. Shockingly, it was Laerton who yelled the loudest.
"LOST!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE LOST!?" She stood upon Olem's head and was pointing her sword at Ho, who suddenly looked very nervous at all the boos and jeers that were being thrown his way.
"She didn't seem to care about the outcome of any other match…" Miranda said, slightly annoyed by her captain's outburst.
"That's just because Davi is Mom's favorite." Falco sighed. "She doesn't even try to hide it…"
Ho raised his hands up and somehow managed to get the crowd to quiet down a bit, allowing him to speak. "Hehehe, so we got some excited fans? I can see that you're all a little annoyed that I cut the match short, but I'm afraid I had to! Davi Hawker lost!"
"How!?"
"You're lying!"
"I want that man to marry my daughter!"
"What did he do to lose!?"
Ho's look flashed to one of mild annoyance, and he placed his hands on his hips. His wings started to flutter faster and faster, causing the air to ripple around him. "Enough! The rules clearly stated that no matter the game, falling out of bounds of the arena is an instant disqualification! Davi Hawker was flung into the bleachers! The moment he fell out of bounds, he instantly forfeited the match, and it became a game win in Myth's favor!"
"Oh yeah?" Davi let out a sheepish chuckle. "I forgot about that. I guess I did lose."
"Damn." Myth frowned and rubbed his chin. "So, if I had my spirit hit you a little less hard, we could have had our match?"
"Next time, we'll just duel without an arena."
"Sure." The two fist-bumped.
Ho's explanation managed to get some of the crowd to calm down, but many were still salty or muttering things under their breath. "That's the third and final game for the day!" Ho chirped out. "But don't feel too bad! We still have seven more games ahead of us! Tomorrow we'll all be back here for another three rounds! Will Phoenix Flight be able to catch up to the lead Pantehon has? Find out next time on the Enforcer Games! Cue the outro song and roll the credits!"
"For people in a dungeon, they know a lot of random stuff…" Davi muttered. He gave Myth one last nod of his head and then walked toward the rest of his group. Most of his friends congratulated him or clapped him on the back. A few questioned what that white aura he had was. Laerton just frowned in his direction. "Sorry, I lost," Davi said sheepishly. "My bad."
Up past most of the crowd in a small little box, the queen of the Licht-Fulk let out a tired sigh and set her wine glass down. "Such a boring end."
"Shall I order the match to keep going?" Sunny offered and bowed.
"No." The queen shook her head. "The match has already been ruined. Let it come to the end and follow the rules." She reached up, and from the tip of her finger, light began to twist and bend, swirling around and darkening. It pulsed and jittered, and she grasped it, as if it were a solid, yet it dripped through her fingers like a liquid. "It's interesting that Himvel's machine has been acting up since that scarred boy got her. The sealed beast within hasn't gone silent."
"My queen, if it is anything dangerous, please allow me to know." Sunny bowed once more. "I shall execute him where he stands."
"No, don't be an idiot." The queen shook her head. "That won't work. Himvel's machine is old and outdated. The tech he used from beyond the stars doesn't have much time left. Stressing it out is a bad idea, especially since Himvel has seemingly vanished. Only he could fix it. The games are built a certain way, and they must be followed through. It's a small chance, but if that boy did die and one of the games called out his name, then he'd be unable to play. This could cause the machine to stall and might lead to it breaking. Letting the great beast within out would doom us all."
Sunny hesitantly nodded. "Of course. The boy will be left untouched. For now, at least."
"What did you think of the games, my dear?" The queen glanced toward her daughter, who shifted slightly beneath the white cloth that covered her.
Finally, a soft voice rang out. "I liked them. The first two at least. I wasn't a fan of the last one."
"Oh?" The princess didn't say anything else. She just turned and walked away. The queen sighed as her daughter left. "She should really get her emotions in check. After all, a calm mind is needed for the Rite of Marriage."
"And have you decided who will be your daughter's next vessel?" Sunny asked.
"Well, I do have one in mind." The queen's gaze flickered down and landed on a young woman with silver hair and blood-red eyes. "A blood mage? Hmm. Yes. That would do nicely. I'm sure if anybody could fight off the infection, it would be her."
"As you wish." Sunny nodded. "I will keep an eye on the one known as Olivia Lot." He held his hand out to his queen. "Now, may I walk you back to the palace, my highness?"
"You may." The queen took his hand and smiled. "Let us be off."
***
"Ow, ow, ow! Is this really necessary?" Davi asked, very, very, very annoyed.
"This is what you get for losing," Laerton announced.
"The others lost also! Why am I being punished?" Currently, Davi found himself back near the hotel they had been given to use as their base. He was forced to sit down with his knees out, in just his boxers, as Laerton stacked heavier and heavier blocks of stone on him. He was starting to think she was a weirdo who liked this kind of stuff.
"Because the others aren't you." Laerton stacked another brick on him. "I spent all month training you, getting your stats up to a good level, and what do you do? You go and battle Myth! And what was that thing you showed at the end? You little punk, you never pulled that move out when we were sparing? Were you hiding it from me? Planning to use it on me when you get a better grasp of it? Weren't you?"
"Maybe." Davi looked away. "It was just something I'm testing and toying around with. I got the idea recently. It still needs some work, but if it goes the way I think it will, I might be able to catch up and beat your ass-" Laerton dropped a brick on him. "Ow!"
The rest of the guild were all scattered through the common room, most chilling out, a few trying not to make it obvious they were peeking at the almost naked Davi.
"How do we come back from this crushing loss?" Falco asked.
"I don't think we can." Ghost giggled. "We kind of got destroyed."
"I feel a bit bad," Olivia admitted. "I was on two of the teams that lost."
"Yep, it's your fault," Davi called out. "You get punished also-" Laerton jammed another stone down onto his pile. "Ow…"
Ragna let out a laugh and placed his hands on his hips. "Guys, don't worry. We still have seven more games to make a comeback on, if winning is really what we all want to do. Let's use this as a learning experience! How about we all get an extra day of training in!"
"There isn't much a single day could do." Clause snorted. "Unless you have some magical chamber that lets you train for a full year in a single day."
"If such a thing did exist, our guild is the last one that would be allowed to use it." Miranda shook her head. "Let's just face it, we suck. How about we just throw ourselves out of bounds like Davi did in the next few matches?"
"You can if you want to." Mama Herta hummed. "That seems like a waste to me, though. Even if we lose, we can still have fun."
"I'm just here for the food," Gormay grunted.
"I wonder if I'll get a chance to go?" Sieg hummed and rubbed his mask. "I think I could win."
"I don't think I can," Ken smirked. "I know I will. Come tomorrow, if my name is called, I'm going to destroy whatever bastard I have to fight."
"What if it's a game where you have to lose?" Olivia asked.
"Then I'll lose in such an amazing way that I still win!"
"I wish we had half the confidence Ken does." Olem nodded.
"You guys are all so weird." Susie sighed. "I still wonder if it's too late to switch teams."
"You're stuck with us." Laerton glared toward her. "Don't forget I trained you also, like I did Davi. Screw up, and I'll have you in the same position as him."
"That's kinda hot, actually-"
"Don't make it weird." Laerton tossed a brick at Susie, and it turned out to be Greenie in disguise, because it switched back into a mass of tendrils and wrapped around the screaming girl, downing her.
"Why don't I whip us all up a good meal?" Mama Herta offered, the plump woman pointing a thumb back toward the kitchen. "Olivia, Ken, you two come help me."
"Okay?"
"Alright!" Falco cheered. "The food here might be good, but it doesn't beat one of Mama's meals!"
The rest of the guild mostly separated around the room, going into their own little corners. Davi remained where he was, not actually bothered by the weights of stone on him since he could hold a lot more.
"So," Laerton began casually. "Hear any more voices?"
"A bit more."
"And?"
Davi shrugged. "Mostly the same old. Going on about stuff I should probably know about but don't."
"I see. If anything changes, come get me."
"Yeah, yeah, will do."
"Uh, excuse me?" A voice awkwardly asked, and most of the guild turned, finding two people standing near the entrance to the common room. "Is this the right place?" One of them was Max, the weirdly old Squire, and the other was Sera, the not weirdly old Squire.
"What do you want?" Falco asked, his eyes narrowing. "Come to take a peep at our team before the next games?"
"Not exactly." Sera trailed off, taking in the sight of how odd they all appeared.
"We actually came to talk to him." Max gestured awkwardly to the kneeling Davi. "Could we go talk outside?"
"Sure." Davi flexed and snapped the rope around his arms and stood up, knocking all the stones off him. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Can you put some pants on?" Max sighed.
"I mean, I guess…"
And so, that was how Davi found himself, dressed in his white robes, hanging out in the back of an alleyway with Sera and Max. Susie was also with him for some reason, the raven-haired woman letting out a sigh as she sat on the lid of the dumpster.
"This place is so weirdly advanced," Davi noted, looking around. "I never saw any construction or other stuff, though? I wonder how this place was built or where it's getting all the food."
"Can we stay on topic?" Susie huffed out. "So, what did you two want with Davi?" She demanded.
"We kind of wanted to talk to Davi in private," Sera responded in an annoyed tone. "Why are you even here?"
"I had some questions that I wanted to ask the two of you." Susie shrugged. "I'll ask them after you ask Davi about whatever it is you brought him out here for."
"Just ignore her," Davi hummed. "She's very stubborn, but she means well."
Max and Sera shared a look before they both just shrugged. "We wanted to thank you." Max finally said.
"Thank me?"
"Yeah." Sera nodded. "I specifically wanted a chance to talk to you and tell you how grateful I am for you saving me. Without you, I might have died. I was stuck in Snow's armor, trapped in that block of ice, which rapidly heated up. I thought for sure my fate was to die a slow and agonizing death, yet you showed up and saved me. Because of you, I'm alive. I'm still here now and am able to live and think and feel. I know a lot of the other guilds and Knights don't exactly like you, and in the beginning, I also didn't because of what you said to Rowan and the things you did to him, but I apologize for those events. You're a good person."
Davi shook his head. "There's no need to thank me. I had a chance to help, so I did. Besides, I didn't heal you or check on you. Those are the real people who should be thanked. I wasn't even able to save Snow, and I didn't arrive fast enough to stop Ashley from being kidnapped."
"You still did well, though." Max pointed out. "Even our Captain likes you. You're a neat guy, Davi."
"Thanks, I guess?"
Max laughed and punched Davi lightly in the shoulder. "Seriously, chin up more, bro. You've been working hard, from what I saw. I'm looking forward to fighting you if we ever get a chance."
"Think you stand a chance?" Davi asked.
"Perhaps," Max smirked. "We'll have to find out."
"Don't fight," Sera sighed. "It makes the apologies look half-assed." She bowed her head in Davi's direction. "Thank you again. And I hope when the time comes, we can get Ashley back. Are you willing to help with that?"
"Yeah." Davi nodded. "Of course, how can I help?"
"Well, right now we can't do a lot, but those guys will eventually attack you, right?" Sera questioned. "I don't know fully what they want from you, but Myth told us that we should expect a visit from the guys that destroyed the city since you were here. I know your first instinct is to kill them, and I do want them dead as well, but first, we need to learn why they stole Ashley and where they placed her. If you're able to knock them out instead of killing, that would help a ton."
"Yeah." Davi agreed after thinking about it for a moment. "I think I can do that. Those guys will pay, I promise."
"Damn right they will." Susie snarled. "They deserve to die."
"Then we're in agreement." Max patted Davi's shoulder and let out a hearty laugh. "Seriously, you're a cool dude."
"Thanks?"
"Yeah! Take the compliment. And also, it's awesome you agreed to come out here and speak to us!"
Davi rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, to be honest, I thought Falco was right, and you two were going to jump me, and I was mostly using this as a chance to try out my new strength."
"A-Against both of us?" Sera frowned. "You think you've gotten that strong?"
"Oh yeah." Davi allowed himself a slight grin. "This won't go like the Knight exam. I still remember how you beat me in the first test. Truth be told, I got a bit of a grudge."
Sera shuddered slightly. "C-Can I say sorry about that also?"
"No."
"Damn."
Davi was about to say something else, but his scar ached. He flinched and grabbed it as hot pain shot through his head. At the same moment, there was a white glow, and a field of energy suddenly formed at the entrance of the alleyway, turning into a dome that dropped over the four of them. Max, Sera, and Susie both jumped back, getting alarmed, as Davi spun around and narrowed his eyes.
"It's okay." A soft voice announced, standing in front of the barrier. "This isn't trapping you. You're able to pass through it. I just put it up to block anyone from sensing us or hearing what we're about to discuss."
Susie's eyes widened. "W-Wait? You're the princess, aren't you?"
Standing before the barrier was the queen's daughter. The white cloak was still draped over her form, but a hand poked out, gloved and covered up, clutching a piece of chalk. She barely reacted to Susie's question and instead pointed the chalk at Davi. "Davi Hawker, I have a request that I absolutely must ask of you."
"Okay? Sure. Why not? My life's weird enough; this might as well be happening."
"Are you like a main character or something?" Max asked in disbelief. "Why are you always at the center of everything?"
"Believe me, I wish I wasn't. Now what's your question?" Davi demanded of the princess.
"Do you hear the voices?" The princess asked. "The one that calls us mother."
Davi flinched. "You hear it also?"
"I do." The woman's voice sounded relieved. "Finally, I'm not the only one. So Himvel's request was true. It must be you."
"Can you elaborate?"
The princess grabbed the cloak that was wrapped around her. "Davi Hawker, I have a very, very important mission for you." She pulled, and there was a tearing sound as the cloth ripped and broke, finally revealing her form.
All four of them gasped when they saw her because she was not a Licht-Fulk. At least not fully. The Licht-Fulk all had purple-bluish skin and had pointed ears like the elves.
The princess had long, flowing black hair. A pair of twisting branch-like horns poked out of the side of her head. One of her eyes was an inky black, while the other one was normal, with a green iris. A forked tail poked behind her, and her left leg was bent and twisted at the joints, covered in black fur. It almost looked like a goat's leg, but her other one was perfectly fine and looked normal. Finally, most of her skin was purple, but there were sections all along it that were a scarlet red. Patches that were growing.
The princess of the Licht-Fulk was suffering the same effect that a magical mutant did. Her body was changing and transforming, becoming something else. And the form she was turning into?
A demon.
The princess was becoming a member of a race that had been banished to hell long, long ago.
The princess held her hand toward Davi as if expecting him to grasp it, and she smiled, revealing a mouth that was half normal teeth, half jagged blades.
"We absolutely must destroy the sun."