Chapter 126 - Dekan's Hide-and-Seek Game

Suddenly, Dekan's expression turned cold.

In the distance, faintly, a violent and fierce aura swept over. This aura was filled with a chilling oppression, surpassing anything Dekan had encountered before!

Even the final boss of the Demon Academy, the demon Olive, paled in comparison to the terror emanating from Isabel.

What's worse, Isabel could use magic cards, and her magic cards were undoubtedly tailored against him. They might counter most of Dekan's cards, and there were likely cards that Dekan couldn't handle.

In this situation, if Dekan wanted to win, he probably had to bring out some cards that Isabel had never seen before.

Unfortunately, it was regrettable. Dekan had already used most of the tier 1 and 2 cards he had created before. The remaining unused ones were mostly similar cards used to complement tactics. For example, there was the same type of card, "Busan Silencing Barrier," created to prevent “Your Granddaddy’s Gag" from being easily purified.

He didn't have the opportunity to create new tier 3 cards this time. So, if he wanted to win, he had to rely on his old cards.

However, Dekan's approach to winning had always been a one-off strategy. His opponents could only make a mistake once. In fact, if they didn’t have enough imagination to guess Dekan's thought process, sometimes there wasn't even a chance to make a mistake.

Take now for example, Dekan had prepared for the hide-and-seek game early on...

Isabel, wielding a dagger, approached from a distance, closing the gap between her and Croix in an instant. Among the three present, Isabel's strength was undoubtedly the absolute strongest. Although Croix wasn't much lower in tier, he was a squishy character and could easily be killed by Isabel once she approached him.

As for Dekan, it goes without saying that he would shatter with just a touch.

Isabel carried a variety of magic cards, primarily focused on survival and purification, with the rest being countermeasure cards. This time, her targets were primarily the Ice Princess and, secondarily, Dekan - an elemental mage and a versatile trickster mage. Therefore, Isabel's magic cards were highly targeted against spell cards.

For melee combatants who aimed to counter mages, this card setup was undoubtedly the best. It focused on countering both the spells mages possessed and the magic cards they used, seizing an opportunity to get up close and utilize physical abilities. Once close, Isabel would execute a deadly combo, potentially even finishing them off instantly, leaving no room for escape.

Moreover, while Isabel couldn't completely counter the high tier Ice Princess, she could effectively counter Dekan, who was of a lower tier. Tier difference was Dekan's weakness since many cards with powerful counter effects had restrictions like "effective against x tiers and below." The high tier Isabel could freely use potent cards that were effective against "tier 3 and below" to counter Dekan.

In her deck, Isabel had cards with the ability to counter low tier spells to the extreme, effectively killing their use completely, such as "Super Purification," "Spell Counter," and "Magic Card Disable.". She even had an unreasonable epic card that could "forcefully seal lower tier targets at any time."

If she wished, she could seal Dekan anytime and then use "Blood Pact Incantation" to subjugate him.

Dekan, now revealed in the open, had nowhere to hide.

In front of Isabel, they seemed as weak and pitiful as babies.

"Hummm!"

It was as if a violent wind was howling, causing a buzzing sound to resonate. Just as Isabel launched her assault, Dekan and Croix also reacted. Without hesitation, Croix activated wind magic, using a gust of wind to blow both himself and Dekan backward on the icy surface.

Croix swiftly glided toward the direction of the Ice Princess. At the same time, Dekan was blown in another direction. Isabel, seeing them daring to separate, was somewhat surprised.

"You two trying to take me on separately is laughable. Did you really think one of you could hold me back?" Isabel directly ignored Dekan and pursued Croix. Although she harbored more hatred for Dekan, her current best strategy was undoubtedly to prioritize killing Croix.

Whether she would take away the Ice Princess or Dekan today, Croix was the biggest obstacle in her mission. If she could kill Croix, she could once again torment the defenseless Ice Princess without fearing her recovery.

Even if the Ice Princess was prepared this time and chose to self destruct rather than be enslaved by her, it didn't matter. Without Croix obstructing her, Dekan was just a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

However, Isabel hadn't had the chance to get closer to Croix when she suddenly heard a voice coming from another direction.

"Did I let you pass?"

Dekan swiftly retreated on the icy surface, tossing out the "Captain Durrkan" and "Deputy Commander-Captain Durrkan" plushies. The two chibi Dekan dolls instantly appeared on the ice, cheerfully waving at Isabel.

Suddenly, Isabel recalled Dekan's repeated provocations and his arrogantly defiant face. Uncontrollable flames of nameless anger surged within her. It was an indescribable fury, making her even consider paying any cost to kill Dekan as quickly as possible.

Isabel wanted desperately to control her emotions and avoid hating Dekan, but the more she tried, the more the pent-up frustration and hatred fueled the burning rage within her. At the same time, she felt that her precision in actions had been affected, as if even her sense of direction and scouting ability were in disarray.

Currently, she was afflicted with the "Taunt," "Enrage," and "Confusion" debuffs. Her attack target had forcibly switched from Croix to "Captain Durrkan," abruptly altering her direction as she charged towards Dekan.

"All right! You want to die!" Isabel shouted angrily at Dekan. She had initially planned to deal with Dekan later, but now he had foolishly thrown himself into the line of fire.

Although she needed to temporarily spare Dekan's life for the mission, Isabel decided to cut off his two legs first. Card makers don't necessarily need legs! Even the parts on his body could be salvaged later! Isabel schemed and dashed towards Captain Durrkan and the direction where Dekan was.

Dekan, in turn, pulled out two "Captain Durrkan" cards, seemingly intending to use the dragging tactic he used against the playboy noble Flatta to continuously restrain Isabel with "Captain Durrkan."

However, just as Isabel was about to swing her dagger at "Captain Durrkan," a sinister smile curled on her lips. A spell card appeared in her hand and, after releasing it, she successfully purified the taunt status, swiftly swinging the dagger towards Dekan with the speed of lightning.

Dekan didn't seem overly surprised that Isabel used purification. However, when he identified the spell card Isabel had used earlier, which seemed like purification, his pupils suddenly contracted!

[Purification Designator]

[Type: Spell Card]

[Rarity: Purple Rare]

[Tier: 6]

[Effect: Removes a specified abnormal state or crowd control effect on the user. Within 10 minutes, the user will not be affected by this type of abnormal state or crowd control effect again. Designator-type spell cards share a cooldown time of 60 minutes. This card's cooldown time does not overlap with regular purification magic.]

[Note: "Don't keep crowd controlling me all the time!"]