Whispering Verse

In the silence of the small dark room, on Mr. Riddle's side, the light from the monsters above the cards illuminated his face.

Unable to wait for the god's answer, the fifth era prophet turned to look at Shade behind him.

Shade nodded:

"I think the next step is to see how courageous we are."

"Don't worry, sir, I have nothing but courage now."

The man, who was very slovenly because he hadn't showered for a long time, pressed the sleeve of his right hand with his left hand, and put [Impermanence of All Things and Balance] in the seventh groove in front of him with his right hand.

Just as Shade calculated, the size of the Rhodes card is exactly the same as the groove size of the gaming table. Even when Mr. Riddle was about to place the cards, [Impermanence and Balance] seemed to be actively sucked into the groove.

Both Shade and Mr. Riddle were extremely nervous at the moment. And the five witches (note) on the table, as well as the devil, sea monster and dragon, all looked at this groove.

Suddenly there was a sound from the wall of the room, and it was the corpses with different degrees of decay speaking:

"Cards I haven't seen in a long time."

"It turns out that everything is impermanent."

The two sentences come from two different voices and even use completely different languages.

"It's a balancing force."

"In gambling, I hate balance the most."

The overlapping sounds were almost unrecognizable to Shade, and as the corpses opened their mouths, the cards embedded in the grooves really began to glow.

A dark golden small scale appeared above the cards, and in front of the black-robed god, the sixth witch also officially appeared.

The flowing light streams of various colors converged in front of the fourteen cards along the grooves towards the center of the table. Witches, demons, sea monsters and dragons all flew towards the center of the table to start the battle. The magic sword was controlled by the demon, and the cannibals The house protects the monsters at the back, while the altar of the old gods shelters the witch.

The battle became more and more real. Just the shock wave generated by the witches' light bomb attack after contact almost knocked the weak Mr. Riddle to the ground.

Just like last time, the quality gap could not make up for the quantity gap for the time being. In an increasingly realistic six-on-three battle, Mr. Riddle's side was completely at a disadvantage.

"Why doesn't this card work?"

Mr. Riddle asked in surprise, and Shade also frowned.

Obviously there is a dark gold scale above [Impermanence·Balance], indicating that the table accepts the effect of this card. But the scale just floated quietly above the cards and had no effect on the game.

"Feel something?"

Shade asked in his heart.

[That gaming table has elements of wonder, blasphemy, enlightenment and whispers. 】

But Shade wanted to know more details, so he reached out and touched his [Origin·Balance].

But this time, his hand was still bounced away from the gaming table. If he hadn't been prepared, Shade might have been knocked to the far wall again.

"Could it be..."

Telling Mr. Riddle not to worry, Shade, who was holding his wrist, suddenly thought of a possibility. No matter whether they are people from the Fifth Era or people from the Sixth Era, they may not be able to compare with the outsider Sha De in terms of knowledge. This kind of knowledge does not refer to mystical knowledge, but some fantastic ideas:

"Mr. Riddle, hold that scale!"

"What?"

The prophet was a little confused, but he soon understood what he meant. He opened his eyes slightly and looked at the stone table:

"You mean..."

Stretch out your hand and carefully hold the lower end of the scale. After hesitating for a moment, he closed his palms. So, the golden scale was really held in his palm. Golden traces of light rose into the sky, slightly illuminating the originally dark areas of the room.

When the light trace disappeared, Mr. Riddle seemed to be stunned, still holding the scale.

"How about it?"

Shade asked nervously, worried that his proposal would hurt this ordinary person.

Mr. Riddle was really in a daze, and after a few seconds he said:

"This item is judged to be a prop on the gambling table. Before the end of the gambling game, I can use it to interfere with the two sides fighting. Increase the strength of our side and suppress the strength of the other side."

This is quite similar to Iluna's talent.

“But what’s the cost of using a scale?”

"Calculated on a per-time basis, with a lifespan of three months each time, it can be used up to three times before the end of the gambling game."

He carefully released the scale, letting it float quietly above [Impermanence and Balance].

"Don't use it, at least not yet. Mr. Riddle, put the remaining two cards into the slot as well."

Shade reminded, and the prophet, who had experienced the impact of information for the first time, still nodded in confusion after a few seconds. This time he picked up [Impermanence and Darkness].

As Mr. Riddle's eighth card entered the groove, an eighth card also appeared on the god's side. But this time the card is no longer a witch, nor is it the altar that appeared once, but a temple.

The shadow of the temple model appeared on the table on the side of the god, covering the six witches, and together with the altar, provided them with more powerful power. The influx of new powers has made demons, dragons and sea monsters even more dangerous, because [Impermanence and Darkness] also does not provide power, but becomes a prop.

It was a black robe, or robe-like cloth. Mr. Riddle grabbed it in his hand, and sure enough he got the message again:

"This can be used as a gambling table prop. After use, several black vortices will appear in the battle field of the gambling table. For us, the vortex can move in space and heal, while for the enemy, getting close to the vortex will cause them to continue to lose strength."

"What's the price?"

"Only used once, pays for one year of life."

"Don't use it yet."

But the situation on the table was already quite dangerous. Mr. Riddle let go of the little robe, but did not touch the last card:

"Sir, if we don't reverse the situation now, it will become more difficult later. I at least want to tilt the balance of the gambling game slightly toward the middle."

With that said, he ignored Shade's objection and held the dark golden scale again.

Shade immediately reached out and held Mr. Riddle's shoulders behind him. The prophet in brown robes turned his head slightly to look at the hand with golden cracks on his shoulder, and then looked up at Shade's face:

"Sir, this is the gamble of my life."

His eyes looked at Shade, and Shade saw determination:

"I just hope you can think about it, humans don't have many three months."

"But in order to defeat the gods, even if it is just to defeat the gods at the gambling table, three months of life is very worth it. When I return to my hometown and sit under the tree in a leisurely afternoon and brag about my courage to the children, this thing I can talk about it many times... provided I can still remember it."

He said with a smile, without much regret in his tone. Shade sighed, nodded, and took back his hand.

So Mr. Riddle held the scale in his right hand and looked at the gaming table. Then he threw it gently, and the dark golden scale flew directly above the gaming table.

The balance was originally balanced at both ends, but after it rested above the center of the table, it slowly tilted toward Mr. Riddle.

Dark golden light fragments sprinkled down, and the intensity of the spiritual light on the witches was obviously weakened, while the bodies of the demons, dragons, and squirming sea monsters grew in size by at least one circle.

The shadow of the dark golden scale remained directly above the table, and the scale itself returned to the top of the card. The strengthened demons led their companions to rush towards the witch. This time, they had a clear upper hand.

"Just one use and it completely turned the tide."

Shade thought in surprise, and then saw Mr. Riddle put [Original Silver Moon] into the ninth groove.

The seventh witch appeared in front of the god. After joining the battle, the two sides were evenly matched, but Mr. Riddle's side still had the advantage.

This time, what emerged from the top of the card was a silver ball, or...

"Silver Moon?"

Looking at the shrunken moon, Shade felt like he couldn't breathe for some reason. He wanted to reach out and touch the moon, but he knew that the gambling table would not allow him, an outsider, to interfere rashly.

"Is there something wrong with my body?"

【everything is normal. 】

"but now......"

[This is your psychological problem. 】

Mr. Riddle had already held the moon and waited for a few seconds before telling Shade the answer:

"Silver Moon can also be used as a gambling table prop. When I use it, I can summon a round of Silver Moon, and the battle field will be defaulted to 'night'. This will not affect the opponent, but all creatures in our field, It automatically has the effect of healing injuries under the moonlight, and can use the power related to the moon. The specific form of the ability is determined by the basic card. It can only be used once in a gamble, and it pays for three years of life at a time."

"Basic cards?"

"Oh, those are the real life experience cards."

Mr. Riddle explained that the reason why Shade frowned was not because he heard unfamiliar terms, but because the gambling rules of this gambling table seemed more complicated and complete than imagined.

But if this kind of game can only be completed on this table, then the rules that are so complete and huge that even refuse to be fully explained are somewhat incomprehensible. So, maybe there is more than one similar table, or maybe... there was a game of life that really existed in the past and was popular among ordinary people.

"Sir, there is one last spot left."

Mr. Riddle interrupted Shade's thinking. Because there were no new monsters on his side this time, the game was very fast this time. Now, only 10 minutes and 23 seconds have passed since Shade arrived here. It seems that he finally has some time left.

"Do you have any other similar playing cards?"

The ancient prophet asked with expectation. Shade was familiar with this look of wanting to see new things.