Sovereign of the Ashes

As Sein quietly raised his guard, Black Oblivion smiled beside him.

"Oh, it's you. Too bad I'm low on funds this time, so I'll be heading out," he said with a shrug.

He seemed totally unaware of how unusual the penguin was, chatting with him like a friend.

Black Oblivion had already met the penguin during his last visit to the casino. Something about the penguin's demeanor just clicked with him.

To Black Oblivion, this creature was simply an interesting guy.

Of course, in front of both Black Oblivion and Sein, the penguin's aura gave off nothing more than the presence of an ordinary Rank Four being.

Truly, he seemed no different from any other Rank Four.

After a bit of casual conversation with Black Oblivion, the penguin turned to Sein and curiously asked, "Given the momentum you have had over the past two months, you should still be winning. Why stop now?"

The question immediately put Sein on alert. This penguin had clearly been observing him all along.

Sein could not help but wonder what kind of being could escape the notice of the Faceless Mask.

"I don't like getting something for nothing. Earning over a million magicoins so easily taught me a lot. It's time for me to move on," Sein replied.

His answer seemed to satisfy the penguin, who nodded slowly. "You really are a lot like your master."

"My master?" Sein was a little confused.

What does this have to do with Lorianne?

The penguin did not elaborate. Instead, he continued, "I want to make a bet with you—as a small gesture of goodwill. After all, you're the successor of an old friend."

"Please, don't be in a hurry to refuse. You've probably just built your divine tower, right? Are you short on resources? And perhaps also a suitable plane to invade and claim as your own?" the penguin asked, flapping his right wing.

"I have a set of coordinates. If you win the bet, I'll give them to you," he offered.

"And what if I lose?" Sein asked with a frown.

"I'll still give them to you. I care more about the spirit of the bet than the outcome," the penguin replied.

"Of course, if you win, I will throw in a little bonus as well," he added with a smile.

"No need. If I lose, I'll give you the one million magicoins I have just won. If I win, just hand over the plane coordinates. I don't need anything extra," Sein said firmly.

He was not fond of owing favors, especially after reaching Rank Four. It was better to keep debts to a minimum.

This mysterious penguin was so enigmatic that Sein did not want to get too involved before figuring out his true nature.

The penguin stared at Sein for a moment, then gave a slight nod. "Fine."

After speaking with Sein, he turned to Black Oblivion.

"The Butterfly Goddess who scammed you last time—we have her now. Do you want to see her?" the penguin asked.

Black Oblivion visibly flinched. His previous arrogance vanished, replaced with a more serious expression. He gave a quiet nod.

The black-and-white penguin then led both of them toward the upper floors of the casino.

Sein had no idea which floor they were taken to, but it was definitely above the hundredth—possibly a private room on the two hundredth floor or higher.

The pale golden room they entered was the epitome of luxury and extravagance.

There were two beings inside. One stood tall and imposing, while the other was bound and kneeling.

Sein's attention went first to the armored figure standing in silence. According to the Faceless Mask's data feedback, his power and aura were on par with Grandmaster Feylis.

There was no doubt about it... he was an incredibly powerful Rank Six being. And from the way he behaved, he clearly deferred to the penguin.

The one on the floor was a beautiful foreign goddess with colorful wings.

She was definitely not weak, as her life level was Rank Five. But right now, she was in a very bad spot.

Some kind of special law-based bindings had completely suppressed her divine power. At this point, even a Rank Four could handle her.

"Obby dear, save me!" the goddess cried the moment she spotted Black Oblivion beside Sein.

As she struggled, the golden chains binding her rattled loudly. They were clearly not ordinary chains. If they could hold a Rank Five deity, they had to be divine artifacts.

Her dramatic performance made Sein's lips twitch a little.

He turned his head and asked Black Oblivion, "This is the goddess you bragged about last time?"

Black Oblivion nodded sheepishly.

To Sein, this goddess was not really that beautiful. At least, not by his standards. She even looked kind of insect-like.

Still, not everyone had the same taste.

Beauty was subjective, after all.

Sein found the Succubus Queen of Purgatory beautiful, but the aesthetic preferences of the demon race were not exactly easy for everyone to accept.

Perhaps Sein only believed she was attractive because of the demon bloodline running through his veins.

Anyway, he had seen all kinds of beauties before—Lorthisra the Spider Queen, the Succubus Queen, Master Lorianne, Grandmaster Feylis, and many more.

The Butterfly Goddess simply could not compare to any of them.

Still, Black Oblivion had been completely smitten with this foreign goddess.

"How much did you give her?" Sein could not help but ask after learning from the big penguin that she had scammed him.

"Not much. Just seven or eight million magicoins," Black Oblivion replied with a shrug.

Seven or eight million magicoins was a massive sum for any Rank Four being, yet Black Oblivion made it sound like pocket change.

Sein gave him a silent thumbs-up. No wonder White Stella and Tourmaline refused to lend him any more money. This guy was truly hopeless.

Not interested in the reunion between Black Oblivion and the teary-eyed goddess, Sein turned to the penguin instead.

"You've been here in the casino for a while now. For this bet, I'll let you choose whatever game you're interested in," the penguin offered.

"You pick. I'm honestly not into any of that," Sein replied with a wave.

"Alright then. Let's go with tarot," the penguin said.

A deck of dark golden cards materialized in his flipper, and all one hundred and eight cards shuffled themselves in mid-air.

Tarot cards could be played in endless ways, but since Sein was a beginner, they went with the simplest game.

Each of these cards radiated a strong spatial fluctuation.

When Sein noticed the illustration of a crimson octopus on one of them, he asked curiously, "Did you actually seal these creatures inside the cards?"

The penguin paused mid-shuffle. He looked up at the floating cards, then nodded.

"Yes. That one's a small creature I discovered in the Misty Star Domain. Bad attitude, but interesting enough."

The card with the octopus had a "6" marked on both the top-right and bottom-left corners, indicating its point value in Magus World's standard numbering system.

For their bet, the rules were simple: each player would draw three cards. The one with the highest total point value would win.