Beijing.
The sky hung gray and heavy, the air thick with the scent of approaching rain. Anyone with common sense could tell a downpour was imminent.
Azrael was no exception, though he knew that if he wanted, Madara or Sasuke could cast Shinra Tensei over Beijing to disperse the rain clouds entirely.
It was simply unnecessary. Lore Cardians didn't interfere with normal weather patterns.
It was worth noting that since the advent of card creation, the Empire of Aetherlight had rarely experienced catastrophic droughts or floods.
A damp, cold wind swept through the open window, causing the curtains to sway slightly.
But Azrael wasn't in the mood to worry about the weather. Lucian had just delivered troubling news.
"Master Tempest is missing?"
Azrael couldn't help but frown at his teacher's words.
He knew exactly where Tempest had gone. Recently, a new secret realm had appeared in a small nation near Korea. The Empire's stationed Lore Cardians had initially estimated it to be roughly Diamond-tier, but once it manifested, things went wrong.
The Lore Cardians who entered the secret realm lost all contact.
Sensing something amiss, they immediately reported back, and Tempest volunteered to investigate.
His reason was personal, his disciple Victor was stationed in that small nation and had been among the first Lore Cardians to enter the secret realm.
As a teacher, Tempest couldn't sit idly by while Victor faced danger, so he took it upon himself to go.
And then, nothing.
To date, the Master-level Lore Cardian hadn't sent back a single message.
Faced with such a bizarre situation, the Empire of Aetherlight couldn't simply stand by.
At the very least, they needed to confirm whether he was alive or dead.
Azrael sighed at the thought.
Lucian's reason for coming to him was straightforward, he hoped Azrael would go find Tempest.
It wasn't that Azrael was unwilling, but with Tempest missing, if he left to search for him, only Lucian and Fujimaru, two Master-level Lore Cardians, would remain to defend the Empire.
As if sensing his concern, Lucian stepped forward and offered reassurance. "Azrael, don't overthink it. Times have changed. The Empire is much stronger now."
"Don't worry, go ahead. Fujimaru and I will be fine."
With that said, Azrael no longer hesitated. He stood and vanished from the room.
Left alone, Lucian sighed deeply.
"These are turbulent times indeed."
Under a blood-red setting sun, Tempest frowned as he hurried toward a location he'd just discovered.
The situation was far more complicated than he'd imagined before entering.
Two factions were currently waging war within this secret realm, which wasn't particularly unusual, such conflicts had occurred in secret realms before.
But what was strange was that after Tempest killed several members of a group claiming to be resistance forces, no materials dropped.
There were only two possible explanations for this.
One, the other party wasn't a demon.
Two, they had already left Earth.
However, after killing members of the opposing faction, he did obtain materials.
Clearly, the latter possibility was ruled out.
"So why are there beings other than demons in this secret realm?"
Tempest couldn't help but mutter to himself. This was the first time he'd encountered such an odd situation. In previous secret realms, even powerless civilians would drop materials, even if they were only the lowest-grade Black Iron white materials.
And this wasn't the only strange thing.
After entering this secret realm, Tempest didn't see the entrance that should have been there. Instead, he appeared directly at the scene of the battle between the two forces.
Fortunately, thanks to his Master-tier strength, he managed to escape the battlefield safely.
It wasn't that Tempest didn't want to defeat everyone present, he simply couldn't. He sensed that both sides of the battle had Master-tier beings, sometimes more than one.
Fortunately, after he escaped the battlefield, neither side sent anyone in pursuit, perhaps fearing a trap set by the other.
"Forget it. Find Victor first, then make any plans."
Thinking of his disciple, Tempest felt a surge of frustration.
He'd gathered intelligence that a battle maniac known as the Ultimate Killer had appeared within the territory controlled by the faction that dropped materials these past few days.
Based on the description, it was most likely his disciple, Victor.
But becoming famous in such a place wasn't a good thing. Wasn't that like dancing on someone's grave?
Tempest was certain that powerful individuals would soon come to capture Victor, so he had to find his disciple before then.
Thinking of this, the elegant middle-aged man quickened his pace.
But Tempest was still unfamiliar with the secret realm's geography, and without a map to guide him, finding Victor quickly was clearly unrealistic.
Unless he made a commotion himself.
That way, he could both help his disciple share some of the attention and attract other trapped Empire Lore Cardians to him.
Killing two birds with one stone, why not?
"If only Azrael were here."
Having made his decision, Tempest suddenly remembered his student's protégé.
In the Fighting God's eyes, if Azrael were here, there wouldn't be much trouble at all. With his strength, he could easily wipe out the entire secret realm. After all, as of now, it didn't contain any Sovereign-level experts.
He wouldn't be so restricted, unable to even control what would happen next.
Tempest didn't believe he could escape unscathed from what he was about to do.
He was simply doing his best.
"Ah!"
With Azrael's current strength, reaching the small country took minimal effort.
Soon, he spotted the entrance to the secret realm, which exuded a strange aura. It was now surrounded by fortifications built by the Empire's Lore Cardians.
At that moment, an Empire Lore Cardian, wiping sweat from his forehead, trotted over to Azrael and whispered respectfully, "Master Azrael."
This person was none other than the team leader stationed here.
Facing this apparently bizarre secret realm, Azrael couldn't just rush in blindly. He gazed at the cracks constantly distorting the surrounding space and said, "Tell me about the current situation."
"Yes."
The team leader nodded, then explained everything to Azrael.
As he spoke, Azrael gradually grasped the situation.
When the entrance to the secret realm formed, the stationed Lore Cardians immediately dispatched their cards to investigate. However, upon entering, the cards lost contact with their masters and, after a while, went into cooldown.
Faced with this situation, Victor decided to enter the secret realm himself.
And that was that. He and his squad of Lore Cardians disappeared without a trace, like stones sinking into the sea.
Seeing this, the Lore Cardians outside the secret realm naturally couldn't just leave. They instinctively chose to send for reinforcements.
It was obvious that Tempest was the one sent.
The result was simple, the association headquarters received news of his disappearance as well.
"So tricky?"
Azrael muttered subconsciously, staring at the entrance to the secret realm in the distance.
The last time he'd seen such a bizarre secret realm was the twin secret realm he'd encountered in Ander, the cyber world with its strange machine sentience.
With a tentative mindset, Azrael summoned a Shadowkhan and sent it into the secret realm to investigate.
What happened next was exactly as the team leader had described, after entering the secret realm, the Shadowkhan vanished without a response.
Seeing this, Azrael couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Looks like I'll have to go in and see what's happening myself."
He glanced at the team leader beside him and said, "You stay here and stand guard. If anything happens to this secret realm later, act according to the situation. If it proves impossible to handle, retreat."
Azrael said this because this wasn't Empire territory, and there was no need to fight a secret realm to the death.
"Yes!"
The team leader quickly nodded in agreement.
When he looked up again, Azrael, who had been standing beside him, was gone.
Elsewhere.
Azrael was momentarily disoriented when he noticed the surrounding landscape had transformed into a cityscape of towering buildings. However, he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings at this moment.
He already knew who was responsible for all these strange occurrences.
A peculiar smile crossed Azrael's face, and he couldn't help but mutter to himself, "I never thought I'd encounter another living person like me."
Just now, the moment he stepped through the secret realm's entrance, he felt the presence of a world consciousness.
Not the world consciousness of Earth, but the world consciousness of this secret realm.
Azrael glanced around, confirming there was no exit from the secret realm. He scoffed inwardly. "No wonder those who entered before couldn't transmit information."
He finally understood.
If there were world consciousnesses as resilient as those on Earth, there would surely be softer, more compliant ones.
Undoubtedly, the world consciousness in this secret realm was one of those softer ones.
Listening to the alarms echoing throughout the city, he curled his lips in disdain. Then, addressing no one in particular, he whispered, "You don't think you can take me down with this level of preparation, do you?"
"My fellow consciousness."
Azrael sensed that the city he was in was densely packed with demonic auras, even two Master-tier demons.
An ordinary Master-tier Lore Cardian trapped in such a situation would have at least shed a layer of skin to escape.
But who was Azrael?
He was the youngest Master-tier Lore Cardian, a prodigy capable of facing even Sovereign-level beings.
He was the [Myriad Phenomena] of the Empire of Aetherlight.
Honestly, there wasn't a single entity in this city who could actually challenge him.
Not one!
Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha appeared beside Azrael at some point.
"Sas!"
"Narra!"
As the two young men exchanged their familiar greeting, a massive demon fox clad in purple armor suddenly materialized in the city.
Simultaneously, a colossal wooden figure clad in blue armor appeared beside the demon fox.
Two generations of Asura and Indra reincarnations joining forces simultaneously, a scene unimaginable in the world of Naruto.
Of course, the Shinigami cards, led by Ichigo Kurosaki, were not to be underestimated, though their power was slightly diminished due to their three venue cards being on cooldown.
This terrifying scene, coupled with the piercing alarms, instantly threw the demons in the city into chaos.
Undoubtedly, what was happening now would become a nightmare that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
If they still had a future...
"What kind of monster did he send over here?!"
Sensing the overwhelming presence in the distance, the two Master-tier demons stationed in the city swallowed hard.
As members of the capitulated faction that had chosen to follow the world consciousness, they were of course aware of the recent incursions of alien creatures into this world.
One creature, even more formidable than themselves, had been thrown directly into the battlefield between them and the resistance faction by the world consciousness.
However, that alien creature ultimately fled in disgrace.
Unlike the one they now faced. Even within their own controlled territory, it showed no concern for its predicament.
Most importantly, it seemed capable of truly killing them.
Just as the two Master-tier demons hesitated about whether to await reinforcements, the purple-armored fox with its overwhelming demonic aura glanced toward them.
Seeing this, the two demons sensed something ominous. But before they could react, a massive purple blade materialized in the mighty Nine-Tails' right hand.
The next moment, a terrifying slash swept across the entire city, cleaving it in two and charging straight toward the two Master-tier demons.
Feeling the fierce wind whipping against their bodies, the two demons' pupils constricted in terror.
Slash!
The powerful attack, even after splitting the entire city in two, still traveled a considerable distance before gradually fading into thin air.
At that moment, before the mighty Kurama clad in Susanoo armor, there were no buildings left, only a terrifying ravine, like a canyon carved into the earth.
With a single strike, only two Master-tier demons remained standing before Azrael.
Even though the two Master-tier demons hadn't taken much damage from the slash, they still touched their bodies with lingering fear. "Lucky we dodged quickly."
Facing a formidable foe like Azrael, the two demons knew they couldn't confront him head-on. They simply had to stall for time and wait for reinforcements to arrive. By then, even the enemy's most powerful forces wouldn't be able to defeat them.
The plan was perfect, but what the two Master-tier demons didn't know was that Azrael had the same idea.
The young man, standing behind Naruto and Sasuke, watched the two demons engaging in guerrilla warfare in the distance, his eyes flickering.
"Huh? Support?"
"I want to see if you can handle this big fish of mine."
That's right, he had already planned it. When the demons' reinforcements arrived, he would have Naruto and Sasuke activate their combined forms, Naruto's Asura Nine-Tails Mode and Sasuke's Majestic Attire: Susanoo.
As for whether there would be a Sovereign-tier demon, he would use Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei to seal the opponent, then use the Outer Path: Samsara Rebirth Technique to refresh the cooldown of his three venue cards, summon the Soul King, and make his escape.
However, Azrael didn't think there would be a Sovereign-tier demon in this secret realm. After all, if there was, the first enemy he would face upon entering the secret realm should have been that opponent.
"Hurry up and reveal your trump card. If it's just this level..."
"You can't stop me."