Sorry about the missing chapter 328, I made a mistake in the auto-scheduling for year 2026 instead of 2025 đ«đ«đ¶âđ«ïžđ . So you guys would have gotten that chapter next year, in November, lol.
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Jin had never expected Lucian to act so decisively, with such apparent disregard for his own disciple's life.
As the inky blackness engulfed them, the old man commanded his cards to block the devastating attack, then turned to look at Azrael with a sardonic smile. "Lewis, I think I overestimated your place in Lucian's heart."
He stared intently at the young man, hoping to detect fear or a plea for mercy in those eyes.
But to his disappointment, Azrael's expression remained impassive, as if nothing had happened at all.
Jin's face hardened when he didn't see the reaction he'd expected, but the twisted smile quickly returned. "That's it! That's exactly how it should be!"
"This is the look that justifies everything you've done!"
He paused, his smile shifting to something far more sinister as he brought Azrael closer and whispered in his ear. "Lewis, do you really think I can't do anything to you just because you have a trump card?"
Azrael's heart skipped a beat at those words, though he kept his expression carefully neutral.
He hadn't expected the old man to discern his hidden contingencies. Still, he had certainly been acting with confidence, perhaps too much confidence.
Ignoring the young man's reaction, Jin let out a hoarse, rasping laugh.
After a moment, Hermes materialized beside the old man, bringing with him a familiar golden scale.
"Do you know why they call me Demon Scale?" Jin's bony fingers brushed across Azrael's face, leaving a slight stinging sensation in their wake. "A businessman who doesn't force purchases isn't a good businessman."
Azrael's pupils constricted as he realized what Jin intended.
In his peripheral vision, he saw his own vague shadow appear on one end of the scale, while the other held a collection of materials.
Jin was planning to transform him into one of those out-of-control demonized Lore Cardians they'd encountered in the secret realm.
Seeing this, Azrael immediately prepared to draw Blazing Blade from his transformation belt.
Unfortunately, Jin's hand was far quicker.
The old man's free hand clamped around Azrael's wrist like a vice, momentarily immobilizing him completely.
As the youth's shadow on the scales gradually solidified, Jin laughed maniacally. "Lewis! Are you ready to face the consequences of betrayal?!"
"I'm going to savor the look on Lucian's face when he sees what you've become!"
As he finished speaking, the shadow on the scales solidified completely into a small figurine.
Jin released his grip on Azrael's arm, ready to admire his handiwork.
Azrael didn't hesitate. The moment he was free, he drew his holy sword and transformed into his Dragonmarked Knight form. Whether it would help or not, he needed to buy time, every second counted.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Nothing happened.
Azrael remained battle-ready, his sword gleaming.
A flicker of doubt crossed Jin's weathered face as he glanced at Hermes with confusion.
The scales, which should have tipped decisively toward the raw materials, completing the horrific transformation, were now tilting in an entirely unexpected direction.
Azrael's figurine seemed to weigh down the other end of the scale like a mountain, preventing the materials from budging even slightly.
"...?"
In all the time Jin had been wielding Hermes, this was the first time he'd encountered such an anomaly.
Azrael quietly moved backward, trying not to attract the old man's attention.
Though he didn't understand what was happening, it seemed clear that Jin couldn't transform him into that half-human, half-demon state after all.
Suddenly, Jin whirled to face the young man, demanding hysterically, "What the hell are you?!"
As Hermes's wielder, he could gather far more information than the scales showed on their surface.
If a Diamond-level Lore Cardian weighed 1 and a Master-level weighed 100, then Azrael somehow weighed 10,000.
Perhaps even more.
It didn't make any sense.
The old man frowned, channeling his Master-level mental power to scan Azrael's body repeatedly, searching for any anomaly.
But no matter how thoroughly he probed, the results remained unchanged.
Azrael was merely a mediocre Diamond-level Lore Cardian, nothing special at all.
Azrael wanted to say, "I'm your father," but ultimately restrained himself.
Even if Jin looked furious, there was no point in provoking him further.
Honestly, the young man didn't know exactly what was happening either.
Perhaps the world consciousness had intervened to protect him?
But that didn't make sense. If the world consciousness could pull off such a move, it should have simply eliminated Jin entirely.
Furthermore, the phone screen that should have appeared when [Administrator's Observation] activated was nowhere to be seen.
Unaware of Azrael's racing thoughts, Jin licked his lips. "I didn't expect you to have such secrets hidden away, Lewis."
"I've changed my mind."
Before he could finish his declaration, the ink-black tide that had engulfed them began to recede.
Outside the darkness, Lucian naturally hadn't limited his attack to Jin alone.
Marcus and the Skinner, who'd arrived moments later, were also caught in the devastating assault.
But expecting to eliminate three opponents of his caliber with a single strike was still too optimistic, even for Lucian.
As the dark tide withdrew, the Crimson Oath Society's forces finally got a clear view of their allies' situation.
The good news: there were no casualties. Even One and his companions had been protected by the Skinner during the onslaught.
The bad news,Â
"Why are you not dead?!"
A shrill voice of disbelief rang out through the crowd.
It was Four.
At that moment, he stared at Azrael with eyes so wide they seemed about to pop from his skull, as if he'd seen a ghost.
After all, he'd clearly witnessed their own President grab the young man by the throat. No matter how you looked at it, that had been a guaranteed death sentence.
Hearing the incompetent fool's voice, the Skinner frowned slightly but ultimately said nothing.
Jin ignored his brainless Fourth Brother entirely, his eyes locked on Azrael. "Sixth Brother, I've decided to capture you and study you very carefully."
With those words, the old man extended his right hand and made another lunge for Azrael.
But the young man, now fully on guard, wasn't about to let him succeed a second time.
More importantly, Lucian and Fujimaru had also reacted.
While the two Master-level Lore Cardians didn't know how Azrael had escaped Jin's control, they decisively moved to rescue the young man.
A massive pitch-black hand materialized to pull Azrael to safety, while a tiger's roar echoed from somewhere high above, reverberating across the Kunlun Mountains. The very sky and earth seemed to change color in response.
Lucian and Fujimaru were already fast, but Jin was even faster.
After all, Hermes's divine portfolio included travel itself, and the god wore winged sandals that represented supreme speed.
The God of Commerce's scepter made instant contact with Azrael's body, though this time, it wasn't a means of control.
Jin's expression, which had been carefully composed, suddenly twisted into something utterly inhuman. Without a trace of warmth, he spoke repeatedly, as if savoring each word. "Lewis, did you think I wanted to take you back for study?"
"Wrong! I want you dead!"
Faced with the old man's completely unreadable intentions, Azrael's face darkened, and he couldn't help but curse inwardly. Old lunatic!
He'd genuinely believed the man was planning to capture him, but who could have imagined Jin had hidden a killing stroke beneath that facade of scholarly control?
Buzz!
A dim light flashed across Azrael's body, and for an instant, he stopped moving entirely.
"Azrael?!"
Two alarmed voices rang out from behind him as a giant pitch-black hand grabbed him and pulled him back to Lucian's side.
"Hahahahahaha!"
"Lucian! This is my gift for you!"
Jin let out an arrogant laugh, wild and unrestrained. He'd been laying groundwork for so long, all to deliver this singular, devastating gift to his old rival!
From the very beginning, the old man's true objective had been to kill Azrael.
It was truly a shame he hadn't managed to transform the boy into a demon as well, that would have made the effect even more spectacular.
Right now, Jin's emotions were a churning mixture of contradictions: anger at the exposure of his plans, rage at the variables that had escaped his control, and bitter satisfaction at finally landing a decisive blow.
Of course, there was another crucial factor fueling his fury, he remembered all too clearly that the experimental data the young man had provided was definitely flawed.
Fortunately, he hadn't used it on himself yet, or he would have gone completely mad long ago.
The crisscrossing extremes of emotion swirling within Jin had forced him to make this decision in the heat of battle.
At least the unstable factor that had escaped his control was finally dead, the old man could feel it with absolute certainty.
Meanwhile, everything happening in the outside world had nothing to do with Azrael anymore.
As the grayish-white light swept over him, he felt his very soul begin to freeze, and his consciousness started fading at the edges.
But even as darkness encroached, he somehow managed to maintain clear, rational thought.
Soon, the descent ended, and in the pitch darkness that surrounded him, Azrael saw it, [Eternal Calamity Bond].
Then, like someone surfacing from a deep dive, the young man's awareness gradually drifted upward, until finally...
"Hah!"
Like a drowning victim suddenly regaining consciousness, Azrael gasped violently and opened his eyes.
With lingering fear still coursing through him, he removed his visor and breathed deeply. Beside him, Shiraori's aura instantly weakened, the cost of her ability manifesting in full.
Azrael's sudden movement caught Lucian's attention immediately.
The old man was stunned at first, then exclaimed with pure joy, "Azrael! Are you alright?!"
With Jin's previous devastating attack, Lucian had braced himself for his young disciple to be seriously injured at best, dead at worst. He'd never imagined the boy would emerge completely unharmed.
"No wonder Azrael asked me to do it earlier," he muttered to himself.
Now he understood. It seemed that even against his own indiscriminate attack, the young man would have been able to survive.
Fujimaru smiled gently. "I told you long ago that Azrael is a remarkably capable young man, Master Lucian. You worry too much."
The woman's words were pure improvisation. While she'd suspected Azrael possessed some means of survival, she'd never expected them to be quite so powerful.
After all, Azrael was a citizen of the Empire of Aetherlight, so the stronger he proved to be, the better for everyone.
"This way, we won't have to worry about the coastal defense situation in the future," she thought.
Fujimaru glanced at Azrael with increasingly warm eyes.
As a colleague, she knew Lucian's health wouldn't last much longer, but thankfully, the old man had found himself an excellent successor.
Meanwhile, while the atmosphere on the Empire's side gradually eased into relief, the temperature on the Crimson Oath Society's side had undoubtedly plummeted to absolute zero.
Jin in particular felt his world tilting.
He couldn't understand how Lewis had managed to survive his furious, full-strength killing blow.
It made everything he'd accomplished so far look like the antics of a fool.
Jin's face flushed bright crimson before darkening to the color of old bruises.
However, compared to Jin's shock and fury, the most stunned observers were undoubtedly the Diamond-level Lore Cardians led by One.
After all, only those at the same level could truly grasp how terrifying the power Azrael had just demonstrated actually was.
If a Master-level Lore Cardian couldn't kill the young man with a full-strength attack, then that effectively meant he was invincible at his tier.
More precisely, no one at his level could possibly hope to stop Azrael anymore.
"President Jin, are we leaving?" At that moment, the Skinner approached Jin, placed her right hand on the old man's shoulder, and asked softly.
She was trying to urge the Crimson Oath's leader to calm down and think rationally.
After all, with Edley unwilling to intervene directly, the best option was to retreat immediately before Lord Lioren arrived.
If Lioren did show up, even if they managed to escape, they'd likely leave something valuable behind, perhaps even their lives.
Jin's eyes had gone completely dark, his face twisted as if water were about to drip from the shadows. He ground his teeth audibly. "Leave?!"
"Are you joking?!"
With those words, the old man stopped talking entirely and directed his cards to attack the Empire's forces with renewed fury.
Seeing this, the Skinner couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
She'd already mentally prepared to abandon Jin and flee on her own, but since they'd made a deal, she felt obligated to show at least some token effort.
Fortunately, Edley hadn't left yet, he was still silently observing everything from afar with detached interest.
At least her own safety was guaranteed.
Thinking this, the Skinner turned to glance at Edley in the distance. Seeing him still watching the battlefield with that same casual curiosity, she felt a surge of relief.
As for Marcus, the last Master-level Lore Cardian Jin had brought along, he harbored no such complex thoughts. He was simply hungry, and there was plenty of food in the city behind the old man and woman.
That was reason enough.
Seeing that Jin and his companions showed no signs of retreating, Lucian and Fujimaru exchanged a meaningful glance.
The old man hesitated for just a moment before turning to his disciple. "Azrael, perhaps you should, "
Before he could finish his suggestion, Azrael summoned a yellow-haired Diamond-level card. "Teacher, don't worry. I'll take care of myself."
As he spoke, the shadow of an enormous city flashed behind Kurosaki Ichigo.
With one final mocking glance at Jin, Azrael smiled before disappearing entirely from everyone's sight.
In the deserted, eerily silent replica city, the young man finally allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief.
This was the method he'd devised, using [False Karakura Town] to evade Jin's killing strike at the critical moment.
Under normal circumstances, Jin, as a Master-level Lore Cardian, would definitely be able to locate this dimensional space.
But the old man wasn't alone out there anymore. Lucian and Fujimaru were watching him closely, ready to counter his every move.
With the two of them providing constant distraction, the old lunatic had no time to bother searching for Azrael's hiding place.
Thinking of this, he turned his gaze to the three individuals he'd deliberately chosen as his "lucky guests" and dragged into [False Karakura Town] along with himself.
Two, Four, and Five.
These were opponents Azrael had carefully selected, powerful enough to matter, yet within his ability to control. Their presence would also alleviate some pressure on his allies in the outside world.
"Now then," Azrael said, his voice echoing through the empty streets, "it's time to settle our accounts."