Magician in Type-Moon

Page 421

After a moment of silence, he seemed to realize the change in Ye Sizhen's emotions and softened his tone slightly.

"Do I still have the strength? I can't maintain this level of magic for long. I'd better escape as soon as possible."

He looked up at the sky, where the twinkling stars still shone with extraordinary brilliance.

At this moment, Ye Sizhen's mind was filled with a surging mix of complex emotions. Suppressing her inner turmoil, she nodded.

In the ruins, everything seemed to have frozen in time.

The two figures vanished without a trace in this shattered world, as if they had never existed.

The air still lingered with the afterglow of the battle and the power of the storm.

All that remained were a few broken pieces of rubble and the strange stars that still twinkled in the sky.

Chapter 464 Hidden Ritual Magic

Matou Ike, Melvin, and Isilido sat at the gambling table, while the dealer stood opposite them, with two cards in front of each of them.

Except for the dealer's card, which is face down, all the other cards are face up.

Blackjack—a game that Matou Ike had just played, and it is probably one of the most famous gambling games in the world.

The dealer and the guests add up the numbers on their cards, and the one whose total is closest to 21 wins.

Face cards (J, Q, K) are all counted as 10, while A can be counted as either 1 or 11.

The rules of this game are simple and clear, and almost everyone can understand them.

However, to win this bet...

"You chose blackjack... because you won once in blackjack (21 points) before? So you plan to continue on this momentum?"

Medea stood to the side, speaking casually in a tone that hardly required attention.

Matou Ike smiled slightly, not looking up at Medea, but keeping her face turned towards the two, simply conveying the words in her mind:

"That's pretty much the reason. Moreover, once you understand the original process, it's easier to predict the current fortunes of the next two people."

"I see." Medea nodded slightly, seemingly agreeing with his analysis.

In a magician's bet, there will be flows and deviations that do not exist in the first place.

Some confrontations have already taken place.

Perhaps because they were all familiar with the rules, the pace of communication was exceptionally fast.

No one has yet wagered the special gold coins of the Fim Ship Banquet; the game remains a battle of ordinary chips.

Currently, Matouike holds a commanding lead with nearly 17 million euros in chips, while Melvin and Isilid hold 5 million and 7 million euros respectively.

However, the situation is quite the opposite for gold coins.

Matouchi has 180 gold coins, Melvin has 230, and Isilid has 190.

My husband just said it was a "forced victory," so did he avoid being misled by the other two?

Regardless, the goal of 500 is still difficult to achieve. Even Melvin, who has won the most, has only just gotten close to halfway.

The absence of Ye Sizhen, and the presence of the sorcerer Aizer who should be in the same area, are also intriguing.

The second game here is probably nearing the end of its first half.

Midway through, Matouchi made a different move.

He put his betting money into the betting area, not chips, but gold coins.

Three lion coins.

Equivalent to 30 gold coins.

Matou Ike gambled away one-sixth of his stake in one go, his expression unchanged, but the blood in the hearts of those watching him rushed as they stared at him.

In contrast—

“To ignite greed.”

Huo Ran's speech.

Matou Ike shifted her gaze and came into view the smiling silver-haired youth.

"I originally thought I would use this rule later."

Melvin said this with a chillingly gentle smile on his face.

"If it's just about winning, then yes. But this rule has another purpose, right?"

Matou Ike simply nodded calmly, and then slowly began to speak.

"That is, to quickly eliminate a specific player."

"Ah."

Melvin nodded in agreement with composure.

"Having no gold coins to gamble with means losing the right to participate in the second game. Even if it doesn't come to that, you don't have many gold coins at the beginning, and if you lose even more, winning will be extremely difficult."

Then, Matou Ike turned her gaze back to the cards in her hand and replied:

"However, players who incite Greed also bear the same risks."

"Of course. How can a gamble without risk be considered interesting?"

The dark aura rose slowly like smoke, constantly permeating the air. Unlike the swirling heat of the casino, it was chillingly cold, as if it were about to penetrate everyone's respiratory tract and blood vessels.

"No more bets."

The dealer announced the end of betting and dealt two cards to each player.

Melvin's hand consists of the 9 of hearts and the Queen of spades, for a total of 19 points.

In this game, the player whose score is closest to 21 wins.

In other words, the most advantageous party in the current situation is—

"Splitting the cards." Matou Ike split the two cards and re-bet an equal amount of chips on each side.

This rule only remains in effect after a "No more bet" declaration if the initial two cards have the same value.

Both sides will receive additional cards, essentially making it two separate betting games.

Melvin raised one eyebrow, seemingly surprised.

The 5 of clubs was split into the 7 of spades, for a total of 12 points.

The side with the heart 5 is then assigned to the heart 6, for a total of 11 points.

"Append."

Matou Ike tapped on the table.

On the 12 o'clock side, the 6 of clubs was added, for a total of 18 points.

"Suspend the game, and then add another bet on the other side." Matou Ike tapped the table again.

The 11-point side, plus the 9 of spades, totals 20 points.

It was only at this moment that Matouchi chose to end things.

Trading suspended.

To summarize, both sides received two additional cards, bringing the total to 18 points on one side and 20 points on the other.

Melvin, on the other hand, maintained 19 points.

The dealer's last cards were the 7 of diamonds and the Jack of clubs, for a total of 17 points.

So, the situation is as follows—

Both Matouchi and Melvin have a higher hand value than the dealer, so they both win. Furthermore, Melvin's 19 points exceed Matouchi's 18 points, so Greed succeeds. He wins the bet.

However, the 20 points on the other side of the split were greater than Melvin's 19 points, so Greed failed and the stolen coins were taken back.

In short, Matouchi won his initial bet of 30 gold coins, while Melvin neither lost nor gained anything.

The dealer pushed the gold coins towards Matou Pond.

Therefore, Matouchi now has 210 gold coins.

"How could this happen? My brilliant plan has been completely foiled...!"

Melvin shook his head with great regret.

"According to the rules, if a pair of face cards or a pair of 5s appears in blackjack (21), the cards should not be split."

Kirichi simply smiled at this.

This is the bias that arises from the Magician's bet.

When he was invited, he knew perfectly well that Melvin would follow the rhythm.

Although I won a lot, my gold coins didn't increase, and I didn't grasp the core of the rhythm.

A head-on confrontation would most likely result in failure.

However, since the game's rhythm exists, it can be deviated from, thus determining the outcome.

Therefore, they used split cards to avoid direct confrontation.

This is probably the approach that usually doesn't work in gambling. It's closer to ignorant and backward wishful thinking than logical theory.

The idea that even the slightest mistake would make one a laughing stock is a completely ignoring of numbers and probability.

However, this does make sense.

Even practices that only work among magicians contain a historical atmosphere of destruction and glory.

This blackjack game is like a hidden ritual magic performed under the guise of gambling.

Chapter 465 Motive

A new round of betting began, and the dealer once again announced a halt to betting, creating a tense atmosphere. Matou Ike casually pushed his chips onto the table, but his gaze unconsciously fell on Melvin, seemingly with some confusion.

“Melvin,” he said in a low voice, his tone still calm and understated, “why do you want to win?”