The world fell momentarily silent, then a piercing whistle tore through the air.
A tempest of wind and thunder swept across the battlefield in an instant, accompanied by a torrential snowstorm that erupted in all directions.
As Tempest's most devastating technique, even the demon army's commanders had rarely witnessed it firsthand. The last time she'd unleashed this attack was against Peter V, the late Russian Emperor and Catherine's husband, a blow that left him with a fatal wound that led to his eventual death.
The Empress's pupils contracted sharply. She understood this attack's terrifying power better than anyone present. After all, it was this very technique that had killed her husband.
"The battle ahead will be difficult," Catherine thought grimly.
Tempest's decisiveness surprised her, though upon reflection, it made perfect strategic sense. If Azrael were eliminated quickly, the enemy would be free to support their comrades, and today's ambush would end in complete failure.
Conversely, if Azrael managed to stall them, the outcome would grow increasingly uncertain. Even without matching Sovereign-level cards, Catherine remained a Sovereign-level Lore Cardian. With sufficient spiritual energy, she could easily outlast the two opposing warlords.
The Empress began considering retreat. Though the Empire of Aetherlight and Tsarist Russia had already suffered significant losses, sunk costs shouldn't dictate major strategic decisions. Hesitation would only breed chaos.
"Catherine, you don't actually think that boy can survive Tempest's attack, do you?" The two warlords engaging Catherine's cards in the distance called out mockingly.
Though the battle's initial development had been unexpected, it had thankfully returned to normal.
Facing the demons' taunts, Catherine's expression remained as cold as permafrost. "What utter nonsense, "
She stopped mid-sentence, her gaze snapping toward Azrael's position in surprise.
Every master on the battlefield reacted similarly. Only Master Tempest remained relatively calm, having already been informed by Master Fujimaru about Azrael's trump card.
Rewinding time slightly:
Azrael had been hiding within the remnants of the Flower Tree Realm, prowling along the edge of the [Binding Barrier]. Even when facing Tempest directly, he'd already formulated his plan, using Shiraori's brood for guerrilla warfare.
After all, that strategy had defeated Chris. There was no reason not to replicate that success.
Then an overwhelming sense of threat crashed over him like a tidal wave.
For a moment, he felt as though he were facing the apocalyptic breath of Chris, the great red dragon, all over again.
He kept moving, surprise flickering across his face. "She's already revealing her ultimate technique?"
"Or can she use this attack continuously?"
Azrael hadn't expected his card to bait the opponent into using their finishing move with just a feint.
For Hashirama Senju, continuously casting True Several Thousand Hands wasn't particularly taxing after his current buffs. His chakra reserves were immense, and even if they ran dry, Azrael had his own spiritual energy as a backup.
Wood Release, after all, wasn't like some techniques that inflicted eight hundred casualties on oneself while dealing a thousand to the enemy.
But now wasn't the time for such thoughts.
The storm had arrived.
The roar of wind instantly flooded Azrael's ears.
The next moment, he was sent flying uncontrollably.
Crack!
In a single breath, his Sacred Blade Armor shattered like glass.
He gritted his teeth as countless wind blades carved through his body, slicing flesh from bone.
The intense pain rivaled his last encounter with the great red dragon's destructive breath, no, it was even worse.
In that moment, flesh peeled away from Azrael's frame, revealing stark white bone beneath. Then, thanks to his damage-sharing connection with Shiraori, his body regenerated to human form.
He flickered between these two states like a grotesque strobe light.
"Ugh, Azrael! I can't hold on much longer!" Shiraori still had the strength to scream, though she looked even more battered than her master.
Given that such injuries were commonplace for her in the original story, this wasn't entirely surprising.
Fortunately, the storm came quickly and passed just as fast.
If the great red dragon's Breath of Destruction dealt continuous damage, Tempest's Storm Sword delivered a single, overwhelming blow.
Therefore, despite being several times more powerful than the dragon's breath, it actually inflicted less cumulative damage.
"It's finally over," Azrael gasped, his body trembling. Without looking back, he continued racing toward the edge of the [Binding Barrier].
No longer needing concealment, his speed actually increased. Combined with the Storm Sword's momentum, he was now close to the barrier's edge.
As for why he'd stopped hiding,
Azrael glanced at the barren wasteland surrounding him, frustration mounting.
He felt like a player in a battle royale game stuck in the final circle on a completely flat plain.
As Tempest's Storm Sword swept across the land, not only the demon cards but even Thousand Peaks City itself vanished without a trace. Several masters engaged in distant battles had been caught in the crossfire as well.
However, Tempest, the cause of this devastation, showed no satisfaction.
The demon commander's face had paled slightly, though her posture remained perfectly erect. Clearly, unleashing the Storm Sword hadn't exhausted her reserves.
Tempest raised her gauntleted left hand and slowly wiped a streak of blood from her cheek.
"He actually survived that?"
She'd known about Azrael's feat of withstanding Jin's attack, but at the time, she'd simply attributed it to exceptional defensive capabilities and hadn't thought much beyond that.
After all, she knew Jin well. While his tactical cunning was commendable, his direct killing power was somewhat lacking.
But judging by this scene, the Diamond-level Lore Cardian's ability to withstand Master-level attacks clearly wasn't due to defensive strength alone.
Rather, it was primarily some kind of damage negation ability. Had she possessed this intelligence beforehand, Tempest wouldn't have chosen the attack she'd just executed.
She would have employed continuous bombardment to exhaust Azrael's vitality instead.
Fortunately, it wasn't too late.
"If that's the case, I'll kill you a hundred times. A thousand times."
"You're just a Diamond-level Lore Cardian. Your mental energy will eventually run dry."
With this thought, Tempest immediately moved to pursue Azrael, but the surviving cards on the field blocked her path.
Only three cards remained standing: Ichigo Kurosaki, Yamamoto Shigekuni, and Hashirama Senju.
The rest had been completely annihilated.
Luffy had been incompatible with Tempest's attack. If the opponent had used a Master with blunt-force attacks, he might have survived. Unfortunately, Tempest's Storm Sword dealt purely slashing damage.
Ironically, had Buggy replaced Luffy, he would have emerged unscathed. Case closed: [Captain Buggy] was clearly a Master-level card.
The reason these three survived was twofold: their abilities, enhanced by their cards' special traits, had barely reached the Master-level threshold. Additionally, Yamamoto Shigekuni wielding Zanka no Tachi, Kita: Tenchi Kaijin before the Storm Sword fully formed had weakened its power somewhat, while Hashirama Senju's "Sage Art: Five-Layered Rashomon" had shielded them from the worst.
The wound on Tempest's cheek had also been caused by Zanka no Tachi, Kita: Tenchi Kaijin.
The white-armored commander frowned slightly at the reappearance of True Several Thousand Hands. "How formidable."
Then, with a soft sigh, she tapped her toes and dodged an incoming giant palm. Simultaneously, with a swing of her right hand, a wind blade as massive as the giant Buddha itself slashed toward Hashirama Senju atop the construct.
However, the blade was intercepted mid-flight by Ichigo Kurosaki's sudden appearance.
Swish!
The bisected wind blades tore through several descending giant palms before soaring skyward.
Ichigo calmly evaded the occasional ground-level attacks, secretly calculating how long he could maintain this defense.
His Merged Hollow form was powerful, but it couldn't be sustained indefinitely.
"I need to find an opening to exploit," the orange-haired youth swung his jet-black blade repeatedly, deflecting incoming attacks and occasionally unleashing Getsuga Tenshō to counterattack.
Screech!
A sharp scraping sound echoed as Ichigo frowned, using Flash Step to dodge wind blades that threatened to slice his throat.
Since wind had no physical form, he stood no chance in a direct clash with Tempest.
Meanwhile, Azrael had reached the [Binding Barrier]'s edge. If he wanted to escape, Shiraori could simply teleport him out.
However, he hadn't forgotten today's objective: killing the demon army's commander. He stood still, observing the situation from afar.
"Ichigo can't hold out much longer," Azrael thought, his eyes shifting as he sensed Ichigo's condition. "And she still hasn't revealed a single opening?"
"Tsk."
If they dragged this out without finding an opportunity, they'd have no choice but to forcibly dismiss his Merged Hollow form.
Azrael hadn't expected Tempest to be so much more cautious than Chris.
More importantly, if they continued fighting, the surrounding demon army might arrive as reinforcements.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, foul, sticky liquid suddenly rushed toward him from the distance at breakneck speed.
Fortunately, Shiraori reacted quickly, grabbing Azrael's arm and using spatial magic to relocate them.
In the blink of an eye, the spot where Azrael had stood transformed into a reeking quagmire.
His face darkened. "Just as I thought, reinforcements."
He watched as strange figures slowly emerged from the distance, stepping back to shield Shiraori protectively.
"And they're all Diamond-level demons."
Under normal circumstances, Azrael wouldn't have been concerned. But now he only had four primary cards remaining, and three of them, aside from Shiraori, were locked in desperate combat with Tempest.
At that moment, a distant Diamond-level demon licked its face with a long, scarlet tongue and sneered mockingly, "Thank goodness you emerged from that carnage, otherwise we wouldn't have dared approach Lord Tempest."
With lingering fear, the demon glanced at the military commander.
He was grateful he hadn't been caught in Thousand Peaks City during the ambush, otherwise, he'd have suffered the same fate as his comrades.
Azrael wasn't surprised by the demon army's reinforcements. After all, the coalition was fighting deep in enemy territory.
"Shiraori, can you hold on?" He observed the demons across from him, then calmly whispered to his card. "If not, we'll retreat."
"Leave it to me, Master," Shiraori casually swung her scythe, the compound eyes on her head flashing crimson. "Besides, I won't fight if I can't win."
Azrael nodded slightly in agreement.
Indeed, given Shiraori's personality, if he didn't issue a death order, she'd definitely flee if outmatched. There was no need to fight to the death.
With some peace of mind, he began reviewing the identification information Shiraori had sent him.
"Demon of Corruption, King of the Living Dead, Mirror Count..."
"Wait."
As Azrael flipped through the information on the Diamond-level demons before him, his eyes suddenly fixed on one entry.
[Name: Sean]
[Title: Undying]
[Rank: Diamond]
[Drop Material: King of the Living Dead]
"All that searching, all that effort," Azrael thought of the materials for [Heroes of Troubled Times] and [Eye of God] stored in the Shadow Kingdom, and a smile curved his lips.
"And it arrives effortlessly."
Seeing the exact material he needed appear before him, he decided to do something bold.
Just like the protagonists in novels he'd read before his transmigration, those who achieved breakthroughs at critical moments, Azrael prepared to craft a card on the spot. Though [King of the Living Dead] was only barely sufficient, fortunately he'd already prepared materials for his next card. Otherwise, this wouldn't be possible now.
Of course, he also had to thank the demon army for conveniently trapping these Diamond-level demons at the [Binding Barrier]'s edge.
"Shiraori, ignore the others, kill him first!"
Shiraori knew exactly who the "him" Azrael referred to. "Got it!"
At that moment, Sean, the Undying King, felt an inexplicable chill run through his heart.
But he quickly understood why.
Sean's vision blurred, and suddenly the spider card beside the Diamond-level Lore Cardian in the distance had appeared directly before him.
Simultaneously, every Diamond-level demon present felt their legs weaken.
[Ruler: Sloth]: Greatly increases the consumption of hostile creatures around the bearer, including but not limited to life force, magic, and spiritual energy.
"If I can't handle that crazy woman, I can't handle you trash?!" Shiraori shouted excitedly, finally finding relief from her pent-up frustration.
Ever since Azrael's promotion to Diamond rank, she'd been acting as his bodyguard. Furthermore, the monsters she faced were all Master-level, so Shiraori hadn't had an easy fight since her transformation into Arachne.
Crack!
With a crisp shattering sound, a crimson eyeball in Shiraori's skull suddenly exploded, spraying blood.
Of course, she occasionally indulged in self-harm.
[Death Eye] activated!
The next moment, Sean's head exploded like a watermelon.