Chapter 617: Fate Showdown

“Your Highness Hegel,” Lich King had already learned the Dark Elemental King’s name from the contract. He spread his hands, “You choose first. The first game is Victory Race? Spectacular War? Death Game? Oh, Prinz, introduce the rules to the nearby guests later, especially ‘Aguile’. After all, both parties on this table can’t hear anything outside the game area after the start of the game.”

“Yes, the supreme Your Highness Lich King.” Prinz gave a deep salute, but when he floated in front of Chen Rui and the others, he returned to that kind of arrogant manner.

“Hmph!” Hegel glanced at Chen Rui, “The first game, let’s start with the simplest Victory Race. Best of 3.”

“Okay, start.”

As soon as he said, the light of the entire card table flashed. When the Death G.o.d’s scythe waved, the cards flew up and flipped open on the table. Chen Rui clearly saw that these cards had various images such as humans with a crown, demons, generals in armor, as well as the sun, moon, and staff. There were a total of dozens of cards.

Prinz on the side began to introduce the games. In the Victory Race, there were a total of 64 cards divided into main card and secondary card. The main card had 2 camps, Order and Chaos. There were 5 types of Order main cards including Golden King, Silver Queen, Glorious Cavalry, Champion Swordsman and Farmer; the Chaos main cards included King of Darkness, Phantom Concubine, Evil Magician, Demon Warrior, and Demon Slave. There were 4 main cards of these 10 types.

The Order secondary card consisted of the sun, staff, crossed swords, and so on. There were also moon, poison dagger, cloak, and so on that corresponded to the Chaos secondary card. The neutral cards included star, gem, wood, mineral, and crystal lamp. 1 card for each type.

The rule of the Victory Race was to draw 5 main cards and 1 secondary card within 10 seconds. The one with the largest card pattern would win.

The largest was Order or Chaos’ set of 5, such as king, queen, cavalry, swordsman and farmer;

The next was 4 same-type cards in the same camp. For example, 4 kings plus 1 farmer or 4 farmers plus 1 king would be of the same level;

The third was the 3 same-type cards plus 1 pair in the same camp, such as 3 cavalry plus 2 swordsmen;

Then it was 2 pairs or 3 same-type cards from the camp…

The lowest was a mixed camp with no pair and sequence.

According to Chen Rui, this was somewhat similar to Texas Hold’em on Earth. Namely the straight flush, 4-of-a-kind, flush, straight, and so on, but the rules were slightly different. Nonetheless, the secondary card rules explained by Prinz were very intriguing. In the Victory Race. The role of a secondary card was crucial. The main cards’ pattern must correspond to the secondary card’s camp in order to be established. Otherwise, it would be invalidated and directly lost.

For example, Chen Rui got the greatest “straight flush” Order main card which was a set of king, queen, cavalry, swordsman, and farmer. The secondary card that must be drawn was the sun, staff, and crossed swords in order for this straight flush to be effective; if the Chaos’ secondary card like the moon or poison dagger was drawn, then the straight flush was invalid. Even if the opponent got the smallest mixed cards, he would win.

At this time, if the secondary card drawn by Chen Rui was neutral, it would also be valid, but something more unpredictable would happen. The players would draw 1 from each others’ cards to determine the size. The “straight flush” just now might become the smallest mixed cards.

There was no such restriction on the card pattern of the mixed camp, but this card was also the smallest level.

After the card was checked, the card game began. 62 cards flipped to the back and started to automatically mix and shuffle at a super high speed. Even Chen Rui’s eyes couldn’t keep up with that speed.

What Prinz said was true. This kind of magic card game was not simple. In addition to skills, it also needed strong spirit power as a backing. In the shuffling stage alone, a considerable amount of spirit power must be spent to judge. The more accurate the judgment, the smaller the error and the higher the winning rate. Except that both sides had selected the same card, then during this fleeting time, they would use spirit power to execute a high-speed and fierce compet.i.tion.

Of course, the luck factor was equally important.

The 62 cards were spread again. The pattern on some of the cards began to have a star which could not be noticed if one didn’t look carefully. The cards with a star represented the secondary cards, and the rest were the main cards. This kind of “label” didn’t appear before the shuffle.

Soon, several cards began to move quickly and appeared at their table. In the blink of an eye, the remaining cards in the center of the table burned up and disappeared, leaving only the 6 cards chosen by each side in front of them.

Glorios’ voice sounded, “Your Highness Hegel, since you are the guest, you will show the cards first.”

According to the rules, both sides need to show the main cards first, then the secondary card. When Hegel’s mind s.h.i.+fted, the 5 cards were flipped over. 3 King of Darkness, 1 Phantom Concubine, 1 Evil Magician. The same camp with 3 same-type cards. It was considered a high card pattern.

“Sigh, it seems that my luck is a bit worse than Your Highness.” Glorios turned over his own card which was also of the Chaos camp. 2 Demon Warriors, 2 Demon Slaves, and 1 King of Darkness. 2 pairs of the same camp which was just 1 step lower than Hegel’s.

Next, they opened the secondary cards. 1 was “moon” and the other was “cloak”. Both card patterns were valid. Hegel won the first game. The table began to s.h.i.+ne a golden light. The cards of both sides disappeared. A new deck of cards appeared in the center of the Death again.

“Your Highness Hegel’s strength is really extraordinary. Your Highness took this King of Darkness first just now. Otherwise, it is likely to be a draw. But… this way, the game will become more and more interesting. Let’s start the second round.” Glorios grinned. The skull’s smiling face gave people gooseb.u.mps.

The cards of Glorios in the second game were 2 kings, 1 queen, 1 cavalry, and 1 farmer. A pair from the same camp. Hegel’s cards were 2 Demon Concubine, 1 mage and 2 Demon Slaves. 2 pairs of the same camp which were larger than Glorios’. However, when the secondary card was revealed, the red light in Hegel’s eyes flashed suddenly. It turned out that his secondary card was actually a “sun” of the Order camp, which was equivalent to be invalid. Meanwhile, the secondary card of Glorios was a staff, so his card pattern was valid.

“Hmph!” Hegel snorted. He was strongly interfered with by Glorios’ spirit power when he was judging. As a result, he missed a step, made a mistake, and drew a fatal secondary card.

Lich King let out an evil laughter, “Currently, it’s 1 win and 1 loss, so it’s just a tie. The next round is the most exciting deciding game.”

The 3rd round began. After the shuffle, many cards spread on the table were actually blurred. In Chen Rui’s concentrated eyes, this blurry feeling was actually caused by the high-speed compet.i.tion between both sides. 10 seconds pa.s.sed quickly. The extra cards were burned automatically. Everyone’s attention fell on the 12 cards of Hegel and Glorios.

“Please show your cards first, Your Highness Hegel.”

The 5 main cards in front of Hegel were opened. They were king, queen, cavalry, swordsman, and farmer. A full set of Order camp cards which was the biggest straight flush. As long as the secondary card was also an Oder card, he would undoubtedly win or at least not lose this round unless the final valid card of Lich King was also a straight flush.

Glorios seemed to ponder. If there was flesh on the skull’s face, his brows were probably already frowning. The Lich King turned over his card.

1 King of Darkness, 2 Evil Magicians, and 2 Demon Slaves. 2 pairs of the same camp. It was not a small set, but it looked eclipsed in front of the ‘straight flush’.

Next came the most critical secondary card. Hegel smiled proudly. In everyone’s gasping breath, the secondary card slowly opened. A ‘crossed swords’!

The dark elementals cheered. The card pattern is valid! Our king won!

“As the Dark Elemental King, you actually chose the deck of Order. It’s an ironic victory,” Lich King laughed strangely, “But you have to wait for the trump card to be revealed to know whether you really win.”

Chen Rui had a bad omen. He watched too many movies about the King of Gamblers and G.o.d of Gamblers. In the final stage of the final battle, it seemed that the first to reveal the cards was basically the loser…

Hegel suddenly thought of something. The red glow in his pupils suddenly shrank. The Lich King’s secondary card opened- ‘Stars’.

Neutral secondary card!

Then, both sides would draw 1 of each other’s cards at the same time. With the current cards, Lich King was the Chaos card, and the Dark Elemental King was the Order card. Once the 2 drew, no matter what the draw was, both sides would change to the smallest mixed card pattern. The Lich King had at least 1 pair of cards. In conclusion, Hegel lost!

The surrounding cheers stopped abruptly. The Lich King’s ghastly laughter sounded, “Your Highness did not make the mistake of the last time. You repelled my mental interference, and not only grabbed the largest card pattern, but you also got the corresponding secondary card. Unfortunately, the world is unpredictable. I won this Victory Race.”

Hegel’s eyes shone in great red light, then he gradually regained his composure, “Good means, but the real winner is the one who laughs last. Let’s start the second game immediately, Spectacular War.”

Spectacular War was another way to play magic cards. Both sides had a 50-story spectacular building to be built. The cards could be used to build one’s own building or demolish the other’s building. The spectacular building had a total of 100 floors.

The criterion for determining the outcome was which side’s spectacular building was built or destroyed first. If the winner was not determined within half an hour, the side with the highest spectacular building layer would be the winner.

The number of cards was not limited to 62 cards. After a set was drawn, the cards would be shuffled again until the end.

In this kind of game, each person drew 5 cards at a time. Both parties drew again after they played 1 round. No matter whether the cards were played or not, they always kept 5 cards in their hands. The functions of the main card and secondary card had changed. The main function of the main card was to damage each other. The single king was the largest, then there were pairs and 3-of-a-kind. The more cards, the greater the damage. The most special was 4-of-a-kind which could become a “bomb” that destroyed everything. However, this “bomb” was a bit special. It would not only blow up 4 floors of the opponent’s building, but it would also destroy 2 floors of one’s own building. So, it should be used with caution.

The role of the secondary card was to build. The secondary cards of the same camp could add 2 floors to your own building; 1 floor for different camps. Neutral camp would add 1 floor to both sides. The effect of the sun, moon, and stars would be doubled.

This was a one-off game. Since Hegel had already lost 1 game before, if he lost again, he would be completely defeated, so the Dark Elemental King was extremely focused.

Hegel chose the Chaos spectacular building. When he won with the attack card of the Chaos camp, he would deal double damage. Lich King chose the Order spectacular building. 2 3D buildings appeared on the card table, facing each other from afar. 1 emitted a faint black mist, and the other was s.h.i.+ning with golden brilliance. The workers were building underneath, and there was a number “50” label beside it which was very vivid.

The stacked cards were automatically distributed to Hegel and Glorios, and stopped after 5 cards were distributed. When Glorios threw a pair of Demon Warriors, the center of the table flashed light. All of a sudden, 2 huge Demon Warriors appeared, waving their flails and walking toward Hegel’s spectacular building step by step in a roar.

Hegel threw out the card in his hand. 2 Glorious Cavalries wearing full body armor and holding cavalry spears appeared on the ‘battlefield’, urging the silver armored warhorse to rush toward the Demon Warriors.

Under the powerful charge of the cavalries, the Demon Warriors were shattered. The shadow of the charge struck near the spectacular building of Glorios. The spectacular building shook. Under the action of a pair of cards plus different camps, it lowered 4 floors and became “46”.

Next, Hegel played a card. A golden staff inlaid with a red gem stood on his spectacular building, emitting a strong white light. The construction speed was increased immediately, adding 1 floor. Then, the staff disappeared. Since the ‘staff’ was an Order secondary card, his Chaos spectacular building could only add 1 layer. After Hegel played the biggest single card King of Darkness, Glorios chose to give up. The spectacular building became 51:45.

There was only 1 card left in Hegel’s hand. If he was restrained by the opponent, his spectacular building would be reduced, so the Dark Elemental King did not play any more cards. When both sides gave up, they started to draw cards again. Hegel drew 4 cards and Glorios drew 2. Both sides still had 5 cards in their hands. A new round began.

The sacred and majestic Golden King, berserk and bold King of Darkness, the dignified and beautiful Silver Queen, the charming and moving Phantom Concubine, the fair and rigorous Glorious Cavalry, the weird and tricky Evil Magician… The pictures on these cards were displayed in front of everyone in a gorgeous and vivid posture. They began to battle. Both the image and the fighting effect were breathtaking, but behind this dazzling scene, there was a cruel gambling game of life and death.

Under fierce offense and defense, the spectacular building of both sides was constantly changing. The attacks on both sides were very precise. Sometimes one spectacular building was about to be destroyed, but it was increased by playing several consecutive secondary cards; the spectacular building of the opponent was now in a crisis.

After several exchanges, the battle situation had entered the most exciting stage. Hegel’s spectacular building only had the last 3 floors while Glorios had 6 floors. With 3 cards in each side’s hand, Glorios played a pair of Evil Magicians. Hegel couldn’t do anything to it and chose to skip it. Only the last layer of the spectacular building was left.

Glorios played the only single card Glorious Cavalry in an attempt to give Hegel a fatal blow. At the critical moment, Hegel played a King of Darkness which cut the spectacular building of Glorios to 4 floors. This also gave him an important first mover in the next round.

In the next round of card draws, Hegel played the 3 Phantom Concubines that determined the outcome. The triple card plus the double of the same camp equaled 6 layers of damage. He finally destroyed Glorios’ 4 floors in one fell swoop at a critical moment. A decisive victory was achieved.

The victory of Glorios in the first “Victory Race” and the victory of Hegel in the second “Spectacular War ” meant that both sides had returned to the same starting line. It all depended on the most critical third game, the Death Game.

TL: Will Hegel win in the end?