How I became the Empress of Hell
4.0: Arc 4 Intro

“Hello everyone, and welcome to the first official ‘Overthrow the Overlord PvP Challenge.’ My name is Tess, and I will be your Mistress and Moderator for these momentous matches of mayhem and murder. I’m sure you’re all primed and ready to start playing with us… but we need to briefly go over the rules and how everything is going to work before we can really start having fun.”

Tessa paused for a moment, letting the multitude of participants hang on her every word.

“The castle has been enchanted with Tier 7 enchantments that prevent any combat outside of the dueling rooms, and protect against scrying, spying, stealing, or anything else that might be considered a hindrance to the clan. Should any of your actions trip the enchantments, you will receive a single warning to cease whatever it is you are doing before the full effects of the enchantments activate and your character is instantly killed. Nothing like the threat of instantaneous death to make sure you all stay good boys and girls.”

She glared at the crowd gathered in front of her before a small smile appeared back on her face.

“As many of the Angelspawn will have noticed, your Corruption meters will be unaffected by demonic presences while within the bounds of the enchanted castle. And since there are bound to be a few full angels out there, we went ahead and made sure all our fellow Demonspawn are immune to the Redemption effects as well. Finally, since this is a PvP tournament, and death is a very real possibility, we’ve set up an enchantment that allows players to respawn within the bounds of the castle without any penalties. This means you are all allowed to fight and die without the fear of resetting, so feel free to die as much as you want!!”

“OK, doom and gloom aside, let’s get to the reason you’re all here: the PvP challenge!”

The excitement in the room instantly shot up and Tessa waited for a moment for the crowd to quiet.

“Your ultimate goal is to face the mighty Overlord Allexus herself… but in order to do that, you will have to face her minions and triumph over them before you can even think about taking a shot at her. Each team will have a total of five rounds to score a minimum of 4 points in order to advance to the final challenge of fighting the Overlord. Earning points is simple: you just need to defeat the enemy team in order to score 1 point. But… since Holy Damnation isn’t exclusively a PvP game, we’ve also added a random objective you can complete that will score you 1 point. The objectives will be completely random and unique to the room you are in, but they will consist of things like activating summoning circles, deciphering puzzles, or destroying some random hidden object. Your teams will have a total of five minutes to complete each round and score as many points as you are able.” 

She paused for a moment, looking for signs of understanding on everyone's’ faces before continuing.

“Teams can be formed up to two people, and you will face the same number of enemies as you have team members. You can challenge at any levels, since we’ve enchanted each PvP room to automatically adjust the levels of the enemies you’ll face to match those of the challengers. The enemies your teams will fight will be chosen completely at random, but you won’t ever fight the same enemy twice.  

“Every participant will receive 5 single use Level Up! items, regardless of how many points they score. Teams only need 4 points to be able to challenge the Overlord, so it is entirely up to you how you want to go about getting those points. But… there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from attempting to score as many points as possible. Because… scoring more points means earning more rewards. And boy oh boy… are there some sweet rewards y’all can earn.”

Looks of eager determination were evident on each of the participants upon hearing the word rewards. Tessa let the excitement build for a moment before holding up her hand. The entire room went silent and she let out an amused chuckle before speaking.

“Damn, I’m good… seems I already have all of you trained like good boys and girls… annnnnnnyways… If you manage to beat the Overlord’s minions and accumulate at least 4 points, you will have the option of facing the Overlord herself in a special match. In order to succeed against her, you will have a special objective you must complete before time runs out or… far more likely… she brutally slaughters you in the most horrific way imaginable.”

Tessa let out the perfect evil villainess laugh before fixing her gaze on the crowd and grinning. 

“Alrighty! Who’s ready to kick things off?! I know I am!”

The crowd practically roared with approval and Tessa’s smile only widened in response. Her small demonic fangs were on full display as she cheered along with everyone else.

“Hell yeah! Then let’s get this fucker started!!”