Chapter 2603: Owning My Mistake

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Southern Capital

That divine retribution was a wake-up call for the Masters. It warned them that the times were changing, and that if they failed to act, this could very well mark the end of their era and the dawn of a new one. So, the Masters chose to act, seeking to preserve their reign over the five regions by strangling the herald of the new era while it was still in its crib.

I blamed myself for all of it. If I had not shown off by signing their ridiculous World Decree, none of this would have happened. They would not have been struck by divine retribution, nor would they have grown so wary of me to the point that they were now willing to threaten one of the four royal families with extinction just to get their way.

It was not as though I had acted without reason. I simply never expected the Masters to come after me through the Southern Royal Family and the Southern Region, turning what the world believed to be my greatest source of strength into a glaring weakness.

Because of my existence, the three mischiefs were no longer what they had been in the Clown Mask’s future vision. The Supreme Leader and the Matron were the most heavily affected by my presence. As for the Emissary of Light, I had yet to encounter him, making him the least affected, or perhaps only indirectly influenced, by my existence.

What was truly interesting was that none of them had grown weaker because of me. On the contrary, they had grown stronger not only in terms of realm, but in their overall means as well. All three had broken through to the demigod realm far earlier than they had in the Clown Mask’s future vision.

Even though I had stolen the Soul Pupils from the Supreme Leader, he had somehow managed to raise his undead card demigod army ahead of the timeline shown in the future vision. That could only mean one thing: he, too, had broken through to the Card Demigod Realm. I suspected he had the backing of a demon or devil merchant, most likely Giddion Grim.

As for the Matron, despite being exposed as Sansa Baylor and placed on the central government’s most-wanted list due to her entanglement with me, she overcame the odds and broke through to the Card Demigod Realm as well, keeping pace with the other two mischiefs.

Lastly, the Emissary of Light. Because of the incident involving Giddion Grim and the rapidly spreading fear of a second demon invasion, he had gained a far greater number of followers ahead of schedule. That surge of faith allowed him to ascend to the Card Demigod Realm and push further ahead with his plans of becoming the True Son of the Card Celestial.

Despite all the variables, all three of them were growing and advancing at an astonishing pace. As a result, they had drawn the attention of the Masters. Especially the Matron and the Emissary of Light, since unlike the Supreme Leader, neither of them were loyal servants of the Masters.

In fact, in the future vision, these two had never even appeared on the Masters’ radar until much later, when they aided the Supreme Leader in killing them after returning from an unsuccessful raid on an unranked dungeon. This time, however, they were already under scrutiny.

That realization worried me. If this continued, it could affect the success rate of the three mischiefs overthrowing the Masters. Because of that, I decided to make myself a sufficiently powerful distraction, one large enough to blindside the Masters and keep their focus away from the three mischiefs.

That was one of the primary reasons I went to the central region in the first place: to showcase my strength and lay out my future plans for the five regions. However, I crossed the line when I chose to flaunt my power by involving the World Decree. That was far more than the Masters could process. It shattered the worldview they had accumulated and reinforced over the course of countless millennia.

For ages uncounted, they had repeated the same actions until those actions became their unquestioned norm. Because of that, when divine retribution finally struck them, it did not feel like punishment for wrongdoing. To them, it felt like being punished despite having done nothing wrong at all. Nothing was more terrifying than that, and it made no sense at all.

That single incident had shattered their entire framework of laws governing the use of the World Decree. As terrifying as that realization was, what frightened them even more was the existence responsible for it. Me.

I had always expected the Masters to come after me. What I never anticipated was that they would do so by holding the Southern Royal Family and the entire Southern Region hostage.

"Should we take that as a threat?" the demigod asked heavily, listening to Madam Art’s warning. "Has the Southern Royal Family grown so rebellious that they now dare not only to shame the central government’s servants, but also to threaten them—"

"Silence!" Madam Art invoked the Silence rule, empowered by her bloodline’s subtle reality distortion. The demigod was instantly rendered mute, his soul energy and rule power collapsing in on themselves. The two nearly plummeted to their deaths, but she caught them with her intent sense before they could fall.

"I warned you enough times," she said coldly. "Now I am detaining the two of you."

"Madam Art, please stop. Let them go," I called out, finally steeling myself to do what needed to be done to prevent all of this.

Madam Art paused, a frown creasing her brow. Then, a gentle smile softened her expression as she reassured me, "Don’t be rash, young man. I know what I’m doing. The Southern Region is not what it once was, but it can still protect its citizens, especially its children."

"Madam Art, what I mean is that I plan to surrender to them and face my date in court."

The moment those words left my mouth, a familiar voice shouted from afar, "Wyatt, have you lost your damn mind?"

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