Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2953: Seraphina’s Challenge

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

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

Listening to his fellow Viltronian speak of killing his companions because they had attempted to kill him, Veerott found himself in a difficult position.

He wanted both sides alive. Not merely alive, but together, getting along.

Unfortunately, he also knew that at this point, it would take a miracle to stop either side from killing the other.

”Master,” Veerott said respectfully, remaining bowed. ”That would go against the wager.”

I raised an eyebrow. ”Oh?”

”You promised to let them leave here alive and unharmed,” Veerott continued politely. ”The wager never mentioned anything about them attacking you afterward.”

Then, gathering his courage, he added, ”Just like how you started the duel after already deploying your curse field.”

The moment those words left his mouth, Aqualas and Seraphina froze. Petra’s sand cloud also paused. None of them had expected Veerott to use Aqualas’s own argument against me, let alone point out just how unfair the duel was.

He wasn’t denying the wager or rejecting his servitude, he was simply asking me to uphold the agreement exactly as written. Nothing more, nothing less.

It was such a painfully honest argument that only Veerott could have made it with a straight face. Internally, Veerott prayed that his reasoning would be enough. He didn’t want to fight anymore. One side was his friends and on the other side was his kin.

There was no battle to be fought or won here. Or at least, he desperately wanted that to be the case.

Because now that he had finally found another Viltronian, there were far more important things to discuss. How had his fellow kin survived until? How had he become a card apprentice? Did he know anything about Viltronian history? Did he know his lineage? Did he even realize what he was? Would he want to know?

Countless questions swirled through Veerott’s mind. For years, he had carried the burden of protecting and sharing the Viltronian legacy with his kin. And now that one stood before him in the flesh. Veerott could contain the joy, he couldn’t hold back, he wanted to ask everything.

He wanted to talk, share, teach, and learn about his kin. For the first time in years, the burden of carrying an entire race alone felt a little lighter.

But before any of that could happen, there remained one very large elephant in the room. Two of his closest friends had just tried to kill his kin back to back. And that kin of his was now calmly considering whether to kill them in return.

As far as Veerott was concerned, rebuilding the Viltronian race was important. But preventing his family from murdering each other had suddenly become a very close second. He didn’t plan on choosing, planned to protect everything precious to him.

I stared at Veerott with a blank expression. For several seconds, I said nothing. Then I chuckled.

”Well, a deal’s a deal,” I agreed with him and waved my hand dismissively. ”They can leave.”

With my words the tension hanging over the battlefield instantly eased.

”Thank you, Master. Thank you for your generosity,” Veerott bowed even deeper. Meanwhile, Aqualas’s face twisted into undisguised disgust.

She looked like she had just swallowed a live sea urchin. Had circumstances been different, she might have physically dragged Veerott away and shaken some sense into him. Unfortunately, Veerott had already made up his mind.

Knowing the nature of Gigamites from his racial legacy, he was deliberately being extra polite and submissive. He had willingly set aside his pride, ego, and even his dignity.

Because, in his mind, those things had ceased to matter the moment he thought Aqualas had killed the first living Viltronian he had managed to find in countless years.

That brief moment of loss had changed him. It was then that Veerott realized something. It didn’t matter whether the Viltronian he found was young or old, strong or weak, arrogant or humble, mutated or pure-blooded, none of it mattered.

What mattered was that he had finally found someone he could call kin. Someone who carried the same blood. Someone to share their legacy and the burden. Together, they could rebuild the Viltronian race in the Card World. Together, they could create a future for a people long thought lost.

Compared to that dream, his pride suddenly felt very small. So small that abandoning it seemed trivial. Which was why, when Southern Hope stepped out alive after faking his death, nobody on the battlefield had been happier than Veerott. Not even Petra, who had nearly started a war trying to avenge me.

”We’ll leave when we want. No need to rush us.” Seraphina folded her arms as she spoke, declaring. Beside her, Aqualas nodded vigorously.

The two had immediately noticed Veerott’s subtle hand signals urging them not to make things difficult and to leave while they still had the chance. They completely ignored him, causing Veerott’s expression to stiffen.

One was his oldest friend. The other was practically family. Both had survived countless battles. Both were intelligent. And both had suddenly chosen this exact moment to become unbelievably stubborn.

Looking at them, I couldn’t help but wonder whether friendship among powerful beings always came with a side effect of chronic hardheadedness.

Then again... Considering Petra was standing beside me while glaring at them like an angry statue despite our differences, perhaps I wasn’t in any position to judge.

Ignoring Veerott, Seraphina glanced at me and asked, ”How did you manage to break Aqualas’s connection to the celestial force? That should be impossible, considering we are in the card world and she is essentially the extension of its will.”

”Don’t push your luck. Leave before I change my mind,” I warned her. She was acting as if she had just pocketed a handful of free passes and wasn’t afraid to spend them all at once.

”Great,” Seraphina exclaimed, completely unfazed by my threat. She even took a step closer, provoking me. ”You know what? I dare you to kill me, or even harm a single hair on my head. I am fully willing to risk my life to tell the Southerners who fell for your deceit and rebelled against the royal family that you are not a man of your word. I will gladly die just to expose your true face to them.”