Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2878: Auntie vs Niece

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

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

”Aren’t you daring, coming alone, my dear niece?” Seraphina said as she cut off the plasma beam. Meanwhile, her demigod squad slowly spread out, circling and surrounding the Field Marshal.

Ignoring her auntie, the Field Marshal glanced at the demigods encircling her. She seemed to recognize each one of them. There were fifteen of them, and each one was the best of the best, but extreme in their methods and repeat offenders. Shaking her head, she said, ”You all know what she’s capable of, right? She’s using you as cannon fodder.”

”As long as the South shines again, we don’t care if it costs us our lives.”

Seeing there was no persuading these ignorant fools, the Field Marshal turned to her auntie and said, ”You know Grandfather didn’t give you the throne, despite you being the eldest and most capable, because of your extreme ways. And yet here you are, proving him right again. Your great-grandniece chose to believe in you and tried to do right by you. Please don’t let her down.”

”That’s where you are wrong, I believe that girl chose me to help her get back on the right path. Clearly, her family has failed her and the Southerners. As expected from her commoner grandmother—”

”Don’t you dare talk about Colleen like that. She was a damn good soldier, and she is a damn good queen,” the Field Marshal snapped, coming to her sister-in-law’s defense. It was no secret in high society that the Field Marshal and the Soldier Queen were close friends.

”I expected nothing less from someone who married a commoner. Look at your children and grandchildren—all of them have the bare minimum of bloodline purity—” Seraphina suddenly paused, getting no reaction from her niece, and narrowed her eyes. ”Are you stalling for time? Waiting for the boy?”

”It’s not like you’d believe me if I said no,” the Field Marshal said with a shrug, then added, ”You’re a lot chattier than I remember.”

”Being imprisoned next to your ancestors’ graves for centuries does that to a person.”

”Come on, don’t be a sore loser. We agreed—no matter the outcome, neither of us would hold a grudge.”

”What? I can’t even joke about it now?”

”Tell that to your flaring nostrils.”

Seraphina glared at her niece, then smiled, a sadistic glint flashing in her eyes before she revealed, ”I’ll let you in on a secret. I’ll be taking your grandnephew as my prince consort once I become the Ruler of the Southern Region.”

”Great! If you do that, Colleen will thank you. She’s been deeply worried about that boy and him choosing the Enlightenment path. I don’t know about others, but you have my blessing. I was starting to think the boy would never know the touch of a woman and end up an ascetic monk.”

Seeing the Field Marshal celebrate instead of getting mad at her, Seraphina didn’t know what to say and instead, ordered her squad, ”Capture her.”

”There’s no need for that. Why don’t you all follow me? I’ll show you around the city.”

Seraphina couldn’t help but squint at her niece, wondering if she had heard her correctly. Then suspicion crept in—was there a trap, or some hidden catch?

Meanwhile, the Field Marshal sneered inwardly, knowing the predator had taken the bait and that there was no need to provoke it any further. Especially, knowing her aunt’s abilities she stuck to her young lord’s plan.

Yes, her young lord had informed her through a series of texts that Seraphina’s target was most likely Sky Blossom City and had explained, in detail, how she should respond to her arrival and attacks. That was why she had been waiting with Anna to greet her.

”He’s here, isn’t he?” Seraphina asked her niece, even as she checked the location of the former Southern Hope through the greater array spanning the Southern Region.

”Yes, he would like to meet you and resolve this peacefully, considering that we are all one big family—we are Southerners, after all.”

”I seriously underestimated that damned turtle, mistaking it for an SSS-rank monster when it was actually a devil in disguise.” Seraphina said in frustration, shooting her niece a disappointed look. ”Look how far you’ve fallen—standing against your maternal family and working with devils.”

She had planned to use her attack to plunge the city into chaos. In the confusion, she and her squad would eliminate the guards, teleportation hub, isolate the space, seize control, take hostages, and wait for the boy’s return, but she had underestimated the damned turtle.

”Auntie, you wouldn’t say that if you knew even a fraction of what I know about the Myriad Realms. It’s different out there. Unfortunately, you’d rather bury your heads in the sand than explore—”

”Enough. Don’t you dare try to justify your actions. I don’t want to hear it,” Seraphina snapped, fury flaring in her eyes. ”As the one carrying the unparalleled bloodline, you’re meant to protect the Southern Region, not wander off exploring the Myriad Realms.”

Seraphina took one last glance at her niece and the Sky Blossom City below, then signaled her squad to retreat, declaring, ”I may have failed this time, but mark my words—next time, the victory will be mine.”

”Limitless Celestial Blood Fate Domain!”

As those words echoed, the world seemed to drown in crimson, space itself stretching as if pulled taut. Everyone was dragged into it—everyone except Seraphina, who reacted instantly and escaped using three different SSS-rank teleportation-type cards, crafted from teleportation-type runes born of ultimate mastery over the three different meanings of the space rule.

Knowing her opponent possessed a Celestial Rule Domain, Seraphina had come prepared, having heard its myths and legends whispered among the Card Demigods for ages.

”Damn it, she came prepared. I managed to stop two of the teleportation cards, but I couldn’t stop the third,” I said, my gaze settling on the squad of fifteen demigods.