Anime Card System

The person who came was, of course, Russell.

After coming out of the centipede's cave, he found the top of the mountain eerily quiet. The lingering scent of the powerful centipede he had killed kept the lesser monsters at bay. With no more materials to be found there, he had returned to the middle of the mountain to continue his hunt. It was then, from his vantage point high in the air, that he saw a tree fall in the distance. If he had been on the ground, he never would have noticed.

He urged Pidgeot forward, and when he arrived at the scene, he was met with the sight of Darren shoving Nancy directly into the path of a monster.

But now was not the time for words. The monster was already lunging at the fallen Nancy.

"Yoriichi!" Russell's eyes focused, and he released his card.

CLANG!

Yoriichi appeared in a flash, his samurai sword drawn, blocking the monster's sharp, bladed claws just inches from Nancy's face. Only then did Russell have time to turn his cold fury on Darren.

"Darren, it would have been one thing if you had just run away," Russell said, his voice dripping with contempt. "But to use your classmate as a shield to block the blade?" In his opinion, while cowardice was pathetic, what Darren had just done was unforgivable.

Darren, however, became hysterical at Russell's accusation. "It's their honor to die for me, a future Master-level cardmaker!" he shrieked. "Russell, don't you dare meddle in other people's business!"

Russell just sighed, ignoring the madman. He landed Pidgeot and walked over to Nancy, helping her to her feet. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. Aside from being pushed to the ground, she was unharmed. Thinking of what Darren had done, she turned and looked at him, her usual gentle expression now replaced by a cold fury. "I will be telling my father exactly what happened here."

Russell said nothing more. How to deal with Darren was Nancy's business now. Besides, if it were up to him, Darren's fate would probably not be a pleasant one.

Hearing Nancy's words, Darren felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head. His legs went soft, and he fell to his knees. "Nancy, I was wrong! Please, I'm begging you, I'll kowtow to you! Please don't tell your father!" he pleaded, beginning to prostrate himself on the ground. His family was just an ordinary well-off family. Nancy's father was a gold-level cardmaker in the Association. If he found out... Darren's life would be over.

Nancy didn't give him a second glance, turning her attention back to the fight.

At that moment, Yoriichi and the monster were in a standoff, neither daring to make a rash move. But in the end, the mindless monster lost its patience and lunged at Yoriichi first.

"So fast," Russell murmured from the sidelines, his expression solemn. This was the strongest monster he had seen since coming to this world.

Yoriichi barely managed to dodge the monster's main attack, but its speed was so great that its claws still managed to slice several bloody wounds across his forearm.

"Yoriichi, use the pattern," Russell commanded, his brow furrowed. There was no time to delay any longer. Liam's condition on the ground was not good; the longer this fight dragged on, the more danger he was in.

Hearing his master's command, Yoriichi took a deep breath. The reddish-brown, flame-like mark on his forehead seemed to darken and expand. Russell felt a sudden, sharp increase in the consumption of his mental energy, and his face turned pale, but it was still within his tolerance.

The next moment, Yoriichi vanished. When he reappeared, he was already directly in front of the monster. The demon obviously could not react to this sudden, explosive increase in speed. A blade, now wreathed in a brilliant flame, instantly cut through the monster's body.

The creature froze in place, motionless. Squelch. The next moment, the monster split into several pieces. The largest remaining part, its upper torso, fell to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.

Nancy watched this scene in shock. Is this the true strength of Russell's card? she thought. Yoriichi's sudden burst of power made her realize that Russell hadn't been using his full strength in their ranking test at all.

Darren, however, was filled with a venomous jealousy and resentment. Why!? It's him again, always him! He found it impossible to accept. Russell's current performance proved that their duel a few days ago had been a complete joke. It made his own harsh words seem like the pathetic ramblings of a clown.

Which, in Russell's opinion, was exactly what Darren was.

Not caring what the other two thought, Russell frowned and came to Yoriichi's side. The scarlet flesh that was entangled on the monster's body was now slowly dissipating. As the flesh melted away, it revealed a familiar cheek underneath.

Russell's pupils contracted violently when he saw the face.

It was Walter, the Association guide they had met when they first entered the secret realm.

Russell silently moved his body to block the view from the two behind him. He knelt down. "How did you become like this?" he asked softly.

At the last moment of his life, Walter seemed to have regained a sliver of his sanity. He coughed up blood, his words coming in intermittent gasps. "I don't want to... don't want to die..." "My mother... still waiting for me... in the hospital..." Tears streamed down his broken cheeks. "Save... me..." "I'm sorry, Captain..." "Beg..."

Before he could finish his last word, Walter's body finally dissolved completely, like a defeated card. All that was left was a single card, flashing with a scarlet red light.

Russell frowned, hearing the last fragmented word. "Beg?" "The Spirit Begging Society?"

Silently filing this crucial piece of information away, Russell bent down and picked up the card from the ground.

Black Iron Level [Flesh Demon] (Gold).

Russell was shocked. He had expected Walter's own cards to be left behind, not that he himself would condense into a material, as if he were a demon. And it was gold quality. He had never even seen a gold-quality material before; they were exceedingly rare, even on the trading websites.

Just as he was still thinking about what Walter had said, Nancy came up to him. "What's wrong? What did that demon just say?" Thanks to her father, she knew that some demons in the secret realms were highly intelligent and could even speak human languages. She had assumed Walter was one of them.

Russell was silent for a moment, then decided not to tell her about his discovery. "Nothing. It just begged me to kill it quickly." He then changed the subject. "There should be a monitoring station in a realm like this. I'll go check the situation, then go out and ask for help. Yoriichi will stay here to watch over you guys."

Nancy nodded, thinking he was just worried about more centipede monsters. But she didn't know that while Russell was indeed worried about more demons, he was also worried about Darren, who seemed to be on the verge of a mental breakdown. Russell would not underestimate the darkness in the human heart. Who knew what a madman like that might do after he left.

Summoning Pidgeot, Russell quickly headed to the foot of the mountain. When he arrived at the monitoring station, he finally understood why Walter had apologized to his captain.

What appeared before him was a headless corpse with a large, bloody hole in its chest.

Without wasting another second, Russell left the secret realm immediately.

(End of this chapter)