As the battle between Amber and her instructor versus Theodore and his forces wrapped up, the scene turned to Kreuger. He continued his trek down the underground enemy territory.

"Tsk, where are the damn enemies!?" Kreuger questioned with an irritated expression. "I've been running for a few minutes!"

Amid his angry rant, Kreuger noticed that he was rapidly approaching a dead end. Going from his high rate of speed to zero in an instant, Kreuger stood there with widened eyes.

"A dead end!? I shifted my focus to defeat some guys who aren't Jack... to wind up in a dead end!?" Kreuger questioned with bloodshot eyes. "There's no way I'm letting this slide!"

* * *

Meanwhile, on Trixie's pathway, they braced themselves for a battle with Harvey and Amelia.

Harvey looked up and down upon his opponents with a cold expression.

"Hmpf, to think this is what soldiers have become," Harvey remarked. "We got soldiers wearing jester outfits. What a joke."

"Hehe, thanks!" Trixie responded as she modestly scratched the back of her head.

"...It's not a compliment," Aiden said.

"You can go ahead if you want, brother," Amelia stated. "I'll handle these two myself."

"Are you sure?"

"C'mon, I am a culinary genius. Just let me cook." Amelia responded with a smug smile. "Plus this encased environment will only restrict your blessing."

"Well, alright," Harvey said. "I trust you." He said before turning around and casually walking off.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going!?" Aiden questioned as he attempted to touch the ground with the palms of his hands.

"Ha! What do you think you're doing!?" Amelia questioned as she intercepted Aiden by stretching her hand towards him. Multiple curved transparent airwaves like slashes were emitted from the palm of her hand.

"Wha--" Aiden uttered but Trixie quickly grabbed him by the collar and pulled him from the slashes.

The slashes continued to travel before hitting the passage walls, leaving multiple deep cuts.

That was close! Aiden thought.

"Tee hee, don't you worry your little self about stopping Harvey. We'll handle him after," Trixie stated. "It's better for my blessing if we do that too!"

"...Okay,"

"Now, let's start the show!" Trixie declared. A single card emerged from her box of cards and flew into Trixie's hands.

"Let's see what tricks I can play on you!" Trixie stated as she read the card's contents.

Tricks list:

Jack in a Box - Funny Surprise (Acquired from numbers 1 - 5)

Putrid Eggs (Acquired from numbers 6-10)

"Ooh, only two tricks but these are some of my favorite!" Trixie stated. Meanwhile, Aiden looked at her with a side-eye.

Is she even taking this seriously!?

"Hey, Aiden, please give it your all in this fight!" Trixie said. "So my little tricks can land!"

"...I don't know what you mean but I wasn't going to hold back, anyways," Aiden stated.

"Alright, enough with all this talking!" Amelia interjected before sending more air slashes at them.

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Aiden avoided it by skating across the ground. Meanwhile, Trixie performed a back cartwheel flip and avoided the slashes.

"...What a strange way of avoiding," Amelia commented. Simultaneously, Aiden skated towards Amelia to engage her in combat.

Oh no, you don't! Amelia thought as she prepared another set of slashes. Four cards emerged from Trixie's card pack - a one, three, four, and five. Before Amelia could send slashes at Aiden, a blue box appeared floating beside her head. It was decorated with a jester face on each side.

A jack in the box!? Amelia thought. Her assumption was right as a red boxing glove attached to a spring popped out from the box, attempting to strike Amelia in the jaw. When it popped out, a small sonic boom was generated.

Amelia narrowly avoided by leaning backward, but couldn't evade Aiden, who used the opening to strike her in the gut.

With a visible flinch, it was clear that Amelia felt it, however, she still sent slashes at Aiden.

Damn it! What the hell was that!? Amelia thought as the jack in the box disappeared in a blue cloud.

"Ugh!" Aiden uttered as cuts appeared on his face but thankfully, they were superficial. Are they weaker?

Realizing he didn't sustain serious damage, Aiden pressured Amelia with punches. She avoided a couple of jabs before catching Aiden's fist. She immediately placed her free hand on Aiden's stomach.

Shit!

Before she activated her slashes, another jack-in-a-box appeared beside her abdomen.

"Wha--" Before fully processing the situation, she was struck in the gut by a boxing glove, sending her into the walls. Even Aiden was surprised, as he glimpsed at Trixie, who had another four cards floating in front of her. They immediately returned to their box.

Seeing him looking at her, Trixie smiled and made a thumbs-up gesture.

What is going on with that card stack? Aiden thought. The second jack in a box disappeared in that same blue cloud.

His glance at his instructor backfired as he noticed slashes approaching him in his peripheral vision. He reacted quickly by leaning but that only saved him from being bisected. A slash left a deep wound on his upper arm, causing Aiden to clench it.

"Ugh!" Aiden uttered. That's not enough to take me down!

Tch, I missed my chance to kill him! Amelia thought as Aiden rushed towards her.

In response, Amelia outstretched her hand for slashes.

Yet another four cards emerged from Trixie's card pack - a one, three, seven, and eight. Suddenly, a grey egg with a jester's face materialized in the air. Without being thrown by anyone, the egg flew towards her.

It immediately shattered on the ground, releasing a clear, translucent gas. The shell of the egg disappeared in multi-colored confetti.

Almost immediately, Amelia's lips curled into a snarling frown. Her nostrils also flared, her cheeks pushed up to her squinting lower eyelids and her brows furrowed.

What is that smell!? Amelia thought as she sent slashes at Aiden. Just like before, it left superficial cuts on his face and body. He didn't stop but gazed at her expression with slight confusion.

Aiden and Amelia continued to fight but the putrid scent entered her nose hampered her ability to concentrate.

"Keep it up, Aiden!" Trixie cheered. "You're making my tricks land!"

I'm not sure what's going on, but those jack-in-a-box were helping. I'll continue to do what I'm doing.

As they continued to fight, sets of four cards kept popping from Trixie's deck. Depending on the numbers she got, more Jack in a box would appear next to Amelia.

She tried her best to avoid them, but it proved difficult to deal with random appearing boxes along with Aiden. More horrid scented eggs appeared and shattered on the ground which released more gas, making it worse for Amelia.

She tried to cut Aiden apart but he would only sustain minor wounds. The only serious laceration he received in this fight was the one on her hand.

Damn it! I can't concentrate on cutting this guy up because of the jack-in-a-box and the smell of dead animals...which is becoming worse! Amelia thought as she couldn't help but cover her mouth and nose with one of her hands.

This was obviously a bad decision in a fight, as Aiden kicked her in the side and sent her into the wall.

Tch, this must be that woman's blessing! Amelia thought.

Trixie's blessing, the blessing of tricks, enables her to play powerful tricks on only her target. What trick she receives is based on the chance card she receives at the start of a battle.

The chance card gives her between two - four tricks and the range of numbers required to play the trick. Through an automatic and limitless shuffling system, Trixie will receive four random cards that trigger tricks and surprises based on many conditions that she learned through experience:

1. In receiving four different numbered cards, the highest number determines the trick

2. Receiving two or more of the same numbers gives a bonus to that trick

3. Receiving three numbers along with a jack, king or queen gives a bigger bonus

4. Receiving three of the same numbers and an ace equips Trixie with a weaponized trick

5. Big Rewards for four of a kind (special cards)

* Jack (Four of a kind) - Jackpot

* Queen (Four of a kind) - Super Jackpot

* King (Four of a kind) - Mega Jackpot

* Jester (Four of a kind) - ???

6. Receiving an ace doubles the odds of a jackpot and lowers shuffling time.

"Are you liking my tricks?" Trixie inquired with a confident smile. "I'm working hard so you'll enjoy them!"

In response, Amelia gazed at her with annoyance.

How irritating. At this rate, I'll have to use 'that.'