NOVEL WEB Chapter-82 Luck Roulette
“Slate?” Ewan halted his steps and hid Nana behind him again. This was yet another menace, something he could do without for one day, it was tiring. “What’re you doing here?” he asked. Since the day she picked him up, he’d been his mother’s shadow, so she must’ve sent him here, though the purpose eluded him.
“You still remember me,” Slate said, smiling, as he ambled towards Ewan and Nana. “Your mother sent me to check up on you.”
“I’m fine,” Ewan said, pushing Nana back and stepping away from Slate. He just dealt with the terrifying Crown and now had to deal with him. He was a threat, more so than his ‘relatives’. Even his Pa warned him about this man.
‘His overreaching ambitions and his yearning to be Thea’s son will one day extend their claws at you’, his Pa said. ‘Your mother can't control him; she only brews the illusion that she can. He can do anything for her sake, even if it garnered her hatred.’
“Your mother was worried about you,” Slate said, stopping at a distance.
“I’m fine, you can give her the good news,” Ewan said. This man was at Step-1, he was an Asheva at the Spirit-Nebula stage. His aura couldn’t compare to the Crown, nowhere near actually, but it didn’t matter—either could crush him like a mosquito. So, the further he stayed from him, the better.
“You stress her out too much, Ewan, her health has worsened because of you. She keeps thinking about you, it makes her…mercurial.” He strained the word.
“What, you want to kill me to put her mind at ease then?” Ewan asked.
“That is a nice suggestion,” Slate said with a smile. “May I?”
Ewan narrowed his eyes. “Or you can simply tell her that I died. I don’t intend to meet her ever; she won't find out.”
“That won't do.” Slate pursed his lips and pushed his glasses up. “It’s better to kill you and rest her anxiety for good.”
“Won't she be sad though? That her son died,” Ewan said. “And that too at the hands of her another son.”
“She will be, but it’ll be for her benefit. And she won't find out it was me.”
Ewan took a deep breath. “I’m at my wits end then,” he said. Dealing with the Crown was far easier, it was pure business—he offered a good deal and the trade ended in success. But this was personal, this man wanted to kill him—there was no trade to be had here, only threats would work.
Ewan scruffed the fox again. “Can you check her details?”
Slate tilted his head. “What am I supposed to see?”
“It’s a Nine-Tailed Fox, the World Eater, can't you see her?” Ewan grimaced.
Slate chuckled. “It’s a Fire Wolf, Ewan, not a mythical fox. Are you suggesting I let you go in exchange for her?”
Ewan clenched his jaws with a deep frown.
Bitch, undo your spell or we’ll both die here. Nana will die too; you want her to live right?
The active thought passed to her through the ‘Bridge’, and the baby fox glared at Ewan. Her counterattack came at the worst possible time. If Slate was stronger, this would’ve ended here. But he wasn’t, and her illusion worked on him…
“Do you want to die here!” Ewan roared at her, and she snarled at him.
“Give it a rest, this is beneath your intellect.” Slate said. “Don’t disappoint me so.”
“She really is a Nine-Tailed Fox, you’re under her suggestion. I’m connected to her with ‘Bridge’, if you kill me, she dies too. And her kin sitting outside Airadia will mince you,” Ewan said it all in one breath.
Slate laughed. “You really expect me to believe that, don’t you?” he said. “Are you that desperate? I always thought you didn’t care much about whether you lived or died, I even respected your nonchalance towards life.”
Ewan rubbed his forehead, his hands trembling—this would not work.
“But I understand,” Slate said. “Anyone would be, once faced with the reality of death. I just thought you were stronger than this, than me, but I guess we’re the same.”
The only viable way to disturb her spell in the current situation was pain, but there was no way Slate would hurt himself just because Ewan said so. He was truly at his wits end now….
“We’re not the same,” Ewan murmured then sighed. “I really didn’t want to use it.” And he initiated the final trump card he kept for the Crown. If the fox hadn't worked, he would’ve spun the Luck Roulette, it was his final option which he didn’t want to choose. It could save him today, but the backlash might kill him tomorrow, it was a deal with the devil.
The wheel tattoo on his hand throbbed and awakened, it roused his soul, and reeled. Everything depended on ‘luck’ now.
“Nana.” He turned around. The roulette needed time; he could pit Slate during that. And if ‘luck’ didn’t work, he would drag the man down with him. “Do you still believe Xylla’s been with you the longest, and not me?” he asked.
“W-What? Why would you ask that?” Nana asked.
The fog was thick, he needed more to break through.
“Why weren’t you home when Aunt Ella and Uncle Keith died, Nana? You could’ve saved them,” Ewan said. It harrowed him to claw open her scabbed wound like this, but this was the only option now.
Nana blanked, her pupils dilated, she stared at Ewan with a hollow gaze.
“Have you finally lost it, Ewan?” Slate frowned. “Even I wouldn’t say that to someone I loved; you’ve become quite pathetic since the last time I saw you.”
Not enough?
“You were always a burden on Aunt Ella and Uncle Keith, and now you’re a burden on me,” Ewan said. “How can you still smile with that guilt? Did you forget everything? Will you also get me killed like them?”
Each word he said stabbed him deep, he loathed himself for it. She might not remember any of this, the fog might wash it all out, but he would, and he would relive every second of it his whole life…
She still stared at him, dazed, but her eyes wavered, and she shook.
The blow on her would weaken the fox, he wanted her fragile for the next part. He also needed her help in suppressing the fox—using his Ryvia would distract him while he extracted her soul, so he had to break the fog this way. If it didn’t work though, he could only give up on this plan and kill the fox.
Last try….
And he pulled her in with her collar and slapped her.