Chapter 370: If It’s Tangled, Just Cut It (8)

Amon stared at Keter. He didn’t even spare a glance at Keter’s middle finger taunting him.

What kind of trick is this?

Keter’s mind had been firmly set on throwing scissors until the very last moment, but what he actually threw was paper. This resulted in Amon, expecting scissors, choosing rock and losing. He couldn’t understand it.

Even a god cannot deceive his own mind.

And yet, Keter had done exactly that.

Keter pulled out a cigarette and placed it between his lips. Amon immediately called it out.

“We agreed on no actions other than rock-paper-scissors.”

“I’m just calming my mind. It’s related to the game.”

“...”

Even if it had only been a verbal agreement, a Transcendental’s word was absolute. If Keter had truly broken the rules, he would have died immediately, but he didn’t. He calmly lit the cigarette and took a nice, long drag.

“Ha... What’s with that face? I’ve only got one win, and you’ve got four. You’re overwhelmingly ahead.”

“...Continue the match.”

“I’ll throw scissors again.”

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“...”

Joyray nervously announced the sixth round, “Rock, paper, scissors!”

Keter and Amon’s hands, raised to head level, came down at Joyray’s signal. Amon did not watch Keter’s hand, but his face instead. He could see and hear the ripple of Keter’s soul and his resolve that he was definitely throwing scissors.

Even I cannot deceive my own soul. He will throw scissors.

Amon could not accept his earlier loss. As such, he trusted that voice again and chose rock, and...

“Round six goes to... Keter!!”

“...”

Keter had thrown paper.

He flicked ash from his cigarette and said, “You fall for it easily. Though this time, I really will throw scissors.”

Amon couldn’t believe it. Once again, what Keter said and his inner resolve matched.

This time, I’ll throw scissors.

Amon saw Keter’s soul, which claimed he would choose scissors.

Seeing this, Amon was confused.

How can the body defy the soul?

Up until the first four rounds, Keter had followed his soul’s intent perfectly. Amon had exploited that to secure victory, but from the fifth round onward, Keter had stopped following it.

“You’re using some kind of trick.”

Tap.

Keter flicked the cigarette at Amon’s feet.

“It’s not a trick if it isn’t discovered. Just like what you’ve been doing.”

Blatantly admitting it, Keter only made Amon lick his lips.

“I underestimated you, but I won’t lose.”

“You talk too much. Getting nervous?”

“Heh. Let’s continue.”

It was now the seventh round.

Amon no longer trusted Keter’s soul. He had already lost twice trying to counter scissors with rock. Once might have been due to chance, but he wasn’t going to fall for the same trick three times. So this time, he chose scissors to beat paper, but...

“Round seven goes to... Keter!”

Keter had thrown rock, making this his third consecutive win. Now, the score was three against four.

Lighting another cigarette, Keter sneered. “I can see right through you. Hehehe.”

Absurdly, Keter’s words and inner thoughts were the same. He genuinely believed that Amon would throw scissors. Amon couldn’t understand why Keter’s soul had insisted on scissors to the very end, only for him to throw rock instead.

Amon snatched the cigarette from Keter’s mouth and examined it. It was an ordinary—no, cheap—cigarette. Amon frowned.

If the cigarette were the cause, he would’ve used it starting from the fifth round, but he only began after that.

Amon scanned Keter from head to toe, searching for anything suspicious. Even when he scrutinized everything, looking for the slightest flaw to latch onto, there was nothing of note.

Crush.

He ground the cigarette underfoot and glared.

An Authority? If so, that would mean he can use it without alerting me.

Even if it were an Authority, it wouldn’t make sense to have a skill like this. An Authority where one’s soul and body acted differently would have no use in real combat? No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t see through Keter’s trick.

“I’ll throw scissors again.”

Keter raised his hand, and Amon followed. Soon, Joyray gave the signal, and the fate for the eighth round was decided. Keter kept his word and threw scissors. Amon, however, threw paper.

Amon began to tremble. Keter sighed in relief.

“I said scissors, and you still gave me paper. How kind.”

Keter had suffered four straight losses, then four straight wins.

Amon’s expression suddenly went blank.

“Continue.”

“Gladly. I’ll throw scissors again.”

The ninth round started immediately. Even knowing it was useless, Amon glanced at Keter’s soul out of habit. As expected, Keter’s soul was saying that he was going to throw scissors. But now, he neither believed nor needed it.

“Rock, paper, scissooo...”

Joyray’s sentence stretched unnaturally and came to a stop. Not only him, but everything stopped—everything except Amon. However, time hadn’t fully halted but had slowed to an extreme; Keter’s hand was still descending, moving so slowly it took a full minute to shift a fraction of a millimeter. Amon didn’t take his eyes off of Keter’s hand. He waited until Keter’s hand reached waist level and could not be changed anymore.

His move is rock!

Amon confirmed it visually and chose paper. At the same time, time resumed to normal speed.

“...ooors!”

Keter had chosen rock, and Amon had chosen paper. The ninth round went to Amon.

“Heh... heh heh heh...” Amon laughed quietly.

Keter glanced between his own hand and Amon’s.

“Happy that you won?”

“Ah, yes. Thanks to you, I’m feeling the joy of victory for the first time in a long while.”

“You’re acting like the match is over.”

“You’re impatient. It’ll be decided in seconds. Why don’t you relax a little? In at most a minute, you’ll become mine, and I’ll take everything you have.”

“Talk all you want.”

Keter raised his hand again. This could be the final round, but he seemed unfazed.

“Let’s begin,” Keter said.

“Not going to tell me your move this time?” Amon asked.

“Don’t need to anymore.”

“Heh.”

They glared at each other, ready for the round to start, but Joyray didn’t give the signal.

“Ha... ha...”

Though Keter and Amon were the ones fighting, Joyray was the one drenched in sweat, breathing heavily.

“Start it, grandpa.”

Pressed by Keter, Joyray shut his eyes tight and shouted, “Rock, paper, scissooo...”

Again, time slowed. One second became ten seconds, then a minute, and then an hour. In this nearly frozen world, Amon watched Keter’s hand.

W-what?

Keter’s hand hadn’t fully descended yet. During this time, he could decide what to do with them. What Amon saw was not scissors, paper, or rock. Instead, he raised his middle finger.

“Got you, Amon.”

In the frozen world, Keter spoke.

* * *

Amon immediately understood how Keter was able to speak within the slowed time. Three circles that had formed in Keter’s eyes—it was Mandala.

The Mandala of the Heavenly Venerable... How can Keter use it? It’s not like he made a contract or anything.

It made no sense, and yet, it was happening. There were many ways to slow time, but none surpassed the Heavenly Venerable’s Mandala. Amon was slowing time using Peace Under Heaven, his Authority. Peace Under Heaven had a limit—he could only stretch one second to a day. Mandala, however, had no such limit; one second could be stretched to near infinity.

“Grr...”

Keter’s time slowed even further, which meant Keter could always see Amon’s move first before choosing his own.

Amon knew his Peace Under Heaven could not contend with Mandala, but he stretched one second into an entire day to buy time. No matter how powerful Mandala was, or the fact that Keter was a Transcendental, he was still a human being. If one second felt like an entire day, madness would normally follow.

However, Keter did not go mad. If anything, Amon felt like he would lose his mind first because Keter simply stood there, saying nothing.

Thus, the result of the tenth round was inevitable: Keter, who could slow time further, won. Though both Keter and Amon experienced it as twenty-four hours, to Joyray and the surrounding monsters, it had only been a single second.

“R-round ten goes to Keter! A tie!”

“We agreed that in case of a tie, it would be decided in a single round. Joyray, continue the match,” Keter replied.

“You want to start immediately?”

Even Joyray sounded surprised. Keter nodded, while Amon clenched his jaw.

Surely... he can’t use Mandala consecutively.

That was Amon’s only hope, but Keter used the Mandala again, entering the slowed world once more. He was now alone with Amon.

“You damned brat. Well done. This is your win.”

Surprisingly, Amon conceded easily. It was natural, as Heavenly Venerable was a being above him. There was no way for him to win against someone like that. Besides, he had little to lose. He had promised three wishes, but he had no intention of granting anything absurd.

I won’t let you go so easily, Keter. No matter what you wish for, there will be a loophole.

Since losing didn’t matter much, Amon didn’t stall and proceeded immediately. Then, his eyes widened.

Keter had thrown a rock, just like Amon. For the first time, it was a tie.

“The result is a draw! Rematch!”

“What?”

“Raise your hand, Amon. Again.”

Keter calmly raised his hand. Amon followed, puzzled.

Keter could have won. So why a draw?

The twelfth round also ended the same.

“Draw!”

The thirteenth?

“D-draw?”

Even Joyray began to feel something was wrong. Up until now, every round had produced a clear winner. But from the eleventh onward, it was nothing but draws. This continued until it was the twenty-ninth round. The monsters, once excited, began to grow irritated. They wanted a result. That was when Amon realized something.

T-this bastard has no intention of ending the match.

It was an endless string of draws enabled by Mandala.

Amon recalled the rules.

If there is a draw, the game continues until a winner is decided. During the match, no action other than rock-paper-scissors is allowed. Keter, you planned this from the start?

It was now the thirtieth round. As Amon stood there in shock, Keter spoke within the slowed time.

“Amon, you’ll be playing rock-paper-scissors with me here forever.”

It wasn’t just a threat.

Even Keter’s soul echoed the same words as his body.