Hearing that there seemed to be no more sound from across from him, Death slowly leaned back against his seat back once more and spoke to himself.

"You don't want to answer, fine, don't answer."

"But in fact, the reason you've been able to come this far is precisely because you've stepped on this point with perfect timing."

"Because of Pride, we were unwilling to deploy our strongest forces when you were still weak."

"Because of Pride, when the gods were mocked by your insolence, they each fell into anger, losing their judgment."

"And again, because of Pride, when facing an opponent, we still thought about winning at the smallest cost, completely failing to realize that once you step onto the gambling table, there's no such thing as a 'guaranteed win'!"

Death spoke quietly. He had never said these words to anyone, and now that he said them, no one else heard them, only the "Sin" opposite him could hear.

His words were strange. If you stripped away the terrifying aura and Divine Power emanating from him, he would sound completely like a human, a master among humans.

Perhaps Death is the end of all things. Having witnessed too many ends, his temperament has become more free and unrestrained. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Hahahaha!... Why bring this up all of a sudden? Do you think that if I die, no one will hear these words of yours?"

Death ignored him, just shaking his head slightly.

"I just want to tell you that before this Game began, I had already made all the preparations."

"I prepared to pay the price, I even prepared to lose!"

"And now, I've said it, I consider you my opponent. So, I don't care whether Agony is alive, whether the Arbitrator will betray us, how Knowledge died..."

"None of that matters. What matters now is only you, defeating you!"

"I don't know what you did during that previous injury, but I'm not curious. I just don't want... to give you a second chance!"

As he spoke, the Divine Power of Death within the black box instantly surged to another level, crashing over like a tidal wave!

That's right, this energy pressure wasn't just meant to torment "Sin."

"Sin" didn't feel pain, and Death certainly couldn't actually crush him to death with Divine Power alone—that would definitely violate the Rules.

What he wanted was to seal and force. To use his own Divine Power to seal all of "Sin's" actions, forcing the other party's Divine Power to be entirely used for defense and resistance!

Death glanced outward, towards a direction even he didn't know.

This was something he and Pleasure had agreed upon beforehand. He wanted Pleasure to win as quickly as possible at any cost, while he would ensure "Sin" could no longer influence the entire Game.

Under his pressure, "Sin" couldn't even move, and had already failed to trigger the third, and final, special Game circumstance.

What he didn't know was that outside the black box, Pleasure wasn't looking over at him. The one staring back at him from across the black box was the Arbitrator.

The Arbitrator clenched his fist slightly. This level of energy suppression was clearly somewhat excessive.

But in the end, he averted his gaze and continued watching the Gambling Table before him.

"Cough! Cough!"

Under Death's tidal wave-like pressure, Lu Ce's body violently jerked backward, causing the chair beneath him to shake, and he sprayed out a mist of blood.

Yet, under this immense pressure, the face on his left side, belonging to Jealousy, suddenly began to tremble violently, gradually turning a purplish-black color, before letting out a loud laugh:

"Hahahahahaha!"

"Oh? What's so funny?"

"I'm laughing at you... you just said all that, trying to say you've become aware of your own weakness and have corrected it, right?"

"Being Prideful without self-awareness is probably the greatest Pride of all."

"Besides, you've prepared... to lose? I have never made such preparations!"

As he spoke, Lu Ce, straining against the terrifying pressure, directly stood up from the chair. The area around his kneecaps instantly exploded, flesh and blood flying everywhere.

The air around him emitted a sonic boom.

Bang!

......

Bang!

At the Gambling Table, Xie Antong heavily took eight Chips from the pile in front of her and placed them heavily forward.

Since earlier, although shaken by that formidable power, she had quickly recovered.

After that, the only thing on her mind was how she should continue playing.

After the previous round of consumption, the cards in her hand now were only "1, 2, 4, 5, 12".

And what the opponent had left were "Tiger" and "Horse".

From a one-to-one correspondence perspective, this Game had become very simple, and she no longer had the ability to win both rounds outright.

At most, she could only achieve one win and one loss. And the best way to achieve that one win and one loss was to group "12" together, and "1, 2, 4, 5" together.

This latter group of numbers combined also equaled "12"! Meaning the total value of her cards for both rounds was the same; both could defeat "Tiger", and both were no match for "Horse".

These Rules and card combinations were also clear to Pleasure on the other side. The current Game situation was already an open book for both parties!

In a situation where one win and one loss was inevitable, the only point of contention was which round would be the win, which the loss, and how many Chips to bet...

So, to prevent Lu Ce from being unable to hold on and her side's Chips being consumed for nothing, Xie Antong took the first step and pushed forward her Ante.

"Hmm? So fast? I thought you'd think about it a bit longer."

Pleasure, seeing that the betting countdown had already begun, was somewhat surprised.

He had expected the other party to hesitate for a long time, allowing him more time to subvert her and letting Death apply more pressure on that "Sin".

He didn't expect her to be so decisive this time.

After a light laugh, without much hesitation, He also pushed forward 8 Chips.

"Since you're being so forthright, I naturally have to follow."

"By the way, have you thought it through, about what I just said..."

Before He could finish speaking, Xie Antong, who was lowering her head on the other side, suddenly flicked something to the very center of the Gambling Table.

It wasn't a Chip or the Hourglass, but a card! A face-up card! The number was now glaringly written on it—"12"!

The betting wasn't even finished, yet she had already played her card!

This was equivalent to giving up the game, conceding defeat!

This move made Pleasure freeze for a moment first, before the smile on His face abruptly widened.

"Hehe... It seems you've made the right choice."