At their words, everyone tensed, even the natives, who had no clue what was going on and helplessly watched on the sidelines. Depending on what they said, it would determine how the party would treat them. For several moments, no one dared say a word as Luke and the creator stared at each other. Neither of them was willing to break eye contact until the other gave in.
Then the creator took another sip of their soda, breaking the tension. "If the soda and popcorn aren't enough proof, then I'm unsure how else to prove that I can travel to your world."
"She has a point," Chris muttered, which caused Tracy to elbow him.
As he hissed in pain, Luke conceded that was true. Popcorn and soda weren't foods that this world had based on experience. Perhaps they existed in other countries or some remote place, but he himself had never seen them. Also, they didn't ha
"If that's all, I'll take my leave. I'll return when you have them all gathered," the creator said before vanishing in a flash of light.This time everyone was prepared and closed their eyes while covering them with their hands to prevent being blinded. With the light show over, they removed their hands and opened their eyes. Luke wanted time to make his preparations for the Creator's game, but the rest of the party wasn't willing to give him the chance as they stormed towards him with a mixture of expressions."What were you thinking?" 'Kayla' demanded. "What possessed you to go along with the creator's game?""They purposely made it so that we wouldn't be able to win," Tracy added as she shoved shoulders with 'Kayla'.Violet, on the other hand, calmly asked, "Do you have a plan?"
Luke had considered what his options were since fighting was out of the picture. He couldn't pick any activity that relied on chance, as he didn't want to risk screwing himself over. It would be embarrassing that he would lose to his first challenger or to something like a goblin because his luck was bad before the real targets made an appearance.On the other hand, he didn't want to do an activity that would tire him out if he had several challengers to deal with. It would be even better if he could deal with multiple challengers at once to eliminate them. Also, it had to be something simple to explain or something they already knew. Taking time just to explain the rules repeatedly would be a pain.[I still find it unbelieveable that of all the activities you could choose from, you chose trivia.]Admittedly, it hadn't been his first or second i
"For the first question, how many demon kings are there?" the creator asked.For a brief moment, no one said anything as they were filled with confusion over the question before Luke said, "Thirteen.""That's correct," the creator said as they pointed at him. "Now it's time for the next question. How many angel lords are there?""Seven," Luke said immediately, without giving the incubus time to open his mouth."Correct. Now we'll move on to the next question," the creator started."Hold it," the incubus interrupted. "What's with these questions?""What's wrong with them? Do you not know the answers?" the creator asked as they stared at him."No," the incubus said softly as he wilted beneath the creator's stare.<
Luke was practically fuming at the stunts they were pulling, but there was nothing he could do. At least there was nothing he could do to the creator. After all, they never said a contestant couldn't sabotage the other party. He just had to time it just right so he could get the next point. Of course, the creator might change the rules afterwards, but it would be worth it.Seemingly unaware of what he had planned, the creator said, "For our next question, what did the demons do after it was discovered that the previous demon king had vanished?"He immediately put a stop to his plan. Even if Luke did enact his plan, it wouldn't do him any good if he didn't know the answer to the question. While he assumed it was that the demons had run wild, he couldn't be completely sure. There was no way he was going to waste his chance if he wasn't one hundred percent certain he would get the point.
Everyone stared at the creator, as they all thought the same thing. What just happened? Luke couldn't wrap his mind around how the competition had just ended. He had been so sure that the creator would find some way to screw him over, like announcing that they would have to do a different question or that he would receive a penalty for not answering the question.Luke narrowed his eyes at the creator as the incubus said, "You can't end things here.""Why not?" the creator asked as they placed their hands on their hips."Since no one answered the question, you should ask another question. It shouldn't count," the incubus insisted as he threw a glare in Luke's direction."Well, if it had been the tiebreaker, then I would understand, but Luke was winning by one point. Since no one answered the last question, it's obvious
Luke narrowed his eyes as he demanded, "What do you mean?""It's exactly as I said," the creator said. "You'll just end up like the previous demon king if you end up staying."Immediately, Luke demanded of the demon king, "What are they talking about?"The demon king was still silent, refusing to acknowledge Luke at all. Luke scowled. Of all times to remain quiet, the demon king chose now to not speak a word to him. What was he hiding? As he fumed over the lack of response, the creator smirked as they folded their hands in front of themselves and leaned forward so they were not in danger of falling out the window."See," the creator said. "That's why you better do a better job at winning and accept my offer. Your performance during the latter half of the competition, especially the last two questions, left much to be d
"Look who's here," 'Kayla' muttered to herself as she watched the trio of women descend.That wasn't quite right, as they had shown up separately, but they might as well have shown up together. None of them had stepped forward to challenge Luke when they arrived. They were probably trying to scope out the area and figure out his weaknesses. Admittedly, they had done a good job hiding themselves. None of the demons had reacted to their presence.Even she had trouble recognizing them for who they were. Of course, being stuck in her human form did hamper her abilities, but she had always been able to know who the demons were. They had somehow hidden their demonic features. Well, Laurel didn't have any to begin with, but she had changed her hair color to avoid detection. Her long red hair now looked dirty brown.'Kayla' wasn't sure how she pulled it off. It
"We can't," Luke said as he crossed his arms."What do you mean we can't?" she demanded, looking ready to throttle him.Luke raised an eyebrow and said, "We need the judge here."It took her a moment to process what he was saying before her angry expression turned into a sheepish one. "Oh. Bring them out then."Turning to 'Kayla', he said, "Can you check on the rest of the party and possibly track down the creator? I'm sure they know about her arrival, but it's possible that they would take their time getting here."'Kayla' grimaced at the thought as she nodded. She quickly rushed off to find the others, leaving Luke and the harpy with a crowd slowly forming. He really hoped that the creator wouldn't pull a stunt, but he wasn't crossing his fingers. If they didn't show up, they might