“How much Prestige do you have now?” Gilgamesh asked Micah.

  “1589… Oh, I’ll give you back what you lost now.”

  “Keep it.” Gilgamesh held out his hand to Heroine, who reluctantly took it after a brief hesitation. Though that reluctance turned to a stunned awe when he gave her 750 of his Prestige.

  “You two will wait in the Lounge while I scout our next target. This one will be a big one. A Count with several thousand Prestige at least.” Gilgamesh subtly emphasized that last part. “Stand in the corner near the entrance, next to a Servant. I’ll find you.”

  Heroine did not respond, clearly absorbed in her new wealth.

  “Do not forget who you owe your current success to.” Gilgamesh bluntly asserted his status as leader of the trio. “Do you understand?”

  Heroine averted her eyes. “...yes.”

  With that, Gilgamesh traded his Crown for a Ring and headed back into the Ballroom alone, where he moved with little fear. No Assassin would bother killing a lowly Baron and he could survive 3 Clashes from any random hunter before he’d have to return.

  Still, he presented himself as a lone Scepter searching for targets while he discreetly inspected the Counts around him.

  Two stood out to him in particular, a duo of a Nobleman and a Noblewoman, both with over 3,000 Prestige. They were surrounded by Viscounts of modest Prestige who formed a wall around them, and neither displayed any indication of the Regalia they possessed.

  Gilgamesh watched a Baron approach the bodyguard line, and pass through it after a brief pause. He shook hands with the Noblewoman and gave her the bulk of his Prestige.

  More Baron and Viscount Vassals came one after the other and did the same. Gilgamesh observed two consistencies in every interaction. One was that the amounts always reduced to 30 Prestige, and the other was that it was always the Noblewoman who received the payment.

  “She acts like the one in charge, but she is deferential to him. The Noblewoman is the pawn.” Gilgamesh deduced. “If the Nobleman is cautious enough to never put himself at risk of assassination, he most likely has a Scepter in case things go wrong. Which means, he’d make her carry a Ring.”

  “He has all the cards. The favorable matchup and the escape route. But… you are far too careless.” Gilgamesh watched the Vassals again. “They pause every time at the line of Guards. To prove their identities? A password.”

  Gilgamesh followed one of the Vassal hunters after he handed over his Prestige, one that was not doing as well as the others.

  “Are you struggling?” He suddenly asked from behind.

  “What- what are you-?”

  “You’re not doing as well as the others.” Gilgamesh did not intend to answer questions or give him more time to think. “Don’t you want more Prestige? You can get more than these scraps if you work for me. Prestige that you can actually keep.”

  “...are you crazy?”

  “It seems I will have to find someone else.”

  “Wait.” The man called out in a hurry as Gilgamesh started to leave. “Are you serious? About getting more Prestige?”

  “Follow me.” Gilgamesh led him back to the Hallway without another word, towards the Lounge.

  ---

  Micah stood in awkward silence beside Heroine, who fidgeted in place for a reason completely unrelated to him.

  “...Izdubar seems like he’s panicking, kinda. Doesn’t it?” Micah blurted out something to break the silence.

  Heroine did not respond.

  Her cold silence only made him more desperate to speak. “I-I mean, he’s kind of being a dick. What he said earlier. That wasn’t right. He doesn’t treat you well at all.”

  “It doesn’t matter…” Heroine replied plainly.

  “It does.” Micah asserted. ‘You deserve better than that.”

  Such direct positive reinforcement caught Heroine by surprise and immediately filled her head with conceit. “You’re right. I deserve better.”

  Confidence swelled within Micah as the warmer response emboldened him. “We should team up. You know, on our own.”

  “What?” Heroine asked.

  “Yeah, we can start a Faction by ourselves. Dominate this Trial together. And we only have to split the gains two ways.”

  “Two ways…” Heroine was interested in a larger share of the reward.

  “We can be rulers.” With her receptiveness, Micah’s confidence immediately devolved into arrogance. And that arrogance became spiteful. “Since Izdubar is aiming for a big haul, we should play along until we get it. Then we can take what he has.”

  “Okay.” The word ‘Ruler’ and the promise of more Prestige were all Heroine needed to agree.

  Nearby movement caught her eye and she turned to two Noblemen. One seemed taken back by the red masks of their Counthood, and the other extended his hand to her.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “My Prestige. Just a 100 will do.”

  Heroine gave over her precious Prestige to the soon-to-be ex-leader, as reluctantly as ever.

  ---

  “Now, how do we get past the line of guards?” Gilgamesh asked the Baron.

  “It’s just a password. Chainmail. Then the guards let you in.” He explained.

  Gilgamesh paid him 50 Prestige. “What is your Regalia? I’m guessing a Scepter.”

  “Y-yeah.”

  “Trade with him.” Gilgamesh gestured to Micah, and the two swapped Regalia. “I have a job for you. Go recruit about 15 Barons from the Hallway and bring them back here. Tell them they’ll be paid well.”

  “Got it.” The Baron headed off immediately.

  “Here’s the plan.” Gilgamesh spoke to Heroine and Micah as soon as the Baron left. “Our targets are two Counts hiding behind a wall of Vassals. Heroine and I will leave the bulk of our Prestige with Micah and pretend to be Vassals to reach the Counts. You will challenge the Nobleman and I will challenge the Noblewoman.”

  “...wouldn’t we just get captured by the Vassals, and plundered back?” Heroine asked.

  “That is why I sent for footsoldiers of our own.” Gilgamesh said. “Micah will use the Vassals to attack the bodyguards right after we challenge to allow us to escape.”

  “...but I’ll be a target.” Micah said.

  “That is why you have the Scepter.” Gilgamesh countered. “Use the Vassals as shields while you draw close to our targets, then teleport back to the Lounge once you order the attack.”

  “What about us…?” Heroine asked. “We have to get back to the Hallway on our own…”

  “If you can’t get past someone you suspect to be an Assassin, just punch a random Noble. Temporary imprisonment is better than dying.”

  Heroine wasn’t keen on the idea but before she could object further, the Baron returned with over a dozen grunts. “Got what you asked, Boss.”

  “Good work.” Gilgamesh paid him another 50 Prestige. “I have another job for you.”

  “Anything.”

  “Head a bit further into the Lounge and stand next to a table and place one hand on it. Someone will come to give you the next step as soon as things are set in motion.”

  “Got it.” Gilgamesh watched the Baron head off to carry out those nonsensical orders of no meaning whatsoever, given only to discard the pawn he had no more use for.

  “All of you become Vassals to him. And you give Micah your Prestige so you have less than 100.” Gilgamesh told the new disposable pawns and then Heroine. Though she gave him all but 99.

  “...make it 89.” Gilgamesh forced Heroine to part with 10 more of her precious Prestige.

  With the arrangements of his plan complete, Gilgamesh led the trio back into the Hallway and towards the Ballroom for the final time. “Remember to get the timing right. It has to be the moment we both challenge.”

  “...got it.” Micah replied.

  Gilgamesh and Heroine entered the Ballroom a few moments before Micah, and set off straight for the Count duo. But as they left Micah’s earshot, Gilgamesh leaned in close to Heroine.

  “Did you have a good fantasy while you were plotting to betray me?”

  Heroine maintained her brisk pace, but everything else about her froze.

  “I’m disappointed in you. Do you really think you could reach the top with someone like that?”

  Anxiety and Fear wracked Heroine’s mind, worsened by the fact that Gilgamesh did not sound the least bit surprised or angry. She would have long bolted away were she not also wracked with indecision over whether that was even a good idea.

  “You’re running out of time.” Gilgamesh said as his targets came into view. “Make your choice. Someone else, or me?”

  ---

  Gilgamesh approached the Count duo’s faction, who had now grown to over 4000 Prestige each, and stopped silently by a Viscount of the guard line.

  “Password.”

  “Chainmail.”

  A pause held, then the Viscount let him through. At that moment, Heroine approached the guard line from the other side, just as they had planned. From what he saw, the Vassal hunters of this faction worked entirely alone. He did not want to spark any suspicion among the Counts with his plan.

  Gilgamesh approached the Noblewoman at a moderate pace and extended his hand first.

  [ Lost 49 Prestige. ]

  [ 30 Prestige ]

  He turned to leave without a word, and the guard overseeing Heroine let her in. Gilgamesh slowed his pace just enough to avoid attention, then sprang into action a split-second after Heroine made her move to the Count.

  “Challenge.”

  “Challenge.”

  A Crown appeared from the Noblewoman and shattered against his Ring, as a Scepter emerged from the Nobleman and fell before Heroine’s Crown.

  [ Gained 2,446 Prestige. ]

  [ 2,476 Prestige. ]

  “Stop them!” The Nobleman roared as Gilgamesh and Heroine made their escape together.

  The line of Viscount guards turned around to reach for them, only to be struck and tackled by a band of Baron thugs. Puppet Knights arrested the lot of them at once, but in that brief moment of chaos and confusion, Gilgamesh and Heroine slipped away.

  Gilgamesh held out his palm backwards and Heroine shook it as she had done a dozen times before. They rushed towards the Hallway but just as they neared the safe refuge, another Baron tackled Gilgamesh back.

  The stranger was arrested right away, but his attack had stalled Gilgamesh just long enough to lose the protection of his Truce. And Micah stepped up in that opening.

  “Challenge.” He spoke the word with eager venom. The image of his Scepter emerged as spitefully as his own demeanor, and it shattered against Gilgamesh’s Crown.

  [ Gained 2,181 Prestige. ]

  [ 4,657 Prestige ]

  As Micah struggled to understand what had just happened, Gilgamesh and Heroine passed him straight by.

  “Fool.” The reason Gilgamesh had let Micah hold onto all of his Prestige and command the pawns was to lure him into a false sense of security, so that he would move exactly as he wanted. “You fulfilled your role perfectly.”

  Shameful indignation flared beneath Micah’s mask, as he lunged for Gilgamesh. “A Count with 5,000 Prestige!” He yelled for all to hear.

  Some wastrel Barons stepped towards them, just between them and safe refuge. And Heroine pushed open a path for Gilgamesh without hesitation. As a Puppet Knight arrested her, Gilgamesh stepped into the Hallway.

  Micah followed and entered the moment after. But it was a moment too late. Gilgamesh had won.

  “Why…” Bitterness and frustration stained Micah’s demeanor. “I don’t understand. Why did she side with you?! She got nothing from it. She even got arrested! I said we could rule, why would she choose you?!”

  “Because she knows I’m better.” Gilgamesh stepped in close. “Someone like you can never reach the top. She just chose the winning side.”

  “You… bastard…” Micah seethed. “You cheated. That’s it! You must have known her already. If you didn’t have that going for you-”

  “Stop making excuses.” Gilgamesh cut off his whining. “The truth is, after all these Trials, you’re still just a pawn.”

  Micah finally lost control and punched Gilgamesh in the face.

  “Fool.” Gilgamesh said as a Puppet Knight pinned Micah to the ground. “You’re not good enough to play this game.”

  “I’ll kill you! You hear me, I’ll kill you, you fucking bastard!” Micah vowed as the Puppet Knight dragged him away.

  But to Gilgamesh, his vengeance was nothing more than empty words. With no Prestige or connections and 3 hours to be lost in prison, he was no longer a threat. The game would change entirely by then, and make the fool irrelevant.

  [ Some gods are entertained by your schemes. ]

  “Now.” Gilgamesh headed down the Hallway with a smile. “How can I stay ahead until my favorite pawn returns?”

  28/30 guessed so far!

  [ Gray-Eyed Maiden ] - Athena

  [ Loathsome Stag ] - Gwydion

  [ Serpent of False Mysteries ] - Glycon

  [ Handsome Monkey King ] - Sun Wukong

  [ All-Father ] - Odin

  [ Old Man of the Woods ] - Merlin

  [ The Great Monk ] - Tang Sanzang

  [ Scribe of the Gods ] - Thoth

  [ Three-Headed Snake ]

  [ High Priest ] - Imhotep

  [ Slanderer and Cheat ] - Loki

  [ Lion of the False Heaven ] - Yaldabaoth

  [ Third Lotus Prince ] - Nezha

  [ Club-Footed Smith ] - Hephaestus

  [ Husband of the Golden Bride ] - Ilmarinen

  [ Mercenary Queen ] - (original character)

  [ Illustrious True Lord ] - Erlang Shen

  [ Apple Thrower ] - Eris

  [ Lord of Slaughter ] - Maahes

  [ Raven Queen ] - The Morrigan

  [ Fallen King of Beasts ] (new addition with the rewrites)

  [ Golden Son ] - Apollo

  [ Friend of Mankind ] - Thor

  [ Warrior Maid ] - Scathach

  [ Eye of Ra ] - Sekhmet

  [ Feathered Serpent ] (new addition with the rewrites) - Quetzalcoatl

  [ Herald of Olympus ] (new addition with the rewrites) - Hermes

  [ Queen of Two Lands ] - Hathor

  [ Queen Mother of the West ] - Xiwangmu (Wujimu)

  [ Mistress of the Hunt ] - Artemis