Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 3122: Suicide Over Life of Slavery – II

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Lil’ Red Storm Realm

“…Is Elven Pride also why you’re contemplating suicide along with the mass detonation of the Frost Elves, and, if possible, taking me down with them?” Dalia’s words stunned Thalorien.

His bloodshot eyes widened before instinctively shifting away from hers. A cold sensation crawled through him, entirely unrelated to Frost Rule while a thought screamed through his mind, ‘Get out of my head!’

How did she know? His plan had never left his thoughts. He had not spoken of it, had not revealed it through his expression, and had barely allowed himself to consider it seriously. Yet Dalia had casually exposed the very contingency he had been keeping hidden.

Before he could gather himself, roots slid beneath his chin. They gently but firmly moved his head back toward her, forcing their eyes to meet once again.

“Unfortunately for you, if you choose suicide, you’ll be dying alone. You should have firsthand experience with our expertise in curses,” Dalia continued. “Yet you still entertain such ignorant thoughts?”

Her words carried unmistakable confidence. Then something changed.

Deep within the Lil’ Red Storm Realm’s crust though, the souls of the Frost Elves suddenly trembled. Nearly a thousand Half-Bloods had willingly accepted the Primordial Calamity Daughter Gem simultaneously.

The transformation happened all at once. The gems sank into their bodies, and the Cursed Primordial Bloodline awakened. For an instant, the curse Thalorien had painstakingly embedded within each of their souls resisted, but the Cursed Primordial Bloodline swallowed it.

The curse that had bound the Frost Elves to Thalorien was devoured, consumed by a power far more fundamental. The chains that had remained buried within their souls for so long simply ceased to exist. Nearly a thousand Bloodkins were born in the same instant.

They had willingly accepted the transformation. They had willingly traded their souls for escape from Thalorien’s clutches.

Dalia’s younger brother had discovered the existence of Thalorien’s curses in their souls long ago. He had also deduced the problem with removing them. The curses were too deeply integrated into their souls. Purging them conventionally would mean destroying the very souls he was trying to save.

There had been no clean solution except for the Primordial Calamity Daughter Gem. By accepting it, the Frost Elves had been given another choice. They could continue living with Thalorien’s curse embedded within their souls, forever fearing his whims. Or they could surrender their souls willingly, allow the Cursed Primordial Bloodline to consume the curse, and become Bloodkins.

They did not hesitate, every single one of them chose the calamity daughter gem without asking further questions. And with that choice, Thalorien’s final means of controlling them disappeared. The curse he had relied upon as his ultimate insurance to protect his experiments was gone.

Just then, nearly a thousand figures suddenly shot out from the surrounding ground around Dalia and Thalorien, rising into the air before hovering above the battlefield.

Every one of them possessed a terrifying aura. Despite having only reached the semi-Ruler-class realm, their individual presence was intimidating enough to make Thalorien’s soul tremble. Their eyes burned with hatred as they stared at Thalorien, and for a brief moment, the restraint they had been forcing upon themselves threatened to crack.

The Frost Elves had not forgotten. Not a single one of them had forgotten what Thalorien had done. However, they bowed respectfully toward Dalia first, acknowledging the one who had given them their current version of freedom. Then their gazes shifted toward Thalorien.

Burning rage filled their eyes. If Dalia had not been standing there, they would have torn him apart without hesitation. They suppressed their hatred and one after another, they descended and assembled behind Dalia’s golden throne, deliberately positioning themselves where Thalorien could see every single one of them.

Thalorien’s expression changed. At almost the exact same moment, his body suffered a violent backlash.

The destruction of nearly a thousand curses he had embedded within the souls of each Frost Elf struck him simultaneously. Blood suddenly spilled from the corner of his mouth as his body trembled. His once-flawless features visibly aged. The smooth, youthful skin of his face began to wrinkle, and his already exhausted aura weakened further as the backlash tore through his soul.

If Dalia hadn’t intervened, the consequences would have been far worse. His soul was already dangerously strained from everything that had happened. The simultaneous destruction of so many of his Ruler-class curses threatened to overwhelm what remained of his consciousness.

Dalia immediately supplied the necessary power to stabilize him. She didn’t do it out of kindness. If Thalorien’s soul deteriorated into a vegetative state, all the effort she had spent trying to recruit him as a Bloodkin would be wasted. She would have no choice but to turn him into a Calamity Daughter Gem instead. And Dalia wanted Thalorien’s will, not merely his power.

By now, Thalorien was no longer surprised by her intervention. He understood that she wanted him alive far more than she wanted him dead. He simply ignored her assistance. Instead, he focused his remaining attention on the Frost Elves.

His Tarnished Glacier’s ability spread across his pupils, probing each of their bodies and souls. What he discovered made his expression change. Every single one of them was astonishingly close to breaking into the Ruler-class realm.

Their previous injuries were gone. The scars left upon their bodies had disappeared. Even more importantly, there was no trace of their souls having ever been used as wombs to contain his curses.

Thalorien’s breathing became heavier. That should have been impossible. He probed deeper to find familiar energies he had sensed before. They were not merely similar to Dalia’s. They shared same fundamental presence he had detected within her.

Thalorien’s eyes widened. His face slowly lost what little color remained in it as he understood the Frost Elves had accepted the seed offered to him, every single one of them.

Thalorien stared at the nearly thousand Frost Elves standing behind Dalia’s throne in a sense of horror as he knew that they were no longer mere Frost Elves but an abomination like Dalia or even more so.