Chapter 207: Dekan’s Sandbagging
The impending battle between Fahim and Krey was about to commence again.
The outskirts of the city had been transformed into a wasteland. Amid the relentless booms, stone bricks shattered and flew haphazardly, creating chaotic waves reminiscent of a storm.
While Fahim was resisting Krey’s attacks, he had the intention to use the “Corrosive Destruction” spell card to finish Dekan. However, Dekan had chosen the perfect moment right after Fahim had used both “Corrosive Destruction” and “Body Destruction” on Krey, leaving Fahim unable to use these cooldown-bound cards against Dekan now.
Even if Fahim waited for their cooldown, using these cards on Dekan would still present a significant issue.
Even if Fahim successfully used the cards seamlessly to eliminate Dekan, should Krey persist in eliminating Fahim despite Dekan’s absence, Fahim wouldn’t be able to continuously debuff Krey with “Corrosive” and “Critical Injury” statuses and would very likely be driven into an unavoidable corner during the next cooldown phase.
Attempting to aggressively kill Dekan would place Fahim at significant risk.
However, Fahim promptly reached a conclusion. In the current situation, there was no need to recklessly kill Dekan.
Since Dekan had fabricated the lie that he was Fahim’s ally, Dekan must first assist Fahim against Krey!
Otherwise, if Dekan starts helping Krey target Fahim, even Krey’s dim intellect would quickly realize the issue with the paper-thin lie.
Though Dekan could betray at any moment, Fahim could focus on Krey until Dekan’s true ambitions were revealed.
Ironically, after fabricating the lie, it was actually Dekan who was walking a tightrope. Even if acting, Dekan had to convincingly perform as Fahim’s temporary ally.
Their dynamic was centered on when Dekan would seize the perfect moment to betray, and whether Fahim could counter it.
Until then, Fahim could use Dekan to his advantage.
As long as Fahim ensured Krey lost fighting capability and safeguarded against Dekan’s ambush upon betrayal, Fahim would still emerge victorious.
Fahim was fully equipped with counter-strategy cards and could easily defeat Dekan in a one-on-one situation.
Accepting his current predicament, Fahim calmed his anger.
He forcefully restrained himself from hating Dekan.
As long as Fahim controlled his anger towards Dekan, he wouldn’t be controlled for an extended period by Captain De’Erkan.
Thus preventing Dekan from sabotaging Fahim during a crucial moment against Krey!
While directing “Ruined Alchemic Beast” to hold off Krey, Fahim simultaneously applied debuffs on Krey.
A shadowed smirk appeared on his face as he locked eyes with Dekan in the distance.
Fahim’s message was clear:
If you don’t act soon, Krey will begin to doubt you.
This made Dekan frown. Evidently, Dekan realized Fahim had not let his emotions cloud his judgment, had assessed the current situation correctly, chose not to waste powerful cards on Dekan, and even sought to use him.
“Tch!”
Dekan, visibly irked, clicked his tongue.
That left him no choice but to aid Fahim.
“Choose me as your teammate, and don’t regret it later…”
Dekan muttered under his breath.
Subsequently, Dekan pulled out a spell card and shouted,
“Fahim! Unless we exhaust Krey’s mana pool, his life will persist. I’ll help double-consume his mana pool. Trust me and annihilate him!”
Upon casting, Dekan activated the “Temptation of the Underworld.”
Though Krey’s expression changed the moment the barrier was erected because his “Accelerated Regeneration” required mana usage, the doubled mana consumption from “Temptation of the Underworld” within a 100-meter radius effectively suppressed Krey’s regeneration engine.
However, Fahim noticed his own mana consumption had doubled as well, making his blood pressure spike.
This effect… wasn’t fully explained to him, was it?
It seemed the barrier doubled everyone’s mana consumption, including Fahim’s!
Fahim took a severe hit.
As a mage battling a warrior, suffering doubled mana consumption meant he was at a significant disadvantage!
“Calm down, calm down.”
Fahim, suppressing his anger, refused to let himself hate Dekan. He couldn’t afford to hate Dekan lest he fall into Dekan’s trap.
Quickly thereafter, Dekan shouted,
“Fahim! Let me disrupt Krey!”
As he spoke, Dekan summoned “Ruined Bard.”
Recognizing this card brought relief to Fahim. He’d already activated “Pain Suppression” guarding against Dekan’s unexpected ambush.
After summoning “Ruined Bard,” Fahim was unaffected by the card, but Krey hadn’t activated “Pain Suppression” due to exhausting his purple spell cards. Instantly, tenfold pain struck, triggering an anguished scream.
This pain noticeably slowed Krey’s movements and affected his effectiveness.
From this point on,
compared to “Temptation of the Underworld,” Dekan’s “Ruined Bard” actually proved beneficial to Fahim.
Nevertheless, Fahim gradually felt uneasy. While the tenfold pain wouldn’t cause Krey to faint, resisting it made Krey increasingly enraged.
Krey’s previously accumulative rage had probably reached a terrifying degree and was now surging at an unknown rate.
Fahim had long mocked Krey’s “Frenzied Bishop” as a disgrace to an eighth-ranked epic card, as he had never seen Krey trigger real-damage effects from his fury. However, Krey seemed to be nearing that critical point.
If all of Krey’s attacks became real damage, the “Ruined Alchemic Beast” would be unable to withstand Krey’s assault.
Fahim was firmly convinced. Dekan, that bastard, never bore good intentions.
He started hoping Dekan would hold back.
He even began worrying about how Dekan would “help” him next.
Nevertheless, Dekan, adhering to the principle of “see a job through,” threw another card.
A summoned Q-version Captain De’Erkan doll appeared.
This surprised Fahim.
He felt as if Dekan had finally acted more human.
Should Dekan control Krey with the “De’Erkan Captain” card, Fahim could take the opportunity to land devastating blows!
Even a warrior like Krey would succumb to Fahim’s attacks, driving him into a near-death state!
But as Fahim noticed the cunning smirk on Dekan’s face, he realized something was amiss.
Upon seeing Krey unaffected by the De’Erkan doll and instead exuding an even more exaggerated aura of lightning, Fahim knew something was wrong!
Fahim swiftly realized this De’Erkan doll was identical in appearance to “De’Erkan Captain.”
But it was a different card!
It was none other than “Captain De’Erkan,” which lacked taunt effects.
“Captain De’Erkan” could apply an “Enrage” status, intensifying an enemy’s attack while diminishing their rationality.
Moreover, the stronger the enemy’s hatred towards Dekan, the stronger the effect!
Affected by “Captain De’Erkan,” Krey radiated waves of power, much like a divine warrior descending on the battlefield.
Soon, Krey’s rage reached its peak.
Not only did his attributes significantly increase, but all his attacks transformed into real damage.
The “Ruined Alchemic Beast” that previously held Krey at bay now couldn’t withstand even a few punches.
“Dammit, Dekan!”
Fahim roared in anger, his blood pressure exploding, yet no sound could escape his lips.
It seemed even expressing anger through words was denied by Dekan.
Despite having an advantage with a full arsenal of cards, Fahim found himself on the verge of defeat due to Dekan’s interference.
Dekan’s series of “clumsy friend” maneuvers seemed particularly lethal as a whole.
Allowing Dekan another move, Fahim feared he wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.
Despite harboring thoughts of flaying Dekan alive throughout, he repeatedly reminded himself not to hate Dekan!
At this point, Fahim had to look for a way to escape.
Regardless of his disadvantage, he didn’t want to prolong the ordeal of facing Dekan any longer.
No matter whether the latter was an opponent or “teammate,” Dekan was utterly repulsive.
While Fahim resisted the War God Krey and desperately calmed himself,
Dekan, with a serious expression, yelled at Krey,
“Krey, don’t think of retreating! I already surrounded you with Captain De’Erkan cards; there’s no escape for you!”
Upon hearing Dekan’s words, Fahim almost lost control of the “Ruined Alchemic Beast.”
Though it seemed Dekan was threatening Krey, Fahim fully understood the hidden meaning of Dekan’s words.
“Are these Captain De’Erkans prepared for me?”
Though battered by Krey and annoyed by Dekan, Fahim still struggled to reverse the situation or find an escape.
He was attempting to break free and flee Krey’s pursuit.
Krey, with no intention of escaping, relentlessly chased Fahim without letting up.
Knowing he couldn’t outrun the Captain De’Erkan card’s traps, Krey preferred dragging Fahim down with him.
Barefoot has no fear of shoes.
Fahim felt suppressed.
Krey was stupid, but occasionally made logically sound judgments.
Sound to the point of making Fahim want to kill him.
Fahim still had hope. He could sense Krey’s rage gradually dissipating.
If Krey’s rage was fully exhausted and he returned to normal, victory would again tilt in Fahim’s favor.
However, Dekan seemed to sense Fahim’s plan.
He drew out “Sun Fist,” “Poisonous Ground Spike,” “Mental Interference,” and “Cursed Spirit Mask.”
Dekan held two cards in each hand, standing behind Krey with a mocking smile as he waved these cards at Fahim.
If these cards were used directly, the facade would be obvious.
But Dekan was letting Fahim know; these cards were arranged against him.
Just waiting for the opportune moment to spring this surprise.
“Dekan!!!”
At this point, even if the Emperor himself came, Fahim couldn’t suppress his overwhelming hatred for Dekan.
He even felt an impulse to risk his life against Krey just to attack Dekan.
Yet if he acted rashly, even before hitting Dekan, the latter would unleash his most vile magic on Fahim.
Defeat would be imminent.
Fahim had originally harbored no strong feelings toward Dekan.
Although knowing Dekan was an enemy, Fahim wasn’t particularly hateful until Dekan began irritating him.
But now, Fahim felt no creature could be this hateful.
Fahim also realized, hating Dekan meant Dekan had succeeded.
If he didn’t hand over the crucial card, “The Finger of Purification,” to Captain De’Erkan, he would become Dekan’s toy.
But if he did, who knew what more vile cards Dekan had in store for him.
For Fahim, the problem wasn’t only fighting off Krey’s pursuit and Dekan’s interference.
Because of the chaos from his battle with Krey, support forces from the Randir Kingdom were gradually arriving.
The nearby patrol unit had observed the situation and immediately reported it, but no one dared to enter the battlefield rashly.
Because they understood, in a battle at this level, their reinforcements were meaningless and would be mere fodder.
Even the seventh-ranked teams of the Southern Allied Nations had just arrived but did not dare to intervene lightly.
They only stood far away and observed.
On one hand, they couldn’t withstand the bishop’s area-of-effect killing skills, and they worried about being targeted by the Frenzied Bishop and instantly killed with a punch.
On the other hand,
the current situation was confusing to them. They couldn’t devise a battle plan, nor could they thoroughly understand the situation.
Two eighth-ranked experts in the capital city guarded the Royal Palace. Now that updates had been sent, one should be on the way.
The best strategy was still waiting until the eighth-ranked expert arrived and acting accordingly.
“By the way… what exactly is the situation here?”
“If I’m seeing clearly, three… no, two bishops are fighting each other?”
Although Elise, the leader of the Southern Allied Nations team, deeply knew Dekan was an extraordinary man,
the current scene was still beyond her imagination.
The two bishops clearly weren’t acting but were actually fighting each other to the death.
Strangely,
behind the battered bishops, Dekan was supervising the battle.
He acted like a cruel overseer, pushing the bishops towards a fight to the death.
Dekan even summoned his ace card, the “Ruined Bard,” and occasionally disrupted the battlefield with spell cards to increase the suffering of both bishops.
Surprisingly, neither bishop chose to attack him.
From the perspective of observers, the visual effect was as if three bishops were battling chaotically.
It even created an illusion:
one of the most wicked bishops was playing the other two like puppets.
