A Persevering Heart Part II
“I was right to include this hard-to-use card in my deck…”
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Extra Barrel (4 stars) ¶¶¶¶
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Type: Equip
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- Adds an extra barrel or bolt to a ranged Gun-type or Bow-type weapon that is below 3-star. The extra shot from the added barrel will ignore the target’s Defense stat.
- The player must be equipped with a gun, a crossbow, or a bow before activating this card. Discards one Equip Card to activate.
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Mammon crossed its arms and raised its head, inhaling a black breath and spitting it upwards.
“Flame Dust!” Its dry voice rang out as it performed a new move. Flames gathered around in a circle in the middle of the room. Tan could feel the heat spreading outwards, burning the air and exploding into a large area.
“3,015!”
His HP was in a critical state. He would die if he took damage from this move or the fire pillar again. His MP was down to zero and he could not activate his skill. “I have to try my luck here.” His eyes glowed with determination, contrary to his normal playfulness.
Mammon constantly cast Flame Dust and the fire pillar, but Tan dodged every single one of them with his speed. He noticed that the demon would cross its arms and raise its head before casting Flame Dust. With that in mind, he retreated from the demon as soon as he saw it do the actions.
“Less than two minutes left,” he talked about his Speed buff. “I have to wing it,” he said as he fired at his target without stopping while dodging the demon’s move.
It was down to less than one minute. His heart, which should have pounded fast because of nervousness, remained calm. He saw everything in slow motion as he ran around firing his crossbow. He noticed that he could deal severe damage if he aimed at its head.
“1,099!” “1,095!” “1,110!”
“1,114!” “1,084!” “10,91!”
“1,089!” “1,075!” “1,082!”
Every hit was critical. When the last set of bolts had been fired, Mammon, the flame demon of the illusion treasure room, shrieked with anger as it vanished. Spheres of light dispersed from its burning body as the flame of greed had dissipated. Finally, the Demon of Greed was defeated.
Player Tanthai has successfully defeated 7-star, level 60, Mammon, the Demon of Greed, and has received a 7-star, Mammon, the Demon of Greed, card, a Flame of Greed, 19,785 EXP, and 29,999 Gil. The player has risen to level 37…
The announcement was exciting, but what followed then always brought a bigger surprise…
The seal of the entrance to Crystal Castle’s roof has been unlocked. The path leading to Eizenger, the Dimension Dragon, has opened…
Tan heaved a long sigh and sat down against the wall. The crystal wall and the snowstorm outside made him feel cold. His breath turned into a misty cloud.
“Mammon…Mammon…” he said as he looked up for the card in his inventory. Confusion filled his eyes when he found the card.
“Black border?” Tan looked at the card in surprise. Most of the cards have a silver border, while Effect Cards have a gold border. This was his first time seeing a card with a black border.
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(Unique Card) “ Mammon “ (7 stars) ¶¶¶¶¶¶¶
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Type: Summon (Quest)
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Race: Demon Element: Fire
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- One of the Seven Deadly Sins, the Demon of Greed, Mammon
- Sacrifices two monsters to summon. If summoned with this method, Mammon will launch its ultimate move, “Illusion Flame,” dealing damage to the monster within 100 yards when it appears.
- When Mammon is on a battlefield, destroys a card from the opponent’s hand every minute.
- Special Ability: Shines when near cards from the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ series.
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“Unique…? Seven Sins?” Tan frowned. “What the hell is this card? I’ll ask Nicki about it later if I can get out of this place alive,” he said and shook his head. He actually missed something on the card—the word, ‘Quest.’
“It seems powerful. Let’s put it in the deck,” Tan still could not get over his old habit of putting cards with higher stars and long descriptions to his deck. He just put it there and did not care whether it would be useful or not.
He then began rearranging his deck, enhancing its strength and ability to create multiple combos, as well as taking this opportunity to recover his stats. The system had announced that the path to the rooftop leading to the Dimension Dragon had opened, and of course…that was the objective of his quest.
To kill the boss of the Crystal Castle, the Dimension Dragon, Eizenger…
“It will be a tough fight. Mammon was tough enough. If it were faster, I would have been burned alive,” he murmured. “Huh…Let alone the boss. The Dimension Dragon is not going to move slowly like the demon.”
He was right. He could survive Mammon’s move with his speed; his Gambler Job already provided him with high base Speed, and he also got a boost from the effect of Gambler’s skill and Speed Boost skill. He probably would not have been able to defeat Mammon if he did not get the buff.
Tan looked at a spiral staircase that had just appeared after Mammon was defeated. He stood to his feet and climbed up the stairs. He soon found himself standing before a huge black metal gate. There were pictures of dragons spreading their wings carved on each side of the gate.
He checked the Lifeline skill again and found that, according to its condition, it took several more hours before it could be used again.
“I have to try my luck… At worst, I simply died.” Tan said as he took a deep breath. He did not carefully check his stats, only taking a glance to see if HP, MP, and SP had fully recovered. He exhaled and pushed the gate open. He was ready to face the mighty boss of this Crystal Castle…
A powerful snowstorm swept through. Beyond the giant gate was the roof of the Crystal Castle. The surrounding area was completely white; it made the weather appear colder. All over the wall and the floor was snow. Tan put his hand on his deck. His heart beat fast as he looked ahead of him. As the strong wind swept through his hair, something finally appeared in his vision.
A silhouette walked past snow from the right-side balcony. A small girl with pale light blue hair was approaching from afar. Her white dress and beautiful long hair were drifting in the wind.
“Finally, you’re here.” The girl, who was probably less than ten years old, opened her colorless lips to greet him. Although her face did not convey any emotion, her eyes spoke of sadness, nervousness, and a sense of danger.
“Don’t tell me…that I have to fight you before facing the dragon.” Tan stared at the girl. She slowly shook her head.
“My name is Eize. What about you?” she asked with a cold voice as the snowstorm swept through.
“Tan…Tanthai,” he replied without realizing that the name ‘Eize’ sounded familiar and connected to something.
She nodded and closed her eyes. “I’ll remember your name,” said the girl before she whispered another word out in the snow—a word that could make one shiver in fear.
“Summon!”
After the voice rang out…the girl had disappeared. A giant creature flew out from an ice mountain standing afar. The approaching creature was a white dragon. It appeared with twin crooked horns and cold light blue eyes. Its spine was covered with fins from head to tail. The dragon grabbed at the castle's top using its legs and spread its transparent white wings out, blinding away the faint sunlight.
The snow was falling down as the dragon roared. The Dimension Dragon, Eizenger, was about to battle with the player that intruded its abode. Everything appeared in the dragon before Tanthai—mystery, power, strength, and pressure. He firmly held his deck, which was the only weapon he could use against the enemy.
10-star, level 70, Eizenger, the Dimension Dragon, has appeared!
The system announced the appearance of the boss of Crystal Castle—the dragon who wielded power over dimensions and protected the power yet to be awakened.
Amateur Gambler’s skill has been activated. The player’s Max HP is multiplied by thirty times…
The system’s voice rang out again. Tan knew the next line so well as he spoke to himself before the system’s voice could carry on its announcement. “Five minutes with this dragon? Well, I might not die from the skill, but the hand of the dragon.”