Miracle Card Shop: All My Cards Can Be Actualize

Chapter 395: Transcending Unrecognition

Greed raced through the streets, utilizing sidewalks to speed back to her mansion. Despite the panic and curses directed at her by passersby, she paid them no mind, driven by the urgent need to return as soon as possible. Police officers attempting to restore order were startled by Greed's daring riding style and quickly moved to apprehend her.

"Stop your vehicle at once, lady! This is the police!" one officer shouted through the amplifier, but Greed ignored the command, continuing her fast-paced journey toward Lombard Street, where her mansion awaited.

Within moments, a police helicopter joined the pursuit, drawn by Greed's conspicuous driving style that was anything but low-profile. Though the searchlight illuminated her, she persisted without halting.

"Goddamn it, you doughnut lovers!, 25% of your damn salary comes from me!" Greed muttered under her breath, frustrated by the escalating chase from both ground and sky, the helicopter's searchlight fixed unwaveringly on her.

Growing increasingly annoyed by the traffic and the persistent aerial pursuit, Greed cast another spell atop the Mechanical Performance Enhancement, activating the AetherWheel. The spell took effect, causing her motorcycle's wheels to glow with an ethereal blue light as it ascended buildings nearby, leaping from rooftop to rooftop with the ease of traversing a regular road.

Approaching Lombard Street, Greed deftly maneuvered the motorcycle into a narrow alley, evading the helicopter's searchlight within the darkness. Abandoning the now-damaged motorcycle, she continued on foot toward Lombard Street.

However, upon reaching the area, Greed encountered another repellent bound field spell in operation. Fear surged through her as she worried about her mansion and the people there, especially little Sylvana.

Determined, she summoned all her willpower and mana, activating her 'Insignia' full of precast formulas for defensive and enhancement spells to shield herself against potential mental and physical attacks.

The spell enhanced her physical capabilities and erected various defensive shields around her. However, this state drained a significant portion of her already meager mana reserves, and her mana vein couldn't sustain it for long. She knew she could only maintain this heightened state for a maximum of ten minutes.

Pushing through the bound field, Greed hurried toward her mansion. Yet, just as she approached, two elegantly dressed men in long coats and suits blocked her path. "You must be Ms. Greed. Come with us, now!" one of them commanded.

"Who are you people?" Greed demanded, suspicion coloring her tone. While part of her believed they were connected to Golden Scale's warnings, she also entertained the possibility that they were deceiving her or acting on false information.

"You don't need to know," the man in the long coat replied calmly, his hand glowing with a sleeping spell.

Before he could unleash the spell, a large vine from a nearby bush on Lombard Street shot out toward him. Reacting swiftly, the man in the suit activated a shield spell using his insignia, successfully blocking the attack from the vine.

At that moment, another large vine surged from the opposite side of the street, aiming to strike. The man in the coat swiftly dispelled his sleeping spell and used his insignia to block the attack.

The clash of magic reverberated through the air, and suddenly, a blond man in a green winter coat materialized. In his hand floated an emerald-like jewel on a blue flower-shaped object.

This was the Foci, primarily used by Elven mages to concentrate their mana, much like a mana staff or wand used by other mages.

"Ms. Greed, go! I'll hold them off!" the man boomed. He was none other than Patrick Dupont, his slightly pointed ear revealing his Half-Elf heritage. This was his true form, devoid of any illusions to conceal his identity.

"Thank you, Patrick!" Greed expressed her gratitude before swiftly darting toward her mansion.

The two men attempted to impede Greed, but Patrick intervened, using his magic to manipulate the trees along the roadside. The trees rapidly grew into massive giants, blocking Greed's path. The men quickly retreated to avoid being crushed by the expanding trees.

Turning their attention to Patrick, the mages in long coats regarded him with hostility. "Mr. Dupont, you may be strong, but remember, my partner and I are of equal rank to you. You're biting off more than you can chew," one of the mages warned.

"Heh... I never aimed to defeat you both in the first place," Patrick replied confidently. With a surge of mana into his Foci, he spoke in an unfamiliar Elven language, causing the trees and bushes around Lombard Street to transform into towering, terrifying colossal trees.

Patrick leaped onto one of these colossal trees, turning the street into a prehistoric forest where danger could lurk from any direction.

Recognizing the immense mana drain from Patrick's large-scale spell, the two mages weren't in a hurry to attack immediately. However, it was the opposite to Patrick. He knew he had to end the battle swiftly before his mana reserves depleted.

— Oceanos - Command Center —

Within the expansive futuristic confines of the Oceanos bridge and command center, Odysseus remained fixated on the colossal screen displaying a 360-degree view of San Francisco. The screen showcased Scylla's relentless assault on the protective shield Envy had erected around the city.

Thanks to the advanced teleportation portal and communication tower established by Daniel in Japan, Odysseus, a strategist and commander within the High Command, had swapped places with Heracles. His role demanded a presence in directing the broader strategic landscape, making it more convenient for him to be at the command center.

"Any updates from our units within the city? Has there been any communication from our teams?" Odysseus's voice echoed with urgency as he addressed his subordinates.

"Negative, sir! We've lost contact with all observation posts within the city. The situation inside is unknown," his subordinate reported.

The gravity of the situation weighed heavily on Odysseus. Each time he blinked, the scene before him felt surreal, almost as if it were a fresh shock with every awakening. Were it not for the numerous marks counting the times he lost his focus in the notebook he scribbled in front of him, he might have doubted the reality of the ongoing crisis.

However, he found it impossible to take notes or record the crisis with his hand while also focusing on the screen. It felt like something was preventing him from forming coherent thoughts or words to note down in his notebook.

Frustrated and feeling powerless, Odysseus grappled with the challenge of relaying this critical information to his master on the front lines in New Mexico.

"Sir, you need to see this!" A subordinate burst into the command room, holding a snake. Odysseus recognized the creature as Envy's familiar and gestured for his subordinate to approach.

The snake coiled around Odysseus's hand before disgorging a small red jewel. Illuminated runes appeared within the jewel, and Envy's voice emanated from it.

"Odysseus, I'll be brief... Here's the latest information I have." Envy relayed crucial details about the ongoing events, including insights gleaned from Golden Scale. The communication was strictly one-way, preventing any direct dialogue between them. Furthermore, Envy's ability to send frequent updates was hindered by her need to maintain the protective shield over the city.

After a moment, the voice on the jewel disappeared, but the magical rune remained usable. Odysseus could replay the words anytime by pouring a little bit of mana into it. The familiar vanished into smoke, prompting Odysseus to close his eyes and issue a command.

"Shut down the monitor and cease observing the scene in San Francisco," his order was promptly executed, and the screen displaying San Francisco vanished. After the monitor went dark, Odysseus opened his eyes.

"Bring up the map, not the real-time feed. We will work from there without directly viewing the scene in San Francisco," Odysseus directed.

A static map of San Francisco appeared on the screen as Odysseus began working on his console. He marked several locations in San Francisco with red circles and then listened to Envy's information again. Based on this, he deduced the most likely place where Scylla would appear.

This is a countermeasure Odysseus had devised. Directly viewing the events in San Francisco will trigger the magic bound field effect of unrecognition, but the marks in his notebook indicated that relying on secondhand or deduced information allowed him to bypass the effects of the bound field, which prevented anyone witnessing the events from recognizing them.

"Someone, contact Maria and report what happened to Mr. Emberweave," Odysseus commanded.

Odysseus worked diligently, instructing his subordinates to take note and save the data he had devised in both the storage and notebook. Then, he tried another method he had thought of.

"Open the sound system and attempt to receive audio from the direction of San Francisco," he commanded. The sound system was activated, and soon the roar of Scylla, accompanied by the crashing waves and tsunami against the shield, filled his ears.

Odysseus focused intently on the notes he had made in his notebook and couldn't help but let out a satisfied smirk, indicating that his plan had succeeded.

"Yes! It worked." Odysseus uttered. The sound wasn't accounted for. The spell only affects those who directly witnessed the event. Since the term 'witness' is closely associated with seeing, it implies that it only prevents recognition by sight. His gamble had paid off!