As Azrael's cards manifested on the battlefield, Carmen's typically impassive face showed a rare flicker of emotion.
She couldn't help but study the array of Shinigami cards before her. With her Diamond-level perception, discerning the intricate connections between them proved effortless.
"So this is his trump card," Carmen murmured.
She'd initially assumed President Dareth had asked her to accompany Azrael to ensure the young man's safety. Now it seemed she'd misread the situation entirely.
Meanwhile, Gustav couldn't gauge Ulquiorra and the others' true strength through conventional means, but their collective stance radiated a terrifying intensity that spoke volumes.
Unaware of their internal deliberations, Azrael frowned as he observed the Diamond-level demon retreating in the distance.
"Such minimal aggression."
Unlike the demonized Lore Cardian Jin had subjected him to during his first secret realm incursion, this opponent displayed alarmingly low combat initiative.
Even after summoning his cards, the demon seemed to sense imminent danger and accelerated away from the realm entrance.
"What exactly is Jin planning?"
Regardless of the elder's true intentions, this loss of control undoubtedly tied into Jin's elaborate scheme.
Since they possessed no clear leads, Azrael decided following Jin's instructions and observing the outcome remained their best option.
With this resolution in mind, he addressed the elderly woman beside him. "President Che, I may need you to provide backup support."
He emphasized the word "backup" with particular deliberation.
Gustav, misunderstanding the nuance, assumed the young man lacked complete confidence and thought nothing more of it.
Carmen, privy to the underlying context, naturally understood his meaning and nodded slightly.
Since everyone within the secret realm had already evacuated, only the three Lore Cardians remained.
Azrael maintained a measured distance behind the demon, waiting to discover its objective.
"I can't simply send the Four Evil Gods here directly."
The thought crossed his mind as he studied the demonized Lore Cardian, now thoroughly inhuman, but he quickly dismissed it. After all, if the solution were that straightforward, Jin wouldn't have dispatched him personally.
After pursuing the demon briefly, puzzlement creased Azrael's features.
Despite his careful observation, the creature displayed no discernible purpose, merely wandering aimlessly through the realm.
"This should suffice."
Recognizing further delay served no purpose, the young man decided to proceed. After consuming this much time, he could at least provide Jin with a satisfactory account.
Whether the old man considered the duration adequate remained beyond Azrael's concern. Jin hadn't specified any particular timeframe.
With a subtle mental command, his Shinigami cards initiated their Bankai or Resurrección transformations.
While Azrael had grown accustomed to his cards' shifting forms, both Gustav and Carmen witnessed this phenomenon for the first time.
Gustav proved especially affected.
The middle-aged director stared in stunned silence at the completely transformed cards, his mouth opening wordlessly as comprehension eluded him.
Due to his relationship with Azrael, Gustav knew the young man's cards possessed secondary transformation stages.
After all, he'd previously witnessed Yoriichi and Nel back when they existed at Bronze and Silver ranks.
However, Gustav had never imagined Azrael's cards could actually manifest at the Emerald rank, much less that their current displayed power far exceeded typical Emerald-level capabilities.
Compared to Gustav's astonishment, Carmen experienced even deeper revelations.
The elderly woman silently compared her own strength against the young man's forces.
The conclusion proved sobering. Judging solely by their current performance, Azrael's cards weren't significantly weaker than herself. They could easily match a standard Diamond-rank Lore Cardian's combat effectiveness.
Of course, factoring in life-preserving contingency cards, Carmen remained confident she could prevail in actual wilderness combat.
After all, compared to the inexperienced Hanzu, she possessed vastly superior field experience. When engaging rival Lore Cardians, her primary objective always centered on eliminating the summoner directly.
As Ulquiorra and the others achieved full release, the distant demon suddenly experienced an overwhelming premonition of threat.
It attempted escape, but unfortunately couldn't match the speed of Azrael's cards and soon found itself surrounded.
Since the young man had now reached Diamond-level status, the maximum distance he could maintain his cards had increased dramatically.
The three Lore Cardians paused, quietly awaiting the battle's conclusion.
BOOM!
A violent detonation echoed across the realm as an entire mountaintop vanished instantaneously.
However, Azrael discovered this demon, despite its apparent reluctance to engage, possessed surprising resilience, offering substantial resistance even when surrounded by his forces.
Nevertheless, lacking rationality remained a critical flaw that couldn't be ignored. After all, not everyone possessed maxed-out battle instincts like a certain Soul-Catching Minotaur.
Observing the distant clash, Gustav couldn't suppress his surprise.
"This clearly isn't the first time Azrael has faced Diamond-level opposition."
The flawless coordination his cards demonstrated indicated extensive experience against such formidable adversaries.
Upon hearing this observation, Azrael instinctively replied, "I've encountered illegal Diamond-level Lore Cardians before."
"?"
"?"
Two metaphorical question marks materialized above Carmen and Gustav's heads simultaneously.
Before either could voice their confusion, a sudden surge of intense energy captured everyone's attention.
"Excalibur!"
With the girl's battle cry, golden torrents cascaded from the heavens, instantly submerging everything across the battlefield's surface.
The endless radiance and thermal intensity forced both Gustav and Carmen to squint reflexively.
Gustav's mouth fell open slightly as momentary stupefaction overtook him.
Compared to Gustav's profound shock, Carmen silently revised her previous assessment.
Accounting for this demonstrated attack power, she couldn't confidently claim certain victory against Azrael in wilderness combat.
Unfortunately, what the elderly woman didn't realize was that Artoria hadn't completely released her constraints this time. After all, the target remained merely a demonized Lore Cardian who hadn't even caused external damage, leaving many restriction conditions unfulfilled.
The blazing energy beams gradually dissipated into nothingness, leaving behind scorched earth and a mountain reduced to plains.
Struck directly by such devastating force, the demonized Lore Cardian's fate seemed sealed.
Gustav, observing the wavering figure suspended in midair, couldn't help muttering, "Is it finished?"
At that moment, all three could sense their opponent's aura had diminished to critical levels.
However, compared to Carmen and Gustav, Azrael detected something deeply familiar.
"A contract?"
The young man sensed something eerily recognizable merging with the realm's fabric within that figure whose life force steadily faded.
"Is this Jin's objective?"
His frown deepened.
After brief consideration, Azrael chose to deliver the final blow himself, preventing any unexpected complications.
However, to his surprise, following the opponent's death, that familiar aura dispersed even more rapidly.
Moments later, Azrael tilted his head in confusion.
The young man vaguely sensed a connection forming between the Crimson Oath Society's contracts within this secret realm.
Yet when he examined it more carefully, nothing remained, as though nothing had transpired at all.
He glanced imperceptibly at Carmen and Gustav standing beside him, neither showing signs of noticing anything unusual.
"Signing a contract with a secret realm itself?"
"Is such a thing even possible?"
Various speculations flashed through Azrael's mind, though he ultimately suppressed them.
Gustav, perplexed, turned to his junior colleague. "Azrael, why don't you inspect what materials dropped?"
"Of course."
After experiencing the city-within-a-city trials, Azrael hadn't actually expected material drops. After all, none of those demons had yielded anything.
But as he approached the corpse, he clearly sensed obtainable materials.
"Materials?"
Azrael muttered in surprise, immediately directing his spiritual energy toward extraction.
After several moments, the young man stared in disbelief at the Diamond-grade [Moon of the End] (Red) materializing in his hand.
"Already complete?"
Undoubtedly, this newly acquired material provided everything necessary to complete his first Diamond-level card creation.
Azrael couldn't determine whether this represented Jin's deliberate planning or mere coincidence.
However, he preferred coincidence, the old man certainly couldn't know the specifics of his next card project.
With the crisis properly resolved, Azrael and the other two naturally returned to headquarters for debriefing.
After submitting their brief report, Gustav departed the president's office, leaving Azrael alone with the two officials.
Seeing Azrael show no inclination to leave, President Dareth's expression darkened. "It appears you've discovered something significant."
"Share your findings."
Upon hearing this directive, Azrael didn't withhold information and directly stated his conclusions. "Jin's objective likely involves establishing contracts with the secret realms themselves."
"Contracting with secret realms?"
Both Dareth and Carmen froze momentarily before exchanging troubled glances.
Azrael wasn't entirely certain, but based on the aura he'd detected, it seemed the most probable explanation.
While the ultimate goal undoubtedly centered on confronting the Four Evil Gods, he remained uncertain how it connected to controlled secret realms.
Dareth pondered briefly before asking gravely, "What course of action would you recommend, Azrael?"
Hearing the question, Azrael offered his assessment, incorporating the task Jin had assigned him. "Eliminate individuals who've lost control as rapidly as possible. That should disrupt Jin's plan."
However, this represented a last resort. The optimal solution, naturally, would prevent Association Lore Cardians already controlled by Jin from entering secret realms altogether.
Unfortunately, that proved unrealistic.
Controlled secret realms inevitably required stationed Lore Cardians, and the Velkairos Cardian Master Association possessed no method of guaranteeing zero infiltration by Jin's agents.
For instance, the Lore Cardian who'd lost control this time maintained an impeccably clean background, showing no indicators suggesting potential defection to the Crimson Oath Society.
"This remains our only viable approach."
President Dareth released a heavy sigh.
At that moment, Azrael recalled something important. "Incidentally, Lian, president of the Nirvale District Cardian Master Association, serves as a Crimson Oath Society operative. Uncle Dareth, please monitor him carefully."
Dareth froze initially before asking hesitantly, "Azrael, if I recall correctly, you originally resided in Nirvale District?"
Azrael nodded, uncertain why this suddenly became relevant.
Dareth fell silent.
The goateed man now understood when the young man before him had been recruited into the Crimson Oath Society.
After Azrael's talent emerged, he'd assigned Lian to ensure the youth's security. However, he hadn't anticipated that district president actually being a Crimson Oath operative, his protective arrangement had played directly into their hands.
He shook his head apologetically. "That failure falls on me."
Azrael chuckled dismissively. "That happened ages ago. Uncle Dareth, don't dwell on it."
He then changed subjects. "Uncle Dareth, I'll return home to rest."
"Very well."
Azrael smiled at both officials before vanishing.
After his departure, Dareth stared at the space where he'd disappeared, only regaining focus when Carmen stepped forward and patted his shoulder.
"It wasn't your fault."
A hoarse voice like grinding glass echoed in his ears.
Hearing the elderly woman's consolation, Dareth sighed. "No, it was my fault. If not for Azrael's... unique circumstances, the Association would have gained another formidable enemy."
A sense of profound relief washed over him.
"Setting that aside, we still need to address Lian's situation."
This time, Carmen didn't respond, simply waving her hand before vanishing.
Dareth's lips twitched with resigned frustration as he sank back into his office chair.
It seemed he alone would be working overtime tonight.
Meanwhile, Azrael returned home.
Since he'd likely remain stationed in Velkairos long-term, he'd simply purchased a villa.
After instructing several Shadowkhan soldiers to prepare dinner, he proceeded to his study.
Looking at the three documents spread before him, Azrael took a deep breath.
"It's up to you, Ichigo."
[Please begin writing your story.]
[Ichigo Kurosaki was born into an unusual family.]
[His father, Isshin Kurosaki, is a Shinigami, while his mother, Masaki Kurosaki, is a Quincy.]
[From birth, Ichigo Kurosaki attracted the attention of Aizen Sōsuke, Lord of Hueco Mundo. After all, possessing both Shinigami and Quincy powers simultaneously represents an extraordinarily rare occurrence.]
[At age nine, he and his mother were attacked by a Hollow on their way home. To protect Ichigo, Masaki Kurosaki was killed by the Hollow.]
[At least, that's what Ichigo Kurosaki believed.]
One night when he turned fifteen, a Shinigami named Rukia Kuchiki entered Ichigo Kurosaki's room while pursuing a Hollow.
To protect his family from the Hollow's attack, Ichigo Kurosaki followed Rukia's guidance and absorbed her Shinigami power. After successfully defeating the Hollow, he began serving as a substitute Shinigami while Rukia temporarily couldn't recover her abilities.
Unfortunately, his fortune proved short-lived. Because Rukia's actions violated Soul Society regulations, she was forcibly returned by Byakuya Kuchiki and Renji Abarai.
While attempting to stop them, Ichigo Kurosaki suffered severe injuries and lost his Shinigami powers.
Fortunately, with assistance from the mysterious Kisuke Urahara, he regained his Shinigami abilities and obtained his Zanpakutō, Zangetsu. However, he also uncontrollably underwent partial Hollowfication for the first time.
He then entered Soul Society with his companions to rescue Rukia.
Unfortunately, Soul Society contained numerous powerful beings, and a mere substitute Shinigami clearly couldn't manage such a task alone. Fortunately, with Yoruichi Shihōin's assistance, Ichigo Kurosaki successfully mastered his Bankai: Tensa Zangetsu.
With his Bankai, he overcame countless obstacles and ultimately saved Rukia moments before her scheduled execution.
However, he couldn't defeat Aizen Sōsuke, the conspiracy's mastermind, and could only watch as he defected to Hueco Mundo.
Following this incident, Ichigo Kurosaki gained recognition within Soul Society and became an officially recognized substitute Shinigami.
However, his Hollowfication symptoms grew increasingly severe.
Just then, a being named Shinji Hirako approached him, revealing an ability to control Hollowfication.
Meanwhile, Ulquiorra Cifer and Yammy Llargo, two Espada, received orders from Aizen to travel to the human world and observe Ichigo Kurosaki.
Ichigo Kurosaki battled Yammy but unfortunately suffered defeat while attempting to suppress his Hollowfication.
Consequently, Orihime Inoue was also captured and taken to Hueco Mundo by the two Espada.
To rescue her, Ichigo Kurosaki entered Hueco Mundo with his companions' assistance.
He encountered the formidable Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and ultimately defeated him through superior combat prowess.
Later, upon entering Las Noches, he encountered Ulquiorra Cifer, who pierced his chest.
Just when everyone believed Ichigo Kurosaki dead, he, summoned by Orihime Inoue's voice, entered a fully Hollowfied state and killed Ulquiorra.
Having regained consciousness, Ichigo learned that Aizen had departed, and with Mayuri Kurotsuchi's assistance, returned to the human world.
Upon arriving, he attempted a surprise attack on Aizen but was blocked and taunted.
Just as panic set in, his father, Isshin Kurosaki, appeared and intervened.
Unfortunately, Aizen, having fused with the Hōgyoku, now possessed power overwhelming enough to dominate everyone present.
Seeing their inevitable defeat, Isshin took Ichigo to the Dangai to teach him the "Final Getsuga Tenshō."
During the time displacement within the Dangai, Ichigo spent three months completing his training before returning to Karakura Town.
At this point, Aizen couldn't comprehend Ichigo's actions.
During their clash, Ichigo wounded Aizen with his opening strike, infuriating the man who believed he'd transcended everything.
Just as Aizen prepared to claim Ichigo Kurosaki's life, the young man unleashed his Final Getsuga Tenshō, "Mugetsu."
With a silent, pitch-black slash, the King's ambition to surpass the Soul King ended, and Kurosaki Ichigo lost all his powers.
In the mysterious creative space, Azrael paused his writing.
"That should suffice."
He closed his eyes to ease his mental fatigue.
When he opened them again, Azrael had returned to reality.
Looking at the card depicting a handsome orange-haired man before him, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly dismissed it from consideration.
[Zangetsu Fusion: Kurosaki Ichigo]
Rank: Diamond
Quality: Red
Category: Creature
Skills:
[Shunpo]
[Getsuga Tenshō]: What are you mumbling about? Take my Getsuga Tenshō first!
[Bankai: Tensa Zangetsu]: After activating Bankai, Ichigo Kurosaki's mobility increases dramatically, and his [Getsuga Tenshō] power amplifies significantly.
[Hollowfication]: Actively enter a Hollowfied state, substantially boosting all stats. Gains access to Hollow-type abilities including [Cero] and [Sonído]. When threatened with near-death while in this state, has a chance to transform into his Vasto Lorde Hollow form.
Note: Kurosaki Ichigo in his Vasto Lorde Hollow form is uncontrollable.
[Final Getsuga Tenshō]: Kurosaki Ichigo can actively fuse with his Zanpakutō to enter this state. In this form, all stats receive substantial boosts, and he unlocks the ability [Mugetsu].
Mugetsu: At the cost of losing all Shinigami powers, transforms into a crescent moon and unleashes a massive dark slash wave powerful enough to sever background music itself.
Note: After exiting [Final Getsuga Tenshō], Ichigo Kurosaki enters a mandatory seven-day cooldown period.
Note: [Mugetsu] prematurely ends [Final Getsuga Tenshō].
Traits:
[What Are You Talking About?]: Kurosaki Ichigo's resolute heart remains unaffected by enemy provocations.
[No Strategy, Pure Power]: Power! Overwhelming! Strength! Prevails!
[Hollow, Shinigami, Quincy]: Because Kurosaki Ichigo possesses three distinct power sources, he counts as a Hollow, Shinigami, and Quincy unit simultaneously while on the field. Effects related to all three categories apply to him.
Description:Transcending boundaries, Ichigo Kurosaki embodies the fusion of three worlds' powers.
Advancement: Bronze [Substitute Shinigami·Kurosaki Ichigo] → Silver [Tensa Zangetsu·Kurosaki Ichigo] → Emerald [Full Hollow·Kurosaki Ichigo] → Diamond [Zangetsu Fusion·Kurosaki Ichigo]
Bonds:
When paired with [Ishida Uryū] and other series characters, [Karakura Town F4] activates.
When paired with [Inoue Orihime], [Save Me! Kurosaki-kun!] activates.
When paired with [Kuchiki Rukia], [Life and Death Together] activates.
When paired with [Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck], [Orange-Hair, You're a Good Person] activates.
Activated Bond:[Orange-Hair, You're a Good Person] (2/2)
Bond Effect: Cards with the [Orange-Hair, You're a Good Person] bond gain a slight power boost when on the field simultaneously.
Azrael stared blankly at the information displayed on his first Diamond-level card.
After several moments, he gradually regained composure. "Huh."
The skills generated by Kurosaki Ichigo aligned exactly with his expectations, essentially replicating abilities from the original source material.
Aside from the somewhat abstract [Getsuga Tenshō] description, everything else seemed perfectly acceptable.
The traits, however, presented unexpected complications.
Primarily, the [Hollow, Shinigami, Quincy] trait exceeded Azrael's initial projections.
"Wouldn't Ichigo receive numerous synergistic bonuses then?"
Azrael muttered thoughtfully.
However, he quickly conceived another possibility and immediately summoned [Seireitei].
Because [Seireitei's] Diamond-level trait required four Captain-level Shinigami to summon the Royal Guard monk, Azrael had been deliberating which of the remaining two Captain-level cards to create.
But now...
"It actually qualifies!"
Azrael experienced momentary surprise.
Kurosaki Ichigo registered as a Captain-level Shinigami according to [Seireitei], meaning he only needed to craft one more Captain-level Shinigami to summon the Royal Guard monk.
Whether creating a supplementary unit or producing high-end combat power like Captain-Commander Yamamoto, his future plans would proceed far more smoothly.
"Well done indeed."
Azrael couldn't suppress his grin. This truly represented an unexpected windfall.
However, when he examined the bond effect between Kurosaki Ichigo and Nel, his expression fell.
Compared to powerful skills and traits, this bond effect proved merely marginally better than nothing.
"Something beats nothing."
Azrael could only console himself thus.
"Then, next comes the Venue Card."
After briefly composing himself, the young man retrieved the Field Material [Decisive Battleground] (Red).
As the material and [Kurosaki Ichigo] card radiated brilliant light, a card depicting a bustling human city materialized before Azrael.
[Karakura Town]
Rank: Diamond/Diamond
Quality: Red
Category: Field
Effects:
[Heavy Spiritual Ground]: The Spiritual Power of all Bleach-type cards on the field increases slightly.
[Final Battle Site]: When simultaneously possessing Creature Cards [Kurosaki Ichigo] and [Aizen Sōsuke], the field transforms into [Fake Karakura Town], significantly increasing all friendly units' power within this field.
[Three Realms]: When simultaneously possessing Venue Cards [Seireitei], [Las Noches], and [Karakura Town], and all three Venue Cards have reached maximum advancement, the effect [Soul King's Revival] can activate.
Note: The effect of [Soul King's Revival] lasts for 10 minutes.
Note: After activating [Soul King's Revival], the three Venue Cards enter a 30-calendar-day cooldown period.
Looking at the Venue Card in his hand, Azrael breathed a sigh of relief.
Compared to [Seireitei] and [Las Noches], [Karakura Town] possessed only two effects excluding [Three Realms].
But undoubtedly, [Final Battle Site] represented an extremely useful, even powerful, ability.
At least for Azrael as an Association Lore Cardian.
With this ability, should another mysterious demonic invasion occur, he could simply expand his domain and draw all enemies into [Fake Karakura Town] without worrying about impact on the city itself.
This could even be employed against illegal Lore Cardians in future conflicts.
As a Diamond-level Venue Card, [Fake Karakura Town] possessed sufficient structural integrity to withstand full-scale confrontations with Diamond-level opponents.
Furthermore, [Fake Karakura Town] significantly strengthened allied units.
Note that this included allied units belonging to other Lore Cardians.
"This is what a Diamond-level Venue Card should be."
Azrael exclaimed with satisfaction before beginning to revise his future card creation plans.
After all, [Kurosaki Ichigo] and [Karakura Town] had provided so many pleasant surprises.
"Then I simply need to upgrade [Seireitei] and [Las Noches] to Diamond level, and I can assemble the Soul King."
"Then I should be able to give Jin quite the surprise."
It could only be said that people always possessed endless energy when planning mischief. The thought of delivering that scheming old man a major shock filled Azrael with motivation.
Though locating two suitable field materials would prove extraordinarily difficult.
However, to prevent Jin's potentially catastrophic actions, he still needed to implement necessary safety measures. Moreover, upgrading the Holy Blade Armor to Diamond level alone wouldn't suffice.
Combined with Shiraori's [Immortality] trait, Azrael already possessed preliminary concepts forming in his mind.
Unfortunately, even the most skilled cook required ingredients. Before that, he still needed to collect materials.