Bartlett followed the Joy Demon's advice.
No, not the one about 'happiness'. Instead, he decided not to use these souls to redeem his 'limited freedom'. He would continue to stay in prison and fight the remaining four gladiator battles. Once he had won a total of ten matches, he could then use the Arena's rules to leave Mantili for free.
The devils aren't making such rules out of goodwill, but they know better what humans want.
Pure despair without hope has never been the devils' style. They actually prefer to give a little light and hope to people living in darkness, guiding them to keep moving forward in difficult situations. And when those people have burst their full potential, overcome obstacles, and ecstatically seize the light, they find out that it's nothing more than a raging fire from the Nine Prisons.
