Several days had passed since the [Demon Nest] riot, and Velkairos had remained mercifully quiet. A few low-level secret realms had manifested during that time, but these minor incidents didn't require Azrael's intervention, the Lore Cardians affiliated with the Velkairos Cardian Master Association could handle them independently.
Life had to go on. Things couldn't get any worse.
At least, that's what most ordinary citizens believed.
But Azrael knew better. This wasn't merely the calm before the storm, Jin and his Master-level allies wouldn't simply disappear into the shadows without retaliation.
"Dismantling the Crimson Oath Society," Azrael muttered, propping his chin on one hand as his thoughts swirled. "There are pros and cons."
The benefits were obvious: he'd no longer be constrained by Jin's binding contracts or forced to walk the razor's edge between two organizations.
The downside was equally clear: without his position within the Crimson Oath Society, he'd lose access to firsthand intelligence about their operations.
Overall, the benefits outweighed the disadvantages. After all, the organization would only become a more dangerous liability if left intact.
Fortunately, even if the Skinner and Marcus tried to infiltrate Velkairos, it would prove difficult. The Skinner's operatives were ethnically similar to the people of the Empire of Aetherlight, if not carefully scrutinized, they might blend in without revealing their true allegiances for a while.
As for Marcus...
Azrael's expression darkened. That savage belonged on a plantation, not prowling the streets of civilization.
With a silent sigh, he set aside his complex thoughts and turned his attention to the documents on his desk. The papers concerned the joint entrance exam for the four districts, logically, such matters shouldn't concern someone in his current position as the Association's primary responder to crises.
But he'd graduated from Silverbrook High School, and he'd promised Principal Kang that he'd attend the matches when he had time.
"Never thought I'd see this day," Azrael muttered, quickly signing the document.
The Nirvale District Lore Cardian Duel Arena hummed with anticipation.
Geralt took a deep breath to steady his nerves. It would be a lie to say he wasn't anxious, after all, this was his first time fighting another human with similarly extraordinary powers. Before awakening his abilities, such conflicts had been nothing more than fantasy.
"Don't worry, Brother Xing," a classmate said, patting his shoulder reassuringly. "We'll help take some of the pressure off you."
Before Geralt could respond, the announcer's voice echoed through the arena, calling Silverbrook High School to the stage.
He swallowed the words threatening to burst from his throat and walked firmly into the arena with his two teammates. Passing through the slightly darkened tunnel, he squinted against the sudden glare of sunlight.
After a quick glance at the spectators filling the stands, his gaze was immediately drawn to a slender young man seated on the main platform.
President Azrael?
His mind raced through the legendary accomplishments of his senior. The mere presence of such a figure watching his debut filled him with equal parts anxiety and determination.
In the stands, Azrael, as the highest-ranked Lore Cardian present, naturally occupied the seat of honor. He listened to the compliments from those around him with practiced courtesy, his attention focused on his junior in the arena below.
What a strange feeling, he thought, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
Just as Lucian and the others hadn't pried into his secrets, so long as Geralt didn't pose a threat to the Empire of Aetherlight, Azrael wouldn't proactively investigate his peculiarities.
Since this prodigy's emergence, the quality of students at Silverbrook High School had improved significantly. While claiming to be number one in all of Velkairos might be arrogant, being first in Nirvale District was undisputed.
In a sense, it was a unique form of escalation, one exceptional student raising the bar for everyone else.
Even as Azrael was lost in thought, the battle below had already concluded.
He collected himself, raising an eyebrow. "That strong?"
No wonder Principal Kang had arranged for him to witness this. The boy had genuine talent.
"But..." Azrael frowned slightly. "Why does his custom card look so familiar?"
Though he'd never seen Geralt's specific card before today, he felt as if he'd encountered its prototype somewhere. Not just the card's design, but the character itself, the actual being the card represented.
Unfortunately, Geralt had already dismissed his summon, so Azrael couldn't ask Shiraori to examine it more closely. Perhaps another time.
Since each school only competed once per day, he didn't see Geralt again before the matches concluded. More importantly, the subsequent battles proved somewhat tedious, causing him to stifle several yawns.
Fortunately, despite being a joint exam for four districts, the day's competition wasn't overly long. Azrael managed to endure until the end.
After bidding farewell to the principals present, he returned home alone. It wasn't arrogance that drove him to leave immediately, he had other pressing matters demanding his attention.
Magnus and Fredrika had contacted him. They'd already assigned the former Crimson Oath Society members now under Azrael's control.
In his study, Azrael smiled slightly at the respectful man and woman standing before him. "Well done."
"They deployed personnel around Velkairos as expected?"
Compared to the Association's Lore Cardians, these former Crimson Oath operatives might be inferior in raw combat power, but they could still prove useful. After all, their predecessors had all belonged to the same shadowy organization, they'd be more familiar with tracking their former colleagues' movements.
This would also effectively prevent Jin from rebuilding a new Crimson Oath Society from scratch.
Hearing Azrael's question, Fredrika bowed slightly. "Your Excellency, I've arranged them exactly as you instructed."
"So where do we go from here?" She was asking about her and Magnus's future assignments.
Azrael tapped his right index finger lightly on the table, considering. After a moment, he spoke. "Magnus, stay in Velkairos for now."
"As for you, Fredrika..." He paused. "Return to Pixar and settle your personal affairs, then come back to Velkairos and report to me."
He'd kept Magnus because he needed someone to help compile the intelligence reports from the Crimson Oath operatives. Otherwise, he'd be overwhelmed trying to process everything alone.
With that thought in mind, he asked casually, "By the way, have any suspicious individuals been reported recently?"
Fredrika exchanged a glance with Magnus before composing her response. "I was just about to inform you, sir. My operatives reported sightings of the barbarians these past few days."
Azrael straightened immediately. He'd known Jin and his allies wouldn't accept defeat quietly.
He leaned forward, his tone serious. "Location, number of people, and their ranks. Are you clear on all of this?"
Having prepared this intelligence specifically to report it, Fredrika naturally knew the details. After a brief pause, she replied confidently, "The location is on the southeast coast. Approximately a dozen individuals, ranks generally Bronze or Silver."
She hesitated, then added, "However, my operatives didn't dare probe too deeply. There may be other Lore Cardians concealed in the area."
Azrael nodded slightly. Fredrika's words were partly an attempt to forestall any criticism of her subordinates' caution, but he'd never intended to fault them for that. He wasn't Jin, after all, demanding perfection through fear.
"I understand. If there's nothing else, you may go."
"Yes, sir."
Azrael frowned as the two figures disappeared from his study. His intuition told him something wasn't quite right.
After all, if Jin's Master-level allies wanted to cause real trouble, they wouldn't send such low-ranking operatives. Not even Emerald-level, they should have deployed at least Diamond-level Lore Cardians.
"Or do they think it's on the southern coast, so no one will notice?" he muttered.
Because the [Demon Nest] was located near the northern coastline, the Velkairos Cardian Master Association had recently focused most of its surveillance efforts there. This had inevitably led to inadequate monitoring in other areas.
Fortunately, the former Crimson Oath operatives were filling those gaps now.
After a moment's deliberation, Azrael decided to investigate personally. Of course, before doing so, he needed to inform Lucian, Dareth, and the others.
In an abandoned factory building on the southeast coast, a dozen black men sang and danced around a bonfire blazing in the center of the structure.
Suddenly, one man, a figure with a bamboo stick pierced through his nostril, stopped moving. "Guga, when do we start?"
"I can't hold back much longer. I'm so hungry." His eyes gleamed with feral hunger. "The two-legged sheep here all look so delicious."
The man called Guga stopped dancing and slapped the speaker hard across the face. "Lord Marcus gave us orders. Hold on."
"Don't worry. Two more days."
The man who'd spoken, covering his face, which had barely darkened from the blow, stammered his acknowledgment.
Just then, a voice echoed from the factory entrance. "I don't understand what you're saying, but I don't think it's anything good."
"So..." The voice grew colder. "Can you please die?"
The gathered men whipped around toward the voice to see a young man standing at the factory door, watching them with a half-smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Ah! Attack!" Seeing their hiding place exposed, Guga made a swift decision. He shouted loudly, then immediately summoned his cards.
However, the imagined scene of his companions rushing to support him never materialized.
Confused, he turned around, only to see his fellow tribesmen, who'd been singing and dancing just moments before, now lying motionless on the ground.
The culprit was a gigantic, half-human, half-spider monstrosity.
Watching Shiraori expressionlessly wipe blood from her scythe-like limb, Guga's face twisted with terror.
Before he could mount any resistance, his eyes rolled back and he collapsed unconscious. It wasn't fear that had felled him, it was Shiraori's [Evil Eye] ability.
Against such a weak, Silver-ranked minion, she'd had to use the skill with extreme caution, lest she accidentally stare him to death.
Azrael approached Guga with a hint of confusion on his face. He glanced first at the fallen man, then surveyed the abandoned factory thoroughly.
"Strange. Are they really the only ones?"
So far, it appeared Jin and his allies had only sent a vanguard, but they seemed absurdly weak. He'd initially anticipated an ambush and had specifically notified several high-level Lore Cardians in Velkairos to be ready.
Shaking his head, Azrael immediately grabbed Guga, preparing to bring him back to the Association for interrogation. These men were likely speaking their own tribal dialect, he couldn't understand what they'd been saying.
Fortunately, though he couldn't translate, someone else could. He hadn't forgotten that Luffy had understood various languages through his [Voice of All Things] ability. The boy could serve as a translator.
Another option would be crafting a Rule-based item from Doraemon's arsenal, the [Translation Konjac]. However, Azrael preferred other gadgets from that series: the [What If Phone Booth] or the [Precognition Notebook].
With either of those tools, Jin wouldn't stand a chance. Even someone like Edley would find himself outmaneuvered.
Unfortunately, some of Doraemon's items were so powerful that Azrael doubted he could successfully craft them even at the Sovereign level.
"Come to think of it," he mused, "wasn't the 0-08 artifact derived from the [Precognition Notebook]?"
With that idle thought, he vanished from the abandoned factory with Guga in tow.
On the distant sea, two figures, one large, one small, silently gazed toward the abandoned factory.
Suddenly, the larger figure leaned forward slightly. "Master Chris, the target has been taken. Aren't we going to act?"
Chris waved his hand dismissively. "There's no rush. Besides, Lucian is definitely watching Azrael right now. Even if I intervene, I'm not confident I could stop him."
"Let's wait until Jin and the others make their move."
After saying this, he fell silent, staring coldly toward Velkairos.
If possible, the boy truly didn't want to confront the people of the Empire of Aetherlight. Unfortunately, some debts could never be forgiven, some wounds never healed.
The figure beside him remembered the strength of his brother's killer. If not for Master Chris, he doubted he could have lasted ten exchanges against that monster.
However, although Azrael was formidable, the man didn't believe he could survive Master Chris's current power.
His master wasn't a gutter rat like Jin, after all.
"Let's go. The wind's picking up out here. I'm freezing."
"Yes, Master."
With those words, the two figures, one large, one small, vanished, leaving only the calm sea, occasionally rippled by waves.
At the Association headquarters, Azrael looked at the straw-hatted boy beside him. "Luffy, what did he say?"
Luffy scratched his face thoughtfully. "He just said Lord Marcus sent them here. He doesn't know anything else."
Azrael's frown deepened. Judging from the interrogation, it seemed Jin and his team had no backup plan, and there were no high-level Lore Cardians present to ambush them. Everything appeared to be Marcus's independent decision.
But the young man didn't believe that for a second.
Pretending to build a plank road while secretly attacking by another route?
After brief consideration, he formed a plan.
Azrael breathed a sigh of relief, then dismissed Luffy and turned to leave the interrogation room.
"Send someone to interrogate the prisoner inside. If there are no other leads, dispose of him."
"Yes, sir."
After giving instructions for the follow-up procedures, Azrael disappeared from the sight of the Lore Cardians present.