Chapter 183

By locking Charles inside his gambling domain, Hakari converts the duel into a game ruled by chance. Winning means leaning on his own skill to seize fortune and trigger the jackpot.

Idle Death Gamble carries a sure-hit that dumps its full ruleset straight into Charles's head. Built around a pachinko machine, the domain grants Hakari a bonus whenever the jackpot lands, and the avalanche of complex rules grates on Charles. Both drop into the opening stage; Hakari flicks a reserve ball, which G Warstaff deflects, then summons shutter doors that Charles narrowly leaps past. Reading the flow, Charles works out that each of those moves is really a visual indicator, and once any indicator shows, riichi mode kicks in. Hakari sets two fours marked with the character Hiro Kato, switching things to a long-shot transit-card riichi scenario where the jackpot triggers if Yuki of Private Pure Love Train clocks in on time. Charles tries striking Yuki, but the scenario is mere visualization, so meddling does nothing; his only options are to watch or to put Hakari down first.

G Warstaff cannot forecast either the indicators or the outcomes, though Charles spots that the green and red ones point to a likely failure. Yuki shows up late, Hakari plays a five rather than a third four, and the pair resets to the starting stage, a cycle that runs until a jackpot or a knockout. Annoyed at the lift from Candy Nakamura's manga, Charles jabs his spear in rapid thrusts and notes the odds sit at one in two hundred thirty-nine, vowing his foresight will keep the game from dragging. Hakari needles him for landing nothing despite seeing the future, then conjures gold shutter doors that flag strong jackpot odds on the next run.

Using the doors as cover, Hakari ducks behind Charles, boasts he has never crossed thirty spins, and starts another scenario with two threes bearing Yume Asagiri, flipping to the final train stage at eighty percent odds; should Yume miss the departing last train, the jackpot lands. He keeps swinging to break Charles's focus on the future. As the train pulls out and Yume seems to vanish from the platform, Charles figures the jackpot failed and carves a deep gash into Hakari's side, mocking him for betting on luck over skill. Yume then resurfaces on Yuki's platform, having genuinely missed the train, and Hakari plays three threes in a row to hit the jackpot. The surge gives him the power to break G Warstaff outright, a lone kick to the face finishing Charles. Triumphant, Hakari answers the earlier jab by saying his skill is what grabs hold of luck. Akutami's note celebrates announcer Hana Isogai's new chapter in life and wishes her well.