Chapter 199

Chapter 200. God Does Not Flip a Coin (1)

Joyray’s Tavern, Underground Hideout.

A table large enough for four chairs, yet only Keter sat there.

Beside Keter was Joyray, behind him was Daat. Facing them stood the Sword Demon Walt and his disciple. Watching from the sidelines was Decameron.

A truly bizarre scene was unfolding.

Gulp.

Someone swallowed hard. It was Daat.

Daat was afraid of Walt.

Long, flowing silver hair. Black eyes that seemed to look nowhere, pale lips. His hand resting on the hilt of his sword at his waist gave off an air of vulnerability.

‘Even though I’m behind Brother, my heart aches.’

Fear of the predator is the instinct of the prey. Walt, the apex predator, instilled terror in his prey just by existing in the same space.

‘Damn, I thought I had gotten stronger.’

Walt’s gaze was unreadable, but it was clear who he was looking at. Keter. Walt was solely focused on Keter.

Daat knew this. Yet, he couldn’t stop imagining Walt looking at him, ready to draw his sword and slice open his chest to pull out his heart.

Bang!

Then, Keter slammed his fist on the table.

“Walt. How long are you going to keep staring? You said you have a message from the Grand Duke.”

“Huff…”

Daat gasped for air. Crushed under Walt’s pressure, he had forgotten to breathe.

‘Th-thank you, Brother.’

Daat stepped back. Normally, Daat avoided being in the same space as Walt. No, he actively avoided him.

But after showering in elixirs and mastering the Aura Blade technique, Daat’s confidence had soared. He had even defeated a Master-level strong one, so he thought it would be fine to be in the same space as Walt now.

However-

‘I must be insane.’

It was arrogance and overconfidence. Quickly realizing this, Daat moved to stand beside Decameron, who was far away.

Perhaps because Maknun had stepped aside, or because Keter had slammed the table. Walt broke the silence and spoke.

“Keter. A message from the Grand Duke.”

“Go on.”

“He has an offer you cannot refuse.”

“……”

Keter’s eyes narrowed slightly.

When he had visited Ruquer before, the Grand Duke had made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, and he had declined. At that time, the Grand Duke had said:

“The next time we meet, you won’t be able to refuse my offer.”

A being like the Grand Duke does not lie. So Keter was curious. What kind of offer could it be that he couldn’t refuse?

‘It can’t be just to create a pretext to kill me. This is getting more interesting.’

Once he started speaking, Walt didn’t hesitate to complete his sentence.

“Leave Ruquer. And never return.”

* * *

Tap, tap, tap.

Keter tapped the table with his fingers. A rhythmic tapping.

Tap, tap, tap, tap. Tap!

Keter’s eyes, deep in thought, were utterly calm, while Maknun’s eyes widened as he watched.

‘That’s the habit Brother has when he’s seriously contemplating something! I’ve only seen it twice in my life!’

The first time was when the Grand Duke’s daughter proposed to him.

The second time was when he had to decide whether to descend to the 5th floor of Ruquer’s underground labyrinth.

‘He declined the proposal and decided not to go down to the 5th floor.’

To Maknun, the Grand Duke’s offer was annoying, but not something Keter couldn’t accept. After all, Keter had already decided to leave Ruquer.

Of course, he had said he would return because it was like home, but that was then, and this is now.

‘If Brother had heard the Grand Duke’s words first, telling him never to return to Ruquer, he wouldn’t have said he would come back.’

The fact that Keter was still alive after refusing the Grand Duke’s offers was because there was no malice in them.

But this offer reeked of malice.

“Never return.”

There was no explicit threat, but it was obvious what would happen if he did.

He would truly become the Grand Duke’s enemy.

Becoming the Grand Duke’s enemy meant becoming Ruquer’s enemy. What did that imply?

Maknun clenched his eyes shut and bit his lower lip.

‘I’m sorry, Brother. Even for you and me, making Ruquer our enemy is too much. We’d be dead for sure.’

Accepting the Grand Duke’s offer was easy, and there was nothing to lose. There were a few things left in the office and other unfinished business, but even if converted to money, it would only amount to about 100,000 gold.

Of course, 100,000 gold is a huge sum, but not for Keter. He could always earn that much again.

Moreover, Keter always said:

‘Money is a means, not an end, right? So it doesn’t matter, right?’

Maknun wasn’t the type to give up without even trying. He was a genius among geniuses, acknowledged even by Keter.

In a very short time, he had considered countless possibilities, and in none of them did Keter survive.

On the other hand, accepting the Grand Duke’s offer would result in minimal or no loss, and the chance of losing his life was virtually nonexistent.

Tap… tap… tap.

The tapping slowed.

Keter poured all his focus into uncovering the ‘hidden meaning’ behind the Grand Duke’s offer.

‘The Grand Duke possesses a powerful prophet or is a prophetic being himself. Beyond all that, he’s a divine being wearing a human guise. Such a being is concerned about me. He’s playing psychological games with me. Accepting the offer is easy. I could even think of it as the Grand Duke’s final mercy. Because he liked me. But why would the Grand Duke do such a thing? He knows I might leave Ruquer, but why would he tell me never to return? Even I don’t know when I might return, so why did he definitively tell me not to come back?’

There’s a trap in the Grand Duke’s offer. Keter, certain of this, sought to uncover it.

‘Is it because I usually act contrarily, so he thought I’d refuse this time and made the offer easy? To provoke my rebellious nature and make me refuse? What does the Grand Duke gain from that? To create a pretext to kill me? Considering causality, it’s not impossible. But if the real goal is to ensure I never return to Ruquer, then there must be a reason I shouldn’t return. But I can’t think of that reason now.’

Predicting the opponent seems difficult, but in reality, it’s not that hard.

It’s like rock-paper-scissors. The opponent’s possible ‘moves’ are limited.

Rock, paper, or scissors.

But now, what will they choose? Inferring that requires a lot of information and psychological warfare.

It could be based on factual information. For example, if Keter often throws rock in rock-paper-scissors, then throwing paper would win.

But information can be used against you. If Keter is aware that he often throws rock and knows the opponent knows this, he might throw scissors to counter the opponent’s ‘paper.’

Or if Keter threw rock three times in a row, what would he throw next? The opponent might easily guess ‘rock.’

But in reality, it’s not so simple. No one would be sure he’d throw rock four times in a row. Especially if Keter lost three times in a row with rock.

Then, he might throw something else to avoid losing, or throw scissors to test the opponent’s psychology.

Even in something as simple as rock-paper-scissors, there are countless possibilities. The Grand Duke’s offer is very simple.

‘Yes or no.’

Only those two options.

Moreover, saying ‘yes’ is sweeter and easier.

On the other hand, choosing ‘no’ is a thorny path. A path of thorns made of boiling lava.

There’s no need to hesitate. You must accept.

Keter thought so too. No matter how he looked at it, this offer from the Grand Duke was one he shouldn’t refuse.

Tap, tap…

Yet, Keter’s contemplation didn’t end. Even though he acknowledged that accepting was the better choice, he didn’t accept it.

A state of self-doubt. Stepping back from the situation, viewing it from a third-person perspective.

He is not Keter. He views the psychological battle between Keter and the Grand Duke from a third-person perspective.

‘There’s no reason to refuse, right? Isn’t this just an overreaction? Maybe the Grand Duke just wants to mess with you? To make you agonize like this.’

The third person speaks his opinion to Keter.

Keter also agrees. It’s not what he wanted to hear, but it’s a plausible theory.

‘But, that’s not how it should be.’

To survive in this world, you must move unpredictably.

Being predictable means being seen through. Being seen through means handing your life over to your opponent.

Even if the opponent is an omniscient god, you must deceive them. See through their intentions and use them against them. That was Keter’s unwavering belief.

‘Does the Grand Duke want me to refuse the offer, or does he want me to accept?’

Keter recalls everything about the Grand Duke. His actions, expressions, the clothes he usually wore. The scent of incense, the wrinkles on his collar. He gathers clues from the smallest details and infers.

‘The Grand Duke has always been generous, but especially so to me. He even tolerated me leaving Ruquer, knowing I could. The only person who knows the secret of my birth. The only person who might know my mother. What does such a person want from me…’

Bang!

Keter suddenly slammed his forehead on the table.

When he raised his head, there was no more hesitation on his face.

“I’ve decided.”

Gulp.

Maknun’s swallowing sound was as loud as thunder.

After five minutes of contemplation, Keter’s conclusion was-

“I refuse.”

Maknun silently wept, and Joyray swallowed hard.

On the other hand, Walt remained calm. Instead, he asked a simple question.

“Why? Dying as a madman of Ruquer is less valuable than dying as a direct descendant of a noble family.”

“Walt. No, you piss-pants. Listen carefully. The Grand Duke set a trap from the start.”

“……”

Walt’s eyebrow twitched at being called ‘piss-pants,’ but he couldn’t react to what followed.

“The Grand Duke doesn’t use traps.”

“Originally, beings like the Grand Duke or me don’t use traps at critical moments. Anyway, the Grand Duke deceived you to deceive me. To make it seem like ‘leaving Ruquer and never returning’ was the main point.”

“……”

“Actually, that’s not important. What’s really important is whether I accept the Grand Duke’s offer or not.”

“Sounds like wordplay to me.”

“What the Grand Duke really wanted was to make me ‘accept’ the offer. But if the offer was too easy, he thought I’d suspect something or think it was a joke and refuse easily. So he needed a plausible pretext. Something difficult for others but easy for me. Something with no reason to refuse. That’s why he made the offer to leave Ruquer and never return.”

“It’s not me who doesn’t understand, it’s you.”

Clang.

Walt drew his sword as naturally as breathing and pointed it at Keter’s neck.

It was a sword familiar to Keter.

Blood Sword Dracula.

The evil god’s weapon had fallen into the hands of the Sword Demon.

“Even if everything you say is true, my task remains unchanged.”

“Of course. That’s why you’re here, and not someone else.”

Walt was both the messenger delivering the Grand Duke’s words and the executioner.

“Keter. I won’t say I’m giving you another chance. But there’s one thing I want to ask.”

A hint of anger flickered in Walt’s otherwise cold eyes.

“Do you think I can’t kill you?”

“Not at all. You can kill me.”

“Then why are you still sitting there so calmly?”

“Because it’s not like you.”

“…What?”

“The Grand Duke didn’t tell you, ‘If Keter refuses the offer, cut his throat.’ Of course, a good subordinate handles things without being told, but that’s not you, is it?”

“……”

“You know what you usually do. Let’s settle it with that.”

What Walt usually does. It seemed very personal, but everyone present knew about Walt’s unique habit.

When Keter suggested settling it with ‘that,’ Walt sheathed his sword without hesitation. Then, he pulled out a worn silver coin from his pocket.

It had been with him for so long that the images on both sides were smooth, but traces remained, so it wasn’t impossible to tell which was heads and which was tails.

“Keter. As you wish, we’ll decide your fate with a coin toss.”

“It’s not something cliché like heads I live, tails I die, right?”

“If you have a request, speak.”

“You always decide things with a coin toss, saying it’s fate. That means you accept fate, right? Even if it’s your death.”

“Of course.”

“Nice answer. Then let’s do this.”

Keter grinned and swept the snacks off the table.

“If it’s heads, I die. If it’s tails, you die. Ah, you don’t like ambiguous words? Then let’s make it seppuku.”

Seppuku, the act of slicing one’s own stomach. A noble way to say suicide. Two great figures were staking their lives on a coin toss.

A coin has only two sides. A 50% chance of death. And it’s a single round. The coin toss takes at most five seconds.

Who would give up decades of life in five seconds?

Those who have reached the pinnacle of martial arts, those with generational wealth, why would they gamble their lives on a 50% chance? Only the insane would accept it.

“Fine, I accept.”

But Ruquer is a den of madmen.