I Possessed a Game Where I Die If I Don’t Clear the Tower - Chapter 46

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 46. A Tactical Victory
Mina’s cat ears had sprouted atop her head, a clear sign of her fury.
Her tricolored tail puffed up to its full size, lifting the hem of her skirt as it stood rigidly toward the sky.
“You idiot! You fool! You reckless oaf! I’m your older sister! How many times must I tell you to stop this nonsense and stay put?!”
Mina Alkes came thundering across the Training Grounds with heavy footsteps that seemed ready to shatter the flagstones, yet she could not bring herself to charge at Vlad.
The lord stood squarely in the entrance to the Training Grounds, blocking her path.
She wasn’t simply standing there either. With a parasol unfurled and a chair and table set up, it was unmistakably a spectator’s arrangement.
“W-w-what… why is the lord…?”
Camilia answered calmly.
“Naturally I should be here, should I not? I arranged this duel between you two, after all.”
“What?! But why?”
Vlad, standing in the Training Grounds, glared at her with fierce eyes, but Camilia paid him no mind and continued.
“I made a wager. If you prove that he is stronger than the knights under my command, I shall release you.”
The knights stirred with unease.
‘She made a bet with the lord?’
‘Is that girl insane?’
Mina seemed to share their thoughts, her lips trembling as she made sounds of bewilderment.
Camilia tapped the table to prevent the enraged girl from rushing into the Training Grounds.
“Don’t stand there. Come here and watch with me. While you’re at it, offer some encouragement.”
“Do you think I instigated Vlad? That’s a misunderstanding! I have no intention of leaving.”
“I harbor no misunderstandings. Nor would I have any reason to release you.”
Camilia cut off Mina’s desperate plea with a leisurely tone, then smiled faintly.
“The victor of this wager shall be me.”
Mina could not fathom the lord’s attitude.
Didn’t she know who Vlad was?
Did she truly believe she would win despite that knowledge?
‘What on earth is she thinking?’
It was frustrating, but as a mere employee, Mina could not refuse the lord’s request.
Mina sat in the chair prepared for her, tense with anxiety.
“Well then, shall we continue?”
The lord urged the duel to resume as if she had been waiting for this moment.
Vlad, whose expression had grown somewhat savage, glanced at the lord and muttered under his breath.
“Terrible personality…”
‘Y-you! How dare you!’
Mina glared at him and made a gesture for him to hold his tongue.
It was pointless—Vlad wasn’t even looking her way.
Whether or not Vlad knew of Mina’s burning frustration, he gripped his dagger and walked back toward the center of the Training Grounds.
And the duel resumed.
In a CRPG game, what is the most crucial ability to progress through combat smoothly?
Precise damage calculations? Diverse build combinations? Ingenious tactical strategies?
Of course, strength was important, but I believed the true cornerstone of victory lay in the ability to read the flow of battle.
By establishing a strategy before engaging, one could adapt to any variable that arose.
From that perspective, the duel between Vlad and Nashu Shumel began with strategy and ended with strategy.
‘For a warrior to defeat an assassin, they must first avoid taking a preemptive strike. That’s the foundation.’
That’s why I insisted on a proper duel.
I deliberately chose the Training Grounds as the venue.
This way, regardless of preference, ambushes and surprise attacks would be impossible on the first turn.
But this alone wasn’t enough. A level 6 opponent wouldn’t be so easily contained. Merely sealing the opening move wouldn’t guarantee victory.
‘I need to seal Shadow Step as well.’
Shadow Step was a mobility skill that allowed traversal between shadows—and an invincibility skill at that.
It provided additional ambush opportunities and added dark attribute damage, making it formidable as an offensive ability.
Naturally, sealing such a skill was difficult, but I solved the problem quite simply.
‘The Pantheon certainly gave generously.’
I possessed two legendary-grade equipment pieces. True to their rank, their performance was absolutely exceptional.
[Night Shadow Boots]
Defense: 15
*Night Shadow: Nullifies backstab effects. (Once per rest)
*Keen Vigilance: Converts backstabs and flank attacks against you into frontal attacks.
True to legendary-grade equipment, the Night Shadow Boots came equipped with both an attack effect nullification option and defensive effects against rear and flank attacks.
The nullification could only be used once per day, and I’d already spent it to seal Shadow Step, but that posed no problem.
Vlad didn’t know that.
In a single decisive match, he wouldn’t attempt to use a technique that had already been thoroughly countered, so effectively, it was sealed.
With just this much, my winning probability reached roughly seventy percent.
‘Bad luck could still lead to defeat.’
I couldn’t allow that.
I wanted to push my winning odds even higher.
For that, I needed to seal ‘blood magic’—a power only dhampirs, the half-breed offspring of vampires and humans, could use.
Since it could inflict various status ailments or restore vitality through bloodsucking, allowing him to use it would likely prolong the battle unnecessarily.
After careful consideration, I employed a special ability available only to lords.
I commanded my personal maid Aisha to ‘guide Mina Alkes to the Training Grounds at the appropriate moment.’
In short, summoning a guardian.
‘Blood magic is a technique that damages the caster as well, and it doesn’t look particularly good.’
So I anticipated he would hesitate to use it in front of a guardian—especially one prone to worry.
As expected, the moment Mina appeared, Vlad withdrew his blade.
My prediction had proven perfectly accurate.
Underhanded?
In this line of work, that’s considered high praise.
‘Games are meant to be won. Not played fairly.’
With a leisurely sense of satisfaction, I observed the outcome of the board I had orchestrated.
“…Nashu Shumel, victory!”
It was an entirely predictable outcome.
‘I lost?’
The girl remained standing while I lay sprawled across the Training Grounds—there was no denying the result.
The manner of defeat was equally decisive.
As I watched her attempt the same attack repeatedly, I let my guard slip for just a moment, and the shield came flying at me as if she’d been waiting for precisely that instant.
It was too slow to be a calculated throw. So I slipped aside as I normally would—only to have the shield curve through the air like magic and slam directly into my side.
Of all places, it struck exactly where my ribs had just been fractured.
Nashu Shumel didn’t miss the split second my reflexes made me hesitate, charging forward in a blur to swing her halberd.
If I hadn’t twisted my body at the last moment to deflect the blow, my head would have been separated from my shoulders rather than my body crashing to the ground.
The startled expression on her face—that ‘oh!’ of surprise—made it painfully clear she was an absolute novice, and yet I had lost to her in a direct contest of skill.
‘How pathetic.’
Rather than jeering, the knights offered their applause. Even Nashu Shumel, flushed with the excitement of victory, showed no inclination to mock me.
And yet, somehow, I felt utterly ashamed.
I thought I’d been purged of such emotions as embarrassment or humiliation long ago.
Caught in this unfamiliar and complicated tangle of feelings, I couldn’t bring myself to rise, when the anxious girl knight hurried over to me.
“Um, um, would you like me to help you up? If you’re hurt, I can support you.”
I stared at her coldly before responding curtly.
“You’re too small. What good would leaning on you do?”
“What? I’m not small! I’m, I’m fully grown!”
The Knight Commander rushed over and hastily restrained the indignant Nashu Shumel.
In the meantime, a Priest with a fox-like smile approached and tended to my wounds.
“You idiot! You absolute idiot!”
Mina, who had been watching anxiously, came running and scolded me.
‘Where is the lord?’
I glanced sideways toward the edge of the Training Grounds.
The lord sat sipping the tea the Maid had brought, wearing that same infuriatingly knowing smile she’d had when we first met.
Her composed demeanor irritated me. It annoyed me greatly.
And yet, I felt a small measure of relief.
‘…She won’t need an assassin like me.’
At least I’d confirmed that her words were genuine.
[Vlad de Vil’s loyalty has increased significantly.]
[Vlad de Vil’s affection has increased.]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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