I open my eyes slowly; I can still feel some lingering pain but most of it has subsided. I get up while rubbing my head.
[ Mana: 1]
I stare at the screen that had appeared before me silently.
All that pain… just for a single unit of mana.
'Sigh', I get up unsteadily.
"Oh, you're up !"
I find Eric standing a few meters away, he woke up first huh ?
The rest were still lying down on the floor unconscious, we had all passed out from the pain that had arisen due to exposure to mana for the first time.
After a couple of minutes, the others start waking up as well.
Once everybody had woken up and had gotten out of their stupor, we decided to talk strategy.
" Anyone have any plans ?", Michael asks with a bright smile on his face.
Hearing his question, a long silence descends upon us... untill I raise my hand to show that I had something to say,
After making sure that I had the attention of everyone in the group, I clear my throat and say,
"I think I know how to win this ...…"
___________
After 10 minutes
___________
"So, it's decided then. That's what we're going to do."
All of them agree with my plan.
"Now all we have to do is find the other team, right ?", Angela asks
I nod my head to show my agreement.
"Why don't we split u- ", Hank starts to speak, but I cut him off and say,
"Splitting up is not a good idea… considering the circumstances of the game.", I say with my eyes on Kevin.
Everybody agrees with me and we decide to set out to ambush the enemy team.
~~~~
We've been walking through the forest for a long time now.
A strange thing that I've noticed is that I nor anyone else in my team felt the need to sleep or eat. Of course, we still get tired though.
We've been taking short breaks whenever one of us felt even a teensy bit tired.
We were also walking in a formation that shielded Kevin the most, because without him we'll lose.
"I'm bored!", Michael declares while waving his dagger around.
"Careful, kid.", Eric says while ruffling the boy's hair,
They've surprisingly gotten closer during the short time we've spent together. It seems that Eric has a soft spot for kids.
Not only him, I've been observing everybody else in my team for awhile now and truth be told they didn't seem like people who'd end up in hell, which probably meant that the 'them' right now weren't the 'real them'. I wonder what will happen when all our little masks fall off ?
I clasp the spear in my hand tighter.
That's right… everyone is an enemy. Being in the same team didn't change the fact that there can only be one winner. I'm sure that they're all waiting for the perfect opportunity…. just like me.
A rustle can be heard from a bush, everybody tenses up and raise their weapons.
A group of ten people can be seen in front of us, just like us they had taken out their weapons with tense expressions on their faces.
I lower my weapon since they hadn't attacked us yet, so the plan just might work.
I step forward and say,
"Please calm down… we don't want a fight."
A burly man who stood at the front lets out a little scoff and says,
"Too bad…. but there is no other way."
"But what if there was a way?... a way through which we can all survive and win together.", I say confidently.
"Are you shitting us ?... Do you think we'll jus- ", the burly man starts to speak but gets cut off by a women who stood in the middle of the group ?
"Let's hear him out, Hans."
As she was the in the middle, it's reasonable to assume that she's their 'flag'.
The man glared at her but accepted her request nonetheless. Of course, he can't refuse her… I mean she's the 'flag', the most important piece.
I stare at her with a small smile on my face,
Her name was…. Elsa wasn't it ?
It's a good thing Kevin agreed to go with my plan, just like their team if one looks from a rational viewpoint, he does have the most power in our group.
Elsa looked younger than Anya, she had black hair and blue eyes… even though she looked younger, there was something about her that just seemed odd.
But I can think about this at a more appropriate time, now's the time for negotiation.
I take in a deep breath and say,
"In a game of "Capture the flag.", the most obvious way to win would be… well to capture the flag or in this case a person. But there's another way that ensures all our survival…. that is we don't do anything."
"What ?", one of the members of the team asks with a puzzled expression on his face.
"Think about it. Capture the flag is a game that's pretty simple… there is no right way to play, so why don't we take advantage of that. If none of us can get each other's flag for a long time… then won't the game end in a draw… meaning that we're all winners. I know that most of you are skeptical of my plan… but as there's no given time limit, it won't hurt to try right ?"
This was all bullshit. I'm going to kill their 'flag' after getting them to trust us. Also who knows what will happen ?
Maybe the devil will get bored watching us do nothing and just pass us. I mean isn't he doing this for entertainment ?
Team 1 seems to be contemplating my offer.
After 5 minutes, Elsa comes forward and puts her hand out towards me.
"We accept."
It worked. But there's something that I have to make clear right now.
I pull Kevin's hand into Elsa's and say,
"He's the leader."
That's right. Kevin is the leader and the person that's going to kill Elsa.
He's my scapegoat.
After our team wins this round, I don't know what happens with the surviving members of the team that lost.
If they are going to continue playing the game after losing by some miracle, then the need for a scapegoat comes.
That's where little liar Kevin comes in.
I laugh a little on the inside as I see the relaxed expression on everybody's faces.
'Swish'
Before I can even have the time to react, an arrow hits Angela straight in the head, killing her instantly.
Huh ?
What's this ?
Was this they're doing ?
I look at Elsa and find an equally bewildered expression on her face. This wasn't planned by Team 1.
This was someone else entirely.
I fall on the ground and soon after the rest of them follow my example and do the same.
I can hear footsteps; someone was walking towards us slowly…leisurely.
I look up in the direction of the footsteps and soon a man comes into view,
The man was wearing an armor that looked ancient, he was tall and had a flowing mane of red hair and a long, bushy beard. His belly was slightly protruding out a little. The aura around was very intimidating for a normal person like me.
He had all kinds of weapons with him, a sword, a quiver full of arrows and a bow, a spear and more.
I knew who he was… because the moment he entered my line of sight, a screen appeared showing information about him… he must be one of the 'monsters' that the devil prepared for us.
____________________________
Name: Genghis Khan
Information: Genghis Khan was the founder and first Great Khan (Emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia.
Genghis Khan and his empire have a fearsome reputation in local histories. Many medieval chroniclers and modern historians describe Genghis Khan's conquests as wholesale destruction on an unprecedented scale, causing great demographic changes and a drastic decline of population as a result of mass exterminations and famine. A conservative estimate amounts to about four million civilians (whereas other figures range from forty to sixty million) who lost their lives as a consequence of Genghis Khan's military campaigns
Source: Wikipedia
Devil's advice: Run.
_________________________
Oh, God.
Seeing that their source was Wikipedia, I was once again reminded of the fact that I was in hell.