City within a City.
Jin sat cross-legged in meditation, his eyes closed as he concentrated on his spiritual energy. After a moment, the old man's eyes snapped open, gloom flooding his gaze.
"I still can't make any further progress."
He could continue accumulating spiritual power endlessly, but the threshold to Sovereign-level remained frustratingly out of reach. Worse still, he'd hit a wall in his card creation, no new breakthroughs, no matter how hard he tried.
"It seems I can only wait for that person to descend before seeking a solution."
The thought of his plan progressing steadily eased the tension in Jin's brow. At least something was going according to,
His expression froze. A communication device materialized in his right hand, glowing faintly.
This was a proprietary tool of the Crimson Oath Society. Azrael had once possessed one, but Jin had revoked his privileges after the young man's betrayal. The members of the Fallen Cult who'd subsequently joined Jin's faction naturally carried these devices as well.
After checking the incoming message, Jin's expression darkened like a thundercloud. He practically gnashed his teeth as he growled, "Azrael, you again!"
The old man had never expected the Korea operation to be exposed so early. If they hadn't allowed that cowardly fox through the barrier earlier, the entire plan would have collapsed by now.
Without hesitation, Jin summoned the Skinner and Marcus.
These emergency meetings had become disturbingly frequent lately, and the two initially assumed this would be another routine discussion. That assumption shattered the moment Jin explained the current situation.
Silence fell over the room like a funeral shroud. They couldn't afford to delay any further, after all, the Empire of Aetherlight's actions were nothing more than a systematic attempt to clip their wings one territory at a time.
First Korea. Next would likely be the two secret realms outside Velkairos.
Thinking of this, Jin closed his eyes and spoke with unmistakable reluctance, "At this point, it seems we have no choice but to launch the operation prematurely."
Hearing this, even the Skinner's face showed a rare hint of hesitation. "But the arrangements in Velkairos aren't complete yet, are they?"
The cost of launching prematurely would be astronomical. The Skinner had hoped to avoid this until the very last moment.
But for Jin, he was already standing on the edge of a precipice with nowhere left to retreat.
"There's no time to delay any further. Let's proceed as we agreed."
With this, the old man silently glanced at Marcus, who was scratching his head in a daze, oblivious to the weight of the conversation.
The Skinner clearly understood the meaning behind Jin's words. After a long moment of silence, she finally nodded.
Seeing her agreement, Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He said calmly, "Let's wait for things in Korea to develop a little more."
The reason for not launching the backup plan immediately was simple, the battle between Azrael and his forces hadn't yet reached its climax. They were still in the tentative stages, and withdrawal remained an option.
The Skinner accepted his reasoning, and within minutes, the matter was settled.
Throughout the entire exchange, neither of them had consulted Marcus.
Smoke and dust choked the air as chaos swept through the city, sending waves of panic surging through the bewildered demon population.
The instigator of this devastation was a strange man, no, no longer a man, but an immensely large nine-tailed fox.
Despite his vulpine form, a deeply gloomy expression could still be seen twisting his features.
Fox Nine didn't believe an attack of this magnitude would cause much trouble for his opponents. More importantly, the fox demon was feeling apprehensive, his adversary was clearly much stronger than their previous encounter.
Furthermore, there was a Master-level Lore Cardian present.
The fox's enormous crimson pupils scanned the ground below, and he thought to himself, How cautious. But if this continues, those three will likely be the only survivors from the Empire of Aetherlight.
"Hehehehe."
His mouth widened in a ferocious grin, revealing a mouthful of fangs.
Under normal circumstances, Fox Nine's temperament would have made it impossible for him to simultaneously confront two beings of his level. But now, he wasn't the only Master demon present.
Despite his mind wandering, Fox Nine's attacks continued unabated.
Boom boom boom!
Nine tails, reaching toward the sky like pillars of destruction, repeatedly slammed down onto the ground. Each impact created massive tremors that caused buildings within Seoul to collapse like houses of cards.
The demons within, upon witnessing this apocalyptic display, naturally realized intruders had breached their territory and rushed toward the imperial city.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Azrael and Tempest's expressions were grim. After all, they'd already recognized the source of the attack.
Tempest, fending off another strike from above, said grimly, "I didn't expect that fox to be here."
"It's a good thing you and I came together, Azrael."
His careful planning had paid off in this critical moment.
The middle-aged man shuddered to think what would have happened if only he or Azrael had been present.
"Be careful! That Master demon who's been hiding hasn't made a move yet." Azrael concentrated, frowning as he observed his surroundings. "It seems he's discovered our whereabouts."
The young man didn't think Fox Nine possessed such tracking abilities. Considering their other target was highly skilled at stealth, it wasn't surprising they'd been discovered.
It was just unfortunate they'd missed the chance to strike first.
At that moment, Azrael's pupils shrank as a sudden chill ran through him.
He instantly realized it was the other Master demon, hiding in the shadows, launching an attack.
And their target was Tempest.
Undoubtedly, this demon knew just how difficult Azrael was to kill and had therefore immediately targeted Tempest, who was currently engaged in battle with Fox Nine.
But Azrael wasn't about to let that happen.
His cards immediately surged forward, colliding fiercely with the tail that had descended from the sky.
Meanwhile, Tempest had clearly sensed the threat materializing from nowhere.
Both the unknown Master demon who'd attacked and Tempest who'd been targeted immediately exerted their full strength.
Bang!
With a deafening roar, an invisible shockwave suddenly surged from Tempest's position, radiating outward in all directions.
Instantly, a massive gash tore through the earth, splitting the entire city of Seoul in two.
This was merely the residual damage from both sides pouring their full might into the clash, a negligible aftereffect for Master-level beings, but undoubtedly a catastrophic blow to the lower-level demons within the city.
The sudden rift devoured countless demons whole, while those who survived watched in abject terror as a man and a demon clashed in the heart of their city.
A moment later, the two figures suddenly separated, simultaneously flying backward.
Tempest's legs were rooted to the ground, carving two long furrows in the earth before finally coming to rest beside a towering, purple-armored wooden figure.
This was, of course, the combined power of Hashirama and Madara, the Power-Infused Wooden Figure.
Azrael and Shiraori were standing atop the figure, protected by Susanoo's ribcage.
"Azrael, I've identified all their information. You've got to give me a treat when we get back this time."
"I guarantee it." He casually replied to Shiraori, who was trying to claim credit, then carefully checked the identification information she'd sent him.
[Name: Fox Nine]
[Title: Nine-Tailed Great Fox]
[Level: Master]
[Available Material: Disaster Demon Fox]
[Name: Zero]
[Title: Perfection]
[Level: Master]
[Available Material: None]
The information about the Nation-Destroying Demon Fox wasn't surprising, Azrael had known its name.
But this newly emerged Master-level demon posed a significant problem.
He thought of the demon he'd encountered in the City Within a City, the Soul of Nothingness, which hadn't dropped any materials either.
While they undoubtedly shared a common origin, the demon before him, Zero, far surpassed the former in both intelligence and strength.
Azrael pondered, After obtaining information on the demon army, has Jin's own experimentation also progressed?
It was no wonder the Empire of Aetherlight lacked intelligence on Zero. This Master-level demon who'd unified the demons of Korea was simply the latest experiment from the City Within a City.
At that moment, Tempest's whispered voice suddenly echoed in Azrael's ear through their mental link, "Azrael, I'll leave the fox to you."
The next instant, before Azrael could react, Tempest had already appeared beside Zero.
Seeing the two clash again, Azrael turned to face Fox Nine with a stern expression.
Meanwhile, observing from the corner of his eye that Diamond-level demons were approaching the battlefield, he released Jacob and the others from [False Karakura Town].
Without turning back, Azrael stared solemnly at the giant fox in the distance and casually said, "Brother Jacob, I'll leave the lower-level demons around here to you."
Jacob and the other Diamond-level Lore Cardians were seeing Azrael's cards in person for the first time. They couldn't help but feel startled as they sensed the overwhelming aura emanating from the massive, purple-armored wooden figure beneath them.
Hearing Azrael's words, they snapped back to their senses and nodded in agreement. "Yes."
With that, the five of them, each using their own methods, left the center of the battlefield to intercept the incoming demons.
Seeing this, Fox Nine made no attempt to stop them.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, he was powerless to do so. He was now fully alert to Azrael's cards, his earlier arrogance completely evaporated.
Fox Nine hadn't expected the boy's strength to grow so explosively since their last encounter. Although Jin had told him about the previous battle with the demon army, the lack of live footage hadn't given him a true sense of the scale.
Fox Nine felt a tremor of fear and instinctively began calculating an escape route.
This was simply his nature, otherwise, he wouldn't have managed to rise from Diamond rank to Master rank on Earth through sheer survival instinct.
But soon, Fox Nine forced himself to reconsider. No, I have to contribute at all costs, or Jin will cause trouble for me.
With this thought, he immediately locked his gaze on Azrael, who stood atop the majestic wooden figure in the distance.
Azrael, however, showed no sign of panic.
He'd already realized that Fox Nine was far weaker than Tempest.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
With the sound of earth-shaking footsteps, the majestic wooden figure charged toward Fox Nine.
Simultaneously, Azrael's other cards attacked from multiple angles.
Ichigo Kurosaki, Shigekuni Yamamoto, Luffy, Aizen, even the souls who'd perished at Yamamoto's sword, all converged on the fox demon.
Seeing this overwhelming force, Fox Nine's fur instantly flared, and he let out a terrifying roar that shook the heavens.
Purple fox fire instantly enveloped him, and his nine massive tails, like pillars supporting heaven and earth, positioned themselves to shield him from attacks from all directions.
Unfortunately for the fox demon, Aizen had already transformed.
"Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi."
Aizen, who'd entered the third stage of Hōgyoku fusion, spoke with chilling apathy as he ruthlessly recited the name of his most skilled high-ranking Kidō.
Instantly, a massive black coffin materialized out of thin air, engulfing Fox Nine entirely. The structure stretched silently between heaven and earth, a monument to overwhelming power.
Bang!
The next moment, a crisp shattering sound echoed as the black coffin crumbled, and Fox Nine reappeared in the sight of all the cards.
It must be said that Fox Nine's defense was far superior to Tempest's, and so was his vitality.
After absorbing the full force of a Black Coffin, his massive frame bore only a few minor wounds, insignificant for his size.
Fortunately, Aizen in his third fusion stage hadn't expected to inflict critical damage.
He was merely providing cover for the other cards, much like how he'd coordinated with Ichigo Kurosaki to defeat Yhwach in the original timeline.
"Sage Art: Gate of the Great God!"
Having just escaped the Black Coffin, Fox Nine had no time to react before massive red torii gates dropped from the sky, pinning him to the ground with absolute binding force.
Sensing the situation growing dire, the demon fox began to struggle violently. His movements caused the ground to tremble like a magnitude ten earthquake, and the Myōjinmon gates controlling him began to shake from the strain.
But that brief moment was enough.
The mighty wooden figure took two massive strides and reached Fox Nine's position. Its purple-armored left hand gripped the fox's head with crushing force, and then its right fist, brimming with murderous intent, struck down like divine judgment.
One punch. Two. Three.
The terrifying force pulverized the ground beneath Fox Nine's head to dust, creating a crater that deepened with each devastating blow.
Watching the fox being hammered by the powerful wooden figure, Uchiha Madara, standing beside Azrael, couldn't help but feel a strange emotion. It reminded him vividly of the time when he'd piloted the Nine-Tails and been pinned down and beaten by Senju Hashirama in exactly the same manner.
Unlike Madara's Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, this one was even larger and more formidable.
Fox Nine felt nothing but crushing humiliation and mounting terror. He could never have imagined that he would one day end up like this, a Master-level demon reduced to a punching bag.
Beyond humiliation, genuine fear filled Fox Nine's heart.
Although his defensive abilities had prevented him from taking critical damage, his survival instincts screamed that if the fight continued, he would die.
Fox Nine couldn't help but desperately rationalize, Jin, I'm doing my best. You can't expect me to lose my life over this!
With this thought fueling his desperation, his struggles intensified, the terrifying force making it increasingly difficult for the powerful wooden figure to maintain its grip.
Finally, Fox Nine broke free with an explosive surge of power. His nine massive tails merged into one colossal appendage, sweeping across the ground with devastating force.
In the blink of an eye, the cards surrounding the fox demon were forced to retreat to avoid the sweeping strike, while the mighty wooden figure in front of him had no way to evade and had to take the attack head-on.
Boom!
The huge purple figure was sent flying, rolling uncontrollably across the battlefield and leaving destruction in its wake.
Seeing this scene, the five Diamond-level Lore Cardians who were controlling their cards in the distance suddenly felt their hearts jump to their throats.
To be honest, this was the first time they'd faced a Master-level being in such close combat.
Everything that had just transpired was undoubtedly shocking to them.
Because the strength Azrael displayed at this moment didn't seem like that of a Lore Cardian who'd just been "promoted" to Master level, it seemed far beyond that threshold.
Unfortunately, what they didn't know was that at this moment, Azrael wasn't even at full strength.
After all, Aizen hadn't yet entered his fifth or even sixth fusion stage, and Uchiha Madara had been holding back his [Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique] and hadn't used it.
The real battle was only beginning.