Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 518: Gambling Table Props

In the silence of the cramped, dark room, the glimmers from the monsters on the cards illuminated Mr. Riddle's face.

Unable to wait for a response from the deity, the Prophet from the Fifth Era turned and looked back at Shard.

Shard nodded:

"I think, now it all depends on our courage."

"Don't worry, sir, right now courage is all I have."

The unkempt man, who hadn't bathed in a long time, held down his right sleeve with his left hand and placed "Impermanence: Balance" into the seventh slot in front of him.

Just as Shard had calculated, the dimensions of the Roder Card matched perfectly with the size of the slots on the gambling table. Even when Mr. Riddle was about to place the card, "Impermanence: Balance" seemed to be actively sucked into the slot.

Both Shard and Mr. Riddle were extremely tense at this moment. And the five witches on the table, along with the demons, sea monsters, and dragons, also all turned their attention to this slot.

Suddenly, a noise came from the walls of the room—it was the differently decayed corpses speaking:

"Cards not seen in a long time."

"So it is Impermanence."

The two sentences came from two different voices and even used completely different languages.

"It's the power of Balance."

"The game hates Balance the most."

The overlapping voices almost made Shard unable to identify them, and with the corpses speaking, the card embedded in the slot truly began to glow.

A dark gold balance scale materialized above the card, and in front of the cloaked deity, the sixth witch also officially appeared.

Streams of multicolored light flowed in front of the fourteen cards, converging toward the center of the table through the grooves, and the witches, demons, sea monsters, and dragons all flew towards the center of the table to commence battle. The demons controlled the Magic Sword, the Cannibal House protected the creatures from behind, and the Old God's Altar shielded the witches.

The battle grew ever more real, and the mere shockwaves produced by the witches' light bullets from making contact almost knocked down the physically weak Mr. Riddle.

Just like last time, the difference in quality couldn't make up for the difference in numbers—in the increasingly realistic battle of six against three, Mr. Riddle's side was completely overwhelmed.

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"Why is this card not working?"

Mr. Riddle asked in surprise, and Shard also frowned.

Though the dark gold balance had appeared above "Impermanence: Balance," indicating that the table had accepted the effect of the card, the balance just quietly hovered above, not influencing the game at all.

"Did you feel anything?"

Shard asked in his mind.

[The table has elements of Miracle, Desecration, Enlightenment, and Whisper.]

But Shard wanted to know more details, so he reached out to touch his own "Genesis: Balance."

This time, his hand was still directly repelled by the table, and if he hadn't been prepared, he might have been thrown to a distant wall again.

"Could it be..."

Mr. Riddle needn't worry, thought Shard, suddenly grasping his own wrist as he thought of a possibility. In terms of insight, neither the people of the Fifth Era nor those of the Sixth Era could probably match the Outlander Shard. This insight wasn't about knowledge of mysticism but about some ingenious ideas:

"Mr. Riddle, grab hold of the balance scale!"

"What?"

The prophet seemed bewildered, but quickly understood his meaning. He slightly widened his eyes and looked towards the stone table:

"You mean..."

He carefully reached out, gently clenching below the balance scale. He hesitated for a moment before closing his hand. And then, the gold scale truly ended up in his palm. Gold light traces soared into the air, lighting up even the still dark areas of the room.

And when the light traces disappeared, Mr. Riddle seemed startled and remained still, holding the balance scale.

"How is it?"

Shard anxiously asked, concerned that his suggestion might harm the ordinary man.

Mr. Riddle was indeed stunned, and it took him several seconds to say:

"This item has been designated as a prop of the gambling table. Before the game ends, I can use it to intervene between the fighting sides. It will enhance our side's power and suppress the opponent's power."

This was indeed similar to Iluna's talent.

"But what is the cost of using the balance?"

"It's calculated per usage, three months of life for each time, with a maximum of three uses before the game ends."

He carefully released the balance scale, letting it quietly hover above "Impermanence: Balance."

"Don't use it, at least not now. Mr. Riddle, put the remaining two cards into the slot as well," Shard advised, but the Prophet, who had just experienced the shock of the information for the first time, still nodded blankly after several seconds, this time picking up "Impermanence: Darkness."

As Mr. Riddle's eighth card entered the slot, the Deity's side also revealed an eighth card. However, this time, the card did not depict the Witch, nor the Holy Altar that had appeared once before, but the Temple.

A model of the Temple emerged as a phantom on the Deity's side of the table, enveloping the six witches, and together with the Altar, providing them more powerful strength. The influx of new power made the demons, dragons, and sea monsters increasingly precarious, because "Impermanence: Darkness" did not offer strength, but transformed into an item instead.

It was a black robe, or something like a piece of cloth resembling a robe. Mr. Riddle clasped it in his hand and indeed received more information:

"This can be used as an item on the gambling table. Once used, several black vortices will appear on the battlefield. For our side, the vortexes can be used for spatial movement and healing, and for the enemy, getting close to the vortexes will continuously drain their strength."

"What's the cost?"

"It can only be used once, at the cost of one year of life span."

"Let's not use it for now."

But the situation on the table was already perilously critical. Mr. Riddle's hand loosened its hold on the small robe but did not touch the final card:

"Sir, if we do not turn the tide now, it will become even more difficult. I must at least shift the balance of the gamble a bit toward the center," he said, ignoring Shard's opposition, and grasped the dark gold Balance once more.

Shard immediately reached out and held Mr. Riddle's shoulder from behind. The Prophet, clad in a brown robe, slightly turned his head to look at the hand with golden rifts appearing on his shoulder, then looked up at Shard's face:

"Sir, this is my Game of Life."

His eyes met Shard's, who detected resolution within them:

"I just hope you understand, humans don't have much more than three months."

"But to defeat a Deity, even just at the gambling table, three months of life are well worth it. When I return to my homeland and sit under a tree on a leisurely afternoon, boasting about my bravery to those children, I will have much to tell… provided I can still remember it at all," he said with a smile, lacking much regret. Shard sighed, nodded, and withdrew his hand.

Mr. Riddle then gripped the Balance in his right hand, looked towards the gambling table, and then gently tossed it, sending the dark gold Balance flying above the center of the table.

Initially balanced at both ends, it slowly began to tilt toward Mr. Riddle's side once it stabilized above the center of the table.

Dark gold light particles sprinkled down, significantly weakening the radiant energy surrounding the witches, while the bodies of the demons, dragons, and undulating sea monsters grew at least a circle larger.

The phantom of the dark gold Balance lingered directly above the table, and the actual Balance returned above the card. The strengthened demons led their allies towards the witches, and this time, they gained a distinct upper hand.

"Just using it once completely turned the tide," Shard thought in amazement, then saw Mr. Riddle placing "Genesis: Silver Moon" into the ninth slot.

Before the Deity appeared a seventh Witch, joining the battle and just barely equalizing the forces, but Mr. Riddle's side still held the advantage.

This time, what emerged from above the card was a silver sphere, or rather...

"Silver Moon?"

Seeing this miniature moon, Shard unexpectedly felt breathless. He wanted to reach out and touch the moon, but knew the gambling table would not allow an outsider like him to rashly interfere.

"Is there something wrong with my body?"

"[Everything is normal.]"

"But now..."

"[It's your psychological issue.]"

Mr. Riddle had already grasped the moon and waited a few seconds before informing Shard of the answer:

"Silver Moon can also serve as an item on the gambling table. When I use it, it can summon a cycle of Silver Moon, and the battlefield will be considered as 'night'. This will not affect the opponent, but all creatures on our field under the moonlight will automatically have healing abilities, and each can use moon-related powers, with the specific abilities being determined by the base cards. It can only be used once in a gamble, costing three years of life span."

"Base cards?"

"Oh, those are the real-life experience cards."

Mr. Riddle explained, but Shard frowned not because he heard a foreign term, but because the rules of this gambling table seemed more complex and refined than he had imagined.

But if such a game can only be completed on this table, then such highly sophisticated and expansive rules, which are not fully explained, seem somewhat incomprehensible. So, perhaps there is more than one such table, or perhaps... a real Game of Life once existed, known among ordinary people.

"Sir, now only one position remains," Mr. Riddle interrupted Shard's thoughts, because no new monsters appeared on his side this time, making this round of the game proceed quickly. Since Shard's arrival, only 10 minutes and 23 seconds had passed, and it seemed he still would have some time left.

"Do you have any similar cards?" the Ancient Prophet asked expectantly, with a look of eagerness to see something new — a look Shard was familiar with.