Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2607: The Northern Region

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Southern Capital

Hearing my words, Colleen finally lost her patience and resorted to force just as I prepared to leave. The surrounding temperature plummeted in an instant, and my perception of time slowed dramatically. Somehow, Colleen’s ability bypassed all my defenses and directly affected my bodily functions and soul pathways, particularly the chemical reactions and soul circuits within my brain. My thought processes slowed, dragging my perception of time and my reflexes down with them.

She appeared right beside me, clearly intending to abduct me as she had before. However, my Hive spirit reacted immediately, erecting a limitless celestial barrier between us, an endlessly stretching expanse of space that severed her influence. Colleen’s ability no longer affected me directly, though its residual effects lingered, taking longer than expected to fade.

Only then did I truly grasp how terrifying Colleen’s compression-based temperature manipulation had become. Had she invoked her domain, I would have been completely defenseless, and she would have succeeded in capturing me.

Fortunately for me, she underestimated me. I didn’t count on her to make the same mistake again so once the effects wore off, I immediately activated the Demon Codex, using the Devil Merchant Code’s inter-realm travel function to teleport out of the Southern Region and into the Northern Region, specifically the Northern Capital. This was where Gainover had last been sighted and was believed to be hiding.

"That crazy bitch," I cursed as I arrived on the outskirts of the Northern Capital. I hadn’t expected Colleen to be reckless enough to attack me. Either she genuinely believed she was saving me from myself, or she was willing to risk Anna facing the backlash of a contract breach to stop me from doing what she considered foolish and unnecessary. Knowing her, it was the former. She truly believed she was protecting me from myself. Hopefully, I was right. Otherwise, Anna would be in for an unpleasant surprise. But given that Ann seemed fine, my judgment was mostly correct.

Once I calmed down, I surveyed my surroundings. I was on the outskirts of the Northern Region, at a location that had been deliberately selected and prepared by my calamity gems from the Sinner Squad. I had sent them to the Northern Region earlier to investigate Gideon Grim’s past after learning that he originated there. When my calamity daughter gems failed to uncover anything valuable about that bastard’s history, I instructed them to explore the Northern Region more broadly, thinking the preparation might prove useful someday. As it turned out, that day had arrived.

The Northern Capital’s third main entrance lay a few kilometers away from my current location. I activated my Myriad Devil Transformation, shifting into one of the many carefully prepared aliases the Sinner Squad used for operations across the Five Regions. After all, my calamity gems had inherited that same Myriad Devil Transformation ability of mine.

I disguised myself as a middle-aged, handsome Card King. Then, I used the soul energy manipulation to materialize soul energy into a refined, noble and in-fashion winter attire that matched the status and preferences of my current identity and location. Once every detail was in place, I flew toward the Northern Capital.

At present, I was far too recognizable as the Southern Hope. Given the tension between the Southern and Northern Regions, I wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble. That was why I chose to disguise myself as a Card King, an existence considered little more than a bottom feeder in a first-tier city, let alone the capital itself.

As I reached the city’s entrance, I found a long line of card apprentices waiting to enter the city. Each of them was being thoroughly vetted before being granted permission. Tourists and workers from the southern region were denied entry outright. Only those with a documented history of business and employment in the Northern Capital were allowed in, and even then, only under short-term permits. Any violation risked heavy penalties, including the loss of their business and employment visas.

It still wasn’t enough for me to assume that the Northern Royal Family had already sided with Demigod Gainover at this point in the timeline. Their actions could just as easily be interpreted as an effort to maintain order within the capital. After all, supporters of the Southern Emperor had dared to travel from the Southern Region to the Northern Capital to show their support, even at the risk of their lives. No one understood the tension between the two regions better than they did.

I didn’t know whether to call those people foolish, or to commend their unwavering loyalty to the Southern Emperor. What concerned me more was that I had already confirmed Gainover was hiding within the city, simply by overhearing the crowd’s chatter. Given the capital’s heightened security, I couldn’t help but wonder how Anna planned to enter the city and assassinate her father.

What worried me even further was that, without Ann, her voice of reason, by her side, Anna might choose to storm the city directly in search of Demigod Gainover. Even a ten-year-old would know better than to attempt something so reckless. But Anna was an Extreme Path Partitioner. It was highly likely she would favor a direct approach, refusing to strain her mind even in the slightest.

Standing in line as I waited my turn to enter the city ‌while I still mentally debated whether I should remain at the gate and wait for Anna here, or enter the city and wait for her there. I didn’t even bother to consider the possibility that Anna was already inside. As much as I didn’t want to underestimate her, I still doubted she possessed the patience and discipline required to infiltrate the capital without drawing attention.

If she truly had that level of restraint, the entire Five Regions would not have learned that she had broken through to the demigod realm and entered the Northern Region to hunt down her father, alerting her prey long before she ever laid eyes on him. Frankly, I couldn’t find a single reason to defend her on this point. What had the Southern Royal Family been thinking, allowing such information to leak?