Watching Master Pierre's cards and Diesel's Turtle Minister depart to guide the seawater, Azrael arrived at the center of the deep crater where a giant dragon lay half-dead.
It was Li Gang.
After taking a direct hit from the Lanza del Relámpago, his condition was catastrophic.
Only half of the red dragon's massive body remained intact. Most of his flesh and blood had been vaporized by the emerald-green energy, leaving large swathes of exposed bone and internal organs gleaming wetly in the afternoon light.
Even so, Li Gang clung to his final breath.
Ulquiorra, meanwhile, bore wounds of varying severity across his black and white form. While he shared the same spiritual energy source as his attack, the overwhelming power of the Lightning Lance had still inflicted considerable damage upon its wielder.
This was precisely why he had been reluctant to use this technique in close-quarters combat.
Furthermore, he had deliberately created significant distance between them to avoid Li Gang's devastating [Sunlight] ability.
As if sensing Azrael's approach, Li Gang struggled to open his single remaining eye, slowly turning it to search for the young man's figure.
After several long moments of futile searching, he finally gave up and stared blankly ahead. "Azrael."
Azrael wasn't in the mood for prolonged conversations. He simply gestured to Ulquiorra with a sharp nod.
Receiving his master's command, Ulquiorra instantly manifested a spiritual spear in his hand and pressed its gleaming tip against Li Gang's forehead.
The already dying dragon finally caught the unmistakable scent of death and, with tremendous effort, spoke slowly, "How... decisive."
"You're not going to say anything?" Li Gang managed, his voice barely a whisper.
"I was, "
"Swish!"
The sound of flesh being pierced echoed across the crater, and Li Gang's words abruptly ceased.
Having completed the execution, Ulquiorra flew to Azrael's side and reported with emotionless precision, "Master Azrael, the order has been fulfilled."
Azrael nodded slightly. He had no interest in hearing Li Gang's final words. Who knew what strange card abilities the man might have possessed? If he'd been deceived by some last-minute trick, he would have been left utterly speechless.
Moreover, he already knew most of the information the middle-aged man could have revealed, and it was clear that Li Gang himself had been unaware of the deeper operational details regarding the Demon Army.
Ultimately, he had merely been a collaborator of the Onefold Doctrine, not a true member of the Demon Army.
Otherwise, the Demon Army would have sent more than just a few Gold-level beings to support his transformation.
"Speaking of which, where's Cliff?"
Azrael suddenly remembered the demon researcher. The man had completely vanished since Li Gang's dramatic appearance, and after escaping the barrier, Azrael had been so focused on dealing with Li Gang that he hadn't had time to carefully search for the demon.
"Did he get away?"
"Tsk."
At this point, if Cliff had indeed escaped, Azrael obviously couldn't venture into Demon Army territory to recapture him.
Sighing in frustration, just as he was about to return to shore, his pupils suddenly constricted and he stared at Li Gang's corpse in complete disbelief.
At this moment, in the young man's enhanced perception, a piece of material slowly materialized on the half-dragon's body in the center of the crater.
He flashed forward and appeared above the corpse, grasping the material while muttering to himself in amazement, "No way!"
Emerald-level [State-Defining·Crimson Dragon] (Red Quality).
"It really is material."
Although he had previously theorized that Li Gang had become some fusion of demon and card, he hadn't expected the middle-aged man to actually produce material upon death.
After all, those limb-grafting demons they'd encountered previously had never revealed material.
But now that Li Gang had generated material, it could only mean one thing, "Demonization?"
The speculation that surfaced in Azrael's mind sent chills through his veins. If the Demon Army could truly use this method at will, the pressure facing the Empire of Aetherlight's northern forces would undoubtedly increase dramatically.
Of course, the young man also considered another possibility, that the Empire, or rather, this entire world, was gradually becoming a secret realm.
"No, that shouldn't be the case."
"Otherwise, Li Gang wouldn't have gone through so much trouble in Donglai to successfully achieve this transformation."
Azrael quickly dismissed this speculation. After all, if it were true, Li Gang couldn't have been the only case.
Just as he was frowning over the material in his hand, Master Pierre, accompanied by Diesel and the other two, approached him. "Wow, brother, that worm was quite massive!"
Sensing the lingering draconic aura emanating from Li Gang's remains, the middle-aged reinforcement spoke in his characteristic gruff tone, unable to resist scratching his beard.
Then, he glanced at Ulquiorra, still in his evolved Segunda Etapa form standing beside Azrael, and couldn't help but feel genuine shock. "Breakthrough in battle? But where did you get this Emerald-level card?"
"I'm afraid that's quite the story."
Master Pierre's biggest doubt about Azrael's situation was that breaking through in battle wouldn't naturally grant someone access to a card of equivalent level.
Especially not a card as devastatingly powerful as Ulquiorra.
However, he was well aware of Azrael's background. Before his arrival, the Qilu Cardian Master Association had informed him that the young man was a disciple of Master Lucian.
With that prestigious connection in mind, he decided not to delve deeper into the matter. Perhaps it was some life-saving method passed down by a master Lore Cardian to his disciples.
Azrael calmly stored the material and immediately summoned dozens of Shadowkhan soldiers to transport Li Gang's massive corpse into the Shadow Kingdom.
Seeing this display, Master Pierre was stunned and asked reflexively, "What's the plan, brother? Are you thinking of taking it back for some... nutritional supplements?"
"You're incredibly bold! Aren't you worried this demon corpse might cause unforeseen problems?"
Azrael's eye twitched at this assumption. He responded casually, "Yes, I'm planning to make some Flying Dragon Soup to sample. Would you like to try some as well?"
Master Pierre's eyes lit up with genuine enthusiasm. "Then you absolutely have to let me taste it when you're finished!"
"Of course, of course."
Overhearing this exchange, Diesel and the other two shared a meaningful glance.
How could they not have realized their president had such... unique culinary interests?
It wasn't that Azrael was deliberately concealing information from them; rather, secrets like this were best kept to as few people as possible.
He was referring to the fact that the red dragon had been Li Gang's transformed state, not the Flying Dragon Soup itself.
He would submit a comprehensive report to the Qilu Cardian Master Association later, and it would be their decision whether to disclose this information to other Lore Cardians.
As they conversed, the raging tsunami gradually subsided thanks to the coordinated efforts of their cards, the azure waters slowly filling the massive crater created by the Lanza del Relámpago.
Of course, any geologists present would have immediately noticed that the coastline had permanently receded by several hundred meters.
Nearly half a month had passed since the Onefold Doctrine's devastating attack, and Donglai City had finally returned to its former peaceful rhythm, as long as one ignored the ongoing renovations at the Cardian Master Association headquarters.
Sitting in his shabby makeshift office, Azrael couldn't help but voice his frustration, "Why is the headquarters reconstruction progressing so slowly?"
This delay wasn't entirely surprising. By now, all the other civilian buildings in the city damaged by Li Gang's rampage had been nearly restored to their original condition, leaving only the Cardian Master Association headquarters barely beyond its foundation stage.
Hearing this complaint, Diesel, who was diligently processing administrative documents, replied without looking up, "President, you have to understand the complexities involved. The headquarters requires specialized protective enchantments that can't simply be restored like ordinary civilian structures."
"But those protections were utterly ineffective," Azrael muttered under his breath.
Diesel froze momentarily at the young man's observation.
Azrael's assessment was brutally accurate. Under Li Gang's devastating assault, the headquarters' supposedly advanced protective barriers had barely held for a single second before the entire building was reduced to rubble.
However, the middle-aged administrator quickly formulated a rebuttal, "Without those protections, Director Godrick and the others would have been instantly vaporized by that Emerald-level demon's initial attack."
Azrael fell silent. Diesel was absolutely correct. Without the protective barriers, Godrick wouldn't even have survived long enough to spend weeks as a mummified patient in the hospital.
Not to mention that several low-level Lore Cardians had managed to survive the attack, so the casualties hadn't been total.
However, after this catastrophic incident, the former director could finally retire with full honors and a clear conscience.
Azrael, fully acknowledging his own administrative shortcomings, snorted dismissively, took a sip of the hot tea on his desk, and began pondering a completely different matter.
After dealing with the tsunami caused by the Lanza del Relámpago off the coastline, he had returned to the city and used the [Soul Foreign Object Extraction Medium] to extract all foreign matter from the patients gathered at the hospital.
After completing this delicate process, he had been delighted to recover a substantial container of dark red blood.
Then, one night, Azrael had Shiraori conduct a thorough analysis, and the results had shocked him into a cold sweat.
[Deactivated Sublimated Blood]
Description:
The original host is deceased, and its derivative substances naturally cannot survive independently.
The sublimated blood can no longer drain the life force of others to sustain the original host's existence.
You have successfully eliminated a dragon on the verge of transcending its mortal limitations.
There was absolutely no doubt that the information Shiraori had identified regarding the "original host" and the "ascending dragon" referred directly to Li Gang, and the implications were crystal clear.
Li Gang had been systematically absorbing this sublimated blood to fuel his transformation.
However, Azrael deduced from the analytical data that the middle-aged man had been forced to undergo his metamorphosis prematurely, before he could fully absorb all the blood.
"Thank goodness I didn't hesitate that day, otherwise..."
He vividly recalled that if he hadn't taken immediate decisive action, but had delayed even one additional day, there was no telling how catastrophically powerful Li Gang might have become.
Contemplating these disturbing possibilities, he took another sip of hot tea to calm his nerves.
Just then, his phone vibrated sharply, immediately capturing his attention.
It was a text message from the Qilu Cardian Master Association.
"President Azrael, report to headquarters immediately."
After confirming the sender's authenticity, Azrael pocketed his phone and exhaled with relief. "Finally."
After treating the hospital patients that eventful day, he had worked through the night to compile a comprehensive report and submitted it the following morning along with detailed accounts from Diesel and the others.
And then... complete silence.
As if his report had vanished into an informational black hole, the Qilu Cardian Master Association had never responded to his communications.
However, Azrael hadn't assumed they were dismissing the events in Donglai; rather, they were conducting thorough verification of his extraordinary claims.
Regardless of whether they believed his account or not, they would eventually summon him for questioning.
After all, he possessed a small portion of Li Gang's transformed remains.
The reason he characterized it as a "small portion" was because he had secretly retained a fragment and planned to present it to Jin to see if he could extract some valuable benefits in return.
Azrael hadn't forgotten that the Crimson Oath Society had also employed similar tactics in the past, so he was confident they would be intensely interested in Li Gang's demonically enhanced corpse.