I jumped to flip backward. In the air, I shielded my leg, then kicked at the spiked ball to alter its route.
Into her face.
Her smirk morphed to shock, and then… well, it was hard to tell her expression afterthat.I landed on my feet, and the roaring of the crowd reminded me of their presence.
The rest of the ambush party had opted against returning, for some reason. They’d eventually build up the courage to return for a group attack, though, and I had just expended some serious power.
If they were smart, then this would have been theexacttime to attack me again.
I walked to the red despite my fatigued power. I couldn’t let her live. Her face was lost amid the spiked ball, but incredibly, shecouldsurvive this. Demons were like cockroaches, but sexier and more lethal.
Perhaps a cockroach was a bad analogy.
A shuffle alerted me to the presence of another.Ah!My favorite yellow.
He held up his hands and inched back.
The demon hadn’t killed anyone yet, presumedly, and all the other oranges and yellows were gone or dead by now.
I just quite fucking enjoyed this yellow.
I nudged the red’s body. “If you can take off her head, she’s yours.”
The yellow’s eyes widened and then lowered to the red. His throat worked. “Can I use your sword?”
My father’s sword? The sword that had belonged to the previous ruler of the demon realm? That old, cheap thing? Laughter burst from my lips. “Yeah, why not. Go ahead.”
I held out the weapon, and the yellow didn’t waste time taking it. I’d expected him to shuffle cautiously forward and waste my time.
I was liking this guy more and more.
The yellow sawed at what remained of the red’s neck and head. She had a few scales up her neck, unlike the others, and his power would be very little help in the task.
I grinned.
He grunted, sawing back and forth, and when the red’s head and the spiked ball rolled aside, he broke into a wide grin too. “I did it.”
Passing back the ancient and royal blade he’dborrowed,the yellow beamed at me.
Oh man, Ireallyliked him. “Great job, champ.”
I took off for the checkpoint. This game had lasted far too long for comfort. Though, by the shaking of the arena and the chanting of my name, I’d won more than one victory in Tiers today.
Three purples had planted themselves between me and the checkpoint.
I withheld a groan. The finale was back there, didn’t they know? This was the encore I didn’t want. Though the crowd didn’t agree.
How much power did I have left? Not enough that I could physically fight them for long. Whatever I did had to be quick.
My lips spread in a smirk.
My grandmother had told us of one of her battle strategies when my mother was out one day. She’d spoken so wistfully of the strategy, but had admitted she’d never quite been in a situation that demanded the gore.
Tempest and I had played pretend with our dolls and the strategy for years before tiring of the game.
I was going to do it.
I portaledinsidethe middle purple demon. She couldn’t possibly hold my power. Sheexplodedin every direction, scattering into hundreds of chunks that showered the demons beside her. They scrambled away in a blind panic.
