D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 1138 1138 The First Set Of Tasks Are…

”Thyme is getting ready to make the announcement, you might want to head out,” said Mint, seemingly out of nowhere. 

”Oh… um thanks? Do you want us to do anything with the plates?” asked Kat. 

”No, I can return them for you both. Hurry, you donʼt want to be late,” said Mint. 

Accepting the help, Kat and Lily shared a quick kiss before they both jumped out the window. What? It was the quickest way out of the building. Thyme was sitting on a tiny stage that had been set up on the middle pier. It barely lifted Thyme above the rest of the group. A few people were already there, including Kress who was the first of Katʼs group to arrive. 

She slid in beside him, and as they were waiting for the rest of the competitors, Kat decided to have a bit of fun… with the truth! ”Hey Kress, so you know that demon guy on the other team, Stan?” asked Kat. 

”Not that Stan was his name, but Iʼve seen him, why?” asked Kress with a strange look. 

”Well, heʼs decided to try and seduce you. So… good luck with that?” said Kat with a grin. 

Lily was in cat form curled up in Katʼs arms, and desperately trying to hide her laughter, even as Kress just stared back. After a few moments of staring where Katʼs mask didnʼt crack in the slightest he looked around at the other groups carefully. When Kressʼ eyes landed on Stan, the demon through a wink Kressʼ way. Kress didnʼt react, other than to slowly turn back to Kat. ”Did you put him up to that?” 

”Nope,” said Kat making sure to pop the ʼpʼ as much as possible trying to get a reaction from Kress. 

”I canʼt say I believe you,” said Kress with a deadpan stare. 

Kat shrugged, ”Well, I canʼt lie, and I can easily state the following as the truth. I did not encourage him in any way. Stan approached me by himself, questioned me about your relationship status, and I simply answered his questions as truthfully as possible,” 

Kress pondered on the admission for a few seconds, ”I donʼt really know how to react to that, and Iʼm not really looking for a partner… plus isnʼt he a demon? Can he even stick around here?” 

Kat made a ʼso-soʼ gesture, ”I mean, I think we can set new home dimensions? So… probably? Especially if you guys start something serious? I donʼt really know, itʼs not something Iʼve looked into much,” 

Kress tapped his foot a few times on the loose sand as he considered Katʼs statement for a few seconds. ”You know, youʼve made this much more awkward then it needed to be. If youʼd just left me in ignorance I couldʼve pretended I was too dense to notice the flirtations before. Now that I know, and Iʼve given the game away enough that he knows that I know, I canʼt pretend I donʼt know, unless I want to pretend I donʼt know he knows, but thatʼs even more awkward,” 

”I fail to see how thatʼs my problem,” said Kat. 

”Yeah, it sounds hilarious to me,” said Nixilei seemingly materialising from behind Kat. *How did I not hear her? Well no, probably the ocean. Letʼs just assume I didnʼt hear her over the crashing waves.*

”I donʼt need your advice on romance Nixilei,” grumbled Kress. ”Look, I think itʼs best to just… leave this to the side until the round is over, that way itʼs less likely to result in bad blood,” 

”Ah, but Stan doesnʼt exactly like his team much,” whispered Kat, ”And his Contract had a pretty major loophole in it… so distracting him is a very valid tactic,” 

”I am not going to be a damn honey trap!” hissed Kress. ”I might not be the killjoy I was three days ago, and I might stay happier in general now my eyes have been opened a bit… but I have standards! Iʼm a bodyguard not Nixilei!” 

”Rude, Iʼve never gone on any real seduction missions you know,” said Nixilei with a huff. 

”Obviously. Youʼd never be able to pull one off,” returned Kress. 

”I got top marks in my classes!” shot back Nixilei. 

Kress managed his best look of pity, and said, ”Iʼm sorry,” as best he could manage, though his slightly twitching lip from his attempts not to laugh was a massive give away for Nixilei, and a decent one for Kat. 

Green and Gareth rocked up to see the stare down between the two, but they just rolled their eyes, it wasnʼt an unusual sight, so neither bothered to ask what it was even about. The glaring contest didnʼt last long though, because Thyme clapped their hands, setting of a series of comedic sound affects playing instead of a normal clapping sound. At least it got everyoneʼs attention. 

”Welcome back everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your lunches! Now, the theme of the rounds this time will be ʼvacation gamesʼ and Iʼll be keeping everything pretty casual and fun. Quite a few rules will be about encouraging people to not go overboard. The first round will be known as the ʼInside Gamesʼ round. It will have three different tasks, all set up inside the building behind you!

”The first game, table tennis,” Kat noticed that the game technically wasnʼt called ʼtable tennisʼ but the game was functionally the same and the translation treated it as such, ”where two competitors will be set on either side of a tiny table and be required to hit the ball back and forth across an even smaller net. If the ball doesnʼt hit your opponentʼs side of the table before it hits the floor, you lose a point. First to five points wins however, you need to win by at least two points. 

”This means that the games can potentially go on forever, but I want to prevent that. So, Iʼm adding an additional rule that if both players get to twenty it counts as a ʼwinʼ for both teams in that case. The format will be round robin style, and the person with the most wins will earn 2 points for their team, while second place will earn 1 point. While there will be playoffs if there is a tie for first place, having a tie for second place is acceptable. Oh, and it goes without saying but no magic, and you have to stay on your half of the table.”

Thyme paused, letting that little bit of information sink in before finishing up with, ”Though… there is one more rule. If youʼre responsible for breaking anything during the game. This includes, but is not limited to, the paddles, the table, the net, the floor or the ball, then youʼre immediately disqualified and put in last place for the round. So… donʼt go all out and risk breaking things!” 

*Well that complicates things doesnʼt it.*

[A bit yeah… if Thyme hasnʼt made the paddles any stronger then theyʼd be on Earth then EVERYONE is at risk of breaking them. I think weʼll have at least one accidental destruction. Iʼm not sure who would be best at this game.]

*Green perhaps?* Katʼs internal conversation was interrupted by Thyme continuing to speak, ”Now, the second game, will be dodge ball,” once again the name was different, but correct enough. ”This one will be a free-for-all game where everyone is thrown in a circle and provided a rubber ball. Youʼll need to throw them at other contestants. 

”Everyone is allowed to be hit twice, and on the third hit youʼre out. However, if you manage to catch a ball, then it counts as a hit for the person who threw the ball. Same rules about breaking things apply, and while magic IS allowed, you are not allowed to cast directly at your opponents, nor are you allowed to make physical contact with anything that isnʼt a ball, so be careful about that,” 

*Simple to understand and probably the event Iʼd do the best in, especially compared to table tennis.* 

[Perhaps, but your wings make you a bigger target.]

*Hmm… youʼre right on that… I wonder if I could catch a ball with my tail though?*

”The final game, has a complete ban on attacks, and magic. Though, some application of force is acceptable. Youʼll be able to figure it out. See, this last game is called, ʼTwisterʼ” it wasnʼt, Thymeʼs game was actually called ʼStay on the Dotsʼ but it was very clearly Twister, ”Iʼll be laying out a mat Iʼve done up, and it will be another free for all. Everyone will start standing in the middle of the mat, and then based on a spinner Iʼll be keeping off to the side, youʼll need to put a certain body part on the correct colour! If any of your limbs are on the wrong colour, youʼll be eliminated,” 

*You know… Iʼd probably be best at twister. Not only am I flexible, but I have a tail, so I could probably trip people up with it.*

[Yeah… but Iʼd rather you didnʼt join in that one. Though… maybe we can get Kress to play that game with Stan?]

*Hmm…*