Hearing Noir's words, Marina instinctively looked at Kai.
Noir understood immediately. Two days ago, when Marina had put the Skull Deck up for sale, he had already noticed.
Who would sell exactly thirty-eight Cards?
Normally, it's either a full Deck or split-up singles.
That said, they'd gotten complete Decks from Trials before. Sure, some useful Cards would be pulled out individually… even so, usually they'd toss in a few extras and sell it as a full Deck.
Marina might be naive, but she wasn't stupid. She knew this—there was only one explanation: the Deck wasn't hers.
She was just selling it on someone else's behalf—without the authority to alter it. And who she was selling it for was pretty obvious.
Noir's gaze turned to Kai, who didn't try to hide anything.
"Looks like I'm tagging along after all."
Marina was silent for a moment before lowering her head.
"If you don't want to go, you could just give us 'Zombie World.' If you're worried we'll die in there, name a price. We'll buy it."
Noir's eyes narrowed slightly. All laziness vanished from his demeanor.
High Trials—without revealing his trump cards, he didn't have absolute confidence. If someone like Kai joined, their survival rate would shoot up.
That was why he'd waited here.
Of course, if Kai refused, he had other plans. The Trial wouldn't vanish in a few days. At most, it would affect some civilians.
He wasn't Marina, after all. She was the only one silly enough to care.
The dignified heiress of the Skye Family, risking her life for ordinary people? Not him. Noir wasn't that dumb. People should live for themselves.
Everything else was just fluff.
When Marina finished speaking, both she and Noir turned to Kai, awaiting his decision.
"Forget it. I don't really like other people using my Cards. I'll go with you. Besides, I'm curious to see a High Trial firsthand."
Kai smiled and pulled out 'Zombie World,' giving it a little wave.
"Even better. Do we need to prep anything?"
Noir's demeanor shifted again, suddenly energized.
"Not really. But just in case… You might want to tweak your Deck."
"'Harpie's Feather Duster' or 'Heavy Storm'—anything like that. I've got a pretty good idea what Deck this Trial will throw at us."
"Can't go wrong loading up on Spell/Trap removal."
Hearing that, Noir clapped his hands. One of his team immediately brought out a case.
Inside were various Cards, though neither of the ones Kai mentioned was there. Most were things like 'Cosmic Cyclone' or 'Twister'—Cards with drawbacks.
"Field-clearing Spells are too rare. My Deck only has one. See if any of these will work for you."
Noir gestured to the box, not questioning how Kai knew the Trial's theme.
"I've only got one 'Harpie's Feather Duster'..."
Kai didn't bring 'Heavy Storm'—too destructive. And 'Harpie's Feather Duster' is Limited. He couldn't run more even if he wanted.
"I... I don't have any..."
Marina sounded a bit ashamed. 'Harpie's Feather Duster' cost as much as 'Raigeki'.
She really couldn't afford it. Even 'Heavy Storm'—though cheaper—was still out of reach.
"It's fine. Two should be enough. Just slot in a couple other removal Cards."
Kai reassured her.
Those kinds of Cards aren't usually run—unless you're facing certain archetypes. Kai only packed one to counter Runick players.
"Let's head out, then!"
Kai added 'Heavy Storm Duster' and 'Cosmic Cyclone' to his Deck.
Not too many since he didn't want to brick.
Once everyone finalized their Decks, Noir led them onto a speedboat. With Noir's four subordinates, the seven of them headed toward the Trial gate.
In just this short time, the once-empty sea beneath the golden gate had formed a platform.
"We need to clear this Trial fast, or it's going to pollute the water!"
"Yeah."
Kai nodded and stepped forward, revealing 'Zombie World' in his hand—the sealed golden gate instantly opened as dark golden mist surged toward them.
Kai took the brunt of it, standing in front. Marina didn't even get the chance to call out while silver light radiated from Kai's body, keeping the mist at bay.
"Let's go see what we're dealing with."
He pocketed the Card and stepped through the gate.
The others followed close behind—suddenly, with a flash of white light, the world spun.
When their vision cleared, the ground beneath them was slick with viscous, dark gold liquid. Every step sent ripples through the puddles. Within the ripples, distorted human faces briefly appeared while countless golden chains hung from the ceiling.
At the end of each chain dangled half-melted gears and bones, clinking eerily in the wind.
From above, a low male voice boomed:
[Welcome to the Trial: Eternal Golden Reliquary!]
...
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