Chapter 30 Chapter 29 The Importance of Wearing a Helmet
In the Dream Palace.
Jima was having a great time, seemingly completely forgetting that she was in the midst of a military operation. Or perhaps she knew that after the operation, everyone would no longer be able to be together, carefree and enjoying themselves.
So she had to seize every moment to enjoy the fun.
Jima glanced at the map; the party had reached a critical point. As the game master, she had managed to send a bunch of clumsy goblins to ambush from the ceiling, ready to surprise George and his companions.
The ceiling was nearly filled with goblins, her NPC stealthily lurking, with the cunning goblins having sponges tied to their feet. Jima rolled a few secret dice, trying to prevent George from growing suspicious due to the frequent secret rolls.
She prepared ten layers of cloth for the secret dice to fall on, silently.
Now, holding up George and Jenna’s characters, was a neurotic female NPC. She was a prisoner of the goblins, used to delay George and his buddy, so the goblins could surround them.
In theory, as long as George could persuade the female NPC to regain her sanity and remind her that this was a trap, then George and his team would still have a chance. But Jima deliberately set the persuasion difficulty very high; in the storyline, the female NPC had been let go a few times and then caught again, making it nearly impossible for her to believe anyone.
The hero played by George said, “Ma’am, we will rescue you, don’t be afraid. You can see the goblin heads at my waist; they are all my trophies.”
Jima retorted, “Do you want to stick my goblin heads on your shoulders and head?”
“That would be the act of a blood god.”
Jima said, “You’ve already hung seventeen goblin heads at your waist. A normal person wouldn’t be that frightening—you’re already resembling a follower of the blood god. It would be a great loss for the blood god if you haven’t fallen.”
Jima was a bit sulky about that. George had considerable potential to become a lawyer; after debating the rules with her for over ten minutes, she had no choice but to agree that as long as George hung those goblin heads on himself, he could intimidate the goblins.
Then, George and his party effortlessly broke through the dungeon Jima had set up, recognizing various traps along the way, while the poor goblins suffered dead or injured.
“Start the persuasion check.” Jima gestured for George to roll the dice, “Roll the dice.”
The dice rolled across the table and showed a two.
Jima couldn’t help but bring her hands to her chest, laughing joyfully:
“Hahahaha, George, you finally rolled a garbage number… The poor female NPC is now trembling in fear, her eyes vacant and retreating into the corner of the wall. You know, she won’t say anything now.”
With that, Jima eagerly rolled up her sleeves, stood up, and prepared to show off her goblin ambush team, saying, “Now it’s my turn! You are under surprise attack and cannot move during the surprise round. Get ready to roll for initiative.”
Her eyes were fixed on Jenna’s position; in one round, the goblins could surround Jenna’s hero and chop her down in a frenzy. Once Jenna arrived, lacking spell AoE abilities, George’s hero would surely perish as well.
A calloused hand appeared in front of Jima, stopping her excitement.
“Wait.”
“I can’t wait any longer,” Jima mimicked a goblin’s accent, “You’ve killed so many of my kin; it’s time to pay the price, heroes.”
“I have an advantage in persuading this poor female prisoner,” George said, “So surely, I should roll twice and take the higher result.”
“Just because of those seventeen goblin heads on your waist?” Jima laughed, “The rulebook states that whether persuasion is advantageous depends on my performance, right? It’s within my discretion, and I feel that not giving you a disadvantage is already quite generous.”
“But she has been let go by the goblins multiple times, given hope to escape, and each time that hope was snuffed out; the goblins are an invincible image in her mind.” George argued, “In this situation, I should have the advantage.”
“How do you know so much?”
“Foreshadowing.”
Right, the previous house rules stated that for a high difficulty check, there must be foreshadowing.
“You are really quite boring; I hid the foreshadowing so deeply, and yet you still found it,” Jima sighed and waved her hand, “Alright, Lawyer George, I’ll give you a chance.”
Of course, it was easy for her mainly because she had set the persuasion difficulty very high; according to calculations, he only had a ten percent chance of success.
George looked at Jima and said, “I can always spot a clue.”
Jima felt a bit guilty, secretly alarmed.
He rolled the dice, the twenty-sider tumbling before it finally settled on a twenty.
Jima facepalmed: “How is it another twenty?”
Saint Jenna nudged George: “That’s fantastic, George.”
Jima’s face turned bitter as the female NPC revealed that it was an encirclement, and since it was a critical success, she also disclosed a trap. This meant the goblins would take the initiative.
The goblin chief played by Jima jumped out and delivered his line: “You’ve killed so many of my kin; it’s time to pay the price, heroes.”
The paladin played by George activated a speed spell, charging in, and in one turn dealt three attacks, each hitting, the sacred strikes bringing down the goblin chief.
“That’s too much!” Jima nearly flipped the table, “My NPC only lasted one round!”
“Three rounds.”
“What?”
“Three rounds to deal with this group of goblins.” George looked at Saint Jenna: “Fireball.”
“Alright.”
Jima hurriedly said, “Okay, okay, spare my poor pawn.”
The clock on the wall pointed to the number nine; it was already 9:22 PM. It was considered evening.
Such things couldn’t be done directly. There had to be atmosphere, ambiance, and foreplay, so everyone first played the game, setting up the atmosphere.
“Since the heroes have defeated the evil,” Jima’s tone became suggestive as she leaned her cheek on one hand, looking at George and saying, “Naturally, they can claim their loot.”
With that, Jima’s tail wrapped around a gold coin, its surface smooth without any ripples. The tail placed the gold coin in George’s hand, her golden eyes looking dreamily at him, saying:
“As we agreed beforehand, one gold coin, one command.”
The gold coin still bore Jima’s warmth. Previously, for fun, the three had agreed that the winner could request something from the other in the upcoming three-way brawl.
George accepted the coin.
Jima chuckled, “My dear fiancé, I think you won’t pose any requests that would trouble me too much, right?”
She was quite astute, knowing that George valued face, and surely wouldn’t voice any overly… intimate requests in front of a third party. This was her only advantage over George, the chosen one.
“Leave it to fate,” George said, “You write down what you most desire someone to do on a piece of paper, along with three blank papers, and then draw one.”
Jima’s expression changed, but she felt it was thrilling; she wrote as much as twenty-one pieces of paper, placed them in a pouch, and personally drew one. Upon opening it, her face turned slightly red, and she quickly stuffed it into her mouth.
“Jima.” Saint Jenna was curious, “It’s wrong to cheat; tell us what you drew.”
Jima shook her head, chewing the paper into bits and swallowing: “Oh dear, it’s getting late; let’s wash up and sleep together.”
“The rules must be followed,” George said, “You have to reveal it later, or there will be consequences.”
“Really, you’re such a stickler for rules,” Jima said. “Let’s talk about it after the bath.”
As Jima submerged her legs in the warm bath, shedding her clothing to reveal her snowy shoulders.
The double-axe chief was following Jima’s trail, searching for her.
He was riding his armored copper bull, racing across the land, fixing his blind eyes on a distant coniferous forest. To him, within the forest, there was a red dot.
An intelligent voice told him that was where his enemy lay.
The double-axe chief was filled with rage, driving his armored copper bull at full speed, ignoring the panting followers behind him.
Why? How could she regard him as an ant? Just because she glanced at him, his eyeballs grew antennas, jumping out of their sockets. His battle group was also afflicted by this curse, suffering torment. Luckily, the blood god granted him the power of revenge.
He could not wait to sever her neck and drink her blood.
But that intelligent voice stopped him, instructing him to wait for allies.
The double-axe chief halted, gathering with his men to take a break.
His wait would bear fruit.
A team of demonic warriors, numbering over sixty, each clad in thick full-plate armor, approached from behind a small hill. They informed him that they had just passed through a rift as chaotic as the Four Dark Gods, arriving in this world.
All because their king had foreseen the future, knowing someone would need them to kill a certain succubus.
They risked crossing the rift, and while they had enough strength to destroy a fortress, only they had arrived.
The double-axe chief told them they had found the right person and inquired whether their king had foreseen the result of vengeance.
The leading valiant warrior said, “Fate is as capricious as the lord of deception.”
They gathered together, forming a formidable force, slowly marching toward Jima’s hiding place.
And at that moment.
In the bath, Jima whispered in George’s ear, “George, I want to have a child with you.”
Before the words finished, she was forcefully pressed against the wall of the pool.
Her muscles relaxed, her mind only thinking about pleasure. She was completely unaware that under the arrangement of the weaver of fate, the slaughtering blade was already aimed at her neck.
…
…
In the coniferous forest, the hooves of the armored copper bull were already igniting the fallen leaves.
“Here, right here.” The double-axe lord shouted at the empty space before him, “Right here.”
“But there’s nothing here.”
Beside him, a demonic war hound howled, seeming to agree.
“That’s because your eyes have deceived you.” The double-axe lord, axe in hand, jumped down from the armored copper bull and moved forward, followed by his men as they passed through an invisible barrier.
Before them appeared small piles of fallen leaves, and the double-axe lord brushed the leaves aside. Under the leaves lay a woven net of branches, concealing something shaped like a “typhoon’s eye.”
“Surround this area.” The double-axe lord’s hand trembled, “She must be hiding inside.”
With that, he threw down his helmet.
“Why did you throw down your helmet?”
“I want her to see who killed her.” The double-axe lord growled, his anger slowly igniting, “I want the Four Dark Gods to witness me.”
Before he finished speaking, everyone saw two flashes of lightning in the air, two ghostly blue arrows, piercing the double-axe lord’s eye sockets, with one arrow emerging from the back of his head.
Before anyone could react, the double-axe lord fell straight down, dead, without even seeing Jima before he perished.
From the distance, Eve Frostleaf, perched on a branch, drew her bowstring, continuing to shoot at the unresponsive demonic warriors.
