Motian remained expressionless as he watched the Truth-Seeking Orb Rasenshurikens flying toward him.
Brahma, seated beside him, made no movement, and the six terrifyingly powerful Truth-Seeking Orb Rasenshurikens froze mid-flight.
No, not frozen, something far more insidious was at work.
"Space is infinitely expanding," Azrael muttered, frowning slightly.
It was like a reality that could never be reached. Though the Truth-Seeking Orb Rasenshurikens appeared to be approaching Motian's face, the distance between them expanded like an insurmountable chasm stretching into eternity.
The effect bore some resemblance to the Unlimited Technique wielded by the Prison Master, but in reality, it was far more powerful.
Unfortunately for Motian, it had no effect on Azrael.
The Soul King raised his right hand and pointed toward Motian's position. Immediately, the space between the handsome man and the Truth-Seeking Orb Rasenshurikens, which had been expanding infinitely, began to shrink rapidly.
Noticing this, Motian's eyes widened briefly. He hadn't expected Brahma's method to be so easily countered.
Boom!
A surge of immense energy erupted, instantly engulfing Motian's position.
It was Brahma who struck, the elder preemptively detonating the Rasenshurikens launched by Uzumaki Naruto before they could reach their target.
Azrael, knowing this wouldn't harm his opponent, simply said, "Twenty seconds."
With that, the smoke from the explosion vanished, revealing Motian brimming with excitement.
The Soul King was stronger than he'd imagined, but that didn't matter. This was exactly what he wanted.
"Azrael..."
"Perhaps you can hold out against me for a minute."
Before Motian could finish his taunt, Brahma struck again. A crisp shattering sound echoed through the void, and the world fractured like a mirror.
At some point, Aizen, having evolved to his sixth stage, had unleashed Kyōka Suigetsu.
But even complete hypnosis couldn't be hidden from a Sovereign-level card like Brahma.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In the blink of an eye, the illusory world shattered three times before Motian and Brahma reached their desired reality.
"There's no need for such petty tricks," Motian said dismissively.
The four-headed, four-armed God of Creation closed his eyes slightly, then began to rapidly flip through the scriptures held in one hand.
Countless texts began to materialize in the chaotic space that had transformed into a starry universe. The most ancient book of knowledge was filling this virtual cosmos with everything it contained.
Humans, Asuras, gods, mythical weapons, technological weaponry, what should and shouldn't exist, all began to materialize from the void.
In an instant, the once deadly universe began to buzz with activity.
Motian had kept his promise and only used one Brahma card, but what was happening now rendered that promise meaningless.
Even if most of the beings the God of Creation had manifested weren't even at the Master level, the sheer number of them was enough to cause despair.
Fortunately, Azrael had a large number of cards, allowing him to hold out for a while even against this invisible, imaginary army.
After all, he only needed to survive for one minute, and only thirty seconds remained.
Azrael was now surrounded by only two Master-level cards: Uzumaki Naruto and the Soul King.
With a puff of white smoke, Naruto transformed into countless figures, then flew toward Motian's position.
Unfortunately, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, so effective in the Naruto world, was no match for Brahma.
As puffs of white smoke drifted outward, the once numerous Naruto clones on the field were reduced to a single figure.
The yellow-haired youth, revealing his true form, naturally couldn't reach Brahma's position.
Boom!
In a flash, Naruto vanished from Azrael's sight like a meteor streaking across the sky.
But Azrael felt no panic. After all, considering defense alone, Naruto, who had withstood Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack in his Six Paths Sage Mode, surely wouldn't be so vulnerable.
However, even knowing that Naruto hadn't been defeated under Brahma's attack, Motian didn't bother to pursue.
First, he considered him nothing more than a Master-level card. Second, the minute was almost over.
At Motian's signal, Brahma tilted the kettle in his hand slightly, and boundless water surged forth from the void.
The water within Brahma's kettle represented the origin of all things, encompassing everything in existence.
Since it could nurture life, it could undoubtedly also destroy everything.
Like the two great rivers of the Empire of Aetherlight, floods had devastated this land throughout history, causing catastrophic deluges spanning thousands of miles at best, and transforming coastal cities into submerged wastelands at worst.
The boundless water now surging from the void was a hundred times more ferocious.
Watching the massive waves crashing down from all directions, Azrael couldn't help but frown slightly.
Seeing this, the Soul King stepped forward to shield him.
Before the strongest being in the Shinigami world could even make a move, the massive wave threatening to engulf Azrael froze in the void.
A subtle grinding sound echoed, and a careful observer would have noticed the space around the massive wave, pinned in the void, trembling constantly.
Clearly, even the Soul King struggled against Brahma's attacks.
But he didn't need to defeat Brahma; he only needed to delay him for one minute.
Furthermore,
"What a powerful card, Azrael," Motian said, his face revealing a confident expression. "Unfortunately, if this is all you have, you'll be the loser in today's sparring match."
The handsome man had barely finished speaking when the massive wave, bound to its spot, pressed forward once more.
At that moment, Motian saw a flash of pale blue light in the Soul King's eyes.
As a master Lore Cardian, Motian instantly sensed something was amiss.
Whoosh!
A shrill sound suddenly pierced the air from behind him.
It was Naruto.
"Are you still planning on pulling this kind of trick?" Motian raised an eyebrow without even turning around, speaking playfully.
Brahma extended his hand, preparing to preemptively detonate the six swiftly approaching Truth-Seeking Orb Rasenshurikens.
However, the next moment, a rapidly spinning Truth-Seeking Orb Rasenshuriken suddenly appeared directly in front of Motian's face.
Swish!
Motian felt a sharp pain on his cheek. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a massive orange-yellow attack brush past his ear and fly off into the distance.
He was injured.
The Mughal Empire's Sovereign-level Lore Cardian stared at Azrael in disbelief. "How is this possible?!"
But then, realization dawned. "It's him?!"
Motian was referring to the Soul King.
Indeed, the Soul King had closed the distance between the Truth-Seeking Orb Rasenshuriken and Motian, teleporting one through space itself.
Unfortunately, even that feat had consumed a tremendous amount of spiritual energy, and in the end, he had only managed to teleport one.
Time had reached 59.99 seconds.
On the eve of Azrael's victory, Motian broke his promise.
He raised his hand and slowly wiped the blood from his cheek, looking at Azrael with embarrassment. "Tsk..."
The handsome man who had been playing around hadn't expected to get hurt.
That's right, if Azrael hadn't wounded him, Motian wouldn't have cheated.
But could Azrael be blamed for defending himself?
Victim-blaming was absurd.
At that moment, everything in the virtual universe stopped moving, from the stars to the cards, all frozen in place.
Motian looked at Azrael and the Soul King, who appeared like statues, and said in a scathing tone, "Just a little bit."
"I really wanted you to win."
He loosened his collar with a sense of frustration, then opened his mouth to say something else. "Tsk. Forget it."
Motian felt bored. Things weren't going as he'd expected.
With a hint of irritation, he glanced at Brahma, signaling him to eliminate Azrael.
Just as the four-headed, four-armed God of Creation was about to strike, Motian suddenly noticed the Soul King's eyes move.
Of course, he couldn't believe it was an illusion.
Sure enough, with a flash of pale blue light, Azrael and the Soul King, who had seemed petrified, resumed their movement.
Time, within a small localized area, began to flow again.
Immediately afterward, the entire virtual universe began to tremble, as if it were about to be torn apart.
No, not as if, it was being torn apart.
A dramatic crack suddenly appeared beneath Azrael's feet.
He allowed himself to fall into it, silently mouthing to Motian:
"Sixty."
"Game over."
The next moment, the crack closed, and Azrael disappeared from Motian's sight.
The sudden change left the Sovereign-level Lore Cardian stunned. He had never imagined that Azrael could move freely while time was frozen.
He understood that the Soul King had only lifted the time stop in a small area around Azrael, but even so, his opponent's strength exceeded his expectations.
The card's power was too versatile, so versatile that it seemed capable of anything.
Undoubtedly, according to the bet, he had lost this competition.
Motian stood there with a sullen face, his eyes full of gloom.
What had once been a sure victory had reached an ending he'd never expected.
The outside world.
After Azrael and Motian disappeared, the atmosphere at the scene took on a strange, tense quality.
Undoubtedly, that minute felt incredibly long to everyone present.
Whether it was Lucian and the other three Master-level Lore Cardians from the Empire of Aetherlight, or the envoys from various countries, their minds were filled with a tangle of anxious thoughts.
They didn't know how today would end.
Would Azrael win? Or would they end up with nothing but a corpse?
Anxiety gnawed silently at Lucian and the other two.
They regretted letting Azrael agree to Motian's proposal.
Rather than letting Azrael face the Sovereign-level Lore Cardian alone, a direct confrontation would have been preferable.
Of course, that was unrealistic.
If Lucian and the other two had calmed down and considered it rationally, they would have reluctantly conceded that Azrael accepting the challenge had been the best option.
Otherwise, if Motian was determined to act recklessly, no one knew what the consequences would be.
Meanwhile, Alice sat quietly in the seat reserved for Empire Lore Cardians, her knuckles slightly whitening as they rested on her knees, her eyes fixed on the spot where Azrael had disappeared.
She wasn't good at expressing her feelings, but she was more proactive than most.
Just as she'd stormed the residence of the former imperial family and taken Ottarl's head in Pixar, if anything happened to Azrael, she wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice her life.
Alice would fight Motian to the death, even though, as a Diamond-level Lore Cardian, she might not even be able to scratch his skin.
The minute passed quickly, and everyone watched the situation nervously.
The Lore Cardians of the Empire were naturally praying that nothing would happen to Azrael, while the envoys from various countries were thinking about how to escape.
After all, if Azrael, a high-ranking official of the Empire, were to be harmed today, the consequences would obviously be dire.
With a crackling sound, a spatial rift suddenly appeared before everyone's eyes, and Azrael fell through it.
Seeing him intact, Lucian and the other two breathed a sigh of relief and quickly surrounded him. "Azrael, are you alright?"
"How did it go?"
Azrael, who had just appeared, calmed his breath and said evenly, "I won."
"But I don't know what Motian will do next."
In that brief minute, Azrael's understanding of this [Golden Emperor] had greatly increased.
Motian seemed more like a mischievous child than a playful person.
However, this mischievous child possessed the equivalent of a nuclear launch button, so the damage he could cause far exceeded the scope of a normal troublemaker.
Lucian instantly understood the meaning behind Azrael's words. Although he didn't know why Motian hadn't appeared yet, he remained extremely vigilant.
After responding to Lucian and the other two, Azrael turned to look at Alice, who sat not far away, and nodded slightly, indicating that he was fine and asking his senior to not worry.
Then, he looked at Petrovna on the other side and nodded to the young princess as well.
Seeing this, Alice relaxed her tense body, a sense of relief washing over her.
She could finally let go of the tension she'd been holding. That brief minute had felt as elongated as ten thousand years.
However, Alice remained concerned about Azrael's subsequent safety.
Meanwhile, Petrovna, upon seeing Azrael appear unharmed, felt a sudden rush of relief.
A faint smile crossed her face, and she mouthed silently, "I knew you'd win, Lord Azrael."
Azrael couldn't help but smile in response.
But it was clearly not time to celebrate just yet. After all, there was no telling what Motian would do next.
After a while, Motian, who had been nowhere to be seen, finally appeared.
However, compared to Azrael's composure, his mood was clearly less than ideal. The handsome man's face was gloomy, as if water were about to drip from it.
Seeing this expression, the envoys from various countries present realized that whatever had transpired between the two of them had clearly not been favorable, at least not for Motian.
Just as the atmosphere grew increasingly uneasy, an emotionless female voice suddenly interrupted.
"Motian, you've gone too far this time."
"And..."
"Accept the loss."
It was Catherine.