Beru's gaze flickered imperceptibly toward his left arm, where sparks sizzled and crackled across the cybernetic components. He then shifted his attention to the dark-haired woman standing nearby.
Though she maintained that cold, serene demeanor, he could sense the excitement and frenzy simmering beneath the surface, the bloodlust of a predator savoring the hunt.
Taking a deep breath, the assassin savored the bloody scent flooding his nerve cells. "Could you tell me your name?"
Even as he spoke, his grip involuntarily tightened around the now-nicked dagger.
"Yachiru."
Unohana Retsu turned gracefully, her blade intercepting the incoming dagger. She gazed coldly at the man whose body was drenched in pale blue blood.
"Yachiru Unohana."
Beru's inquiry had been tactical, a distraction to facilitate a sneak attack. After all, that's what an assassin should be, isn't it?
But it was undeniable that a small part of him truly desired to know his opponent's name.
The assassin knew this time he would most likely be defeated. Before his death, he simply wanted to remain more than a nameless ghost.
Ding, ding!
Barely blocking the blood-forged blades slicing toward him, Beru tapped the ground with his toes and retreated violently backward.
But Unohana Retsu was already growing weary of the dance. Initially, the half-human, half-ghost presence had given her a slight thrill, but as the battle dragged on, her opponent was barely holding on.
Her excitement was gradually cooling, replaced by a momentary sense of boredom.
Furthermore, due to the peculiarities of Beru's cybernetic body, she couldn't even use her Kaidō healing abilities to help the opponent recover, to prolong the fight.
Not that she would do that anyway. After all, Azrael was waiting outside.
She could save that particular indulgence for team-building exercises, during desperate battles with Yoriichi Tsugikuni and Zoro, perhaps.
The next moment, Beru felt a sudden surge of wind from his side.
Turning, he saw the black-haired woman's long blade already at his throat.
At this moment, the image Unohana Retsu projected into the assassin's vision kept oscillating between a bloodthirsty demon and the serene black-haired woman.
Is my optic nerve disrupted?
That was Beru's last thought before his consciousness fell into eternal silence.
Looking at the headless corpse, sparks still flickering around its severed neck, Unohana Retsu sheathed her long sword with a hint of boredom.
Then, the bloody world around them began to gradually crumble, eventually dissipating into the air as Minazuki's Bankai dissolved.
"Thank you for your hard work, Retsu."
Azrael's voice echoed from the side.
As Unohana Retsu's summoner, he could naturally sense her condition, so he hadn't felt much concern during the battle.
Collecting the [Cyber Assassin] (Gold) material card dropped by Beru, Azrael sighed with regret.
Because Nanami had been consumed by Excalibur's golden torrent, even the body was nowhere to be found, and naturally, no material card had dropped.
Temporarily suppressing his disappointment, the young man stood there and carefully observed his surroundings. After ensuring there were no demons lurking nearby, he sent Ulquiorra to inform the Lore Cardians in Ande City.
Soon, Lore Cardians affiliated with the Ande Cardian Master Association began entering the secret realm where Azrael waited.
Upon entering, they saw the entrance in shambles, and a small hill in the distance had been completely obliterated, nothing but scorched earth and fragmented stone remained.
It was clear that a devastating battle had taken place not long ago.
Seeing Azrael, whose Sacred Blade Armor was only slightly stained with dust, the low-level Lore Cardians present couldn't help but swallow nervously before immediately setting to work on establishing defensive perimeters.
Azrael remained vigilant throughout.
It wasn't long before Pierre and the vice president of the Ande Cardian Master Association appeared in the secret realm. Pierre quickly walked over to Azrael, his face showing a hint of lingering fear. "Brother, thank the stars you're alright."
Hearing this, Azrael was startled. "What happened?"
Pierre quickly recounted the previous situation.
It was then that the young man realized the other team had already dealt with the demons at the entrance, but when they tried to support him, they were unable to enter the secret realm no matter how hard they tried, as if an invisible barrier had sealed the entrance.
Azrael couldn't help but frown slightly. Based on the intelligence he had, there was no doubt someone had orchestrated his earlier solo journey into this secret realm.
It couldn't be just bad luck, after all.
Pierre, of course, sensed something was amiss. "Tsk, we should find a way to quickly deal with the more troublesome demons here."
As the mobile unit of the Cardian Master Association, they certainly didn't need to stay in Ande until the secret realm was completely suppressed.
Once they had eliminated any potentially dangerous demons, Azrael and the others could return to headquarters. The remaining demons would be eliminated by the Lore Cardians stationed in Ande City.
Hearing this, Azrael nodded in agreement. "I have a lead. Maybe we won't have to go looking for them ourselves."
He was referring to Splint, the information broker he'd let escape, the one who knew so much.
"We can gather intelligence and eliminate a demon at the same time. Win-win!" he thought to himself.
The so-called win-win meant he won twice, not him and Splint winning together.
As for the demon's reluctance to reveal information? Simple: just beat it until it coughed up the details. It didn't involve information about the World Devourer, so there was no need to worry about getting shot in the head by some failsafe.
Pierre glanced at Azrael in surprise. "Then we'll set out once the defenses here are nearly complete."
He didn't ask where the young man got his information, he simply accepted that it came from one of his cards.
But Azrael shook his head. "The target could escape at any moment, so we'd better set out now."
He wasn't aware that Splint had already decided to retreat into his metaphorical shell, and he worried that the demon might relocate after the deaths of his two companions.
As the two conversed, the vice president of the Ande City Cardian Master Association silently surveyed the surroundings.
He couldn't help but feel shocked at the massive wounds left on the ground, the searing crater from the Lightning Lance and the devastated hillside where Excalibur had struck.
He had harbored some doubts when he first heard the reports from his subordinates.
This was primarily because he had never seen such an Emerald-level Lore Cardian before. People often can't imagine things they haven't seen, so his skepticism was reasonable.
However, out of trust in his team, the vice president had still believed their words.
But it wasn't until he saw the scene with his own eyes that he truly understood the magnitude of what had transpired.
While observing his surroundings, he also paid attention to the conversation between the two beside him. After hearing Azrael's words, he spoke up at the right time. "You two go ahead and take care of it. I'll handle things here."
Seeing that the vice president had no objections, Pierre naturally had none either.
Azrael then led Pierre toward the location that Misaka had previously scouted.
It was then that he realized just how far the brown-haired girl meant by "somewhat far."
"Hey, brother... how much longer?"
Pierre asked Azrael boredly.
By this time, more than half a day had passed since they left the secret realm entrance.
Azrael gave an embarrassed smile and didn't reply, instead looking at Misaka beside him.
The brown-haired girl silently estimated and quickly concluded, "About ten minutes."
Hearing this, Pierre instantly perked up.
Soon, the two of them arrived at a nondescript hilltop.
"It's right down there."
Before Azrael and Pierre could ask, Misaka pointed down the hill and spoke.
Seeing this, the two exchanged glances and immediately summoned their cards.
Meanwhile, in the underground space, Splint looked dejected, still reeling from the deaths of Beru and Nanami.
Just as he was considering who he could recruit once the storm had passed, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure on the light screen in front of him, one of the surveillance monitors displaying the surface.
"Wait! Why is he here?!"
Splint was startled, then horrified.
"Maybe he's just passing through... passing by!"
He couldn't even convince himself with that excuse.
Before he could even think of a response, he saw a spear made of crackling green energy flying straight toward him through the light curtain.
Boom!
Puff puff.
With a deafening explosion, the underground space began to shake uncontrollably, and fine dust continued to fall from the ceiling.
Fortunately, Splint had considered dust prevention during construction, so no debris had fallen into the server array.
But now was clearly not the time to worry about such trivial matters. Threads of sunlight were gradually seeping into the underground space through the cracks in the rock wall.
Seeing this, Splint knew he could no longer hide.
Boom!
A second explosion echoed, and the scholar's carefully concealed secret hideout was finally exposed to daylight.
He looked at the figures hovering in the air and forced a smile that was uglier than crying. "Gentlemen, is it too late to surrender now?"
But all he received was Azrael's cold voice, "Now, I ask, you answer."
Knowing the times, Splint nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. "Of course, and you've found the right person. There's nothing in this world that I don't know."
"I need the exact location of your powerful allies."
Hearing this, Splint couldn't help but scratch his cheek. He had never expected the other party to ask such a simple question.
But just as he was about to answer, a voice interrupted him.
"Sir, there's no need to look for us. We're all here."
The voices weren't from Azrael and his companions, but rather from several figures that had appeared in the sky beyond. They offered the two a polite smile, then one of them, a swordsman with multiple blade cases strapped to his back, lowered his head and spoke, word by word, to Splint in the underground space below:
"As for you, Splint... we've finally found you."
"Today is the day you die!"
Splint's face paled at the murderous words, and he turned to look at Azrael with desperate eyes.
But the young man had no time to worry about the peeping Tom information broker. He simply stared solemnly at the demons in the distance.
He recognized one of them the moment he saw them: the swordsman who had previously fought Ulquiorra.
Azrael had been wondering why that powerful demon hadn't appeared during the earlier battles, but he hadn't expected the demon to be waiting for precisely this moment.
At this point, the swordsman continued, "Splint, you should understand that no one can save you today, right?"
"If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for knowing too much."
However, Splint's fear suddenly faded, and he burst into laughter. "Aren't you afraid I'll expose your secrets?"
Azrael's eyes twitched at this exchange, and he mentally grumbled, What kind of leverage does this guy have?
He finally understood what was happening. Perhaps Splint, as a peeping Tom information broker, knew too much dirt on these powerful individuals, making them eager to eliminate him before he could talk.
Of course, it could also be a show.
Who would have thought that facing Splint's threat, the swordsman's face would reveal a sinister smile. "Don't worry, you won't have that chance."
"As for us, we've naturally signed a pact not to expose each other's secrets."
He said this while pulling a sphere gleaming with pale blue light from his sword case.
The next moment, an invisible wave swept across the area.
Seeing this, Splint stared blankly at the servers that had stopped operating around him. Then his face darkened and he screamed, "Marve! What have you done?!"
He gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, fine! I didn't expect you'd go over there and ask for something like this just to target me."
"In that case, don't blame me for being unfair."
"Marve, you're a machine-loving freak who can only desire your own swords! You were just hanging around with the Demon Saint to hide your identity!"
However, upon hearing his socially devastating secret revealed, Marve simply smiled in relief. "Go on, let me hear what else you have to say."
"And you, Nan, "
But just as Splint was about to expose the others' secrets, a dark, ominous light suddenly descended from the sky.
Then, the defenseless Splint and the underground server array vanished from this world in a pulse of dark energy.
Seeing this, Marve's face instantly turned a pale purple. "Didn't we agree that if someone's dirty laundry gets exposed, everyone else has to wait until they finish talking before killing them?!"
They'd originally agreed to share the shame equally, but now it was just him.
Faced with this question, the people around him silently distanced themselves. The young woman who had previously acted so affectionate with him especially glanced at the swordsman's sword case with a cold, disdainful look.
The light in Marve's eyes gradually faded, and he chuckled like a broken machine. "Hehehe..."
Ignoring the swordsman who had now transformed into a pale shade of gray with embarrassment, the young woman turned her gaze to Azrael and Pierre.
"Thanks to you two this time."
"We were planning to deal with this guy after this operation was over, but I didn't expect you two to be able to track him down so quickly."
The demons had originally planned to wait for the battle between Azrael and Splint's group to conclude before taking action. But after seeing Splint disappear due to interference, they changed their strategy.
They'd decided to wait and see if the enemy could find the detested information broker, then act accordingly.
The woman continued, "We each serve our own masters, so a fight between us is inevitable."
"I apologize in advance for any offense."
As her voice fell, the atmosphere at the scene instantly became solemn.
At this time, Pierre said to Azrael in a barely perceptible voice, "Brother, do you want to retreat first? There are quite a lot of people on the other side."
But Azrael's face was calm. Although the appearance of this group of demons had disrupted his plan, it might not be a bad thing.
After all, this way, he and Pierre wouldn't have to hunt them down one by one.
"It's okay, I can handle it. Brother Pierre, just protect yourself."
Hearing this, Pierre hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded slightly.
He chose to trust the judgment of the young man beside him.
--[###]--
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