Chapter 2619: Origin Card: Predatory Upgrade
Chapter 2619: Origin Card: Predatory Upgrade
Date: Unspecified
Time: Unspecified
Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Southern Capital, Guild Association Mall, Warehouse No. 234, Limitless Celestial Domain, Gainover Manor, Mirror Maze Dimension
"You have grown up beautifully, my dear daughter," Gainover’s incarnation said, as the replica Annas dragged Anna, they had restrained, before him. "Forgive the rough welcome. I had to take precautionary measures. After all, your mother and her side of the family have poisoned your mind and heart against me, to the point that instead of holding a banquet to celebrate breaking through to the card demigod realm, you set out on a journey to hunt me, your father."
Restrained and forced to kneel before the most hated being in her life, Anna slowly lifted her swollen, bloodied head. She strained against the replica Annas’ restraints, trying to break free, but no matter how fiercely she struggled, she failed. In the end, she could only glare at the bastard who dared to call her his daughter while slandering her entire family.
"I know you won’t believe me. After all, you have been fed lies for so long that you will refuse to believe the truth even when it is staring right at you, and may cling to those lies instead. I would not blame you for doing so. Still, I know you, my daughter, are stronger than any of them give you credit for. You can handle the truth. The truth I have kept to myself and never allowed another soul to know, fearing they would hurt you if you began to ask questions," Gainover said dramatically, his expressions as striking as each word he spoke. If I did not know better, even I might have begun to second-guess everything I had heard and learned about him.
Not receiving the reaction he expected from Anna, Gainover was not surprised. He continued nonetheless, knowing that if a lie is told often enough, it can come to be perceived as the truth.
"My daughter, they say that I abandoned your mother and married your stepmother over a diamond grimoire. Now that you are a demigod yourself, do you still believe that lie? Do you not feel there is more to it?" Gainover asked, waiting for Anna to react. She had remained unresponsive for so long that he began to wonder whether she was even listening.
Once again, however, he was met only with her bloodlust-filled glare. The sight took him aback, and he frowned, momentarily breaking character. He had not expected Anna to believe his lies, but neither had he expected her to simply ignore them. He had anticipated her lashing out, defending her dumb slut of a mother and her inbred family.
If she had lashed out, he would have taken pleasure in breaking her. Instead, her complete disregard only infuriated him, as though she were deliberately ruining his amusement. Strangely, that indifference stirred his sadistic side. It reminded him of his ex-wife, who had worn the same detached expression when he divorced her and married into the Davis family. Recalling that day, Gainover unconsciously broke into a drooling grin. Only he knew that he would pay any price for a dream nymph card crafted using his ex-wife’s personality rights.
Momentarily, Gainover could not help but entertain the thought of using Anna as a hostage, threatening his ex-wife into satisfying his sadistic desires. The only reason he appeared so laid-back was his belief that Anna was firmly in his grasp, and that the Southern Hope would have no choice but to secure his release.
Several minutes ago, he had been waiting for his inevitable end. Now, however, he saw new possibilities, all made possible by his dumb daughter. Snapping out of his fantasies, he refocused on his original plan: turning his daughter into a weapon against the Southern Royal Family and the Southern Hope. He grew giddy at the thought that the seed he had planted years ago was finally reaching fruition. It was an unexpected windfall at what he perceived to be his darkest hour.
"My dear daughter, it was never about the diamond grimoire. I was merely collateral damage in the struggle for power between the Southern Royal Family and the Southern Royal Court. It all began when your uncle chose to travel the enlightened path. The Southern Ruler was left without an heir. The royal family wanted to choose your mother, but the royal court opposed it because I, her spouse, possessed neither the strength nor the status required to be a prince consort. They told your mother that she would have to divorce me and marry someone stronger or of higher status to become the Southern Heir. Your mother rejected them without hesitation.
"However, I was not fine with it, so I decided to do something about it. I appealed to be granted a diamond grimoire of one of the unparalleled bloodline predecessors. My appeal was rejected without even consideration because they knew that with my origin card ability ’Predatory Upgrade,’ using such a diamond grimoire of one of the unparalleled bloodline predecessors would have allowed me to gain the power to stand beside your mother, making her eligible to become the Southern Heir.
"That is because my origin card ’Predatory Upgrade’ can absorb the power of the grimoires used to upgrade my grimoire. In other words, if the grimoire I used to upgrade my grimoire possessed origin cards, my origin card would permanently take a portion of their power and abilities depending on how high the complementation rate is.
"So I decided to take matters into my own hands and steal a diamond grimoire belonging to one of the unparalleled bloodline predecessors. But before I could succeed, I was caught in the act. I tried to explain myself, yet no one was willing to believe me, more accurately no one was willing to side with me, not even your mother. Although they did not punish me for this crime, the way they looked at me changed, growing worse with each passing day. In the end, I had no choice but to leave, divorcing your mother. Because that was the best for her. I didn’t want to come in the way of her dreams and duty...