Australia. City Within a City.
Jin worked the screen before him, his weathered face twisted in concentration. "Looks like I'll need to contact that person after all."
After exchanging information with the Demon Army, the old man had acquired substantial amounts of their technology. Unfortunately, none of it had proven useful so far.
With a dismissive gesture, he turned to his deputy. "Lower the priority on these projects."
"Yes, sir."
Jin waved his hand and strode out of the laboratory.
A tall, blond, blue-eyed man hurried toward him, speaking in broken Aetherlight dialect. "Sir, news from the Demon Army."
Jin glanced at him, his expression flat. "Doesn't look good."
"Tell me."
The old man could read the answer in the white man's embarrassed expression. Something had gone wrong with the Demon Army.
In his estimation, at most one or two commanders would be dead. It was impossible for all five commanders to be annihilated by Tsarist Russia and the Empire of Aetherlight in a single engagement.
Moreover, with his assistance, the Demon Army possessed the latest demonization experiment results.
"All five commanders were killed on the spot."
"...What?" Jin stopped dead, turning to stare at the white man in disbelief. "Is the intelligence verified?"
The man nodded with difficulty. "A Diamond-level demon has already sought refuge with us."
Diamond-level demons ranked high in the army hierarchy. They wouldn't turn to a human force like City Within a City without cause, even one composed of traitors.
Confirming the information's accuracy, Jin's face darkened like a stormcloud.
After a long silence, he spoke. "In that case, convene a meeting with Marcus and the others. Inform them about this development."
"Yes, sir. I'll go immediately."
The white man wiped sweat from his forehead, bowed, and quickly departed.
Watching his subordinate disappear down the corridor, Jin stood motionless, his expression grim.
He had never anticipated that the combined Empire and Russian operation would completely annihilate the Demon Army. The old man had envisioned a protracted stalemate between both sides. Otherwise, he wouldn't have ordered the Fallen Cult to stir up trouble behind Russian lines.
The current situation was completely unsuitable for City Within a City.
After all, without the Demon Army's threat, they couldn't fish in troubled waters.
The corridor fell silent save for the echo of Jin's eventual departure.
City Within a City operated with ruthless efficiency. Soon, Jin, Marcus, and the Skinner convened in the conference room.
Due to the matter's gravity, only these three Master-level Lore Cardians attended.
Jin glanced at the other two. "You should already know about the Demon Army's situation."
The Skinner nodded. Marcus continued chewing his food with obvious boredom.
Ignoring the black man beside her, the Skinner frowned. "Is the intelligence verified?"
Honestly, the Demon Army's annihilation seemed far-fetched.
Five Grandmasters!
Jin's lips twitched. "Not only have surviving Diamond-level demons approached us, but news of this magnitude wouldn't be fabricated."
"Even if it were false, what would the Demon Army gain?"
Besides, the reactions from the Empire and Tsarist Russia would be undeniable.
The Skinner clearly realized this truth.
After a moment's silence, she asked, "Did you observe the battle? Although the Tsarist Emperor advanced to Sovereign level, that alone shouldn't have caused this outcome."
"Could the Empire or Tsarist Russia be concealing something we don't know about?"
Upon hearing this, Jin's expression became complex, a mixture of anger, disbelief, and regret flickering across his weathered features.
The old man opened his mouth, then spoke in a somewhat dry voice. "According to the Demon Army remnants, a Diamond-level Lore Cardian killed Tempest on the spot."
"That's what triggered the collapse."
The Skinner knew Tempest was a powerful Master-level demon. In fact, if it came to direct combat, none of the three Master-level Lore Cardians present could guarantee victory against him.
Then she caught the critical detail in Jin's words.
"A Diamond-level Lore Cardian?!"
The woman wearing the feather crown couldn't suppress her surprise.
A terrible possibility occurred to her.
"Is it... Azrael?"
Reviewing all the Diamond-level individuals she'd encountered, the Skinner could only think of the young man who had defeated Jin.
Hearing Azrael's name, Jin's face darkened further, but he nodded, confirming the Skinner's hypothesis. "It seems he might have been responsible for Chris's death as well."
"..."
The Skinner fell silent.
Ignoring the woman, Jin muttered angrily, "I should have killed him earlier!"
If not for Azrael, the situation wouldn't have escalated so drastically. Even if the Demon Army had been defeated by the Empire and Tsarist Russia, it wouldn't have been reduced to this state.
Fortunately, the Skinner quickly accepted the facts. After all, what had happened couldn't be changed. Better to focus on how to respond moving forward.
"Looks like we need to keep our heads down for a while."
"After all..."
The woman paused, glancing at the large swaths of charred scars covering all three of them.
These were injuries Lord Lioren had inflicted during their previous attack on the Empire. As wounds from a Sovereign-level Lore Cardian, they certainly weren't easily healed. To this day, Jin and the other two endured endless burning pain day and night.
Hearing this, Jin suppressed the anger on his face and organized his thoughts. "The situation shouldn't be too dire."
"After all, the Empire still has to deal with the remaining Demon Army."
Although the Demon Army teetered on collapse after losing their five commanders, don't forget, a vast number of secret realms had descended on that permafrost land over the years.
Even without Grandmaster presence, clearing all the secret realms would require considerable effort from the Empire and Tsarist Russia.
This meant the Empire wouldn't focus on City Within a City for a while. But once they had time, things would become far more complicated.
The Skinner understood the implications. She breathed a sigh of relief, then pinched her brow with her charred right hand. "Looks like we still have breathing room."
"By the way, did the Demon Army reveal Azrael's methods?"
Jin's expression brightened in response to the Skinner's question. "They claim Azrael possesses a method to instantly refresh cards that are on cooldown."
"???"
The Skinner was momentarily bewildered by Jin's words.
What did it mean to refresh a card's cooldown?
In her entire life, she had never heard of a card with such miraculous power.
It completely defied Lore Cardian logic.
Jin had his own theories, curling his lips in disdain. "It must be the World Consciousness's doing."
"Just a lackey."
As a Master-level Lore Cardian, the old man naturally possessed some understanding of the world's deeper truths.
Some knowledge came from his own research. Other revelations came from demons.
Therefore, facing Azrael's currently unrealistic advancement speed and card strength, he attributed all credit to the World Consciousness.
The Skinner disagreed with Jin's argument. She could already detect the sour taste lingering in the old man's words.
After all, as traitors, they were fortunate the World Consciousness didn't actively sabotage them. How could they expect it to provide assistance?
Compared to normal Master-level Lore Cardians, the three present already faced significantly harder conditions when creating new cards. Sometimes they couldn't even enter the mysterious space.
This was also why Jin desperately sought to establish his own sect. After all, he had already lost the possibility of advancing to Sovereign level through normal routes.
Without responding to Jin's bitter words, the Skinner simply shook her head. "It seems Tempest was tricked by this card."
She understood perfectly how powerful a card that could reset other cards' cooldowns would be.
In such circumstances, Tempest's downfall wasn't impossible.
However, with these precautions, Azrael's trick would be far less effective against them.
"Regardless, be careful from now on." Jin calmed himself, then continued. "No matter what, heal your wounds first."
Looking at the large expanse of raw flesh on the old man's back, the Skinner nodded silently.
As for Marcus?
He'd already finished eating and fallen asleep.
Empire of Aetherlight.
Several days had passed since the battle with the Demon Army.
After the deaths of the five commanders, the Demon Army was instantly routed, and the Northern Defense Army advanced with unstoppable momentum.
However, due to the secret realms' existence, completely eradicating these malignant tumors in such a short time remained impossible.
This didn't concern Azrael much, though.
A major event was currently underway, one crucial to his future reputation. Several Masters were discussing his title.
Azrael didn't want to end up like some unfortunate soul nicknamed "Rampant King Kong."
"Normally, only Master-level Lore Cardians receive titles," Tempest smiled at Azrael and continued. "However, Master Fujimaru and I witnessed Azrael's strength firsthand, so considering this matter in advance presents no problem."
He turned to look at Lucian in the distance. "Master Lucian, as Azrael's teacher, what are your thoughts?"
Lucian naturally already knew his disciple had successfully slain a Master-level demon in its prime, so his face radiated joy.
But in response to Tempest's question, he simply shook his head. "That depends on what Azrael thinks."
"Indeed."
Tempest nodded in agreement, then turned his gaze to Azrael.
Sensing their attention, Azrael sat up straight. "I can decide for myself?!"
"This..."
The young man was momentarily at a loss. Logically, weren't titles usually bestowed by others?
He'd come today simply to prevent any outlandish titles, like "Invincible Tyrannosaurus God of War."
As for choosing his own title? That was honestly a bit embarrassing.
As if sensing his mood, Master Fujimaru, wrapped in white bandages resembling a mummy, smiled. "If you don't have any ideas, Azrael, we can decide."
"Your achievements haven't leaked yet."
After the battle with the Demon Army, both Fujimaru and Tempest had sustained significant injuries.
Even with healing cards, wounds inflicted by Master-level beings were difficult to mend.
At this moment, Lord Lioren, who had been silent the entire time, coughed lightly, a faint smile breaking across his pale face. "Master Lucian, it seems the name I chose during the national competition will prove useful after all."
As the Empire's only Sovereign-level Lore Cardian, he was delighted to see a talent like Azrael emerge.
Furthermore, during his earlier battles alongside Azrael and the others against several commanders, he had been monitoring the other Lore Cardians closely.
After all, Lord Lioren would intervene if anything unexpected happened.
Fortunately, it hadn't come to that.
Lucian was stunned for a moment, then something occurred to him. "Lord Lioren, what do you mean?"
"Indeed. Let's call it [Myriad Phenomena]. Very fitting, wouldn't you say?"
Upon hearing Lord Lioren's words, everyone present was momentarily surprised, but soon their expressions shifted to understanding.
"Indeed."
"I agree."
Based on their current understanding of Azrael, the title perfectly suited the young man's performance.
Unlike other Lore Cardians who specialized in a single card system, Azrael had already employed cards from numerous systems.
Most importantly, all of these systems were remarkably powerful.
Besides, [Myriad Phenomena] could also refer to the sheer number of Azrael's cards.
Azrael had no objection to this. After all, [Myriad Phenomena] wasn't an unpleasant name. "Thank you, Lord Lioren. Then let's go with [Myriad Phenomena]."
Seeing Azrael didn't object, Lord Lioren chuckled. "Azrael, I hope you don't find my choice disagreeable."
At this point, his expression grew more serious. "In that case, let's spread the word nationwide."
"Let everyone know that we in the Empire of Aetherlight have another Grandmaster."
Throughout his time in this world, Azrael had never heard of a Diamond-level Lore Cardian in the Empire being promoted to Grandmaster status.
Therefore, he had no idea such a process existed.
More importantly, when it came down to it, he was still only Diamond level!
At this time, Lucian whispered to Azrael, "Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be necessary, but you understand the Empire's situation hasn't been favorable recently. Lord Lioren's intent is to boost domestic morale."
"But if you don't want to, then..."
Azrael suddenly understood, and he shook his head slightly. "Just do it. I understand."
Hearing this, Lord Lioren felt relieved.
The next day, all citizens of the Empire received momentous news.
From today forward, the Empire had gained another Master.