Chapter 157: Betting for Money
The wasteland was shrouded in dark clouds.
Although it was noon, the light was dim, resembling that of seven or eight o’clock in the evening.
The flames from the torches formed a thin line across the wasteland, converging into a ball of fire within the shelter.
From the sky, it looked like a series of lamps being lit one after another.
Jima floated in the night sky, the sharp cold wind carrying the magical breeze, fluttering her wings, which puffed up as she maintained her balance, her body swaying slightly.
She was deep in thought.
Contemplating how to retrieve the crown fragments, and how delightful it would be to betray George and advance her status.
Once she became the Chosen of the Deceptive Sovereign, her memory and thought process became efficient and low in consumption while strategizing conspiracies, yet Jima didn’t feel that she had become any smarter.
The upper limit of her conspiracies seemed to remain the same as before, more or less like drafting while planning.
The reason was that Jima iterated over her strategies again and again and found that with her current strength, seizing the fragments of the Demon King’s crown was basically impossible.
Even if she wholeheartedly fought alongside everyone for the fragments, it would be difficult to succeed.
The Eternal Chosen had already gathered his army and was rushing towards the two-headed dragon’s lair. The force was mighty, numbering around five thousand, with about twenty percent being heavily armored demon warriors, a small group of demon knights, and a demonized giant.
Although this army was inferior in terms of numbers and overall strength, with the Eternal Chosen and the Blood Dragon Knight Duncan present, they were an extremely formidable opponent.
Confronting the Eternal Chosen Marus, the only ones capable of inflicting damage were the holy sword in Beo’s hands and the rune axe (artifact) wielded by the butcher Grek.
Reconnaissance reports from the two-headed dragon’s lair had also arrived. It was a genuine ancient dragon; Beo and his group exerted considerable effort to retreat successfully from the dragon’s attack.
Unfortunately, no one had died.
At the same time, the cunning ancient dragon had sensed the crisis and began to gather its subordinates, firmly entrenching itself in the circular valley.
It was said that there were three major goblin tribes, a horde of dragon-demons, and demonized trolls, with nearly twenty thousand in number, most of which were just low-quality goblins.
It was hard to imagine that such a desolate wasteland could sustain so many.
“It’s all the fault of the magical winds,” Jima muttered to herself. “This cursed place can support so many meat-eaters.”
With the two-headed dragon and its army occupying advantageous terrain, even without the interference of the Eternal Chosen Marus, capturing its lair would require considerable effort and bloodshed.
Moreover, a report came in yesterday stating that a ratman army had successfully ambushed a logistics convoy, annihilating it and stealing all the supplies.
Though the loss of supplies was disheartening and worrying, it was nothing compared to what this report signified.
It indicated that the shattered ratman army had regrouped; while they may not have the strength to compete openly, they could engage in sabotage from the shadows.
Considering the competition from all sides made Jima’s head ache, let alone concoct any intricate schemes or coordinate subtle operations against the opponent’s leader.
Jima touched her heated forehead and abandoned the idea of scheming.
Perhaps she truly wasn’t suited to be the Chosen of the Deceptive Sovereign.
Jima recalled how, in the past, as the Chosen of the Blood God, she was often deceived by a Chosen of the Deceptive Sovereign. Though she eventually killed him, he smiled at her before dying and told her:
“All of this is a part of my Lord’s great conspiracy. Sadly, your victory this time is merely a setup for my Lord’s future victory.”
Alright, such words of “even though I lost, in the long run, I won” always came from dying followers of the Deceptive Sovereign.
“It’s not my problem,” Jima realized. “It’s likely those guys are just stubborn.”
Jima took a step back and decided not to waste her valuable mental energy on designing a conspiracy.
Instead, she thought with the mindset she had when serving as a cavalry commander.
The battlefield is ever-changing, and no one can anticipate everything. Nor is it necessary to do so; holding a strong cavalry unit means one can simply wait for the right opportunity to seize.
Mobility ensures that one can choose the battlefield, which means having the ability to seize opportunities, while one’s own hard strength determines how great an opportunity one can grasp.
Thinking along those lines, Jima concluded that she needed to wait and observe before taking action.
But my hard strength… just this mere Chosen Platinum.
Jima felt defeated and thought that if she really had to fight George with blades drawn, she felt fear, a dull pain in her chest.
This time, it wasn’t a fight on a bed.
Though she was reluctant to admit it, she had never won against George head-on—apart from when she stole his fiancée.
He was indeed formidable.
A sense of defeat flooded her, and her hands grew weak.
Perhaps I should just give up.
But then she thought of returning to Earth. Stepping on her enemy, beating her until she was bruised and bloody, killing her, and then bringing her human father, lying on a hospital bed, directly to the best hospital. Her human mother from her past life would smile at her.
Everyone around would envy her parents for having such an outstanding child.
Although Jima had long forgotten the faces of her parents from her previous and past lives, the once indifferent familial affection had vanished without a trace over time.
However, she firmly remembered all the regrets and grievances from her previous lives. They reminded her with pain in her chest.
Jima’s thoughts began to wander, and a tempting voice emerged.
I had never heard of or seen anything like superhumans on Earth. Even those uncertain rumors, even if true, were pitifully weak. In other words, the entire Earth was likely nothing more than a magic-free kindergarten.
Just thinking about it made Jima’s heart tremble.
Who wouldn’t want to bully weak opponents? Jima particularly enjoyed this, overpowering the weak and picking on the softest targets—nothing was better.
Once again, she strengthened her resolve.
Jima began her next step, assessing her hard strength.
She first opened her personal system to check her personal panel.
Her eyes scanned through the attributes, finding her agility and charm to be very high.
She reviewed the Chosen abilities she had obtained days ago.
“Conspiracy Intuition: You will always sense conspiracies aimed at you, making it hard for you to fall unwittingly into a conspiracy trap.”
As it stood, apart from bringing her constant anxiety, it wasn’t of much use.
“Divine Chosen Conspiracy: Your ability to transform lies into truth has greatly increased, allowing you to easily create illusions with lies.”
This ability proved very useful; it was how she deceived the Kislief expeditionary force and created large illusions to mislead the ratmen. However, against the Eternal Chosen’s troops, it wasn’t very effective, as it merely caused them to take a few detours.
After all, the opponent was a Chooser of Death.
“Arcane Conductor: You can absorb the magical winds to restore your magical power. The rate of recovery is determined by the following two factors: Are you remaining still? How fierce is the magical wind around you? Additionally, using the Arcane Conductor requires your focus.”
What a considerate system, clearly explaining its capabilities.
Jima again marveled, that without this personal system, she wouldn’t even know where she would die, and no one would be there to collect her body. Even if it was just an ordinary system that could only show her abilities and take notes, it was still invaluable.
These meager hard strengths were like a few steel coins. And she had to take these tokens to the world’s largest gambling table to bet against those with mountains of chips.
Jima sifted through the notes in her personal system, almost like searching for forgotten coins in her money bag.
And she really found something.
“Right, Velin still owes me a promise to battle!”
