Chapter 95 Outrage.

Chapter 95: 95 Outrage.

And just in time.

A wet, booming explosion erupted on the other side of my makeshift shield.

Something splattered against the metal with a nasty thud.

Then another. Bits of half-frozen meat painted the bulkheads around us while smaller chunks bounced off the sheet of metal I’d ripped from the floor.

Ugh.

Yeah, that was pretty fucking gross.

I kept the shield raised for another few seconds before slowly lowering it back into place. What remained of Flabbius came into view, or at least what remained of him after whatever had just happened inside his skull. Chunks of ice and pieces of the mutant were scattered across the walls, floor, and surrounding machinery.

The explosion had done a number on the cages too. Several had been knocked sideways, their occupants either dead or injured from the blast. A few of the surviving monsters, however, seemed considerably less bothered by what had happened.

Some were already eating the pieces of their former jailor that had landed within reach of their cells.

"Fuck," I muttered.

Psyren leaned around me, took one look at the carnage, and immediately recoiled. "Ewwww."

"Drat," Glacia added, looking around at the mess with considerably more composure.

Then a much louder voice came from the doorway.

"What the fuck!"

I turned to find the announcer from my match standing there.

His glasses were crooked, his face had gone puffy, and he looked like he’d just realized there was a bomb sitting somewhere inside his skull.

Which, considering where we were, wasn’t actually outside the realm of possibility.

I discreetly scanned him with my abilities, looking for anything metallic or explosive that might explain his sudden panic. Aside from the frankly ridiculous amount of bling he was wearing, I couldn’t detect anything particularly dangerous.

He hadn’t come alone, though.

Two of the rocky bruisers who usually hung around Arman were standing behind him, both looking considerably less enthusiastic about whatever had happened here.

The announcer stared past me at the wreckage, his eyes widening further as he took in the dead monsters, the ruined cages, and what remained of Flabbius.

"What have you done?" he shrieked, stumbling forward before immediately pointing toward the carnage. "The monsters! The man! Did you kill him? There’s no killing in the death matches!"

Psyren blinked.

"But isn’t that the definition of a death match?"

The announcer opened his mouth, visibly struggling to formulate a response.

"That’s not what I... I mean, you aren’t allowed to kill contestants or guests outside of the matches! You can’t!"

The two stone men behind him stepped forward.

They made it about two steps before a freezing gust rolled through the room.

I glanced back.

Glacia was staring directly at them, blue light crackling around her body as frost spread across the nearby floor. The temperature seemed to drop another few degrees just from the expression on her face.

"You will not lay a hand on sir," she said, her voice carrying the sort of quiet threat that made the two men stop where they were.

Psyren smiled sweetly beside her, her eyes beginning to glow pink as the air around her seemed to hum.

"Yeah," she added, "or are you looking to make us angry?"

The two rocky guys immediately looked less interested in finding out.

"Look, everyone? Just calm down," I said, raising my hands before this turned into another fight. "It wasn’t us."

"That it wasn’t!"

The announcer yelped and jumped aside as someone else approached through the doorway.

A thick wave of sulfur rolled into the room, followed immediately by the hulking, crimson-suited frame of Belial. The demon Duke of the Pit strolled in, casually brushing a piece of frozen squid-mutant off his lapel.

"I witnessed the fray from the shadows above, A beautiful slaughter, a labor of... BZZT... love!" the demon boomed, wincing as the magic collar sparked violently against his thick neck. "This mortal of flesh, with his magnificent squid, Attempted to murder our guest, yes he did! But the frozen young maiden and pink-glowing lass, They shattered his body like delicate glass! I wish every human would violently pop, And paint all the walls till the... ZAP... lovely mops! The lovely mops can clean the shop!"

The announcer stared at him like he’d just started speaking an entirely different language.

"That’s... that’s crazy!" he protested. "That can’t be what happened."

"Oh, mortals are blind to the truth of the night, So let hellfire show you the glorious fight!" Belial bellowed.

He raised a massive, clawed hand and snapped his fingers. A swirling cloud of black smoke and glowing embers materialized in the center of the room, acting like a demonic projector screen.

I watched my own encounter with Flabbius and Delirium play out in the glowing ash, every part of the confrontation perfectly captured by the demon’s voyeuristic magic.

Everything was there.

The argument with Delirium. The monsters being released. The fight. Psyren taking control of the creatures. Flabbius attacking Glacia.

Even the exact moment his head exploded.

I glanced toward the announcer. He looked considerably paler now.

I couldn’t exactly blame him. Having your guests kill one another was probably bad for business, especially when the person who died had been one of the attractions you’d brought aboard.

And while I could understand why he was upset, I also understood why he seemed particularly desperate to make sure someone else took responsibility for this.

Because if somebody needed to take the blame for what had happened tonight, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be Arman.

No.

That’s what middle-management flunkies were for.

The two stone men seemed to have reached the same conclusion. Their bodies relaxed now that they knew they weren’t going to have to fight me and the girls over this.

Although one of them visibly winced when the recording reached the part where Flabbius’s head exploded.

Yeah.

That probably wasn’t a sight for weak stomachs.

"And there you have it!" Belial announced as the embers faded into nothingness. "A wonderful end to a wonderful day, Wouldn’t you beautifully, happily say?"

His glowing yellow eyes locked onto me, smoke drifting lazily from his nostrils.

I wasn’t about to argue.

Belial had just potentially saved me from having to fight my way off this ship, so I figured the least I could do was agree with him.

"Exactly," I said before looking back at the announcer. "Anything else?"

"Fffffine!"

The announcer jabbed an accusing finger at me, his face still twisted with outrage.

"But you are banned from the Nights! You and your children. And your children’s children! Banned!"

I stared at him.

"Yeah, alright."

As if I had any intention of ever setting foot on this rusting hulk again.

I turned away from him and looked toward the girls.

"Girls? Let’s go."

"See ya," Psyren called cheerfully, slipping her dampener headphones back over her ears. Before following me, she blew a mocking kiss toward the announcer and his two thugs.

The announcer’s face reddened even further.

Interestingly enough, the stone guys blushed. I decided not to question that.

As we passed Belial, I gave the towering demon a nod. "Thanks again."

"Oh, helping a mortal is always a treat, I hope the next time that we happen to meet, We’ll bathe in the blood of the—BZZT—sweet! You’ll be looking so sweet!" Belial gritted out, panting heavily through the magical voltage.

"Uh, yeah. Me too."

I led Glacia and Psyren back across the floor, stepping around the debris and whatever remained of Flabbius as we headed toward the exit.

I shook my head.

Hell of a night.