Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2515: Servitude Or Death!

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Central Region, Central Academic City, Morningstar University District, Morningstar University Campus, Garden of Beginning

An evil sealing thousand curse coffin forged from one thousand and twenty-four curse incarnations, each harboring a ruler-class curse, sealed away every facet of the semi–ruler-class Ovumite was something only an unranked storage item card could hold.

Slay might have appeared calm and compliant on the surface, but beneath that façade, her will fought fiercely against the curses suppressing her strength. Even sealed, her body never ceased its struggle, instinctively resisting the curse’s grip. Empowered by her indomitable will and innate resilience to curses, she relentlessly strained to break free from her confinement.

If not for the continuous flow of primordial energy sustaining the Thousand-Curse Coffin’s sinister seal, her physical form would have eventually overpowered the curse’s influence and shattered it entirely. Honestly, I doubt evil sealing thousand curse coffin would have be able to successfully seal Slay if not for the primordial energy.

Even without the threat of the Card Celestial discovering my use of primordial energy or turning its wrath on her, I doubted I could remove the Evil-Sealing Thousand-Curse Coffin sealing Slay from this past to our present.

Currently, Slay’s body’s innate resistance to curses and the coffin’s primordial soul-powered bindings were locked in a situation similar to the river and the dam. I feared that the temporal and spatial turbulence within this time vestige might disrupt that balance—shifting the scales in Slay’s favor.

This only proved that even without their high realms, the semi-ruler and higher-class dark races were monstrously powerful. Their racial physiques and inherent traits were nothing to underestimate. They were much like me—beings whose true strength couldn’t be measured by realm alone. Any other regular semi-ruler-class devil would have been easily subdued by the Evil-Sealing Thousand-Curse Coffin, even without it being fueled by primordial energy—but not Slay.

It wasn’t that she was stronger; rather, through her racial ability, she had refined her body’s resistance to curses to its utmost limit. It mirrored the way I was immune to the laws of time. Unfortunately for her, that resistance wasn’t absolute. Perhaps one day, just like her, I too would discover the limits of my immunity to the time rule. But I was sure before that unfortunate day arrived I would be prepared for it.

”What else could it be but my pursuit to perfect my body to its zenith? If you’re willing to assist me, I’ll owe you a debt. We Ovumites always repay our gratitude,” Slay replied, her tone resolute and devoid of hesitation. Her words made it clear—her sole obsession was evolving her body to the absolute pinnacle of the myriad realms. In essence, she was declaring her willingness to set aside the differences between us and even owe me a favor, so long as I aided her.

Hearing her out, my brows tightened. She was speaking as though she still held control, as if she could shatter the Evil Sealing Thousand-Curse Coffin at any moment. It seemed I would have to remind her of the reality of her situation. This wasn’t a negotiation between equals—it was more like a death row inmate making a final plea before the execution.

She knew she held no leverage to bargain with me—I held her life and death firmly in my grasp. All it would take was for me to pull out the stake, and the Card Celestial would take care of the rest. Yet, she was acting tough. With all the doors shut, she had no choice but to bluff.

”Beggars don’t get to choose. Here’s the deal, I will not only give you my essence, but also help you refine your body to perfection—if you swear absolute loyalty to me. Otherwise, I’ll remove the stake and let the Celestial Will erase your pitiful existence from this world. You don’t have all day to decide,” I said, my gaze switching to the stake driven through the space time fabric of the physical plane.

I had laid all my cards on the table, without deception or pretense. After all, one cannot be tricked into becoming my bloodkin—the cursed bloodline only accepts those who embrace their fate willingly and completely. That’s why I had to be transparent and honest with Slay.

Now the choice lay entirely with Slay—she could either submit to a lifetime of servitude, trusting my promise to help her refine the perfect body, or die at the hands of the Card Celestial. Knowing the Ovumites’ obsession with achieving bodily perfection, I was confident the odds were in my favor.

Even if she chose death, it wouldn’t matter. I would simply turn her into a Calamity Daughter Gem. After all, a semi–ruler-class Ovumite calamity daughter gem would serve me far better than a dead Ovumite ever could.

”You know, the last person who made me that promise—in exchange for my loyalty—left me to rot in this damned time prison,” Slay spat, her voice dripping with venomous resentment. ”I don’t even know how long it’s been, but it’s been long enough for me to stop believing he’ll ever come back for me. And now, you come offering the same deal. Tell me—how do you expect me to react?”

”The ’Ten Commandments faction’ was annihilated by our predecessors,” I replied evenly. ”The Devil Merchant Code liquidated all your assets to recover its debts, and now the ’Seven Princes of Hell’ faction hold its right to our world. It’s not that no one from your faction wants to save you, Slay—it’s that no one from your faction remains to do so. As for trusting me... I honestly can’t say. But as long as you’re alive, we can find out together. So—what’s your choice?”

I didn’t give her the luxury of dwelling on her emotions; time was slipping away fast. One-fourth of the stake had already turned to ash, and I needed at least half of it intact to fulfill the evolutionary conditions for my fifth transformation. I wasn’t worried about her holding a grudge against me over our predecessors ended her faction. If she did, then good. She had another reason to live.