Chapter 693 “Subscribe Request” Dark Demon? Gluttony (8k)
Though… but…
Among the four senior class presidents of the second year, only Tudor failed to advance to the top eight.
This was indeed a very sad matter.
Therefore, Dark decided not to mention this until Christmas.
The “Silver Cup” quarterfinals adopted a double elimination system.
In the first round, eight advanced to four, deciding the slots for the winners’ and losers’ brackets, then from the losers’ bracket, two were eliminated, and two advanced, making a total of six duels.
In the second round, two from the winners’ bracket fell to the losers’ bracket, where they faced off against the two who advanced from the losers’ bracket, again eliminating two and advancing two, making a total of four duels.
In the third round, one from the winners’ bracket entered the finals, while another fell to the losers’ bracket, facing off against the winner from the two in the losers’ bracket, leading to one entering the finals, with a total of four duels.
The duel times were set for this Friday, next Friday, and the Friday after that.
Because there weren’t many matches, each duel had an hour interval, providing ample preparation and rest time for the duelists.
After three rounds of duels, the champion of this year’s “Silver Cup” would be officially crowned.
And Saint Maryann Academy would officially enter the holiday season!
Due to the long break of eleven days this year, more students might choose to go home and spend Christmas with their families than last year.
Those young magi who remained in the academy would attend a ball on the night before Christmas Eve, four days after the break began.
Although end-of-term assignments diluted the festive atmosphere, as the holiday started, this gradually accumulated atmosphere would surely explode all at once.
Dark could harvest another wave of “Moon Goddess’s Bliss.”
“Speaking of which, when will this year’s ‘Protection Program’ be held?”
As Dark talked, he suddenly remembered the activity organized by the seniors to protect the first-year students, revealing a curious expression.
“If it’s still held on Friday night, wouldn’t the champion of the ‘Silver Cup’ be very popular? Ah, what a pity, Tudor.”
…
The three of them chatted in the clubroom for a long time. When they woke up, they found it was already past ten-thirty PM and hurriedly packed up to return to their dorms.
After returning to the dorm, Dark began to worry again.
It was the fifth night of December, and he had drawn “Pride” twice, “Gluttony” once, and “Bliss” once in the previous four nights.
Now, the highest-indexed attributes, “Greed,” “Gluttony,” and “Bliss,” were all exactly 91 points. If he forcibly drew, he could only draw one point, which would be a waste.
“Which one should I choose?”
“Forget it, let’s just max out ‘Gluttony’ first.”
“Mmm… Aurora… ah, what now?”
The best way to increase “Gluttony” was undoubtedly through Aurora’s night meals, but he had just cut himself off from that path.
“I should have asked Diana for some candy in the clubroom; now, I can only take it from the imp beast’s storage cabinet.”
Dark shook his head, focusing his gaze on the imp beast’s storage cabinet…
Of course, he wouldn’t take it for free; he would repay it over the weekend.
The imp beast naturally had no objections; it wished to give all its unsavory snacks to Dark—then get better ones!
Ultimately, relying on the imp’s snacks, Dark managed to barely increase his “Gluttony” by a point.
Trying to deliberately increase “Gluttony” turned out to be unexpectedly difficult.
Afterward, Dark took out the Mana Dropper, ran the “Technique of the Shadow God” and “Soul Curse,” and extracted the overflowing “Gluttony” from his brain.
This time, it was still two points per drop.
The aura of “Gluttony” was very special, but it was still unclear which planet it corresponded to.
Although Dark wanted to refine “Gluttony II” tonight, considering it was too late, he decided to sleep first.
Before he knew it, it was Friday morning.
After breakfast, Dark immediately started refining “Gluttony II.”
“Pride,” “Bliss,” “Greed,” “Wrath,” “Gluttony”…
This was the fifth type of “Capital Sin Card” he had tried to refine.
Apart from that, the remaining ones were “Sloth” and “Envy,” both of which had very low indices.
But “Sloth” and “Envy” still had differences.
Although the index of “Sloth” was low, increasing it wasn’t difficult.
However, “Envy” was genuinely hard to raise, and he basically couldn’t think of how to promote “Envy.”
Of course, this was actually a good thing.
Dark spent five minutes calming his mind, then began refining “Gluttony II” properly.
Soon, a brand new “Gluttony II” gradually formed in his hand.
Relying on the magical patterns converted from the temple frescoes, this “Gluttony II” was almost perfect.
He washed it clean and examined it closely.
The card face of “Gluttony II” was surprisingly a light green, like fresh sprouts emerging from the earth in spring, giving a fresh and appetizing feel.
The fine magical patterns engraved around the edge were also influenced by “Gluttony,” turning into a similar color.
Dark injected his mana and carefully felt it.
After being refined into a card, the sensation of “Gluttony” became even clearer.
Just looking at the card face, one would feel an urge to eat.
Moreover, Dark strongly suspected that this “Gluttony II” could enhance digestion!
Of course, it could also cause weight gain.
In any case, after recording his observations, he began searching for the initial experimental subject.
“Imp Beast?”
“Yes!”
The “Imp Beast” flew over swiftly, spinning three and a half times in the air before landing gracefully.
Dark raised his “Gluttony II” and began casting the usual summoning spell.
The “Imp Beast” had expected this and was neither anxious nor rushed—even somewhat pleased.
When Dark refined the first “Wrath” Capital Sin Card, he accidentally chose “Ibut” as the first experiment, which left it feeling quite displeased.
But now, little Ibut still couldn’t compare to the Imp Beast!
The “Imp Beast” lifted its face proudly, directly facing the irradiation of “Gluttony II.”
“In the name of Dark Demon, Mana Summoning — ‘Gluttony II’!”
With the successful casting of the summoning spell, a light green glow emanated from the surface of “Gluttony II,” gently falling on the imp beast’s face and body, like raindrops being absorbed by the soil, gradually seeping under its skin.
Then, a faint light gathered on its forehead, replacing the skull emblem with the “Gluttony II” emblem.
That emblem was not light green, but golden yellow!
But whether it was light green or golden yellow, it was hard to associate them with “Gluttony.”
Dark pondered slightly, first using the “Copy” technique to copy the “Gluttony” Capital Sin Emblem, preparing to transcribe it into his notebook later.
The middle of the “Gluttony” emblem resembled an inverted “凹” character, with an astronomical symbol of Venus above it—!
Although Venus was often used to represent femininity, in astronomy, it did indeed symbolize Venus.
And in this world, Venus was synonymous with the “Steel Attribute”!
Dark continued to examine it.
Like the other Capital Sin Emblems, the outer circle of the “Gluttony” emblem still had English text:
OUTER CIRCLE:
Level-666;
System: Beelzebub;
Code: Gluttony;
And below the emblem, the inner circle read:
WARNING! Purgatory Level 6;
…
Translated, it was:
Outer Circle:
Level-666;
System: Beelzebub;
Code: Gluttony;
Inner Circle:
Warning! Purgatory Level 6;
…
“The demon of gluttony, ‘King of Flies’ Beelzebub, the devil that causes disease!”
“In purgatory, ‘Gluttony’ is ranked sixth.”
“So the star symbolizing ‘Gluttony’ is indeed Venus.”
“Then, does that mean ‘Envy’ is Mercury and ‘Sloth’ is Mars?”
“Is ‘Sloth’ Mars and ‘Wrath’ Jupiter?”
Dark couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.
Now that the stars corresponding to the seven deadly sins had all been revealed, it was roughly possible to distinguish the main attributes each star represented.
“Does this mean that to refine a ‘Steel Attribute’ golem, ‘Gluttony’ must be used?”
“And if ‘Gluttony’ is added during the refinement of weapon cards or armed cards, would it lead to any improvements?”
From one question came multiple questions.
Dark had always had the ability to draw conclusions from one example.
He picked up his pen and recorded all his thoughts to avoid forgetting.
Afterwards, he forgot.
Ten minutes later, he paused momentarily to think, then turned his head towards the “Imp Beast.”
The “Imp Beast” did not make any troublesome moves this time. However, after it regained consciousness, it should feel very regretful, right?
…
When the entire fifteen minutes passed, the “Imp Beast” was fully awake and indeed sat among the piles of snack bags, howling in tears.
In front of it, the storage cabinet was empty.
Of course, there were only sobs, no tears!
…
Afterwards, when the CD for “Gluttony II” ended, Dark called forth the 【Magical Beast: Eevee】…
The improved version of “Capital Sin II” allowed the 【Magical Beast: Eevee】 to gain a new ultimate skill, with the field spell being the key. This was an important skill that could change the tide of battle.
Thus, the 【Magical Beast: Eevee】 was the most in need of experimentation.
Upon hearing Dark’s call, Eevee immediately locked its own storage cabinet and solemnly placed the key in the palm of its hand, presenting it to Dark.
Although Dark wanted to laugh, he held it back.
He put away the key and took out “Gluttony II,” saying gently, “It’s about to start. Are you ready?”
“Eebu!” The 【Magical Beast: Eevee】 nodded vigorously, its expression serious.
Dark pressed “Gluttony II” against its forehead and quickly summoned, “By the name of Dark Dimon, Mana Summoning—’Gluttony II’!”
When the voice stopped, a light green glow gently fell, illuminating the 【Magical Beast: Eevee】.
A three-star 【Magical Beast: Eevee】 did not evolve due to the Level II “Capital Sin Card.” Its body remained unchanged, but hunger gradually appeared in its eyes.
Dark patted its head and focused on the magical beast’s magic card.
With just a small injection of mana, information came back.
【Card Name: Magical Beast (Eevee)】
【Type: Elemental Card】
【Level: ???】
【Race: Avian-beast Kin】
【Attribute: Normal】
【Mana: 1300】
【Attack: 1300】
【Defense: 1300】
【Ultimate Skills: Full Moon, Mimic, Feast, Tea Party】
“I’ll see, ‘Relay’ and ‘Wish’ have become… ‘Feast’ and ‘Tea Party’??”
Dark was surprised and couldn’t help but look at the little Eevee climbing onto his leg.
It seemed that even under the influence of “Gluttony II,” Eevee still maintained a certain level of clarity.
It clearly remembered giving the key to Dark’s storage cabinet and now attempted to climb onto him to snatch the key—yes, it should be like that.
Dark simply picked it up and placed it on his lap, holding it with both hands.
Eevee couldn’t move and struggled, trying to bite and lick.
Dark thought for a moment and had the “Imp Beast” fetch an apple from “Huhu” to block its mouth.
The two new ultimate skills of the 【Magical Beast: Eevee】 were surprisingly both “Normal.”
Moreover, if he wasn’t mistaken, these two ultimate skills shouldn’t be on the list of moves that a “Eevee” Pokémon can learn.
This meant these were two ultimate skills it originally couldn’t possibly have mastered!
But under the effect of “Gluttony II,” it not only mastered them but also adapted them.
Dark was unfamiliar with these two ultimate skills, so he decided to review them from the beginning.
First was “Full Moon.”
【Full Moon (Gluttony): Eevee stares at its opponent with hungry eyes, causing the opponent to feel terrified and reducing their desire to attack.】
It was still different eyes, but achieved the same effect as “Full Moon.”
Next was “Mimic,” which remained unchanged.
Then came the new ultimate skill—”Feast”!
【Feast (Gluttony): Eevee significantly increases its defense through eating. The higher the fullness, the more defense increases, up to twice the base defense.】
In other words, after overeating, the defense of the 【Magical Beast: Eevee】 could rise from 1300 to 2600!
If this ultimate skill were on a high-defense magical beast, it would become extremely terrifying.
Unfortunately, the 【Magical Beast: Eevee】 was only a three-star magical beast, so the increase was still limited.
Of course, if restricted to three stars, 2600 defense would be despair-inducing!
But talking about “Feast”…
Dark couldn’t help but think of “Cubone.”
“Cubone” was the embodiment of “Greed,” but Dark always felt that perhaps “Gluttony” could also cause it to evolve.
However, the level of “Gluttony II” was slightly insufficient; at least “Gluttony III” could provide new possibilities.
Dark continued to look at the last ultimate skill of the 【Magical Beast: Eevee】, the field spell that left him puzzled—”Tea Party”!
【Tea Party (Gluttony): Eevee hosts a tea party, making all targets on the field experience intense hunger and thirst, consuming all nearby food and drink.]
It was hard to describe the specific effects of this ultimate skill, but it seemed to still be a “field spell” that could change the environment.
However, it had no buffs or damage.
And, wasn’t this clearly an atmosphere skill?
Dark recalled the two change-type ultimate skills he rolled with the “Wish Dice”…
“Could it really be an atmosphere skill?”
He looked around again, finally suppressing the urge to try this ultimate skill in the dormitory.
After all, according to the description from the magical beast card, once this ultimate skill was used, the magical beasts in the dormitory might turn into gluttons, sweeping away all snacks and drinks.
That scene would be like the end of the world!
…
“Wait for the right opportunity. When ‘Eevee’ can be more clear-headed next time, find a secluded corner to test it.”
Dark glanced at Eevee, who had bitten the apple down to the core, and took the core away before it could swallow it, then commanded, “Try the effect of ‘Feast.'”
Eevee paused, then suddenly widened its eyes, green light flickering within. Green light began to emanate from its body, making its muscles and skin more resilient, with defense skyrocketing!
Dark carefully observed and confirmed that this ultimate skill might work similarly to “Lil’Cubone’s” “Charge,” maintaining increased defense through prior consumption.
But for Eevee to reach the limit of defense increase, it would need more than 100% fullness—which was difficult to achieve normally.
“For now, this will do.”
Dark shook his head and waited another fifteen minutes before letting Eevee go.
Then he made some notes, grabbed his bag, and headed to the clubroom.
“Gluttony II” was not only effective on the 【Magical Beast: Eevee】 but also produced significant effects on the 【Spell Cage: Agumon】.
Thus, the next experimental subject was the 【Spell Cage: Agumon】!
…
Upon learning the situation, Agumon immediately exclaimed, “GKD!”
Dark smiled and said, “The CD hasn’t ended yet.”
Agumon immediately became disheartened.
Once the one-hour cooldown finally ended, Agumon approached willingly.
For such a good child willing to accept experiments so actively, Dark naturally liked it.
He took out the “Spell Cage” and “Gluttony II,” first sealing Agumon inside the cage and then summoning it out.
After a while, he activated “Gluttony II” right away!
Familiar light green glow lit up again, and “Spell Cage: Agumon” bathed in this glow, its body gradually turning into a pure luminescent body.
Immediately, its luminous body underwent an extremely intense transformation!
“What is this…”
Dark frowned slightly, watching Agumon’s body turn square, with sharp edges. Finally, when the glow faded, its small dinosaur-like body transformed into something resembling a toy made of blocks!
From flesh to plastic blocks, Agumon still evolved from a two-star magical beast to a three-star variant, but this time the form change was much larger than previous ones.
“Chirp—”
Suddenly, a bird call echoed.
The tiny Night Bird emerged from the corner, crying “Uhwa!” as it pounced onto the block-turned Agumon, smashing its body into pieces!
“Beep?”
The tiny Night Bird froze.
Before it could be scared to tears, the scattered blocks automatically reassembled, and Agumon stood up again!
【Card Name: Toy Agumon】
【Type: Elemental Card】
【Level: ???】
【Race: Machine Kin】
【Attribute: Steel
【属性：Dragon/Steel】
【魔力：1100】
【攻击：1300】
【防御：1500】
【必杀技：Toy Flameball, Strange Flash】
尽管仍然保留着“龙系”，但“玩具亚古兽”已经不再是“龙种”，而是转变为了“机械种”！
它的身体上没有任何生物的血肉，属性主要为“钢系”。
而它的三围属性也与其它亚古兽亚种有所不同，偏向于防御。
它的必杀技则是相对朴素的“玩具火焰弹”和“奇异闪光”。
【玩具火焰弹：发射出火焰形状的玩具，威力不俗。】
【奇异闪光：制造一堵由玩具积木组成的闪闪发光的墙壁，使其撞向目标。】
基本上，只有这两个必杀技。
“玩具火焰弹”的威力肯定比“亚古兽”的“小型火焰”要高。
而“奇异闪光”则攻防兼备。
另外，“玩具亚古兽”能够使自身肢体（积木）分离的特性若能好好利用，也是一大对敌利器。
然而，达克更关注的是“玩具亚古兽”的进化路线。
“既然它是钢系的机械种，之后是否会逐渐进化成‘机械邪龙兽’？”
“机械邪龙兽”又称“无限龙兽”，是《数码宝贝》第一部中的四天王之一，非常强大。
……
总之【咒笼：亚古兽】的这一次进化还算令人满意。
达克等到它退化回来之后，才返回客厅，和随后到来的两位学姐一起看书作业。
“炼金术”的大课题虽然要到下学期开学才需要提交，但他没有将作业留到假期的习惯。
实际上他已经将密道探索的计划推到了假期，因此便需要在那之前将所有的事情都处理妥当。
这样才能没有后顾之忧。
但想要炼制出“相似级”的魔像并不容易。
达克对着笔记研究了小半个钟后，便唤来“喵喵”，动手实验。
之后一直到了午餐时间，也并未有太多成果。
但考虑到下午还有“白银杯”的正赛开幕式，达克便暂时停了下来。
……
十二月份的第一个星期五。
忙里偷闲的学生们，或是前往旅人街挑选圣诞节即将送人的礼物，或是来到露天决斗馆准备观看“白银杯”的正赛开幕，整个城堡便像是苏醒了过来一般，重新焕发了生机。
而这一届的二年级生们，则几乎全部进入了露天决斗馆。
达克拿着书，坐在萝丝与多隆的中间安静翻看。
萝丝有特意带了加油用的牌子，多隆则弄了一个旗子。
他虽然看起来很沮丧，但并没有忘记给好友准备加油道具。
而作为“白银杯”的八强之二，狄安娜和皮斯坦则已经提前进入了选手通道，如今应该在选手休息室内等候。
二年级的四个分院，每一个都有人晋级八强。
这便导致分院之间的氛围对立了起来，剑拔弩张。
只是贵族院没了多隆和皮斯坦这一对组合带领，气势上无疑弱了几分，竟然有些怼不过骑士院。
无奈，贵族院二年级最强的主心骨——达克·迪蒙选择了弃赛，而今年的骑士院又有整整三个人晋级八强，贵族院在底气上确实显得有些不足。
倒是魔导院虽然也只有两个人晋级八强，却底气十足。
显然，她们对萨拉·斯瓦蒂的信任度依旧拉满。
而剩下的愚者院，虽然因为瓦妮莎·博尔特的异军突起而并未全军覆没。
但老实说就连他们自己都不认为瓦妮莎能在那几位实力破格的同学之中夺冠。
因此愚者院大多是想着为其加油，能走多远就走多远。
在这样的情况下，本届“白银杯”便在节奏忽然转烈的钢琴曲中正式开场！
正赛的开幕式相对之前的总开幕式而言，无疑简化了许多。
基本上就是八名选手上台走了一个过场，由朱蒂学姐一一介绍，便依次进行了简短的采访，询问了诸如“本次比赛的最终目标”、“对于达克·迪蒙选手的弃赛怎么看”之类的问题，也就结束了。
而后在万众瞩目之中，“白银杯”的正赛第一场的两位选手——艾玛·墨提斯和维特·高德，便登场了！
当这两人抽签获得的比赛次序登场之时，场内场外都不由发出惊呼。
谁也没想到这“白银杯”正赛的开幕，竟然会是由骑士院的内战拉开！
艾玛·墨提斯和维特·高德在这一学期的学习之中都有着长足的进步。
但艾玛·墨提斯参加的比赛次数并不多，因此观众们对她的成长了解有限。
相反，维特·高德却是一个决斗狂人，他几乎每个星期都会参加“白银杯”和“黄金杯”的赛事。
如果要进地下城探险的话，就把参赛时间定在周五下午。
总之在这种情况下，维特·高德获得了极多的决斗经验，并在决斗之中飞快成长。
而他展示出来的卡组强度，也在节节攀升。
如今登上选手台上之后，维特·高德面对着对面的强敌，却非常冷静。
再然后……
他就被打入了败者组！
进步总是相对的。
当你觉得自己从第一楼爬到第十楼已经非常不错时，你的对手很可能已经爬到了第一百楼！
维特·高德和艾玛·墨提斯的差距虽然没有那么巨大，但也已足够显著。
不过那份差距并非是在卡组强度或者决斗经验上，而是在于脑子上！
维特·高德的头脑被艾玛·墨提斯爆了。
如同对付提线木偶一般，戏耍在指间！
……
但被打落败者组并非是淘汰。
维特·高德还有第二次机会。
而且败者组一穿N夺冠的戏码在历来都并不罕见。
维特·高德快速整理心态，便开始准备今晚的败者组淘汰赛！
……
第一场决斗结束之后要等一个小时才能开赛。
但学院方当然不可能让观众们干等。
实际上在“白银杯”的正赛开幕式结束之后，其余同步进行的比赛也都逐渐恢复。
诸如“黄金杯”之类的高年级之间的比赛，很快便弥补了“白银杯”赛程之间的空隙。
而后在一个小时之后，“白银杯”的第二场比赛的两位选手——狄安娜·格瑞特拜尔和瓦妮莎·博尔特登场了！
“又是她吗？”
达克稍微放下手中与魔像制作相关的书籍，便有些惊讶道。
“白银杯”总开幕的时候，狄安娜的对手就是这瓦妮莎·博尔特，当时的她着实陷入了一场苦战，极为艰难才获得了胜利。
那么这一次呢？
达克不由看得专心了一些。
而负责正赛解说的解说员，也是如同聊家常一般，将此事提起说出，最后瓦妮莎·博尔特和狄安娜之间的对决有了更多的看点。
这一场决斗非常精彩，瓦妮莎·博尔特在各方面都有成长，而狄安娜·格瑞特拜尔也稍微弥补了自身的缺陷，双方在这场决斗之中都表现出了超越二年级的极高水平。
到了最后，则是狄安娜守住了擂台，再一次成功地击败了瓦妮莎·博尔特！
但这一次的胜利比之上一次更加艰难，因此当她在接受采访时都心有余悸。
……
获取胜利之后的狄安娜返回到了环形带，在萝丝身边坐下，并与达克等人一起继续观看比赛。
而一个小时之后，“白银杯”正赛的第三场便拉开了帷幕。
而这一次上场的两位选手，则是皮斯坦·凯洛洛和海蒂·尤菲米娅！
多隆刚刚举起小旗子要给皮斯坦狠狠的加油，就突然像是被掐住了喉咙一般没了声音。
这反应，实在是再明显不过了！
达克一时之间，便极为好奇他与海蒂之间的进展到底到了什么程度？
但当他问起多隆，今年的圣诞节舞会有无舞伴时，多隆却依然摇头，表情沉重。
达克便立刻知晓，他们之间的进展，就是没有进展。
多隆平常看起来大大咧咧，在感情问题上却扭扭捏捏。
整天幻想有女孩子向自己伸手，但真到了需要伸手时，却又会突然退缩。
他不是胆小，只是过于重视。
