Chapter 206: Dekan’s Pot of Black Schemes Implodes
In the VIP room of Enote Club,
The room, which should have been brimming with entertainment, was now filled with an academic atmosphere akin to a classroom.
The card table had been turned into Fahim’s personal desk.
Fahim, wearing glasses, was deeply engrossed in studying an array of runes.
Suddenly, he felt a shiver and stopped his work.
“What… is happening?”
Fahim frowned, putting down the blueprints in his hands and quietly listening for any disturbance. He had already silently cast “Corrosive Destruction” on every staff member remaining in the club to silence them.
“Corrosive Destruction”
“Type: Spell Card”
“Rank: Orange Epic”
“Class: 7”
“Effect: Adds the ‘Corrosion’ status to all designated targets within a 100-meter radius. The body under the corrosion state will gradually rot and disintegrate, lasting 60 seconds, the corrosion status cannot be cleansed by purification.”
“Note: Accelerates the cycle of life”
This spell card triggered silently, and Fahim often used it to kill without a trace.
There shouldn’t be any other living thing in the club now apart from “Krey” who went outside for a stroll a while ago.
Fahim traveled the world, often lodging in rural homes, but no commoner ever remembered his face.
People who saw him mostly disappeared overnight without a trace.
The “Corrosion” status could only be forced to dispel or endured.
Anyone weak who was hit by Fahim’s card was as good as dead.
At least a seventh-class priest would have to endure the full 60 seconds through healing effects of sacred magic to survive it.
Of course, Fahim also had other “reduce healing effectiveness” cards that cooperated with this core spell.
“Body Destruction”
“Type: Spell Card”
“Rank: Orange Epic”
“Class: 4”
“Effect: Rapidly destroys the target’s body. The higher the user’s magical power or the lower the target’s physical stamina makes the destruction more potent, and inflicts the ‘Severe Injury’ status on the target, reducing healing effects by 80%.”
“Note: Not even your bones will be spared”
Even without this spell card, Fahim himself could utilize similar spells.
After all, this taboo magic was created by him.
However, the effects and speed far exceeded those of using his masterpiece epic card as a medium.
That’s why the Sun God’s Church needs to outfit their pursuit team with several priests and even 8th-class priests to chase Fahim down.
…
Outside the club.
On the horizon, a figure was rushing towards Enote Club and arrived at its entrance within seconds.
Just as Krey barged into the club, his eyes were immediately caught by the suits of clothes on the ground in the hall.
Just clothes, no human forms, as if the owner of these clothes had vanished into thin air.
The air was filled with an unbearable stench worse than that of a rotting corpse.
This was undoubtedly the handiwork of Fahim’s “Body Destruction”.
Clearly, Fahim had utterly destroyed the bodies of these workers, leaving no trace behind.
However, besides the staff’s clothes, Krey quickly spotted a familiar set of clothes near the entry.
Krey remembered, this was the outfit Morion wore yesterday.
The owner of this set of clothes seemed to have crawled on the ground for a long time before dying, nearly escaping.
Nonetheless, everything was just a futile struggle, and they were ultimately consumed in complete despair.
No doubt about it.
Morion had fallen victim to Fahim’s cruel hand.
And Fahim seemed to toy with them, letting Morion crawl all the way to the door, leaving behind a final relic for Krey to discover the moment he entered.
Looking at this nightmarish scene, Krey clutched his head, feeling something inside his mind shatter.
Intense guilt and sorrow filled Krey’s heart.
Even though he lost a lot of money yesterday,
He didn’t dislike Morion.
He even considered Morion a worthy rival.
But his vow had turned into a joke, and he was the one who caused Morion’s death.
“Fahim!!!”
…
“Boom boom boom…”
In the VIP room, Fahim listened to the increasingly ominous sounds.
Although he didn’t know what was happening, he had already prepared for battle.
However, the attack that felt distant a moment ago had suddenly reached Fahim in the VIP room!
Krey, his face contorted with rage and his eyes blood-red, charged into the VIP room as if the walls didn’t exist.
His violent force sent rubble flying, revealing the extent of his wrath.
Just as Krey’s attack was about to strike Fahim, his fist was swallowed by a swamp-like force and the power dissipated completely.
Suddenly, a green slimy creature appeared before Fahim, blocking Krey’s attack.
Krey swiftly pulled his hand out from the muck, whereupon white mist curled up from his arm, revealing visible skin corrosion.
This summoned beast instantaneously swallowed up half of the card table, and its initially half-human-sized figure had grotesquely grown to nearly the size of an average person.
“Corrupted Alchemy Beast”
“Type: Summon Card”
“Rank: Orange Epic”
“Class: 8”
“Effect: Immune to physical attacks, attacking or being attacked up close causes strong corrosion. Upon summoning, consumes all nearby organic matter to increase in size and gains health proportional to the size increase.”
“Note: Corrupt until infinite growth!”
The bizarre summoned beast completely shielded Fahim.
Fahim retrieved other spell cards to cast a magical shield around himself.
“Krey, you bastard, how could you be such a bad loser?!”
Fahim felt rage surge within him as he saw the fruits of his labor destroyed by Krey’s sudden attack.
What made him even angrier was that –
Krey reneged on his word and attacked out of nowhere after saying he would accept his loss!
Fahim never encountered such a contemptible bastard!
“I’m a bad loser? You’re the one who deserves my wrath!”
Krey saw the purple card and Bishop’s Certificate in Fahim’s hand which he lost yesterday, confirming his suspicion.
Morion had truly fallen victim to Fahim’s cruelty.
Now Krey knew that he wouldn’t be able to reclaim his magical cards or the Bishop’s Certificate, but he still had the courage to fight Fahim.
After all, he still had three epic cards that he hadn’t lost yet.
Lightning energy surged in his hand as his arm transformed into pure white lightning.
“God of Thunder’s Arm”
“Type: Equipment Card”
“Rank: Orange Epic”
“Class: 6”
“Effect: Grants additional electrical damage to attacks and has a paralysis effect. Can perform ranged attacks.”
“Note: Crush darkness with thunder!”
Another accessory epic card Krey had already equipped before facing Fahim.
“Mad Chaos Magic Heart”
“Type: Equipment Card”
“Rank: Orange Epic”
“Class: 8”
“Effect: When in a state of anger, gains attribute boosts, the higher the anger, the stronger the effect. When anger reaches its peak, all damage becomes true damage.”
“Note: A person in an extreme state of anger bursts with unimaginable power.”
The wounds inflicted upon Krey by “Corrupted Alchemy Beast” were healing at an alarming rate thanks to his passive epic spell card “Extreme Regeneration.”
“Extreme Regeneration”
“Type: Spell Card”
“Rank: Orange Epic”
“Class: 6”
“Passive Effect: Increases recovery speed, the closer to death, the faster the recovery. Upon receiving a fatal blow, large amounts of mana can be used to immunize the mortal wound.”
“Note: As long as you’re not dead, you can fight like the undead.”
Krey felt his anger rising uncontrollably, as if some devil was stoking the fire of his fury.
But it didn’t matter. Abandoning reason would only make him stronger.
Fahim pocketed Krey’s cards and the seal, making sure he wouldn’t allow these stakes to be reclaimed by Krey.
Though Krey had the advantage, they couldn’t say for sure who would emerge victorious if both were at full strength due to mutual counter-actions.
However, with Krey lacking his accustomed and versatile cards, Fahim was obviously in a much more advantageous position!
But Fahim didn’t feel entirely secure.
After all, Krey was the bishop who relied on his cards the least.
Krey had a growth potential of strength S and stamina SS, coupled with “Extreme Regeneration” making him nearly invincible.
Even with countless fatal beatings, this tough guy kept surviving through multiple mistakes.
Fahim could only make two or three mistakes. Upon close approach, Krey’s consecutive attacks would be impossible to withstand.
Fahim was a short-ranged type of mage who usually didn’t hesitate to eradicate enemies close by till nothing remained.
However, he was unwilling to engage in battle at such a close distance with Krey, who resembled a berserking blood bull.
Therefore, despite having the advantage, Fahim could only temporarily hold Krey back with the “Corrupted Alchemy Beast”, continuously trying to create more distance with Krey.
“Fahim, you bastard!”
Krey roared in anger and madly chased after Fahim.
This situation created a bizarre impression where it seemed like Krey had the right and Fahim was in the wrong.
Though still boiling with rage, Fahim started to sense a sense of dissonance.
However, he was immediately overwhelmed by Krey’s relentless assault once again.
Krey seemed to have lost all reason, and even if Fahim tried to explain himself, Krey wouldn’t listen.
A fleeting moment of distraction allowed Fahim to be hit consecutively by Krey.
Despite his magical shield, Fahim still looked quite disheveled after Krey’s attacks.
Finally unable to contain his anger, Fahim made up his mind.
He wouldn’t forgive Krey today!
He would grab Krey with his own hands, turn him into an experiment, and torture him to death!!
…
On a distant rooftop, Chloix used an invisibility spell to conceal himself and Dekan.
Besides the roaring from Enote Club’s direction, the air also echoed with the sounds of laughter.
“Hahahahaha, hohohohohoho!!!”
Dekan couldn’t help but laugh, clutching his stomach.
He overlooked the trembling ground beneath the club, releasing another wide-range “Three Corpse Frenzy”.
Ensuring it covered the entire Enote Club.
When it was on cooldown, he would use it again.
Let Krey and Fahim fight to their heart’s content.
As of now, some things were beyond explanation.
The two bishops were now so blinded by hatred.
But Dekan also knew that this battle between the two bishops would be hard to end in a clear victory.
Neither Krey nor Fahim could truly kill or hold down the other side.
At most, they could fight each other until they were both exhausted before retreating before the high-ranking experts of the Randir Kingdom arrived.
But Dekan wouldn’t let such a thing happen.
He was still hanging around to watch.
“These bishops fighting is just too exaggerated. Even an eighth ranked professional struggles against them.”
Dekan remarked.
Take Krey for example, even the combined efforts of the Ice Snow Princess and Judith likely wouldn’t be enough to defeat him.
Without a healer encountering Fahim could even wipe out the whole team.
Even Dekan had no way to handle a Krey on top form.
If Krey equipped himself with cards like “Pain Blocker” and “Designator of Purification,” Dekan would have no chance against him.
Unfortunately, at this moment, Krey was an invincible super soldier and no longer posed a threat to Dekan.
Fahim was the problem.
Fahim had a full set of purple countermeasure cards.
That “Corrupted Alchemy Beast” was a large monster that Dekan simply couldn’t dispel.
Fortunately, there was Krey who could help him heavily wear Fahim down.
Then perhaps Dekan wouldn’t even need to use his newly created four-star cards to catch both bishops in a trap!
“Unfortunately, my newly created sister card didn’t have the chance to make an appearance.”
Dekan sighed.
He originally wanted his first sister card to make a splash in the Randir Kingdom.
This card he made after great effort without Master knowing.
For this, he even sacrificed a week’s worth of dinner for her to calm down.
“Splendid~World!”
Dekan hummed a little tune, swinging his legs on the rooftop.
After they fought for a little while longer, Dekan would make his move.
He couldn’t wait to see Fahim’s look of rage when the truth came out.
And the ever-diligent Krey working for him, seeing Dekan, how his expression would be when he finally understood.
This was truly expected.
Next to him Chloix’s eyes were closed as if he was barely enduring the effects of “Three Corpse Frenzy”.
But once he opened his eyes, he immediately noticed Dekan’s state.
“Alright, Dekan, don’t you think you look every bit the part of the Bishop of Pain right now…”
Chloix couldn’t help but comment even under invisibility.
“Do I? But it’s reasonable that the winner of these three bishops fighting is the Bishop of Pain.”
Dekan replied, his head tilting back as he spoke to the air behind him.
…
Far away on the outskirts of the capital city, amidst clouds of smoke, a huge figure was twisting on the battered ground.
It was the “Corrupted Alchemy Beast” expanded several times over. While it was protecting Fahim and continuously attempting to expand,
It was also being heavily attacked by Krey, the giant-sized alchemy beast wouldn’t last much longer against Krey’s all-out assault.
There was no more prey for it around.
Krey’s body was continuously cycling between corrosion and regeneration.
As long as his mana didn’t run out, he was invincible.
The battleground of Fahim and Krey returned to the ground, where the two finally ceased their combat to face off against each other.
They both looked somewhat exhausted, seemingly unwilling to continue to drag it on.
They had either to quickly settle the fight with a decisive strike or start thinking about escaping now.
Continuing would complicate the situation.
Despite not fearing the eighth-class experts from Randir Kingdom, it would be troublesome for them to face other such experts arriving in the capital city city during a life-and-death struggle.
Just as both seemed slightly willing to end the fight,
“Ho ho.”
With laughter, they soon noticed a figure hidden in the smoke.
Seemingly just coming and yet seemingly had been there for a long time.
The figure was about a hundred meters away from Krey, taking uncertain steps towards Krey and Fahim.
As if intent to help Krey against Fahim.
“Dekan…?”
Seeing Dekan approach the side of Krey, Fahim immediately had several pieces fall into place!
He finally understood the current situation.
There had been a subtle feeling of dissonance from the very beginning.
But Fahim could never pin down the problem or find evidence.
However, Fahim realized it clearly now – Dekan must have been pulling the strings!
Krey the bastard had been manipulated by Dekan, used as a pawn!
Yet, observing Krey’s mannerisms, it seemed his hatred was still entirely directed at Fahim, with no clear understanding of the situation!
“Krey! You…”
Just as Fahim was about to talk to Krey and clear things up, he found he couldn’t speak!
From afar,
Dekan was pressing his finger to his lips, a sinister smile on his face.
And in his other hand behind his back, Dekan held “My Silence Spell”.
“Ah!”
Fahim wanted to roar his frustration but couldn’t utter a word.
Now he faced a predicament –
To use or not to use “Purify”.
If the “Silence” status were purified, Dekan might disrupt Fahim’s communication with Krey by adding even more annoying statuses.
But silence must be broken right now!
Otherwise, Krey would continue to foolishly fight Fahim until death.
Though Fahim was not afraid of either Dekan or Krey on their own,
If he had to fight Krey with Dekan disrupting from the side, Fahim might not be able to defend himself!
These two combined, Fahim would prefer to run away.
However, immediately after Fahim broke the “Silence” and shouted to Krey,
He realized that the sounds around him had disappeared.
No doubt it was Dekan’s doing!
This time Dekan used “Silent Area” magic.
“Silent Area”
“Type: Spell Card”
“Rank: Purple Rare”
“Class: 2”
“Effect: Turns the specified area into a silent state, sustaining the Silent Area consumes a large amount of mana.”
“Note: Have you heard of a place quieter than -9.4 decibels?”
The angrier Fahim roared in frustration, the less he could hear his own voice.
This feeling was even worse than being silenced.
As Dekan insisted on blocking Fahim’s communication with Krey,
Fahim decided there was only one option left!
“Dekan! Do you think your scheme can continue indefinitely?!”
Fahim roared with anger, he would no longer risk attacking Krey.
Instead, he would do his utmost to attack Dekan and expose the scheme to Krey!
Fahim ordered “Corrupted Alchemy Beast” to change its target, circumventing Krey to assault Dekan behind Krey!
However, at the moment Fahim thought he was about to succeed,
“Fahim Comrade, let me help you! It’s time to reel in the net today!”
Dekan shouted, tossing a “Captain De’Erkan” figurine toward Krey.
Krey always harbored some antipathy toward Dekan and was quickly taunted by “Captain De’Erkan”.
Krey, due to attacking “Captain De’Erkan”, had his position changed and was stunned for a moment; thus, intercepting the attack from “Corrupted Alchemy Beast” and taking a solid hit from Fahim.
“???”
Fahim was momentarily baffled by Dekan’s actions.
Initially, it seemed like Dekan was going to join Krey to fight Fahim.
Now it appeared that Fahim and Dekan were front and back, surrounding and attacking Krey together!!
At this moment, even if Fahim could speak, it would be difficult to explain.
“I understand now, it’s because of you…”
Once freed from the taunting, Krey laughed with an icy anger.
“Fahim, the traitor we’ve been looking for is you!”
Krey screamed at Fahim.
Now completely enlightened, he knew he had completely fallen into Fahim’s and Dekan’s trap.
Already struggling to deal with Fahim while unable to recover his cards, adding Dekan to the mix made the situation utterly hopeless.
“Is this my disaster? Morion.”
Krey chuckled with a mix of sorrow and grim determination as he locked eyes on Fahim.
“Fahim, even if I die today, I will not let you off easily!”
Despite being in this situation, Krey’s best option would’ve been to escape.
But there was Fahim ahead and Dekan behind.
When Krey saw the “Captain De’Erkan” figurine thrown by Dekan, he realized there was no escape today.
Only a fight-to-the-death would provide any sliver of hope.
Krey once more dashed recklessly towards Fahim.
Fahim tried to scream at Krey, but his voice was silenced.
You damn bastard, attack Dekan first!
However, Fahim realized Dekan had already equipped a pain-reflection suit. Also bearing in mind that Krey wasn’t equipped with pain-blocking at the moment,
Krey’s first target was clear.
“Dekan, you son of a bitch!!!”
Fahim’s heart-wrenching roar was powerless to cross the soundproof wall of silence.
Someone who had always been obsessed with studying forbidden magic finally experienced the torment of being countered by a spell card.
He realized that there might be things in this world more insidious than his magic.
How could there exist animals who specifically studied spells like “Silence”, “Mute”, purely to mess with people’s heads?
