Azrael's decision was spur-of-the-moment. During his approach to the meeting point, he had spotted several illegal Lore Cardians setting up makeshift stalls along the route, peddling their wares to anyone desperate enough to risk dealing with them.
Jin, though somewhat surprised by Azrael's request, said nothing more than a brief glance toward Memphis.
Memphis immediately grasped the elder's meaning and summoned two cards from his collection.
"Keep these. If you need to return here again, use these cards for transportation."
Upon receiving the cards, Azrael examined their information carefully.
---
[Blood Ritual Array - Teleport]
Rank: Gold (Diamond)
Quality: Blue
Category: Item
Skills:
[Teleport]: The holder can perform a blood ritual to teleport back and forth between a marked location and an anchor point.
Current marked location: 120.911900, 38.398197
Current anchor point: 126.708402, -24.514157
Note: Using this card requires the holder to use human blood to create the corresponding ritual array.
---
From this card alone, Azrael could tell that the Skinner was definitely no ordinary opponent. What kind of Lore Cardian created cards requiring blood sacrifices to activate?
Memphis's voice echoed again, "This card is a daughter card linked to the Skinner's main teleportation network. From now on, Lewis, you'll use this card to travel between the two locations."
"The marked location is the island where we met earlier. If you're not satisfied with the coordinates, you can change them later."
Azrael, looking at the card in his hand, felt a strange sense of déjà vu and couldn't help but mutter, "What the hell is this supposed to be?"
"The Master of Bloody Bathrooms?"
"But isn't this approach a bit too gory?"
The problem was, his usual methods already involved enough violence, and this definitely wasn't suitable for casual use.
Even though the blood loss required wouldn't be particularly taxing given his current vitality, it was still an uncomfortable prospect.
That's right, Azrael was planning to use his own blood for the ritual.
The Skinner's fellow Lore Cardians would probably give him a thumbs-up if they knew, "Now that's a ruthless individual."
He decided not to change the coordinates, though, since he wouldn't normally have any reason to be at that location anyway.
After responding with a brief nod, he examined the second card.
, , , ,
[Crimson Oath Robe]
Rank: Black Iron
Quality: White
Category: Item
Description: An ordinary identification card used to prove the holder's membership in the Crimson Oath Society.
, , , ,
The second card served no special purpose beyond confirming Azrael's membership in the organization.
Jin's voice chimed in one final time, "It's your choice whether to wear this robe or not."
"By the way, if you encounter anyone wearing these black robes within the city, eliminate them immediately. You're the only member of our society authorized to operate in this region."
Without waiting for Azrael's reaction, he immediately led Memphis away, leaving the young man standing alone.
Azrael stared at the empty space before him, bewildered for a moment.
"Seriously? They're just going to abandon me here like this?"
After internally criticizing Jin, the moody old lunatic, Azrael finally chose to don the Crimson Oath Society's black robe.
Less trouble was better than more, after all.
Judging from Jin's specific warning, no one in the city would dare provoke members of the Crimson Oath Society. In fact, no one would dare antagonize any of the several powerful factions that had emerged from this city within a city.
"But what did the old man mean by that last comment?"
"Only I can operate from levels one through six?"
Thinking about how Jin had never seemed to treat the members of the Crimson Oath Society as truly human, Azrael's surprise began to fade.
After getting dressed, he roughly estimated the time, "It should still be several hours before dawn in Donglai."
It hadn't been particularly late when Azrael first met Memphis. Although he had lost some time during their encounter, it should still be four or five hours until sunrise in Donglai.
With his mind at ease, he immediately began exploring the illegal settlement.
Perhaps because they were all outlaw Lore Cardians, the city itself wasn't particularly large. But then again, it was difficult for this group of desperadoes to establish permanent settlements anywhere. Their current gathering must have been facilitated by the presence of several powerful organizations backing the underground market.
Strangely, most of the people Azrael encountered along the way were white or black. His Asian features were notably rare here, and he couldn't understand the languages spoken by most of the few he did observe.
Several vendors were even adorned with tiny human skulls as accessories.
"So it really is only the Crimson Oath Society and the Onefold Doctrine causing major disruptions in the Empire of Aetherlight."
From the current situation, he could already deduce the general state of this world's criminal underground.
As the president of a local association in the Empire of Aetherlight, Azrael was naturally well aware of the domestic situation. Due to the dual oversight of the imperial court and the official associations, unless the Crimson Oath Society or the Onefold Doctrine provided assistance, ordinary citizens had virtually no opportunity to become illegal Lore Cardians.
As for other countries, the situation was more difficult to assess. Perhaps the very concept of "illegal Lore Cardians" simply didn't exist in those nations.
After all, the human settlements Azrael had encountered in Korea some time ago had been entirely populated by demonic captives. Who would care about illegal Lore Cardians under such circumstances?
Thinking this way, the situation seemed quite reasonable.
Setting aside these speculative thoughts, he focused his attention on the stalls lining the makeshift market street.
After browsing for a while, he stopped in front of a white vendor's stall.
The man visibly shuddered upon seeing the black robes representing the Crimson Oath Society. "Señor (Sir)..."
If it had been English, Azrael might have been able to exchange a few words, but this was clearly Spanish. He couldn't understand the specific dialect, but judging by the geographical location, it was likely Castilian, since the Spanish had been the first Europeans to discover this continent.
He gestured for the man to remain silent, then pointed to a document displayed on the electronic device in front of the vendor, before producing his own [Feast of Pirates] (Red) material card.
The white man immediately understood his intention and hurriedly retrieved the materials Azrael needed from his storage space.
In such a chaotic place, no one dared openly display valuable materials on their stalls; the items usually on show were less precious commodities like information documents.
The vendor shoved the materials into Azrael's hands with obvious trepidation, not even willing to accept the [Feast of Pirates] (Red) in payment.
Seeing this reaction, Azrael wordlessly tossed the [Feast of Pirates] onto the stall and departed with his acquired materials.
He realized then that, considering his status as a member of the Crimson Oath Society, the vendor might genuinely have been willing to provide the materials for free.
But he couldn't operate that way.
Such behavior would break the unspoken rules governing this black market, and other Lore Cardians selling contraband might stop returning if word spread. If organization members could simply commandeer materials so blatantly, why would independent dealers bother trading with them at all? Why not just surrender all their stock to the city within a city each time they visited?
In truth, though, Azrael was still getting an excellent deal.
After all, the [Feast of Pirates] might not meet all of the vendor's needs. A normal trade would have required him to provide two additional materials as compensation.
Looking at the Gold-level [Void Walker] (Red) now in his possession, Azrael smiled with satisfaction. "It wasn't a complete waste of time."
When he had seen Memphis's dropped materials earlier, he had hoped to save one for himself, but Memphis hadn't actually dropped any usable components.
Fortunately, he had managed to obtain the materials he needed through trade.
"That's just one more item to find."
With that thought, Azrael continued his exploration of the underground market.
Unfortunately, these illegal Lore Cardians certainly didn't have access to the comprehensive resource networks available through official Guild channels. Even as Azrael prepared to leave, he hadn't located a second suitable material for his current project.
He did manage to acquire several interesting books, however.
For example, he purchased ["Card-Creation Techniques of the Legendary French Lore Cardian Alexandre Dumas"], the same Alexandre Dumas who had written "The Count of Monte Cristo" before Azrael's dimensional transfer. In this world, the author had apparently become a renowned Lore Cardian instead of just a novelist.
There were also titles like "The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway, the Hardcore Lore Cardian Creator."
These were all fascinating publications that Azrael had never encountered in the Empire of Aetherlight's official markets.
"Time to head back."
After completing his shopping expedition, Azrael felt satisfied and prepared to return to Donglai.
He now possessed two valuable materials: a [Pirate Master Craftsman] (Gold), and several unused, lower-quality Gold-level [Pirate Officers].
He had traded away those books for the materials, since rare materials served as a universal currency in places like this.
Outside the settlement, Azrael transformed his fingers into blade-like extensions and cut a substantial gash across his palm, instructing his natural healing factor to temporarily suppress automatic regeneration.
Then, following the instructions for [Blood Ritual Formation: Teleport], he traced the required magic circle on the ground using his blood.
Soon, a crimson inverted triangle-shaped ritual array appeared on the earth.
With a flash of scarlet light, Azrael vanished instantly.
In the span of a heartbeat, he materialized on the beach where he had first met Memphis.
"Incredibly fast," Azrael exclaimed, then scratched his head thoughtfully. "I was expecting some fool to target me for robbery and murder."
"That's exactly what always happened in the novels I read before my dimensional transfer."
Then he glanced down at his black robe.
"Oh, right. I guess I'm the villain in this scenario."
"That explains everything."
Azrael quickly stored away his robe, assessed his location, and began his journey back to Donglai.
The following morning, Azrael arrived at the association headquarters for work as if nothing unusual had occurred the previous night.
For his current physical condition, a sleepless night wasn't particularly taxing, certainly less demanding than the energy he had expended during his recent battles with powerful opponents.
Azrael propped his chin on his hand and watched his summoned cards handling various administrative tasks around the president's office.
Naturally, the primary work was being conducted by Aizen, Unohana Retsu, and Fubuki.
Of all his summoned cards, these three were the most skilled at managing official business operations.
Azrael's gaze drifted over the graceful beauty with her elegant braided hair draped across her chest, and he suddenly straightened in his chair with startled recognition.
He finally understood the source of the vaguely unsettling feeling he had experienced the previous day after meeting Godrick.
Azrael activated the intercom, "Have Tommy come to the president's office immediately."
Shortly afterward, Tommy, the clerk who had submitted the attendance report the previous evening, returned to the president's office.
Feeling the compelling aura emanating from the cards beside Azrael, Tommy dared not even breathe audibly. Fortunately, the young president immediately spoke to ease the oppressive atmosphere, "Director Yu is unwell. I'll need to personally oversee the HR department for a while."
Tommy appeared stunned, then quickly replied, "Not too much trouble at all, sir. I'll handle everything."
He wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the arrangement, since he lacked the qualifications to actually assume directorial responsibilities, and even if Azrael wanted him to take over as department head, it simply wouldn't be feasible.
But Azrael hadn't summoned him for that reason in the first place.
"Do you have the home addresses for Octavius and Chen?"
"I noticed they had the highest absence rates yesterday, so I'm planning to conduct personal visits."
Hearing this request, Tommy was internally stunned, silently praying for the logistics department employees: 'You poor souls are doomed! The president is actually planning to make house calls personally.'
Despite his internal thoughts, the middle-aged clerk remained professionally honest and replied, "Yes, sir. I'll send you their home addresses as soon as I return to my desk."
"Excellent. You're dismissed."
Azrael rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he watched Tommy depart.
He had sensed something was amiss after visiting Godrick yesterday, and today, observing Unohana Retsu, the captain of the medical division, had suddenly reminded him of the numerous absence records plaguing the logistics department.
They had all begun around the same time as Godrick's unexplained absences.
While he wasn't certain of any connection, Azrael decided the situation warranted investigation.
Even if there turned out to be no correlation, it would still be beneficial. Unohana Retsu could treat the absent employees and expedite their return to full productivity.
Today, Azrael was embracing his role as a demanding and efficiency-focused leader.