Date: Unspecified
Ti: 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 plumted in an instant, and my perception of ti slowed dramatically. Sohow, 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 ti and my reflexes down with them.
She appeared right beside , clearly intending to abduct as she had before. However, my Hive spirit reacted imdiately, erecting a limitless celestial barrier between us, an endlessly stretching expanse of space that severed her influence. Colleen’s ability no longer affected 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 beco. Had she invoked her domain, I would have been completely defenseless, and she would have succeeded in capturing .
Fortunately for , she underestimated . I didn’t count on her to make the sa mistake again so once the effects wore off, I imdiately activated the Demon Codex, using the Devil rchant 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 . Either she genuinely believed she was saving from myself, or she was willing to risk Anna facing the backlash of a contract breach to stop from doing what she considered foolish and unnecessary. Knowing her, it was the forr. She truly believed she was protecting from myself. Hopefully, I was right. Otherwise, Anna would be in for an unpleasant surprise. But given that Ann seed fine, my judgnt was mostly correct.
Once I cald 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 soday. As it turned out, that day had arrived.
The Northern Capital’s third main entrance lay a few kiloters 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 sa Myriad Devil Transformation ability of mine.
I disguised myself as a middle-aged, handso 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 docunted history of business and employnt 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 employnt visas.
It still wasn’t enough for to assu that the Northern Royal Family had already sided with Demigod Gainover at this point in the tiline. 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 comnd their unwavering loyalty to the Southern Emperor. What concerned more was that I had already confird 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 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 sothing so reckless. But Anna was an Extre 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 ntally 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?
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