Both men sat in silence for a few minutes, one lamenting the direction his life had recently taken, the other happily organizing his most recent purchase. Once he secured his prize, Maladus offered Damian food, which he declined before speaking up.

  “So…” Damian began, “why is a demon inside an aspirant trial? I was under the impression your kind was reserved for the more powerful Inducted.”

  “That is usually the case. However, I’m not a combatant but a merchant, so I can be assigned randomly to certain trials when aspirants take trophies from their kills,” Maladus answered. “Now, on to business, what can I interest you in, my friend?”

  “I don’t believe I’ll be buying anything you have to offer, Maladus. I like my soul where it is, thanks,” Damian refused.

  “No worries there, friend, not all demons deal in souls. It’s a very niche currency, after all,” Maladus laughed. “No, I deal in hard goods and information. How about this: you allow me to view some memories of your home world, and I’ll answer some questions for you in return?”

  Damian considered it. It wasn’t a bad offer, after all, the universe and planes at large would learn about Earth soon enough if they hadn’t already. It would let him get info Earth desperately needed to speed stabilization. Monsters from various mythologies had sprung up since the system descended, and only seventy-three people planet-wide had passed the aspirant trials and could fight back effectively.

  The world had united as best it could, turning the UN from a bitching assembly into an actual government that could enact change and direct defense. But even united, old grudges hampered troop deployment, leading to lost cities. Worse, the UN hemorrhaged soldiers. Most monsters could be harmed by conventional firearms, but they were larger, stronger, and regenerated faster than damage could accumulate, making ammo needs impractical long-term.

  “Alright, I’ll accept those terms,” Damian said, determined to squeeze as much as possible.

  “Excellent! Just stay still for a moment and don’t resist, I’ll be done quickly,” Maladus exclaimed. His eyes glowed more intensely.

  If not for the earlier hospitality declaration, Damian never would’ve let a demon in without resistance. Hospitality laws were powerful bindings in many cultures, enforced most fiercely by the fae, and no one sane fucked with the fae. Damian felt Maladus enter: cold fingers creeping into his skull, grabbing consciousness. Surroundings shifted to fast-forward memories of schooling, pop culture, geopolitics, anything relevant.

  “Ah, I see now. Yes, this could hamper business, but we can discuss that later. Now, what would you like to ask first, my friend?” Maladus asked as the world refocused.

  “How can we stop the hordes of monsters attacking our cities?” Damian asked.

  Maladus nodded, considered, then replied, “That is complicated but doable in your current situation. Let me give context first, is that acceptable?”

  At Damian’s nod, Maladus continued. “When the system descends on a new world, it sets scenarios, two per group of three countries, no more than nine per occupied continent, leftovers on unoccupied landmasses. These hold monsters spawned with the system’s arrival, giving inhabitants time to adjust and produce Inducted to clear them.

  If not cleared in time, or after all are cleared, monsters spill out slowly. Normally it takes years; something went wrong with Earth’s integration. My guess: the sheer number of religions that exist or existed. Unusual for more than two or three major ones to appear on a single world.”

  “The type of monster spawns is tied to the religions and folk lore present on the planet at the time of integration doesn’t it.” Damian interrupted with a grimace.

  “Precisely. You have more monster types spawning than the system planned for and it is scrambling to give you the edge you need to reach an equilibrium and start clearing scenarios. That is why you have two thousand people going through the aspirant trials yearly, the usual number is around seven hundred.

  Unfortunately, the system also needs to leave enough of your military force to stem the tide of monsters while making enough Inducted to clear the scenarios as possible. Making it tend to choose the less combat capable members of your planet. The only thing you can do is send out what Inducted you have to roam your world, find all the scenarios you can and clear them quickly.”

  Damian cursed under his breath. That wasn’t ideal but at least there was a direction to follow. He just had to hope that the broadcast of his trial was early in the lineup, so that anyone watching would be able to hear this and act on it as quickly as possible. “That’s not ideal. Is there nothing else we can do?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Maladus cocked his head, pulled a small notebook, and flipped through it. “Maybe… no… what about… hmmm… Aha! If you have someone for rituals, summon help from the Norse pantheon, they’re always up for a fight. Or you can try the demonic planes if you're willing to pay.”

  Damian quickly shook his head, “What would it cost to hire the Norse forces?”

  He doubted anyone back home would be thrilled with the idea of a bunch of demons running around, even if they were helping. Plus, the price they had to pay would likely be too steep, unless it was the absolute last resort.

  “Your home has a large alcohol variety, they’d request a lot of their favorite,” Maladus shrugged. “The Norse are simple: good fight, good drink, and a good feast go far. One of the more liked pantheons for that.”

  “And how do I summon them?” Damian asked.

  Maladus shook his head. “That requires a separate deal, magical ritual knowledge, not the general state of the universe.”

  Damian clicked his tongue but that was a reasonable point. He would figure out what to trade later but, for now, he would just have to settle for general knowledge.

  “Fine. Next question then. What happens after we close all the scenarios on Earth?” Damian decided that he might as well prepare for the next problem before it arises.

  Maladus grinned widely, “Why after that you enter the great competition between the powers of the universe. The system will connect you to other planets that have also completed their integration, and you will compete against them for fame, glory, power, and resources, as you fight to top the rankings chart.”

  Damian blinked. No…... that couldn’t be it, there was no way that the system descending to Earth and changing his world’s way of life was to make them compete in a universal version of ultimate gladiator/survivor. If that was the case, then why spawn monsters on the planet at all? Why not just use scenarios and trials and leave the rest of the world alone? It’s not like there aren’t a bunch of people on Earth who would willingly jump at the chance to gain power and fame, especially on a universal scale. By the look on Maladus’ face, he guessed what Damian was thinking.

  “Sorry to tell you friend but it is that simple. It is true that the system’s original purpose was to create warriors, hunters, and scholars to eradicate the scourge of monsters from existence, but that time has long passed and the only vestiges of monsters are what the system itself creates and allows to propagate on new planets it finds as it expands.”

  “But…...why…...what’s the point.” Damian was dumbfounded.

  “As far as anyone can tell the AI that oversees the running of the system refused to terminate itself. If it couldn’t make warriors to fight a present threat? It could make warriors that are the pinnacle of their species, to fight against any future threat that may appear. After the eighth millennia of no new threat presenting itself, the system grew bored. While trying to decide its next course of action, it discovered survival game shows and the rest was history.” Maladus wryly explained.

  Damian sat there for a while in silence, taking that in. So many people had died, because some jumped-up program wanted to watch what amounted to fantasy Survivor. It was just dumb enough, that he could only start laughing. Of course, the end of the world would be some cosmic entities reality show. What was that saying again? Man plans and God laughs? It was so absurd, yet he couldn’t even bring himself to muster up the energy to get mad, he could only laugh hysterically. If he didn’t, he might just break down crying at all the friends and family he lost because an AI was bored.

  “When I get back to Earth, I’m finding the nearest tech bro that was working on AI technology, and kicking him in the dick.” Damian said after he finally calmed himself down.

  Maladus gave him a look tinged with pity and understanding and proceeded to pull out a bottle of wine and passed it over to Damian. Damian took a long swig before deciding to pose his next question.

  “How do demons work? I thought crossroads demons were supposed to look human. Are you part of the Abrahamic religion?”

  Maladus smiled glad to move to lighter topics, “I am only half demon, my mother is a Lares Viales, a spirit that worked for Hecate-Diana from the Greco-Roman pantheon before deciding to join the Nine Hells as a crossroads demon. My father was a satyr she met at a party. As for your second question, no I am part of the Nine Hells, which is an independent demon faction that tends to operate as merchants. There are multiple demonic factions that aligned themselves with various pantheons for one reason or another.”

  “Fascinating!” Damian took another swig then passed the bottle back to Maladus, “Then what about the various pantheons? Do they all exist or just a select few?”

  Maladus accepted the bottle and took a swig himself before answering, “All of them exist and mostly tolerate each other rather than coexist. They all have to compete for mortal faith; it’s why the Abrahamic faction tends to be the most……let’s say contentious of the factions. It is both the youngest faction and has the most zealous followers. Think crusades but they never ended. Then learned that there are other planets that follow “pagan gods” instead of the good lord Yahweh.”

  “Ah yeah, I can see where that might cause some friction.” Damian admitted.

  His own world had lost a lot of culture and religious practices from most mythologies due to the…...enthusiasm of some members of the Christian faith. Thankfully, the majority of followers of the religion are decent people, and the religion as a whole has mellowed out over the recent centuries.

  He was still upset from when he learned that most of what was known of Norse mythology, was written by a Christian. While they did their best to keep to the soul of the old stories, they were recording them for fellow Christians. There was always going to be editing and biases that fit their worldview. In hindsight it made sense, given that the only god to survive Ragnar?k was Baldur the Norse god of light, should have been obvious that there was some major editing going on. Damian shook his head and refocused he had one more thing to do before completing the trial.

  “What will it cost to learn that ritual to contact the Norse pantheon” Damian asked determination burning in his eyes.