"What a horrifying sight," one of the Lore Cardians who had arrived first muttered, surveying the devastated unfinished building now reduced to smoldering ruins.
"Enough gawking! We need to clear all these bodies before those three get here," the team leader commanded, covering his nose against the acrid scent that hung heavy in the air.
The ionized atmosphere carried an unsettling mixture of ozone and the metallic tang of burnt flesh, a nauseating combination that made several team members grimace in discomfort.
"Actually smells kind of appetizing," one Lore Cardian commented, licking his lips thoughtfully. The others immediately stepped away from him, casting disturbed glances.
Azrael, who had just emerged from the shadows cast by his Shadowkhan, paused at this disturbing observation. "Seriously? Someone here wants to cosplay as Hannibal Lecter?"
Though considering that a certain 18th-century Caribbean island still harbored cannibalistic tribes, perhaps some Lore Cardians there were already keeping ordinary people as livestock. In the words of a certain loyal, imaginative undead overlord, "bipedal sheep."
As Azrael pondered these dark possibilities, the Lore Cardians fell silent and immediately set to work. After all, the new President was quite intimidating when he wasn't making conversation.
Meanwhile, the brown-haired girl leaning against Azrael's chair was casually flipping a coin while surveying their surroundings with sharp, calculating eyes.
Under Azrael's direction, one mangled corpse after another was systematically dragged from the building's wreckage to the designated collection area.
Suddenly, Misaka, who had been resting her arm on Azrael's chair, snapped her attention toward the abandoned structure.
"Crack!"
A brilliant arc of electricity sparked across her bangs as she generated a blue-white electromagnetic beam that shot out instantly, striking a corpse being moved by one of the Lore Cardian's summoned creatures.
"Argh!"
A brief scream echoed before fading, and the corpse began foaming violently at the mouth.
"Seriously?" Azrael frowned, scanning the assembled Lore Cardians with obvious disapproval. "You didn't even finish off the enemy properly?"
Every team member lowered their heads in shame, shooting murderous glares at the careless operative responsible.
The guilty party's face went pale, then flushed bright red. "I'm deeply sorry, President Azrael!"
Azrael sighed and rubbed his temples. "I'm not lecturing you, and being careful isn't an order. These Onefold Doctrine limb-grafting freaks can't actually hurt me."
"But you should consider your own survival, right?"
Godfrey, who had just arrived on the scene, stood beside Azrael and stated coldly, "Lewis, submit a 10,000-word self-criticism report when you return tonight."
As director of the Public Security Office, Godfrey naturally possessed the authority to discipline subordinates.
The young Lore Cardian known as "Lewis" looked thoroughly ashamed. "Yes, sir!"
Following this brief incident, all the Onefold Doctrine cultists from the ruins were neatly arranged before Azrael for inspection.
Diesel, acting as though nothing had just transpired, frowned while surveying the carnage. "So many casualties?"
Thirty-seven charred corpses lay in organized rows.
Additionally, one surviving limb-grafting monster remained unconscious, still foaming at the mouth from Misaka's electromagnetic shock.
Unlike the bizarre werewolf hybrid Azrael had encountered in Velkairos, this specimen's right arm had been completely replaced with an enormous crab claw that resembled something from a Pokémon tournament.
Combined with the foaming mouth, the resemblance was even more striking.
Azrael could now understand why the scene had smelled vaguely appetizing earlier.
Examining these limb-grafting abominations, they displayed everything from pig heads to sheep hooves.
Anyone stumbling across this scene might assume Azrael and his team were preparing an elaborate barbecue.
"Even though extracting information from these limb-grafting monsters is typically impossible, why not attempt questioning this one?"
Azrael cast an inquiring look toward Godfrey and Diesel.
After brief consideration, both men nodded their agreement.
Soon, under a controlled electrical stimulus from Misaka, the crab-claw monster convulsed and regained consciousness.
Upon opening his eyes, he found himself surrounded by countless summoned creatures staring back at him.
"Please don't kill me!" the creature shouted desperately, raising both hands in surrender.
"Explain your Onefold Doctrine's objectives for coming to Donglai. Where are your personnel stationed, and what are your hiding places?" Azrael crossed his legs, hands folded on his knees in a relaxed but authoritative posture.
The crab-claw monster finally noticed Azrael seated calmly in his chair.
He shifted his gaze and began creeping toward Azrael's position.
However, a blue-white beam of light suddenly grazed his ear and struck the ground behind him with devastating force.
The monster froze instantly. The brown-haired girl who had fired the warning shot stopped playing with her frog-shaped charm.
Misaka brushed her bangs casually, electric arcs dancing joyfully between her fingertips and through her hair like living things.
"That was a warning."
"Next time, I won't miss on purpose," she added with cold precision.
The crab-claw monster swallowed nervously. He had barely registered the lightning-fast attack that had been virtually impossible to track.
For a moment, he remained paralyzed by indecision.
Godfrey whispered to Azrael, "Vice President, it seems we won't extract anything useful from this one."
Azrael sighed in resignation.
The crab-clawed monster's eyes darkened upon hearing this, and he growled desperately, "I'll cooperate!"
But before he could utter another word, the brown-haired girl had already raised her right hand.
"Boom!"
An Empire of Aetherlight official coin, wrapped in an orange-red electromagnetic beam, instantly pierced through his skull in a display of the railgun technique's devastating precision.
"Thud."
The only sound remaining at the scene was a headless body collapsing to the ground.
The lower-ranked Lore Cardians present initially appeared bewildered, then stunned by the swift execution.
They hadn't even comprehended what had transpired.
Only Godfrey and Diesel fully grasped what had just occurred.
Diesel glanced at Misaka with obvious surprise. "Incredibly fast reflexes!"
"That limb-grafting monster was preparing to attack before he could even make his move!"
Based on previous observations, he had assumed the young man's primary gold-level card would function as a long-range artillery piece. But this demonstration revealed something far more versatile.
What Diesel didn't realize was that in front of Misaka, who possessed absolute control over electromagnetic waves, making subtle hostile movements was utterly pointless.
Godfrey frowned slightly and retracted the card that had begun materializing in his hand.
Azrael, unaware of his companions' thoughts, mused internally, "Is using Empire currency illegal?"
"And the destructive power seems insufficient."
He began searching his memory for suitable projectiles that would allow the Railgun to unleash greater devastating potential.
The Railgun's seemingly limited range occurred simply because standard coins couldn't travel far before burning up due to air friction.
Using alternative materials would change everything dramatically.
For example, vibranium coins from Wakanda?
Or perhaps uru metal coins, the same material used to forge Thor's Mjolnir in the Marvel universe. "Thor's... coin..."
Azrael felt Misaka slap his right arm firmly.
The girl stared at him with murderous intent in her eyes.
He immediately understood her unspoken message.
"Stop making those terrible puns!"
Azrael coughed awkwardly to mask his embarrassment. "Clean up the bodies and prepare to move out."
"Yes, sir!"
Just as the lower-ranked Lore Cardians began clearing the scene, all three gold-level practitioners present simultaneously looked across the street.
The next moment...
"Whoosh!"
Black iron sand erupted explosively from the ground, and the pitch-dark particles, resembling Death's own scythe, slashed from ground level into the sky.
Misaka had activated her iron sand manipulation, using electromagnetic forces to control and weaponize the metallic particles with devastating cutting power.
Attacking alongside Misaka was Godfrey.
A human-sized turtle dressed as a scholar materialized beside Godfrey.
A dark blue water blade slashed from the creature's hands, cleanly severing abandoned buildings along the entire street.
"BOOM!"
A massive cloud of dust and debris obscured everyone's vision completely.
Fortunately, this area had been evacuated, normally devoid of civilian life.
Some residents had fled after Azrael's initial aerial attack from earlier.
Otherwise, Godfrey's devastating assault would have caused significant civilian casualties.
Azrael, wearing a serious expression, gazed toward the end of the street and summoned all his silver-level cards simultaneously.
As soon as Fubuki materialized, she immediately used [Psychic Whirlwind] to disperse the concealing smoke.
"Clap, clap, clap."
A round of slow, mocking applause echoed through the street.
"You must be the champion, Azrael, correct?"
A distinctly Goryeo-accented voice resonated through the area.
At the street's far end, a young man wearing an elaborate red dragon robe gazed at Azrael with obvious curiosity.
"Who are you?" Azrael questioned, though he already suspected the answer.
An Onefold Doctrine member wearing a red dragon robe.
"Li?"
"Dragon robe?"
"Tsk."
Without question, in previous eras, the young man's attire would have been considered treasonous.
But nowadays, after various Lore Cardians had repeatedly summoned and utilized [Mighty General Zhu Houzhao] (Ming Wuzong), [Emperor Wanshou Zhu Houcong] (a Black Iron-tier card), and [Ming War God Zhu Qizhen], their ancestors had been metaphorically dragged out and publicly humiliated so often that a simple dragon robe seemed insignificant.
The Ming royal family had completely surrendered to this reality.
However, this young man, clearly a resident of Goryeo, still ruled by the Li family, wearing such traditional Korean royal attire made his intentions transparently obvious to everyone present.
"My name is Li Xie," the young man replied politely to Azrael's inquiry.
Azrael's expression remained cold. "Are you here seeking revenge for these pathetic cultists?"
Li Xie waved his hands dismissively. "How could these worthless pawns merit my personal attention?"
"I simply heard from my subordinates that you were in Donglai, so I came to observe you personally."
He paused dramatically. "You were responsible for that impressive commotion earlier, weren't you?"
His answer came in the form of an orange-red electromagnetic beam.
Li Xie dodged the railgun with a single fluid movement. He patted his chest, appearing genuinely startled. "Wow, that was uncomfortably close."
He then regarded Azrael with obvious resentment. "Really? Could you at least wait until I finish speaking before attempting to kill me?"
Azrael remained silent for a moment before uttering a few cutting words. "Are you some kind of pretentious dandy?"
The atmosphere instantly fell into dead silence. Godfrey, who had maintained an expressionless demeanor since the expedition began, couldn't suppress a slight twitch of his lips.
After a moment, Diesel agreed with obvious amusement, "Indeed, I believe this young man's mannerisms are quite reminiscent of those affected nobles from the Wei and Jin dynasties."
Azrael glanced at Diesel with mild surprise. He hadn't expected the square-faced man, who had been subtly opposing him, to actually support his assessment.
Hearing Diesel's words, the association's Lore Cardians could no longer contain their laughter.
Li Xie's polite smile gradually faded.
He regarded the others with an increasingly cold gaze. "How tedious! I was expecting to encounter the national champions, but I didn't anticipate such vulgar company."
Azrael raised an eyebrow. "Did we strike a nerve?"
"Just admit it. We're all professionals here and don't usually laugh."
"Unless we genuinely can't help ourselves."
Li Xie's face darkened ominously. "Allow me to determine whether your strength matches your inflammatory words."
As he finished speaking, a middle-aged man dressed similarly materialized before him.
"BANG!"
Crushing pressure instantly swept across the area, and several lower-ranking association Lore Cardians immediately collapsed to their knees.
However, as an orange-red beam shot forward, the oppressive force affecting the association's members suddenly diminished.
Li Xie frowned, observing the Empire coin that had stopped directly in front of the middle-aged figure. "Something's wrong with the power output."
He had just witnessed a railgun attack, but the difference between that shot and this current demonstration was enormous.
Beside Azrael, Fubuki gracefully manipulated her slender fingers.
Two primary factors hindered the railgun's maximum potential: projectile material limitations and atmospheric resistance.
The projectile material couldn't be immediately solved, but atmospheric resistance could be addressed.
Li Xie's summoned card was positioned relatively close to their location.
This distance fell well within Fubuki's psychokinetic capabilities. She could create a near-vacuum environment around the coin's trajectory.
Although minimal resistance would still exist, the improvement would be substantial.
The coin launched by the railgun continued accelerating through the reduced-resistance corridor until it collided with the invisible barrier protecting Li Xie's card.
"Crack."
A sharp fracturing sound echoed through the area.
Spider-web cracks spread across the surface in front of the middle-aged figure.
However, ultimately, the railgun failed to penetrate the invisible defensive barrier.
Witnessing this result, Li Xie displayed a mocking expression. "Is that truly your maximum capability?"
"CRACK!"
A crisp shattering sound suddenly resonated.
The orange-red beam brushed past his right ear and continued flying until it gradually dissipated in the distance.
"Oops, missed that one."
The brown-haired girl's voice carried a note of feigned regret, while white smoke drifted from the tip of her right index finger.
For Misaka, the railgun represented merely a standard attack. As long as sufficient coins remained available, she could fire unlimited consecutive shots.
"Ding."
The distinctive sound of another coin being flipped reached Li Xie's ears.
But he couldn't focus on that threat. The stinging sensation on his cheek commanded his immediate attention.
Li Xie touched his right cheek in absolute disbelief. "My face!?"
"MY FACE!"
He stared at Azrael with bloodshot eyes filled with rage. "How dare you mar my heaven-blessed features!"
"I will make you, "
"BOOM!"
A sonic boom erupted as the orange-red beam pierced through the exact location where his head should have been.
The next moment, Misaka tilted her head curiously. "He escaped?"
Just as the railgun was about to connect, the middle-aged card-figure had vanished from the street along with Li Xie.
After a prolonged silence, Godfrey's emotionless voice reached everyone's ears. "I believe this Onefold Doctrine scum falls far short of the Vice President's capabilities."
"His appearance as well."
Diesel glanced at Godfrey with obvious surprise.
You're supposedly the stoic, serious type, but you also know how to deliver flattery?
Ignoring their exchange, Azrael was contemplating something entirely different.
"Is there more than one Li family member in Donglai?"