Moonlight Sealing Ground.
Wayne set up a small table, faced Megan whose face was hidden and said, "Excuse me, Black Dragon, I’m talking to you, since you’re free anyway, why not join us for a round of poker!"
It was July 22nd, the third day since Wayne had arrived at the Icebound Continent.
The Antarctic Frozen Continent was in the midst of polar night season, with no distinction between day and night, making the calculation of dates rather meaningless. Still, Wayne, due to his personal compulsions, was strict with his own biological clock.
Wayne and Austin arrived at the Frozen Continent the same day. On the first day, the Dark Knight was severely reprimanded by the substitute teacher, the Moonlight Knight, whom the Naturalist Knight had introduced.
Wayne looked eagerly at the White Night Purity Words, and after gathering intelligence, learned that the Moonlight Knight Dreyne had a severe card addiction. He prepared some strategies to ingratiate himself.
For this purpose, he specifically found Megan through whom he requested a treasure from Austin.
The next day, the Dark Knight’s substitute teacher changed to the Sun Knight Leo. Wayne, worried about being recognised and that the timing was not right, missed out on the excitement of the Sun Knight beating up the Dark Knight.
On the third day, the joyful cycle came around to Dreyne again. Wayne did not miss out and brought all the props he had prepared to the Moonlight Sealing Ground.
Tables, playing cards, chips, drinks, snacks...
It must be said, the Dark Church’s camp lacked nothing, especially playing cards and chips. They had as many as you wanted.
According to the Elves, due to the three knights’ hobbies, playing cards were a stable currency in the Frozen Land. Even if you were short on clothing or food, you could never be short on playing cards.
Then Wayne finally realized. No wonder Mula came and left in such a hurry, only stayed at the Naturalism Church Headquarters for a short while, didn’t even eat before rushing back to the Frozen Continent. Turns out his card-playing friends sped up his return and he himself was also heavily addicted to cards.
Jokes aside, the Dark Elves of the Dark Church indeed provided very comfortable service for the three knights. They only had to maintain their guard at the sealing ground, while the Dark Elves busied themselves with everything else, with no need for the knights to worry at all.
Putting himself in the same shoes as the Naturalism Church Headquarters’s situation, if Wayne were Mula, he too would prefer to stay in the Frozen Continent.
"That’s not right, that’s not how you play. This game is called ’Landlord,’ where 2 overpowers 3. Let me explain again, ’Landlord’ is a game where two commoners fight against a noble landlord... "
Megan, having received the script in advance, feigned reluctance before finally joining the card game. In this round, she and Saina teamed up against Wayne, the evil landlord.
After two rounds, Megan and Saina felt they were losing steam; the game of ’Landlord’ was not interesting to play, so Wayne decisively changed the game to Black Jack, the more popular ’Thirteen Cards.’
The three of them played cards against the backdrop of the Moonlight Knight battling the Dark Knight—a spectacle indeed.
In the arena, Dreyne’s armor shone like the moon, and her swordlight was like a ribbon. She handled the delicate sword with both strength and grace. Between the fluttering of her silver hair, her elegant figure danced in the night sky like moonlight, both gentle and forceful.
Austin was clad in Blacklight Armor, creating a boundless haze of darkness centering on himself.
His face armor’s red eyes appeared ferocious, like a giant beast standing amidst shadows. Twilight Deadlock was like the embodiment of darkness, bringing a tempestuous force that devoured everything it passed.
The two knights clashed, intertwining moonlight and darkness.
Dreyne didn’t use the White Night Purity Words, instead, concentrated on wielding a Waning Moon Rapier with a single hand. Silver trajectories, like the dawn’s moonlight, slashed through the surrounding darkness, tearing it apart;
Austin, seemingly influenced by domestic abuse, fought with an extremely violent wide-swinging approach. Twilight Deadlock turned into black lightning, exuding a terrifying force of darkness with each sweep.
The two’s combat styles were totally different. Dreyne was calm and composed with exquisite swordsmanship and nimble close-combat moves, tearing open a breach effortlessly whenever shrouded in darkness.
Despite the disparity in the Essence of Life, even with Dreyne’s focus on agility and positioning, her speed, strength, and even her reflexes were overwhelmingly superior to Austin. If it had been a fight to the death rather than a sparring session, Austin would have been done for.
Their combat experience wasn’t on the same level, and the difference in combat skills was like night and day. Austin was well aware that he was bound to lose in terms of skill, only by relying on his stronger power and deeper darkness could he continue to suppress Dreyne’s offensive, until the darkness completely engulfed the moonlight.
This style of combat was precisely what Austin craved. With Dreyne’s and Leo’s inflicted pressure, he continuously pressured himself, enduring and understanding more pain, striving to become a qualified Dark Knight.
For his wife and children, Austin didn’t care if his body could take it or not, he was willing to risk everything.
The light of darkness became an enormous hand covering the sky, rumbling as it engulfed Dreyne’s slender figure. The next second, silver lines burst forth, splitting the dark hand in two.
Dreyne stepped out slowly, pointing her rapier obliquely at the ground, and scoffed, "I thought you might have improved a little after a day, but it turns out you’re still so crude, just brute force in your attacks, not enough understanding of darkness."
"I won, hand over the chips!"
A twitch appeared at the corner of Dreyne’s eye; the noise from the sidelines was making her uncomfortable. She had wanted to say before—moonlight against darkness, such a serious moment, could there be a little respect for the atmosphere?
Taking a deep breath, she said, "Dark Knight, how did Leo teach you, he couldn’t have been all the time... "
"Awesome, truly worthy of me, no one’s luckier, what great cards!"
Always playing cards.
Dreyne’s anger erupted, and she glared toward the sidelines, bellowing, "You three, keep it down! This is a place for guarding the seal. Either go somewhere else to play cards, or shut your mouths!"