advance/early chapters : p atreon.com/Ritesh_Jadhav0869
Under the cover of pitch-black night, Kai and Kumoko stealthily observed the massive ships in the distance—silent and still.
"So... why did Lord Six want me to impersonate him?" The middle-aged man who just wanted to get by wore a bitter expression. He'd never expected such a dangerous task would be waiting for him.
However, after glancing at the fearsome spider monster beside him, he couldn't help but calm down. It should be fine, right?
Judging from the aura he sensed, Lord Six's card was indeed incredibly strong.
But relying on just one card to test the demons in the distance...
It was still a bit much.
That's right—in addition to revealing the existence of Emerald-rank demons to the Association, Russell had also assigned Kai another task: take Kumoko to probe Grath's forces.
After all, what happened on the coast before couldn't even be called a fight.
This was a good opportunity for Kumoko to appraise and assess the specific situation.
"At least Lord Six said if we're outmatched, we can just run." Thinking of Russell's final instructions, Kai felt slightly relieved.
Running away was good. Running away was what he did best.
Besides, the spider card beside him had just demonstrated spatial abilities. Fighting head-on might be questionable, but escaping with his life shouldn't be a problem.
Realizing his survival might depend on Russell's card, Kai smiled ingratiatingly. "Hehehe, Lady Spider, would you like an apple?"
As he spoke, he pulled a large bag of apples from the shadows beside him.
From the words "East-Haven Little Horse Fresh Supermarket" printed on the plastic bag, it was clear they'd been purchased recently.
"Oh!! Uncle, you're pretty smart~!"
Kumoko's compound eyes lit up. She grabbed several apples with her front legs and began munching.
Unfortunately, Kai couldn't understand spider language.
But from her actions and expressions, the middle-aged man could roughly judge that the spider-lord before him had accepted his goodwill.
God knows how he could read expressions on a spider's face.
"Strange." Watching Kumoko chew an apple with puffed cheeks, Kai fell into thought. "Why do I feel like Lord Six's card is starting to look... cute?"
The middle-aged man looked again—and only saw several pairs of scarlet compound eyes staring back at him.
Kai froze. "Lady Spider, are you full? Then... shall we go?"
Kumoko picked at her lips with a front leg. "Since you're so considerate, the great Spider-sama will ensure your safety~"
Kai still didn't understand what Kumoko said. But after hearing her hiss a few times, he roughly guessed it meant "Let's do this!"
"Then I'll be in your care, Lady Spider." The middle-aged man bowed, then steadied himself and began recalling how Lord Six usually acted.
In just a breath, his fawning expression transformed into calm composure.
After all, he'd been lurking in Southvale for years. He had to have real skills. Simply disguising himself as someone he frequently encountered was no problem.
A ripple of energy—and man and spider arrived not far from the giant steel ships.
"Who goes there!"
A cold, sharp roar. A massive wave of sword pressure instantly slashed toward where Kumoko and Kai stood.
In a flash, Kumoko grabbed Kai and teleported away.
Wiping nonexistent sweat from his forehead, Kumoko sighed. "Whew That was close"
The calm sea surface was instantly split in two. After a moment, surging seawater rushed back to fill the gap torn by the sword pressure.
"...A cardmaker?"
On the mast of the giant ship—rocking from the churning water—Grath stood, having appeared at some point.
Looking at the strange pair in the distance, the sword-wielding young man frowned slightly. "Whatever. Now that you're here, don't think about leaving."
As he finished speaking, several brilliant sword-lights streaked across the night sky.
But unfortunately, such attacks weren't nearly enough to hit Kumoko, who possessed spatial abilities.
Grath frowned at the strange duo that had dodged his attacks again. He couldn't help but click his tongue in annoyance. "What a troublesome opponent."
In other words, Kumoko had never met a certain Heavenly Lord Han—otherwise she'd be spouting those classic lines about "When Time isn't around, Space is king" right about now.
And...
Kumoko wasn't the type to just stand there taking hits.
The next moment, dense magic circles appeared above the giant ships.
Countless spherical and spear-shaped energy attacks rained down on the fleet below.
Gazing at the magic circles that blocked out the sky, Grath took a deep breath and gripped his sword tightly. "In all the myriad worlds, nothing escapes my blade!"
As his words fell, a sword-light far larger than the previous ones slashed from the sea surface toward the sky.
BOOM!
The dazzling sword-light instantly offset Kumoko's dark magic.
The violent explosion lit up the dark night sky.
Such a massive commotion naturally didn't go unnoticed by the Association cardmakers along the coastline.
Russell looked at the scene in the distance and thought silently: It's time to begin, Kumoko.
Just now, Kumoko had sent over her appraisal information.
[Name: Grath]
[Title: Sword King of the Seven Seas]
[Rank: Gold]
[Droppable Materials: Pirate Swordsman]
Just as Russell was processing Grath's information, Luther asked beside him, "Who's fighting those demons?"
Russell came back to himself slightly and shook his head. "No idea."
Zayne looked at the distant scene, a hint of doubt flickering in his eyes.
Luther frowned at the sword-lights continuously flying toward the horizon. "Could it be a cardmaker from another city?"
He hadn't thought about the Spirit Begging Society at all. In the square-faced middle-aged man's opinion, it would be good enough if that unstable element didn't cause more trouble. How could they possibly be helping against the demons?
As the situation had developed suddenly, no one present suggested going to investigate.
What if it was a trap?
On the other side.
Kumoko used spatial magic to help Kai dodge the flying sword-lights.
But hiding forever wasn't a solution.
She couldn't help but mutter, "Second Minister of Magic, are you ready~?"
"Ready, ready. Don't rush me."
"Then let's give him a taste of the killer move we specially prepared~!"
"[Abyss Magic: Hell Gate]!"
The next moment, a massive gate—with a demon's head carved at its peak—materialized above the sea.
The door slowly opened. Surrounding seawater began pouring in.
As the water was gradually swallowed, an enormous whirlpool began forming where the giant steel ships were anchored.
Dozens of massive vessels started spinning uncontrollably.
At that moment, a cold snort suddenly sounded.
"Hmph!"
The ships that were about to collide with each other suddenly stopped.
No matter how turbulent the water became, the fleet of giant vessels seemed to be sailing on calm seas. They escaped the whirlpool in moments.
"My apologies, Your Majesty." A man with somewhat feminine features appeared beside Grath. "I—"
But before he could finish, Grath cut him off with a raised hand. "It's fine. You had reason to act."
"Otherwise, we might have lost most of our ships before the plan even started."
The man nodded slightly and said nothing more.
In the distance, seeing the commotion growing louder, Luther couldn't help but say, "Vice President, it doesn't look like a trap."
"Should we go take a look?"
After pretending to consider for a moment, Russell agreed. "Alright. But if things look wrong, we withdraw immediately."
Seeing the young man agree, Luther felt relieved. He was worried the person fighting the monsters might be a cardmaker from a nearby city.
After ordering their subordinates to stay alert, the three Gold-rank cardmakers of East-Haven quickly headed toward the battle site.
However, as they approached, they noticed the giant ships—which had been spinning in the whirlpool—suddenly stabilized.
Seeing this, Luther's pupils contracted. "What?!"
His shock was understandable.
After all, they'd believed it was Zayne's Chancellor Tortoise creating dangerous sea conditions that had successfully driven back these demons.
At least, that's what they'd thought.
But this scene clearly showed the demons had means to counter the harsh environment.
So why had they retreated before? That was worth pondering.
"Vice President." Luther looked seriously at the young man beside him.
"I know." Russell frowned, indicating he'd also made the connection.
[Name: Townes]
[Title: Fleet Second Officer]
[Rank: Gold]
[Droppable Materials: Astrologer Navigator]
At that moment, Kumoko also sent the latest appraisal information.
So there really is more than one Gold-rank demon. Russell's heart sank.
He'd felt something was off during the earlier exchange with Grath. Logically, such a large fleet couldn't have only one Gold-rank demon.
After all, there had been twenty to thirty Gold-rank demons in the [Curser] secret realm before—even if most were just cannon fodder.
I wonder if there are other Gold-rank demons hiding.
If one could hide, there could be a second. Or a third.
Better to be careful.
Besides, the title "Second Officer" already revealed some information.
Soon, the three arrived at the battle site.
Looking at the man and spider confronting the demons, Luther and Zayne showed surprise. "Spirit Begging Society?!"
They'd never expected the ones fighting the demons would be from the Society.
And they knew this person.
It was the young man who'd beaten Lucas Shaw last time.
Kai, standing beside Kumoko, felt his heart jump when he saw Russell and the others. But his professional training kept his face perfectly composed.
Mimicking Russell's tone from memory, Kai's lips curled into a mocking smile. "I thought the Association was full of turtles, hiding on shore and too scared to come out."
But after seeing Lord Six looking at him, he couldn't help feeling uneasy.
After all, that insult had technically included Lord Six too.
Your Excellency is magnanimous. This is all for the mission. He should understand. The middle-aged man kept reassuring himself.
In reality, he was overthinking. Russell was looking at Kumoko.
Hearing what Kai said, Russell curled his lip. "Bold words from you secretive Society types."
After checking your eyes, Lord Six, you're speaking from the heart, right?!
A surge of grief and indignation welled up in Kai. He said angrily, "...Without me, you'd probably still be in the dark."
He ultimately chose to move past the subject.
At this point, Luther asked gravely, "What exactly is the Spirit Begging Society planning?!"
Zayne just watched everything unfold in silence. He didn't quite understand what his lord's purpose was.
Kai glanced at them with disdain and said casually, "Here's a freebie. There's an Emerald-rank being hiding behind this group of demons."
After he finished, he and the white spider vanished in a flash.
Only Russell, his two companions, and two demons remained on the field.
Whoosh!
A merciless sword-light suddenly came slashing down. The two sides had nothing to discuss.
Earlier, Grath had suppressed his urge to attack due to the complicated situation with three forces present.
Now that Kai had left, he naturally had no more reservations.
In an instant, a transparent barrier materialized before Russell and the others, blocking the attack.
It was Aizen.
To be safe, all three had summoned their cards before arriving.
This was exactly what Russell had wanted.
Since then, Kyōka Suigetsu had been secretly affecting the senses of the two middle-aged men beside him.
On the field, an orange-yellow beam tore across the sea surface and arrived before Grath in an instant.
Grath turned slightly, dodging the Railgun.
Just as he turned to say something, a massive black coffin instantly enveloped him.
"Let's go." Russell retreated toward the coastline without hesitation.
Obviously, a Black Coffin cast without incantation couldn't harm the two demons. He'd only used it to buy them time.
Zayne and Luther naturally recognized that the black coffin standing between heaven and earth was their Vice President's work. They immediately followed Russell's retreat.
The three vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.
In the dark woods, a figure looked at the empty space before him and scratched his head. "Guess I'll head back."
This was naturally Kai, having returned to his original appearance.
"Lord Six shouldn't be angry, right?" Thinking of his rather disrespectful remarks, Kai couldn't help but worry.
But then he thought of something. "Speaking of which, why didn't Lord Six choose someone else?"
"Could it be..." The middle-aged man's eyes lit up. "Lord Six trusts me?"
He slapped his fist in realization. "What? I scared myself for nothing."
"But that card of his, hmm..."
To avoid exposure, Kai had barely used his own cards throughout the whole operation—relying entirely on Kumoko to fight.
It had to be said: though she looked terrifying, her combat power was indeed incredible.
But maybe for the Spirit Begging Society, being terrifying was actually an advantage?
Most importantly, she had that cheat-like spatial ability.
"That's amazing. Why can't I have something like that?"
As soon as this thought crossed his mind, Kai slapped himself. "Kai, Kai. Don't dream about impossible things."
For someone like him, having Purple-quality cards was already plenty. He was far better off than ordinary people who weren't even cardmakers.
BOOM!
The pitch-black coffin shattered.
Grath held his sword, expression dark.
"That technique..."
"Tsk."
Though he wasn't injured, he'd felt somewhat threatened by the brown-haired man and the white spider monster.
And everything that happened tonight had left him confused.
A sudden probe. An abrupt end to the battle.
It made him feel as uncomfortable as interrupted training.
Grath sheathed his sword and asked Townes, his tone unhappy. "When can Will get here?"
Hearing this, Townes bowed slightly. "Your Majesty, it may take some time before King Will can free himself."
"Tsk." Grath clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. "Tell the subordinates to prepare something. I'm hungry."
"Yes, Your Majesty."