Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City

"You...!" Petra’s head snapped toward Aero. Any consideration she had for Aero or Aqualas because of their past together vanished instantly. At that moment, there was only one target in her eyes. "I’m going to kill you, Aero!"

The fury in her voice startled even the others. It wasn’t because she cared that Southern Hope had been killed. Petra had never particularly cared about Card Apprentices in general.

What enraged her was something else entirely. Someone under her protection had been killed on her watch. How was she supposed to explain this to Bloodette? How was she supposed to face her afterward? 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The thought alone filled Petra with murderous intent. Aero, however, paid little attention to her outburst. They were in the sky, his sky. As far as he was concerned, Petra was practically powerless here. No matter how angry she became, there was very little she could do against him within his own domain.

Or so he thought.

To Aero’s surprise, the gases composing his body suddenly began to change. The countless atmospheric gases that formed him rapidly condensed and solidified into their mineral states. Carbon crystallized. Sulfur hardened. Metallic particles fused together.

In an instant, large portions of his gaseous body turned to stone-like minerals. The transformation spread through him with terrifying speed. His body was being petrified from the inside out, turning him into a one big stone statue. Trapping his will within the statue, such that he couldn’t escape with the wind.

Aero’s eyes widened in disbelief. Before he could react, Petra was already in front of him, with one hand wrapped around his petrified neck and the other clenched into a fist.

For perhaps the first time since his arrival, genuine fear appeared on Aero’s face. Petra wasn’t bluffing. She truly intended to kill him. Just as she prepared to snap his neck, Aqualas’s panicked voice rang out across the battlefield, "Petra, no!"

"You know what happens if he dies! The consequence of killing him is resetting life as we know it!"

The Ocean Supreme shot forward in alarm. The words caused even Seraphine and Veerott to stiffen. Because unlike most threats uttered by Supreme Beings, this wasn’t an exaggeration. Aero wasn’t merely the Gas Supreme. He was tied to the atmosphere itself. The sky, the weather, the very air countless forms of life depended upon. Killing him wasn’t simply killing a powerful being. It risked destabilizing the foundation of an entire world.

Yet despite Aqualas’s warning, Petra’s grip did not loosen. If anything, it tightened further. For a brief and terrifying moment, everyone present wondered whether Petra was angry enough to do it anyway.

"Why is the curse field still active?" Veerott asked as he stepped out of the protective water sphere.

Now that the immediate threat had been neutralized, even if it had been done by the enemy, there was no reason for him to remain hidden behind Aqualas’s protection.

Seraphine also emerged from her own water sphere and calmly answered, "He didn’t die."

Her gaze swept across the battlefield before settling on the still-active One Thousand Curse Fields surrounding them.

"Something like this isn’t enough to kill him. According to my source, killing him without destroying his mutated Ego Gem is simply impossible."

The moment those words were spoken, Aqualas’s eyes widened. She finally realized what Seraphine was implying. The curse field was still functioning perfectly. Thousands of ruler-class curses remained active. The field’s suppression effects had not weakened in the slightest. Which could only mean one thing. The Southern Hope was alive somewhere watching, listening, waiting.

As the realization spread through the group, the atmosphere became noticeably tense. Aqualas glanced around instinctively. Veerott narrowed his eyes.

Even Petra paused for a brief moment, though her grip around Aero’s petrified neck remained as firm as ever.

Only Seraphine appeared unsurprised. After everything she had learned about the Southern Hope from her grand niece, him surviving an attack like Aero’s no longer seemed impossible to her. It seemed expected.

Taking a deep breath, she raised her voice and addressed the seemingly empty battlefield, "Wyatt, stop playing around. Show yourself. If Petra kills Aero, it will be the end of life in this realm as we know it."

Her words echoed through the gray world of curses. Unlike the others, Seraphine wasn’t merely concerned about Aero. She was concerned about Petra.

Because if Southern Hope truly had died, she couldn’t have done anything to calm the furious Stone Supreme, who didn’t seem to have reason not to kill Aero. After all, even if all of the life on the planet were to die, the Supreme Beings would continue to walk the realm like nothing happened.

And judging from the murderous intent radiating from Petra, Seraphine wasn’t entirely convinced that even Wyatt could stop her. There was another reason Petra was so reluctant to spare Aero.

Meanwhile, Aqualas knew exactly what it was: Bloodette. The same Bloodette who had been the source of countless conflicts between Petra and Aqualas over the millennia. The same Bloodette whom Aero had never truly accepted. Both Petra and Aqualas understood what would happen once Aero finished venting his frustrations on the Card Apprentices. His attention would inevitably turn toward Bloodette. And that was something Petra absolutely refused to allow.

The atmosphere grew heavier as Petra’s grip tightened around Aero’s petrified neck. Just as everyone feared she was about to crush it, my voice echoed across the battlefield, "Petra, don’t kill him."

The words immediately drew everyone’s attention. Moments later, I stepped out from the space where I had been hiding, revealing myself once again.

"Just seal him within his petrified body. That should be enough to stop him from harming Bloodette or anyone else."

Relief flashed across Aqualas’s face. Seraphine and Veerott also looked visibly relaxed. As for Petra, she finally paused. Meanwhile, I studied Aero’s condition with newfound interest.

I had experienced Petra’s petrification ability before, back in the Way Beyond, but this was the first time I had seen her use it to such an extent. The results were far more terrifying than I had initially realized. Back then, Petra had only petrified my physical body. My mutated Ego Gem had remained untouched.

At the time, I had assumed that was the limit of her ability. Now I wasn’t so sure. Judging from Aero’s current state, Petra appeared capable of extending her petrification far beyond the physical level and at spiritual level too. The thought sent a chill through me.

If she had chosen to petrify my Primordial Calamity Soul Gem back then, I would have been forced to immediately transfer my consciousness into one of the many pseudo Primordial Calamity Soul Gems scattered throughout the Southern Region.

That emergency measure might have allowed me to survive. However, if Petra had continued and petrified my soul through the mutated Ego Gem itself, even that escape route would have vanished.

For perhaps the first time, I understood why Petra was considered one of the oldest and most feared Supreme Beings in existence. And I fully appreciated that she held back unless force was absolutely necessary unlike the other two. That made her the sane one among this trio of Supreme Being.

...

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