27 Up!

Boom!

A scarlet flash. A shriek.

And a loud laugh.

Kai stepped towards Sonia, seeing, hearing those things in the distance. Desmond's head, or that pulpy thing, had stopped just under Sonia's eyes. There was a twitch in her body, but she couldn't move. Her eyes were red, and tears were rolling out, falling over the head which once had a body.

"How…" A mere whisper came out of her mouth.

Kai stared at her sorry figure. Behind her was the carriage. Kai found a terror-struck face backing up at his sight. It was Shae's. No more was she blushing at him. Kai only saw fear, raw and absolute fear, on that beautiful face.

Behind her, he could see Simon consoling Mr. Beedle. Unlike Kai, he had the job of making sure nobody came close to the wizard. Arlen had already won him over before their departure.

"Poison." Kai told her what he had told Arlen. "It was impossible for you two to not take advantage of this chance. Arlen certainly couldn't fight with more than 2 Contestants of your level. So I helped him. Desmond didn't know, but I had taken a potion out of the shop's shelf.

"I didn't know about its dangers, the curses and all. But I think I got lucky. It isn't something great, its effects are delayed and weak. Just enough for you two to lose your bearings and give me and Arlen a chance.."

"How…" Same question, different meaning. A last unsung whisper.

"How did you never get to feel the danger" Kai sang it for her. "I asked myself what causes dizziness, confusion, and weakness, but nobody minds it one bit. Wine. A lot of wine. You never questioned yourself why Arlen sent Simon for surveillance when it is clear I who has the greater Charisma?"

The question must have struck her hard. Kai had a greater chance to get information out of characters than Simon. Yet, none thought about it, because everyone knew Arlen hated Kai.

After their return from the basement, everything was a ruse. The jests, the mockery, and the obvious expressions. Kai and Arlen didn't even need to plan for it. They both were natural, as Kai had found out.

Kai caressed Sonia's hair. They were smooth, roughened from the wind, but smooth.

So, he had to grip them tightly.

Kai banged her head right on top of Desmond's legacy. The precious memento.

"Do you know why this is happening?" Kai asked.

Another bang.

"You can still think, right?" Kai whispered.

A crunch.

"You should know, shouldn't you? For Desmond's sake." Kai suggested.

Something broke and fell off Sonia's face.

"OK, OK." Kai gave up.

It was her teeth.

"Pawn..." Kai sighed.

The bangs had turned into muzzled squishes.

"You shouldn't have…" Kai had to catch his breath.

She was already dead.

"You shouldn't have used me as a pawn."

[You have killed 1 Chaos' Contestant]

[

Side Mission: Assist Thunder Faction's Captain of Guard in killing the traitors

Side Mission Status: Success

Side Mission Rewards: 50 Mission Credits

]

And only then Kai gave some attention to the notification about the Title.

[

Congratulations…

You have unlocked 1 Title

Title: Traitor

Specification: Kill 10 Chaos' Contestants collectively. The Contestant must be from the same or higher floor than yours.

Status: (2/10)

Effect: Intelligence +2, Worth -5

Note: Only 1 Title can be equipped at a time

]

Kai saw the notification and knew it was something only Contestants like him could afford.

He slowly looked back. Shae's face was so low that only the top of her head was visible. Behind her was Simon, who smiled when Kai looked at him. And then Kai realized, he was smiling too.

"Don't even think about it?" Arlen's voice came from Kai's back.

"I am not a fool, captain," Kai said, standing up.

Arlen was dragging a person. He frowned, seeing the mess Kai had caused. The frown only deepened as the captain's eyes found a blurry headless figure in the distance.

The man, who had a long nose and broken lips, also shuddered, seeing this. One of his legs was twisted, and his hands were bleeding. "No," the man said. "Kill me, you kill me first."

That didn't make Arlen's frown go away, not the least. He threw the man towards Kai and walked towards the second carriage.

"Be quick about it," Arlen said, walking away. "The officials will come soon. We should have already gone by now."

So, Kai did as he was told. He took out the longsword and buried it in the man's heart. A jerk and twist of the hilt did the rest.

[You have killed 1 Order's Contestant]

[

Your Title Status is updated…

Title: Murderer

Specification: Kill 10 Contestants in a single random world. The Contestants must be from the same or higher floor than yours.

Status: (6/10)

Effect: Perception +2, Worth +1

]

A treasure chest hologram appeared over the body and the same notification appeared again.

[

You can either opt to get a random Item from Contestant's Inventory

Or…

You can opt to get a collective value of Mission Credits, calculated based on the dead Contestant's Worth, her Floor, and her Stats.

The choice is yours.

]

Kai had already played it safe last time. He wanted himself to be familiar with the process. So, he went with the first option.

The key appeared out of nowhere. It was also a hologram. With a click, it opened the treasure chest, and then both the treasure chest and the key vanished. Kai waited for a few seconds, and then his face became ugly.

'Nothing?! Motherf…' Kai had almost cursed, if not for the voice behind him.

"It's already in your Inventory," Simon said, touching and observing Sonia's face. "The Systems are fair like that. Your loot, your choice. No one can know what you obtained that way."

Simon was right. When Kai checked his Inventory there was a single dagger hovering there. It was the same Sonia had. But Kai didn't tell Simon.

"You must have got those Explosive Kunais," Simon said, his single eye peering into Kai. "That man had many. So you must have got like 5-10 of them, right?"

Kai only smiled in return. The number of curses he had said in mind was a different matter.

"What are you two doing?" Arlen asked, holding the three brooms. "Simon, go bring Mr. Beedle."

"Captain," Kai said. "Leave one broom here. When officials would come, they would think these three had been fighting over the broom. Also, unlike this Order's Contestant, Desmond and Sonia's bodies match the bodies from the shop. They would have to relate the two events. It should give us some headway."

"Are you giving me orders now, boy?" Arlen asked, his eyes squinting.

But then both smiled together.

When Simon brought Mr. Beedle, who looked like nothing had even happened here, Arlen beckoned Kai over to him.

"Mr. Beedle will sit between us on a single broom," Arlen said. "Simon and Shae will ride on the other."

Shae was standing as far from Kai as it was possible. Arlen didn't even hide how much this had pleased him. The smile on his face never vanished, even after standing over the broom.

"Are you ready?" Arlen asked, but it wasn't much of a question.

A sudden gust hit Kai's face, and they were already flying.