Chapter 64: Three-Way Battle Against Two Cards!
The surviving driver sat in half a cab, looking at the empty space beside him, completely shell-shocked.
Kazama Chiba glanced at the private car owners already starting to rubberneck around them, clicking his tongue in displeasure.
"Tch, what terrible luck."
Though he didn't know exactly which road he'd been thrown onto, judging by the road sign style and vegetation, he was definitely still in Japan, most likely still within Kamimizu City's boundaries.
But the problem was—this place was physically far enough from that convention center to make him run his legs off.
"Chiba! Are you okay?!"
Kerberos on his shoulder finally recovered from its frozen state, looking at that pile of scrap metal in shock, then at Chiba.
"That Move card actually teleported us here? This is at least dozens of kilometers away, right? What's it trying to do? Exile us?"
"Obviously, luring the tiger away from the mountain."
Chiba dusted off the dirt on his clothes, his eyes dark.
"That old bastard probably figured direct confrontation was too risky, so he just threw me far away. By the time I get back, his skill cooldown will have long since refreshed."
"Oh right! I just remembered!"
Kerberos suddenly reacted, its plush face showing some joy.
"Though The Move card can teleport objects infinitely, when teleporting living creatures, it has distance limitations and consumes enormous magic!"
"Just now it didn't throw us into the Pacific Ocean or outer space—that kind of dead end—which means The Move card's teleportation distance has reached its limit!"
"Right now its magic must be completely depleted. It definitely can't teleport you a second time in the short term. Like The Time card, it's in a weakened period where it can't activate its ability again!"
Chiba picked up the thread.
"In other words, as long as we get back before they finish recovering, we can catch both that old and young card in one swoop."
Kerberos looked at the surrounding traffic jam.
"That's what you say, but how do we get back?"
"Taking a taxi definitely won't make it in time. Flying back is too slow. By the time we walk over there, The Move and Time cards' abilities will be usable again."
"Who said I was taking a taxi?"
Hearing Kerberos's comment, Chiba snapped his fingers.
Then the shadow beneath his feet suddenly boiled to life as if awakening.
Several Shadow Khan ninjas silently emerged from beneath the asphalt road surface, kneeling on one knee in perfect unison.
Then Chiba tossed down several gold bars as mental distress compensation and vehicle repair fees for that driver, and ordered the Shadow Khan to open a portal to take him back.
The ninjas showed no hesitation, quickly forming a circle. Their pitch-black shadows rapidly spread, forming a black vortex leading to the abyss on the road surface.
This was a shortcut.
A shortcut to the Shadow Kingdom.
Normally the Shadow Khan traveled through the Shadow Kingdom's paths. Though using the Shadow Kingdom for spatial jumps was extremely convenient, this route was filled with dark power.
In the original setting, living people frequently entering the Shadow Kingdom would be eroded by dark forces and eventually become Tara's puppets. Fortunately, this was Chiba's first attempt, still within safe threshold.
And even if Tara's erosion was a risk, Chiba couldn't care about that now.
That old man had to die!
"Hold on tight."
Chiba growled lowly, then leaped directly into that black vortex.
...
Convention inner hall, Elden Ring exhibition booth.
Just as the onlookers were still pointing at that empty Elden Ring booth, discussing how that young man had suddenly disappeared—
The originally hard floor tiles suddenly rippled like water.
A hand suddenly thrust up from underground, followed by a dust-covered figure.
The surrounding confused onlookers were scared into screaming and scattering by this horror-movie-like entrance.
Kazama Chiba had no time to care about them.
Like an evil spirit crawling back from hell, covered in smoke and fire, his eyes fierce enough to kill.
That old man still sat there.
The hourglass in his hand had only a few final grains of sand flowing.
Seeing Chiba return this quickly, a flash of slight surprise crossed the elder's withered tree bark-like face.
But it was only surprise.
Without a word, Chiba borrowed the Shadow Khan's shoulders for leverage, launching himself like a cannonball.
The Sealing Staff in his hand already glowed.
"Old bastard! Let's see where you run this time!"
However, at that very moment—
The final grain of sand in the elder's hourglass gently fell to the bottom.
Time had run out.
The elder raised his head, showing Chiba—now within arm's reach—a deeply meaningful smile.
Young man, you're still too green.
Then that familiar green light struck again.
...
"Hey, student, since we've met by fate, want to check out my new work?"
The familiar opening line.
Kazama Chiba opened his eyes.
Before him was that pink-haired, purple-red-eyed girl's face.
Everything had returned to square one.
Shinjou Akane blinked, pushing the book forward.
"This is a story about 'the true protagonist.' Even if you're not interested, we can discuss..."
Chiba looked at this Shinjou Akane appearing before him yet again, feeling ten thousand alpacas stampeding through his heart.
He finally couldn't hold it in anymore.
"I was this fucking close!!"
These two sneaky bastards! Isn't this underhanded?!
Infinite save loading, huh? Playing dirty, huh? If you've got guts, don't reset! Fight fair and square, you bastards!"
This outburst scared Shinjou Akane so badly she shuddered, hugging her book and stepping back half a pace.
But Chiba had no attention to spare for her now.
He just wanted to tear those two cards to shreds and feed them to dogs.
"We're done for, really done for... completely done for!"
Kerberos's voice carried a sob.
"What's done for? It's just loading a save and trying again."
Chiba gritted his teeth, struggling to calm his murderous impulse.
"I was just one second short! As long as I move faster next time and grab him before the hourglass runs out, it'll work!"
"That's not the problem!"
Kerberos grabbed Chiba's collar, shaking desperately.
"Chiba, don't you understand yet? The Time card's ability isn't simple save loading! Its time reversal includes state reset!"
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"It means..."
"At this reset time point, except for The Time card's main body, everything's state returns to that moment! Including magic values! Including skill cooldowns!"
Chiba caught a whiff of something ominous.
"You're not saying that The Move card's consumed magic also fully recharged, are you?!"
"Exactly."
Kerberos went limp, looking dead inside.
"Now when you go back, that Move card can teleport you away again. Then The Time card can pause time again. And we, aside from consumed mental and physical energy, haven't changed at all."
"This is a death loop."
"No matter how many times we try, as long as we can't take them both down simultaneously in one instant, The Move card will appear again and throw you out. Then when you run back, the hourglass finishes flowing, reset happens again... infinite resets until we're played to death."
Hearing this conclusion, Kazama Chiba was stunned.
They could play it like this?
But after calming down—
Kazama Chiba quickly recovered, recalling the scene where The Move card specifically appeared in his hands when activating its ability.
He asked Kerberos a question.
"Kerberos, when that Move card activates teleportation, does it have to touch me?"
Kerberos nodded.
"Yeah... that's right! Though it's a spatial-type card, its judgment range is very small. It must contact the target object or be extremely, extremely close to throw the target into spatial rifts."
"That makes things easier."
Kazama Chiba immediately thought of a countermeasure.
Since it required close-range contact, this became the home turf of "Illusion" and "Mirror."
When it came to these tricks, those two cards were grandmaster-level.
Then he pulled out The Illusion and Mirror cards, holding them in his hand with a slight smile.
"In that case, I want to see how it finds my real body next time."