Chapter 195: This Game, I Won

Chapter 195: Chapter 195: This Game, I Won

"How is this possible?"

A flicker of astonishment flashed through Chaos’s eyes.

Ever since He had cast aside His mortal shell, ignited His Divine Fire, and ascended to His divine throne, in the long, tedious eons that followed, He had seen countless geniuses who would later be hailed as Legendary.

They were exceptional among their peers, and some even possessed the cunning to topple a Kingdom.

But in all the countless games He had played, not a single person had ever managed to pull a second blade from their sleeve to strike at a god in this completely unfair game!

Even now, as He looked at Lance, He couldn’t detect the slightest hint of a Second Source Material on him.

And yet, the reality was right before His eyes.

This card lay there, real and tangible, right in front of Him.

As the card appeared, the countless stars in the vast cosmos seemed to stop twinkling. Even the rolling waves of golden wheat froze, arrested by the god’s momentary lapse.

The face of the card Lance had pushed forward was starkly divided into two halves.

The top half depicted a graveyard in the pouring rain, with flecks of starlight dusting the tombstones.

The bottom half showed a traveler with a worn-out satchel on his back. He was upside down in the image, his gaze fixed resolutely on the distance.

The card had a single, domineering name: [Foreigner·Usurper].

[Effect: After this card is played, the basic win/loss rule for this round’s point comparison is completely reversed (the player with the lower number wins, i.e., 1 becomes the highest card and 10 becomes the lowest card).]

[Warning: If this card is played and the player still loses the round, the player will immediately be declared the loser of the entire "best two out of three" match (regardless of previous outcomes).]

It was a true all-or-nothing card.

He didn’t look at Chaos’s expression. Instead, he decisively reached out and flipped over his face-down card: a [5].

"Lord God."

Lance’s voice was exceptionally clear in the quiet Star Realm.

"You yourself just answered that the face-down card on Your table is not between 1 and 5."

He looked the child-god straight in the eye, his tone confident.

"In other words, the card You currently hold must be a 6 at the very least."

"Since the [Usurper] has completely reversed the rules to make the lower number win, this round is my win."

The child-like god sat quietly on the tree stump. He bowed His head slightly, a few strands of golden bangs falling to obscure His eyes, making it impossible to discern His true emotions.

’Is He angry?’

The reason Lance chose to go for the win was because his panel had assured him beforehand that this dungeon would be completely safe. As a player, he had no reason to pass up such an easy clear.

’Could there be another twist?’

Just as Lance braced for the worst, assuming the god would fly into a rage at being successfully outwitted by a mortal and was about to unleash divine punishment...

"Ha... HAHAHAHA!"

A peal of crisp laughter suddenly burst from Chaos’s lips.

The laughter grew louder, filled with wild abandon and an undisguised excitement.

With this laughter, the stagnant Star Realm seemed to spring back to life, and the golden waves of wheat began to roll joyfully once more.

’Interesting. This is just too interesting!’

Chaos looked up. Not only did He show not a shred of anger for losing the game, He stared intently at Lance with the fiery gaze of a child who had just spotted a new and fascinating toy.

"Lance Lot, did you know?"

Chaos began, a smile on His face.

"In this world’s long history, there is only one type of special existence capable of possessing two completely different Source Materials at the same time!"

Lance’s heart skipped a beat when he heard this.

He had always assumed that having dual Source Materials wasn’t a particularly rare phenomenon among Professionals.

After all, he had naturally obtained the new Crimson Dragon Source Material just by activating a Breathing Technique Specialty.

But from the way this child-god spoke, it... seemed to be an extremely rare situation.

’If that’s the case, why was it so easy to get the Crimson Dragon Source Material...’

’Could it be...’

A guess suddenly surfaced in Lance’s mind.

’It’s because I have two red Talents.’

’Could the Crimson Dragon Source Material have directly infused the Source Material slot that was vacated when the original Lance died?’

’If that’s true, it means my dual Source Materials are the result of the unique, unreplicable nature of my soul’s transmigration.’

’It’s not because Source Materials in this world are just easy to obtain!’

While Lance was brainstorming,

Chaos held up a slender, pale finger and continued.

"The first Source Material of such a being represents the sum of all their struggles in the Material Realm during their time as a mortal."

"And the Second Source Material..."

The smile on Chaos’s face grew wilder.

"represents the moment they successfully broke free from the worldly mire, pushed open the great gate of Truth in the Star Realm, and completed their Divine Format’s ascension."

’Holy shit!’

Lance couldn’t help but curse internally.

Chaos’s words couldn’t have been clearer.

In this world, possessing dual Source Materials—a phenomenon that defies all logic—was a privilege reserved only for true gods who had ignited their Divine Fire.

Lance knew his own origins perfectly well; he was definitely not the reincarnation of some hidden god.

He was now terrified that this unpredictable god would get the wrong idea and cause some kind of trouble for him.

"I know it’s impossible for dual Source Materials to appear if you’re just an Ordinary mortal from the Material Realm, right, Lance Lot?"

Chaos squinted, seeming to see right through Lance’s worries.

"But this in itself is a very interesting thing, isn’t it?"

"Don’t be nervous. Even so, these things are meaningless to a god. At most, it just means there’s one more of our kind in the world, doesn’t it?"

Chaos didn’t give Lance any chance to explain.

He crisply reached out and flipped over His own face-down card.

It was an [8].

Under the mandatory rule reversal of the [Usurper], Lance’s [5] was, without a doubt, greater than Chaos’s [8].

Chaos stood up from the tree stump.

His seemingly frail, child-like body now unreservedly emanated a divine might that made the entire Star Realm tremble slightly.

"Lance Lot."

The god no longer concealed it, directly calling out the challenger’s true name.

"Congratulations. You are the first-ever Usurper to defeat me head-on in a game of rules with a mortal body."

"In the name of Chaos, the God of Rebellion, I will formally declare your victory to the entire Star Realm."

"You have won this game."

...

「City of Radiance, Elcardia.」

In the center of this city, known as the beacon of human civilization, stood a colossal tower of Chalk Stone that pierced the clouds.

Countless massive runic rings, glowing with a faint blue light, hovered around the tower.

That giant structure, known as the Star Rolling Ring, turned slowly in mid-air, ceaselessly supplying the entire massive city with a vast amount of Magic Power.