The sudden shift in their surroundings caused every member of the Crimson Oath Society to frown.
Before anyone could voice their confusion, Azrael spoke first. "No one in Velkairos can detect this place."
It was a half-truth. He couldn't be certain whether Dareth or Vice President Yu would notice the fluctuations from deploying a venue card, but since both knew his secret identity as the Sixth Master, he could afford to be bolder.
"As for whether I'm qualified to know your names..."
The young man's voice echoed through the transformed space as all his cards materialized on the field. A crushing spiritual pressure immediately bore down on everyone present.
"You're about to find out."
The only woman among them spoke coldly, "You two handle this yourselves. Don't involve us."
She casually rolled up the sleeves of her white shirt, revealing the tattoo on her right arm, then pulled the massive man beside her back a step. The message was clear, the previous conflict had nothing to do with them.
Azrael had no desire to fight everyone simultaneously. After all, according to his perception, the other four besides Memphis were all Diamond-level Lore Cardians. Anyone valued by Jin clearly possessed considerable strength. Since someone chose to remain neutral, that was ideal.
Sensing the mounting tension, another man with narrow, fox-like eyes smiled placatingly. "Hey, everyone calm down. Young people shouldn't be so hot-headed."
Before Azrael could respond, Fourth Brother interrupted impatiently. "Brother, don't play peacemaker at a time like this."
"This kid's way too arrogant. I'll teach him a lesson so he doesn't cause trouble for the President outside."
With that declaration, Fourth Brother summoned his own cards.
Seeing this, Azrael sighed with mild frustration before speaking flatly. "Your personality certainly fits my stereotype of delinquents."
"I don't know why the President would recruit someone like you."
"Idiot."
He said this because Fourth Brother dressed exactly like a street punk, wearing a black jacket covered in silver-white metallic studs, his face pierced with multiple metal spikes. Due to his Lore Cardian techniques, Fourth Brother had more piercings than normal, making anyone unfamiliar with him think he was cosplaying as one of Pain's Six Paths.
"You!" Azrael's words clearly struck a nerve.
Fourth Brother glared with eyes that seemed to spit fire, grinding out through clenched teeth, "I hope your strength matches that sharp tongue of yours!"
Azrael smirked at the response.
Without further discussion, the cards led by Kurosaki Ichigo launched their assault. Countless attacks instantly converged on Fourth Brother's position.
Facing Azrael's aggressive offensive, Fourth Brother maintained an expressionless facade while his companion cards immediately formed a defensive barrier around him.
BOOM,
A deafening explosion echoed as several surrounding buildings collapsed into rubble.
Fortunately, this was merely a simulated arena created by the False Karakura Town venue card, so there was no need to worry about casualties.
However, the moment they engaged, Fourth Brother's brow furrowed deeply.
What's going on?
Did he really just advance to Diamond rank?
Why doesn't this match what Memphis told me?
His eyes darkened as he surveyed the array of cards radiating terrifying power before him.
What Fourth Brother didn't realize was that Memphis actually knew very little about Azrael's true capabilities, much less his previous glorious achievement of slaying a Diamond-rank Lore Cardian. Otherwise, he never would have encouraged Fourth Brother to challenge Azrael.
Forget it. At this point, we have no choice but to continue. I refuse to believe I can't defeat a newly promoted rookie.
Sensing the somewhat strange gazes from behind him, Fourth Brother instantly made his decision.
A faint mist gradually formed throughout the arena, carrying a decaying aura. The once vibrant green leaves on the street gradually withered to sickly yellow.
Azrael frowned at the sight. "Baraggan?"
The scene bore remarkable similarity to his memories of the Skeleton King's ability from Hueco Mundo. However, while Baraggan's power aged everything it touched, Fourth Brother's cards seemed to employ more of a death-type ability that drained life force directly.
Having worked so frequently with Retsu and the others, Azrael could still recognize the distinction.
Unfortunately, this peculiar ability couldn't affect the young man's cards. Ulquiorra and Nelliel had already rushed forward, one after another, toward the unknown card emanating the death aura.
WHOOSH,
With a terrifying sonic boom, two spears pierced viciously toward Fourth Brother's card, the howling wind pressure tearing scars into the ground itself.
But expecting to defeat Fourth Brother with such a straightforward attack was clearly wishful thinking.
"That's it?" Fourth Brother prepared to scoff when the words died in his throat.
At that precise moment, Kurosaki Ichigo roared, "Getsuga Tenshō!"
Immediately, a pitch-black crescent slash hurtled toward Fourth Brother's card. The attack, enhanced by sheer overwhelming numbers, reached its target in a flash before everyone's stunned gaze.
The next instant, terrifying dark spiritual pressure swallowed all surrounding light.
Despite the fierce battle between the cards, both Azrael and Fourth Brother adhered to the most fundamental principle, they didn't attack each other's Lore Cardian directly. After all, if someone died, there would be no way to explain it to Jin.
It was precisely for this reason that Azrael didn't allow Artoria to release her Holy Sword, nor did he have Ulquiorra use his Lanza del Relámpago.
In stark contrast to his composure, Fourth Brother's face had turned utterly grim. The delinquent had never expected to be so thoroughly disadvantaged, appearing on the verge of complete defeat.
He growled furiously, "Damn it!"
"This is impossible!"
Fourth Brother struggled to accept the truth, especially since he'd been the one to instigate the conflict in the first place.
He stared intently at the yellow-haired swordsman on the field. "You told me this was a Diamond-rank card?!"
Everything had collapsed from this single card. Fourth Brother was completely baffled as to why a Diamond-level card could be so overwhelmingly powerful.
Of course, if he could see how many enhancement effects were currently stacked upon Kurosaki Ichigo, he wouldn't be surprised at all.
[King of Perfection] + [Lord of Hueco Mundo] + [Gotei 13] + [Yellow Hair, You're a Good Man] + [Heavy Spirit Land] + [False Karakura Town] + [Bankai] + [Hollowification].
With all these enhanced states active, Azrael could already sense that Kurosaki Ichigo's strength had reached the very pinnacle of Diamond tier, even faintly surpassing that threshold.
And this wasn't even his Vasto Lorde Hollow or Mugetsu forms.
If it were either of those two forms, the battle would have ended long ago. Unfortunately, Azrael didn't know how to trigger Ichigo's Vasto Lorde transformation, and Mugetsu was clearly unnecessary in a situation that wasn't life-or-death.
As for reaching the threshold of Master level, the young man felt the gap between the two realms was still absurdly vast. At least compared to the Master-level cards he'd seen from his teacher, Azrael felt that even if Ichigo used Mugetsu, he might not reach the peak of Master level.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
With another roar, the Crescent Moon Sky Strike whizzed past Fourth Brother's card, then flew toward the man himself as though misdirected.
Without any cards protecting him, Fourth Brother could only watch helplessly as the black crescent hurtled toward him. Panic seized him as he screamed, "Second Brother!"
He didn't want to gamble on whether his life-saving card could block the attack.
At that critical moment, the silent giant who had remained in the background stepped forward and intercepted the blow.
BOOM,
A violent explosion erupted, and swirling flames instantly engulfed both men.
Seeing this, the fox-faced man whose smile had persisted throughout suddenly darkened. "Sixth Brother, that was excessive."
Azrael shrugged nonchalantly. "It was a mistake. Who told him to stand there?"
Honestly, he'd only intended to scare Fourth Brother, but who would have thought the delinquent's mental fortitude was so fragile?
The fox-faced man fell silent, cursing inwardly. A mistake? I think it was intentional!
From the moment the battle began, events had unfolded somewhat unexpectedly. Although he'd mentally prepared for Fourth Brother's defeat, he hadn't anticipated such a one-sided beatdown.
After all, if this had been an unrestricted fight, the delinquent would likely be a corpse by now.
The smoke gradually cleared, revealing the expressionless tall man and the thoroughly terrified Fourth Brother. The tall man silently dusted off his clothes and walked back to stand beside the woman.
Meanwhile, Fourth Brother gradually regained his composure. Realizing his loss of composure, his face flushed crimson. He glared at the young man with eyes threatening to devour Azrael whole, words strangling in his throat like a choked duck.
This reaction wasn't because Azrael's imposing presence had frightened him, but rather because everyone present had suddenly grown solemn. They could all sense vibrations emanating from Jin's contract.
Everyone except Azrael.
He showed no surprise, but sensing the grave atmosphere, he chose to wait and observe.
Soon, the fox-faced man broke the silence. "That's enough for today. Fourth and Second, you don't want to face punishment from the President, do you?"
Hearing this, Fourth Brother snorted angrily but eventually fell silent.
Their reactions stemmed entirely from the fact that despite Azrael's recent behavior, Jin had shown no intention of punishing him. This clearly demonstrated the President's high regard for the Sixth Master.
Based on the fox-faced man's words, Azrael deduced that Jin must have noticed what transpired. Or perhaps he'd been aware from the beginning, but only Azrael's intimidating actions had compelled him to intervene.
To ease the atmosphere, the fox-faced man introduced himself. "Sisco. You can call me First Brother or just Sisco, Sixth Brother. Whatever you prefer."
Upon hearing this, Azrael called him "First Brother" without further comment. While he could tell Sisco was a smiling fox hiding sharp teeth, there was no reason to antagonize someone who smiled at you. Since they had no current conflict, there was no need for rudeness.
Azrael then turned his gaze to the massive man, nearly three meters tall.
However, the giant remained silent. Instead, the woman stepped forward and spoke. "He's Dracov, and I'm Steph."
"Call us whatever you want." With that said, Steph retreated alongside Dracov.
When it came to Fourth Brother's turn, he glared at Azrael with barely suppressed rage before grudgingly uttering, "Garo."
Ignoring the delinquent, Azrael turned back to Sisco. "So why did you come to me so late at night?"
"Just to let this loser get beaten up?"
He pointed dismissively at the delinquent.
Garo's fury blazed at Azrael's words, and he immediately wanted to fight the young man for another three hundred rounds. Unfortunately, Dracov restrained him, preventing Azrael from delivering a few more well-deserved blows.
Sisco subconsciously ignored the latter part of the young man's statement, shaking his head slightly. "That was partly the reason. After all, Sixth Brother, you haven't even met us yet. We didn't want a situation where 'the flood washes away the Dragon King Temple.'"
"The main reason is that we'll be operating in the city soon, and we might need your help covering for us."
Hearing this, Azrael maintained a composed expression despite his heart sinking slightly. He'd originally assumed the Crimson Oath Society wouldn't act so aggressively, especially considering that Lioren, the Empire of Aetherlight's Sovereign-level Lore Cardian, had escaped his confinement.
Even if Jin was anxious, he should have waited until Lioren was eliminated before implementing his plan on such a large scale. But the old man gave him the impression of being desperate, as if he didn't care about Lord Lioren at all.
Did Lord Lioren suffer health complications?
Or did Jin secure additional support?
Countless hypotheses raced through Azrael's mind.
Despite his racing thoughts, he remained composed outwardly and replied, "I understand. Are there other members of the Society who need my protection?"
In response to Azrael's question, Sisco gave a wry smile. "Only the President knows the complete list. He'll probably contact you directly if necessary."
Azrael couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. He'd initially assumed that because he joined the Crimson Oath Society relatively late, Jin hadn't fully trusted him.
Now it seemed the old man treated all members of the Crimson Oath Society equally. Of course, this also effectively prevented subordinates from defecting. It seemed the Society's President was acutely aware that his aggressive methods might drive some subordinates to drag him down with them, even through mutual destruction.
Having concluded the serious business, Sisco put on his smiling face again. "That's everything. We'll contact you when we have operations to conduct, Sixth Brother."
"Could you please release the venue card now?"
As a fellow Diamond-level Lore Cardian, the fox-faced youth could readily sense the strength of the [False Karakura Town]. Breaking it by force would likely require the combined efforts of everyone present.
Azrael nodded slightly and immediately dismissed the venue card.
At that moment, bright moonlight filtered into the bedroom through the window. Sisco said with some apology, "Then we'll take our leave. We're truly sorry for disturbing your rest so late, Sixth Brother."
As soon as he finished speaking, he led the four others out of Azrael's residence.
Glancing at the bedroom that had once again fallen quiet, Azrael sighed softly. "I almost couldn't restrain myself."
He really had felt the urge to let Ichigo enter Mugetsu state to eliminate Sisco and the other four, but in the end, he chose to abandon that impulse.
Azrael still understood the principle that a moment's impatience could ruin great plans.
Of course, another reason was that he felt he probably couldn't handle four Diamond-level Lore Cardians simultaneously.
If he truly wanted to attempt it, he'd need to at least assemble the Soul King, or upgrade either [Seireitei] or [Las Noches] to Diamond-rank first.
"The road ahead is long and arduous."