In the silence of the cramped dark room, the glow from the monsters above the cards on Mister Riddell's side illuminated his face.
Unable to wait for the god's answer, the Fifth Epoch Prophet turned to look at Shade behind him.
Shade nodded.
"I think what comes next depends on our courage."
"Don't worry, sir. Courage is the only thing I have left now."
The unkempt man, who had clearly not bathed in a long time, held down his right sleeve with his left hand and placed Myriad Aspects of Impermanence · Balance into the seventh slot before him with his right.
Just as Shade had calculated, the Rhodes Card was exactly the right size for the gambling table's slot. In fact, when Mister Riddell prepared to place the card down, Myriad Aspects of Impermanence · Balance seemed to be sucked into the slot on its own.
Both Shade and Mister Riddell were incredibly nervous. Even the five Witches, the Demon, the sea monster, and the Dragon on the table all turned to look at that slot.
Suddenly, voices came from beside the room's walls. It was the corpses, each at a different stage of decay, speaking:
"A card not seen in a long time."
"So it is Myriad Aspects of Impermanence."
The two sentences came from two different voices, and they had even been spoken in completely different languages.
"It is the power of Balance."
"Gambles hate balance most of all."
The overlapping voices made them nearly impossible for Shade to distinguish. As the corpses spoke, the card embedded in the slot truly began to glow.
A small pair of Dark Gold Scales appeared above the card, while the sixth Witch formally appeared before the Black-Robed God.
Streams of multicolored light flowed before the fourteen cards, gathering through the