Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2364 Necrophiliac

Chapter 2364  Necrophiliac

Date: Unspecified Time: Unspecified Location: Myriad Realms, Lil. Red Storm, Seed World, Trophy Section, Duel Realm, Crafting Sector, Venue: Chaos Dwarven Forge.

Spiritual Interference technique, as the name suggests, its a spiritual technique designed to disrupt a target's spirituality. Think of it like electromagnetic fields interfering with electronic devices. Just as strong EMFs can fry circuits, a highly skilled practitioner of Spiritual Interference technique—combined with powerful spiritual energy—can leave their target stunned, unconscious, or even comatose.

The effects of this technique aren't limited to living beings; it also impacts anything with a trace of spirituality, including artificial wills. Its effect was more devastivasting on them than regular living beings. In corpse puppet battles, it's fair game for a puppeteer to buff their own puppet or debuff their opponent's puppet. However, directly attacking the opposing puppeteer is strictly against the rules. To stay within the boundaries, Bigold's Armixian champion targeted Dulas's armored corpse puppet with the Spiritual Interference Technique, aiming directly at its artificial will. The artificial will, which acts as the spiritual bridge between a puppeteer and their puppet, ensures seamless control and quick responses.

Armixians are famous for their formidable spiritual power, and this particular puppeteer seemed to have mastered the Spiritual Interference Technique to at least a Grandmaster level. Given this, the armored Frosling corpse puppet should have been rendered non-functional.

Even if its artificial will was exceptionally advanced, it should have suffered significant damage—likely losing connection with Dulas, becoming sluggish, or at least being stunned for a few critical moments.

But what actually happened left everyone dumbfounded.

Despite the Armixian's technique hitting the armored Frosling puppet head-on, severing its connection to Dulas, the puppet recovered almost instantly. Not only that, but it also launched a counterattack with speed and precision far beyond what it had displayed under Dulas's control.

The audience leaned forward, murmuring in confusion.

"How's that even possible?" someone whispered.

"Wait a minute," another spectator muttered, scratching their head. "Without a puppeteer guiding it, how's it moving so fast? Shouldn't it be sluggish?"

And they weren't wrong. By design, corpse puppets are inherently slow when operating autonomously. They rely on their puppeteers' spiritual power to remove this sluggishness and optimize their movements. However, they witnessed that it was other way around in the armored frosling's corpse puppets case. The Armixian stared at the scene, slack-jawed, while Bigold's face twisted in disbelief. Something was off—very off—and everyone in the arena could feel it. Even Dulas was baffled to see her corpse puppet moving faster after it lost its connection with her. A pang of doubt struck her as she silently lamented, 'Was I the one slowing it down because of my inexperience?'

The audience, the contestants, their champions, and even the judges were frozen, trying to process the unexpected development. Breaking the stunned silence, the unknown demon merchant's calm yet commanding voice cut through the air, "I guess I won this round, right?"

The voice wasn't particularly loud, yet somehow, everyone in the colosseum heard it clearly. It snapped them out of their collective shock. The judges bewilderedly glanced at the armored Frosling corpse puppet before announcing the end of the round, pushing their confusion aside for now. As the decision was finalized, the colosseum erupted into cheers, celebrating the dramatic conclusion of the first round.

The Armixian demon merchant, who had represented Bigold in the match, begrudgingly stepped out of the arena. But as he did, his gaze lingered on the unknown demon merchant who had crafted the armored Frosling corpse puppet. His eyes flicked to the two identical armored Froslings standing silently beside the mysterious figure. With an air of resolve, he strode directly toward the unknown demon merchant.

Wyatt, still standing in the arena with his assigned attendant, watched the Armixian's approach, bemused. The crowd held their breath as the Armixian walked right up to Wyatt and asked, loud enough for all to hear, "Can I represent your corpse puppet in the next round as your champion?"

Gasps rippled through the colosseum, followed by a wave of chatter. The atmosphere buzzed with disbelief.

"What did he just say?"

"Did he seriously ask to switch sides?"

Bigold's face turned an alarming shade of crimson, trembling with fury. Ignoring his former champion's audacious betrayal, he focused on sending his next champion into the arena. This time, it was another Armixian, but this one was a devil merchant. The significance of this choice wasn't lost on anyone—devil merchants could supply nearly a hundredfold more spiritual energy to their corpse puppets than a demon merchant, espeically a young Chaos Dwarf of Dulas's realm.

Meanwhile, Dulas weighed her options, torn between pride and practicality. Looking at her opponent, she finally made her decision. "Switch," she announced aloud, stepping back.

Her reasons were clear. She didn't have the skills to counter the Armixians' devastating Spiritual Interference Technique, and the previous round had left her convinced that she was holding her corpse puppet back due to her inexperience and limited spiritual energy reserves.

With that, Dulas and her armored Frosling corpse puppet left the arena, replaced by a hooded and robed figure. As the figure entered the arena, murmurs swept through the audience. Recognition dawned on many faces.

"Wait... isn't that—?"

"It's the Frosling who picked the species and realm of the corpse puppets for this duel!"

"I believe that demon merchant is a necrophiliac. Only those freaks would use their kind as corpse puppet."

Bigold's face darkened as he clenched his fists. Losing the first round had made the stakes even higher. He knew that relying on just one of his Frosling corpse puppets to defeat all three of his opponent's corpse puppet was a gamble—no fool's dream. The pressure weighed heavily on him, and his frustration was growing. His champion had to win now otherwise everything was lost.

Meanwhile, Wyatt's gaze fell on the tall, slender figure of the twelve-armed Armixian demon merchant. Wyatt's voice was calm but firm as he said, "Sorry, but as you can see, I've already chosen my champions. Besides, I'm pretty sure the duel's rules won't allow me to switch champions mid-match."

The Armixian's many hands gestured in a show of understanding, but his next words revealed his true intentions. "I understand. Then how about selling me one of those corpse puppets?" Biore, standing next to Wyatt, smirked knowingly. He had dealt with enough Armixians in the past to anticipate this. Their obsession with corpse puppets was known to all, often driving them to extremes. Just as Biore was about to intervene and take advantage of the situation to curry favor with the unknown demon merchant, a familiar voice interrupted.

"Sir, you're not allowed here. Let me assist you back to your side of the colosseum."

Dulas's voice was steady but polite, her expression a mix of annoyance and determination. Without waiting for a reply, she activated her demon codex. In a blink, the Armixian demon merchant disappeared, teleported back to Bigold's corner of the colosseum.

Biore sighed, his chance to shine slipping away, while Wyatt's lips curled into a faint smile. "Efficient," he remarked, glancing at Dulas.

The audience buzzed with animated murmurs, their excitement heightened by the unexpected drama. The tension in the air was almost electric as every pair of eyes in the colosseum turned toward the arena, eager for the next round to begin.

"Little Frosling, are you a necrophiliac? I like corpse puppets, but even I wouldn't consider turning my own kind into one, let alone using it in battle," the devil merchant Armixian quipped, his voice laced with curiosity and subtle amusement. His twelve arms gestured expressively, as if emphasizing his disbelief.

Moon Fright, however, didn't so much as glance at him. She stood still, her icy demeanor, and waited for the Judges to signal the start of the round. Her silence spoke volumes, frustrating the Armixian but also intriguing him further.

The Judges, sensing the anticipation from the crowd, wasted no time. "Champions, ready or not, Fight!" they declared, their voices echoing through the colosseum.

"Glacier Web," Moon Fright announced with cold precision, her voice cutting through the noise.

As she summoned her corpse puppet, the same imposing Armored Frosling corpse puppet similar to one before materialized in the arena. Without hesitation, it activated its Glacier Silk skill, weaving an enormous web that quickly spanned the entire arena. The audience gasped as the arena walls, ground, and even the air near the web began to freeze over. The glistening ice spread with breathtaking speed, isolating the arena in a cocoon of frost.

Though separated by the freezing web, the audience could still see into the arena through the ice, which now resembled the intricate strands of a glacial cocoon formed from cobwebs. The beauty and menace of the structure left them in awe.

The devil merchant Armixian summoned his corpse puppet, only to find it immediately ensnared in the Glacier Web. The puppet stood frozen in place, unable to move without coming into contact with the deadly threads. The Armixian's brow furrowed as he realized the predicament. His opponent had cornered him within the first moments of the match.

The crowd erupted into murmurs again, their voices a mix of awe and speculation. The Armixian's expression shifted from intrigue to frustration as he tried to devise a way out of this icy trap. Moon Fright, meanwhile, stood calm and collected, her cold, calculating gaze never leaving her opponent.