Die.
"When the man said it
"It was like a command went off ..
"The man's word hit like a system command, echoing in their minds.
First, a single card materialized in the air, glowing crimson. Then, like a storm unleashing, thousands rained down—sharp as blades, humming with mana.
Noel dodged instinctively, Instant Step flickering him sideways in a burst of speed. Too many. Can't outrun this. "Spread out! Don't clump
Anna loosed a fire arrow, the projectile exploding mid-air into a shotgun blast of embers. It incinerated a dozen cards, but hundreds more sliced through, nicking her arm. "These things track heat—my flames are drawing them!"
Rose grabbed Anna's shoulder and Displaced, swapping their positions with two incoming cards.
The cards froze mid-swap, tricked by the spatial warp, then shattered into harmless sparks. "Bought us seconds. What's the play?"
The cards didn't scatter. They swirled, forming a massive arcane array—a glowing mandala overhead, pulsing with power.
"Card cascade . Thousands reformed into razor torrents, diving like guided missiles.
Noel waved his hands, strings erupting from his fingers like spider silk.
They webbed across the clearing, snaring clusters of cards mid-dive.
Pull! He yanked, flinging them into each other—explosions of shredded mana lit the night.
But the array adapted; cards phased through his strings, ethereal now.
"They're evolving!" Rose shouted, Displacing behind the man. She lunged with her dagger—but a card barrier erupted, repelling her.
Backlash hit; her vision blurred from overstrain. "Displacement's lagging... cooldown's kicking in."
Anna condensed fire into her legs, rocketing forward in explosive bursts.
She fired a volley of flaming arrows at the array's core, melting edges—but the cards absorbed the heat, glowing hotter. Opponent Counter: Inferno Bind.
Fiery cards latched onto her legs, siphoning her mana, freezing her mid-stride.
"No!" Noel Instant Stepped to her, strings wrapping the binding cards. He strained, veins bulging—his body screamed from overuse.
One more. Strings sliced clean, freeing Anna, but twenty cards impaled his shoulder. Pain flared; blood dripped.
The man smirked. "Pathetic." The array contracted. Ultimate: Judgment Deck.
Cards compressed into a single, house-sized guillotine blade, plummeting toward them.Rose coughed, shoving Anna aside. "Noel—your seal!"
Faith time. Noel dropped to one knee, ignoring the agony. He formed the lotus hand seal—fingers interlocking like blooming petals.
Mana surged from his core, strings glowing gold. A dome of interwoven threads bloomed around the trio, unfolding to absorb impacts.
The guillotine crashed down. Cards battered the veil—cracks spiderwebbed. Anna pumped fire into her veins for a desperate leg-burst, circling to flank.
Rose, fighting backlash, Displaced a chunk of the blade away, buying seconds.
Inside the straining dome, Noel grinned through gritted teeth. "Now—break it!"
Anna unleashed Fire Comet: legs ignited, she comet-tailed straight through a veil gap, slamming into the array's heart. Explosions chained, cards vaporizing.
Rose synced a final Displacement, swapping the guillotine's core with empty air.
The array shattered. Cards dissolved into mana wisps. The man staggered, eyes widening.
But Noel's veil flickered out. He collapsed, strings retracting
"Got... him?"
The man laughed, a new card forming in his palm. "Amateurs."
"So you know whatever you do so you change your tactics or your pattern. I can see it because .
"I am a seer .
The man paused and said .
"And you haven't even seen the whole extent of power of a seer
"Just fight you damn fool don't lecture me .
Noel who was fighting for so long lost it at last .
Noel wait for a bit . Anna said
He won't Rose relayed to Anna . And right then .
"Noel surged first, Instant Step blurring him forward. Mana coalesced in his palm—a swirling Wind Blade, razor gusts howling like a tempest. He slashed, aiming to bisect the man .
" The man's eyes turned golden shade for a split second .
And he sidestepped before Noel moved, cards blooming into a shield.
"Wind Blade carved air, harmlessly shearing trees behind. "Predictable," the man sneered, countering withLashes of the card a whip of a hundred cards cracking across Noel's chest, drawing blood
Anna retaliated, fire bursting from her legs for speed. She knocked an arrow, channeling inferno—but the man's eyes again turned golden and caught her trajectory.
Cards intercepted mid-flight, absorbing flames into Ember Echoes that hurled back threefold. Anna dove, scorched but alive. "He's seeing our moves
Rose blinked in—Displacement swapping with a nearby card. Dagger plunged—but the man was already gone, Foresight pulling him a step ahead. Mana Bind cards clamped her limbs, sapping her spatial mana.
" She dropped, gasping. "Can't... sync."Dominion absolute. The man advanced, cards orbiting like a deadly halo. "Insects."
Noel coughed blood, forcing mana up. Wither Orb formed—a shriveled black sphere pulsing with desiccation.
"It drained moisture from the air, withering grass to dust, hurtling toward the man to parch his body dry.
The man again predicted the attack and He flicked a finger; Mirror Deck cards reflected the orb back amplified.
Noel Instantly Stepped aside—the orb hit Rose's bindings, freeing her but siphoning her moisture.
She withered, skin cracking, collapsing in agony.
Anna's fire faltered; the man closed in, cards forming a guillotine no veil could stop.
RUMBLE.
The earth betrayed all.
Deep ley lines, frayed by spellfire, ignited.
Cataclysmic Eruption split the ground
Fissures spiderwebbed, glowing crimson.
Geysers of superheated magma blasted upward, 100-meter plumes vaporizing cards mid-air. Steam hissed violently, pressure waves hurling debris like shrapnel storms.
The ground heaved, splitting the clearing into a yawning chasm—jagged rifts 50 meters wide, swallowing scorched earth.
Lava rivers surged, bridges of stone crumbling.
Trees ignited, roots exploding in fireballs.
A shockwave rippled, flinging the man backward into shadows, his cards incinerating in the blaze.
Noel's strings snagged a ledge, yanking the trio to safety as the abyss claimed the spire's base. Roiling heat and ash choked the air; the battlefield. Fractured, eruptions fury a divine reset.
Panting across the divide, the three clung to life.
The man's roar echoed faintly:
"This isn't over yet I will come back
"The three of them heard his roar .
Noel coughed a mouthfool of blood and said
"Hah if you come back again that time it will you who will die