Reincarnated With The Van Helsing System

Chapter 560: Challenges Marlene’s version (part 5)

Marlene felt the Nethereal royalty's gaze on her and she softly snorted before she ignored it, she focused once again on the game, since she heard a certain someone's plan a second ago, her mind was clearer.

'Using other people's emotions as a source of power what a bad taste hobby', thought the angelfish princess as she revealed her next card.

Agrak saw the result and he smirked.

"Well, it seems like your luck hasn't been depleted yet, but it's not working as intended right?".

This time Marlene got a number at least, but it was a mere "1", while Agrak got a "9", which of course made the spectators roar and cheer at the crushing difference between the Nethereal royalty and the contender.

That being said, Marlene didn't say anything, she just limited to keep revealing the cards that were being given to her again and again after five minutes which seemed hours for the spectators, the results were appalling, the angelfish princess have only managed to gather 40 points while Agrak had a whole total of 80 points.

Besides that, the tips of all Marlene's fingers and toes were bandaged at this point meaning that she had lost all her nails, despite that the angelfish princess looked quite composed as if the wounds weren't hers.

With the previous one would believe that Agrak would be more thriving after all, it sounded like an easy victory right, well the truth is that the Nethereal had been inwardly frowning the whole time.

'Are you sure about your words, Parker, if you are lying, I will personally burn your core for the next thousand years', said Agrak through a sound transmission.

'I-I wouldn't dare to lie your highness, according to the lectures of the array, that mortal woman isn't contributing at all since a few minutes ago', answered another voice in a hurry.

Agrak's frown deepened.

'It can't be, I clearly saw how much she wanted to obtain the method to lift the curse earlier, you even told me that she finally started producing energy for the array at that point, so did it suddenly stop, no one can suppress their greed once it had started to show, the array even amplifies it after all!', he inwardly screamed, thinking that his subordinate wasn't doing his job properly.

But then a sudden idea hit him like a bolt out of the blue.

'Unless she is sure that she is going to win…', having reached what was the most probable conclusion to what was happening, the Nethereal royalty felt insulted, a mere mortal had the confidence to beat him in his own palace in his own game, his eyes became slightly red as he thought that he was being underestimated once again, not too long after Walford insulted him.

Still, he quelled his anger and then glared at Marlene to then say.

"You look rather calm for someone who is losing, perhaps the game is getting boring for you, so what do you think of raising the bets?".

Marlene frowned in response.

"You are winning and yet you want to go back on your words so fast?", she said with a disdainful voice.

The spectators went silent for a second, the mortal girl who was losing actually dared to say such things to a royal!

Agrak wasn't any better, when has he ever been looked down by mortals like this he thought, on the other hand he knew that the other party was wary of his tricks so he didn't immediately explode, and while trying to not reveal how angry he was he did his best to keep on a noble and refined expression.

"I told you, there is nothing I despise more than a boring and anticlimactic game, besides it's just a small change, no more numbers and no more measly body parts, the minimum will be a finger but in exchange the score won't matter anymore, the one in a better state when we reach the ten-minute mark will be the winner", he said to then add.

"There is only half of the time left anyway, your luck is too high so based on what happened during the first half of the game, I'm not going to reach the two hundred points so the winner will be decided based on the other condition, of course I will improve the reward as well, the previous promised rewards plus another petition from you

"Of course, if you lose, you'll have to agree to my petition what do you say?".

Marlene inwardly smiled as she nodded to then casually say.

"Sure~".

"Come don't be too wary I just want to… what?", Agrak who was already trying to convince Marlene thinking she was refusing, stopped midway as he realized that she accepted.

'What is going on, she is not producing energy for the array, so she isn't blinded by greed, then why did she accept so easily', wondered the Nethereal to then say with a smirk.

"You will become my servant if you lose, just so you know".

Unfortunately for him, Marlene's confidence didn't wave at all, despite her freedom being on the stake here, she simply stood up from her seat as she said.

"I will use my previous petition now".

Agrak's previously smiling expression froze, he then snorted in response.

"You can't ask me to give up in case that was your bright plan", he said.

"Luckily that's not the case, she just wants me to takeover from this point onwards", a voice new to the present Nethereals but familiar for the angelfish princess suddenly came from the spectator's area which caught everyone's attention.

The one who spoke was none other than Daimon of course, the Nethereals who were sitting nearby Daimon suddenly jumped from their seats.

"Where the hell did this guy come from!".

"Another human, but he wasn't here a second ago!".

The Nethereals shouted in disbelief with a wary expression, the whole area of the castle including the casino was completely under the control of Agrak thanks to the arrays, no matter who it was, the moment they entered the area of influence of the castle, they would have to abide by the rules of the castle.

Through the countless years they have been coming to the casino, they have seen quite a variety of people, humans, beast descendants and other strange races, some were weaklings, some were talented members of the young generation and some were just random guys that were unlucky enough to end in this sealed place.

But regardless of who they were, even if among the talented and lucky ones some managed to leave with their lives intact and even with some gains, no one was able to ignore the rules and yet the black-haired masked human next to them appeared out of nowhere.

Agrak saw the newcomer and frowned for a second but then he coldly snorted.

"So, this is what was giving you confidence, you had a little helper hiding in the shadows, still, the only thing you'll achieve is to have him suffer in your stead, not that I care since the result will be the same".

"It won't be the same, since you are eyeing my friend as your prize, you'll have to offer up something of equal value, I don't have interest in small bets after all", said Daimon as he jumped from the spectator's area to then land next to Marlene.

"Oh, and what would be a bet enough for you to play, then?", said Agrak with an interested voice, the newcomer at least spoke in his language, in the meaning that he seemed to like big games.

"Nothing much, the lives of you and every other Nethereal here as well as everything you possess, what do you say", casually said Daimon as he glared at Agrak.

"…", a sepulchral silence fell in the room, but it didn't last even a second before infuriated screams came from all over the place.

"What did you say you bastard!".

"He is crazy, all of us for a mere human woman!".

"What's more, putting the life of a royal at the same height of that of a mere human, your highness you must kill him!".

Agrak didn't need the spectators to tell him, after the initial shock that the black-haired youth's words gave him, his face became twisted and his eyes were bloodshot, a mere mortal wanted to take his life, he was livid and the next words only aggravated his anger.

"What, didn't you say that you don't like boring and anticlimactic games?".

A vein popped on Agrak's forehead, despite he only being a projection without a physical body.

"Very well, why not, let's do it, however you'll have to include your life in the bet as well, if you lose, both you and that woman will become my servants, I'm very interested in how did you ignore the restrictions of my castle, maybe your flesh body is decent enough for me to possess!", screamed the Nethereal.

The spectators were in awe, did their royal just included their lives into a bet without even considering it, they wondered, what's more some of the spectators frowned, they weren't subordinated to Agrak but were just spending time in the casino.

"Everyone, I hope you show some face to the royal Belliel family, anyone who stays to participate will be given two flesh body parts as a reward", said Agrak.

"Woah, really, two body parts for free, long live the Belliel family!", the spectators immediately agreed, Agrak was going to win so they just had to stay seated and will still earn something, it was free money so why not.

"His highness doesn't have to worry, of course we'll give our full support to you!", they screamed.

"It's settled then, prepare the new deck", said Daimon.

"Don't tell me what to do, mortal", said Agrak with an angered voice, that being said, he still did it.

Daimon on the other hand looked at Marlene, the wounds caused by things lost through the games in this place weren't normal, she is currently only a middle stage Mage Lord, but she is still the descendant of a beast race, her vitality is high enough for her to have already stopped the bleeding on the tips of her fingers, but the bandages were slowly but surely being painted red due to her blood.

"When I told you fight with claws and teeth if needed, I didn't mean it like this you know", he said as he took a small bottle out of his pocket, to then give it to her, of course the pocket thing was just to trick others, he brought that bottle out of his inventory, storage rings were restricted by the arrays of the castle.

Of course, the inventory could ignore that, but the Nethereals had no need to know about it, specially since for Daimon they were already dead.

The corner of Marlene's lips twitched a bit due to Daimon's words.

'Wasn't you the one who told me to keep playing until you said so', she thought, still she happily accepted the healing potion from Daimon and drank it without a second of hesitation, to her surprise the effects were immediate, not only the bleeding stopped, her nails grew back on the spot.

She removed the bandages and her pretty blue eyes sparkled for a second, the faint uncomfortable sensation that she could previously feel from her wounds was now gone.

Which was understandable, the uncomfortable feeling her wounds produced was the work of a certain little trick on the array, not only their flesh and body parts were taken by it through the games, Nether was instilled in their bodies, both when their lost their parts and when they recovered them, in other words the whole "recover everything for free" was bullshit.

What's more the Nether that the array in this place produced, instilled greed in people's minds, making gambling more addictive than it already is.

As for why the potion that Daimon gave Marlene not only healed her but also removed that effect, that is simple, it was elaborated using tri-colored water, the best mind cleansing ingredient that existed not only in Neptune but also probably in the four galaxies, Kerrol and even in the store of the system, at least as of current, it came from a lake that couldn't be taken by force even by Maximum Stellar ranked after all.

Seeing that Marlene was healed and the Nether in her body had been eliminated, Daimon turned to see Agrak and was about to walk towards the table, but a small tug on the right side of his shirt stopped him.

"Mm, what's the matter…", Daimon looked at Marlene to ask what was the problem but his words were interrupted midway, a faint but still enjoyably soft sensation came from his right cheek where Marlene's lips landed.

'Humph and you still dare to say that you aren't a womanizer', mumbled Evangeline.

'Well, at least it's not on the lips, according to Erin we only have to worry in that case', added Narasha.

Daimon raised an eyebrow, but he didn't move away, not because he wanted to enjoy the little peck but because Marlene was staring directly at him, even when she was obviously dying from embarrassment, she didn't close her eyes, so this kiss wasn't just an expression of affection for her.

"T-The ones like me are supposed to bring good fortune to those close to us... break a leg", she mumbled as she walked away.

Daimon felt a bit strange, not because of her actions, a good luck kiss and that phrase were known superstitions, however when a member of the royal lineage of the Angelfish clan was included, things might be not so simple, he got a luck related title thanks to Marlene when he saved her back then after all, what surprised him was the notification that was triggered a second ago.

[Ding]

[The mission "Stealing from the devil" (Skalia continent) has been updated <!>]

[Get the hidden gem to join your side (1/2) à (2/2)]

'The requirement couldn't be as simple as she wishing me good luck, right?', thought Daimon as he dismissed the notification, the gems were still quite obscure, Marlene was an ally so she of course didn't want anything bad to happen to her friends, so the requirement wasn't as simple as she wishing Daimon good luck, for a moment Daimon considered it to be the kiss, but that would still shouldn't be enough.

'Her race… she has zero doubts that I will obtain the method to erase the curse and wishes me to succeed from the bottom of her heart, that would be a more acceptable theory', concluded Daimon, after a second, he put the matter at the back of his head for now, he could read the log after the mission was completed later, for now he had to answer to her wishes by crushing the Nethereal in his own game.

Daimon who was about to take the seat at the opposite side of Agrak, couldn't help but chuckle, the thing was suddenly covered by darkness which then took the form of a magnificent throne, from a regular seat to a throne that clearly surpassed that of Agrak's.

'Humph, the only one worthy enough to sit on a throne here is Daimon', said the undead head maid in a voice that only Daimon could hear, since Agrak couldn't detect her presence, he thought that Daimon was the one that modified the seat to insult him.

"I'm royalty and yet you actually dare to sit on a throne in front of me, know your place", he said.

Daimon ignored him, nobility just by itself is useless from his point of view, you could be the king of a country but so what, a strong mage might appear one day, destroy your country, kill you and that will be it, strength is the only thing that will prevent others from trampling on you.

Of course, being the king of a powerful country is a completely different story, but here in this place, regardless of status, Agrak was going to lose in his hands, so being a noble from wherever he came, wasn't going to help him.

Others weren't as easygoing as Daimon in that aspect though, both Rita and Evangeline's cold eyes fixed on the Nethereal.

'Someone with a higher status than my host doesn't exist, in this or any other universe!'.

'Someone with a higher status than my young master doesn't exist, in this or any other universe!'.

Is what they thought.

Agrak frowned as he felt a chill running down his spine for some reason he couldn't understand, ignoring said feeling the game started, the timer which had previously stopped, started running again, the next five minutes would decide the winner.

The first two cards were sent to the two players, Agrak immediately revealed his, there were no more numbers, nor safe losing cards like nails or hair, so this was going to be a bloody encounter, the Nethereal showed his result which was "finger", which resulted in his right index exploding.

He was in a projection state so there was no blood, but there was pain, the projection was created using his soul and that black core which was probably the magic core of a Nethereal, so the damage done to it reflected on both of them.

That being said, Agrak was smiling from ear to ear, as he saw the result from Daimon's card, the word written on it was "hand" and so the next second, Daimon's left hand turned into red mist, but the latter didn't even blink.

'Humph, keep on the tough act, I went easy on that woman since I considered convincing her to serve me willingly, but now, I have no reason no hold back anymore!', inwardly screamed the Nethereal.

From the side Marlene saw the previous and her little fists clenched, Daimon didn't seem to care about it, but she still couldn't help but feel guilty, ultimately, she shook her head and her gaze became sharp again, this wasn't a direct battle so she couldn't fight alongside her friend unlike any other battle she has faced before, however even if she didn't know how to do it, she knew that her luck will be of use for Daimon, so she focused on that.

'Don't get hurt, don't feel pain, beat him, win', and similar thoughts repeated in her mind, it's worth noticing that victory was second after Daimon's wellbeing in the list.