The entire "Creation Mountain" game was unusually intense. This was something Siegfried had known from the beginning.
From the "Unbreakable Alliance," the major powers on the chessboard had been constantly appearing and disappearing like the dynasties in history.
And Shu, who had obtained this card from the very beginning, had endured the "Unbreakable Alliance," actively dismantled the "Red Movement," ignored the establishment of the "Great Homu Kingdom," and had also watched the "Square Trade" with a cold eye.
He hadn't even looked at this card when faced with the "Peach Blossom Spring" and "Future City," which were said to be foolproof, all-round, three-dimensional defenses. He had waited, and had even actively induced others to break through them.
He had been so patient, even at the cost of exposing his "Demon King" identity that he had hidden for so long, just to keep this card until now?
From the beginning of this game, had he already seen the present?!
The "Observer's Advent," which would not be triggered even once in ten thousand games of Creation Mountain!
After a brainstorm, Siegfried actually laughed, a self-deprecating laugh, and then his weak laughter spread to everyone's ears.
He had even specially reminded Shu of the relevant rules because of the rarity of the "Observer's Advent," but the other party had been single-handedly pushing the whole situation towards this predetermined result from the very beginning!
The sentence "was this all in your calculations?" was not a question, but a statement that had already been settled.
The glorious "Temple of Causality" twisted and dissipated like a mirage; the "Wheel of Fortune," which symbolized absolute destiny, shattered into points of light with a piercing metallic whine; the "Spear of Longinus," which seemed to be able to pierce through everything, faded in color, turned into ordinary iron, and then was annihilated;
The thick stack of legendary cards in Siegfried's hand, which exuded a suffocating fluctuation, along with Shu's own remaining two "guillotine" cards, were casually thrown into the "Graveyard" by the two of them at this moment.
The chessboard, which had been like a divine kingdom with strict laws a second ago, instantly became empty and silent. Only the two bare chess pieces of Siegfried and Shu were left, facing each other on the empty board.
All special effects, all bonuses, all resource accumulation... everything returned to nothingness.
True "all are equal"!
"Then... then what?" Shu took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the frantic beating of his heart, and looked at Siegfried.
Because he had suddenly realized something... how could they have a duel when both sides had no cards?
By fighting each other?
The corner of Siegfried's mouth twitched. He looked at his empty hands and field, and then took a deep look at Shu.
His gaze was extremely complicated. There was shock, there was frustration, but more than that, there was the unrestrained and undisguised appreciation of a good loser?
He took a deep breath and said in a tone mixed with helplessness and a final verdict:
"'All are Equal' subsequent effect triggers... when all external dependencies of both sides are stripped away, the victory or defeat will be decided by the most primitive 'luck'."
He silently, from behind him, took out... two things.
Not a world-destroying divine artifact, nor a profound and unpredictable magic array.
It was an ordinary, even slightly worn-out red and white table tennis paddle, and an equally ordinary white table tennis ball. Then, he took out another identical paddle and handed it to Shu.
"The rule is..." He knew that Shu, who had created all of this, must know the following rules, but perhaps for the sense of ceremony of this final moment, Siegfried's voice carried an almost absurd seriousness.
"Face away from the chessboard, throw the table tennis ball backwards. The area where the ball first lands will represent its ownership. One ball... decides the victory or defeat."
The whole place was dead silent.
The phenomenon of the "Observer's Advent" was so rare that most of the people present were seeing it for the first time, so they were not very clear about the following rules.
Shu was also stunned. He looked at the light table tennis paddle in his hand, feeling extremely magical, but also feeling particularly reasonable... at least here, it was extremely reasonable.
This was more... unadorned than any kind of "luck duel" he had imagined.
But then, Kiana, who was next to him, suddenly spoke up.
"Wait, I remember... 'All are Equal' doesn't seem to be able to clear the field effects, right?"
While speaking, Kiana's gaze had been fixed on Shu's identity card.
"Demon King"
Passive skill: "When the Demon King is within his own territory, the territory will automatically expand outwards."
"So that's how it is..." Bronya's voice was terribly serious. She stared at the "Demon King" identity card, and in her mind, she re-calculated "all of Shu's arrangements" in disbelief.
"The initial patience was not a low-key development, but a high-profile provocation. Because of the use of the 'Wall of Heart,' everyone could not form alliances normally, so conflicts between them were bound to erupt. Without the 'Demon King' as the common enemy of the world, everyone could only fight in a melee.
"So before the melee began, Shu would 'resist' Sin Mal's 'Fatherly Love,' because once the Demon King passively interacted with the outside world, his concealment would be invalid. Only by actively reversing it could he continue to hide.
"And after the melee began, Shu didn't care if his identity would be exposed, because everyone was busy restraining the powerful forces and developing their own power. No one would care about a 'Demon King' who could only expand his territory and had no cards.
"Shu even used the exposure of his identity to destroy the 'Red Movement' that could have ended the game and secured victory, making the intensity of this melee even higher. Even the 'Peach Blossom Spring' could not avoid being involved!
"This development would only leave two powerful extreme forces in the end, namely the 'Hero' Kiana and Rosalia and Lilia who had completed the 'Future City.' Plus Shu, there were still three forces on the field. At this time, using 'All are Equal' could only hand the victory to a third party.
"So..." After speaking so much in one breath, Bronya finally paused for a moment. While taking a breath, she also looked at Kiana.
"So Shu deliberately instructed Kiana to use 'ARAHATO: Super-Dimensional Judgment' knowing that Rosalia and Lilia had 'Vodka Girls' Shining Stage.'
"The purpose was to make Kiana have to use 'Become a Magical Girl!', to use that mutually destructive blow, and then kick the 'Hero,' who was the only threat to his own territory, out of the endgame!
"After all—only people from the Hero faction have the ability to recover the lost land occupied by the Demon King!"
"And in order not to let the table tennis ball possibly land in the remote land of Rosalia and Lilia, Shu used Kiana's hand to kick these two people out of the game, and replaced them with a 'God' who had no territory to face off against!"
"Could... could it be like this?!" Sirin covered her mouth, shocked like a passerby who had seen a rare treasure in a cool novel. "It's... it's too amazing!"
At this point, the victory and defeat were decided!