Following Azrael's orders, two captured Onefold Doctrine Lore Cardians were quickly brought before him.
It wasn't that he didn't want to keep the demon and the limb-reaving demon alive, but rather that both possessed unknown restrictions, making it difficult to extract any information.
Unfortunately, after revealing the locations of several Onefold Doctrine strongholds, the two Onefold Doctrine Lore Cardians ultimately provided Azrael and his team with no useful intelligence.
Watching as Diesel's flying zombie casually crushed the two men's heads, Azrael sighed, "I was careless this time. Otherwise, the city wouldn't have fallen into this state."
Hearing this, Diesel shook his head slightly. "That kind of teleportation ability has never been revealed before in the Onefold Doctrine. It's understandable that you, Master, weren't prepared."
Diesel spoke the truth. He couldn't expect everyone to be prepared for something they'd never encountered before, could he?
It was like a primitive person seeing a rifle as a piece of firewood, not recognizing the terrifying weapon capable of killing at a distance.
Azrael remained silent.
In reality, if Shiraori had been around at the time, she would have been unlikely to be affected, given her [Ruler: Wisdom] skill.
Spatial fluctuations of that magnitude were impossible to conceal from her analytical abilities.
Glancing at the dire situation around him, Azrael changed the subject, "The three of you will need to pay close attention to the aftermath."
While it might seem like the Association's top fighters suffered no casualties today, many lower-level Lore Cardians were still killed before Azrael arrived back in Donglai.
Not to mention the civilians near the battlefield.
"Yes."
Several days had passed since the Onefold Doctrine's attack, and peace had returned to Donglai.
However, Azrael had been feeling uneasy these past few days.
Primarily due to the words Li Gang left before his escape, he suspected that the Onefold Doctrine's goal wasn't simply to eliminate the Donglai Cardian Master Association's top fighters.
Rather, it was a cover-up.
Without more information, Azrael couldn't make a definitive conclusion.
After clearing out several Onefold Doctrine strongholds uncovered through interrogation, the Association hadn't made any further discoveries.
Furthermore, Azrael remembered that Shiraori's earlier identification indicated Li Gang possessed more than two cards. However, according to the subsequent reports submitted by Diesel and his team, until his escape, he had only used [Dangun] and [True Spirit Lord].
If even one more high-quality Gold-level card had been deployed, Diesel and his team might not have survived until Azrael arrived in Donglai.
"Tsk."
The Onefold Doctrine in Donglai City was now like a monster cloaked in mist, its occasional revelation making Azrael irritated.
To divert his attention, Azrael focused on the venue materials he had obtained in the secret realm.
He pulled out [Land of Chaos] and summoned Nel's card.
As he entwined his mental power with both, a brilliant light suddenly shone through the room.
Azrael quietly waited for the venue card to be generated, wondering what its effect would be.
After a moment, the light faded, revealing a card with a giant, pale palace painted on its face.
[Las Noches]
Rank: Gold/Diamond Quality: Red Category: Venue
Effect:
[Throne Room]: Activates when holding [Lord of Hueco Mundo, Aizen].
[Solitude Room]: Activates when holding [Coyote Starrk].
[Decline Room]: Activates when holding [Baraggan Louisenbairn].
[Sacrifice Room]: Activates when holding [Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck] and [Tier Harribel]. (Activated) No. 3: Within the familiar palace, the power of [Nel] and [Harribel] will be significantly enhanced.
Sacrifice: When [Las Noches] reaches Emerald rank, if [Nel] or [Harribel] dies in battle, the card holder will inherit most of their power. (Blocked) Another possibility: When [Las Noches] reaches Diamond rank, [Nel] will gain a new stance, [The End of Sorrow], and [Harribel] will gain a new stance, [The Price of Rest]. (Banned)
[Between Nothingness]: Activates when holding [Ulquiorra Cifer].
[Between Despair]: Activates when holding [Nnoitra Gilga].
[Between Destruction]: Activates when holding [Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez] and [Luppi Antenor].
[Between Intoxication]: Activates when holding [Zommari Rureaux].
[Between Madness]: Activates when holding [Szayelaporro Granz].
[Between Greed]: Activates when holding [Aaroniero Arruruerie].
[Between Rage]: Activates when holding [Yammy Llargo].
[Three Realms]: When holding the Venue Cards [Seireitei], [Kuroyakunomiya], and [???] at the same time, and all three Venue Cards have reached their limit, the effect [Soul King's Revival] can be activated.
Note: The effect of [Soul King's Revival] lasts for 10 minutes. Note: After activating the effect of [Soul King's Revival], the three Venue Cards will enter a 30-calendar-day cooldown.
After checking the card information, Azrael was momentarily stunned by the dense information.
The main reason was that the effects of [Las Noches] differed significantly from those of [Seireitei].
Many of [Las Noches]'s effects required the possession of relevant cards to trigger, unlike [Seireitei], which could be triggered as long as the venue card reached the corresponding level.
"But does Aizen have to be Emerald rank to activate its effects?"
But thinking that the Aizen he had was still just a legitimate Shinigami, Azrael felt relieved.
"No wonder Nel was connected to this material."
"But what are [The End of Sorrow] and [The Price of Rest]?"
After thinking carefully, Azrael couldn't find the relevant information in his memory and could only suppress it for the time being.
Just as he was about to put away [Las Noches], a sudden wave of movement made him pause.
Aizen had generated a new item card.
[Unstable Hōgyoku (Experimental)] (One-time use) Rank: Gold Quality: ??? Category: Item
Effect:[Incomplete Arrancar]: Using this card with a Ten Espada card will produce some unexpected effects.
"Hōgyoku..."
Azrael felt like he'd been showered with praise when he first saw the name of the new item.
However, after suppressing his excitement and reviewing the card information, he felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured on him, instantly calming down.
"Unstable Hōgyoku."
"And it has a limited target."
Azrael knew this wouldn't happen.
If it truly was the complete Hōgyoku, then the Onefold Doctrine in Donglai City wouldn't matter; Aizen could simply crush them one by one.
But that wasn't realistic.
After all, Aizen, the Throne of Heaven, was a Diamond-ranked card.
Azrael wasn't surprised that the Unstable Hōgyoku targeted the Espada.
In the original story, the Arrancar were created by the Hōgyoku.
"Should I use it on Nel?"
Azrael pondered for a long time, but he still didn't choose to use it.
Firstly, he wasn't sure what the effect would be.
Secondly, after all, Nel was only a Silver-ranked card, so using the Gold-ranked Unstable Hōgyoku would be a waste.
Having made his decision, Azrael put the two cards back into his mind.
But then another thought occurred to him.
"Speaking of which, what exactly is the [Soul and Foreign Object Extraction Medium] used for?"
If Aizen's special ability hadn't generated another item card today, Azrael would have almost forgotten about it.
Nothing had happened to use it in the intervening time.
"Wait, isn't it used to extract Jin's contract?"
"If so, why didn't it generate it immediately after I created Aizen?"
Azrael rubbed his chin, momentarily puzzled.
"How about trying it on someone else?"
After a moment's deliberation, he decided to test it. After all, if it was correct, wouldn't that mean he already had a countermeasure to Jin's control of the Crimson Oath Society?
While Azrael hadn't been controlled by Jin to begin with, people like Magnus and Godfrey were different.
If the contract could be broken, they'd surely be willing to serve him like his minions.
Azrael immediately took out his phone and found a random member of the underworld who had recently joined the Crimson Oath Society.
Why choose this underling instead of Godfrey and the others? The main reason was that if anything went wrong, the underling would be expendable.
But Godfrey and Magnus were different. After spending so long together, Azrael still had some feelings for them.
Besides, the two of them worked quite hard.
Soon, a Black Iron-level Lore Cardian arrived at the hidden underground study.
"Sir," the worker looked at the young man in front of him with awe. Before joining the Crimson Oath Society, he was just an ordinary person, naturally unable to appreciate the young man's strength.
But after joining, the chasm between Black Iron and Gold nearly terrified him.
Not to mention the contract's suppression.
"Don't worry, it'll be over soon."
Azrael didn't bother to waste time talking to the man and simply took out the [Soul and Foreign Object Extraction Medium].
But nothing happened.
The [Soul and Foreign Object Extraction Medium] was as if broken, unresponsive.
Azrael was stunned. This wasn't what he had expected.
"Was I wrong?"
The worker swallowed and called softly, "Sir?"
Azrael paused his thoughts and waved his hand, "Get out."
"Yes," the worker immediately tried to leave.
"Plop."
Shiraori couldn't help but grumble at the corpse before her. "Wow, Azrael, you're so mean."
Azrael curled his lips. "Once."
"No, Master Azrael, little Shiraori, I know I'm wrong. Don't deduct my food!"
Ignoring Shiraori's antics, Azrael looked at the item card in his hand, puzzled.
If it wasn't used to break the Crimson Oath Society's contract, then what was it for?
After pondering for a long time, he couldn't figure it out, so he reluctantly put the card away.
As for the worker, Azrael hadn't intended to let him walk away alive.
After all, he was just a scumbag. Killing him was fine, and it would still be considered a contribution to society.
In the morning, Stephen opened his eyes wearily and muttered softly, "Why do I feel so tired lately?"
"I'm not that old."
His roommate had returned to the dormitory and asked, looking at the young man getting dressed, "Stephen, am I seeing things?"
"Why do I feel like you look different from a while ago?"
Stephen put on his clothes and touched his face in confusion. "Is that so?"
He then looked in the mirror.
He looked the same as usual in the mirror. If anything, his forehead was slightly red and swollen, probably from staying up late.
He touched the bumps, and the slight sting made Stephen grit his teeth, "Hiss!"
But this had happened before. It was more like it was normal for young people who liked to stay up late to have acne on their faces.
The cheeks and forehead were the hardest hit areas.
He usually used an idiom to describe the acne on his forehead, "Radiant and Glorious."