Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2653: Dangerously Beautiful Way Beyond

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Unknown

I glanced at the guard captain, who was focused on his recovery, before beginning to scout for a suitable place to set up Dalie’s teleportation array and connect it to her teleportation array network.

At first, I considered that since I was already here in the uncharted Way Beyond, I might as well explore it, turning my return trip into an adventure filled with exploration and foraging. I had only heard of how dangerously beautiful the Way Beyond was, with its bountiful resources, but now that I am here, I might as well check it out for myself.

However, if even part of what I had heard about the Way Beyond were true, then I couldn’t turn my return trip to the five regions into an adventure, because the guard captain, though an elite demigod, was not capable of tagging along with me on such a journey.

Therefore, I decided to set up a teleportation array in a secluded place nearby, use it to return home with the guard captain, and come back for the adventure I had planned when I had more time on my hands.

After all, I had three urgent commitments that I had to attend to no matter what: one with Morningstar University, another with my calamity daughter core, Cuth Diya, and the last with Moon Frost and her tribe in the Dark Realm. These commitments would vastly affect my future plans, so I couldn’t afford to neglect them.

Having made up my mind, I headed up the nearby mountain, as earlier one of the floating heads had found an empty cave there. With proper arrangements, the cave could be transformed and used as a long-standing teleportation hub.

It would also serve as a good resource point when the freedom fighters explore this part of the Way Beyond. Apart from those working on the teleportation hubs, most of the freedom fighters were sitting on their asses. I planned to have them explore the surroundings and forage for resources.

I wasn’t worried that their strength would be insufficient to explore this land, because while surveying my surroundings, the thousand-plus floating heads had found that apart from a few peculiar flora forming the limited vegetation at the foot of these mountains, there were no other living creatures in these mountain ranges. It was totally deserted.

Besides, the freedom fighters had experience exploring and inhabiting unknown realms. The uncharted Way Beyond shouldn’t be that hard for them, especially with a teleportation hub nearby for escape in case of emergency.

As I flew uphill, leaving a limitless barrier around the guard captain, allowing him to focus on his recovery without any worries, I found the quietness very peaceful. Except for the two of us, there was no other being in these mountain ranges.

Yes, I found the situation weird for two reasons. First, this place was nothing like the monster- and supreme-being-crawling Way Beyond I had heard of. Second, why would the Emissary of Light bother to throw me into a safe zone despite losing a substantial amount of faith over it? Things didn’t add up. The Emissary of Light I knew wasn’t the type to forgive someone. There had to be a reason he teleported us here, out of all the places in the Way Beyond.

Therefore, I was very cautious. I made use of my primordial soul pupils to explore ahead before heading into the cave. My giant floating heads had already checked the surroundings thoroughly with their soul pupils and found no threats, but since this involved the Emissary of Light, I had to be extra cautious.

After making sure there were no surprises hidden in the cave, I entered it. Heading deeper inside, I found a space large enough to host a large-scale platform capable of supporting multiple teleportation arrays.

Just as I was about to begin setting up the array formations, I sensed that the guard captain had awakened, completing his recovery. I remotely retrieved the limitless barrier protecting him while signaling where he could find me.

Then, I summoned my primordial spirit clones and got busy laying the foundation, reinforcing the cave structure, and setting up several protective array formations before moving on to erecting the teleportation array formations.

Working as a team, with our combined efforts, it didn’t take long to turn the cave into the infrastructure for a teleportation hub. Meanwhile, the guard captain stood guard at the cave entrance, careful not to get in the way of whatever it was I was doing.

He didn’t pester me with his fears; he quietly stood guard, letting me do what I wanted without question. It was a vast difference compared to his reaction when he learned that we were in the uncharted part of the Way Beyond. Now, he felt like a veteran card demigod who had served in the Southern Watch, distinguished and outstanding enough to be trusted by the royal to guard my city.

Just as my clones and I began setting up the teleportation array on the platform we had just designed, we sensed a change in the surrounding soul pathways. The oxygen and soul power content in the cave’s atmosphere was rapidly being replaced by what looked like an energized yet stable form of methane.

Noticing this rapid change, without hesitation, I retrieved my clones and rushed out of the cave toward the guard captain, only to find him passed out, with the entire valley and the peaks of the mountain range devoid of oxygen and soul energy, drowning in a fog of an energized yet stable form of methane. Due to the heaviness of this energized methane, even the blowing wind had come to a halt. The entire mountain range had turned into one massive disaster. I was finally beginning to understand why these mountain ranges were devoid of living creatures.

I immediately covered both myself and the unconscious guard captain in a limitless barrier before checking on him. As I inspected him with my soul pupils, I found that his entire soul pathways were clogged with this an energized yet stable form of methane, rendering him unconscious. Had I arrived a few hours later, he would have died from poisoning and suffocation, though I couldn’t guarantee which would have claimed his life first.

Just as I was grasping for a way to save the guard captain, a deep, unnatural rumble tore through the valley. A massive boulder broke free, rolling down the mountainside like a harbinger of the end. My blood ran cold as I watched it create a snowball effect, causing multiple stones to roll down colliding and crashing into one another. Seeing the sparks fly, I cursed aloud, ”Fuck!!!”

BOOOOM!!!

In an instant, the entire mountain range, from its highest peak to its lowest foothills, detonated.