Though his thoughts churned in chaotic turmoil, Azrael forced himself to maintain composure. Lowering his head respectfully, he replied, "Yes."
He didn't ask about operational details or whether he'd have companions, questions that would serve no purpose. Jin would reveal what he deemed appropriate, and prying into restricted information would only arouse the old man's suspicion.
Jin appeared pleased with his attitude. He walked over and patted Azrael's shoulder with a gentle, almost fatherly touch. "Don't worry, Lewis. How could I let you handle this alone?"
"You only need to complete the tasks I assign you."
The old man fell silent, clearly having no intention of revealing the identities of other operatives.
Azrael's eyes flickered momentarily before he asked in a respectfully subdued tone, "What would you like me to do, Guild Leader?"
"Descending into a Soveriegn-level secret realm is no simple matter," Jin said, his laugh carrying a strange edge. "Especially one as unique as the Four Perils' domain."
Unique?
Azrael silently cataloged the old man's words, already planning to inquire with his teachers about the Four Perils upon his return to the Empire of Aetherlight.
Oblivious to his subordinate's calculations, Jin continued, "Lewis, you should be aware that we have certain connections to the [Demon's Nest] secret realm, correct?"
The young man nodded silently. If the Crimson Oath Society held no connection to the [Demon's Nest], Memphis's base wouldn't be situated directly adjacent to the secret realm entrance.
He simply couldn't fathom why the old man was suddenly bringing this up.
"Just understand that the Four Perils have some connection to the [Demon's Nest]."
"Since you've already reached Diamond level, tell that old fool Lucian that you want to return to Velkairos to assume your position."
"I'll inform you of the specifics once your appointment is confirmed."
Hearing this, Azrael vaguely grasped the outline of Jin's plan, though now clearly wasn't the time to contemplate the details. "Yes, I understand."
At this point, his purpose for visiting Jin today had essentially been achieved. While the specific implementation steps of the old man's plan remained unclear, understanding his ultimate goal represented significant progress.
Furthermore, judging by Jin's words, descending into a Soveriegn-level secret realm clearly wasn't something that could be accomplished overnight. He would have time to respond accordingly.
Of course, the ideal scenario would be locating the old man's hiding place and having Lord Lioren capture him.
With that thought in mind, Azrael calmly inquired, "Guild Leader, if I need to contact you, should I still come here?"
Hearing his question, Jin simply explained, "I'll probably be conducting demonization experiments in the city-within-a-city for the next few days."
"If there's no response, just find me there."
Azrael's heart sank.
The worst-case scenario had materialized, the old man had begun retreating into that fortress like a turtle withdrawing into its shell.
Suppressing a silent sigh, he changed the subject. "Guild Leader, what about the set of materials you mentioned as a reward for reaching Diamond rank?"
"You've been thinking about it for a while, haven't you?" Jin's lips curled into an exaggerated grin. "Just go find Memphis. You should know where he is."
Azrael had been considering the Diamond-level materials promised to him long before his arrival, and it seemed the old man wasn't about to renege on his promise.
Indeed, for a Master-level like Jin, some Diamond-level materials held little practical value.
"Guild Leader, I'll take my leave now."
"Yes."
Azrael pushed open the door and walked out of Jin's study. He couldn't help but narrow his eyes against the dazzling sunlight.
"The Four Perils?"
He sighed softly, temporarily suppressing his doubts.
"Let's acquire the materials from Memphis first."
After all, the Crimson Oath Society had provided him with some startup capital, and since he'd already come clean with Lucian, he didn't have to conceal these secretly acquired materials as he had before.
If anyone became curious, he could simply claim they were support from his teacher.
With this thought in mind, Azrael departed the facility and used the [Blood Sacrifice Ritual Formation] to return to the waters of the Empire of Aetherlight.
After briefly determining his direction, he flew toward the Crimson Oath Society's base he remembered.
Soon, Azrael saw the familiar expanse of flesh and blood.
"The Flesh King!"
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly at the instigator of this horrific scene before him. Then he froze, his brow furrowing slightly.
"King?"
A thought struck him, though the details would have to wait until he returned.
A moment later, a massive crack identical to the one he'd seen before appeared before Azrael's eyes. A man in a black suit stood expressionlessly beside it.
Seeing this, the young man landed beside the suited man and casually greeted him. "Fifth Brother."
Faced with his disrespectful tone, Memphis simply said, "I didn't expect you'd reach Diamond level so quickly."
"Huh?"
Azrael glanced at him, a hint of playful amusement dancing across his face. "Calling you Fifth Brother is a courtesy to the Guild Leader."
He hadn't forgotten what had transpired in Velkairos when he was still a Bronze-level Lore Cardian.
It was fair to say that without Memphis, Azrael wouldn't be a member of the Crimson Oath Society.
If he hadn't needed his Society membership, Memphis would have been eliminated by him long ago.
While Fredrika and the others might have their own reasons for their actions, this man before him was undoubtedly Jin's loyal servant.
Even the information Memphis had shared with him earlier was simply because he remained useful to Jin.
In response, Memphis merely sneered without comment. "Tsk."
Of course he knew that what Azrael said wasn't a lie, but so what? With the Guild Leader around, the other party would never dare make a move.
At least the man in the suit felt he still held some value.
Azrael's behavior was naturally calculated to consolidate his image in Jin's eyes. Anyway, the old man didn't seem to care about interpersonal relationships within the Society, as long as his subordinates remained loyal to him.
The two of them proceeded to the material storage room with palpable tension crackling between them. Along the way, the more perceptive members of the Crimson Oath Society took a detour.
After all, no one wanted to be caught between two powerful figures.
Entering the room, Memphis threw the material selection instrument to Azrael. "See for yourself."
"Since you're still useful to the Guild Leader, you don't have to worry about me tampering with anything."
Azrael ignored his words, calmly illuminating the screen and beginning to scroll through the inventory.
However, based on his experience selecting Emerald-grade materials last time, the young man had already anticipated that the Crimson Oath Society wouldn't have an extensive selection of Diamond-grade materials.
But he hadn't expected it to be quite so sparse.
There weren't even any venue-related materials. No wonder Jin had included the [Decisive Battle Ground] as a surprise.
Azrael couldn't help but curl his lips. Looks like even finding five usable materials will be challenging this time.
He planned to locate five materials he could potentially use, just like last time, even if he couldn't craft a Diamond-grade card immediately.
After an extensive search, the young man finally narrowed down the materials he might find useful:
[Limit Breaker] (Red).
[Humanoid Monster] (Red).
[Surging Waves] (Red).
[Thunder Fang] (Red).
[Ultimate Hybrid] (Red).
The first two materials were intended for Delila and Shiraori, while the next two were actually blade materials for upgrading his weapon belt.
As for the last one, it was naturally for crafting Kurosaki Ichigo.
After all, with the venue materials already in hand, it was time to get started on that orange-haired powerhouse.
Memphis took the instrument and glanced at the materials Azrael had selected. He didn't express his opinion, but simply maintained his cold expression as he retrieved five materials for the young man.
After collecting the materials, Azrael waved his hand slightly. "Then I'll be leaving. No need to see me off."
With that, he vanished from the material storage room.
The man in the black suit stood there quietly, a long pause passing before his lips curled slightly.
"Tsk!"
Upon returning to the Empire of Aetherlight, Azrael first went to Jacob to collect the Diamond-grade materials his senior brother had agreed to provide.
However, to his surprise, Jacob possessed quite a collection of Diamond-grade materials, including some of the ones he needed.
[A Man Who Overcomes Skills with Force] (Red).
"In that case, I only need one more ingredient."
After obtaining the necessary materials, Azrael returned to Beijing.
Lucian had been staying in Beijing for some time due to the need to formulate new regulations.
However, upon entering, the young man immediately noticed his teacher's furrowed brow.
"What's wrong, Teacher?"
Seeing Azrael, Lucian's expression brightened slightly. He shook his head and said, "Master Tempest and Master Kaiser have proposed abolishing Beijing as the capital and making Pixar the capital instead."
Hearing this, Azrael was taken aback. "That's unnecessary. Isn't Pixar already a secondary capital?"
Since the Empire of Aetherlight had a dual-capital system, both Beijing and Pixar could be considered capitals. After all, when the imperial court was still in existence, Pixar had maintained a small emergency court, though most of its members had been elderly men living off their estates.
However, with the fall of the imperial court, all this had naturally vanished.
This was why Tempest and Kaiser had proposed this resolution.
"Forget it, let's discuss this later." Lucian sighed, quickly dropping the subject. "What about you, Azrael?"
"Did Jin provide any useful information?"
Hearing his teacher address serious matters, Azrael's expression darkened considerably. "Teacher, Jin is planning to descend upon a Soveriegn-level secret realm in Velkairos."
This brief statement contained a vast amount of implications.
Fortunately, Lucian had already braced himself. He scowled. "That old devil is indeed planning something significant."
"Anything else?"
Hearing this, Azrael shook his head. "Besides knowing that the demons in that Soveriegn-level secret realm are likely the Four Perils, Jin didn't reveal much else."
"Four Perils?"
Lucian rubbed his chin in confusion, he had heard the name before but couldn't recall the details.
After a moment's silence, Azrael finally decided to share his suspicions.
However, before doing so, he needed to brief his teacher on the situation.
With this thought, the young man handed his phone to Lucian. "Teacher, I think Jin's purpose may be related to these two pieces of information."
The phone displayed the information he had previously obtained about the Four Perils.
Lucian took the phone and began examining it carefully.
Meanwhile, Azrael expressed his own speculation. "Teacher, the Flesh King of the [Demon's Nest] should also be a subordinate of the Four Perils."
"Just like the Plague King mentioned in the information."
Since Jin had mentioned the [Demon's Nest] being related to the Four Perils, and considering the diary entry from [Sword Lake] that referenced the Plague King, the two names were remarkably similar. Azrael couldn't help but draw this conclusion.
Lucian nodded, clearly agreeing with his theory.
But that wasn't the end of it. Azrael now harbored an even bolder hypothesis.
"Teacher, I think Jin's desire to summon the Four Perils may be related to their ability to devour secret realms."
[After that day, I realized that our world seemed to consist only of this lake near the Kai family.]
[Now, the place we inhabit is like]
[a remnant.]
This was clearly recorded in the diary.
Everything the Four Perils displayed reminded Azrael of the World Devourer. Clearly, there were some similarities between the two entities.
The Four Perils were merely pawns of the World Devourer.
"He wants to emulate the Four Perils?"
Lucian's expression became horrifying as he considered this chilling possibility.
After all, Jin had been searching for a way to escape his mysterious dimensional prison and become self-sufficient.
Azrael uttered three words, somewhat hoarsely. "High probability."
Of course, many questions remained, such as how Jin planned to summon the Four Perils and how he intended to learn similar abilities from them.
Silence fell over the room.
After a long pause, Lucian furrowed his brows, appearing somewhat weary. "I'll discuss this with Lord Lioren."
"What are your plans for the future?"
Hearing this, Azrael shrugged. "Jin asked me to assume a position in Velkairos. Teacher, do you have a suitable position for me?"
"That's easily arranged. You can become Dareth's deputy. He's been complaining to me about the lack of staff."
Azrael had no objection to Lucian's arrangement.
He hadn't expected that while he'd been a mere Bronze-level Lore Cardian when he left Velkairos, he'd return as a Diamond-level practitioner.
Then Azrael, Vice President of the Velkairos Cardian Master Association, would make his grand entrance!
With his Diamond-level capabilities, he could have assumed an even higher position. After all, with the fall of the imperial court, the Empire of Aetherlight was in dire need of skilled personnel.
However, to fulfill Jin's mission, Azrael had to accept this arrangement.
There was a benefit, though, since the young man didn't actually possess a true Diamond-level card yet, this position offered some protection. Even in the event of genuine danger, he had a veteran Diamond-level practitioner like Dareth to provide support.
"I wonder what Uncle Gustav and the others' expressions will be when they find out."
Azrael couldn't help but mutter, thinking of the middle-aged man who had taken such good care of him in Velkairos.
...
Chinese Mythology - Four Perils (四凶; Sì Xiōng): Hundun (Chaos), Qiongqi (Deviousness), Taowu (Ignorance), Taotie (Gluttony) - malevolent beings banished by Emperor Shun, antagonistic counterparts to the Four Celestial Animals