Chapter 128: Opening Salvo (1/2)

This may be the toughest battle Vainqueur had fought yet. While he had the greatest hoard, his enemies were strong, and his minion was weak.

“Zmey!” Vainqueur snarled to Gorynych, who couldn’t decide which Monster Poker card to play. “What are you waiting for?!”

“Gorynych is anxious,” the zmey replied, his field empty of any defense to protect his last coin against an army of vicious [Carrot Warriors]. “Gorynych hates vegetables!”

“You can do it!” Noirceur the Nightmare Horse encouraged the three-headed inbred dragon. “Use your heads!”

The zmey hesitated, before clumsily playing a minion. “I summon the cutest [Black Rabbit], level 5!”

The illusion of a mighty, horned rabbit appeared on the field; after the final battle against the Forgotten One, Vainqueur had decided to employ a [Illusionist] dwarf minion to animate his duels full time. Kobolds screamed in fear at the sight of the vicious beast, doubly so when it devoured a [Carrot Warrior] thanks to its special ability.

“By eating a [Plant] minion, [Black Rabbit] calls help!” Gorynych said, a [White Rabbit of Inaba] appearing on the field. “Level 10!”

“My [Pumpkin King] is stronger!” Jack the fairy boasted ingloriously, his crowned pumpkin servant letting out a maniacal laugh. “I have fed him with [Strength Candy Bars]!”

“Rolo will turn these rabbits into sheep next turn,” his golem partner added.

Vainqueur refused to admit defeat, and especially not against a tinfoil-fairy duo, but he had to admit the situation was dire. Tinfoil Rolo’s [Farmland] field allowed him to summon [Vegetable] monsters each turn, which Jack’s [Pumpkin King] empowered. While nothing impressive, their overwhelming numbers of [Carrot Warriors] were a strength in themselves.

If Vainqueur could draw his [Best Dragon’s Breath] spell and incinerate the field...

Scrying attempt negated by [Malefic Secrecy].

“Are you trying to read my cards?!” Vainqueur glared at Jack. He knew he couldn’t trust a fomor to play fair!

“Jack never cheats,” the fairy protested. “His word to behave once given, he never breaks.”

“Hm, not that it will change anything,” the dragon replied, secure in his superiority. He then turned towards the minion in charge of drawing and holding his cards, while the audience cheered him up. “I have faith in my deck! Draw—”

Vainqueur stopped, as he sensed hostility and lightning in the air.

He glanced at the source on his left, to see King Wotan and Grandrake glaring at one another.

“Finally, Grandrake.” The fomor lord readied his spear, his Valkyries flying around him like a minion escort. “How long have I waited for this moment.”

Grandrake remained silent, while Vainqueur readied himself to intervene, even after his minion drew his winning card.

“You bested me once, and took my eye,” Wotan declared, pointing at his scar with the tip of his spear. “For centuries, the fires of revenge nursed my wrath. I have prepared, and trained, and sharpened my skills until I could grow powerful enough to avenge myself. The day of reckoning has come. An eye for an eye.”

“Excuse you,” Grandrake finally spoke up with a frown. “Who are you?”

A short silence followed.

“You do not remember me,” King Wotan said, his anger replaced by disappointment.

“I should?” the dragon asked, confused.

“You took my eye when I tried to rescue Princess Titania from your den.”

Grandrake observed Wotan more closely, trying to recognize him.

He didn’t.

“After the first ten, you fairy knights all started blurring together,” Grandrake admitted.

The fomor king’s face remained a stone mask, but he could hardly hide his disappointment. Clearly, Wotan had put more effort into this rivalry than Grandrake, who had crushed the fomor and then promptly forgot about it.

“So wyrmlike,” Vainqueur said in admiration. Truly, forgetting your enemies was the best way to defeat them.

“I am King Wotan,” the fomor insisted. “Ruler of Asgard and Laponia.”

“Wot-Ah!” Grandrake nodded upon finally remembering Dragonbane. “You were that adorable child I slapped that time! My, you have grown into a fine knight!”

“Your Majesty?” A Valkyrie looked at her speechless creator. “Do we attack?”

“This meeting feels much less satisfying than I thought it would,” the fomor king admitted, clearly confused about how to proceed.

“I would be delighted to slap you again, but I have to find Breeder Dalton,” Grandrake replied, quickly dismissing the fomor in the face of much more important concerns. “The fate of countless princesses depends on him.”

“I cannot allow you to monopolize my chief of staff, Grandrake,” Vainqueur interrupted his fellow environmentalist. “While I am mindful of princess preservation, Friend Victor is already very distraught about his current litter. He already overbred once, I will not have him do so again.”

“I understand, Vainqueur, but can you imagine a world without elf princesses? The survival of the species trumps the desires of one minion!”

“Maybe,” Vainqueur conceded. “But Friend Victor is not any minion. He will reproduce when he feels like it.”

“Thanks, Your Majesty!” Manling Victor’s voice echoed in the minion crowd, although Vainqueur couldn’t pinpoint his location.

“You shall ignore me no longer, wyrm,” King Wotan thundered, raising his [Gungnir] at Grandrake’s throat. “I demand retribution. I challenge you to a duel to the death.”

“I will tolerate no such thing,” Vainqueur replied icily. “But if you want to settle this, I will gladly arbiter your dispute. You will duel the civilized way.”

“A minion battle?” Grandrake asked, hopeful. “It has been eons since I had one!”

“I meant something more epic,” Vainqueur replied, before glancing at his own Monster Poker battle.

While wise, his visionary proposal was met with denial and obscurantism. “No,” Wotan said. “This is ridiculous. I am not settling a grudge over a card game.”

“A card battle,” Vainqueur insisted. “And I did. I made peace with the Forgotten One, the most evil creature to ever walk Outremonde, in an epic Monster Poker match for the fate of the world.”

Vainqueur’s hoard was his world, after all.

“I am not playing a game,” Wotan replied haughtily. “I am a warrior.”

“If you are afraid to lose, you can simply admit it,” Vainqueur replied. “No one will mock you mercilessly, except me.”

Charisma check successful!

By passing the 150 charisma benchmark thanks to your items, you gained four stalkers!

“King Wotan fears nothing,” the fomor lord replied, minions swooning at Vainqueur’s cunning trick. “But I shall not settle a grudge over a game of chance.”

“Monster Poker is no game of chance!” Vainqueur replied, defending his new hobby. “It is a game of strategy, cunning, guts, and glory! Only square rooted intellects can comprehend its depth!”

However passionate his words, King Wotan remained doubtful. However, he wisely remained true to his word not to cause trouble in Murmurin. “I shall agree to an honorable trial by champion,” the fomor finally told Grandrake. “My Valkyries against your servants.”

“Ah, finally a civilized fairy.” The wyrm nodded. “I will bring my anti-knight defense force. They have been trained to fight false princesses, this will be a good test of their abilities.”

Scrying attempt negated by [Malefic Secrecy].