Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2708: Alliance? Are you worthy?

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, TSR Guild Headquarters

The saintess and her two companions stared at me in shock, clearly questioning whether I was serious. Honestly, they hadn’t expected such an answer from me.

Then, assuming I was foolish enough to openly declare my intentions of world domination, they began to wonder if I truly meant it. It wasn’t just them. Anyone in their position would have come to the same conclusion.

However, Corey didn’t like the looks on their faces and snapped immediately. "Hey, what’s with that expression? Are you looking down on us?"

"No. If we were, we wouldn’t have come here to propose an alliance between our two sides," the Saintess replied patiently, having already learned not to take Corey’s provocations to heart. But what Corey said next made her forget that lesson entirely.

"An alliance?" Corey scoffed. "Are you even worth allying with?"

Seeing the Saintess’s face darken with fury, Corey continued, unfazed. "Don’t get me wrong. The Freedom Fighters and Border City are already part of our forces. People like Henricks and City Lord Tess Malvin have sworn their loyalty to Wyatt. So what makes you think that you, a mere demigod from the Empire, are qualified to ally with us?"

At Corey’s words, both Jake’s and Eliza’s eyes widened in shock.

Since the Saintess’s arrival, they had deliberately cut off contact with the outside world. All their resources and attention had been poured into a single objective: helping Pax inherit the Demigod Godson’s relics and ascend as quickly as possible to demigodhood.

Their information channels were no longer as robust as they once had been. If not for the Grimoire network and the world declarations issued by the royal families and the government, they would have been completely unable to keep pace with the rapid changes unfolding in the present.

Because the Freedom Fighters and the Border City forces hadn’t formally received me alongside the rest of my forces today at the city’s teleportation hub, they remained unaware that I already commanded two demigod-level powers.

They also did not know the true horror of the three mischiefs and Gideon Grim. Because of that ignorance, Jake, Elinor, and even the Saintess were beginning to believe that I might actually stand a chance against the Emissary of Light, his allies, and their combined forces with just Freedom Fighters and Border city backing me.

The Saintess herself was cautiously optimistic. She understood the Emissary of Light better than most, and she had personally witnessed me destroy his soul projection even when he had been empowered by Faith drawn from a live broadcast. She knew that repeating such a feat in direct confrontation would be far more difficult, but considering the form I had revealed to the world she believed it was possible.

"Hahaha," the Saintess laughed with confidence. "You do have quite the lineup, I’ll give you that. Maybe you’ll survive this first wave of attackers. But what about the next one? And the one after that?"

Her gaze sharpened. "You’ve heard the world declaration issued by the four royal families and the central government. They won’t stop until they’ve captured you and stripped away everything you’ve built. Mark my words, it will be an endless wave of attacks."

She paused, letting the weight of it settle. "How long do you think you can hold out? A few days? A couple of weeks? A month? No matter how long you endure, all you’ll be doing is delaying the inevitable."

Then her tone shifted, measured and deliberate. "But if you ally with me, I can show you a way out of this predicament."

"And how is that?" Corey asked. Though she would hate to admit it, the Saintess had raised several points that were difficult to dismiss. Yes, they had a few demigods on their side, but as the Saintess had pointed out, they weren’t facing only the Emissary of Light and his allies. They were facing the entire world.

How long could they realistically hold the fort? And to what ends? Corey believed in her boss’s strength, but the idea of him standing alone against the whole world was something she couldn’t fathom. Even considering it felt foolish. She couldn’t help but wonder what her boss had been thinking when he declared world domination across the five regions.

Yes, she blamed him for not knowing how to control his women. She even found herself wondering what he was trying to compensate for by choosing three women for himself. If one of them hadn’t been her mother and another her godmother, she would have had plenty to say to the women who had willingly chosen to live and die alongside him.

She could understand her mother. After all, she too had signed the standard contract for the Devil Merchant Token. But the other two? What kind of childhood have they had? Had their parents never told them they were loved or that they mattered?

There was far too much to unpack, so she cut the thought short as the Saintess spoke.

"I have a way to secure the help we need," the Saintess said calmly, "not only to defeat the Emissary of Light without suffering any losses, but also to overthrow the four royal families and the Masters."

"By getting us help, do you mean hiring outside forces?" Corey asked, frowning. She tried to imagine who the Saintess could possibly be referring to. They were up against all five regions. There were no powers within them strong enough to challenge the royal families and the government itself.

A thought struck her, and her expression tightened. "Are you talking about the Supreme Beings?"

"No, I’m not," Saintess denied, and glanced at me before continuing, "I’m talking about practitioners from other realms. Don’t be alarmed. I know how it sounds, but I promise you they are neither demons nor devils. They aren’t from the Dark Realm, but from various other realms within the Myriad Realms."