Chapter 193: Crimson Dragon Banner

Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Crimson Dragon Banner

Upon hearing this, Lance finally understood the god’s perverse sense of humor.

Still, even with the trump card he held, one transformed from Source Material, a pointing game like this was essentially just a blind contest of luck between two face-down cards if there was no additional information to go on.

A simple competition to see who was luckier was definitely not the kind of match Chaos truly wanted to see.

As Lance’s mind raced,

Chaos raised his hand again.

"But, Big Brother, if it were purely a contest of luck, you wouldn’t be able to choose the right moment to play your trump card, and that would make the game a bit boring, you know."

A cunning glint flashed in Chaos’s bright eyes.

"So... for fairness’s sake, we’ll add one last rule to the game."

"Before each round, Big Brother, you’ll have the right to ask me one question about the card I’ve drawn."

"You just can’t ask a question with the same underlying logic every round."

"An interesting mechanic, isn’t it!"

Chaos smiled and leaned forward, getting closer to Lance as he added.

"But, Big Brother, you need to listen closely."

"If the face-down card I choose to play has a value between 6 and 10, then I will answer your question truthfully."

"But if my face-down card has a value between 1 and 5, then I will lie without hesitation."

"Those are all the rules. Do you understand now, Big Brother?"

This was Chaos’s real game!

A trap of logic and language.

The addition of this truth-or-lie rule instantly elevated this pointing game, originally a test of luck, to the level of a psychological battle filled with strategic depth.

Lance quickly ran a simulation of the mechanic in his mind.

’Under these rules, if I asked Chaos, "Is your card’s value higher than 5?"’

’Suppose Chaos was holding an 8.’

’Since 8 is in the truth-telling range, Chaos would answer: Yes.’

But.

’Suppose Chaos was holding a worthless 3.’

’Because 3 falls into the lying range, Chaos would have to lie and would therefore also answer: Yes.’

Whether he had a high card or a low card, the answer would be exactly the same!

This meant an ordinary question was completely useless for determining the true value of the opponent’s face-down card.

The corners of Lance’s mouth lifted slightly. ’This game is getting interesting.’

’This is a true game for the intelligent.’

’A game of peeling back the layers of indecipherable answers to deduce the true range of the opponent’s card.’

’And then, at the perfect moment, decisively thrusting forward the blade forged from Source Material, aimed straight at a god.’

This was exactly his kind of challenge.

"Very interesting."

Lance sat down cross-legged directly opposite the tree stump, his gaze fixed unflinchingly on the child-like god.

"Then let’s begin."

’As a battle-hardened, veteran player, cracking these kinds of games was what I love most.’

’Besides, I’m called an Usurper, am I not?’

’Then don’t blame me for bullying a child.’

In the vast wheat fields of the Star Realm, the curtain officially rose on this game between a god and a mortal.

Chaos stretched out his childish hands, finished shuffling the deck of cards, and then briskly dealt them out.

Lance picked up his face-down card and his eyes fell upon its face.

Its value was [2], and its name was Blind Scales.

The center of the card depicted a rusty metal scale. One side of the scale held Gold Coins, while the other held a piece of withered bone.

Below the base of this scale, two venomous snakes were entwined, each biting the other’s tail.

Lance didn’t yet know what metaphor this bizarre card face represented, but he silently committed the details to memory.

Meanwhile, Chaos, sitting opposite him, had drawn two cards: the [10] Sun in a Cage and the [9] Gate of Truth.

This was the most unreasonable, hidden rule of the pointing game.

As the dealer, Chaos could ignore luck and, at any time, pick the exact combination of cards he wanted from the deck.

Looking at the two high cards in his hand, the child-like god hesitated for a moment.

In the rules of this game, although a 10 was ostensibly the highest card, it carried the fatal risk of being beaten by the lowest card, the 1.

The 9, however, perfectly avoided this mechanic, making it, in a true sense, the invincible highest card in the game.

After weighing the pros and cons, Chaos returned the [10] to the deck and placed the [9] face-down in front of him.

Having done all this, Chaos looked up, a pure and happy, child-like smile on his face.

This game of execution was finally about to begin.

"Big Brother, you may begin your questions now."

Over the long eons, Chaos had played this game, [Overstepper’s Pointing], with mortals countless times, but not a single challenger had ever managed to beat the dealer.

The reason was very simple: it was a best-of-three game.

Those mortals fortunate enough to enter the Star Realm would, at most, hold only one trump card created from Source Material.

Even if these mortals could find a loophole in the rules with their superior intellect, they could only manage to win a single round in this game designed by a god.

As for the remaining two rounds of pointing, Chaos, who held the privilege of cheating, would never lose.

After all, for a high and mighty god, losing to a mortal came with a price.

In Chaos’s eyes, this was, from start to finish, merely a recreational game where mortals struggled to please a god.

Lance sat quietly across from the stump, watching Chaos’s innocent smile, and his own lips slowly stretched into a dangerous grin.

He didn’t rush to ask a question. Instead, he slowly and deliberately drew the trump card transformed from Source Material from the sleeve of his gray-blue cloak and slid it directly into Chaos’s line of sight.

Chaos looked down and clearly saw the card’s full Effect.

"I will decide whether or not to use this card after I ask my question."

Lance’s voice rang out in the quiet wheat field.

The card was named [Crimson Dragon Banner].

[Effect: After playing this card, you may discard your own face-down card and forcibly take the card your opponent just discarded to use as your own. When you play this card, you must loudly declare whether your opponent’s answer was a truth or a lie. If you judge incorrectly, the dealer is immediately judged to have won the entire game.]

Seeing the powerful Effect generated by the Source Material, a trace of confusion flickered in Chaos’s eyes.

’He’s actually considering playing his only trump card in the first round?’

’Shouldn’t he use the first round to probe the dealer’s strategies and patterns?’

’Moreover, among all the players I’ve seen, this card created from Source Material isn’t even a particularly good one.’

’Because this card could only lead to victory under one very specific, demanding condition... ’

’The god has to have cheated!’

’Otherwise, who would choose to put back a higher card?’

’The Crimson Dragon... the Evil Dragon that dares to counterattack a god...’

’Is his Source Material also hinting at this to him?’