Chương 27: 26. Rule-Master's Prerogative

An arrow struck the siren's shoulder, finally marking that Cathy had re-joined the fight. The monster's scales proved too sturdy to allow any injury. I was gifted a moment's distraction, though nothing more. Spin slash, I thought as I twisted around, swords extended. Both blades slid off the siren's body without leaving a mark. Without the card, I didn't have the strength to do anything more. Using my boots' traction to its fullest, I leaped back.

The aether threads in her voice surrounded me, yet before they could come into contact, I was able to slash them out of existence. Why was I so pathetically weak? The fight hadn't even lasted a minute, and my heart felt as if it would break out of my ribcage. Training at the gym wasn't going to be enough. Depending on how this trial ended, I might have to spend some time at the gambling tables. More arrows bounced off, and yet the creature didn't move its attention off me.

Smarter than the low-level minions, it was easy for her to identify the actual threat. I strengthened my bones and charged forward. A siren's weak spots were in the areas of the stomach, chest, and throat. With enough speed, I could slit her head off as if she were a common goblin. Of course, there was no chance of that happening in this battle. Using the established attack combination, I struck from both sides, then followed up with a thrust. The siren slithered halfway across the room. I scared you, didn't I?

I smiled. When I had shattered her nail, I had also inserted a bit of fear into her mind. Most people would hardly notice, but she had been second-guessing each of her actions since. The constant singing was no longer a means of attack, but her defense to keep me away. Thrust! I used the One of Swords. The siren retreated to the wall. Thrust! Thrust! Thrust! Never would I have imagined that the weakest of the Minor Arcana cards would achieve so much. Each thrust caused my enemy to recoil irrationally.

The more she tried to flee, the more she limited her options. Having fought sirens before, I knew that when panicked they always moved along a straight line. In the open, especially near water, they would quickly flee in order to attack again. Here, she was trapped like a snake in a cage. I further increased the intensity of my attacks, ignoring the screams of my muscles. Thrust after thrust, I blocked off any potential escape route, all the time pushing her further into the corner.

Realizing what was happening, the monster slashed out, waving her claws in my direction. I didn't step to the side, letting the attack hit. Pain rushed from my shoulder to the rest of my body. Each of her nails felt as if it were on fire, probably an effect of the venom. Yet, just as she had managed to draw blood, the siren had also exposed her weak spot. My right sword moved forward in a single thrust, striking her throat. Instantly, the singing stopped, replaced by gurgling.

The creature desperately tried to move further back, but the walls prevented her. Just a few more strikes to the chest and this fight would be over. I pulled back my sword and initiated another power thrust. Before I was half done, an invisible force slammed into me like a battle rhinoceros, throwing me into the air. RULE-MASTER'S PREROGATIVE Harlequin has adjusted the challenge. Sea's Minstrel's wounds have been healed. Victory rewards have been increased. Bastards! I dared not voice what I was thinking.

It wasn't in Harlequin's nature to interfere so blatantly. A major deity had to be involved, yet why would someone so high up show interest this early on? The siren's wounds closed. Thankfully, the missing nail didn't regrow. Even so, with one single action, Harlequin had erased all the progress I had achieved. The pause hadn't just healed the monster, but provided her with the freedom of movement she so desperately needed. Without warning, the creature slithered straight at me.

I pulled back, slashing the air with both swords as I did so. My attack was effortlessly blocked, after which she went on the offensive. Two of Chalice! I thought, partially healing the wound on my shoulder before her nails sank into my leg. I tried to attack again, but she stopped it with one hand.

"Never play the same game twice," she said, her voice oozing with malice. Maybe if I had more than a handful of cards! I cursed mentally. My blades lit up in flames, though even such a distraction wouldn't save me for long. Cathy had been remarkably useless this battle. The song threads must have affected her quite a bit. Dream pup! I ordered the creature within my consciousness. Free Cathy! Never before had I been in control of a dream beast. That was a privilege reserved for those with rare Grand Arcana cards.

During long trials, it would be their task to protect the dreams of the group from monster invasions. Without that, even strong fighters would lose their will to live, drowning in forced melancholy. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The siren pulled out her claws halfway, then stuck them back in. The pain brought tears to my eyes, though no matter how strong it was, I refused to let it control me. If anything, it made me more determined.

I had already passed the point of no return. If I focused on defending myself, she'd slowly bleed me out, like a cat toying with a mouse. One of Swords! I gritted my teeth and thrust my weapon into the front of her wrist. A crack followed along with a new wave of pain and the smell of burned flesh. Shrieks filled the room along with a new cluster of aether threads. One of them came into contact with my left ear, causing my eardrum to rupture with a loud pop.

The entire room tilted as my senses flooded my brain with conflicting information. When I had first experienced this in the past, I had panicked and run off, completely losing my balance in the process. Since then, I had learned that the only way to cope in such a situation was to remain in place. I waved both swords in the direction of the siren's neck. Now that she had one hand less, she no longer could block. The pain in my leg and shoulder caused the left black to miss.

The right also seemed to veer off in the other direction when an arrow struck it from the side. Time froze, then suddenly exploded. I watched in slow motion the siren leap, slither back in a desperate attempt to escape the tip of my sword; I also watched her fail. The shrieking spontaneously ceased as my divine weapon sliced into her unprotected throat. The flame surrounding intensified, turning green as they mixed with the acid of the Eleven of Chalice.

"Got you," I whispered as my consciousness faded away. Time resumed speeding up to absurd levels. Vertigo took hold with a vengeance, making me want to puke. The floor rose up from the side as my body tilted, lacking the mental and physical strength to make up for the punctured eardrum. I concentrated on the Two of Chalice. The healing was so negligible that I didn't even sense it. Too weak, I thought. I'm still so damned weak! All this time I had been fooling myself that I could kill a Grand Arcana monster.

The truth was that I could barely deal with the trial's standard monster leader. The past me would have complained that it wasn't fair, that the deck was stacked against me—and it was. Yet, that didn't matter. The trial was the trial, and there were only two outcomes: win or lose. Right now, I had managed to win the fight by the skin of my teeth, but had lost the trial. There was no coming back from this.

Even if Cathy was willing and in condition to protect me against Sebastian's herd, she couldn't do anything against the blade serpent. Green light surrounded me. REWARD COMPENSATION Your health has been fully restored by Harlequin. The blurriness subsided. Remaining still, I looked around. The floor was beneath my left cheek. Carefully, I stood up. The pain was completely gone, as was the siren for that matter. Four cards lay on the floor, along with two green spheres.

My instincts from the past took over, forcing my body to leap forward of its own accord. There was no way anyone could ignore such a prize! The only time I had witnessed a bigger reward was when one of my last groups had killed off a titan. Ten cards and fifty ingots of gold. It was a genuine fortune even after we had split it up. With only two people participating, this seemed way better. I greedily grabbed the spheres to prevent them from disappearing, then reached out for the cards with my other hand.

THE BARD has been improved Skill 2: PERFORMANCE: Create false impressions in the minds of others THE BARD has been improved Skill 3: SONG THREADS: Create aether threads while singing to affect living targets. Efficiency depends on magic strength. Now, I had the full Bard. It had cost me two cards, but the effects were worth it. The song threads alone were worth having, even if I were too weak to use them in battle. Also, this was one prize that Harlequin couldn't take from me.

card improvement was different from obtaining cards. I could get sent back to the preparation hall right now and still have my prize. And that wasn't all. Complete development of the Bard has granted you the special Charming. The special will only be in effect while the completed bard is in your possession. That was another reason to develop the skills of cards. I had gone through years of my previous run without even suspecting before Avon had shared the secret.

The irony was that the explanation was always given at the very start, yet ignored as the game got into gear. After all, who would dare waste cards of a kind, considering how difficult they were to get? The remaining two cards were the common Five of Chains, granting the ability to block. It wasn't a particularly bad card, although it required the means to do so.

"Greg?" Cathy approached me. I briskly turned around. The memories of my star-struck state had completely vanished. The reality of the fight had knocked her off my mental pedestal. Right now, she wasn't the untouchable star I thought her to be, but just another participant who had messed up. Before my lips could I saw it—a blood-stained tear in her blouse in the area of the stomach. When Harlequin had healed us, he had only focused on our bodies. All clothes had kept their tears.

I knew that the siren hadn't gotten remotely close to Cathy to cause that wound.

"What happened?" I asked.

"It's nothing," she replied, all but confirming that there was.

"Are you alright?" She was never going to tell me the real reason, but I already knew it: divine punishment. That was the main reason I didn't intend on forming a pact. No matter the nature of the deity, the greater the power, the greater the strings that came with it. Cathy's goddess was a huntress, and for any huntress, the greatest unforgivable sin was to let one's prey escape. When Cathy had fired her arrow at the start of the fight, she had missed, and that had likely caused the gash.

No wonder she had been useless.

"Pretty much," I massaged my ear just to make sure my hearing had been fully restored.

"Here." I handed her one of the Five of Chains cards. The woman hesitated for a moment, then took it. She knew that she hadn't been much help, but at the same time she also wanted to survive the trial.

"And this," I handed her a green monster sphere.

"You're sure?"

"I can't use both of them," I lied, making use of my new performance ability.

"It'll be a waste. If it makes you better, you'll owe me one." The woman didn't respond, but I knew that she'd keep that in mind. If anything, her goddess wouldn't allow her to be weak, and only the weak didn't repay their debts.

"What does it do?" she asked.

"Resistance." I looked at my sphere.

"Poison, paralysis, all the other nasty stuff will affect us less. Better get ready, though. Swallowing it is like eating broken glass."

"I'll be fine."

"In that case," I raised the sphere as if I were making a toast.

"Bottoms up."