Aeternus watched their change in emotions with glee. He is enjoying himself tremendously. The worst thing you can give a hopeless person is hope. They will do anything and give up everything for that hope.
He chuckled to himself. "This is good. This is very good."
If he had said with certainty that he would free the last person, they wouldn't have believed him. They will understand his words to be an attempt to rile them up. They won't believe him because they think he is toying with them.
But he offered uncertainty and with it came hope. Now they don't know if he is toying with them or not. They don't know if the hope is real or false but it is hope. It is the speck of light in an otherwise dark dungeon. They will grasp hold of this opportunity so that they won't lose it. After all, there is nothing to lose but their lives itself. They are going to die anyway. But by fighting well, they stand a chance of surviving.
"Do you understand me?" He asked them again.
"Yes, Your Excellency. We understand."
"We understand you very clearly."
They replied in the affirmative. All of them answered his question except the hellhound. All three of her heads glared daggers at him. She doesn't want to indulge him. Her behavior made him chuckle. Even her stubbornness is amusing to him.
He ignored her and continued to address them, "Now, you will form three teams. The Level 7 stick in the mud will be on her own. The remaining four of you will split into two teams of two each. The three teams will fight each other in an open match until only one team is left. That is the first round. Take note that you must work together with your teammates within the first round. You mustn't hurt or attack them. There will be serious consequences if you do. I will make sure of it."
He let the severity of the situation sink into them by giving them a hard stare. They all looked away from his direct line of sight except the hellhound who maintained her glare. But even she had to look away from his bright golden eyes because of the increasing pressure his attention brings to her.
"The first round will end when only one team is left. That might just be one or both of you in a team. If you're two, then you will fight each other in the second round. Whoever attains victory in the second round and does so in an entertaining manner gets a chance to survive."
"Only one person can live among all of you. So pick your partners carefully. You have a day to communicate amongst yourselves and pick partners. The partnership should be mutual. You can't force someone to be your partner. If you don't have a partner by the end of the period to select one, then you fight alone in your own team."
He asked them, "Any questions?"
None of them had any questions. They shook their heads quickly indicating their lack of questions. Except for the hellhound who remained stubborn. But even she had to shake her head when the space around her head pushed her head side to side.
He clapped excitedly and said, "Then, let the game begin."
He released his hold on them and returned to his throne by bending space to his will. He is the Sovereign of this dominion so he knows everything going on within it and he can go anywhere too. It is not easy work. It can be stressful sometimes. He is a hardworking demon king and he needs entertainment to relieve his stress. That's what these five demon kings are here for.
He will watch them kill each other and be happy about it. He made sure to demarcate the space they are in from the rest of the plane so that their fight won't affect the nice plane that he worked so hard to set up.
The demon kings stared at each other and began scheming. All four of the level 5 demon kings considered each other. They were partners in crime a few minutes ago. They banded together to come and rob the Reaper. Now they are to fight and kill each other until only one remains. Their contract of non-violence won't protect them now. They have to fight each other if they want to live. The upcoming conflict is unavoidable.
All 5 of them are enemies but one of them will be their ally for the first round. So they are torn about who they want as their partner. Ideally, they want a strong ally that will be of help to them in passing the first round. They also want an ally that they can defeat if they need to. But everyone else wants the same thing.
No one wants to pick a partner that is strong enough to kill them. That also means that they don't want that person to be their enemy either. They are at an impasse. The only alternative is being alone for the first round but that is a worse idea. They will have to fight two against one.
They don't know what to do. Only one person knows what they want to do. And that person is the one without any allies. The level 7 hellhound will have to fight on her own. She is strong on her own, but that's why she knows that whatever these four choose, all of them will gang up on her in the first round.
They have to eliminate her with their full strength early on or none of them will stand a chance against her. So she sought to eliminate her threats early.
The hellhound opened her mouth and prepared to blast the four of them to smithereens. Killing one of them will make her chances of survival higher but she doesn't need to concentrate on a single person thanks to her three heads. She can attack 3 of the 4 of them at once and she decided to do just that.