You told Alice the significance of these two items.
You made a request of Alice.
You wanted to absorb the Evil God's power to mend your severely wounded soul.
Shen Sui had originally come to Alice's side on the pretext that he was badly injured and needed help. He needed to instill in Alice the idea that he was not free labor, so that she would not become dependent on him.
That would be more conducive to Alice's growth.
Fuck, why was this starting to feel more and more like raising a daughter? Shen Sui grumbled inwardly.
Every gain required a price.
Now was the time for Alice to pay the price for asking Claude to act during the City of Sin incident.
Alice agreed to your request, but she would not allow an entire city to be sacrificed. You explained to Alice how to bypass the third condition, as well as how to guide the Evil God's power for you to absorb.
Alice used Arson on the annihilated Thunder Knights, destroying the evidence.
Alice continued toward Anlud.
While Alice was on her way to Anlud, Shen Sui opened the undownloaded Life Card section. These were the Life Cards Shen Sui had yet to load onto physical cards, and he could modify them before loading them.
At this point, only six undownloaded Life Cards remained. Aside from the three God Cards and Sacred Relic Cards that could not be obtained due to insufficient Soul Card rank, there were also Evil God's Eye, Sok Fatis's Contract, and Price Gouging.
Card Name: Price Gouging Category: Spell Card Star Rating: 7 Stars Effect: When your opponent pays Soul Points to use a Life Card, you may reveal the top card of your deck, add it to your hand, and activate this card. Your opponent must pay an additional X Soul Points; otherwise, the effect of the Life Card they used is negated and destroyed. If your opponent pays an additional cost due to this card's effect, reduce the Star Rating of the Life Card added to your hand by this card's effect by X. (X is the Star Rating of the revealed card.)
After looking over Price Gouging's effect, Shen Sui suddenly had an idea.
He had many Storage Boxes scattered across the continent. Aside from a vast number of skill books and pieces of equipment, they also contained all kinds of ores he had collected. Alice would definitely need to sell these things in the future.
Could he take this opportunity to see whether he could develop a profiteer form for Alice?
The moment Shen Sui saw Price Gouging, he had already decided on its effect. Profiteer Alice could increase the costs paid by her opponents.
Who cared whether it was Netherworld or not?
Shen Sui was exploring the possibilities of Life Card effects.
Sok Fatis's Contract was a Spell Card that could only summon Sok Fatis. It was of no use to Shen Sui for the time being, but Evil God's Eye gave him a pleasant surprise.
Card Name: Evil God's Eye Category: Equipment Spell Card Star Rating: 9 Stars Effect: Target one Follower on your opponent's field and equip this card to it. Gain control of the equipped Follower. When this card leaves the field, destroy the equipped Follower.
Although it was merely a simple and brutal control-stealing card, cards like this were far more powerful in Soul Card Duels than one might imagine.
That was because the concept of releasing in Soul Card Duels was much easier to fulfill than in Yu-Gi-Oh!
In Yu-Gi-Oh!, you needed a high-level monster in your hand before you could release a monster on the field.
But in Soul Card Duels, you could directly release Followers in exchange for Soul Points.
Stealing the opponent's powerful Follower, then releasing it to convert it into your own resources—this was a fine bit of cuckoldry right in front of its owner.
After reading the cards, Shen Sui quickly switched back to the main screen.
At this moment, Alice had just entered Anlud City.
Alice entered Anlud City, yet she felt that something was off.
Anlud City was a typical mountain city. Looking upward from the city gates, building after building rose straight up along the mountainside. The city's architecture followed a highly uniform style of red roofs and white outer walls, forming a red-and-white vista before Alice's eyes.
Alice decided to head first to Anlud's underground sewer system and find Claude's treasure chest.
However, Anlud's underground sewer system was undergoing repairs.
What a coincidence?
Alice did not believe it. She became even more suspicious of the Thunder Church here.
You used Divine Detection on Anlud City.
You detected the divinity of the Lord of Thunder and Sok Fatis.
Following your formula, Alice began purchasing materials throughout Anlud City.
She raised her head and looked toward Anlud Thunder Church at the mountaintop. Alice sensed an indifference, a lofty indifference that disregarded the lives of those at the bottom.
Once she considered this, Alice finally understood what had felt strange to her.
There were no nobles at Anlud City's gates collecting entry fees.
That was unreasonable. Based on her own experience, Alice came to this conclusion. The nobles of these small cities would never give up any source of income.
Alice began exploring Anlud.
In Anlud, every shop run by nobles had its doors tightly shut.
The nobles seemed to have vanished from Anlud City.
Seeing this, even Shen Sui realized something was wrong. Could it be that the ritual to summon the Evil God had already reached its final stage, and all it lacked was the item in Alice's hands to complete the final piece?
Calculating the timing, if the Thunder Knights transporting Evil God's Eye and the contract had followed their original plan, they would indeed have arrived in Anlud City around now.
Alice guessed that the Evil God's ritual had already begun.
Her plan needed to accelerate.
Alice began moving through Anlud City according to your method.
Under your guidance, Alice began setting up a Magic Array.
She planted a longsword at the city gates.
She placed a kettle in a well.
She hung a pocket watch from the clock tower.
She handed a bowl of rice to a beggar by the roadside.
.
Alice spent the entire day running around, yet she seemed to be doing nothing of any apparent significance.
But she still carried out every step without hesitation. She believed that your method would surely save Anlud City from destruction.
At night, under the cover of darkness, Alice infiltrated the summit of Anlud Mountain, the highest point in the city.
Looking up at the stars in the sky, Alice pressed her palms together, closed her eyes, and recited the incantation you had taught her:
"Stars above, night bear witness. May this body of mine bear the hardships of this world."
Alice put on a sapphire necklace.
The instant she put on the necklace, a mysterious power surged within the sapphire. Then, silver lines appeared before Alice's eyes, weaving through Anlud City. They followed the paths Alice had traveled during the day, linking together the people she had encountered and the items she had placed. At last, an enormous Magic Array that enveloped all of Anlud City appeared before Alice. Yet to everyone else, it happened without a sound.
Ding! You have obtained the Permanent Spell Card: Twilight Saintess's Protection.
Card Name: Twilight Saintess's Protection Category: Permanent Spell Card Star Rating: 10 Stars Effect: As long as this card remains on the field, whenever a Follower on your field is attacked or affected by an opponent's card effect, this effect must activate, negating that attack or card effect. Then, you take 1000 damage.
Next, it was time to create the sacrifice for Sok Fatis.
Shen Sui's lips curled upward. Whether I can replenish a large number of Follower Cards in one go depends on you, Alice.
Before you continue