Even before the [False Karakura Town] was lifted, Geralt had already sensed something was amiss.
"Why does it feel like this place can't hold out much longer?" the young man muttered to himself, listening to the occasional subtle cracking sounds echoing through the barrier.
Though he wasn't sure if it was his imagination, he remained wary.
Principal Kang, standing beside him, seemed to notice his unease and offered reassurance. "Don't worry, Geralt. With Azrael here, nothing should happen."
The principal of Silverbrook High School hadn't been aware that the attacker was a master-level Lore Cardian, otherwise he wouldn't have been so calm.
Geralt's words put his mind at ease for the time being.
He nodded silently, then glanced at the deadly silent city. "A Diamond-level Lore Cardian can achieve this?"
Before today, the young man had had no idea of the high-level powers of this world, having assumed they wouldn't be much different from the high-level experts he'd imagined.
But now it seemed,
Bang!
Just as Geralt was lost in thought, a crisp, shattering sound reached the ears of everyone present.
The young man finally realized it wasn't just his imagination, but rather something real occurring around them.
Panic washed over everyone's faces.
But before they could even react, their vision blurred.
Coming back to their senses, they saw the once silent city vanish, leaving behind a scene of apocalypse.
The terrifying red dragon slowly dissipated, and dark clouds filled the gloomy sky.
Everywhere they looked was scorched earth, a landscape covered in molten lava and crystallized rock.
Even more agonizing, the intense heat of the air made it difficult for the ordinary people present to breathe.
Tick-tock,
A tiny drop of water fell onto the charred ground.
Then, in the blink of an eye, a torrential downpour began to pour down.
Geralt ignored his own drenching body, staring blankly at the scene before him, swallowing almost unconsciously.
Before him, a sword-wielding man surveyed the surroundings with a solemn expression.
The young man had summoned his cards as a precaution the moment he left the [False Karakura Town].
But it was clear that if danger truly arose, the mere Bronze-level cards before him would be insufficient.
"Is this a battle between high-ranking beings?"
Geralt forced a groan from his throat.
Just then, he noticed Azrael lying on the ground in the distance, and his heart skipped a beat.
"Azr, "
He was about to call out to the young man when he saw him struggling to his feet.
Seeing this, the young man breathed a sigh of relief. "It looks like my senior has won."
Geralt had previously believed that Azrael's death had caused the [False Karakura Town] to shatter, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Azrael ignored the others behind him and stumbled towards the direction where Chris had fallen.
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's Heaven and Earth Reduced to Ashes had only destroyed half of the man's body; the other half fell to the ground after the Great Red Dragon dissipated.
"Ahem."
The discomfort in his chest caused Azrael to cough softly a few times. He dragged his exhausted body slowly over to Chris's remains.
However, to the young man's surprise, the master Lore Cardian was still not completely dead.
Sensing Azrael's arrival, Chris slowly moved his remaining eye, staring intently at the Diamond-level Lore Cardian whom he had never taken seriously until today.
"Azrael..."
Feeling his life force slowly fading, the boy opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
He felt a complex mix of emotions: regret for not being careful enough, resentment at no longer being able to watch over the Fallen Cult's members, and, relief at having accepted defeat.
"Tell Old Dog Jin to come down and keep me company."
With his last breath, Chris forced a grim smile through his remaining lips as he uttered his final words.
"I will." Hearing this, Azrael rubbed his dry throat and made a promise to himself. "No one who comes here today will escape."
The young man, who had just defeated a master Lore Cardian in a fair and square battle, now had the confidence to speak these words.
Hearing his words, Chris slowly closed his eyes.
Thus, the [Inverted Cross] that had ravaged Europe met its end on foreign soil.
After a moment's silence, Azrael, to be on the safe side, ultimately crushed Chris to dust.
After all, no one knew if a master Lore Cardian might have some strange tricks up his sleeve. To prevent the possibility of a resurrection, it was better to do it cleanly.
Having done all this, the young man turned his gaze to Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.
Seeing him shake his head slightly, he felt relieved. The Shinigami Captain's perception indicated no souls were hiding in this place.
At this moment, Yamamoto handed Azrael a material.
It had dropped from the enormous treant demon earlier: a Diamond-grade [Diamond Treant Core] (Red).
After seeing the specific information of the material, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and immediately had an arrangement for this material in his mind.
He breathed a sigh of relief and stored the material away with his backhand.
After solving Chris's problem, Azrael turned and looked at the crowd not far away who seemed a little uneasy.
Seeing this, Principal Kang hurried to his side. "Azrael, do you want to take a break? We're not in a hurry to go out."
Any normal person could see that the young man before him had reached the end of his energy, so the old man's suggestion was very reasonable.
But Azrael just waved his hand slightly to reject Principal Kang's suggestion. "We don't know what the situation is outside now. Principal, please take them to stay in this secret realm first. It's safer than outside."
Thanks to Chris, under the breath of the Great Red Dragon, only their group of people were left alive in the entire secret realm, so there was no need to worry about the threat of demons.
Upon hearing this, Principal Kang nodded silently. With his keen eyesight, he certainly knew the situation was far from normal.
However, since Azrael, the highest-ranked person present, had already made the arrangements, he only needed to execute them.
"Okay, I'll make them right away. Azrael, get some rest." He paused. "By the way, have Geralt come over."
Principal Kang was momentarily confused, unsure why Azrael would call on a mere Bronze-level Lore Cardian, but he nodded slightly. "I understand."
The young man's reason for wanting to see Geralt was simple.
Just now, Shiraori had identified the boy's details.
[Name: Geralt]
[Title: ???]
[Level: Bronze]
[Cards Held: [Rookie Hero Gulan], [Rusted Goddess Sword]...]
"Gulan... what a familiar name!"
Azrael finally understood why Geralt's cards looked familiar.
It turned out that it was because he had dealt with the prototype of the card in the secret realm before.
"But why would anyone know about Gulan's deeds?"
Recalling the known information that the other party, like himself, had experienced an epiphany, the young man's eyes flickered.
He already had a rough guess.
Meanwhile, Geralt, upon learning Azrael wanted to see him, was understandably puzzled.
But he still dutifully approached the young man.
However, the next moment, the words uttered by the man before him sent the young man into a heartbeat.
"You... you're not from this world, are you?"
Geralt's face couldn't help but show a hint of panic. He replied stiffly, "Haha. Senior, why don't I understand what you're saying?"
Azrael wasn't surprised by the young man's reaction. He simply said, "Your card is called Gulan, right?"
Seeing Geralt's disbelief, the young man gently patted his shoulder and said, "Let's talk about this after today's events are over. Don't worry, there's more than one person like you in the Empire of Aetherlight."
Before the young man could even ask, he glanced at Shiraori, who had almost recovered.
With the power of [Miracle Magic], the little spider was able to transform itself back to its original form.
Immediately afterwards, the man and the spider vanished, leaving Geralt, his mind in utter confusion, still wondering why the young man knew his card's name.
While it's true that card information can be obtained, combined with Azrael's initial words, Geralt knew it wouldn't be that simple.
He took a deep breath and anxiously waited.
Outside,
Lucian sat on the ruins, disregarding his appearance.
Beside him were Master Fujimaru and Lord Lioren.
Lucian looked at the pale Lord Lioren, his face filled with worry. "Lioren, your health..."
Hearing this, Lord Lioren let out a faint smile. "It probably won't last much longer. I went to spar with Edley today to avoid worrying about him later."
After hearing this, Lucian finally understood why he hadn't appeared.
As if to comfort the old man, Lord Lioren forced himself to say, "But after what happened today, Jin and the others should be quiet for a long time."
Upon hearing this, Lucian didn't intend to question him further. Instead, he looked gloomily toward the entrance to a secret realm nestled in the ruins of Velkairos.
Not long ago, the old man noticed that the master-level card he had sent to support his disciple had gone into cooldown.
He didn't believe his young disciple could survive the full force of a master-level Lore Cardian.
Seeing this, Lord Lioren pursed his lips and said coldly, "Don't worry, Elder Lucian. Chris won't get away today."
With that, he prepared to send Dongjun into the secret realm to kill him.
However, at that moment, a black-clad figure emerged from the spatial vortex.
Seeing the figure, the three present were startled.
They knew whose card it was.
At this moment, an absurd thought arose in their minds, "Could it be that Azrael is still alive?!"
Before they could react, a young man in tattered clothes and looking exhausted appeared before them.
It was Azrael.
Upon seeing his apprentice, Lucian's aged face lit up with ecstasy. "Azrael!"
Hearing the elder's call, the young man in the distance immediately turned his gaze.
Unaware of the situation outside, Azrael didn't rashly leave the secret realm. Instead, he dispatched a Shadowkhan soldier to gather intelligence.
After receiving word of safety, he stepped out of the secret realm with extreme caution.
However, to the young man's surprise, the battle outside seemed to have just ended. Ruins lay everywhere, and faint cries of pain could be heard.
It was then that he heard his teacher's voice.
Seeing Lucian unharmed, Azrael breathed a sigh of relief.
He hurried forward. "Teacher, Master Fujimaru, Lord Lioren. This..."
He was about to inquire about the situation when Lord Lioren interrupted him.
The Sovereign-level Lore Cardian looked serious. "Azrael, where's Chris? Did he get away?"
He couldn't recall seeing anyone leaving the secret realm.
But if Chris, as a master Lore Cardian, possessed the means to forcibly escape the secret realm, it wasn't impossible.
Of course, there was also the possibility that the other party had been "killed" by the young man before them.
Azrael casually revealed the boy's current whereabouts.
"Dead."
Upon hearing this, the three leaders of the Empire of Aetherlight's Lore Cardians froze for a moment.
Finally, Lord Lioren was the first to react. He exhaled lightly and then solemnly stated, "Thank you for your hard work, Azrael. We made the right decision by allocating our resources to you."
Hearing this, the other two master Lore Cardians nodded.
Knowing Azrael's character well, the three naturally wouldn't engage in a show of questioning or pretentious refutation.
While they were deeply curious about how the young man had accomplished this, they were more relieved.
"This way, Jin and the others will lose a fighting force."
"And the Empire will gain a master-level Lore Cardian."
These thoughts flashed through the three people's minds simultaneously.
Even if Chris's death was caused by a variety of factors, it couldn't be denied that Azrael had indeed killed him.
At the very least, the young man could now be considered a semi-master Lore Cardian.
Thinking of this, Lord Lioren couldn't help but joke with Lucian, "It looks like Azrael will soon inherit your legacy, Master Lucian."
Although it was a joke, there was a hint of sincerity hidden within it.
If he remembered correctly, many of Azrael's cards were death-type, so inheriting the title of "Dread King" wouldn't be a problem.
Upon hearing this, Lucian couldn't help but smile with relief.
But Azrael wasn't prepared to continue down this path of death.
After all, his card system was nearly maxed out.
Just today, he'd acquired a suitable character for another story.
But before that, he needed to finish dealing with the city of Velkairos.
At that moment, Azrael glanced at the ruins of Velkairos and couldn't help but sigh.