Chapter 2952: Faking My Death
Date: Unspecified
Time: Unspecified
Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City
"Took you long enough," My voice broke the suffocating silence. A ripple spread through space, and I stepped out from a hidden fold in reality as though I had been there all along, quietly watching the entire spectacle unfold.
The expressions on their faces were priceless: Shock, disbelief, relief, and fear. Even Petra’s sand cloud froze midair.
I had to admit, Aqualas’ celestial rule domain, Ocean World, was truly impressive. Strong enough to trap my physical body. Strong enough to crush most beings into paste. But not strong enough to destroy my mutated ego gem. And certainly not strong enough to imprison my spiritual body.
Using my Dual Existence skill, I had replicated Agent Lois’ skill and traveled through the spiritual plane to escape my predicament in the physical plane, appearing far away from the situation and observing it.
Escaping the Ocean World wasn’t particularly difficult. As for the body Aqualas crushed? I had left behind a little something to keep the foolish trio occupied. Judging by everything that had happened afterward, it had worked wonderfully.
Why fake my death? Why sit back and watch the show unfold while Petra risked her life trying to avenge me?
There was a good reason.
When I proposed the wager to Veerott and eventually won, I hadn’t actually expected him to honor it. I expected him to reject it, argue about fairness, even question the terms. Do exactly what Seraphina had done.
Instead, Veerott surprised me. Not only did he accept defeat, he upheld his end of the wager even when it meant standing against his closest friends. That wasn’t something I had anticipated.
Veerott appeared straightforward and honorable. But he wasn’t stupid. Nor was he naive enough to overlook reality. Despite my earlier arguments, we all knew the truth. I knew it, Veerott knew it, Seraphina and Aqualas knew it, we all knew that the duel had been unfair.
The battlefield had been prepared in advance. The curse fields had been designed specifically to exploit Veerott’s weaknesses while maximizing my advantages. From the very beginning, the fight had been tilted in my favor. That much was undeniable. Which was precisely why I expected him to resist the outcome.
Yet he didn’t. Even after realizing all of that, he still chose to honor the wager. He protected me from Aqualas accepting his servitude. He upheld his word going against his own friends. That was when I realized something important. He was being dangerously sincere for someone who just got tricked, that too to the trickster who tricked him.
So I had every reason to doubt why Veerott had upheld his end of the wager.
The more I thought about it, the more it felt as though he had accepted servitude not because he had lost, but because he wanted a legitimate reason to approach me. That immediately put me on guard.
I had every intention of training Veerott into my ace fighter. Someone powerful enough to stand beside me until the very end. But what if he had plans of his own? What if his obedience was merely a means to an end?
Trust was expensive. Especially for someone in my position. So I decided to fake my death, observe, listen, and understand. Only then would I decide whether Veerott was someone I could count on in the long run or whether I should turn him into another Calamity Daughter Gem.
Fortunately, what I had seen and heard so far had exceeded my expectations. Veerott wasn’t scheming or plotting anything. He wasn’t trying to exploit me. The answer was much simpler. The idiot genuinely believed and accepted me as one of his own, a Viltronian.
Granted, a variant with a mutation associated with a rather infamous history. Still, a Viltronian was a Viltronian. That alone had been enough for him to risk everything. Enough to accept servitude, to stand against his friends, and even grieve my death.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure whether I should be touched or concerned. Fortunately, as long as that was the extent of his intentions, there was no problem. I didn’t need to turn him into a Calamity Daughter Gem. My original plans for him remained unchanged, Veerott had passed.
"Wyatt, you’re alive!"
A giant cloud of sand abruptly changed direction and rushed toward me. Petra’s voice rang out from within the swirling mass.
Her surprise was genuine. So was her relief. Then, as though suddenly remembering who I was, she snorted. "I knew you wouldn’t die from something like that."
I raised an eyebrow. That was rich coming from the person who had just tried to avenge me so hard she nearly turned Veerott into a decorative statue from the inside out.
Meanwhile, Veerott gently set Aqualas down beside Seraphina. Then, ignoring both of their frantic calls to stop, he shot toward me. He crossed the distance in an instant and stopped a few steps away before lowering himself into a deep bow.
"Master, forgive me. I mistakenly assumed you were dead."
The battlefield fell silent. Even Petra’s sand cloud froze midair. I blinked. Then I looked down at the giant Viltronian bowing before me.
"Master?" I repeated the word with amusement. Well, this idiot was apparently serious, but I had expected loyalty. I hadn’t expected him to adapt to servitude this quickly even though he had his own agenda. That was both impressive and slightly alarming.
I glanced past him toward Aqualas and Seraphina. The two looked as though their souls were trying to escape their bodies. Needless to say, their expressions were quite entertaining.
Smiling faintly, I decided to tease them a little. So, I remarked to Veerott, "I gave them an opportunity to leave here alive and unharmed. But they chose otherwise. And they attempted to kill me. So naturally, I should respond accordingly."
Aqualas stiffened and Seraphina’s face immediately paled. Both of them knew I wasn’t making an empty threat.
Meanwhile, Petra had been preparing to attack Veerott the moment he approached me. After all, charging toward someone who had supposedly just died and resurrected was rarely a good sign.
But the scene before her completely shattered her expectations. Veerott wasn’t attacking. He wasn’t even arguing. He had bowed, that too voluntarily and respectfully. And he had called Southern Hope... Master.
Petra’s stone eyes widened. Her gaze darted between me, Veerott, Aqualas, and Seraphina. The latter two looked as though they wanted to drag Veerott away by force.
Veerott, meanwhile, looked perfectly sincere. The realization struck Petra immediately. She was missing a very large piece of the story, a huge chunk of it.
