Chapter 257: Ch 257 : A Traveller from Another Multiverse

The silence of the Sunny’s Palace was broken by a sudden, urgent voice in Sunny’s mind.

[Master, A human demigod has appeared in our multiverse… from the description…. it seems, he isn’t from our multiverse, he appeared out of nowhere]

Thea’s voice was calm, but laced with a hint of surprise.

A holographic projection materialized before Sunny’s throne, displaying the image of a young man drifting unconscious in the dark space.

He wore flowing blue robes, now tattered and scorched, and his face was etched with the memory of a betrayal.

“Oh? A human demigod?” Sunny leaned forward, intrigued. “Show me his status panel.”

A new interface shimmered into existence, its blue light reflecting in Sunny’s cosmic mask.

[Name: Merlin

Race: Human

Profession: Card Master (SS-Grade)

Talent: Unlucky Luck (S-Grade), Keen Eyes (S-Grade)

Soul Cards (Bound): Water Control (SS-Grade), Molecular Severance (SS-Grade), Abyssal Pressure (SS-Grade), Blood Ruler (SS-Grade), Formless Body (SS-Grade), Ocean’s Memory (SS-Grade), Eternal Erosion (SS-Grade), Tsunami of Souls (SS-Grade)

Description: A renowned demigod from the Multiverse of Arcana. Cursed with a fortune that brings him disaster, yet blessed with the resilience to turn every calamity into a windfall. His current state is the result of his latest, and greatest, misfortune.]

“Soul Cards…” Sunny murmured, reading the unfamiliar terms. “That is… something new.”

His mind flashed back to the River of Time, to a fleeting memory of the ancient war.

He remembered seeing the God of Cards, a God who commanded legions of warriors wielding bizarre skills sealed within rectangular cards.

They had fought valiantly, drowning demons in summoned oceans and sealing them in paper prisons, but in the end, the sheer force of the Demon Lords had overwhelmed them.

“Thea,” Sunny commanded, standing up. “Teleport him here. I would like to meet this traveler personally.”

A portal tore open in the center of the throne room. From it, a figure walked out; not under his own power, but puppeted by millions of Thea’s microscopic particles that had infiltrated his nervous system to move his unconscious body.

Merlin collapsed gently onto the polished, star-forged floor.

“You may go,” Sunny said to the particles. “Let him rest.”

He activated his God’s Eye.

Instantly, the life of this young man flashed before him like a high-speed film.

Sunny watched Merlin’s birth in a world of card-based magic. He saw the tragic death of his parents, murdered for a rare card.

He saw a young, desperate Merlin delving into ancient ruins, surviving traps that should have killed him, and emerging with knowledge lost of a long lost era.

He saw the moment Merlin found the Heart-Bone of the Primordial Fire Dragon, a treasure of incalculable worth.

And then, Sunny saw the love story.

He watched as Merlin met Calley, the beautiful, icy demigod, in the ruins of a Fire Dragon temple.

He felt Merlin’s caution melt away, replaced by a deep affection. He saw two thousand years of partnership, of fighting back-to-back against monsters and rival guilds. He felt the warmth of their bond, a rare thing in a cold universe.

And then, he felt the knife.

The betrayal played out in agonizing detail. The invasion of the God of White Flame. The fear. The desperate plan to escape.

And finally, the cold steel against Merlin’s throat, held by the woman he loved.

Sunny felt the shock, the heartbreak, and the desperate, last-ditch activation of the SSS-Grade Instant Teleportation Card.

“What a poor soul,” Sunny whispered, a genuine pity in his voice.

He looked at Merlin’s talent, Unlucky Luck. It was a cruel joke. The universe threw him into the fire just so he could find a diamond in the ashes.

“He came here using a teleportation card,” Sunny analyzed, tracing the residual spatial magic on Merlin’s robes. “But the coordinates… they were marked for Adam’s original planet.”

Sunny realized the truth. “With Adam’s planet moved to my subspace, the coordinates led to empty space. If Thea hadn’t found him, he would have drifted forever. I guess this was the final arrangement of the old God of Cards to his successor; a life-saving escape that led to the planet of the king of the Gods, Adam”

He turned his attention to the power system itself. From Merlin’s memories, Sunny unlocked the secrets of Arcana.

It was a path of terrifying potential. A mortal didn’t need to comprehend abstract laws or cultivate for millennia.

They just needed a formula. Find the right materials; the heart of a kraken, the essence of a storm, the tear of a god; combine them with some special techniques, and forge a Card.

Etch that card into your soul, and the power became yours.

An F-Grade card made you stronger. An E-Grade card elevated your profession. And as you grew, your cards grew with you.

When Merlin became an SS-Grade Demigod, every single one of his cards automatically upgraded to SS-Grade.

“Does that mean…” Sunny’s eyes widened behind his mask. “When they become a God… they can have nine SSS-Grade Soul Bound Cards?” (9 because every grade allows only one card, F->SSS)

That meant nine SSS-Grade talents.

“What a bizarre, broken system,” Sunny breathed, his heart pounding with the thrill of discovery. “It’s resource consuming but the ceiling… the ceiling is infinite.”

He immediately began to upload the data. Merlin’s thousands of years of research, his knowledge of card formulas, material locations, and fusion techniques; all of it flowed into Thea.

“Thea,” he commanded, his voice filled with excitement. “I am transferring you the entire knowledge of the Arcana power system” “Analyze it. Cross-reference every material required for card creation with the resources available in this multiverse, the Realm of Advancement, and our new worlds. If we have the ingredients… we can build this.”

[Yes, Master]

Sunny looked down at the unconscious demigod. Merlin was a treasure trove. But he was also a victim.

His mind drifted back to the tragedy he had just witnessed. He saw the final moments again. The coldness in Calley’s eyes. The desperation in Merlin’s.

“Merlin… Merlin…” the God of White Flame had hissed, a holographic tyrant demanding tribute.

“I don’t possess anything,” Merlin had lied, protecting the secret he had shared only with his lover.

And then, the betrayal. “Merlin, my dear… why don’t you just hand it over?”

Sunny clenched his fist. He hated betrayal. But currently, the only thing he can do was to wait for Merlin to wake up.

After half an hour, Merlin stirred. His eyelids fluttered.

The first thing he saw was not the cold space, but the swirling, cosmic face of the Emperor who had just witnessed his entire life.

“Wake up, Card Master,” Sunny whispered. “Your bad luck just ran out.”

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