In a demon stronghold, a voluptuous woman sullenly drank wine, attended by several withered men who stood motionless around her.
The woman drunkenly murmured, "My sweetheart..."
"Why did you disappear?"
With that, she began to sob softly, her shoulders trembling.
Seeing this, the withered men beside her lowered their heads and remained completely still, none attempting to offer comfort. They knew better than to intervene when Ruth was in one of her moods.
After a moment, the alluring woman gritted her teeth, her expression shifting from sorrow to rage. "It's all Greg's fault. You said from the beginning that you'd leave my sweetheart to me."
"And it ended up like this."
Just as she was fuming, an inhuman figure swiftly entered her tent. "Lord Ruth, we've made progress on the matter you ordered."
"There's a sighting report from the front lines."
Upon hearing this, Ruth's drunkenness vanished instantly, replaced by a flicker of anticipation. "Let me see it."
The demon respectfully handed the intelligence report to the woman.
As Ruth read through the document, the joy on her face grew with each line.
Finally, the alluring woman crumpled the paper in her hand, her face flushed with excitement. She couldn't help but hum a cheerful tune.
After a moment, she gazed at the demon before her with eyes full of predatory hunger, her long, blood-red tongue licking her purple lips. "You're so beautiful."
"Stay with me today."
However, upon hearing these words, the demon's legs suddenly buckled beneath him.
He looked up at Ruth with pure terror etched across his features.
But before he could utter a single word of protest, he was sucked into her embrace and vanished from sight.
Seeing this, the withered men around the tent exchanged glances, their eyes filled with unmistakable relief. Better him than them.
Heavy snow fell from the sky, its glistening flakes landing on the bright red blood below, instantly staining the pristine white a similar crimson color.
Amidst the vast expanse of heaven and earth, several unremarkable figures stood upon the snow-covered ground.
One of the men, wearing distinctive red and blue armor, muttered in disappointment, "Nothing again!"
At that moment, a female figure suddenly appeared beside him. "Let's go! This noise might draw demon army patrols to investigate."
With that, the figures vanished in an instant.
When they reappeared, they had arrived at the entrance of a cave nestled in an unknown mountain range.
After the armored man entered the cave, the female figure glanced around furtively before dragging a nearby boulder to cover the entrance.
The two were, of course, Azrael and Wendy.
It had been several days since they'd left Gaza Town for this reconnaissance mission.
This cave served as their hiding place after they'd driven away its native inhabitants.
Unfortunately, after all these days, the two had gained nothing of value.
Inside the cave, after Wendy had covered their tracks, Azrael said with a slight headache, "The demons we've encountered these past few days haven't yielded any useful information at all."
Wendy shrugged helplessly. "No surprise there. The Northern Defense Army just wanted us to try our luck."
While Azrael knew Wendy was telling the truth, the crux of the matter was that he still had Jin's mission weighing on his mind.
Ideally, he'd obtain intelligence on this mission, then carefully modify the data before reporting it to Jin. Otherwise, if the Northern Defense Army obtained experimental information elsewhere, he'd have to find another way to access it discreetly.
However, he couldn't bring himself to tell Wendy about these complications, so he changed the subject. "Wendy, you should have sent back the intelligence we've gathered these past few days, right?"
While the intelligence they'd gathered wasn't what they specifically needed, it didn't mean it was useless. It contained valuable information about the demon army's recent troop movements and patrol patterns.
Wendy nodded. "It's all been transmitted."
The cave fell silent after that, with only the crackling of burning wood filling the space.
After a long moment, Azrael's voice returned with a question that had been nagging him. "Speaking of which, I've always been curious about something. Why is the Demon Army still using physical couriers to transmit intelligence?"
This had puzzled him since arriving at the Northern Defense Army. After all, the Empire of Aetherlight was already using smartphones and advanced communication technology, so the Demon Army couldn't possibly still rely solely on messengers running between outposts.
He also remembered seeing the Demon Army in possession of high-tech equipment during previous encounters.
Wendy, stirring the fire in front of her with a stick, casually replied, "The Northern Defense Army has Lore Cardians with cards that can intercept electronic messages, so normally the demons don't rely on technological communication for anything sensitive."
Azrael suddenly understood. There was no way around it; this was the unpredictable nature of cards in this world.
Just like Misaka's card, which could manipulate electronic devices at will, though Azrael hadn't utilized her abilities much for that purpose.
Who knew what other strange cards capable of electronic warfare existed within the Northern Defense Army's ranks?
Just then, two vibrations echoed simultaneously within the cave.
In unison, Azrael and Wendy pulled out their phones and began checking the incoming messages.
It was a map showing the demons' next planned movement route.
After reviewing the message, Azrael said in a deep voice, "This afternoon."
Since they weren't particularly far from the Empire's border, their phones still functioned properly with signal.
However, if they ventured deeper into Demon Army territory, there would be no coverage at all.
"I hope this trip isn't in vain," Wendy stretched her stiff muscles and sighed. "But how did they confirm the new movement route so quickly?"
The Demon Army's movement routes relayed to them by the Northern Defense Army's intelligence division couldn't always be completely accurate.
Azrael extinguished the fire and stood up, ready for Wendy to teleport them both onto the target route using her spatial manipulation abilities.
Amidst the thick snow, Azrael and Wendy waited quietly in concealment.
A moment later, a figure in a white lab coat sprinted past them from a distance, moving with desperate haste.
Seeing this, the two exchanged meaningful glances.
"Big catch," Azrael mouthed silently.
They could both see the excitement flickering in each other's eyes.
It was crucial to note that within the demon army, only one type of individual would be dressed like that figure: a researcher from the R&D department.
Azrael, without hesitation, summoned his card.
The next moment, a blonde girl in a blue skirt and shining armor materialized directly in the demon's path.
Seeing his route blocked, the demon in the white lab coat's expression shifted to one of panic.
Turning to flee in the opposite direction, he found a black and white figure radiating an aura of absolute indifference staring expressionlessly at him from behind.
In the distance, Wendy silently observed Artoria, her heart pounding with a mixture of awe and concern.
No matter how many times she witnessed it, she couldn't help but feel that Azrael's newly created card was somewhat outrageous.
It wasn't just the raw strength that shocked her, though that was certainly impressive.
More importantly, Wendy could sense that each time the blonde knight appeared, her power increased dramatically.
Whether referring to Artoria herself or the effects she had on allied cards.
"She was born for group combat," Wendy couldn't help but think.
While she didn't know the upper limit of how many individuals the amplification could affect, based on her observations, the number should fluctuate inversely with the strength of those being enhanced.
The stronger the individual, the fewer could be affected, and vice versa.
As she pondered this tactical consideration, Ulquiorra was already dragging the captured demon, who looked like a beaten dog, toward them both.
Azrael frowned slightly at the sight. "So weak."
He could sense that the demon they had intercepted was at most Gold-level in terms of spiritual energy.
But remembering that the R&D department specialized in research rather than combat prowess, Azrael didn't dwell on the apparent discrepancy.
Soon, Ulquiorra and Artoria returned to his side.
"Lord Azrael," Ulquiorra said respectfully, grasping the demon's hair and presenting him to Azrael for inspection.
However, when Azrael saw the demon's face clearly, a strange expression crossed his features.
He recognized the demon's identity immediately.
Cliff, a Level 1 researcher in the Demon Army's R&D department, and one of the demons who had collaborated with Li Gang on the demonization project back in Donglai.
Azrael hadn't expected their reunion to take place under these particular circumstances.
After all, the last time he'd been in Donglai waiting for Li Gang to be dealt with, Cliff had long since vanished from the facility.
Cliff forced his swollen eyes open, a mournful smile crossing his bloodstained face. "Extremely high-risk target, the [Gun Devil]. Report to the nearest stronghold if you spot him..."
"Azrael, it's you."
Azrael's eye twitched at the mention of "Gun Devil," a codename that made him momentarily think he'd wandered into the world of Chainsaw Man.
But he quickly realized it was simply a new designation the Demon Army had assigned to Ulquiorra's card.
Ignoring Cliff's words, Azrael turned to Wendy and whispered urgently, "Wendy, it's indeed a big catch. He knows the details of the demonization experiment."
Wendy nodded, understanding the significance immediately.
However, just as she was about to knock Cliff unconscious so they could retreat with their prize, the demon suddenly shouted with his remaining strength, "Ruth!"
As soon as the name left his mouth, the demon's eyes rolled back and he fainted.
At that exact moment, a heavy sniffing sound suddenly echoed behind Azrael. "Finally..."
"I've got you."
Hearing the disturbingly familiar voice, Azrael's face paled.
The next moment, dense, overwhelming dark spiritual pressure exploded outward, instantly blowing away the surrounding snow in a violent blast.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted in Azrael's ears as immense force hurled him far away.
After rolling several times through the snow, he quickly scrambled to his feet and assessed the situation.
He saw Artoria standing with solemn determination, and Ulquiorra in his second-stage Resurrección form, his left arm already regenerating from whatever attack had struck him.
In the distance stood his old acquaintance, Ruth.
A curious look crossed Ruth's beautiful face, but her eyes scanned Azrael's two cards with cold calculation. "Ah, sweetheart, you've gotten so much stronger."
"You look absolutely delicious now. I want to swallow you whole!"
The alluring woman said this while casting a sultry wink at Azrael.
Ignoring Ruth's feverish state, Azrael calmly asked Wendy, "Wendy, can we leave?"
Hearing this, Wendy gritted her teeth and attempted to activate her spatial manipulation ability. After a tense moment, she shook her head slightly. "No, I'm restricted."
As if she had anticipated exactly what Azrael and the others were planning, Ruth folded her arms, tapping her cheek with one slender index finger. She said with mock distress, "Don't overthink it, sweetheart. This time I won't let you escape."
Hearing Ruth's declaration, Azrael took a deep breath, his mind racing through their limited options.
At this point, there was only one choice left.
Fight!
As luck would have it, he was no longer the helpless puppet at her mercy that he'd been during their first encounter.