Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 173 - 172: One After Another

Chapter 173: Chapter 172: One After Another

Leon encountered the Shuffle Demon at Watchtower Port; otherwise, the Volcanic Island was crawling with creatures, from Fire Melt Salamanders to Salamanders, from Magma Land Sharks to Efreeti—it had everything. A mere Shuffle Demon would never have reached him.

"You smell like Impermanence Cards."

No, it wasn’t Leon who discovered the Shuffle Demon first. It was the Shuffle Demon that found him, jumped in front of him, and only then did he recognize that the short, gnome-like figure hindering his path was a Shuffle Demon.

That wasn’t surprising. Leon had never seen a Shuffle Demon before, and naturally wouldn’t pay attention to one unless it blocked his way. At that moment, he recalled something the Brass Dragon once mentioned—

Shuffle Demons are diminutive fairy-like beings resembling gnomes, obsessively infatuated with fate itself. Their very bodies are composed of cards, roaming between the Material Plane and the Fairy Wilderness, endlessly searching for Impermanence Cards.

"So, then what?" Leon thought to himself. Shuffle Demons collect, trade, and hoard cards—even leaving behind cards for adventurers in desperate need of them. But they might also snatch Impermanence Cards from innocent owners, aiming to manipulate the fate of the multiverse through some incomprehensible means.

"What is it that you want?" Leon asked with genuine curiosity about the Shuffle Demon’s intentions in stopping him.

"Are you carrying Impermanence Cards, or have you come into contact with them?" The Shuffle Demon ignored Leon’s question and instead asked, "Do you have a complete set, or just individual cards?"

Leon had no particular pressing matters to attend to and was simply wandering in Watchtower Port. He wasn’t opposed to indulging the Shuffle Demon in conversation, and said, "Why don’t you answer my question first? You still haven’t answered me."

"Look over there; there’s a cat," the Shuffle Demon suddenly said.

Leon followed the Shuffle Demon’s gaze and indeed saw a cat—skinny and fragile, curled up in the corner of a wall. Then he noticed the Shuffle Demon rubbing its fingers together, summoning a spectral card out of thin air and hurling it at the cat. The spinning card brutally gutted the cat before vanishing.

"So you harmed such a cute little cat, huh?" Leon remarked with a mocking tone. "You’re quite the villain."

"Are you brainless?" The Shuffle Demon snapped, stomping its feet. "Can’t you tell, can’t you even listen to what matters here?"

"If you don’t tell me about those cards, your fate will be just like that of the cat," the Shuffle Demon threatened, pointing at the dead feline, whose wound was already beginning to rot from supernatural forces.

"I don’t care about any cards. But you dared to insult me, and if you don’t apologize, your fate will match that cat’s," Leon declared as he conjured the Catastrophe Blade out of thin air, swinging it toward a large rock by the roadside. With a single strike, he cleaved the rock cleanly in two.

The Shuffle Demon glanced at the halved stone, swallowed nervously, and said, "My apologies for the disturbance."

Cards may be important, but life is even more precious.

Leon watched as the Shuffle Demon instinctively stepped backward, turned to look at the wall behind him, and prepared to use Shuffle Step to retreat through it—a technique that allowed him to pass through non-magical, non-metallic substances to stay as far as possible from the dangerous man.

But naturally, Leon wouldn’t let the Shuffle Demon escape so easily. He raised his finger and cast an immobilization spell.

Leon grabbed the immobilized Shuffle Demon with one hand, dragged it to an empty lot, and tossed it in the center. Crossing his arms, he said, "Did I say you could leave?"

"I’m sorry," the Shuffle Demon apologized without hesitation, its eyes darting around nervously. "If I tell you how to use Impermanence Cards, everything about their effects, can I leave then?"

Leon looked down at the Shuffle Demon, which wasn’t even as tall as his waist, and said, "You’ll tell me everything you know about the Impermanence Cards, including their origin. There isn’t just one set of cards, is there? Tell me about each card’s effects—then maybe I’ll let you go."

"Don’t try anything sneaky. I know you can use Otherworldly Transmission," Leon warned while swinging his sword. "You’re welcome to try it—whether your spell-casting speed outpaces my sword-swinging speed."

The Shuffle Demon wilted instantly upon hearing Leon’s threat, spilling everything it knew in exchange for its life.

If not for its confession, Leon wouldn’t have known the Impermanence Cards had so many legends tied to them.

The Impermanence Cards included an original deck of immense power. Beyond the original deck, countless lesser versions existed throughout the multiverse, containing varying numbers of cards, additional cards, or entirely different compositions.

As for Leon’s deck, it naturally wasn’t the original one. However, deep in the Underground City, there was a female-faced Sphinx guarding a set that, although not original, was still considered a legendary artifact.

Additionally, Impermanence Cards typically existed in decks rather than as individual cards, though this wasn’t always the case.

When used individually, for example, the Flame Card could summon a devil. A higher-tier Flame Card summoned a stronger devil, while a lesser-tier card summoned a weaker one. Waving the Key Card, one could cast the Knocking Skill... Only with a combination of at least 13 cards could one draw from the deck, and once combined, splitting them apart would prove difficult.

Leon couldn’t tell whether the Shuffle Demon was holding back information but felt he had gleaned enough for the moment. Keeping his promise, he let the Shuffle Demon go, watching as it used Otherworldly Transmission to flee... He allowed it to leave, but not to linger.

Where there was a Shuffle Demon, the Blazing Sky Barrier and Death Fear Punishers weren’t far behind. Both groups were well aware of the Shuffle Demon’s obsessive passion for the Impermanence Cards and constantly tracked its movements.

Moments after sending off the Shuffle Demon, Leon noticed someone trailing him. He coughed and said, "I see you, come out."

A tall man stepped out from the corner, clad in exquisite armor.

"I’m Jason, a knight from the Blazing Sky Barrier," he introduced himself. While he resembled a paladin, his demeanor was more akin to that of a Ranger. "I mean no harm."

"I know you mean no harm; otherwise, you’d already be a dead man under my sword," Leon said, putting away his weapon. "What do you want from me?"

"The short gnome you were just speaking with—that’s a Shuffle Demon. Did it give you anything?" Jason asked.

Leon shrugged and spread his hands. "You’ve been tailing us. You can see it didn’t give me anything."

Jason hesitated briefly before saying, "Then you must possess, or have interacted with the Impermanence Cards. They are not to be trifled with, and I hope you can hand them over to us."

"And if I refuse? What are you going to do—kill me?" Leon asked.

"Unless you intend to use the Impermanence Cards for evil or destruction, we won’t resort to forceful methods," Jason replied.

"The Blazing Sky Barrier is a group dedicated to doing good deeds. We won’t harm you, but that doesn’t mean other organizations won’t. The Death Fear Punishers—a malevolent group of undead creatures—hunt down and kill anyone who possesses the Impermanence Cards," Jason patiently explained. "So, if you own them, it’s best to let us safeguard them."

"Relax, I don’t plan to use the Impermanence Cards for evil or destruction. As for the Death Fear Punishers, I’m not afraid of them—unless their leader, the Death Horror Monarch, shows up," Leon said politely. Jason had been respectful and well-meaning, so Leon’s attitude was equally cordial—but only to a certain extent.

"Don’t follow me. Don’t test my patience. My patience isn’t particularly abundant," Leon warned, walking away. All the while, he pondered to himself: with both the Shuffle Demon and Jason of the Blazing Sky Barrier appearing, the imminent arrival of the Death Fear Punishers seemed inevitable.

The Shuffle Demon wasn’t much of a worry; the Blazing Sky Barrier was led by the Solar, and the Death Fear Punishers were commanded by the Death Horror Monarch... There was nothing to gain here, only trouble. Why then would he provoke such a mess, pick a pointless fight, and risk demonstrating his power by battling the Death Fear Punishers? Was he out of his mind, or simply bored?

After counting the months passed, Leon decided it was time. He set off to the Lost Plateau, bringing the Impermanence Cards along to find the Cloud Giants. He planned to offload the burden of the cards to them and, while visiting, also check on the progress of his equipment crafting.