Trap

The demon was leisurely walking towards Cleo that was still on her knees, behind him was a walking woman, wearing a green dress and a thick layer of makeup like a clown that ran away from the circus.

Cleo observed the woman carefully but apart from the wide smile on her face that looked bizarre for someone that was caught by a demon, there was nothing special, she didn´t know her name or the name of the family she came from.

Cleo never truly bothered to learn the names of noble families and their heirs...even if she did it wouldn't help her, because of her father there was no way she could gain support from someone, believing that becoming strong is the only way to gain respect and everything she deserves. All her effort was directed to training.

That will after today change...her whole life will change.

"This is Irma....she will be the one that will pick your opponent." the demon announced as he sat down at the nearest pile of corpses as if it was a throne.

"Dolion come here!" the demon´s mighty shout scared everyone apart from one particular maid that was carefully observing the situation unfolding in front of her.

Responding to his call, Dolion immediately fell to his knees in front of the demon with his followers behind his back. All of them were looking at the demon with respect and admiration in their eyes as if there was a god in front of them. Witnessing him killing half of the people here with only a simple gesture made them firmly believe that the entity in front of them will be able to fulfill their dreams.

"Did you call us Lord Algor?"Dolion spoke as a representative of the group.

He looked like a fangirl that is meeting her favorite idol, which was really disgusting, considering his age and appearance,

"I decided to give human here a chance to save herself and others...we will witness a really amusing show!!"The demon said as he pointed at Cleo and Irma that were standing still waiting for the orders

"You are truly generous my lord"

"We need an audience if we want to do it properly. Order your people to collect everyone that is alive, also move all the corpses to the other side of the hall, the odor really irritates me."

"Your wish is our order...is there anything else my lord?"

"Prepare an anti-magic barrier...Oh! I almost forgot don´t touch the maid with golden eyes if you value your own life"Demon´s gaze turned cold when he mentioned the maid.

Dolion and other demon worshipers didn´t understand why they shouldn't touch simple maid but they knew from his gaze which was colder than any winter night, that he was 100% serious. , and they would really die if he said so.

After the demon turned his attention elsewhere, demon worshipers moved and split into groups. One group was in charge of cleaning dead bodies in piles and removing all blood with basic daily life magic,

The second group moved to relocate nobles. They struggled a bit but after mages explained what is occurring, the remaining nobles gladly moved without further resistance.

Even though demon, used them like some sort of slaves...none of them really complained and everyone fulfilled their task with a smile on their faces which didn´t suit the image of classic demon worshipers one could imagine.

Demon worshipers finished their task perfectly in only eight minutes.

Every corpse was moved to the side and blood and the rest of the human waste were cleaned, and nobles were standing around the anti-magic barrier that demon worshipers built.

"Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the first ever Demonic Games ever!!!!.... I must admit we had some small conflicts and misunderstandings, your people attacked me..and I reduced your numbers to half." The demon said as he was standing in the center of the anti-magic barrier that was only a simple circle written on the ground.

The faces of the nobles were distorted, each one of them was trembling and praying for this nightmare to finally end.

"However!!! I am a kind soul and decided to forgive you! Aren´t I generous??!"

Nobles were silent...whether it was because they couldn't properly move out of fear in the presence of the being they just until a few hours ago thought was just a fairy tale to scare children...or because they were afraid that if they gave unsatisfactory reaction demon would kill them on the spot.

The best choice was to remain silent...if they wanted to keep their lives.

"It looks like that appealing to our audience is harder than I thought..." the demon said solemnly pretending to be hurt by the insufficient reaction of the nobles that were his "audience".

His eyes however said "Cheer or die"

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Quick-witted ones immediately started cheering and clapping as if their life depended on it.

"Now that is the reaction I wanted!!!"

"From the right corner...our challenger...the woman that decided to risk her life to save all of your Cleo!!!!"

Nobles immediately fixed their gaze on the right side of the anti-magic barrier where stood a young woman who was accompanied by two demon worshippers that acted as her escort.

The eyes of the nobles were immediately filled with hope and all of them started honestly screaming and cheering at the woman that was their only way out of this banquet of madness.

As Cleo´s family was rather famous for their abilities and many nobles used their services, most of them know who she was.

Untalented child of the Hemlock family.

The one that chose the path of violence rather than the path of saving others.

Failure..that was Cleo in their eyes and her nickname in noble society.

Now those who were gossiping about her, cursing her, and wouldn't even look in her direction..were looking at her like a god.

Cleo who noticed their gazes couldn't help but smile.

'Yes, this is how it should be..'

"To make things fair, I decided to let humans' fate be in the hands of humans. Because of that, her opponent will be chosen by one of you!"

"Irma..come here, darling.."

From the left side of the barrier walked a young woman in a green dress....if she looked like a clown before, she now looked like an absolute beggar, her clothes were torn, and she was covered in blood and dirt as if she came right from the slums

Instead of being ashamed or trembling from fear, Irma carried herself like a princess and came to the demon´s side like his loyal pet.

"Irma here will have the privilege to choose Cleo´s opponent..you could even say that your fate is right now in her hands."

Nobles fell silent as they realized the gravity of the situation.

Among survivors, there were kids or young women inexperienced in fights. There were also a lot of injured males that would undoubtedly lose against Cleo that was in a perfect state.

This was something that was good because it meant that it was entirely possible to escape from this place if will's demon really fulfilled his promise.

However, almost everyone that fell into the category of potential people that could be chosen felt immense fear.

There were men that were with their wives or mothers with their children, but not even a single one of them had thought of sacrificing their lives if they were that many candidates that could take their place.

This made everyone realize what kind of power now Cleo and Irma possessed. And made them instantly recall how they treated two of them in the past.

And almost everyone come to the realization that the situation was....bad.

Demon chose exactly the 2 most hated women at this banquet.

Because of such a simple logic and instinct that existed in each of them as long as the race called Humans existed...everyone came to the same conclusion.

Forget your pride, and shame, bow your head, and...beg

Everyone wanted to survive no matter what, it was in human nature to cling to strong and lower their heads in front of absolute power.

—P-please do you remember a-at that time I helped y-you!!!

—I will make your family rich do you know about the diamond mine we have??! It will be all yours!!

— I-I can make you m-meet a p-prince!! You l-love him, don´t you??? I w-will make y-you next queen!!!!

Irma was ignoring the shouts of people...even if they promised her whole country...it didn´t matter, because she chose long ago...the boy that is responsible for her suffering. The one that made her attend this ball and humiliated her in front of everyone.

"I am choosing Orion von Astrape!!"

Irma´s shout made the whole place silent. Only demon was covering his mouth trying his hardest to hold a laugh.

"Dolion...bring that boy here".

"As you wish my lord"

Demon ordered and moved together with Irma that was closely following behind him to the seat that was prepped for him.

Completely ignoring nobles.

It was time to enjoy a show.

*******************

While other nobles were cheering and crying with joy, Cleo started doubting her own ears.

When former hero, Dolion brought a young boy who was trembling with fear into the barrier...Cleo accepted that what she heard was real and it was not just a hallucination caused by the immense stress she felt.

The boy that should be her prince, the ideal man she could form to stand by her side in the future was chosen by that woman to be her opponent...and she had to kill him to live.

Her gaze instinctively moved to the demon, the source of this nightmare.

He was leisurely sitting on a chair and eating a brown substance from the bowl that was laid on his lap...by his side was a golden-haired maid that was coldly looking at the fight that was to happen.

There was no fear for the life of her master in her eyes.

In the end, did you traded his life for yours?

Cleo wanted to ask maid mockingly. But in front of her was now a bigger problem,

'Did he know why I chose the second option? He probably did that so I would beg for my and Orion´s life

Cleo realized what Demon did, he told her she had two options and acted generously but in reality, it was only an illusion.

If she chose the first option he would change her to the demon.

If she chose the second option...he would make her beg him to change her into a demon by putting her dear one against her.

In both options, the end would be the same...

"Orion..don´t be afraid everything will be fine...will you believe me?"Cleo called the boy that was standing opposite her. His knees and whole body was shaking as he was barely standing.

Cleo was sure that it was terrifying for Orion, he was woken up by unknown people and was forced to enter an unknown magic barrier while all nobles and demon worshipers were chanting

—Kill HIM!!

—Kill HIM!!

—Kill HIM!!

Even though he was scared and shaking like a little lamb that was going to be slaughtered...he was too cute. Cleo thought to herself

Orion slowly moved and started running into Cleo´s embrace.

"Big is..these people are scary...that uncle hit me in the head and said I was going to die...is that true?" Small tears slowly flowed down his cheeks like tiny pearls

Even though he was crying like a little baby he was cute...Cleo thought to herself.

"You are safe...didn´t I say I will protect you?" Cleo moved Orion closer to her as he buried his head in her chest.

"It's a shame...but if that is a fate I need to accept it..." Cleo murmured

"Big sis?" Orion who raised his head looked into Cleo´s eyes.

There he was her eyes that contained deep madness inside.

He instinctively tried to back off...only for his small head to be caught by Cleo´s hands.

"It's really a shame."

Crackle!

Even without any mana Cleo´s strength far surpassed surprised normal humans. Snapping the neck of the little boy was something far beyond easy.

With the sound of neck-snapping...lifeless body of the boy fell to the ground, and on his face remained an expression of horror.

Even though he is now only a corpse...he is too cute...Cleo thought to herself

At the last moment, Out of her greed, Cleo decided to create a third option... an option where she can stay human

Sacrificing her prince...

"Demon must be disappointed...huh?"

As Cleo wanted to see how would demon´s expression look like after he was outsmarted by humans,

The world suddenly turned blurry, and her body turned numb. she felt as if it was completely enveloped by unfamiliar grey fog that blocked her movements.

Because she was inside an anti-magic barrier she couldn't use even mana to protect her body from an unknown attacker.

Through the corner of her eye, she managed to see a demon that was to her surprise smiling and whispering something while looking at her.

"I knew you won´t disappoint me"

[I am back!!!! For those who don´t know, I was in Italy for a month due to personal reasons....but now I am back! Even stronger than before! ( And with newfound hatred for fish meals)And I will continue to release updates of your favorite novel again!!! Prepare snacks!! Because it's going to be fun]