Anime Card System

Riding on Pidgeot, Russell quickly reached the top of the mountain. The structure of the peak was strange. It wasn't a flat plateau but rather the gaping maw of a dark cave. If the cave hadn't been cleared out beforehand, its shadowy environment would have been extremely dangerous. However, the Association had installed numerous lighting facilities inside. It wasn't bright, but it was enough to see.

After a moment of thought at the entrance, Russell decided to go in and explore. The Association guides had said no monsters above the Black Iron level would appear, so there shouldn't be any major mistakes on their part. Summoning Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the two of them walked into the cave side by side.

In the monitoring room, the captain of the cardmaker guides ate biscuits and watched the screen. "Young people these days are really brave," he remarked. "He actually dares to go in there? If I remember correctly, isn't there a [Centipede] in that cave?"

The captain admired Russell's courage. If he were that age, he definitely wouldn't have dared to go exploring. Seeing that no one responded, he turned his head curiously and looked at his colleague, who was staring blankly at the screen. "Walter? Walter?"

Seeing that Walter still had no reaction, the captain asked with a little concern, "Are you feeling unwell? Do you want to go back and rest for a while? You've been acting weird all day."

Walter seemed not to hear him, his gaze fixed on the monitor. After a long moment, he seemed to wake from a dream. "Ah? No, no. I was just thinking about my mother."

The captain just shook his head and said nothing more. "Let's get ready, just in case. If this little student can't handle it, we'll need to go in and rescue him." Walter had returned to his dazed look. The captain thought about offering some words of comfort but swallowed them. We're all just here to run out the clock on our careers, he thought. What is there to say?

Tap. Tap.

The sound of Russell's and Yoriichi's footsteps echoed in the empty cave. "Strange," Russell said, puzzled. "Why haven't we encountered any monsters?" They had been inside for a while now, and they hadn't seen a single demon, not even a hair.

Just as he was wondering, he faintly smelled a foul, fishy odor. He turned to Yoriichi. "Yoriichi, do you smell that?"

Yoriichi nodded slightly. He, too, had smelled the strange stench. Seeing his confirmation, Russell's expression turned serious. "Be careful, Yoriichi. There might be a more powerful demon in here."

What would cause an entire area to be devoid of monsters? The most likely reason was the presence of a powerful apex predator that had crushed all other life in its territory. The two of them slowed their pace, continuing to walk forward cautiously. After a long time, they came to a vast, open cavern.

Russell looked at the scene before him in shock, muttering to himself, "This is the 'Thousand-Foot'..."

What appeared before them was the corpse of a centipede that was nearly a hundred meters long, its huge body reflecting a pitch-black luster. It had been cut cleanly in half. But before they could marvel at the sight, a rustling sound from underneath the massive corpse attracted their attention.

"That is..." Russell looked closely and saw a smaller, living centipede, about eight or nine meters long, crawling out from beneath its dead parent.

"Can you handle it, Yunyi?" Russell asked, seeking his card's opinion. "If not, we leave now." Russell was no fool. If they couldn't win, the only option was to run.

But in response, Yoriichi just silently drew the long sword from his sheath. Russell understood what he meant. "Then I'll leave it to you." After a moment's thought, he summoned Pidgeot again.

"You should go up and help him, too," Russell said, stroking Pidgeot's head. Although Pidgeot was just a green-quality card, birds naturally had an advantage over insects. It could still provide support. Pidgeot gently nudged his hand, then launched itself into the air, flying towards the giant centipede.

The centipede, which had been cruising under the massive corpse, was immediately attracted by the flying Pidgeot. "HISS!" It reared the front half of its body, making a shrill sound from its mandibles, then suddenly leaped from the ground toward the bird.

Pidgeot dodged the attack with a nimble turn. The centipede fell back to the ground from mid-air—where Yoriichi had been waiting for it. Burning flames erupted from his blade as he attacked.

But this centipede was clearly an elite monster; it wasn't so easy to deal with. With a sudden burst of strength, it spun its body in mid-air, meeting Yoriichi's flaming blade with its hard, armored carapace.

SCREEE!

Although it failed to completely block the attack, it avoided the fate of being cut in half like its predecessor. It fell heavily to the ground, opened its ferocious mouth, and spat out a cloud of purple poisonous mist.

If Yoriichi had been alone, the situation would have been awkward. But fortunately, there was Pidgeot. Yoriichi grabbed one of Pidgeot's ankles with his free hand and was lifted high into the air, easily avoiding the poisonous fog.

"Sun Breathing, Sixth Form: Burning Bones, Summer Sun!"

From the sky, a red blade wrapped in a vortex of swirling flames descended upon the centipede on the ground. The creature let out a shrill, piercing cry as it was burned alive.

Pidgeot and Yoriichi slowly landed next to Russell. The two men and the bird just watched quietly as the giant centipede writhed in its death throes. After a long time, it finally stopped moving.

"Pidgeot, go test it again," Russell said, maintaining basic caution. He didn't want to fail in a sure-win situation by being careless.

Sure enough, as Pidgeot approached, the centipede, which had been motionless, suddenly lunged forward one last time. Unfortunately for it, it was too weak, and it collapsed to the ground without even touching Pidgeot. After that, it showed no reaction at all, even as Pidgeot poked several bloody holes in its body.

At this moment, Russell approached the corpse with confidence and began to condense the materials.

Black Iron Grade [Centipede] (Purple).

Looking at the material in his hand, Russell couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He was lucky Nancy had reminded him to make a rideable card. If not for Pidgeot, while Yoriichi might have still been able to kill the centipede, it certainly wouldn't have been so easy.

"Wow, this little student is really good!" In the monitoring room, the captain watched Russell kill the Centipede and exclaimed, "Walter, you really should have seen it."

Just as the captain was wondering why Walter was silent again, a heavy, wet gasp came from behind him. "Hoh... hoh... hoh..."

The captain quickly turned to check on his colleague, but it was too late. A scarlet, monstrous claw had already pierced through his chest from behind. Then, he saw his vision spin continuously.

"Wal... Walter? Is that... is that my body?"

Along with the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground, a scarlet figure violently pushed open the door of the monitoring room. The figure sniffed the air, then suddenly rushed off in one direction.

No one knew of the horrifying transformation that had just taken place. Only the blood that gradually seeped out from under the monitoring room door recorded the silent tragedy.

(End of this chapter)