SHUFFLE OF FATE: A Deckbuilding LitRPG
CHAPTER 20: JOKER'S WILD
The purple light didn't just shine; it infected the reality of the alleyway.
The raindrops froze in mid-air, turning into suspended crystals of amethyst light. The mud on the ground boiled.
Lieutenant Kaelen released Kai's throat and stumbled back, his instincts screaming that he had made a fatal error. He raised his Greatsword, but his hands were shaking.
Kai fell to his knees, clutching his chest. He watched the interface in his vision fracture and rebuild itself.
**[System Alert: Mana Overload Detected!]**
**[Wildcard Limit Broken.]**
**[Rarity Upgrade: Temporary Legendary.]**
The spinning roulette of colors in Kai's vision moved so fast it became a white blur. Then, with a visual *crack* that looked like lightning striking a mirror, it stopped.
It didn't land on Gold. It didn't land on Red.
It landed on **BLACK**.
The color of the Void. The color of Death.
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[Card Generated: Army of the Damned]
[Tier: Legendary (Overloaded)]
[Duration: 60 Seconds]
[Effect: Raises all dead matter within 100 meters to serve the User.]
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Kai grinned, blood dripping from his chin. "Rise."
The command was silent, trapped by the sphere, but the earth heard it.
The ground beneath the alleyway exploded.
It wasn't just dirt. Sector 7 was built on the ruins of the Old City. Beneath the mud lay centuries of graves, forgotten crypts, and the discarded bones of the poor.
*CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.*
Skeletal hands punched through the asphalt. Not one or two. Hundreds.
Kaelen's minions turned to run, but the exit was blocked. A wall of ribcages and skulls rose from the earth, fusing together to form a barricade of bone.
The minions hacked at the skeletons with their swords. They severed heads, smashed arms. But for every skeleton they broke, three more clawed their way out of the mud.
A skeleton wearing the rotted rags of a beggar leaped onto the back of a mercenary, burying its bony fingers into the man's eyes. The mercenary opened his mouth to scream, but the **[Silence Sphere]** swallowed the sound. It was a silent horror movie.
Kaelen swung his Greatsword in a wide arc. The enchanted blade cleaved through five skeletons at once, shattering them into dust.
"I am a Lieutenant of the Iron Guild!" Kaelen mouthed, his face twisted in terror. "I will not die here!"
He charged at Kai. He knew the summoner was the weak point. If he killed Kai, the army would fall.
Kai didn't move. He sat in the mud, watching the knight charge.
"Defend me," Kai thought.
The ground in front of Kai burst open.
A massive skeleton crawled out. It wasn't human. It was the remains of a **Dire Bear** that had been buried here long ago.
The skeletal bear roared—a silent vibration that shook the rain—and swiped its massive paw.
*CRUNCH.*
The blow hit Kaelen mid-charge. The steel breastplate crumpled like tin foil. Kaelen was launched sideways, smashing through the brick wall of the factory. He disappeared into the darkness of the building, buried under rubble.
The **[Silence Sphere]** flickered and died. The caster, one of the minions, had just been torn apart by the horde.
Sound rushed back into the world.
The screams were deafening. The sound of rain, of breaking bones, of wet tearing flesh.
Kai closed his eyes. He didn't watch the massacre. He just listened to the music of retribution.
"5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."
**[Duration Expired.]**
The purple light faded.
Instantly, the magic holding the bones together vanished. The skeletal army collapsed into harmless piles of calcium and dust. The Dire Bear crumbled into a mound of old fossils.
Silence returned, but this time, it was natural.
Kai opened his eyes.
The alleyway was a graveyard. The three minions were unconscious, broken, and buried under piles of bones. They would live, but they would never fight again.
Kaelen was gone. The hole in the factory wall was empty. The Lieutenant had run. He had abandoned his men and fled in terror.
"Good," Kai whispered, struggling to stand up. "Let him run. Let him tell them."
He limped toward the exit of the alley. His ribs were screaming in pain, his mana was empty, and he was exhausted.
But he felt lighter.
He stopped at a puddle of water and looked at his reflection. His face was bruised, covered in mud and blood. But his eyes... his eyes were sharp. Cold.
He checked his Status.
**[Level Up!]**
**[Level 5 -> Level 7]**
**[New Title Unlocked: The Necromancer of Sector 7 (Reputation)]**
Kai pulled his hood up.
He wasn't going to hide in the woods anymore. He wasn't going to run from the Guilds.
He had tried to play by their rules. He tried to be a worker, a mercenary, a taxpayer. And they punished him for it.
"If the game is rigged," Kai said to the empty night, clutching his deck. "Then I'll just have to break the table."
He walked out of the alley and into the rain-soaked streets of the city. The shadows seemed to bend around him, welcoming their new king.
Arc 2 was over. The Wolf was dead.
The Joker had arrived.
***