Endless Debt-Chapter 756 - 229: Calamity Approaches
Casualties came suddenly, with no chance to counter it, Palmer dragged Hart back to the chessboard round table, the temporary safest place in this ghostly place.
With Hart’s fall, there was one less player rolling dice each round, reducing the action points, which resulted in the Dawn advancing a shorter distance each turn.
Bologue felt the pressure, in the previous board game, they had fallen under the waves of demon swarms, losing the game during the combat phase, but now a new crisis had emerged. If the attrition continued, the dice points each turn would only get smaller, and the supply point just within reach would become unattainable.
"We need to pick up the pace."
Bologue suggested, "Roll the dice quickly, resolve the events fast!"
By accelerating the game’s speed to accelerate the number of turns, Bologue hoped Hart’s will was strong enough to minimize the need for more turns.
Palmer looked up and asked, "What do you think Hart’s nightmare might be?"
Gold explained, "The side he fears the most inside."
Palmer didn’t continue questioning. From Gold’s state where madness and rationality coexisted, Palmer could feel the terror of the nightmare, looking at Hart with both pity and concern.
Bologue asked, "What is Hart afraid of?"
"I don’t know," Palmer shook his head, knowing little about this friend, "he never talked to me about these things."
That’s probably the etiquette among adults, Hart would often go to Palmer’s parties, get drunk with him until dawn, but he seldom shared his troubles with Palmer, and even if he did, it was just some complaints about work.
Whoever it was, when people gathered together, they would tell some boring jokes, then back and forth adding more humor, turning the jokes into something grotesque, with everyone laughing until they were out of breath.
No one would discuss sad things.
Palmer didn’t know what Hart was afraid of.
"Looks."
Aimou’s voice sounded, she stood beside Hart, gently stroking him, smoothing out his messy fur like petting a big dog.
"Just like I once was, the strange glances of others, the different body, not fitting into society... this is what Hart fears."
Hart’s beastly appearance was well known within the Field Operations Department. Everyone there was already used to it, allowing Hart to greet others comfortably, chatting about recent events as if he were still an ordinary person.
But outside the Order Bureau, things were different. If Hart walked down the street, people would see him as a fine doll, if he opened his massive mouth, they would scream in terror.
Hart could no longer fit back into the world he once knew, ever since he became a beast, he rarely left the Order Bureau, imprisoning himself in that world, even though he did nothing wrong.
Everyone became silent in unison, Aimou affectionately ruffled Hart’s face, hoping to share his pain, but she knew she was helpless.
Ewen picked up the dice, handing it to Bologue, "If we draw the Wish Card, it can get us out of here."
Canary raised doubts, "Not to mention whether we can draw that card; who can guarantee that anyone would make such a wish after getting it?"
"I will take everyone away," Bologue took the dice, "as for the reason...I don’t like to explain myself, I prefer action."
Palmer and Aimou didn’t speak; they stood by Bologue, they trusted Bologue, and Bologue trusted them, that was indisputable, the real division lay among Canary, Ewen, and Cinderella.
"I hope that I am a noble person; this game should have only involved me. Dragging you in is my responsibility."
Ewen said, "If I got that card, I’d wish for you to leave, while I continue the game."
Palmer didn’t understand, "Is immortality really that captivating to you?"
"I know what you are going to say, something about the cruelty of immortality," Ewen cited another story, "you tell a child about the terrors of fire, it won’t extinguish his curiosity. Only when he is burned by the flame will he truly understand your words."
Bologue scrutinized Ewen, "Are your words trustworthy?"
"That depends on you."
Ewen looked Bologue straight in the eye without any hint of retreat, "A noble person wouldn’t claim they are noble; repeating it endlessly would be sheer hypocrisy... It sounds paradoxical, but I really do want to be a noble being."
Although an author, Ewen wasn’t good at defending himself. On the contrary, due to long-term solitude, Ewen was quite inarticulate at times, sometimes stumbling over words or even forgetting them when anxious.
In this regard, Ewen was somewhat similar to Bologue, both of them would forcefully state their stance and leave the rest to action.
Bologue then looked at Canary, Bologue didn’t trust Canary; to be precise, he trusted the person to some extent but not Canary’s existence itself.
It sounds awkward to say, but reviewing Bologue’s experiences made the doubt obvious.
Bologue believed he wasn’t controlled by the Devil, yet he always ended up indirectly aiding the Devil, making it hard to gauge whether Canary was in such a state.
Ewen felt he pulled everyone into the Joyful Garden, yet Canary also had a ticket, and Canary felt she accidentally dragged others into the mire too.
But is that really the case? Was this coincidence deliberately orchestrated by the Devil?
If so, what was the Devil’s purpose? Who was the Joyful Garden intended for, Canary, Ewen, or perhaps Bologue himself?
Bologue turned his gaze to the last person, Cinderella, seated obediently on the chair. She wasn’t directly involved in the slaughter against the Demon, yet her body was stained with blood.
Due to both being Alchemists and Aimou’s own combat skills, Aimou briefly instructed Cinderella on weapon usage, now Cinderella toyed with a Dagger, fantasizing about piercing a monster’s throat with it.
Bologue tried to suspect Cinderella, yet upon noticing this, Bologue realized he knew very little about Cinderella.
An image of a cold, cement cast shell room emerged in his mind.
Bologue didn’t ask questions but raised his hand to roll the dice. External pressures came from demons and even Devils, internally were the fallen Hart and the wishes unknown to the others.
The dice landed on the board with a crisp clatter, rotating and integrating point values into an advancement number, the Dawn cruised over most of the wilderness with the supply point within reach.
Bai Ou waved multiple slender arms formed from blood, grasping the deck to hand over to the others, enabling Bologue to draw a card first.
This time Bologue still drew Event Card: Calm Moments, Bai Ou narrated simultaneously, "Nothing happened; peaceful moments are as precious as gold."
Palmer drew a card, "Event Card: Undetermined Fortune."
Bai Ou’s tone turned strange, as if the event shouldn’t happen, "A wave of inexplicable fortune descended."
Cinderella glanced at the rulebook, adding on, not all players like Palmer knew the effects of all the cards.
"Players gain temporary luck; the success judgment range expands in the next few turns."
Luck, an unpredictable factor, was applied in the game through changes in point requirements. Expanding the success range allowed Palmer more ease in rolling great success.
Palmer suddenly laughed, the perpetually unlucky persona drawing fortune felt like a dark humorous joke, previously Palmer could have joked about it lightly, easing the mood, but now he couldn’t bring himself to do so.
A strong unease crept into Palmer’s heart, he began to understand Gold’s words, this damned game would shatter your most vulnerable side.
The various current happenings brought a deadly sense of familiarity, reminding Palmer of the day he nearly died and almost lost Church.
This was bad.
Upcoming draws yielded positive events, but these did little to mitigate the pressing situation, until it was Ewen’s turn to draw. Ewen drew a card from the blood-stained pile, and as the card was flipped, sharp fangs emerged from the card’s imagery, biting into Ewen’s finger.
Cinderella reacted swiftly, stabbing out with the Dagger, pinning the card to the ground, and from within, a shrill wail erupted as a grotesque monster roared continuously.
"Disaster Card: Savage Calamity."
Bai Ou narrated, with heavy, powerful footsteps echoing from the back of the train, blood-laden air surging against the wind, like a scent exuded from countless accumulating corpses.
