For 30 advance/early chapters : p atreon.com/AutumnXd
( Bonus Chapter)
"Nebula Rainbow Butterfly." Brandt's expression tightened the instant the new Card Spirit came into focus.
We celebrated too soon.
The Nebula Rainbow Butterfly was a Five-Star Rare Card Spirit. Its attack power was mediocre. In a straight fight, it wouldn't last thirty seconds against either the Silver Moon Fox or Mana. But that wasn't what it was built for.
The Nebula Rainbow Butterfly could reshape the environment within a localized area. Temperature, weather, lighting, atmospheric mana density. For Card Spirits that needed specific conditions to reach their full potential, a support card with this ability was worth more than a second attacker. The cost-to-performance ratio was absurd.
And the moment Harlow connected that ability to the Silver Moon Fox's moonlight dependency, the blood drained from his face.
"So that's why Helena was so calm." Harlow's smug composure finally cracked.
On the opposite side of the platform, Edwin Pace's panic evaporated. His expression bloomed into genuine delight as the implications hit him. Silver Moon Fox plus Nebula Rainbow Butterfly. The flight advantage that had seemed insurmountable thirty seconds ago was about to be neutralized.
"The Spellcaster's flight advantage is no longer relevant," Helena said, her smile radiant. "The scales have tipped back to us."
She'd known about the Butterfly all along. In fact, she'd been the one to suggest Lily build it in the first place, specifically to complement the Silver Moon Fox. A prepared countermeasure for any situation where the fox's moonlight access was denied.
She just hadn't expected the first test case to be a friendly exchange match against Ashenvale.
"Five-Star Rare, Nebula Rainbow Butterfly." The new Card Spirit's stats registered in Luke's mind the instant it appeared, and the second detail hit him a beat later. "Commander Realm. She's got two summon slots."
Same as him.
"She summoned a second card? So Lily's Commander Realm too?" Marcus's grin from thirty seconds ago was gone. "This just got a lot worse."
"Second card! You see that?! THIS is our Lily's real strength!" Across the arena, Levi and Zane's despair had evaporated into cheering. Whiplash from the flight reveal to this felt like a roller coaster.
"I wasn't planning to bring the Nebula Rainbow Butterfly into this exchange." Lily's tone carried a note of playful complaint, the first crack in her composed exterior. "But you forced my hand."
She took a breath. The Butterfly's galaxy-patterned wings began to pulse.
"Stellar Shift."
Inside the arena boundaries, the world changed.
The midday sun vanished. Blue sky bled into deep velvet black, studded with pinpricks of silver. And hanging directly overhead, close enough to feel its pull, a full moon bloomed into existence. Its light poured down like liquid silver, washing everything below in a pale, ethereal glow.
Outside the arena, the sun still blazed. The contrast was surreal. Two realities occupying the same space, separated by an invisible line.
"Stellar Shift. Localized environment manipulation." Lily's voice carried clearly through the moonlit arena. "It can't hold forever, but it doesn't need to. This will be enough to end the fight."
The Silver Moon Fox raised its head and howled.
Moonlight flooded its body. Silver fur blazed white-hot. The restrained predator from thirty seconds ago was gone, replaced by something that radiated raw power like an open furnace.
Moon's Blessing. Moonlit Stroll. Both activated simultaneously.
The fox stepped into the air as naturally as stepping onto a staircase. It rose until it was level with Mana, eye to eye, no more altitude gap. The playing field was even again.
The Butterfly didn't wait either. It angled toward Mana from below, wings humming with mana. Five-Star attack power wasn't devastating, but it wasn't something you could ignore while a fully buffed Six-Star Legacy fox bore down from the front.
"Under moonlight, the Silver Moon Fox can walk on air as easily as solid ground." Lily's confidence was burning bright. "Your Spellcaster's flight advantage is gone. And with the Nebula Rainbow Butterfly providing support, this fight is mine."
"Is it?" Luke tilted his head. He didn't look worried. He looked like someone who'd been waiting for exactly this moment. "Mana. Let's wrap this up."
The exchange match had been dragging, and every minute spent here was a minute the Red-Eyes Black Star Dragon simulation wasn't getting his full attention. Luke didn't want to waste time any more than Lily did.
"Got it, Master!" Mana's voice rang out, bright and fierce. The playfulness was gone. Her eyes locked onto the Silver Moon Fox with absolute focus.
Dark Magic Inheritance activated.
Spell Tome materialized in front of her, pages riffling open in a hurricane of luminous script. Ancient symbols cascaded off the pages and sank into her skin. Power flooded her body. Her aura, already formidable, didn't just climb.
It detonated.
A storm of raw mana exploded outward from Mana's body, black and violet energy spiraling around her in a cyclone. The Silver Moon Fox, mid-charge with Godspeed still active, caught the edge of the blast wave and went tumbling backward through the artificial moonlight. The Nebula Rainbow Butterfly fared worse. Its lightweight frame spun end over end until it crashed into the arena barrier.
Neither had gotten close enough to touch her.
Dark Magic Inheritance and Spell Tome. Two buffs stacked on top of a Six-Star Perfect quality base. The combined boost pushed Mana's combat power up by nearly half, shattering every assumption about what a Six-Star card could do.
"What the HELL?! How strong IS she?!"
"This is way beyond what she showed in the exam! She wasn't even trying back then!"
"You could tell me that's a Seven-Star card and I'd believe you. What the actual..."
"So the unified exam was basically a warm-up? She was never under real pressure?"
"None of us would've known if Moonvale hadn't shown up to push the issue."
Even the Ashenvale students who thought they understood Luke's strength were reeling. Watching through a livestream during the exam was one thing. Standing twenty feet away while dark mana shook the ground beneath your feet was something else entirely.
Marcus stared. Hailey stared. Then they looked at each other, and something silent passed between them.
They'd both sworn before the match that they'd catch up to Luke. That they wouldn't let the gap keep widening.
Neither of them said a word about it now.
Plz Throw Powerstones.