The Villain Rising: Ascension of Arcane Trickster.-Chapter 209: The Moon Card Awakens!!!

Rael slowly lifted his gaze, his crimson eyes reflecting the golden light.

"...You’ve got to be kidding me."

Floating before him within the frozen time was a single glowing Card of Arcana. A delicate moon was etched on its surface as my mind felt clearer just looking at it.

[You have comprehended the Mind Domain...]

[Another part of Card of Arcana has been unlocked]

[The Moon Card]

I wasn’t planning on entering the domain but seeing the card, I decided to do it anyway while the time was still frozen due to its appearance.

Immediately my consciousness appeared into my domain but something was different... Unlike my usual transparent form, this time my body was completely solid.

Is this one of the effects of the cards?

"... Damn, I didn’t think this was the way to unlock cards?" Ra’s shocked voice echoed.

"Yeah..."

I nodded absentmindedly as well. I always thought the cards would unlock as I grow stronger but it seems it’s more dependent on my comprehension than actual strength.

I didn’t exactly know what the effect of the card was yet but somehow my mind felt lighter and more casual before the whole loop started... as I was back to myself and the loops never even happened even when I carried the memories of them.

Without wasting any further time, I opened the details of my skill immediately.

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◈ Skill: Card of Arcana

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Type: Active/Passive

Rank: D (Evolvable)

Description: A divine artifact embodying the Major Arcana cards that dictate fate itself. You may summon five cards at once and manipulate them freely within a limited domain around you.

◈ Effects:

✦ The Tower —

✦ The Emperor —

✦ The Magician —

✦ The Moon —

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I noticed how the amount of cards I could control had increased to five and how the type which was previously only active had changed to add passive as well but most importantly the rank of skill had increased to D-Rank.

I opened the newly unlocked effect without any hesitation and unlike other cards’ explanation which was summed up in a few lines, this card had more effects.

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✦ The Moon —

— Process thousands of thoughts in a few moments. Your mind cannot be broken by pain, fear or suffering and mental endurance becomes absolute.

— You can attack the enemy psyche, forcing a brief pause on weak or unguarded minds by infusing emotions such as fear, calm, confusion or others. People with high enough willpower may resist.

— You embed a shard of your consciousness into the card, granting it autonomy under your will no matter how distant it is. Your awareness becomes its guide, and your mana becomes its fuel, enabling it to act as an extension of you. The card vanishes once action is done or the consciousness is completely spent.

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Damn.

"Another shitty awakening."

Just when I thought it was finally time to become some super OP Xianxia protagonist who could kill people with nothing but willpower, the world had to disappoint me.

Honestly, the abilities weren’t that bad.

The mind domain was something most people didn’t even understand, so being able to attack someone’s psyche could actually be terrifyingly useful. But after all the suffering I had endured... this still felt nowhere near enough.

Still, I guess my mind really had become unbreakable.

Then there was the last effect which seemed to be the best out of the three. The ability to remotely control the card alone opened endless possibilities.

I could leave it in one place, imprint an action to activate The Magician effect from afar and instantly teleport to it...

Or I could turn it into a remote bomb by pairing it with The Tower effect... and who knows, if I dive deeper into the mind domain in the future, maybe I could even extend my consciousness through it to hear or even see through it.

That thought alone made my heartbeat quicken

But that was for later.

"Hey, Ra, how much power of the True Card of Arcana has been unlocked till now with this new card?" I asked curiously.

I mean... who wouldn’t want to know how much of the sun they had devoured.

"Well..." Ra replied hesitantly, "you’re barely close to ten percent."

"What the hell?" I was instantly shocked. "Barely ten percent? How?"

The gap between expectation and reality is so painful it was almost funny like all that and it’s not even double digits yet. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Well, I don’t really know either but from the residual memories I picked up from the domain... what you unlocked aren’t even the true abilities of the Card of Arcana..."

He paused before continuing.

"You are nowhere close to actually unlocking it but once you do, all the abilities should merge and you might end up creating your own path."

I frowned. "My own path? What does that mean exactly?"

Ra just shrugged. "Dunno, that’s all I could recover from those fragments of memory."

Then his tone suddenly shifted, excitement leaking into his voice.

"In any case, you should get going now. The next loop is about to start... make that bastard regret ever messing with us."

He added quickly, his voice turning serious again,

"And don’t forget to enter the domain immediately after transferring the memories. If you are even a second late... and that bastard descends even I won’t be able to save you."

Yeah... no pressure at all.

I nodded and without hesitation jumped back into my physical body.

All the useless heaviness from all previous loops had vanished because of my new The Moon effect which seemed to be passive in this regard.

But as I waited for the loop to start, my thoughts wandered towards what my friends and assistants might be doing at this moment.

Even then, I wasn’t worried about Viola. I was sure Noah would’ve already found her. As annoying as that bastard was, he always took care of the people he cared about... and from what I had seen, he definitely cared about her.

Sera and Arza were even less of a concern. Those two could literally fight tens of people at their own rank and in this domain, where everyone was suppressed to the lowest entry level, D-Rank, I didn’t worry about them in the slightest either.

If anything... I was more worried about whoever decided to stand in their way.

But Bearlo was a different case. That bastard was strong, sure, but he was also too naïve and too trusting. I just hoped he didn’t get himself into some useless trouble this time around.

And then there was my cloak. I couldn’t even sense that bastard which shouldn’t have been possible, especially when it was soul-bound to me. But I decided to check again after getting out of this mess.

As for Alya, Arthur, or Sylvie... yeah, I barely knew those guys. It would be a shame if Arthur died, especially considering how he treated me like a brother but honestly... who could we really afford to care about in such a cruel world except ourselves?

My own survival wasn’t even guaranteed. So what was the point in worrying about everyone who had ever shown me a little kindness?

Still... Now wasn’t the time for those thoughts as the final loop had already started, either I would survive or get obliterated by the gaze of the divine.

It was all about timing now.

—

Meanwhile, within a peaceful hall inside a divine treasury where countless flowers bloomed in beautiful shades, a serene scene unfolded.

A crimson-furred bear, wearing a suit, kneeled before the most beautiful female bear he had ever seen. Her white fur looked like freshly fallen snow and her green eyes blinked softly at him.

Bearlo took out a small ring made from petals and extended it toward her.

"Please... marry me, Bearlina?"

—

A/N: While, his master was struggling to survive, Bearlo was struggling to win her love. 😂