Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2889: The Devil’s Table In Lux Mountains

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Western Region, Lux Mountains, Tripoint Border City, devil’s table

Among the Lux Mountains stood a mountain whose peak had been cleanly severed, leaving behind a vast plateau that rose like a giant table at the border between the Empire and the Western Region. Legend claimed it was formed when one of the first demigods slew a notorious devil there, cleaving the mountain apart in the process. Because of that, the place came to be known as the Devil’s Table.

In a world where demigods and devils roamed freely, splitting a mountain in half was not considered particularly impressive. However, cleaving one of the Lux Mountains apart was an entirely different matter.

The Lux Mountains were formed from unique soil and rocks that displayed both the nature of Ice and Stone. The plants and beasts native to the region had evolved alongside these lands, becoming extraordinarily resilient to survive in such a harsh environment.

Over countless millennia, the mountains had endured repeated battles between devils and demigods, yet they still stood strong. That was why the feat of severing one of the Lux Mountains remained legendary even after all this time.

Not to mention, the Devil’s Table could have served as a crucial strategic stronghold within the Lux Mountains if not for one problem: it sat directly on the border between the Empire and the Western Region, not far from the tripoint.

In the end, both sides mutually agreed to leave the mountain untouched rather than occupy the portions that fell within their respective borders. They understood that controlling it would force both nations into a constant state of vigilance against one another, inevitably leading to endless skirmishes that would drain time, resources, and manpower for little gain.

However, there was one group that despised this treaty: the ruling families of Tripoint Border City.

In their eyes, the Devil’s Table was a far better location for the city than any peak within the Lux Mountains. Not only was it closer to the tri-junction of the three borders, but its vast plateau was also fertile enough to cultivate snow herbs and other rare alpine plants. The land could have provided the people of Tripoint Border City with a stable livelihood through farming and trade rather than forcing them to survive by dungeon raiding, hunting, and scavenging through the deadly Lux Mountains.

Unfortunately, the Western Royal Family, which had originally established Tripoint Border City as a form of punishment for those families, never paid attention to their pleas. To the royals, it hardly mattered whether the people there lived or died.

Yet, today the entire Tripoint Border City was moving to the devil’s table. No — not with the Western Royal Family’s permission. They had no idea. The one leading this move was Aurelia Malvin, the leader of Bright Lions Security Agency.

She had not only offered them the Devil’s Table, but also given the citizens the option to relocate to any city within the New Empire.

Yet, aside from a small number of people, most chose to remain. They understood just how valuable the land surrounding the Devil’s Table truly was. By cultivating snow herbs in their own backyards, they could earn in a single week what once took them an entire year of hunting and gathering in the Lux Mountains.

Faced with such irresistible promises, Tripoint Border City ultimately defected to the New Empire under her leadership.

The Devil’s Table was far too vast for a first-class city like Tripoint Border City to fully occupy. More than eighty percent of its land belonged to the New Empire and fell under the collective administration of the Bright Lions Security Agency, the Fine Gold Merchants, and the TSR Guild.

In truth, the New Empire had already laid claim to the entirety of the Lux Mountains. However, neither the Western Region nor the Southern Region realized this yet, as their key lookout points, Tripoint Border City and the Southern Watch Base, had either defected or already been conquered.

By the time the two regions realized what was happening, it would already be too late. The New Empire would not only have secured control over the Lux Mountains, but also most of the southern stretch of the Western Region.

Thanks to the assistance of the Freedom Fighters, the three organizations managed to relocate the entirety of Tripoint Border City and establish it on the Devil’s Table in under six hours. They even had a fully functioning teleportation hub connecting the city to the rest of the New Empire by the end of it.

For the first time in generations, the city’s citizens no longer had to risk their lives hunting through the Lux Mountains just to survive. They were no longer isolated either, now having direct access to a vast market that openly welcomed their goods and businesses, unlike the Western market, which had long treated them with neglect and hostility.

Meanwhile, the person responsible for making all of this possible, Aurelia Malvin, was heading toward the heart of Berg District, Scarlet Berg City, to continue her work there. The district was the closest one to the Lux Mountains, and much like Tripoint Border City, most of its cities depended on dungeon raiding, hunting, and scavenging through the deadly mountain range to make a living and survive its harsh and long winters.

Fortunately for them, they still had access to the vast Western market and did not have to live as desperately as the citizens of Tripoint Border City once had. However, that did not mean they were satisfied with their circumstances or lacked grievances of their own. Those frustrations had merely remained buried beneath the immense shadow of respect and reverence the people of Berg District held for the Western Royal Family in their hearts.

Aurelia, who had once managed to turn even the Southern Region’s fanatically loyal citizens against the Southern Royal Family and rally behind the former Southern Hope, knew exactly how to shine a light on that shadow and draw out the grievances and frustrations buried beneath it.