"Success?!"
Cliff blurted out in astonishment upon witnessing the scene unfold before him.
He had assumed the experiment would fail since Li Gang had never demonstrated this capability before, but the middle-aged man had apparently been concealing his true potential all along.
The demon researcher's tone grew increasingly excited as the implications became clear, "I never imagined this project would actually succeed!"
"We should be able to secure additional funding from headquarters after submitting these results."
He couldn't help but glance sympathetically at the young man positioned on the distant shore. Initially, Cliff had assumed Azrael's defeat was inevitable, but now the outcome was no longer certain.
Retracting his gaze, Cliff hurriedly recorded the crucial data before vanishing from the observation point.
For him, the battle's ultimate outcome had become irrelevant. After all, he possessed the essential experimental information, and he needed to rush back to the Demon Army to submit his findings.
Meanwhile, observing the scene unfolding before him, Azrael narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "How is this even possible?!"
He had fought Li Gang multiple times previously and could easily discern that this was a crude imitation of Dangun's King's Army, a knockoff version at best.
What shocked the young president was that Dangun was nowhere to be seen on the battlefield! This ability had been activated directly by Li Gang himself!
"No wonder."
Azrael finally understood why Li Gang had abandoned his Lore Cardian status. He also grasped what Shiraori had meant with her cryptic assessment, "My spirit will no longer be my shackles."
Li Gang had become a hybrid, both demon and Lore Cardian simultaneously.
"How could he possibly accomplish such a transformation?"
Azrael had never heard of anyone achieving such a feat.
Taking a deep breath, he steadied his mind and continued observing the situation carefully.
The young man felt relieved to discover that although Li Gang had reached Emerald level and could directly activate a knockoff version of the King's Army, compared to the original version previously summoned by Dangun, this iteration only increased in quantity, not quality.
However, since the King's Army was primarily a numbers-based ability, it would be somewhat absurd if the summoned troops' individual strength increased proportionally with the summoner's power.
But Li Gang's ability to use the knockoff King's Army meant he could likely access other card abilities as well.
As Azrael watched, Ulquiorra's pitch-black energy blast bombarded the massive dragon's body, but inflicted no visible damage. Instead, many of the summoned phantoms vanished upon impact.
"Damage transfer."
"So he has a knockoff Blood River as well?"
The young man's eye twitched at this realization. Li Gang's abilities were perfectly consistent with his nature as a cheap imitator.
In mid-air, Ulquiorra gripped the dragon's tail with his left hand as it swung forward. The violent winds ruffled his white hair, yet he held the spiritual spear in his right hand with emotionless precision, "I didn't expect you to possess such abilities."
"But Master Azrael's orders are to eliminate you, so die!"
Hearing this declaration, Li Gang roared defiantly, " The arrogance!"
The dragon's body suddenly blazed with brilliant golden radiance.
The next moment, the giant red dragon became like a miniature sun, radiating devastating golden beams in all directions.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"
The mere contact with these golden beams caused vast swathes of seawater to evaporate instantly.
Fortunately, the battle was taking place far from Donglai's coastline. Otherwise, a single attack would have obliterated entire sections of the city.
Witnessing this display, Ulquiorra immediately distanced himself from Li Gang but was still caught by one of the golden beams across his legs.
Glancing at his limbs, which rapidly healed thanks to High-Speed Regeneration, he decided to alter his combat strategy.
Not far from the coast, Diesel and his two colleagues were rushing toward the battle site after completing arrangements for managing the city's aftermath.
However, upon catching sight of the miniature sun radiating endless light across the distant horizon, their expressions darkened with concern.
"Emerald Level!"
"The president is really..."
Taking deep breaths, they continued their urgent journey toward the shore.
However, upon reaching the coastline, Azrael appeared and intercepted them. "What are you doing here?"
"Run!"
He commanded, leading the three away from the dangerous area.
Seeing this unexpected directive, Diesel and the others exchanged bewildered glances. "Guild Leader?"
"Is your card running out of energy?"
"So we're retreating to Donglai City to evacuate the residents?"
This seemed like the most logical explanation they could devise. After all, the young man beside them had only recently advanced to Emerald level, and battling a demon radiating such distinct Emerald-level spiritual pressure was undoubtedly challenging.
They were surprised the confrontation had lasted this long.
The three had no idea that the red dragon was actually Li Gang's transformed state and simply assumed it was an ordinary demon.
Yes, an ordinary Emerald-level demon.
Unexpectedly, Azrael responded with an unusual tone, "No, it's because I'm not certain about the exact range of the next attack."
Diesel and his colleagues looked completely confused, "Huh?"
But then a violent tremor erupted from behind them, leaving them gaping in shock and awe.
Above the churning ocean, although the golden beams emanating from the distant red dragon were causing Ulquiorra considerable difficulty, he remained composed and spoke calmly, "Originally, I was wondering how to prevent you from escaping."
"But it seems I was overthinking the situation."
He opened his hands and formed an emerald-green spear of condensed spiritual energy before him, then extended his right hand and grasped it firmly.
Ulquiorra then assumed a perfect spear-throwing stance and declared with cold precision, "Just stay there."
At this critical moment, even with his clouded judgment, Li Gang sensed the intense threat radiating from the lightning spear held by the black and white figure across from him.
He forcibly halted the activation of his golden beam attack and immediately attempted to flee.
But Ulquiorra's emotionless voice echoed simultaneously.
"Lanza del Relámpago."
"Whoosh!"
In a split second, the spear reached Li Gang's position.
His enormous dragon eyes widened, filled with terror and disbelief.
The next moment, emerald-green energy instantly engulfed everything surrounding him.
Even though Lanza del Relámpago had drawbacks such as difficulty in precise control and tendency to miss smaller targets, those limitations only applied to agile opponents like Ichigo.
A massive target like Li Gang's dragon form was no different from a stationary practice dummy for Ulquiorra.
These disadvantages naturally yielded terrifying destructive power in compensation.
In Donglai City, nearly everyone near the coastline stared in blank astonishment at the distant horizon.
From the shore, a massive emerald-green beam of light stretched across the entire sky.
Even from such a considerable distance, they could feel the sharp winds stinging their faces.
"What is that...?"
"What's happening?"
Humanity's most primal fears were stirring within the civilian population.
Fortunately, the Lore Cardians throughout the city had received Azrael's advance warning. Their hearts quickly shifted from fear to shock as they began comforting the surrounding residents.
Even after hearing that this tremendous display was caused by their own association president, lingering anxiety remained within the ordinary citizens.
It was instinctive, the survival urge driving them away from such dangerous supernatural conflicts.
This was Emerald Level.
In a relatively small city like Donglai, a single Emerald-level fighter possessed enough power to determine the fate of the entire municipality.
Beyond fear, the residents felt nothing but profound relief. They were grateful that such overwhelming force belonged to their protectors.
At that moment, countless children dreamed of becoming Lore Cardians as powerful as Azrael.
But clearly, there was only one Azrael in the world.
Diesel and his two colleagues finally understood why their president had evacuated them from the immediate area.
They turned, stunned, staring at the horrific spectacle in the distance.
Just then, a sudden voice echoed beside them, "Damn!"
The simplest profanity conveyed the most extreme emotional response.
Those two words perfectly expressed the newcomer's overwhelming shock.
However, Azrael was immediately on guard, sensing that the visitor possessed Emerald-level spiritual pressure.
Fortunately, the stranger's next words somewhat eased his defensive posture, "Don't you people have Emerald-level Lore Cardians in this region?! You're causing such a massive disturbance!"
"Why are you calling for reinforcements?"
Hearing this, the four quickly determined that the visitor must be a Lore Cardian dispatched by the Qilu Cardian Master Association to support Donglai.
Azrael shook his head slightly, "I only managed to break through to Emerald level during this battle, and I had already requested assistance beforehand."
"Besides, I wasn't entirely certain I could defeat that demon."
To maintain operational security, he chose not to reveal Li Gang's true identity for the time being.
The newcomer materialized not far from the four of them. "Breakthrough during combat? That's quite impressive terminology."
"We Lore Cardians don't usually experience that phenomenon, do we?"
He then gestured toward the coastline and smirked. "Furthermore, can a newly-advanced Emerald-level Lore Cardian really generate this magnitude of destruction?"
"You're quite the exceptional case, brother."
Diesel confirmed the stranger's identity and whispered, "Yes, this is Master Pierre from the Qilu Cardian Master Association."
Hearing Master Pierre's observations, Azrael simply smiled without attempting to address his suspicions.
Master Pierre clearly understood that this involved confidential Lore Cardian secrets, and even his curiosity wouldn't compel him to pry into such sensitive matters.
"I'll probably need to trouble Master Pierre with the next phase."
Diesel and his colleagues were puzzled, uncertain about what Azrael was referencing.
Master Pierre patted his chest confidently and declared, "Just leave it to me!"
As he spoke, he and Azrael walked toward the coast.
Diesel and the others followed, still confused about the situation.
However, when they reached the shoreline, they finally understood what Azrael had meant.
The landscape had been fundamentally altered.
Where the ocean should have been, there was now an extremely wide and deep crater.
As far as they could see, massive waves were continuously pouring into the enormous pit and rushing toward the coast.
There was absolutely no doubt that if left unchecked, Donglai City would be completely flooded. This was truly a natural disaster of Emerald-level proportions.