“So this is Master Chaos’s hand!” Nel said, peering at the monitor in excitement. They could see the five cards of the Gods deck… “He’s got the Meep! And the Guardian Beast and Holy Spirit…” “He’s got the Angel, too. He must, because I can see something that has eleven power!” Pearl said, getting in on the commentary. “The other card has nine attack power. Which means it must be…!” Her breath caught in her throat. There was one card in the Gods deck with nine attack power: the Divine Dragon. When that card won a battle, it also won the entire game. And terrifyingly, the most powerful card in the humanity deck had only eight attack power. “That’s a good set of cards,” Leshea said with a serious look. “The randomized removal discarded the Demon from the Gods deck. I’m sure Fay was hoping it would take out the Angel or the Divine Dragon. The fact that this hand still has both makes it dangerous. The only cards in the Humans deck that can compete with them are the Hero and the Mage.” Fay couldn’t spare either of them—because he would need both of his trump cards to neutralize both of the Gods deck’s big plays. So what were the cards in his hand? “Quick, Chief Secretary, hurry! Show us Fay’s hand!” “I’m hurrying, I’m hurrying. Here, look.” The screen changed again, this time to show Fay’s perspective. Pearl gasped. “Yes! He’s got the Mage!” The Mage was the weakest card in a vacuum, but it could copy the attack power and effects of the opponent’s card. That made it one of the Humans deck’s strongest plays, able to fight almost anything in the Gods’ deck to a draw. “Beside it is the Healer, then the Trapper, the Sage… The last card has an attack power of two, so it must be the Traveler! ……Wait. If that’s all his cards, then… Nooo!” The Hero was not among Fay’s five cards. “Well, shoot. I guess Fay never was good at luck of the draw stuff like this,” said Miranda, her head in her hands. “This is not a good start.” Behind her, even Leshea gave a pained smile. “The god side has every chance of winning this game. At some point in the next five rounds, that Divine Dragon is bound to show up. If Fay doesn’t play the Mage at the exact same time, it’s over.” “But that’s a one in five chance, right?!” said Pearl. “Yep. From what we’ve seen, his hopes of winning are less than twenty percent. And even if he does happen to stop the Divine Dragon, that means he’ll have used up his Healer and the Angel will start trouncing him in the next round since it and its eleven attack power can just keep coming back.” “Then he’s as good as lost this game, right?!” “From the perspective of card power, yeah.” “Huh?” “Have you forgotten about this, Pearl?” Leshea tossed something to Pearl, who was staring bleakly at the ceiling. The object traced a gleaming, golden arc through the air and landed in her hand. It was one of the coins that had been on the table. Leshea must have snatched it up when they were in the other room. “The cards are just a proxy for a game of stealing each other’s coins.” “He can bluff!” cried, not Pearl, but Nel. She knew better than anyone, from the game against the Bookmaker, that one’s skill at poker was not about the strength of one’s hand. It was exactly when your hand was weakest that you had to act in such a way that your opponent would never know. “You could have won… You should have called my bluff…” Fay had to make Chaos think he had both the Hero and the Mage. He had to keep raising and raising to sell the illusion—because Chaos, of course, didn’t know which card Fay had lost. “Fay can’t afford to let Chaos figure it out,” Miranda said, resting her chin on her elbows as she faced the screen. “They’re former teammates, so they must know each other’s tells. If Fay makes Chaos suspicious by raising too aggressively, it’ll only be counterproductive. The moment Chaos thinks Fay is missing either the Hero or the Mage, he’ll play the Angel and the Dragon in succession, and then it’ll be all over.” “Master Fay is going to be on thin ice for this entire battle,” Nel mumbled. At the same moment, the chief secretary switched camera angles to the main view, so that the screen swapped to show Fay and Chaos. “All right, let’s get started,” Chaos said. “Round one.” His voice was the only sound in a room otherwise dominated by tense silence. Round One In the free-play room, Fay stared intently at his screen, knowing that Leshea and the others were watching from next door. “……” The five cards in his hand (with their attack power) were: Healer (8), Trapper (6), Sage (6), Traveler (2), Mage (1). He was missing the Hero. It had disappeared from the Humans deck during the random removal at the beginning of the game. Okay, what do I do? For that matter, what does Chaos do? There’s always a possibility that the Angel or the Divine Dragon were discarded. There was a two-out-of-six chance that he had lost one of those cards—in other words, it would happen in one out of every three games. If Chaos was missing one of those cards, then Fay just needed to make sure he got the Mage out against the other one. The ideal scenario is that he’s dropped the Divine Dragon, but that could well be wishful thinking. What really scares me is that he might play it in round one and I immediately lose the game. He shouldn’t hope for too much. One always needed to imagine the worst-case scenario, which meant Fay had to work out a strategy for if Chaos was still holding both the Divine Dragon and the Angel. I need to put myself in his shoes. If I had the Divine Dragon, would I play it round one? The longer the game went on, the smaller their hands would get and the easier it would become to guess what their opponent might be holding. If an OHKO with the Divine Dragon gave the Gods deck its best chance of winning, then the Gods player would want to play it early in the game, while it was still an open question what might be in their hand. It was the same with the Angel. As long as the Angel kept winning, it would keep returning to its owner’s hand. There was no stronger card for a round-one play. Which meant that Fay’s first move had to be the Mage (since he didn’t have the Hero). That was the best answer the Humans deck had. A first-turn Divine Dragon or Angel was the Gods player’s optimal play; if Fay unhesitatingly used the Mage to stop it, it would play into a bluff and suggest that he still had the Hero to spare. It seems like the perfect move. So perfect that Chaos might see right through it. If he were in his former team leader’s position, he would guess that Fay would play the Mage or the Hero in the first round and play some other card. Then, whichever card Fay played first would be wasted, and Chaos would decisively gain the upper hand. This is where the real contest starts, to see which of us can read the game out further. And that’s a contest I have to win. First, the Divine Dragon: Would it come out in round one, or not? If it did, his only hope was to meet it with the Mage. But if he was wrong about Chaos’s opening gambit, he would lose his only means of countering the Divine Dragon. Fay thought it over as the clock ticked down, racking his brain until the final tenth of a second… “All right, let’s get started. Each player chooses their cards at the same time,” Chaos said, his pronouncement breaking the silence. “Here we go, Fay.” “I’m ready.” On the screen, the card Fay touched glowed and appeared face down. The same happened with Chaos’s card. “Is this the part where we bet our coins?” “That’s right. One each for ante, then you decide how much you want to wager.” They each had ten coins. After the one-coin ante, that left nine to bet with. After that, it was a question of how many you could win. “I’ll wager one coin in addition to the ante,” Fay said. “Call,” Chaos said without hesitation. Two of each of their coins moved to the center of the screen. Now they were ready for their cards to have their showdown. “Moving to card judgment,” an electronic voice announced. I picked the Healer. If Chaos plays the Divine Dragon as his first move, I’ve already lost. He had to have faith. Had to trust his own judgment. Only an instant passed, but for Fay, it could have been half an hour. It certainly felt like it. “Round one. The winner is Fay. After transferring coins, Fay has twelve coins, Chaos has eight. Remaining cards: Fay—five; Chaos—five.” ““…!”” Fay and Chaos both gasped and, for just one second, looked at the each other. Neither of them were down to four cards. The significance of the total remaining cards wasn’t lost on them. They had each played a card out of the five in their hand, so they should have had four left. Yet both of them still held five cards. Meaning the cards’ effects had caused their hands to increase by one. My Healer is able to return to my hand after I use it. And the only card in the Gods deck that can supplement hand size is the Meep (attack power one)! Healer (8)—After playing this card, you may return it to your hand. You may play this card and equip an Additional Creation Card, which grants +2 attack power. Meep (1)—After playing this card, select one of the Additional Creation Cards and add it to your hand. Fay had gotten his Healer back, so he still had five cards. Chaos had used and lost his Meep, but had gained one of the Additional Cards, which was why he still had five. That meant that the composition of his hand was currently: unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown, and an Additional Creation Card. Now I’ve got something else to think about: Which of the Creation Cards did he choose? There were two possibilities: Lightning & Sword, which added five to one card’s attack power, or Wings & Shield, which subtracted five. They might look like opposing effects, but the Gods player was almost guaranteed to choose Lightning & Sword. Because it gives them a better chance to take out the Hero. Plus, it lets them ensure the strength of their Guardian Beast. Hero (4)—Gets +99 attack power when facing a God card. Guardian Beast (5)—Negates the effects of your opponent’s card. (Defeats Hero and Mage.) The Hero couldn’t defeat the Guardian Beast on its own—but by using the Healer as an Additional Creation Card, the Hero could be boosted to six attack power. But now that won’t be enough, because Lightning & Sword can raise the Guardian Beast up to ten power. And the Hero still wouldn’t stand a chance against the Divine Dragon. For that reason, if the Humans player played the Hero or Mage, it would be easy pickings for a Guardian Beast boosted by Lightning & Sword. Worse yet, during the round he played Guardian Beast, Chaos could go all in on his bet—because there was no way he could lose. But the worst thing is that he can do exactly that as a bluff. If he bets all his coins, I’m going to have to fold, whether it’s a bluff or not. Fay was at a severe disadvantage. Come round two, he couldn’t afford to make the slightest mistake. Meanwhile, the others had watched round one play out. “So that’s Master Chaos’s strategy!” Nel said, biting her lip. The situation looked dire for Fay. “Master Fay doesn’t have any cards that can beat the Guardian Beast!” “N-now, that’s just not fair! He put Fay on the defensive by threatening to play the Divine Dragon in round one, then used the Meep of all things to supplement his hand, and now that Additional card means even the Hero can’t beat him, right?! Even if Fay had it, which he doesn’t…” In the monitor room, Pearl kept flicking the screen from one angle to the next. On Chaos’s screen, he had chosen the Lightning & Sword as his Additional card, just as they had expected. On Fay’s screen, the Healer had come back to his hand, but that was all. The moment Chaos combined Lightning & Sword with the Guardian Beast and went all in with his coins, Fay would have no choice but to fold. “Master Fay’s only hope is if, when Master Chaos bluffs with the Guardian Beast, he plays something other than the Mage and wins. Using Trapper would be great, but…no, Master Chaos must be able to foresee at least that much. And there’s always the chance he’ll play the Divine Dragon…” “I wonder,” said Leshea. “Wha—?!” “This is just my intuition, but I think the next card he’ll play won’t be the Beast or the Divine Dragon. It’ll be the Angel. I think he’ll use a round to see what the situation is.” Leshea almost seemed to be talking to herself. “Wh-what do you mean by that, Mistress Leshea?” Nel turned to Leshea, her eyes wide, so fast it disheveled her black hair. “Master Fay has no cards that can counter the Guardian Beast. Shouldn’t Master Chaos go all in on every round from now until the end of the game?” “Should he? I think, in his mind, he’s seeing a different card.” Leshea switched the screens, so that it showed the display of all sixteen cards. “First, round one. Fay can be sure that Chaos played the Meep, because his hand size didn’t go down. The Angel also stays in the hand, but if Chaos had played that, it would have defeated the Healer.” The winner of the first round was Fay (with the Healer). Thus, he could be sure that his opponent had played the Meep. “But what about from Chaos’s perspective?” “…!” Nel gasped. “I see! Master Chaos can’t be sure. He might think it wasn’t the Healer but the Traveler that Master Fay played!” Healer (8)—After playing this card, you may return it to your hand. You may play this card as an equipped Creation card that grants +2 attack power. Traveler (2)—After playing this card, select one Additional Creation or Heaven & Earth card and put it into your hand. The Meep had an attack power of one. On the first turn, Chaos couldn’t be sure which of these cards it had lost to. “He was probably thinking something along the lines of this: A first-turn Divine Dragon is certainly a powerful move, but he could expect Fay to meet it with the Mage or the Hero. The Gods deck can counter that by causing the Humans deck to swing and miss on that first turn, then following up with Guardian Beast plus Lightning & Sword and going all-in. The Meep sets that strategy up, but we can expect Fay to have read at least that far ahead.” What would he do, then? Chaos would have to keep piling guesses upon guesses. “The best counter to a first-turn Meep is a first-turn Traveler, because it allows you to draw one of the really powerful cards from the Heaven & Earth category.” Additional Cards [Heaven & Earth] 1. Nameless Child (0)—When choosing a card for the round, pick one Humans card that is not in the Humans player’s hand. This card copies the selected Humans card’s attack power and effects. 2. The Creator (99)—After this card is acquired, it must be used in the following round. If in battle with the Angel, both sides lose. “I see! He has to go for the Creator!” Miranda said, expanding that card so it filled the viewscreen. “A Guardian Beast boosted by Lightning & Sword has an attack power of ten. Even the Hero can’t counter that, which is why Chaos can just go all-in. But the Creator has an unanswerable ninety-nine attack!” This was probably what Fay was thinking: Chaos’s most effective move in the second round would be the Guardian Beast or the Divine Dragon. But the Creator could beat both of them. That much, at least, would also line up with Chaos’s thought process. “I finally understand what you’re talking about, Leshea!” Pearl said, putting a hand on her chest and taking a deep breath. “Round two! Chaos, wary of the Creator, plays the Angel…but wait—what?! Fay’s first move wasn’t the Traveler!” Precisely. Fay had played the Healer in round one. He’d trusted Chaos to be alert to the possibility of him playing the Traveler in round one and the Creator in round two. If Chaos had played the Divine Dragon during the first round, Fay would have lost the game instantly. But he had embraced that huge risk—and survived. “He risked life and limb to conserve his Traveler,” Miranda said. “This way, Fay can play it in the second round, followed by the Creator in round three. An ambush from the most powerful card around.” Chaos’s second-round play was likely to be the Angel (in anticipation of the Creator). Only during the third round would he go all in and play Lightning & Sword with the Guardian Beast. And that was where Fay could strike back with the Creator. “How far are they reading each other on this game?!” Pearl said, clutching her head. “S-so, Leshea, what card will Fay play on his second turn?” “That depends on him.” “What about Chaos, then?!” “Not to sound like a broken record, but it won’t be the Guardian Beast. He might play the Divine Dragon if he’s anticipated that Fay will play the Traveler, but I think the Angel might be the safer, more certain move. It depends on what kind of player he is.” Leshea’s eyes sparkled, almost as if she were playing the game herself. “Those two know each other, right? I’m sure something is going to happen in this next round. I just can’t wait to see what!” Then the big screen in the monitor room filled with a message indicating that a new battle was about to begin. Round 1 complete. Moving to Round 2. Fay: 5 cards, 12 coins Chaos: 5 cards, 8 coins 2 “Beginning round two. Players, choose your cards.” Chaos looked at the message on the screen, then murmured to himself, “Now, what to play?” For his next move, he had to choose one of two cards: the Angel or the Divine Dragon. He thought back. The first round had been about setting expectations, in a manner of speaking. Chaos himself couldn’t dismiss the possibility of opening with the Divine Dragon—call it about 10 percent—but in the end he’d gone with the Meep. It would have been great if I could have gotten rid of his Hero or Mage, but he saved them. Fay still has five cards, which means there’s a good chance that he used the Traveler, but… There was also the chance that he had played the Healer and would show up with an unexpected Creator. It was something else, however, that bothered Chaos. Why wouldn’t he use the Hero or Mage? There was a distinct chance that I would play the Divine Dragon in round one. Maybe he’d just assumed Chaos wouldn’t make a game-ending play as his first move, but Chaos could turn that same line of thought against him by exploiting it with the Divine Dragon—as Fay would well understand. So it wasn’t enough to say that he had wanted to conserve his Hero and Mage. There must’ve been some reason he didn’t want to play them in round one. Like…if he didn’t have one of them. Suppose the Hero (or the Mage) had been discarded initially. Then Fay would only have one trump card. If he was too eager to use it, he would lose his only way to defend against the Divine Dragon—which was exactly why he’d steeled his resolve and made the dangerous choice to play the Traveler (or Healer) in the first round. That seemed plausible. It’s not that he didn’t want to play his Hero or Mage. It’s that he couldn’t. And if that’s true, then I win this by round three. Chaos had his strategy. Now he just needed to wait for Fay’s decision. There’s still time. That said, just waiting around is boring. Chaos looked at his former rookie, his tone cool and indifferent. “Fay,” he said. “I know what I’m playing as my second card, so I’m feeling a little lonely over here while you pick yours. I think I’ll talk to myself to pass the time.” “And I think I’ll talk about the ancient magical civilization. Stuff you’ve never heard before.” The soliloquy came on suddenly, as they were still choosing their cards for the second round. It was just as Fay was racking his brain for patterns that might possibly arise. “This would have been decades ago, now. They found ruins of the ancient magical civilization, which until then had been nothing but legend, buried under layers of volcanic ash. That was in the Relic City of Ange, of course.” Chaos’s words pulled the rug out from under all of it—Fay’s concentration, his caution. Everything. “…Chaos?” he asked. “Even I don’t know what drew me to it. I guess I’ve just been interested in that stuff since I was a kid. I’d devour history books like I was some sort of scholar, so I left Ruin to go see the relics, almost like a vagabond. And that’s when—purely by chance—I found it.” What? What had he found? The question sprang to Fay’s lips, but he hesitated to voice it for two reasons. One, because he still hadn’t decided on his round-two card. And two, because he had the distinct sense that his former team leader would answer the question whether Fay asked it or not. “Fay. It’s something you know, too.” “What does that mean?” Fay asked slowly. “The God’s Diadem.” There was a plunk as Chaos put something on the table: a small piece of black stone. “You can earn rewards in the gods’ games. A God’s Diadem is a gift for defeating a previously undefeated god. Like the Eye of Uroboros that you got.” “That’s a cursed item. Pearl said we should throw it out with the non-combustible trash.” “It happens sometimes,” Chaos said with a nod. He looked completely serious. “Gods and humans have very different senses of what’s valuable. It’s not that shocking if something a god sees as a reward looks like trash or even a disaster to a human. But then there’s stuff like this.” Chaos let his eyes drift to the small black shard of stone on the desk and was silent for a long moment. Then he said, “This God’s Diadem that I excavated at the Relic City of Ange was something useful to the people of the ancient magical civilization. No question about it.” “………” Fay didn’t say anything as he peered at the black stone on the table. Could it really be…? “You excavated a God’s Diadem, Chaos?” “Yeah. In modern terms, we would call this a high-capacity storage device. This little piece of rock can hold the equivalent of an entire library’s worth of books. After I found this, I learned how and why the ancient magical civilization was destroyed.” “…!” Fay was startled. “Is that why you left Ruin?!” “Yeah, exactly. I was going to go look for more of these black stones, but it ended up being a wild goose chase.” After a long moment Fay said, “I see…” That answered one question: why Chaos had gone to the Relic City after the breakup of Awaken. He learned the history of the ancient magical civilization that was recorded on this stone and wanted to dive deeper. The question then became, what history had he learned? What couldn’t he tell Fay or any of their teammates? “Didn’t you ever think about going public with this?” “There were two reasons I couldn’t. One was that this stone is pretty weathered and doesn’t boot up anymore. Wouldn’t be much of a story if I didn’t have any proof to back it up. The other reason was personal judgment. It’s not a pleasant story. So I…” A bell rang. They were out of time to choose their cards. “Guess that’s enough talking to myself,” Chaos said, sounding exactly the same as he had all day. “I got your attention, and that’s what matters. Beat me, and I’ll tell you the rest.” “I’ll do my best.” Fay looked at this apostle who had once been his senior teammate and nodded. “I’ve picked my card.” “Me too.” After choosing their cards, it was time to decide how many coins they would bet. “I’ll bet one coin in addition to the ante,” Fay said. “Raise. My read, Fay, is that you haven’t played the Creator on your second turn, so I’m betting a total of three coins. What’s your move?” After a second, Fay said, “Call.” The each put in three coins, a total of six migrating to the center of the screen—but that wasn’t what was important. What really counted was the cards. Two cards floated up, one from Fay’s hand and one from Chaos’s, and glowed brightly… “Round two. The winner is Chaos. After transferring coins, Fay has nine coins, Chaos has eleven. Remaining cards: Fay—four; Chaos—five.” There was a major swing in the number of coins, but neither the loser, Fay, nor the winner, Chaos, so much as flinched. From the instant the result was declared, they were both thinking so fast and so hard that they begrudged even the time to cry out. Fay had to start making deductions. His hints were the result of the latest round and the remaining cards. I played the Trapper (6). That can be defeated by one of three cards: the Angel (11), the Divine Dragon (9), or the Demon (7). It was easy enough to guess which card he had lost to since Chaos’s hand size hadn’t decreased. That meant he must’ve used the Angel, which returned to his hand when it won a battle. I can see he’s not going to play the Divine Dragon. Not until I play the Hero or he’s sure I don’t have it. Chaos was probably hoping to win a series of victories with the Angel. He would keep playing it until Fay used either the Hero or the Mage to stop him. It was practically a challenge to use up one of his two best cards. He’s starting to figure out which cards I have in my hand. It’s like he’s saying, “If you’ve got two killer cards, what’s the problem with using one of them?” Chaos likely suspected Fay was missing either the Hero or the Mage—that he didn’t want to use one of them because the other had been discarded by the random removal. Do I play the Mage? No, I can’t. If he played the Divine Dragon in the round after, I would be finished. Moreover, the Gods deck still had the Guardian Beast as well. The possibility that his Mage could wind up in its worst possible matchup was constantly hanging over Fay’s head. And yet, at the same time, if he didn’t play the Mage, he would just keep getting trampled by the Angel. What to do, what to do? “Wh-wh-wh-what is he supposed to do?!” In the monitor room, Pearl pointed up at the screen, which showed the cards in Fay’s hand. Her face was pale. “Fay is completely cornered! I m-mean, if he just keeps facing the Angel—” “Don’t lose your head!” Nel admonished her. “There’s no doubt that Master Fay’s hand leaves him at a disadvantage, and it’s only a matter of time until Master Chaos realizes just how bad it is…but there’s still a way to turn this around!” “Oooh!” Almost in spite of herself, Pearl balled both her hands into fists, carried by the force of Nel’s conviction. “What is it, Nel? Tell me!” “Yes, tell us, Mistress Leshea!” Nel requested earnestly. “You’re just going to pass the buck?!” Pearl was shaking visibly. Nel gritted her teeth. The reactions might be different, but the feeling that inspired them was unquestionably the same. They were both wondering: What did Fay have to do to win? “Good question…” Leshea gazed at a screen, but she was looking at Chaos’s view. On his screen, Fay’s hand appeared as unknown, unknown, unknown, and unknown. “There’s one thing I don’t understand. Miranda, switch screens for me. Go to the part where Fay played his Trapper during round two,” she ordered. Then she manipulated the screen even further, pulling up the overview of the sixteen cards. Trapper (6)—When you win a round using this card, you may look at your opponent’s hand and select the card they must play next. It had a high attack stat and a powerful effect. Not only could it defeat the Guardian Beast (at least if it was unboosted), but then it would allow you to see the opponent’s hand and even choose the card they had to play in the next round. “There was always a good chance that Chaos would play the Angel in the second round,” Leshea said. “Because he would assume Fay was likely to play the Creator, right?” Miranda asked. “Yeah. But if Fay was going to lose anyway, he should have played the Healer.” That would at least have returned to his hand after he lost. Instead, Fay had lost a card in round two that there was no need to lose. “It was such an illogical choice that Chaos is as confused as we are. He’s wondering if maybe it actually was the Healer that Fay played, instead of the Trapper.” “Huh?!” Pearl gasped. “Why would he think there was any chance it was the Healer?!” “Because that’s what the Healer does.” Healer (8)—After playing this card, you may return it to your hand. You may play this card as an equipped Creation Card that grants +2 attack power. The card didn’t say that it would return to your hand. You could also deliberately eliminate it to get it out of your hand. “Chaos is thinking that maybe Fay deliberately refrained from taking the Healer back into his hand in order to drop his hand to four cards—specifically to make Chaos think he’d played the Trapper.” The point would be to sow the seeds of doubt. To make Chaos wonder if the Trapper might, just might, still be in Fay’s hand. “What Fay’s done isn’t quite a bluff. He’s used up his Trapper, which could easily be called a mistake. But he just needs Chaos to doubt himself for one moment—that’s my guess.” In his first move, he’d played the Healer at risk to his entire game. In his second, he’d played the Trapper, which was hardly a bluff—and might even be considered a poor play. Very well. What card could he possibly use to follow those up? Round 2 complete. Fay: 4 cards, 9 coins Chaos: 5 cards, 11 coins 3 “Beginning round three. Players, choose your cards.” As soon as the message appeared on the screen, Fay stared intensely at his four cards and tried to make sure Chaos didn’t see him let out a breath. This was where the true contest of deception would begin. Fay’s hand consisted of: the Healer (8), the Sage (6), the Traveler (2), and the Mage (1). It’s clear what Chaos is after: He’s going to keep using the Angel until I send out my Hero or Mage to stop him! This was an open invitation. If Fay accepted it, Chaos would use the Divine Dragon the moment his Mage was gone, and the game would be over. So instead, the card in which Fay had to put his faith was…the Traveler. The Traveler, that’s it. This is my actual trump card, and it’s time to play it. Right now. “I’ve made my choice,” Fay said, moving from card selection to coin wagering. “I pay my one-coin ante and fold.” “…!” Chaos’s gaze became harder than ever as the screen instantly displayed notification of Fay’s defeat. “Round three. The winner is Chaos (Fay folds). After transferring coins, Fay has eight coins, Chaos has twelve. Remaining cards: Fay—four; Chaos—five.” No change in the number of cards. Now Fay could be sure that Chaos had played the Angel twice in a row. But what would Chaos guess about what Fay had played? He was still holding four cards. With the Humans deck, that meant that either he had played the Healer and then taken it back to his hand—or he had burned his Traveler to take one of the Additional Cards. Knowing Chaos, he’ll probably see straight through me. And he’ll know that I used my Traveler to gain the Nameless Child. Everything hinged on this. Round four was when the destiny of the Humans and Gods decks would be decided. Round 3 complete. Fay: 4 cards, 8 coins Chaos: 5 cards, 12 coins 4 “Beginning round four. Players, choose your cards.” Chaos glanced at his screen, which indicated that his opponent (Fay) had four cards in his hand. He nodded the slightest bit, barely a matter of millimeters. Fay’s hand amount didn’t change. That means in round three, he must have played either the Healer or the Traveler. Chaos could only guess which one, but Fay folding in the previous round was a major hint. He’d had no intention of fighting. By choosing unconditional surrender before the battle began, he avoided the Divine Dragon’s battle-victory effect (i.e., game over) and essentially passed the baton to the next round. Which means it was probably the Traveler. He gets to put a powerful Additional card in his hand and use it against me in the following round. So which had he picked? Additional Cards [Heaven & Earth] 1. Nameless Child (00)—When choosing your card for the round, select one Human card that is not in the Humans player’s hand. This card copies the selected Human card’s attack power and effects. 2. The Creator (99)— After this card is acquired, it must be used in the following round. If in battle with the Angel, both sides lose. If Fay had picked option one and copied the Hero, he could defeat the Angel or the Divine Dragon, but not the Guardian Beast. Option two would fight to a draw with the Angel, but would defeat any of the others. The caveat was that it would have to be played in the very next round (in this case, the fourth round). It’s obvious. Fay has almost certainly chosen the Nameless Child. At a glance, it might seem that the first involved the possibility of a loss, whereas the second ensured a draw at worst. That would make the second choice seem less risky, but it came with the condition that the card had to be played in the following round. In other words, it could also be seen as a trap: It might seem to promise a draw at worst, but in reality, a draw was all but guaranteed. So Fay would probably take option one, then, and hope to take out the Angel or the Divine Dragon. It was the right choice. It also matches my read: Fay lost either the Hero or the Mage in the random discard. Which meant that Chaos was almost certain of what was in Fay’s hand. Fay’s hand (four cards): The Sage; either the Healer or the Trapper; either the Mage or the Hero; the Nameless Child Here in round four, with the game state the way it was, there was really only one card Fay could play. “Anyway, I think that’s what Chaos expects,” Leshea said, her eyes shining. “So, he’s got it all basically exactly right?!” In the monitor room, Pearl yelped for the umpteenth time. “Chief Secretary!” “I know, I know. I’ll change it to Fay’s view, okay?” Fay’s hand had four cards in it: the Sage, the Healer, the Mage, and the Additional Card Nameless Child. In other words, precisely what Chaos had guessed. So, what did Chaos’s hand look like from Fay’s perspective? Chaos’s hand (Fay’s POV): Angel, unknown, unknown, unknown, Additional Card Lightning & Sword Chaos’s hand (actual): Angel, Divine Dragon, Guardian Beast, Holy Spirit, Additional Card Lightning & Sword From Fay’s perspective, half of Chaos’s cards were unknowns—because Chaos had been able to use the Angel in the second and third rounds to conserve his cards. “Master Chaos will almost certainly come out swinging with the Angel for a third time in a row. Until Master Fay stops that card, he has no hope of winning…but now, he might have that chance!” Nel clenched her fist and brought it down as if to smite the table. “Now he has the Nameless Child! With it, he can copy the Hero and stop the Angel!” Fay finally had the Hero and the Mage, the two cards that could counter the Gods deck’s trump cards, the Angel and the Divine Dragon. “But Nel,” Pearl said, “the Gods deck has three trump cards. If Chaos plays Lightning & Sword with the Guardian Beast, even the Hero and the Mage won’t be able to beat it!” “Then it’s a contest of who can read the game better. The only thing to do is make him miss!” Fay’s planWith the Hero and the Mage, he could stop Chaos’s Angel and Divine Dragon. Chaos’s planIf he could take out either the Hero or the Mage with the Guardian Beast, his victory was assured. Their plays were clear. Now it was only a question of who would win the battle of guessing what their opponent would do next. For this fourth round, however, no prediction was necessary. They both knew exactly what the ideal play was for their opponent. “There’s no need for Master Chaos to change his strategy at this point. The Angel is coming out a third time!” He was hoping Fay would use the Hero. Because the ideal scenario for the Gods deck was an OHKO with the Divine Dragon. After all, Fay had only two cards that could stop it. A rough calculation showed that since Chaos had four cards (including one Creation Card) in his hand, there was a 25 percent chance that he would play the Divine Dragon. Fay just had to match it against either the Hero or the Mage. That gave him a one-in-two chance. But what if he accidentally used the Hero against the Angel? In that case, the chance that Fay could match up his lone Mage against the Divine Dragon from the remaining three cards in Chaos’s hand would fall to one in three. “Master Chaos is willing to sacrifice the Angel in order to lure Master Fay into playing the Hero! That’s the best way for the Gods player to improve their chances of winning. And Master Fay will have to go along with it even if he knows that’s what’s happening. Otherwise, the Angel will just keep running roughshod over him!” As such, it was easy to predict what would happen in round four: Chaos would play his Angel while Fay played his Hero (or Mage). They would each know what the other was thinking. Or so everyone assumed. Until the voice of the electronic device in the monitor room sounded: “Chaos picks two cards.” “…Wha— Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!” “No! Is that Master Chaos’s plan?!” When they saw the Gods player’s selected cards on the screen, Pearl, Nel, and even Miranda were blown away in surprise. Even Leshea, who had otherwise simply been watching quietly, breathed “Huh!” and smiled. The true shock, however, came after that. “Fay picks two cards.” “……………” Everyone in the room simply fell silent, the onlookers too astonished to make a sound. In fact, they had moved beyond astonishment and right into incomprehension. They simply did not know what this meant—and a human whose mind has gone blank is a human who can’t even make a sound of amazement. Finally, Pearl managed, “Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh…?” She pointed at the screen and collapsed. “Why in the world would he play that card?!” At about the same time Pearl was yelling in the other room, Chaos was staring silently at his screen, glancing at the twin messages it displayed: Guardian Beast, set. Lightning & Sword, set. He’d decided: That was it. This fourth round would be the hinge upon which their destinies turned—or at least that was presumably what Fay was thinking. I know how he feels. That’s why I can trick him. I won’t let round four be a predictable nonevent. It would be obvious to anyone that he should play the Angel for the third time in a row. Fay would defeat it with his Hero, and that would be the end of the round. But the obvious path was also the boring one. If Fay was going to play the Hero anyway, Chaos might as well smash it—with his Guardian Beast. He added Lightning & Sword, boosting its attack power to ten. Since the most powerful card in the Humans deck (the Healer) only had an attack power of eight, his chances of victory for this round were about a billion percent. I could easily go all-in with my coins and win everything back. But I shouldn’t. That would put Fay on the alert. Maybe I should go with a low bet to make him think I’m playing the Angel? They’d each picked their cards; the only remaining question was how many coins to pile on. Chaos might be utterly assured of victory in this round, but the important thing was to make Fay think that he could win with his Hero. Going all in would only raise a red flag. “I pay my one-coin ante,” Fay said, reaching for his monitor—and then tapping it twice. “And I bet one coin. Two in total.” “Call.” Obvious. He wasn’t thinking of folding. His one coin spoke volumes. Fay was confident. He was sure that Chaos was preparing the Angel yet again, and that his Hero would beat it. And he’s playing the Hero, not the Mage. The Mage would only draw. There’d be no reason to add more coins. “Player one, Chaos, uses an Additional Card.” “Player two, Fay, uses an Additional Card.” In reaction to the game’s announcement, a tightness faintly appeared around Fay’s lips. Chaos didn’t so much as flinch. Well within expectations. You anticipated me, didn’t you, Fay? You knew I might play the Guardian Beast. And Fay had used some insurance. He’d played the Healer as a Creation card, just on the remote chance that Chaos would buck the obvious Angel play and use the Guardian Beast instead. Hero (4) + Healer-as-Creation (2) = 6. Stronger than the Guardian Beast’s five attack power. Chaos had played his Additional Card, Lightning & Sword, as a counter to such a possibility. “Fay. You made the best choice that was available to you.” The words Chaos spoke as they sat facing their respective devices were unmistakably an expression of appreciation. Fay had anticipated that he would play, not the Angel, but the Guardian Beast, and he had played the Healer as a Creation card in order to counter it. Their powers of prediction proved equal. It was round one that had determined the victor. Chaos’s first-round Meep, followed by drawing the Additional Card Lightning & Sword, had produced this outcome. “Round four. The winner is Chaos. After transferring coins, Fay has six coins, Chaos has fourteen.” He’d won. As the realization sunk in, Chaos gave an internal sigh of relief, although he never let the collected mask slip from his face. I have fourteen coins. Even if the game goes into extra rounds, I could fold each round and still wind up with eleven, winning the game. “Remaining cards: Fay—three; Chaos—three. Extra rounds are activated. Based on the remaining cards held by both players, the game will extend to round seven.” The occurrence of extra rounds was also within Chaos’s expectations—and now he knew exactly what Fay had in his hand. Fay had four cards. On this turn, he used the Hero and the Healer, then returned the Healer to his hand. That would explain everything. The breakdown of his hand was: FayMage (1), Sage (6), Healer (8). While Chaos held Holy Spirit (4), Divine Dragon (9), and Angel (11). But there’s still a slim chance—call it one percent—that Fay could come out of this the winner. That would be if he didn’t use his Hero in the fourth round. Fay had played two cards. If they had been the Mage and the Healer, then he would still have the Hero in hand. And yet, the way he’d bet his two coins without hesitation smelled fishy to Chaos. Could it have been a sacrifice play to make Chaos think he’d played the Hero? My strategy was going to be to fold in each of the remaining rounds—but if Fay still has the Hero, then I won’t be able to escape! The Hero had two effects. Hero (4)—Gets +99 attack power when facing a Gods card (except Guardian Beast). Triples the coins you gain this turn. Chaos had fourteen coins, while Fay had six. If Fay still had the Hero… Round Five: Chaos folds and has thirteen coins; Fay has seven. Round Six: Chaos folds and has twelve coins; Fay has eight. Round Seven: Chaos folds and has eleven coins; Fay has thirteen (he gains six via the Hero’s effect). He could turn this around in the very last round. That’s only if he still has the Hero, of course—which should be very unlikely. But Chaos knew Fay—knew he would do it. They were on the knife’s edge, and that was exactly when Fay would pull a trick to score an upset victory. That was the kind of man he was. Chaos had to approach these final three rounds as if Fay still had the Hero. Round 4 complete. Fay: 3 cards, 6 coins Chaos: 3 cards, 14 coins “Beginning round five. Players, choose your cards.” For the fifth time, they heard the round-start message. By now, the mechanical voice hardly even registered with Chaos. He didn’t have the time. The possibility remained that Fay had conserved his Hero. It was the one thing that could defeat Chaos. How could he smash it? All his thoughts were focused on that one question. But turning the question around, it meant that as long as Chaos played on the assumption that the Hero would still appear, his victory was certain. “I’ve decided,” he said, touching a card on the left edge of his screen. Here in round five, he selected the Holy Spirit (4). After holding onto this card all game, now would be its moment of glory. Holy Spirit (4)—When you lose a round using this card, select one card from your opponent’s deck. If that card is in their hand, they discard it. He would simply get rid of the Hero. If it was still in Fay’s hand, Chaos would force him to discard it before it could reach the battlefield. “Both players have chosen their cards. Wager your coins.” “I fold,” said Chaos. That was the least risky course. By deliberately losing, he would activate the Holy Spirit’s power, which would play right into his hands… “I don’t think so, Chaos,” Fay said, abruptly breaking his silence. “You need to bet a couple more coins.” “The Sage!” Chaos hissed. Sage (6)—You may force your opponent to raise their ante by two additional coins. You lose no coins this turn. On the screen, Chaos saw his coins forcibly added to the pile—two of them in addition to his initial ante. Now six coins, three from Chaos and three from Fay, sat piled in the middle of the screen. I see. Excellent timing. He knew I would be questioning whether he still had the Hero. They went on to the judgment of the cards—but since Fay had played the Sage (6), the Holy Spirit (4) was never going to beat it. “The winner is Fay. After transferring coins, Fay has nine coins, Chaos has eleven. Remaining cards: Fay—two; Chaos—two.” The gulf between their coin totals had suddenly narrowed. The pile of coins moved toward Fay—but even as he watched it go, Chaos grasped his own victory. Total number of coins? With two rounds to go, I can manage that somehow. He’d already considered the possibility of an upset victory on coins. That was why he’d played the Holy Spirit in the first place. “I activate the effect of Holy Spirit. If you’re holding the card I name, Fay, I’d like you to throw it away. I name the Hero.” “………” Fay didn’t say anything. Instead, a message flashed across the screen: The Holy Spirit’s effect fails. Fay didn’t have the Hero. Did I overthink it? No, no. It was always just to be safe. Now I know that Fay’s holding the Mage (1) and the Healer (8). Chaos himself had the Divine Dragon (9) and the Angel (11). That meant there were only four (or more precisely, five) possible matchups during rounds six and seven. 1. Round Six: Mage vs. Divine Dragon; Round Seven: Healer vs. Angel 2. Round Six: Mage vs. Angel; Round Seven: Healer vs. Divine Dragon 3. Round Six: Healer vs. Divine Dragon (game ends immediately via Divine Dragon’s effect) 4. Round Six: Healer vs Angel; Round Seven: Mage vs. Divine Dragon (or Angel) Of these, scenarios two and three would result in victory by OHKO from the Divine Dragon. Only scenarios one and four would be determined based on total coin count. Both would result in one victory and one draw—so Chaos’s triumph was assured. Round 5 complete. Fay: 2 cards, 9 coins Chaos: 2 cards, 9 coins 5 “Beginning round six. Players, choose your cards.” Fay no longer even heard the message. He was staring at his two cards, unwilling to so much as blink. “………” He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. The moment Chaos had played the Holy Spirit and had named the Hero, the pressure had been almost suffocating. He wondered just how far ahead Chaos was reading. Over the previous five rounds, Fay had piled stratagem upon stratagem, delicately, carefully, to reach this sixth round. He’s probably predicted 90 percent of what I’ve done. The question is the other 10 percent. My entire plan hangs on round four. That was why a chill had run down his spine when the card Chaos named as the target of the Holy Spirit’s effect was the Hero. He suspected me on the fourth round—he followed my train of thought and realized I was only pretending to play the Hero in order to conserve it. Chaos was not one to rush a win. Fay’s old team leader was that kind of man. It wasn’t enough for him to smack the proverbial stone bridge before crossing; he would roll a human-sized rock onto it to make sure was strong enough, and then, still not satisfied, he would reinforce it with concrete before finally crossing while wearing a lifeline. In reality, Chaos’s instinct was half-correct. Before revealing that second half, Fay had a choice to make—one he absolutely had to get right. Chaos’s handAngel (11), unknown (?). Was the unknown card the Divine Dragon or the Demon? It was safe to assume that it was the Divine Dragon. Chaos’s repeated, unhesitating use of the Angel on turns two and three told the story: It said he still had his true trump card in hand. Which would mean that during either round six or seven, he’s guaranteed to play the Divine Dragon. With two rounds left, Fay had only one guaranteed counter. If he made the wrong call, the game would be over on the spot. This last choice was the biggest of them all. Now? Or later? Round six? Or round seven? When would Chaos play his Divine Dragon? Think back. Remember everything he’s said and done since we got to headquarters. I’m sitting here across from my old team leader Chaos! He hadn’t changed. He was the same person who had left the Ruin branch office a year before. Which was why… “I’ve decided,” Fay said. He reached for the device, his trepidation palpable. “Chaos? Could you pick which card you’re going to play this round?” From Chaos’s perspective, of course, his victory was already assured. They each had two cards in their hands, and with two rounds left to play, there were four (or five) possible combinations. In all of them, Chaos won. I’m holding the Divine Dragon and the Angel. I could close my eyes and pick one at random and still have a one-trillion-percent chance of winning. As certain as he was, Chaos suddenly realized that his fingertips felt the slightest bit cold. He was nervous. This wasn’t over yet. Even though the cards and the coins both attested to his inevitable victory, it seemed in some corner of his heart he couldn’t yet be totally sure. I know you, Fay. You’ll try something. And I really want to see what it is. Chaos knew full well that from the moment he had joined team Awaken to until a year ago, no one had observed the rookie Fay Theo Philius as closely as he had. “Yeah. I’ve made up my mind, too.” The final choice. Should he play the instantly-lethal Divine Dragon now, or later? In round six, or round seven? He hadn’t shown the Divine Dragon at any point yet. Fay couldn’t even be certain Chaos had it in his hand. Which meant now was the time to use it. By this point, I’ve done enough to leave him with the impression that I’ll wait until the last round to play my Divine Dragon. Now Chaos would betray that expectation. Everything he had done, from the first round until the fifth, was a bluff designed to set up this sixth round. “Both players, cards set.” “All right. In addition to my ante, I wager one coin,” Chaos said. “Call,” Fay replied, so fast that Chaos almost didn’t believe his ears. Calling so soon? Had he given up the possibility of winning by number of coins? But no. He hadn’t: It was Fay’s eyes that made Chaos sure. Fay wasn’t looking at Chaos, but staring intently at his monitor, so focused he was almost boring a hole in it as he waited for the outcome. “Round six. Draw. Four coins remain in the pot; Fay has seven coins, Chaos has nine. Remaining cards: Fay—one; Chaos—one.” “A draw!” Chaos was moderately shocked. But he could still see how the contest would go during round seven. He would use his Angel to defeat Fay’s Healer and collect the four coins in the pot—giving him the majority of the coins. The winner of this game was as good as decided. And yet, he looked again at the screen, for Fay had met his Divine Dragon with the Mage. Ever since round two, I’ve been making it obvious that I’ll keep playing the Angel. I never gave him a hint that I was holding the Divine Dragon. He’d done everything to give the impression that he would end the game with a flourish, playing the Divine Dragon in the final round. To have seen through his plot was nothing short of brilliant. “Looks like we have a standoff, Fay.” “Yeah. At least we won’t need any time to choose our cards. I’ll fight with this one.” “…Right.” The impending outcome could not be clearer. Each of them only had one card left. Those cards would do battle, and the victor would take the majority of the coins and win the game. Round 6 complete. Fay: 1 card, 7 coins Chaos: 1 card, 9 coins “Moving to round seven. Players, choose your cards.” The card in Chaos’s hand was the Angel (11). He’d used it twice and won both matches. It boasted the greatest attack power of any card in either the Gods or Humans decks. Fay, meanwhile, held the Healer (8). It was the most powerful attacker in the Humans deck, but it couldn’t match the best cards in the Gods deck. No speculating this time. It’s just a simple fact that Fay has been holding back his Healer. Chaos knew exactly what was in Fay’s hand, which was why he was so confident that the Angel would bring him victory. “Both players, cards set. Coin betting will be skipped and the cards will be compared immediately.” It’s like the real humans and gods, but in miniature. Humans’ most powerful card is no match for the gods’ most powerful card. Chaos gazed at his screen. Humans and gods. The final card from each camp appeared in the center of the screen and slammed against each other. A shower of colorful sparks, very appropriate for a final battle, flew everywhere. It was decided. As Chaos looked on impassively, an electronic voice announced: “The winner is Fay. The final round is over, and the winner of the game is Fay!” “What?!” Everything was suddenly turned upside down—all of Chaos’s expectations, the recipient of the coins, and even the victor. This wasn’t possible. There had to be some mistake, didn’t there? Had he misheard? Or could the machine be malfunctioning? Even as Chaos watched, however, all the coins in the pot moved over to Fay. What is this? What the hell happened? Chaos had played the Angel. With one exception, it should have been powerful enough to defeat any card in the Humans deck. Anything except the Hero. And yet I lost. So did Fay play the Hero?! That wasn’t possible. Chaos knew he didn’t have it, because during the third and fourth rounds… Round ThreeThe number of cards in Fay’s hand increased, allowing Chaos to guess that he had played the Traveler. It was almost certain that he had picked up the Nameless Child. (If he’d taken the Creator, the Guardian Beast would have lost during the fourth round.) Round FourFay played two cards, again making it almost certain that he had played the Healer as a Creation card. That meant one could also guess that he had played the Nameless Child (Hero) in an attempt to smash the Guardian Beast. It was overwhelmingly likely that Fay had used the Hero in round four. But just on the minor off-chance that he’d tried to conserve his Hero, Chaos had played the Holy Spirit during round six to take it away from him. In round six, he didn’t have the Hero. But then it suddenly appears in round seven? There’s no way that could hap— “…!” Chaos’s breath caught in his throat. There was a way! One lone possibility drifted into Chaos’s mind. “You held back the Nameless Child?!” The object of the Holy Spirit’s discard power was, ultimately, the Hero. If Fay was holding the Nameless Child instead, it would escape unscathed. Then he could play it as the Hero in the final round and destroy the Angel. There was no other way the Angel could be defeated. No, that still doesn’t make sense! I’m sure Fay used the Nameless Child (Hero) during round four! The number of cards left in his hand had proved it. In round four, the cards left in Fay’s hand had been: Sage: Used in round five (i.e., not used in round four) Mage: Used in round six (i.e., not used in round four) Healer: Used as a Creation Card Additional Card Nameless Child: Only possible card to play in round four That was just how it was. No matter how many times Chaos went over the permutations, it all worked out the same way: There had been no card Fay could play during round four except the Nameless Child. There was no way he could have saved it until the last round… The door flew open. Chaos reflexively looked up and saw the three young women pile into the room, abuzz with excitement. “Phew! That was heart-pounding!” “Mm-hmm! The trap during round four was one thing, but that two-pronged dilemma in round six had my hands sweating.” “Oh, man! I’d love to play this game!” They were followed by Miranda, whose arms were crossed as if to deliver a verdict of profound significance. “That was a close one, Chaos,” she said. “Again and again, you were a hair’s breadth from victory.” “Chief Secretary,” Chaos said, slowly turning his chair around. “From the way you say that, I take it you know what happened in the final round.” “Sure. We got to see everything in spectator mode, after all. When we saw both your hands, there was so much shouting. Admittedly, even we did a double take when we saw the defense Fay mounted in round four.” So Chaos was right: That had been the crux. He knew something had happened on that turn. “I want to compare our answers,” he said with a sigh. He looked at the group of women who were watching him expectantly—the audience who had observed their battle. “My Angel was defeated in the last round, and the Hero is the only thing that could have done it. That’s my take, anyway. But Fay didn’t have the Hero in his opening hand. May I take it that it was discarded by the random removal?” “Exactly right, Master Chaos,” said the black-haired girl, Nel. She nodded with a keen look in her eyes. “Master Fay never had the Hero. The Nameless Child copied it in the final round.” “That makes even less sense,” Chaos said, with one eye on Nel and one on his electronic device. “I’m sure he used the Nameless Child during round four. Working backward from the running battle we had until the final round, it’s the only thing Fay could have played.” “Oh! That’s where you’re wrong,” said the golden-haired girl, Pearl, pointing to the device’s screen. “We were shocked when we saw what you played that round. We were so sure you would go with the Angel for the third time, but then you picked the Guardian Beast. It was an awesome move—we know you predicted that Fay would probably play the Nameless Child!” “You’re saying my prediction was right?” “Y-yes! Fay played the Nameless Child!” So he had done it. Even the onlookers agreed that Chaos had made the right choice. Fay played the Nameless Child (Hero) in round four. So, what? He had another Nameless Child in the final round? That wasn’t how it worked. That was like cheating, unless there could somehow be two copies of the Nameless Child. But it was an Additional card that could only be obtained using the Traveler. Unless there were somehow two Travelers… No. Turn that around: If there were two Travelers, then it could be done. Chaos gasped. “Don’t tell me… It wasn’t the Hero you copied with the Nameless Child on round four! It was the Traveler?!” Fay’s actions (Chaos’s prediction) Round FourCopy Hero with Nameless Child. (Nameless Child is consumed this turn.) Boost it with Healer as a Creation card; Healer returns to hand. (Remaining in hand: Sage, Mage, Healer) Fay’s actions (reality) Round FourCopy Traveler with Nameless Child. Use Traveler’s effect to put Nameless Child into hand again. (Hand size increases by one.) Further, use Healer as a Creation card, then deliberately discard it. (Remaining in hand: Sage, Mage, Nameless Child) He could have kept using the Healer indefinitely, but he deliberately got rid of it! All to hide the fact that he had obtained the Nameless Child a second time! If Fay had been holding four cards at the end of round four, Chaos would probably have guessed that he had used the Nameless Child as the Traveler. Instead, Fay had gotten rid of the Healer to make Chaos think what he wanted him to think. “I see…” Chaos finally understood. In their battle to predict each other in round four, Fay had been one step ahead. 1. Chaos’s Perspective He made Fay think that he would play his Angel for a third time in round four. Fay would play the Hero to stop it, so Chaos simply had to play the Guardian Beast. 2. Fay’s Perspective In round four, Chaos would either play the Divine Dragon, the Angel, or the Guardian Beast. The Hero (or Mage) could counter any of them, so the Gods deck’s best counter against that possibility would be to play the Guardian Beast. In which case, the Healer could be used as a Creation card to boost the Hero’s attack power. 3. Chaos’s Perspective Knowing Fay, he’d probably guess that Chaos was going to play the Guardian Beast. The only response Chaos could imagine was for Fay to play the Healer as a Creation card, but in that case, Chaos merely had to strengthen the Guardian Beast with Lightning & Sword. 4. Fay’s Perspective Everything prior had been a bluff. The real reason he played the Healer as a Creation card was not to strengthen the Hero, but as a sacrifice to balance out the fact that he had used the Nameless Child (Traveler) to get the Nameless Child back into his hand. (Thus, Fay didn’t return the Healer to his hand, but instead took the Nameless Child.) (Which meant from Chaos’s perspective, it appeared as if the Healer had returned to Fay’s hand.) “You definitely smelled something amiss,” Miranda said. “You were so sure that Fay had played the Hero (the Nameless Child) in round four, yet something nagged at you enough that you played the Holy Spirit in round five just to be sure. That surprised me.” “Me too,” said Fay, modestly raising his hand. Until that moment, he had simply listened to the conversation intently. He wore a slightly strained smile of relief. “If you’d called the Nameless Child instead of the Hero as the target of Holy Spirit, I would have lost. Half of round six was pure luck, for sure.” “I don’t know about that.” Chaos switched off his device, and the screen dimmed to black. Then he stood up. “I’ve seen what I wanted to see. I’m satisfied.” “Huh?” “I’ll tell you the story, like I promised. I’m guessing that’s part of the reason you came to headquarters. But first…”
Chapter 108
57 min read