Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2583: I Didn’t Think I Could Love You More

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Central Region, Central Academic City, Morningstar University District, Brothwork Manor, Temporal Separation Array

Ever since the bearded demigod revealed himself, Hive Spirit and I had been on high alert, tracking each demigod across their respective accelerated time streams. I had only one physical pair of eyes—two, if I counted my spiritual body in the spiritual plane. A thousand more if I included my Primordial Clones, and twice that again if I counted their spiritual bodies. Yet, despite all that, I was currently relying on my one pair in my regular form. Even with my abilities, monitoring all of them scattered across different accelerated time streams was far from easy.

Normally, I wouldn’t have been able to maintain this level of awareness. With my time-rule resistance, I would have been pulled directly into whichever accelerated time stream was the fastest. In that scenario, I would exist in the same time flow as the demigod with the greatest mastery over time acceleration, while the others would appear frozen to me.

But now—thanks to my mastery over the space rule working in tandem with my time-rule resistance—I could peer into multiple accelerated time streams while remaining anchored in the original one. It allowed me to see them all, without being forced into any single temporal flow.

Yes, it was incredible—an ability most card apprentices would kill for—but it was also incredibly taxing, even for someone with my capabilities. So the moment an opportunity arose to pull everyone back into the original timeline and ease the strain on my vision, I took it without hesitation.

As for how I managed to summon a black hole—an enormous one, no less—the answer lay in the combination of tools and mastery at my disposal. Using the array core, I seized control over the time within the formation; with my celestial force, I substituted the mass required to anchor the phenomenon; and my command over the space rule—especially its elasticity meaning and the limitless strain rune—made the structure stable enough to manifest.

With all the necessary components at my fingertips, creating a black hole inside the array was simply a matter of intent.

Why, then, were the demigods hiding in their various accelerated time streams forcibly pulled out of them?

Because time slows down near a black hole—an effect predicted by one of the greatest minds from Earth. The moment the black hole formed, its influence collapsed the differences between the streams, dragging them back toward the original flow.

With such a massive black hole disrupting their accelerated time-rule streams, every one of them was dragged back into the original timeline. But I had gone a bit overboard with its size. It was far too large for its own good—and for me to maintain control—so I forced it to consume the very array that had allowed me to summon it. Once the array vanished, the black hole collapsed and evaporated as if it had never existed.

Had it persisted even a moment longer, it would have swallowed me and Jill along with the demigods. And that would have been monumentally stupid on my part.

In my defense, I was creating a black hole. Yes, that should have been even more reason to act with caution and precision, but—well—try playing god for a second and see if you don’t lose yourself just a little. Thankfully, I still had enough presence of mind to fix my mistake before it became fatal.

”Holy shit!” Jill shouted as she rushed toward me, leaping into my arms. Her legs wrapped around my waist, her arms locked around my neck, and she peppered my face with frantic kisses—pausing only long enough to spill out bursts of breathless excitement.

”You... manifested... a black hole... using... space rule... celestial force... the array core... It was freaking awesome! I... love you... I love you... Even though for a moment I thought we were all dead—but then you fed it the array and handled it. Fuck, that was just incredible. And you even used the black hole to drag all these assholes out of hiding.”

She turned toward the hostile demigods, who were still trying to make sense of what had happened—how I had acted faster than they could despite being in the original time stream while they were in accelerated ones, how they had failed to reclaim the array core in time, and why the black hole had pulled them all out.

Jill let out a long sigh. ”Honestly, it would’ve been better if you had tossed these assholes into the black hole along with the array.”

”I would have—if not for their divinities and diamond grimoires,” I said, scanning the demigods to confirm none of them had been accidentally swallowed by the black hole.

”When did you become this strong?” Jill asked, feeling out my energy signature, trying to dissect it and uncover the source of my sudden rise in power.

”I was always this strong. I just never felt the need to show it,” I said, unable to resist the brag. With one of the most beautiful women in my arms and nearly forty-five demigods recoiling in fear, how could I not?

”Oh, I never knew I could love you even more,” Jill breathed. She usually hated my narcissistic streak, but right now she found it charming. I supposed the difference was simple—this time, she’d seen I wasn’t boasting without substance.

Overhearing our exchange, the forty-five demigods exchanged glances and immediately shifted into position, arranging themselves into a precise battle formation.

”What’s the rush?” I called out, taunting them. ”Whether you die now or a few seconds later, death will greet you with the same indifference.”

”Master Wyatt, there is no need for things to escalate. Please—look over the contract and tell us how we can adjust it to your satisfaction. As I said earlier, our Masters are generous and tolerant when it comes to recruiting someone of your prowess and know—”

The bearded demigod never finished his sentence. His body folded inward, collapsing as his divinity and diamond grimoire tore free from him and drifted into my hands.

I stored them away and sighed. ”You talk too much. If you want to fight, then shut up and fight.”