Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 3094: The Trap

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Lil’ Red Storm Realm, Freedom Magelopolis

“I thought my brother wanted to keep my location hidden as long as possible,” Dalia remarked, already understanding what he expected of her. “I didn’t think he cared about the Frost Elves that much.”

“No, Your Highness. You have it wrong.” Sansa corrected her without hesitation. “It’s not that the Master cares about the Frost Elves. The value of a Snow Elven Crown Prince as a puppet ruler is simply high enough to justify the risk of exposing your location.”

Dalia slowly turned to look at her.

Sansa remained completely indifferent. She had noticed that Dalia seemed to be developing a somewhat concerning obsession with her brother. It wasn’t her place to interfere with her Master’s family matters, but she felt that allowing Dalia to misunderstand his intentions would only encourage her imagination to run wild.

Besides, apart from Hive Spirit, Sansa was the only one who knew what Wyatt actually planned to do with the Snow Elven Crown Prince. Or, more specifically, what he planned to turn him into. Unfortunately, that information wasn’t hers to disclose.

“I see,” Dalia nodded. For some reason, she appeared considerably more enthusiastic about capturing the Snow Elven Crown Prince now.

“Your Highness, please be careful. Master has classified the Snow Elven Crown Prince as a Celestial-level threat,” Sansa warned with a serious expression as she watched her for a moment. That immediately drew Dalia’s full attention. Sansa continued, “More specifically, he is a Ruler-class existence with enough strength and means to potentially end a Celestial.”

As she spoke, Hive Spirit transferred everything Sansa had collected regarding the Snow Elven Crown Prince directly to Dalia. Information began appearing across her mind. Known abilities, recorded combat methods, his experiments with the Half-Bloods, the clones used to construct the curse within the Frost Elves. And, most importantly, the abilities that justified Master’s decision to classify him as a Celestial-level threat.

Dalia quietly went through the information. The more she read, the narrower her eyes became. The Snow Elven Crown Prince wasn’t simply another powerful Ruler-class existence who had managed to live long enough to accumulate strength. He had spent millennia preparing for exactly this kind of confrontation.

He was a one man army possessing contingencies, experimental abilities, and methods that most enemies would never see coming until it was already too late. He wasn’t someone Dalia could afford to underestimate.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, right? With an ability like that, how am I supposed to find the original body and feed him a Calamity Daughter Gem? Especially, if he chooses to stay out of sight. Yes, I’m a Celestial, but I have my limits too,” Dalia complained, finding the Snow Elven Crown Prince’s ability particularly troublesome.

After going through the information Sansa had shared with her, she finally understood why the Snow Elven Crown Prince hadn’t immediately appeared despite the curses within the Frost Elves having been activated for some time.

He was preparing. More specifically, he was using the Frost Elves as catalysts to gradually transform the environment surrounding them into a battlefield suited to him.

The frost spreading from the dazed Frost Elves suddenly made perfect sense. It wasn’t merely a side effect of the curse. It was a strategically planned addition to the curse.

With every passing second, the cold spread farther through Freedom City, slowly changing the terrain and establishing conditions that favored the Snow Elven Crown Prince and his cloning ability.

The most troublesome part was that stopping the process wasn’t simple. The Frost Elves were the origin of the frost. To completely stop it, one would have to eliminate the curse that had taken over their soul, unholy core, and body.

And that was precisely the trap. If the Frost Elves were killed, the Snow Elven Crown Prince would ensure that the intellectual property he had spent millennia cultivating would be destroyed and wouldn’t fall into other’s hand. If they survived long enough, however, he could use the connection created by the curse to retrieve them with his own strength.

Either way, he had ensured that his experiment wouldn’t simply be stolen from him.

Dalia’s expression grew increasingly serious, understanding that the dossier wasn’t exaggerating. The Snow Elven Crown Prince really was as intelligent and thorough as the information claimed.

“That is why I’m here, Your Highness.” Sansa stepped forward with complete confidence. “I will help you find the original body of the Snow Elven Crown Prince.”

Dalia looked at her. For a brief moment, the annoyance in her expression disappeared. Then she understood. Her younger brother had already thought this through.

He hadn’t simply thrown the Frost Elves into Freedom City, activated whatever hidden mechanism was inside them, and expected her to deal with the consequences. He had anticipated the Snow Elven Crown Prince’s abilities. He knew that identifying the original among his clones would be difficult. And he had prepared Sansa specifically to deal with that problem.

The realization stirred something warm within Dalia. Her younger brother trusted her enough to place such a carefully prepared trap in her hands. Then she would show him that his trust wasn’t misplaced.

Her younger brother had gone to the trouble of preparing the bait, cutting off the Crown Prince’s reinforcements, and sending Sansa to identify the original, then Dalia only had one job left: capture him.

Her eyes slowly returned to the frost spreading across the hospital. A faint smile appeared on her face. She would make sure her younger brother learned something important today, that he could always count on her no matter what.

“Sansa, will Wyatt be joining us?” Dalia asked in anticipation, wondering if her younger brother would be there to watch his sister in action.

“No, Your Highness. Unfortunately, Master will be facing another celestial-level threat in the Dark Realm, so he won’t be able to watch you capture the Snow Elven Crown Prince,” Sansa replied honestly, immediately noticing the disappointment in Dalia’s eyes.