Chapter 57: Master of the Cards

The sun was setting.

Finn launched himself towards Tarot, claws outreached and wings held still like a glider. Tarot, realizing there was no time to dodge, needed to switch to a different card.

He smiled and snapped his fingers. “High Priestess, it’s yer turn.”

Muttering those quiet words without budging an inch, the various drawings of a woman playing a lyre on his shirt lit up pink, changing the glow around his body as well. And as Finn prepared to stab into his body… he passed straight through.

Eyes widening, he quickly restabilized himself and spun around to face Tarot.

“Aye, mate, surprised?” His opponent taunted with a toothy grin.

Finn fell into thought. ‘The High Priestess… Card of mysteries and arcane knowledge. No wonder. Luckily…’

“You can’t hurt me either when you’re in this form, can you?” Finn challenged.

“Oho… we’ll see about that one.”

Tarot grinned and dashed towards Finn. Little did he know, this was exactly what Finn wanted. If normal attacks don’t work on him…

Finn suddenly raised his arm and let out a burst of raw mana right before Tarot could get within melee range, surprising him and knocking him back.

… Energy at its purest form — arcane against arcane.

“Hoho… Bakris didn’t tell me ’bout this…” Tarot snickered, slowly getting back to his feet and suddenly materializing a revolver in his hands. “To think yer able to manipulate raw mana already… looks like I need ta try somethin’ else. Emperor!”

All of a sudden, the figures of an old man wearing a crown painted on Tarot’s shirt lit up golden orange, changing the glow around his body once more and joining the other lit-up cards that were already used.

Finn crossed his arms and prepared for impact, planning on using the Vortex Shield he had gained earlier today. To his surprise, however, rather than shooting the gun directly at him, Tarot pointed the barrel high up into the air and pressed the trigger.

“Wha-” Finn’s eyes widened as the shot went out of sight, and Tarot smiled.

The bullet pierced the clouds, then curved its own trajectory to try and hit Finn from behind. Luckily, Finn hadn’t listened to his old friend Leo ramble on about Tarot cards and divination for nothing.

Emperor — representing ultimate control and order. Apply that to a gun, and…

“… Nice try.”

Finn turned around and used Vortex Shield to block the bullet, but right before it hit, the bullet curved once more and aimed to bypass Finn’s defenses.

“…!”

No matter how good his Ghost blood was right now, it still was nowhere near powerful enough to enhance his physical abilities to an extent where he could outspeed bullets. He tried to spin around and block it using the same method, but he was too slow.

Finn was about halfway done turning around when the bullet was about to pierce his head. But then-

PEW!

A sudden shot rang out of nowhere, and another bullet collided with the one about to hit Finn, puncturing it instantly. Both Tarot and Finn immediately looked over in the direction where the interference had come from and saw none other than the tiny figure of Iris lying a good few hundred meters away, who smiled smugly in response.

“Oho… she ain’t a bad sniper,” Tarot chuckled. “Too bad… if she aimed for me there, the match would’ve been over.”

“…” Finn thought the same thing in his mind, but there was no point crying over spilled milk. He immediately dashed towards Tarot once more with the extended blades on his gloves, but this time, his opponent was ready.

Tarot smirked as the knight symbols on his suit lit up silver, switching the glow around his body as well. Right before Finn’s claws could hit his body, a real knight clad in silver armor suddenly appeared out of thin air, intercepting the strike and skillfully counterattacking with its glinted, sharp silver rapier.

Finn backed off a short distance, before glaring at his enemy.

“… That’s one annoying Angelica you have.”

“Heh, a lotta people have this Angelica,” Tarot responded. “But… I’m the only one who can use it properly.”

He didn’t seem to be merely bragging, given the confident gaze in his eyes. Iris fired another shot at him, but this time, he already knew she was there and had been predicting the shot — even without The Hermit. Chariot blocked the shot with ease, moving elegantly and swiftly. There was no way Finn would be able to beat this thing in melee combat, and he knew that.

Then… he needed something that even Chariot couldn’t handle.

Finn spotted the abandoned church a short distance away, and a plan formulated in his mind. Performing a backflip off the roof of the building and catching Tarot by surprise, he quickly transferred locations into the church. There, he could take advantage of the arena.

Tarot spotted Finn’s figure heading into the church and smiled.

“This is how yer doin’ it, huh? So be it.”

*****

Finn awaited silently, crouched on top of one of the ceiling bars of the church. It was quite fragile and could fall at any moment, but that was exactly why Finn came here in the first place. With some simple climbing, he was able to make it up here with his enhanced agility, but normal people would never think to look up when they first enter a building. Finn was planning on taking advantage of that.

Seconds later, he heard the sound of footsteps. Tarot was right outside the demolished wall, and was about to head in right where Finn had moments earlier. Doing his best to keep breathing as light as possible, Finn waited patiently for the perfect opportunity to strike.

He saw Tarot’s foot stepping into the church, led by Chariot just to be safe. The silver knight scanned its surroundings, searching for any sign of hostility. Just as expected, neither of the two figures looked up.

After confirming no one was in the church, the two ventured deeper, heading directly to where Finn was. Well, under him, anyway.

Finn, with his blades deactivated, slowly placed both his hands on the stone bar, preparing to make his move as Chariot edged nearer.

‘Closer… closer… and…’

… Now!

Finn pushed down as hard as he could, causing a crack to appear in the stone bar he had been standing on. Chariot looked up to investigate the noise, but it was too late.

Finn, along with the thick stone ceiling bar, came crashing down — right on top of the poor knight who couldn’t get away in time. It may have been extremely skilled and swift in swordsmanship, but reaction speeds were a different matter. Tarot backed off a short distance, probably feeling relieved he let his trusty soldier take the lead.

Finn slowly got up from the ground to see Tarot’s amused face, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Y’know, kid… I’m beginnin’ to think ya ain’t a new Hunter at all. Bakris said yer new to the business, but from what I can see? Heh. Yer the second person to have defeated so many of my cards.”

“…” Finn didn’t say anything in response, though he wondered who the first was.

“Granted, I underestimated ya at first and took it easy, but… it seems I’m gonna have ta get a bit serious.”

Finn activated his blades once more and prepared to lunge at him.

“… Bring it.”