Chapter 693: Escape

Translated by: La0o9

Edited by: Dr.Lock

Proofreader: Arya

Intense black light enveloped the desert, plunging a large area of sand into darkness.

A man appeared right in the middle of it all.

He was wearing a black coat covered in runes, a black hat with a wide rim that was pulled down, concealing his face.

The only place within that area of the desert unaffected by the darkness was the Demon Scorpion Empress.

The man looked around before focusing his attention on the Demon Scorpion Empress.

“Where’s the person?” he questioned.

The Demon Scorpion Empress covered her mouth and yawned: “You’re asking me?”

“Nonsense, of course I’m asking you!” the man angrily snapped at her.

The Demon Scorpion Empress tilted her head and thought for a bit before answering: “Ah, they were here before, but I don’t know where they are now”

“Are you making fun of me?”

“I’m only telling you the truth”

“Good, good, very good, just you wait, I’ll find that card first then we’ll talk about you”

He stomped his feet, about to leave.

All of a sudden, his expression changed and threw out 7-8 cards at once.

Layers upon layers of light covered him, forming a wall of darkness, several thick s.h.i.+elds, a golem wearing armor as well as a faint black protective barrier.

——-bam!

A streak of light shot straight at him at incredible speed.

Being hit by this light, the walls all collapsed, the s.h.i.+elds all broke, the golem was pierced through, only the faint black barrier managed to barely stop the streak of light.

The black-clothed man was sent flying several feet backward.

He crouched on the ground, cautiously looking up at the barrier.

A sharp stinger had pierced through the barrier, sinking more than half-way in.

Just a bit more and the stinger would’ve gone through the barrier completely.

“Scorpion Empress, were you the one who took that card? Are you asking for a fight!?”

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The man’s expression became serious as he drew a card from the void of s.p.a.ce, showing it to the Demon Scorpion Empress.

The only thing depicted on the card was a horn.

A war horn.

The Demon Scorpion Empress slowly pulled her stinger back and spoke in a cold tone of voice: “It’s useless no matter who you call, anyone who tried to recollect what happened just now will only find that I’m protecting my dignity”

“First you’ll find that card, then we’ll talk about me?” she mimicked his tone of voice from before.

“How do you think Greyhan is going to judge that? I’m quite willing for a fight right now if that’s what you want. I guarantee you will be slowly devoured bit by bit, only after you’re thoroughly eaten away will you get to lose your consciousness”

While saying that, the Demon Scorpion Empress was slightly dangling her stinger back and forth.

Her upper half was a rare human beauty, but her lower half was that of a fierce scorpion.

The sharp stinger at the end of her tail was aiming closely at the man’s heart as if she was ready to strike again at any time.

“Hmph! If you dare to touch that card, then you’re the one who broke the treaty, you’re the one who triggered the war” the man spoke again, unconvinced.

The Demon Scorpion Empress grinned.

“I was wondering why that card was able to sneak out by itself, turns out it was because Greyhan left a brainless moron to watch over it. Can’t blame anyone else for that” she scoffed.

“When I get the evidence, you won’t be laughing anymore” the man spoke in a threatening voice.

He had regained his calm and took out another card.

“Past Recollection!”

The man uttered those words and activated the card in his hand.

From the darkness, strands of light began to gather and formed the projection of a card.

In just a few moments, several dozen projections had manifested.

The man walked in front of each card and carefully checked them.

The humanoid card puppets, the scimitar, the True Crimson Demon Spear, as well as random equipment cards—– every card that the girl had used in this place reappeared as a projection, showing itself in front of the man.

He checked each one until he saw a certain card.

[Abyss of Sin summoning – Monarch’s Descent]

The man’s expression changed.

He finally understood, the Demon Scorpion Empress was actually summoned here.

Which instantly cleared her name and proved her innocence.

Considering his tone from before, he really did offend her.

However——-

Why is the Demon Scorpion Empress doing such a redundant thing?

The man looked at the Demon Scorpion Empress again and spoke in a low voice: “If the summoning has been dismissed, why are you still here?”

The Demon Scorpion Empress glared at him: “Are you interrogating me?”

The man paused a bit, then changed his tone: “May I ask you why you are still here?”

The Demon Scorpion Empress answered: “s.h.i.+t for brains, you still don’t understand that? Because I live in this desert, where else would I go?”

The man froze.

Just like that, everything she’s done so far is justified.

He suddenly realized, regardless if it was her that did it or not, she had already bought more than enough time for the card.

With just my power alone, I won’t be able to track that card anymore.

He sighed.

Such a crucial card suddenly disappearing without a trace made me completely fl.u.s.tered.

I have no one to blame but myself for being too panicked, allowing this scorpion to lead me around the nose like that.

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Thinking that, he no longer hesitated, took out a card and activated it.

Very quickly, a stern male voice came from the card.

「 Did you find it yet? 」

“Teacher, the card summoned the Demon Scorpion Empress to stop me, so I haven’t found it yet” the man glared intensely at the Demon Scorpion Empress and spoke.

「 The Demon Scorpion Empress? 」

The other side went silent briefly.

A book suddenly appeared from the card and flew in front of the Demon Scorpion Empress.

The Demon Scorpion Empress smiled and placed her hand on the cover of the book.

The book spoke: [The treaty is intact, the Empress was only summoned here!]

The man became fl.u.s.tered and knelt down: “Sir Greyhan, she attacked me!”

「 We will talk about this later, you must immediately go and bring that card back to me 」the stern male voice on the other side spoke.

“Yes!” the man quickly replied.

Another book appeared in front of him.

The book opened by itself, showing a single card on each page.

「 These are the 537 restraining cards that I placed on that card, I will grant you permission to use them, so get that card back right this instant! 」

“Yes sir!”

The man took the book and immediately flew away.

But the card he used to communicate still remained active.

The man called Greyhan spoke solemnly: 「 Empress, I must inform you sincerely, that card is very crucial for me, I hope you understand that well 」

“What does that have to do with me? I was only taking a stroll in the desert when someone summoned me, I’m still a bit confused here y’know” the Demon Scorpion Empress smiled and answered him.

Greyhan went silent briefly before also chuckling: 「 I also do not believe that you would interfere with my card refining process. After all, this is only my personal matter while you are a n.o.ble monarch 」

“Of course, you only just have to focus on managing your black market, and we will live here in peace as we always have, that was the deal”

「 Indeed 」Greyhan agreed.

“But that disciple of yours certainly does have the natural arrogance of a card user. I personally feel that it’s only causing him to be dumber and dumber”

The Demon Scorpion Empress continued: “Interfering with you isn’t going to bring our Abyss of Sin any benefit, this is as clear as day, so you should’ve believed me instead of that moron who ruined everything from the very beginning”

After a moment of silence, the other side sighed: 「 It couldn’t be helped, I have a bit of urgent business on my hand so I can’t return right away. I could only leave managing the black market to that disciple of mine. Who could’ve known he would be that incompetent 」

Greyhan’s tone contained a bit of annoyance.

He already saw the results of the recollection and knew that the Demon Scorpion Empress was summoned here.

Our mutual treaty was also still intact.

And just as she said, stopping me wouldn’t give her any benefits.

When someone stands at the level of the Demon Scorpion Empress, without sufficient benefit, she wouldn’t even bother to look at you.

Which means——-

This entire situation really was caused by that useless disciple of mine.

What a fool, card users have a natural advantage against many other Professions, but if one can’t maintain clarity and humility, they will surely stagnate due to their own self-righteousness.

This disciple of mine has always been too hung up on his own status.

I have to teach him everything again from the very beginning, to make sure that he can give a sober look at the truth and Laws!

Unfortunately, I’m still several million World Layers away so I can’t return right now.

I wouldn’t be able to do anything about teaching that dumb disciple or retrieving that card.

And so, even the ever-calm Greyhan was feeling a bit fl.u.s.tered right now.

「 If my disciple had shown any rudeness, I apologize to you on his behalf 」Greyhan spoke.

The Demon Scorpion Empress replied: “That’s fine, it’s nothing but a small matter, but I hope you won’t arbitrarily bother me like this again. I’m not that free of a person”

Greyhan paused a bit and spoke in a gentler tone: 「 Please don’t worry, I have used several hundred restraining techniques on that card, so it will be retrieved and carefully looked-after soon. It won’t bother you again 」

“Hm, that’s a good thing” the Demon Scorpion Empress replied with a pleased tone.

「 Then I shall excuse myself 」

“Goodbye”

The card disappeared.

The other lingering spells also vanished.

The Demon Scorpion Empress silently stood there and fell into silence.

A while later.

She exhaled lightly: “I can only help you two so much”

…

Within the endless desert.

Gu Qing Shan was still running away.

He didn’t see anything or anyone chasing him, but he still felt anxious and restrained.

To be able to imprison a card of this level, the other party must be incredibly formidable, and most likely unbeatable.

If this card was really as crucial as he thought it was, the other party wouldn’t only have a single layer of security on it.

After a while, Gu Qing Shan’s expression changed.

The anxiety in his mind suddenly shot up, he was feeling a faint sense of death from his spirit sense.

Unlike other Professions, cultivators must go through a Tribulation to advance to the next level each time, making the process extremely difficult.

But there was also a certain benefit, that was they gained a highly sensitive spirit sense that allowed them to faintly predict future situations ahead of time.

Even though Gu Qing Shan was now a long distance away from where they fought before, he could faintly tell that the chase had only just begun.

Something was after them.

Gu Qing Shan stopped.

He tapped his Inventory Bag and released the card from it.

As soon as the card appeared, it turned back into the girl in a white outfit.

“Try using your spell cards to see if we’re safe yet or not” Gu Qing Shan told her.

“Definitely not” the girl spoke worriedly, “I still have many card-type restraints on me right now, some of them must be tracking techniques”

Gu Qing Shan took out the [Blood Sea G.o.d Army] card and showed her: “If I give this card to you, can you remove those restraints and tracking techniques from yourself?”

“I need some time” the girl answered.