Under normal circumstances, reinforcements wouldn't arrive this quickly. After all, Gaza Town had to verify the authenticity of any distress call before dispatching aid.
What if Wendy's communication device had been seized by the demon army and used as bait to lure Gaza Town's Diamond-level Lore Cardians into a trap?
But Jacob couldn't afford such caution.
He knew there might be deception involved, but his concern for his junior brother's safety outweighed everything else.
Azrael had nearly lost his life during the previous siege. If not for the powerful Sacred Blade Armor, he would have perished in the spatial turbulence.
Therefore, upon receiving Wendy's distress signal this time, Jacob chose to depart immediately without hesitation.
He preferred to make an error in judgment rather than do nothing at all.
If his hesitation led to his junior brother's death, Jacob would never forgive himself. More importantly, he didn't know how he would face his teacher, his fellow disciples, or especially Alice.
However, when he arrived at the coordinates sent in the message, he witnessed a golden beam tearing through the sky.
Jacob's pupils contracted sharply. "Is there really a trap?!"
This scene made him wonder if, as Commander Kageyami and the others had warned, the demon army had indeed seized Wendy's phone.
After all, he had never seen an attack of that magnitude in the Northern Territory.
"Has another secret realm been incorporated into the demon army?" was Jacob's first thought.
As for the possibility that this was a newly crafted card by Azrael, he didn't even consider it. An Emerald-level card couldn't possibly unleash an attack of such devastating power, not even a red-quality Emerald-level card could manage that.
But Jacob soon realized something was amiss. The attack wasn't aimed at him at all. Even if it had been off target, it wouldn't have been fired in completely the opposite direction.
A flicker of doubt welled up in his mind, and he continued forward.
Soon, Jacob encountered Azrael, who was retreating from Ruth.
"Junior Brother?!" he said in surprise.
Although Azrael looked somewhat disheveled and injured, he honestly didn't appear to be someone who had just been hunted by a Diamond-level demon. Jacob had imagined finding him with at minimum a broken arm or leg.
Seeing Jacob, Azrael couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "Big Brother!"
He hadn't known the extent of damage Excalibur could inflict on Ruth, so he'd genuinely worried that the savage woman would somehow still be functional after taking a direct hit.
Fortunately, his senior brother had arrived just in time. Even if Artoria's long-planned attack hadn't succeeded, he wouldn't be in any immediate danger now.
"That attack just now, ?"
Just as Jacob inquired about the details, a roar of utter fury shook the air, "AZRAEL!"
It was Ruth.
In her rage, she had stopped even calling Azrael "sweetheart."
Jacob's face darkened as he recognized the alluring voice.
Without bothering to find out what had just transpired, he said in a deep voice, "Junior brother, you go first. I'll deal with her."
But just as he finished speaking, a terrifying skeletal figure with strands of charred flesh and blood hanging from its bones appeared before him.
"Ruth?" Seeing the unique appearance of the demon before him, Jacob was somewhat uncertain whether this truly was Ruth.
Azrael wasn't surprised that Ruth had survived. Rather, he was a little surprised that Excalibur, with all thirteen restraints fully released, had only managed to inflict this level of damage.
After all, Ruth was at least upper-middle tier among Diamond-level combatants.
But the skeleton ignored Jacob entirely, locking her eyes on Azrael behind him instead. "Azrael."
"You actually..."
"How dare you destroy such a perfect body of mine!"
"I've changed my mind. I'm going to drain you dry right here!"
Ruth roared hysterically, her voice now utterly maddened.
However, upon hearing her words, Azrael's first reaction was curiosity about how she could make sound without vocal cords.
But it was clear that Ruth would not explain his confusion.
Unaware of Azrael's thoughts, the female demon, now reduced to a skeleton, instantly caused the ground beneath her feet to crack as she vanished from her position.
Seeing this, Jacob's face darkened. "You really don't take me seriously."
The next moment, a card materialized and grabbed the pale skeleton's head, slamming it into the distance.
CRASH!
With a violent explosion, Ruth was driven into the distant mountain.
"Junior Brother, return to Gaza Town first. I'll handle things here."
From the moment they exchanged blows, Jacob sensed the weakness beneath Ruth's terrifying exterior.
Hearing this, Azrael nodded slightly, a hint of fatigue flickering across his face. "Okay."
With that, he hurried toward Gaza Town, led by the Shadowkhan.
To say he wasn't tired would be a lie. After all, he was only an Emerald-level Lore Cardian, and dealing with a Diamond-level demon like Ruth alone had been quite taxing.
Of course, if he said that to outsiders, they would assume he was being absurdly arrogant.
It was normal for an Emerald-level to be powerless against a Diamond-level opponent.
Not long after, Azrael encountered Wendy, who had returned to search for him.
"Azrael?" The short-haired woman looked at him with surprise and relief. "Are you okay?!"
Azrael waved his hand slightly, indicating that he was fine.
However, Wendy wasn't alone. She was accompanied by Gaza Town Commander Kageyami.
Apparently, the short-haired woman had confirmed the authenticity of the distress call after returning to Gaza Town.
Commander Kageyami raised an eyebrow at the young man before him. "President Azrael, where's Lord Jacob?"
Hearing this, Azrael pointed behind him. "Senior Brother is back there dealing with Ruth."
Seeing his exhausted face, Commander Kageyami shook his head without another word, immediately preparing to leave to support Jacob.
Just then,
THUD.
With a dull impact, a round skull fell to the snow before the three of them.
Then, Jacob appeared.
"Ruth is dead."
"This time, our Northern Defense Army has eliminated a serious threat."
Hearing this, Commander Kageyami looked at the skull on the snow in astonishment. "Is this Ruth?!"
"Lord Jacob, when did you become so powerful?"
He had no idea Ruth had been seriously injured before Jacob arrived, so he assumed Jacob had killed her with such remarkable speed.
In response to Commander Kageyami's question, Jacob shook his head slightly, then looked at Azrael beside him. "This time, I merely benefited from my junior brother's assistance."
"I didn't even have a chance to contribute much."
Hearing his words, Commander Kageyami seemed confused and looked at Azrael beside him with a slightly dazed expression.
"President Azrael?"
"Lord Jacob, are you joking?"