The Mysterious Black Magician

"White Plains?!"

Screamed a person inside the Citadel. Her voice was so loud and resounded. It gathered everyone's attention towards her.

A moment ago, her 5d-Seer rang. It wasn't a notification for a challenge invitation, but a notification about someone's match. Seeing the name of the Ranker, she immediately rushed over here.

"Yo! Sweet Bun!" Someone called out upon seeing her.. She greeted back after noticing who it was. "I wonder if our brother Mysterious will be alright?" The person next to her asked.

"I'm not too sure as well. But, this field will be a difficult test for him. What do you think, Mr. Gamebet?"

"Hmm…" Gamebet put his fingers below his chin as he pondered. "I also think so. Let's see how our brother will play in this fight."

"Right. Regardless, the Citadel seems to be busy these days." Sweet Bun said as she noticed many Rankers inside. Not only that, many were coming as well. It wasn't every day that this kind of crowd would gather inside the Citadel. Mostly, it only would happen when two High Rankers would clash.

"Haha, looks like our brother gathers too much attention after his surprising performance," Said Gamebet with a laugh.

Around them, people started talking about the Ranker with the codename of The Mysterious. They were talking about his last performance.

Just then, they heard a guffaw coming from one of the Rankers in the crowd.

"Yo' sissies, what do you think is better with that Mysterious shit?!" He said in a crispy insult while holding his bulging stomach. He added, "That person ran away on his debut! Puwahaha! So funny! For me, Special Girl is the best!"

"Who is he?" Asked Sweet Bun.

"His codename is Falmouth, an old Ranker."

"Old Ranker?"

"Yes, I heard that he is the oldest Ranker, and his only reason for being a Ranker is so that he can gamble with other Rankers. After all, Rankers are rich with points, especially the higher levels." Gamebet told her.

"Hmm… I see." Said Sweet Bun while nodding her head.

"This Falmouth! He started defaming our brother Mysterious!" Commented the person beside them.

They knew that Falmouth was just a kind of person. Falmouth did not stop with his insult towards the Ranker The Mysterious.

The other Rankers around him were fuming in anger towards him. But they could not do some unauthorized action inside the Citadel. There was a severe punishment if they did. They can talk shit to others, but they cannot hurt them physically.

"Fuwahaha! If you still don't believe me, then let's make a bet!" Said Falmouth with a smug. 

As expected, Falmouth strikes once again. Most of the Ranker inside the Citadel knew Falmouth's way of doing things.

First, he would be going to trash talk the person favored by the masses. Then he would offer a bet when he felt the temperature was rising.

He was a substantial troll.

"Sure!" Everyone fell silent at the sudden intrusion. They glanced around and saw a person wearing a lousy jacket, a cap, and a sunglass. For some reason, they could not tell about the gender he/she had. Even his/her voice was indiscernible as he/she was wearing a mask that covers his/her nose and mouth. 

Falmouth narrowed his eyes and wondered who this person was. 

"S-Sweet Bun, a-are you sure you wanted to challenge him in a bet?" Gamebet said stammeringly with a bead of sweat visible at the back of his head.

A grin appeared on Falmouth's face. 'Sweet Bun, huh,' he thought. Then he added, saying, 'let's see how you will cry after you'll lose the bet. Hehe,' he smirked inwardly.

"Fufu, why not?"

"Uh--eh, I heard that he's the son of the wealthiest merchant in the Paper Kingdom."

Although all of them were from the most prestigious families of the empire, they were not as exaggerated as Falmouth.

He probably converted real money into Ranker Points just to gamble.

Most Rankers were prideful individuals. They would rather earn the points through battle in the arena. But the Ranker status wasn't Falmouth's goal in the first place. He became a Ranker for gambling purposes.

Well, in truth, some of the Rankers converted real money also to Ranker Points-- to buy good tier and high tier items from the High-Level Rankers.

Apart from the talk about money conversation, Falmouth was just the type of person who loves gambling.

Seeing that someone took his bait, Falmouth's mouth formed a toothy grin together with his trembling shoulders. He was chuckling silently at this person's bone-headedness.

"Oh, is that so. I don't mind," Sweet Bun replied.

"What?!" Gamebet was shocked at the reaction of Sweet Bun.

"Hehehe." Falmouth chuckled sheepishly. "I will bet 100000 Ranker Points to Mist God's win."

Falmouth conferred.

Woah!

The crowd immediately broke into loud whispers. Such a bet was truly unordinary.

"Damn, money was raining inside the Citadel." One of the Rankers inside chimed in upon hearing a large number of points being betted.

"Kufufu…" 

Everyone immediately fell silent from the chuckle coming from the person in weird attire.

"Don't be stingy, Mr. Falmouth. I know that you are not as cheap as that. Why don't we bet a million points in the get-go?"

Said, Sweet Bun.

"A-A million?"

WHAT!!!

Everyone almost dropped their mouths on the floor upon hearing the word 'Million!'

Falmouth squinted his eyes. Never would he imagine finding someone so capable inside the Citadel. He wondered who this person was. In any case, this is what a genuine gambler was.

Yman found himself inside the Misty Plain. Not long after he dove in, his enemy also arrived at the field.

Briefly closing his eyes, he tried to sense the area around him. About 200 meters in diameter, he could not perceive a presence.

As expected, the area was so vast.

He proceeded walking as he could not perceive any presence around him. He noticed a swamp not far from his right.

He stared at it for a brief moment, but he noticed nothing out of the ordinary from it.

He then continued walking, calmly readying the Iron Dagger in his hand.

Only his footsteps were discernible in the area.

Suddenly, a grin appeared on the face of Falmouth.

Just right after this, Yman's instinct screamed for danger.