Azrael and his companions knew the Master-tier demon from Korea was likely unaware their cover had been blown, which meant he and Master Tempest couldn't lead a large-scale assault with the Empire of Aetherlight's Lore Cardians.
At most, they'd bring a few Diamond-tier Lore Cardians to help eliminate the Diamond-tier demons under the Master's command.
And the sooner, the better.
After discussing the matter, Azrael and Master Tempest assembled five Diamond-tier Lore Cardians. This configuration would be sufficient for a simple raid.
Among the five, Azrael recognized someone, his senior brother Jacob.
"Senior brother, it's been a while since we last met," Azrael sighed.
Ever since his Diamond-tier promotion, he'd been incredibly busy. Not only had he spent little time with Jacob, but even his senior sister Alice hadn't been around much. The last time he'd led Petrovna to deal with the demon army's attack, he'd only exchanged a few words with Jacob.
But even though they were on this mission together, they probably wouldn't have much time for small talk afterward.
Jacob had naturally anticipated this. He simply patted Azrael's shoulder, shook his head, and said with a smile, "Junior brother, you're a very busy man now. You have to shoulder some of the Empire's responsibilities."
Azrael casually quipped, "I'm not a weightlifting champion like Yan Shifan."
Jacob was taken aback, but he quickly understood the implication. As a native of the Empire of Aetherlight, he certainly knew who Yan Shifan was. He laughed at Azrael's teasing and said, "The demon army has been destroyed. After this mission is over, the situation in the Empire should be, "
Before Jacob could finish, Azrael stopped him.
The young man coughed and said in a serious tone, "Senior brother, let's talk about this after it's over."
Planting flags on the battlefield was taboo. Although Jacob's words didn't quite reach the level of "I'm going back home to get married after this battle," it was better to say less.
At that moment, Master Tempest approached the two. He nodded to Jacob and said to Azrael, "It's almost time to set off."
Azrael nodded slightly and summoned Shiraori. "Let's use my cards this time."
A surprise attack wouldn't work if everyone went their separate ways, so Shiraori's spatial magic proved extremely useful in this situation. Master Tempest had already witnessed Shiraori's mobility during his previous battle with the demon commander, so he had no objection.
The five Diamond-tier Lore Cardians present included not only Jacob, who provided combat power, but also those responsible for concealment. After all, the Empire only knew that a Master-tier demon was lurking in Korea, but their exact location was unknown. The Lore Cardians who had previously gone to investigate only knew it was likely located near Gyeonggi Province in Korea, but no further specific information was available.
The Empire of Aetherlight's Lore Cardians, led by Azrael and Master Tempest, stood beside Shiraori's massive form, silently waiting for her to activate spatial magic.
The next moment, a magic circle emanating spatial fluctuations suddenly appeared, and everyone vanished.
Having previously visited Korea, Shiraori's destination this time was the forest where Azrael had previously asked Kim Woo-bin for directions.
It must be said that Shiraori's spatial magic was truly impressive; otherwise, she wouldn't have been the one to handle movement for the Masters she'd clashed with. The Empire's Lore Cardians saw nothing but a flash of light before their surroundings completely transformed.
Upon reaching their destination, Azrael breathed a sigh of relief and cast his gaze beyond the woods. "If I remember correctly, there should have been a city here."
But now, all he could see was a desolate ruin.
Master Tempest frowned slightly upon seeing this scene. "Not even a single demon?"
"Never mind, let's head straight for Seoul."
The elegant middle-aged man's masterful mental power scanned the area, revealing only the Diamond-tier Lore Cardians present. Beyond that, no other intelligent beings were present.
Seoul, the capital of Gyeonggi Province, naturally became their primary target.
Azrael had no second thoughts about Master Tempest's plan; it had been their original plan all along.
Empowered by a series of stealth abilities, the seven Lore Cardians immediately headed toward Seoul. As for why Shiraori didn't continue using spatial magic, Azrael worried that the unknown Master-tier demon might sense the fluctuations it generated.
Azrael and his team raced quickly, and with their speed, they soon sighted Seoul. However, by then, the walls of the Korea Imperial City had largely collapsed, and the remaining walls were covered in dark red stains of dried blood.
But at that moment, they had no time to dwell on such trivial matters.
"They're all demons!"
The Lore Cardians cautiously extended their mental tentacles, but they couldn't detect a single human. Seoul, like the demon army's base, was completely filled with demons. No, at least the demon army had contained some Onefold Doctrine Lore Cardians.
After a brief moment of deliberation, Azrael said, "Let's capture a higher-level demon and interrogate him first."
Since this was a decapitation operation, their top priority was to locate the unknown Master-tier demon. As for whether the high-level demon's disappearance would alert the enemy, they would likely have already engaged in combat by then.
Soon, an Emerald-tier demon was beaten to his knees by Master Tempest in his home.
Looking at the cat-headed demon before him, its legs twisted unnaturally, its body bound with a variety of control abilities, Azrael couldn't help but twitch his lips. Admittedly, he was still a little unaccustomed to Master Tempest's seemingly gentlemanly yet brutally efficient approach.
"Hmm."
The cat-headed demon's fur stood on end, its ears folded flat, clearly startled by the sudden appearance of the Lore Cardians in its home.
At a glance from Azrael and Master Tempest, the Diamond-tier Lore Cardian in charge of controlling the demon slightly loosened his restraints.
"How dare you, a bunch of ants, treat Lord Cat like this? Aren't you afraid, "
Before the cat-headed demon could finish, Master Tempest had already grabbed its head tightly. The elegant middle-aged man, with a kind smile on his face, slowly lifted it in front of him. "I ask, you answer."
"Or today will be your death."
"Understand?"
Master Tempest released his grip. However, despite his threat, the cat-headed demon continued his harsh tone. "Let go of your Lord Cat immediately, or else, "
Bang!
Master Tempest looked helplessly at the headless corpse before him, casually brushing the blood off his hand. He then turned to Azrael and the others. "Looks like we found a brainless demon. Let's find a new one."
Azrael agreed.
There was no other choice. The cat-headed demon only had to worry about breathing, while the Lore Cardians had far more to consider.
Just as the Empire's Lore Cardians were about to choose the next unfortunate individual, they all paused. They sensed an Emerald-tier demon preparing to open the door.
A dog-headed demon outside, clutching a plastic bag filled with human limbs in one hand, deftly turned the key in the other. When it pushed the door open, it saw seven unfamiliar humans standing in the living room, along with a headless corpse lying in a pool of blood.
Instantly, confusion and fear filled the dog-headed demon's face.
But before it could utter a single warning, Master Tempest appeared beside it, gripping its face tightly.
"Another one," whispered a voice from hell, lingering in the demon's ears.
Yellow-brown urine slowly flowed from its thigh to the ground.
Azrael and Master Tempest exchanged glances at this scene. They had undoubtedly caught a vulnerable target this time.
The same questions he had previously posed to the cat-headed demon echoed in the living room, only this time the dog-headed demon felt like emptying his stomach.
"I, I, I'm just a small Emerald-tier minion. Please, gentlemen, please let me go. I don't know the place you're asking about, and I'm only new here."
Seeing the disappointment on Azrael and the others' faces, the dog-headed demon panicked and quickly added, "But the Master you're talking about should be in the Imperial City."
"I've smelled a strange scent before."
Hearing this, Azrael and Master Tempest subconsciously glanced at each other, then at the demon's nose. They asked, "You're just an Emerald-tier, how can you smell the scent of a Master?"
To them, the authenticity of this claim was less plausible than Azrael being Qin Shihuang.
Faced with their doubts, the dog-headed demon moistened his nose with his long tongue and explained, "I smelled the scent of that Master when he recruited us."
"I'll never forget that smell. You gentlemen, please trust me."
Hearing this, the Empire's Lore Cardians were somewhat hesitant.
Just when the dog-headed demon thought he might survive, he saw the middle-aged man standing in front of him glance at the human body parts scattered on the ground.
It instantly realized what was about to happen.
Bang,
Looking at the freshly made headless corpse on the ground, everyone remained calm, their eyes indifferent. They hadn't promised to let it go.
"Let's go to the Imperial City first and see what's going on," Azrael said. "Hopefully there's a clue there."
With that, the group vanished from the room, leaving only the two headless bodies lying quietly on the ground.
Near the Imperial City, in an ordinary villa, a humanoid figure whose true appearance could not be discerned sat quietly across from a man with a strange face.
"I didn't expect Jin and the others to have such a trick up their sleeves."
The strange man observed the figure and couldn't help but sneer.
Faced with the taunting, the figure remained silent for a long time, not replying.
Seeing this, the strange man curled his lips in amusement. "An experiment is an experiment. It lacks even the most basic consciousness."
Then, the figure suddenly spoke. "Are you, injured, alright?"
The strange man was stunned, momentarily unable to comprehend the other's words. But soon, he followed the figure's gaze and glanced behind him.
The strange man's face darkened, and he said with a hint of shame and anger, "That was just carelessness!"
"If I see that brat again, I won't let him go!"
He wasn't quite sure what he was saying. After all, according to what he'd heard from Jin, the brat he was talking about had recently defeated Tempest head-on. As a fellow Master, he didn't consider himself any better than the demon army commander.
Thinking of this, the strange man quickly changed the subject. "Besides, my injuries have long since healed."
With a thud, nine white, furry tails exploded from behind him. The strange man yanked the tails from behind and said to the figure, "Look, look! Are they nine?"
However, the figure remained unmoved by the scene before him.
Just as the atmosphere began to grow strange, he suddenly said, "I am sane."
"Haha," the strange man smiled in relief and gave up arguing with the figure.
At that moment, the figure suddenly raised his head and said calmly, "Yes, Master-tier."
"?"
The strange man was stunned for a moment, then his expression turned serious. With a fierce look in his eyes, he asked, "Empire of Aetherlight people?"
"I don't know," the figure shook his head slightly.
He had never seen an Empire Lore Cardian, so he certainly didn't know if the tiny insects he had just spotted were from the Empire.
At this moment, the strange man suddenly realized something. His face dark as charcoal, he looked at the figure opposite him. "Wait! Can you finish what I'm saying?"
The figure didn't answer, but the slight tilt of his head showed a hint of guilt.
"Okay, okay, I underestimated Jin's skills." The strange man laughed in anger for a moment, but now was clearly not the time to dwell on such matters. "Forget it, just take me there, and we'll attack them together and surprise them."
"Okay."
Elsewhere, Azrael and the others were moving through the relatively small imperial city, concealing their presence.
After a while, Azrael paused and turned to Master Tempest. "I feel fooled. I haven't even noticed the existence of the Master-tier demon until now."
"No way, that demon was only Emerald-tier," Master Tempest sighed helplessly. "Let's capture another demon and ask."
There was actually another better solution: a direct attack. With the power of a Master-tier demon, it could easily overwhelm the entire city of Seoul.
But the demon had to be there. After all, there were many cities in Gyeonggi Province. Otherwise, it would only expose Azrael and his team.
Just as the Empire's Lore Cardians were about to capture another demon for interrogation, an overwhelming sense of threat suddenly surged through Azrael and Master Tempest.
In a split second, they realized they had been exposed.
Azrael glanced at the five oblivious Diamond-tier Lore Cardians standing beside him and immediately used [False Karakura Town] to collect them and summon his own cards.
At the same moment, a roar suddenly rang out.
"You little brat, I didn't expect you to actually come to my door!"
"God is really helping me!"
As the words fell, an enormous tail descended from the sky toward Azrael's position.
Boom!
Amidst the dull thud, the imperial city instantly turned into ruins.