Chapter 38: Last Game Day

Kalika's leg was sliced off! 

She fell hard on the ground, triggering a trap that killed her instantly. Kalika revived quickly after to find that she was now being dragged by the arm by the demon, Valam.

"Tch! At least it isn't the gray-haired bitch. I hate it when she's the one on patrol. She's always dragging me by the hair."

Kalika attempted to get up, to walk alongside Valam only to find a disgusted glare from her. She quickly laid herself back on the ground to be dragged. 

"Right, I almost forgot. She prefers dragging me like gray hair…"

Kalika watched as one of the prisoners ran off somewhere. 

"Like always, the snitch runs to get the gorilla…" Kalika is dragged and thrown into the arena. 

"They throw me into the arena."

Kalika took a quick look around, seeing all the prisoners getting ready to pounce on her. 

"Still no Tilus, huh…?" She noted.

Valam smiled, Leaving Kalika to the prisoners and they all attempted to surround and to kill Kalika. "Like I haven't seen this before." 

As she laid on the ground, Kalika avoided the first strike aimed for her head. She quickly used this opportunity to grab and bite the man's hand.

"YOOOWWWW!!!!"

 She bit a chunk of it out his hand, spitting it into another's face. This brutal display shocked the first wave of inmates. Using this opportunity, she quickly got up, grabbed another inmate using him as a shield from another attack.

"I only have a couple of minutes until that brute comes here! I'll make it out this time for sure!"

Kalika quickly scanned around for any other attacks. From the corner of her eyes a man with a club charged in. She ducked and the attack whacked another man.

"Tch! Someone, just grab the bitch!"

Without hesitation another inmate grabbed Kalika from behind. "Gotcha this time girly!"

"Hah, You Idiot," She mocked.

The man's head instantly exploded, spreading the matter on the other prisoner and Kalika. "Great Now I'm dirty!" Kalika became irritated.

"Just kill her already!" another prisoner shouted.

Kalika rolled out the way of another attack! Grabbing the dead man's club, she used it to block another incoming attack from Maverick. Half the club had been cut through. 

"Th…That was close. He's here earlier than usual."

Maverick, with quick precision, pulled his blade from the club using it to cut into her torso. "C-crap!"

"That makes four hundred ninety-seven that are left to avenge." Maverick coldly stated.

Kalika gritted herself, more determined. "I'm surprised that the whole prison hasn't revolted against you."

Maverick kept his poker face. He pulled his blade and slashed Kalika's neck.

********

"Argh!!! It's always that man! He should be banned from being anywhere near me!!" Kalika paced herself back and forth in her cells. She then plopped herself onto her hay bed, exhausted from being angry.

She sighed. "At least tomorrows the last day I have to deal with this stupid game from Rakon." Kalika found herself leaning her back at the foot of the bed, hanging upside down, scanning for any movements. 

"I wonder if Rakon will come today. He definitely likes to be a tease, so it wouldn't be unlike him."

"Hmmmmmm..." Kalika began to become lost in thought. 

"I still haven't figured out who my opponent is for the deal he made with me. But he probably wouldn't abide by it with him being a demon and all… Still…. The son of the hero of Prophecy. He's gotta be a kid, right?" 

Kalka cringed. "Unless that big guy got frisky in his teens or something." 

Kalika slowly started to blush. In an instant she bawled herself up, covering her eyes in a panic.

"T-that's too embarrassing!! Way too Embarrassing!!" she squealed.

"What's embarrassing?"

Kalika looked back. "Ra- Rakon...!" She quickly composed herself, sitting herself back up. "S- so you were stopping by."

Rakon stood in the open prison door, He smiled, amused. "It's hard to have fun when you're expecting me, you know. But what's got you in a tizzy?"

She blushed a little harder, becoming defensive. "N-Nothing! J-just a passing thought. That's all."

"A thought? About what?"

Kalika looked away shyly. "W-well I was trying to figure out this second opponent… Seeing that tomorrows the last day…"

Kalika looked back up, hearing Rakon's laughter.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out already, at this point you should have narrowed it down already."

Kalika became indignant. "Y-you're not giving me a lot to work on. Y-you could at least give me a hint." Kalika now crossed her arm, pouting.

"Cute. alright. But only since you've shown me another side of yourself." He chuckled.

This remark confused Kalika and only watched on as Rakon approached her, kneeling down to match her eye level. 

"Heroes of prophecy have existed for over centuries and centuries beyond that, ever since a God named Cassell ascended the heavens. It is said they are reborn every fifty years to ensure peace is maintained." Rakon stopped.

"That should be more than enough for you to work with."

"Huh? That's all?" she questioned.

Rakon got back up. "That's all."

"I'm not sure how much of that will hel-…" Gears started to turn in Kalika's head, she started to ponder.

"I think we'll end the conversation here unfortunately, tomorrow will be your last day after all. And I'm sure you'll need all the rest you can get. But before I go, just be aware that the dungeon halls will be off limits this one time."

Kalika immediately came out of her stupor. "Wait. what do you mean by that?"

"This last day you will have to stay in this prison." Rakon flashed a smile. "I've seen your performance in the prison, and I have to say that I'm impressed. Hence, you won't need that handicap."

Rakon started to leave once more. "So don't even try to go into those halls anymore. Consider it a new rule."

Kalika listened as the echoes of the footsteps faded into obscurity. She became annoyed. "Great... What am I supposed to do now?"

"He wouldn't really blow up my head now. Would he…?" Kalika thought back to the day before Lillian left, when Rakon toyed with her while escorting her back to her solitary cell.

"Ehhh… I think I'll pass testing that theory."

"Ok. If I can't go into those halls, I'll need to formulate some plan if I'm going to survive tomorrow."

********

The morning has come, and Kalika is sleeping in. a horde of prisoners bolt out their cell, knowing the last day is upon them to dish out some semblance of vengeance on Kalika. They raced down the corridor to her prisoner cell. 

.....

Only to find it empty.

.....

"Huh!??? Where the hell is she!!!???" A prisoner exclaimed.

Elsewhere, Kalika tossed and turned on the bed still sleeping in. Unknown to her, Rakon is watching her from an eye clinging to the ceiling. of the dungeon hall

"Cheeky girl." Rakon watched, amused from his safe space.

After some time passed Kalika woke up rubbing her eye, she got up starting to stretch.

Rakon with great interest recounted the events that took place prior. "I noticed that she changed cells last night. And judging by the cell door, she broke into that cell." Rakon continued to study Kalika with great intrigue.

He chuckled. "Interesting. Whether she knows it or not, she already has it with her. Perhaps it's simply pure instinct alone she's recognizing what she can do now with it in her… regardless, what she just did, should've been otherwise impossible for a human…"

Daji approached Rakon from behind. "<Are you sure don't want us out now?>" She starts to rub his chest almost teasingly.

"<No. As long as things stay interesting, the plan will same.>" 

Kalika looked up, finding the strange eyeball watching from the ceiling, not long after it dissolved into a puddle of blood. 

"Uhhh…" Kalika became a little creeped out seeing this but pushed it to the back of her mind. she sighed. "It was probably that creep."

Kalika quickly looked around, changed into her new clothes, readying for the last day of his game. She started to creep through the halls in caution. Spotting some guards, she quickly hid, knowing they'd only assist the prisoners in finding her.

Soon after she quickly made her way to the mess hall. The entire room was completely empty aside from some of the food being cooked ahead of time. Kalika smiled contently seeing this.

Her smile turned to one of mischief, lace with sinister intentions. seeing a perfect opportunity, she hummed with glee.

********

Out in the hallway the prisoners scrambled around the prison corridors, searching for Kalika. Cell after cell they looked, but came up empty handed each time. "Argh! She's not here either!"

"C'mon! Where the hell is she!??? Oi! Did you see her in the hall??" a prisoner cried out.

"Nothin yet." another answered.

"Hey Matt. Maybe what the guards were sayin were a load of shit."

"Yeah." The prisoner scoffed, annoyed by the situation. "Let's just get somethin to eat."

"Are you sure you don't wanna keep looking?"

"What is there to look for!?" the prisoner snarled. "Besides, I'm fucking starving."

The prisoner keeping an eye out in the hall joined in. "Yeah, I'm starvin too, we've been lookin for her for a good chunk now. Besides I heard the old coot brought in a new recipe to add a little kick to things. Say he's adding some new veggies."

"As long as it isn't any of that green crap, he added the other day it left a bad taste in my mouth."

Groups of disappointed and frustrated prisoners gather in the mess hall by the dozens, grabbing their meals one by one. Many if not all are talking about their frustrations of being unable to locate the Immortal Maiden, Kalika.

A Prisoner cook poured a strange looking soup into the bowl.

"Hey, what are these white and brown bits here?"

"Like the heck I know, probably some of those new vegetables the old guy was talking about. Apparently, the old guy was fighting tooth and nail to get em," The cook said.

"If you say so." The prisoner took his bowl bringing his meal alongside many other prisoners eating their food. 

Some of the prisoners cringed upon taking the first few bits of the soup, all the while others bore with the strange taste and aroma of it. Complaints soon started to pile up about the taste of the soup.

some that were holding out with the bad taste, threw their spoons on the ground, annoyed by the bad meal. yelling at the cooks sparked outrage by the old chef that became indignant. Soon the whole mess hall was simply an eruption of pure noise.

Unknown to anyone in the mess hall, Kalika had hidden herself away behind some dusty old barrels in the open prison kitchen.

Kalika hummed silently to herself, content in hearing the chaos and indistinctive yelling behind her. "Looks like they're enjoying my little additions. It would've been nice if those cooks didn't come back though…" 

Unexpectedly, not long after, one of the cooks approached the dusty barrel, readying to open one with a tool in hand. 

"Oh well. I can probably just wait it out here-"

"Huh?" a cook noticed Kalika hiding away.

Kalika suddenly got the urge to look up hearing the man's voice. Both the cook and Kalika found themselves staring at each other.

"Crap."

"SHE OVER HERE!!" He yelled.

Suddenly the man found his face being stepped on, with Kalika leaping off just as quickly.

The horde of prisoners, now alert, blocked her off, as each and every one of them became aware of her presence. They all began their pursuit, attacking Kalika indiscriminately with anything they could get their hands on. 

"The Immortal Maiden! Get her!!"

Kalika witnessed as a few of the prisoners took off into the hall without hesitation. "Tch. The gorilla's men too!"

Kalika starts hopping from counter to counter, then from table to table, all the while avoiding knives and other objects being hurled at her. Plates and bowls flew through the air, some still scolding hot with broth hitting Kalika and other prisoners alike.

A sharp pain in the back.

"I hit her!" A prisoner yelled loudly.

"Don't stop now!"

Another strike. Then another. Despite the slashes at stabs, Kalika keeps hopping and running to the only exit.

"Stop her!"

Prisoners started to gather up, Blocking the entrance. Kalika was forced to stop, finding herself at the only exit surrounded by men with malicious intent. Instantly a sharp pain surged throughout her body from the knives in her. she stood firm however, unwavering.

A man suddenly collapses onto the ground writhing in pain. Soon his mouth foamed up. Another drops, then another to the confusion of some of the prisoners.

One after another, then groups of men started to fall. 

"What the hell's happen-" the man started to foam at the mouth, dropping to the ground with a thud.

Even the men blocking the exit weren't safe as they also dropped to the ground. Seeing this Kalika couldn't help but give a wicked smile content to witness the fruits of her labor.

The cooks further back simply watched on, stunned by the event folding before them. 

"T-they've been poisoned!" A cook yelled.

"By what???"

"Don't worry, they won't die… I think." Kalika turned back to the cooks. "Well thanks for the help. Bye." Kalika waved bye at the cooks before taking her leave.

"Quick, someone get the guards!" one of the cooks yelled.

********

"Maverick. We found her in the mess hall."

"Good." Maverick opened his eyes and got up from the bed he sat on. He grabbed his trusty long sword and marched himself from his cell. Not long after he wound up crossing paths with Donovan where he stopped. 

By the look of things, it looked as though he'd been waiting for Maverick. He glared at Maverick intensely

A close-by guard accompanying Donovan watched Maverick closely, preparing his spear for the worst.

"You're lucky I'm not a martyr you, bastard. How does it feel having these demons babysit you now? It must feel good," Maverick said.

"Tell me where Tilus is. You know where he is, don't you?" Donovan's gaze became more intense as he stared down at Maverick.

Maverick smiled, amused. "Heh…. And what if I do? It doesn't change the fact that he's a dead man walking…"

Maverick then pushed past Donovan in favor of pursuing Kalika. "Don't worry, if you're still around I'm sure you'll see him one last time."

Donovan is forced to watch on as Maverick presses on. his face filled with concern. His eyes flickered with a memory of a promise made. He turned to Maverick calling him out. He called him a coward and other vulgar word.

He ignored him.

Donovan continued to press on until the Demon guards stepped up to cease Donovan. The guard pressed him on the wall, reminding him not to get involved. Reluctantly Donovan is forced to stay put as he continues his attempt at provoking Maverick in vain.

Maverick continued to march forth, eyes blazing for vengeance.