Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2712: Demon Merchant Pax Whiteburn Godson

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, TSR Guild Headquarters

Before the variant enteral flames of agony could reach their target, a huge silhouette with an iron sheen stepped in front of Saintess Catherine, taking the burn and shielding her in the process. The Eternal Flame of Agony engulfed the iron figure, burning it down to cinders. Then, just as quickly, both the flames and the iron silhouette vanished. In their place stood a young boy before the Saintess.

The moment Catherine saw him, panic flashed across her face. ”Your Highness Pax, why did you come out of the guardian angel array?”

Pax raised his hand, signaling Catherine to stay quiet, then looked at Corey. ”Big sis Corey! Please calm your anger. I’ll apologize to you in her place.”

”Pax, are you sure you want to save her?” Corey asked. ”Do you think she’ll still see you the same once she accepts the reality that you’re a demon merchant now?”

As she spoke, her fusion body with Lil’ Baem began to shrink, the towering form gradually receding to a more appropriate size to continue the discussion but also fight if needed.

”Big sister Corey, why don’t you tell me?” Pax said. Then he turned to Saintess Catherine and spoke plainly, ”Teacher, big sis Corey is right. The New Age Merchant Guild has its roots in the Dark Realm. All of its members are demon or devil merchants, even if they aren’t native to the Dark Realm. To many fallen realms, they’re no different from the demons and devils that invaded our world ages ago, the ones our ancestors fought. There was a reason His Highness Demigod Godson didn’t use it. Now... I’m one of them.”

Saintess Catherine’s gaze hardened as she looked at Pax. Then, without hesitation, she kowtowed in midair and begged for forgiveness, ”It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t pushed you, you would never have become a demon merchant. I did this. I’m the one to blame.”

Hearing the Saintess, Pax shook his head and helped her to her feet. ”That’s where you and His Highness Demigod Godson are wrong, teacher,” he said calmly. ”There’s more to the Dark Realm than you understand. If His Highness hadn’t seen becoming a devil merchant as selling his soul and betraying his fallen comrades, and had instead given it an honest chance, we wouldn’t be in this mess today. Don’t worry. I’ll do what he failed to do.”

Pax let out a long, frustrated sigh. Becoming a demon merchant had opened his eyes.

The moment he learned that the demon invasion ages ago had been carried out by nothing more than a small-time dark faction from the Dark Realm, his understanding of reality shifted. What they had treated as an apocalyptic war between worlds was, in truth, the work of a minor power.

What made it worse was this: for centuries, the rights to Card World had remained unclaimed and with the Devil Merchant Code, right up until Gideon Grim appeared.

If Demigod Godson had chosen to become a devil merchant back then, he could have purchased the rights to Card World through the devil merchant code long ago the Card World would never have to worry about another demonic invasion ever again. Not to mention, the wealth of knowledge that they could have offered to their descendants.

In truth, when he became a demon merchant, the rights to Card World were still up for grabs. The problem wasn’t timing. It was capital to buy it. The New Age Merchant Guild had offered to loan him the money. But having worked with his father, he knew better than to take on a loan he couldn’t repay. He understood what debt meant in circles like that.

His hesitation cost him. Devil Merchant Gideon Grim stepped in and bought the rights to Card World from the Devil Merchant code right under his nose for the ’Seven Princes of Hell’ dark faction in exchange for joining them.

Since then, the New Age Merchant Guild hadn’t been nearly as welcoming as they first appeared. Their attitude toward him had completely shifted. He tried to take a loan to hire their mercenaries but was rejected under the pretense that he didn’t have enough collateral.

He didn’t have the patience to explain any of this to Catherine.

Right now, only one thing that mattered to him most was breaking through to the demigod realm as soon as possible and becoming a devil merchant. Once he did, he wouldn’t just be strong enough to protect his family. He would finally have a voice within the New Age Merchant Guild.

”Your Highness Pax, the blood of the Demigod Godson runs within you. With that sacred inheritance comes my absolute loyalty. I do not seek your pity. I seek your trust. I want to be the vault of your secrets and the blade of your ambitions, existing beyond hesitation and untouched by judgment, as I once did for my Lord.

Your will is the only law I acknowledge. Your command is the spark that sets my spirit ablaze. Speak, and I will answer. Point, and I will move. Give the word, and I shall carve your path through the fabric of fate itself, with conviction that does not waver, does not tire, and does not end,” The Saintess pleaded with Pax. The fact he had kept so much from her cut deep. She was devastated to realize her lord hadn’t trusted her and had instead feared her judgment and narrow views.

She did care about the dark races but if her lord had told her they were in the right, she would have accepted it without hesitation or question. In the end, all she cared about was serving her lord with a single devotion for she found meaning to her existence in serving him.

”Damn, crazy doesn’t begin to describe her,” Corey muttered as she deactivated her fusion summon card and separated from Lil’ Baem. ”I accept your apology, Pax.”