Date: Unspecified
Ti: Unspecified
Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Gideon Grim’s Camp
I was caught off guard when the primordial calamity’s daughter slamd into a barrier of soul energy and stalled. In that split second, the worm I had already suppressed slipped away, burrowing into the ground like a shadow vanishing into the darkness.
I didn’t rush after it. With my limitless celestial blood fate rule domain and the desolate dinsion array formation together sealing this area, there was nowhere for it to truly escape. It was still inside my net.
As for the tens of thousands of Gideon’s victims I had put to sleep here, if the worm tried to possess one of them, it would have to surface. And the mont it did, I’d catch it.
I had already studied everything there was to know about the creature through its soul pathways. Chasing it underground would be pointless. Even though I could track its position through the domain-array combination covering this camp, waiting was the smarter move.
The worm had no real offensive power. No destructive techniques, no direct attacks. Possession was its only weapon. In exchange, its ability to escape was absurd, especially beneath the earth. Worse, it could sohow resist my blood fate plunder. That ant one thing. If I wanted to catch it, I would have to deal with it myself.
anwhile, my mind was already turning over a more pressing problem. How was the worm using soul energy when I had explicitly locked that down within my dual celestial rule domain? And if it had sohow established a link to the outside... then my entire plan was hanging by a thread.
I activated my soul pupils and focused on the spot where the domain-array combination marked the worm’s position. The mont my vision pierced through the layers, I caught it.
A familiar soul energy was wrapped around the creature, shielding it like a quiet blessing. This familiar soul energy belonged to the devil rchant code. Its energy was what let it resist the influence of my blood fate plunder, blunting the authority of the blood rule that stripped it of its prowess.
The mont I realized that the devil rchant code’s energy had arrived for the worm and was actively helping it resist my abilities, a sliver of unease crept in thinking word had called for its help. Things were starting to get out of hand.
But sothing didn’t add up. If the worm can contact the devil rchant code, then why was it still hiding? With devil rchant codes help, it should have already teleported out of here. I pondered with eyes fixed on the patch of ground where the worm lingered.
The worm didn’t respond. It stayed buried, moving cautiously, sticking to hiding instead of escaping. I narrowed my eyes as the realization settled in. The worm wasn’t communicating with the devil rchant code at all. My domain, layered with the desolate dinsion array, was completely sealed. No signals could pass through. Not even a trace of intent could slip past the suppression.
And yet, the devil rchant code’s energy had arrived, wrapped around the worm like a silent blessing, shielding it, helping it resist the influence of my blood fate plunder aning of the blood rule. That was another part that didn’t make sense.
The devil rchant code didn’t act without reason. It wasn’t so benevolent force handing out protection for free. Every action it took ca with a price. It never intervened unless it were to profit from it.
So why was it helping the worm now? I couldn’t find a clean answer—nothing that fit the situation—except one possibility. The devil rchant code granted privileges to those who had conducted a significant volu of transactions with it.
I stared at the ground, my thoughts turning as I speculated, ’Did Gideon Grim earn one of those privileges?’
He had, after all, secured the rights to the card world for the Seven Princes of Hell... or rather, facilitated it. The actual deal had been between the devil rchant code and that faction. This wasn’t it. Gideon had been the bridge—the one who made it happen, but not the one to conduct the transaction.
Then a thought crossed my mind and with it the pieces fell into place. He definitely had a privilege
Gideon continued what he did for his dark faction. He had built a network across all five regions, connecting powerful, wealthy figures to resources they couldn’t obtain within the card world—resources abundantly available on the devil rchant code. Matron and the Supre Leader alone were among his biggest clients. Deals of that scale weren’t one-offs; they stacked, each transaction deepening his credit standing with devil rchant code.
He charged heavily for his services, yes, but that wasn’t the real gain. The real currency was credibility. Transaction volu. Trust in the system’s eyes. Over ti, that would’ve pushed his credit standing high enough for him to gain a privilege of his choosing that no one had ever asked for from the devil rchant code, and he might have asked for a privilege that didn’t require direct communication to activate.
I looked back to where the worm was hiding, the faint trace of that shielding energy still clinging to it. Now, the real question was—what privilege had Gideon actually gained from the devil rchant code?
I narrowed my eyes, piecing together everything I had seen so far. The answer had to be tied to the worm. It wasn’t a coincidence. His current state, this parasitic form... it had to be connected to whatever privilege he had been granted because devil rchant codes energy only arrived when he turned into a worm.
’Sothing like a last resort?’ I muttered, thinking it through. ’A guarantee that the worm survives long enough to find a new host...’
For a mont, that explanation felt close enough to the truth. But I imdiately shook my head as that was too generous. The devil rchant code didn’t hand out open-ended protections like that. Nothing it offered was ever that broad, and certainly not free. Even privileges ca with conditions, limits... and a cost every ti they were used.
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