'I don't need this attack card, but it's your mistake if you think I'll give it to you.' Axir's eyes glinted.
The second Hybrid weapon in his armory was called Pyrovamp Chain Scyth. It had a heal ban, which was superior to heal reduction, and life drain effects tied to the burn damage.
He smiled and nodded. "Well, I can give away this card, but…not right now, and not for free. This will go to the one who deserves it most."
"Anyway, let's continue exploring. There might be more cards in this place."
Axir looked at the door. There's only one door in this corridor, so let's check it out.
'The first death.'
"This door looks creepy. Why is half of it so dark and…dripping darkness?" Yuta raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah, there's definitly something good beyond this door." Jason nodded. "We already defeated a monster here, so there should be a reward inside."
"Hmmm, alright. I have an idea." Axir grinned. "I feel bad for taking all the rewards, so here's a game. One of you will go past this door alone. If you can get the reward, it's yours."
"What?! For Real?"! Kazuo shouted.
"That's crazy! I am in." Yuta grinned.
Aoi giggled. "I like this game."
"Let's do it." Selena smiled.
Lexi blinked. "But who is going first?"
Everyone looked at each other before looking at Axir.
"You can decide," Selena said.
"Me? Well…" Axir looked at everyone. "The first one to raise a hand goes in!"
Everyone quickly raised their hands, but they didn't know who raised their hand first.
So it was not they who would decide, but Axir.
"Jason raised his hand first, so it's his turn." Axir chuckled. "Good luck."
"Alright." Jason grinned as he rubbed his palms and walked towards the door. "Wait for the good news."
He opened the door, and everyone looked at it curiously, but they couldn't see anything. It was pitch-black darkness.
Jason paused for a moment and then continued.
"He disappeared!"
"Whoa…"
"Guess we can't see anything from outside. It's that kind of place."
Whuu...huuu…huuu~
"And this creepy sound won't stop. It's annoying." Yuta clicked his tongue.
"Scared, aye?" Kazuo sneered.
Yuta snorted. "Your mother."
"This is one of those places where we can't send messages to world chat or even our friends." Lexi checked the chat feature. "Brother isn't responding."
"Let's wait a minute. If he doesn't come out, the next person goes in. What do you say?" Aoi asked Axir.
But just as she finished speaking, everyone heard a notification.
[ Party Member Jason is dead. He will respawn after one minute at the last visited respawn area. ]
"What?" Yuta frowned. "So there's something freaky inside that killed him."
"We need to wait for a minute before Jason can tell us what happened to him inside," Laxi said.
"It's fine. I'll have to go in there to defeat whatever it is." Axir wryly smiled. "You all stay outside in case you also die."
Everyone nodded.
'Fools.'
Axir entered the room and arrived in a strange room. Half of it was broken and hanging in utter darkness.
The floating chandelier dimly illuminated the room.
A table with half of it corrupted by darkness was on the west side.
A few paintings were acting as horror props.
Broken and corrupted vases and flowers.
But the most noticeable thing was a mirror. A pristine mirror that faintly glowed.
Axir stood before it.
[ Sancomito Mirror ]
— Sacrifice Completed.
— Touch the mirror with a deck-based card you want to remove from its deck and make it neutral.
'Good job, Jason. I knew you could do it.'
Initially, this mirror wouldn't show any detail except for its name.
But after staring at it for five seconds, it would demand a sacrifice to unlock it.
If a party entered the room, the game would initiate a vote. The one getting the highest votes would be sacrificed.
But if someone were alone, they would become the sacrifice instantly.
Jason didn't even know what happened or how he died.
Axir touched the mirror with a card from Blue Eyed Enchanter.
3-star card, Blue-Eyed Marionette (Charm)!
[Blue-Eyed Marionette (Charm)]
Card Quality: 3-star
Effect:
—> Control a monster of the same tier or above you for 1 hour. This will also work on NPCs and Players, but only if they are the same tier as you. However, they can struggle depending on their will.
Since this card evolved, it didn't need Enchanter's Gaze for it to control the target. It was now a standalone card that could control someone!
[ Are you sure you want to remove the 3-star card, Blue-Eyed Marionette (Charm) from its deck? ]
"Yes."
And so, the card was removed from the deck and became a neutral card.
Now he could give away this deck.
Axir exited the room and told everyone what he encountered.
"It seems Jason sacrificed himself to activate the mirror. But the mirror just allowed us to remove one card from a deck. I decided to use it."
"I'll give this deck to Yuta since he is using a melee weapon, and this deck requires close range to bring out its main card's potential." Axir transferred the deck to Yuta.
"Damn, let's go!" Yuta grinned. "Siphon Chain will keep me from dying. Scream of Despair is a good one to stun enemies. Thanks, man."
"No problem." Axir smiled. 'Enjoy some happiness before I show you despair.'
"Now then, let's check the other corridor."
As the group began walking, Lexi said, "Jason tried to teleport, but it seems he can't teleport next to a friend if the friend is in a secret area, a dungeon, or such places."
"Duh, that's common sense. Why would a game allow teleports in those places if it doesn't even allow chatting?" Aoi rolled her eyes.
"That makes sense." Selena nodded.
"Well, there are no more stairs, so we only have one corridor to explore."
As the group entered the corridor, they heard more and more cries.
They were expecting another monster in the corridor, as previously as well.
But Axir knew there wasn't a monster in the corridor here.
As the group continued moving, they arrived at the end and saw three identical doors in front of them.
This was the tricky part because Axir didn't remember which door was the correct one, and which ones led to death.
It was time to use these fools.