What?! The Gamemaster And The Top Player Are Dating?!

Alvi looked at the player with suspicion, "What else would you want to do?"

"Didn't I make my intentions clear?" 

"What?" Alvi was a result of highly advanced technology, an AI that was almost on par with a human mind yet she could not comprehend what this man was trying to say. 

"I'm gonna get her out of here." 

Alvi, "You want to get her out of this world?"

Li Ling nodded, "Since she is no longer needed, why must she suffer here?"

Alvi could not understand what this man was planning, but she could still conclude that there was a reason behind why he was doing such useless stuff. 

Why would a player save an unimportant NPC if they had nothing to gain out of it? The thought was just too impossible unless you were born with a heart of an angel. 

Hasumi saw that she was falling behind and picked up her pace, "H-hey! Don't just leave me behind." 

Li Ling glanced at the girl and flashed her a sweet smile, Hasumi would be lying if she said that the smile didn't affect her heart.. 

Alvi didn't even spare the girl a glance. Her attitude towards this NPC was much different from how it was in the beginning when she had protected Hasumi every single time, standing up for her and making Zhihao think that this bot liked this NPC. 

The change in attitude wasn't completely shocking since Alvi was a bot without feelings. Technology could replicate a human mind, but it could never replicate emotions like pity or sympathy hence it wasn't her fault for not feeling anything for this girl. 

Alvi was given a job to make it easy for Kazan to kidnap the human and she had done that job perfectly. Whenever she had protected the girl, it wasn't actually Hasumi she was protecting, it was always the fake vessel she was protecting, in order for it not to be found by the two players. 

If one thought about it a bit deeper it would seem that Alvi was also an accomplice to the villains of this story and one wouldn't be wrong in thinking this since it was how this level was set up. 

This was how the gambling bar worked and all of the players were unaware of this. 

Zhihao had guessed the gambling bar to work in a way where it hides clues and makes sure that the original plan went by smoothly. It was a bold conclusion on his part considering the limited amount of information he had but sadly he was still wrong. 

There were two gambling bars. One was the positive one for the positive betters and one was a negative gambling bar for the negative betters. The two sounded alike but in reality, they were far different from one another. 

The positive gambling bar as explained by Alvi was just that, a place where you could buy and lend however the negative gambling bar remained a mystery for the players. The only people who knew how the negative bar worked were the people who were using it, the negative betters. 

The negative gambling bar wasn't related to the items or the scenarios. It was basically other players buying Alvi and telling her to play the villain. She was the one who was getting the messages, she was the one who was making sure that the players don't win. 

To everyone who had never placed a negative bet, this would remain a fact that they would never know and they would always live in the darkness thinking that this bot was here to help them. 

No one would suspect a bot who was supposed to be your assistant, looking like an innocent little girl to be the real antagonist here. 

Actually, it was wrong to label her as an antagonist since she was merely like the organizer of the betting game and if someone placed a high bet for her to do something, she would naturally do as she was told. 

It was the best way. The most unpredictable way to make the players drop out from this game one by one. 

That was the ultimate goal. To make as many people drop out from the game as they could. 

If a player could withstand the pressure of the gambling bar, the player was already considered to be qualified enough and if a player finds this to be too unfair, might as well let such players go in the beginning itself. 

That was what this whole game was about. Filtering out and eliminating the players till only one is left. The one who will beat the Gamemaster and win the game. 

If Mastermo wasn't planning on placing a negative bet on someone, he would never come to know that the bad feeling he got from this bot was indeed correct. This ten year old girl wasn't as innocent as she looked. 

"You know, if you really wanted to get her out of here, you would've headed to the tunnel. Why are you going back to the ghost festival?" 

Li Ling looked at the bot. She probably knew the answer, yet she was asking... She was testing him and thankfully he knew how to pass this test. 

"I can't leave A-Zhi behind." It was more or less a lie, but the bot couldn't see through it so there was nothing to worry about. 

Alvi looked at him and nodded, having believed him since his answer made sense. 

If he had answered with his real intentions, he would've triggered a cheating alert, after which, Zhihao and Li Ling would have been thrown out of this level without delay. 

Back at the ghost festival, Zhihao was ransacking his brain for ideas. 

He had bought himself some time with his tricks, but the time was still limited and with the temperature constantly rising up, he wasn't sure if he was going to get the time he estimated. If the heat rose up too much, his time would surely be depleted. 

He was still worried about Li Ling and he was trying his best to remain calm since he had never won a game by stressing about it too much. 

A calm mind would think up more logical answers and would never fail a person, it would be the optimal position for your brain under such situations. 

Zhihao had never really struggled with trying to remain calm and if he had to count, he would say that most of the times he had overthought or stressed inside a game was almost always in T.I.A.D. and he couldn't say he hated the game for it. 

He loved it because of this. 

Akuma started laughing when he saw the ghosts, who had stopped to see the show, return to their original chaos as they ran around in circles like little ants whose nest had been stepped on by a human foot. 

The demon king saw his son not daring to move and although he found it very courageous of his son to show no fear in this situation, he was still not happy with letting it all go like this. 

They needed to do something or the lava will break out of the ground at any moment now and if that happens, they were all as good as gone. 

The others could simply run away at times like this, but the demon king could not. He had made a vow, a vow that forbade him from abandoning this land. He was the king and with that title came the responsibility of keeping this world safe. 

He couldn't just stand by and watch. 

He couldn't wait for the land to burn itself. 

But what could he do?

What was he to do?

This Akuma was powerful, maybe a lot more than him, wasn't that the reason why he was a demon king while the other was a demon god? 

Should the difference in power really be said out loud?

But he was gonna do it anyway, even if it meant death for him. 

The demon king glanced at his son who was standing by the side, unconsciously a smile crept up his face. 

He was glad that his son was finally ready to accept him, he was happy to see that their relationship would not have to be so strained anymore. He was ecstatic to know that there could come a time when the two will be able to go back to how they were but... Even if that were all just a dream, he was still happy to know that he got to have such dreams. 

This was enough for him. If he were to die today, his son would surely survive and take his throne. He would not be losing out on anything. 

If the demon king had a final wish it would be a simple thing. 

He'd want his son to glance at him and smile right now. 

He waited for it to happen and he smiled when he realized that this was also just one of his fantasies. 

He was about to give up, but at this moment, Zhihao felt someone watching him and turned his head. He saw the demon king smiling at him and because it was the face of his father, he unconsciously smiled back. 

The demon king was happy as he turned his head back at the Akuma. 

He was satisfied and had lived a long life so if he was ready to die right now, he wouldn't be leaving with any regrets. 

Humans could hope to be sent to heaven after their deaths or maybe even reincarnated, but this was a demon. He knew what lay before him after death and it was nothing. 

If he died, he would turn to dust or maybe not even leave behind dust to remember him by. 

He was happy with that. 

As long as he died knowing that his son hated him a little less. 

But he was adamant about one thing. 

If he was going, he'd be taking this Akuma with him. 

If Zhihao could hear what went inside this man's head, who knows what he might think. 

He'd probably think that this bait was the most stupid and dumbest one he had ever met. 

The demon king's body suddenly got engulfed in fire as he cracked his knuckles, "Let's go." He challenged the Akuma who titled his head and looked at this puny demon that thought he was something. 

A heavy punch to the face with a fist covered in fire, that was what the demon king thought would be a good opening scene of his brutal fight with the Akuma. 

He had warmed up enough before this so now he was ready for the real fight to go down. 

Zhihao looked at the demon king who seemed to suddenly let out an even more powerful aura. This demon already had an aura that would make one fall to their knees, but now it had doubled in size and if someone were to be affected by this deadly aura, they would not only fall to their knees but they would also be buried six feet under by its mere pressure. 

Zhihao couldn't deny the fact that he was a bit afraid of facing this demon king right now. Thank god he had to role-play this demon's favored son. If he were to role-play the Akuma, he was afraid he wouldn't even be able to raise his fist because of fear. 

The fist connected and Akuma's face was dented in. If this were a real life fight, Zhihao was sure that the person would not be alive after that punch, but when the fist retreated, leaving a hole on the face, it regenerated. 

The face regenerated back to its original appearance. It wasn't identical, but it was close enough. 

Zhihao suddenly realized that Akuma's regenerative abilities had improved due to the rising temperature.