— Shriek! —

The current situation would have made countless raise their brow in wonder. It was extremely…peculiar. The usually fearless Demon King was hiding behind a tiny, scaly chicken.

< Young But Mean Cockatrice Lv 45! :lizard::chicken: >

The paladins were not having a good time, far from it. At first, one had tried to bypass the creature to reach Jack, only to end up as the first casualty from a single look.

The Holy men were now huddled back to back in a sacred protective circle. But even that was taking its toll on them.

The Cockatrice would have normally been reconsidering its targeting, but they had made it far too angry.

Cockatrice VS. Paladins

Eyes of Destruction VS Protective Circle

Deadly Sharp Talons VS Inscribed Magical Armors

Incredibly Sturdy Scales VS Holy Spells and Smashes

There were too many ranged attacks aimed at Jack to count, but erratic movements and holding a Cockatrice’s thigh allowed him to survive!

This was a clash of titans. He watched the damage from the basic attacks in awe: -24, -22, -27, etc. What kind of crazy fighting power was this?! He’d be lucky to survive three strikes!

But even such a valiant chicken eventually couldn’t hold out in the face of the absolute worst thing ever: near-invincible tankiness and non-stop healing.

Was this karma? Healing had been his specialty in his previous life. It kinda felt like cheating as they just wouldn’t go down.

Slowly but surely, the Cockatrice’s HP dwindled until the creature uttered one last painful cry filled with sorrow, unwillingness, and a CC effect!

On cue, its malevolent gaze turned toward the paladins, killing two directly.

— Shriek! —

Carving Pumpkins Till I Collapse!

You’ve resisted the effect!

Now!! Jack discarded a pumpkin, rushing toward the creature. It was time for a technique as old as life itself, KS!

He needed explosive power. He required his Demon’s King’s Nascent weapon!! He cleanly cut off the Cockatrice’s neck with one mightily tiny slash!

Killed Young Cockatrice!

Obtained Cockatrice Loot Box :lizard::chicken:!

As for the eight paladins, they were still frozen by the monster’s last skill. He ran for the exit without hesitating, slashing the enemies on his way.

- 11

- 13

- 12

He could only give a self-derisive smile as he saw the pitiful damage numbers. How much armor did they even have?!

Killing them all at once —> Not happening.

Killing a few —> Possible, but it would take time for sure

Dying —> Totally assured if he spent a single second dilly-dallying.

Jack’s heart constricted, but he didn’t have any time to linger. He had to GTFO. People were waiting for him to be back!

He was back at navigating the sea of monsters, heading toward his party companions. Judging by the shattering sounds behind him, the paladins were following for sure!

— Crash! —

— Jack used “run like a bitch!” —

When he finally arrived at his destination, he sighed in relief as he glanced at the plaque by the entrance. “Entertain the King, Peasant!” Yep, just like he remembered.

The place was a large throne room with an empty throne and countless stone subjects. The statues either had a musical instrument or a traditional mask hiding their features.

This was apparently a feast as there were even cheese and fruit platters. It was as ridiculous as pretty neatly detailed.

”Master!, you’re back!” Derek looked more like an abandoned puppy than the actual wolf cub next to him for some reason.

But instead of answering him, Jack hurriedly summoned weak skeletons, dressed them with his custom pumpkin armor, and added the masks Derek had stolen.

Of course, he didn’t forget to slap new atrocious orange outfits to the initial statues too. Still, why?! The two were incredibly puzzled and curious.

”Carefully remember which ones are undead. It’s important.” Jack mentioned with a solemn tone, the two nodding.

The Paladins crashed into the room, the first one rushing straight at Jack. He was so fast that he wasn’t able to evade at all!— Or that’s how it seemed.

”Perish, foul beast!” Just as he slammed his weapon, his body suddenly imploded. Just like that, an OP paladin was down with seven remaining.

Jack looked so astonished by this development, laughing uncontrollably like a man who had just witnessed a miracle. He was “obviously” as confused as everyone else.

”….By the Holy Goddess!” The holy men exclaimed as they finally noticed the words by the entrance.

Entertain the King —> Violence wouldn’t be tolerated at this event.

That’s when a few beings imperceptibly moved, starting the trial. Those were Jack’s disguised undead.

Welcome to the King’s Feast!

Entertain the King at All Costs!

< Handsome Invisible Rock King Lv 60! :moai: >

Jack winced as a shadowy foggy silhouette appeared on the throne, an annoying grin on its ghostly face. It lazily waved its hand, and they were teleported in front of it, helpless.

”Play or dance to your heart’s content until you fall, or I am satisfied.” A hollow voice resounded.

”P-lay?! Dance?!” What kind of weird thing was this?! The paladins’ shocked faces were almost worth getting hunted by them.

”BEGIN!” The King roared.

Just as many were at a loss, a few statues volunteered themselves to show an example. A magical spotlight appeared on them, one playing the pipa and three others dancing.

The music aside, the dancing was odd as it looked more like a battle technique than a dance. Heck, there were even punches included in the routine.

As soon as the holy warriors witnessed that, their unease went away. They didn’t need to know dancing to repeat that! They’d entertain this King for now, then get revenge!

Jack couldn’t help but gulp as he saw the death glares they sent his way. But then it was their turn to show off.

The being lazily waved its hand, surrounding them with a fog barrier. They wouldn’t be able to see the others at all! A fog countdown appeared.

3

2

1

GO!

Jack could only hope to god that Derek would be fine. Moon Moon could always respawn thanks to their soul-link. Anyway, he danced like no shady AF King was watching.

”Decent, lacking, terrible, horrendous, deserving of death.” The King’s voice echoed as it graded their performance.

As the fog finally went down again, the room had fewer challengers. Two of the paladins were now a gooey mess on the ground, six left.

”?!?” Their faces showed extreme confusion. What the hell had happened?!

Derek was not only still alive, but he was also shivering in excitement. How scheming! There had been three dancers, but two had actually been disguised undead!

Since they were all wearing the similar orange silly getup, telling them apart had been near impossible. They had been feeding the viewers completely erroneous moves!

Luckily he had known about them before or else…

Other performers went up and got busy. This time, everyone diligently observed the moves, carefully comparing them to one another. Then the fog descended again.

3

2

1

Dance Time!

Another victim! Jack rejoiced as he noticed a paladin missing, five left! While Jack’s party was doing the whole thing incredibly relaxed, the paladins were fighting for their lives!

That’s how more and more dancing kept happening, the paladins managing not to perish anymore. They could finally identify the real dancer of the three.

The paladins were now able to distinguish them by their distinctive dance moves. Jack could only improvise. This time he changed it so little that even copying it wouldn’t get them killed.

Derek watched it all with his jaw hanging. Even he couldn’t tell them apart anymore because of the fog obscuring his vision at times!

Just as he was starting to fear, one of the dancers suddenly made a small, subtle gesture in a way that only he could notice. Ah! His master was giving him hints!

Dancing, more dancing, and even more dancing, all until it was finally over.

”This king is tired and will retreat to his chambers.” The foggy being stated. As soon as he did, the paladins glanced at Jack with the eyes of terrifying hungry wolves.

”How about we make peace?” Jack uttered in a small voice.

”Pfft— We’ll grab you and tear your limbs out. Then we’ll—” Sadly for the enthusiastic paladin, this wasn’t exactly over.

”This King congratulates you all. You did well enough to keep your lives. Still, some of you are so unsightly…men teach them better!” The King barked one last order before leaving.

YES! Jack was almost jumping in joy. This trial had many possible outcomes:

1. Death

2. Survival

3. Survival with remedial lessons

4. Actually pleasing the King and getting a reward

The first and last were unlikely (without tempering at least). As for option three, it only happened if one was really bad at reproducing moves….or copied fake ones!

— Teaching statue grabbed paladins! —

The warriors were incredibly reluctant, but the same power as earlier was now restraining them. They were brought away in tears. They had been so close!

”Master, that was brilliant! But why didn’t the King do something about the fake statues in their midst?” Derek asked, baffled. How could a being so powerful miss something so simple?

”He didn’t. He simply found it entertaining.” Jack sighed.

”Woo!” (It really was!)

The little wolf had happily shaken its ass to the music and would do it again. This thing was fun! But it turned serious seeing his master’s expression.

”Anyway, we have to hurry. This challenge won’t hold them for long. Either we’re in Sprigfield soon, or we’re dead.” Jack stated, opening his new loot box.

Low Contribution to Cockatrice Kill Detected!

Obtained Cockatrice Feather !:lizard::chicken:

Even then, he was satisfied:

Cockatrice —> Weakened the opponents

Stone King —> Temporarily trapped them

Derek nodded. Sprigfield, was it? Why did it sound like one of the most dangerous places to be right now? In any case, they would follow…