Chapter 2657: Bloodette’s Best Friend

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Way Beyond, Unknown

"What treaty? The one you card apprentices break every damn day?" Petra asked with open disdain, clearly no fan of the treat that only ever seemed to serve the other side. "I doubt they’ll mind if I break it just once."

"Hey, Petra," I said, frowning, "how do you know that Bloodette killed you and your friends for a card apprentice if you died and were reborn afterward?"

Petra looked even more confused than before. "What do you mean? Won’t you remember someone who killed you and your friends?"

"I mean this," I continued, clarifying my thoughts. "If you were reborn anew, shouldn’t your memories have started from scratch? You should have forgotten everything from before. At least, that’s what I’ve heard."

I was beginning to suspect that Petra might actually be dumber than Bloodette, who possessed none of her past memories at all. The only reason Petra hadn’t been exploited and discarded by some card apprentice, the way Bloodette had, was because of her Petruth Rune. If possible, I should forge a similar rune for my calamity daughter cores. That would help them function more independently.

"Oh, that," Petra said. "There are several ways to retain one’s memories after dying and being reborn. The most common relies on understanding and comparing the rules and their meanings. Through that process, our memories return in fragments. Slowly but inevitably, once we reach the limit of the card world, we recover everything from all our previous deaths."

She went on, her explanation precise and deliberate. "There is another method as well. Using certain rules and meanings, you can extract and preserve your memories, then have a trusted companion return them to you after your rebirth. Both methods come with drawbacks, but traditionally we favor the former. With the latter, you must constantly update the stored memories you’ve entrusted to someone else, all while hoping they don’t die before you or alongside you. That kind of maintenance is troublesome, so I chose the first approach."

Her expression darkened. "That’s why it was such a shock when I learned that Bloodette was the one who killed me. She was my friend."

Petra paused, steadying herself. "It didn’t truly matter in the end. Within the confines of the card world, we cannot be permanently killed. Even so, the betrayal still hurt." Her gaze sharpened. "And for that, I will have my revenge."

She fell silent after that, her focus clearly slipping as thoughts of Bloodette’s betrayal resurfaced.

"So you and Bloodette were friends?" I asked with my genuine surprise evident in my voice.

"Haven’t you been listening?" Petra snapped. "Didn’t I just explain that? As a matter of fact, we were best friends. I was the one who taught her how to create rocks using Blood Rule power. It was incredibly simple, yet she never thought of it until I pointed it out to her."

I responded with an awkward smile, quietly relieved that she no longer seemed to be weighing whether to kill me. At the same time, the revelation that Petra had been the one who taught Bloodette how to form Blood Rule rocks and stones caught me off guard.

And now Bloodette was sealed within a dungeon themed around that very concept. The irony was unsettling. The more I thought about it, the more surreal it became, and my curiosity about Bloodette’s past only deepened.

"If you really were friends," I said, choosing my words with care, "don’t you think Bloodette might have had her own reasons or circumstances for what she did? Maybe she believed you would understand once you heard her side of the story. She might have thought you would at least listen, even if you didn’t forgive her."

I paused when Petra’s expression hardened with irritation, but I pressed on. "I’m not asking you to forgive her, and I’m not telling you to abandon your desire for getting even with her. All I’m suggesting is this. Hear her out, for the sake of what you once shared. If that friendship ever meant anything to you, listen first, then decide what to do with her afterward."

"Hear her out?" Petra asked, narrowing her eyes at me in suspicion. "Didn’t you say she lost her memories?"

"Didn’t you say you’d kill her after she regains her memories and grows accustomed to her new freedom?" I countered, deliberately reminding her of her own words, hoping she would grasp what I was implying.

It was a long shot, but to my surprise, she didn’t disappoint me. Realization flickered across her face. "Oh," she said slowly. "But first, we’ll have to free her. Take me to where she’s being sealed right now."

"I’m sorry. I can’t," I replied. "If I take you there, you’ll only make things worse and won’t be of any help to Bloodette. The dungeon seal is directly connected to her. It’s unbreakable, just like you supreme beings, until the required conditions are fulfilled."

Petra cried out immediately, her voice sharp with accusation. "You swore!"

"I swore to tell you where Bloodette was sealed," I said calmly, jogging her memory before she could brand me a cheat and return to debating whether to kill me. "I never swore that I would take you there."

Then, honoring my promise, I added, "Bloodette is sealed in the Blood Rock Gate Dungeon of Sky Blossom City, in the Southern Region."

"You have to take me there," Petra insisted. "I need to see the dungeon seal for myself and decide what must be done."

In her urgency, she seemed to forget everything else. Her eagerness to reach Bloodette was unmistakable. She wanted to see her, to check on her condition, and to find a way to help her escape the dungeon seal. It was clear that, despite the fire she breathed whenever Bloodette’s name was mentioned, concern still lay at the core of her anger.

Perhaps she hadn’t been exaggerating after all when she said they were best friends. But that makes things difficult for me.

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