Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2842: Bit The Bait

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Three Mischief Encampment

”Boss, we found the Emissary of Light.”

[Wyatt, we found the Emissary of Light.]

”Yep, I see it,” I replied to Karl through the Hive Spirit, watching the pillar of golden light lance into the sky, piercing the blood storm clouds in the distance. ”Did you guys walk into his trap?”

”No, Boss. It’s more like he led us here. He seems to have established a divine sanctuary and is very confident about his chances against all of us. But it’s no divine dominion—it appears he’s incapable of forming one. I’m guessing this is the last chance Konjur has given him to redeem himself,” Karl replied almost immediately. With the shared knowledge from the Hive Spirit, distinguishing between a divine sanctuary and a divine dominion was trivial for him.

”Can you handle him with the Field Marshal’s help?” I asked, already thinking ahead to setting up a new bait for Konjur.

I had my doubts. I wasn’t even sure the Emissary would serve as effective bait. In the clown mask’s future vision, Konjur or anyone from the faith order hadn’t made an appearance when Aba Windsor—the hero—killed him. It was as if the latter had been abandoned by them or there was more to it. Even now, from Karl’s assessment, it was clear Konjur didn’t value him enough to offer outright protection. Instead, the Emissary had to prove his worth and earn his keep.

Taking all that into account, my confidence in using him as bait had thinned. But there were no better options left. So I would only try—and hope it worked.

”Boss, I alone am enough to face him. I’ve learned the Sandalphon’s song with the help of the Hive Spirit and the Eye of Prosperity. His faith is no longer a threat to me,” Karl reported, a hint of pride slipping into his tone—like an overzealous teacher’s pet eager for approval.

”Good. Then let’s exchange our findings on Sandalphon’s song. Refine yours and use it to push the Emissary to the brink—drive him into desperation and despair until he has no choice but to call for help. Don’t get carried away and kill him. Keep him dangling; we’ll use him to bait Konjur in. Understood?” I instructed, laying out exactly what I needed him to do.

Because, no matter how far in over her head Corey had been, she had been right about one thing—we needed to deal with Konjur and Peyote.

I quickly repositioned, keeping one eye on Konjur and Peyote’s battle while Karl began his assault on the Emissary of Light.

Before long, I noticed something off in Konjur’s rhythm. He was no longer fighting to prolong the battle—he was trying to disengage. But the Sandalphon pressed him relentlessly, keeping him within the range of the laws that governed its abilities, refusing to let him break away.

Then, for the first time since their clash began, Konjur took the initiative to attack. He struck the Sandalphon despite knowing the damage would be mirrored back onto him. But the intent wasn’t to injure—it was to create distance. Using the force of the exchange, he pushed the Sandalphon away just enough to slip beyond the range of its governing laws and break free, rushing toward the Emissary’s rescue.

To the Sandalphon’s shock, Konjur—despite taking considerable damage—managed to break free from the sphere of influence governed by its aberrant laws. The moment he slipped beyond its reach, he dashed toward the Emissary, drawing on his disharmonious faith to heal himself as he moved.

That recovery was only possible not because of the sheer volume of faith at his disposal but because of the faith born from pure, unwavering devotion toward. There was only a small amount of it in his seemingly endless reserve of faith, even after more than a third had already been expended to withstand Corey’s Bolas Supernova.

Seeing Konjur rush to the Emissary of Light’s rescue, a smile crept onto my face—and widened as the Sandalphon surged after him. I immediately warned Karl and the Field Marshal to brace for impact. I had already made it clear: the moment Konjur entered, they were to scatter and prioritize their survival above everything else.

I had also quietly instructed Karl to keep an eye on the Field Marshal. She was stronger than him, no doubt—but Karl was far more adaptable, slippery in a way that made him hard to pin down. With the sheer number of origin cards, physiques, and traits at his disposal, he could bend to almost any situation. When it came to escaping, unless outright trapped, his chances of survival were higher than hers.

As instructed, the moment they sensed a disturbance at the very edge of their intent range, Karl and the Field Marshal abandoned their assault on the Emissary of Light and fled at full speed. The Field Marshal even began burning her unparalleled bloodline—something she could recover with time and proper nourishment, but only if she survived. If she died, the bloodline meant nothing.

Karl, meanwhile, left behind most of his myriad ethereal spirits, letting them continue to harass the Emissary and maintain the pressure. After all, they couldn’t die until he did.

Seeing them retreat, Konjur frowned, a flicker of confusion crossing his mind as the timing of their escape felt like it was as if they had known he was coming. But with the Sandalphon close behind, he had no time to dwell on it. Those two were beneath his concern at present.

As much as he wanted to kill the Commandment of the False Witness—the deceitful devil, Peyote and the other demon/devil merchants of this world—his priorities lay elsewhere. He valued the Emissary of Light far more. To be precise, he valued the Emissary’s divine enlightenment skill. The potential of that ability was boundless. He couldn’t allow it to be lost in this backwater realm, never to see its true brilliance realized.

However, just as he reached the Emissary—cutting down the lingering apparition manifestation of ethereal spirit—a black orb of energy tore through the Emissary of Light’s chest. It had slipped past his divine senses entirely and was already hurtling toward him.

His faith reacted on instinct, surging forward to shield him—but to his horror, it dissolved into nothing the moment it touched the orb. He had never seen, nor even heard of, anything like it.