It wasn't until Aizen appeared in the shabby camp that Diesel and Godfrey realized with absolute clarity that the Vice President had truly created a brand-new card.
However, Diesel suspected his perception of its strength might have been wrong. After all, the power he'd sensed was definitely not enough to resolve the current threat to the secret realm.
The square-faced middle-aged man stole a glance at the Security Director beside him. Godfrey's expression remained deadpan.
Ever since the Vice President's senior sister arrived, he'd felt as if Godfrey's expressionless face was minimizing his presence.
"Then, President Azrael, do you need our cards to follow you?" Putting Godfrey's strange attitude aside, Diesel asked for safety's sake.
However, Azrael didn't respond, instead casting a searching gaze at Aizen.
The seemingly harmless man simply smiled gently, "No need. Just wait here."
"I'll let Azrael know when the matter is resolved."
Since the Vice President's card had said so, Diesel didn't insist.
Under the gaze of all the Lore Cardians within the fortifications, the brown-haired young man leisurely entered the secret realm's entrance.
Meanwhile, within the secret realm, not far from the entrance, Pierro reported to the elder with a serious face.
"Grand Speaker, the Spellcaster Corps has assembled."
"Well, success or failure will all depend on tomorrow," the Grand Speaker breathed a sigh of relief.
Even he, having weathered many storms over the years, felt considerable pressure in the face of this sudden arrival.
Pierro remained silent. He could readily discern the Grand Speaker's intention: a single, decisive victory.
Facing an unknown outside world, going all-in was a gamble.
Furthermore, the Grand Speaker wasn't just going all-in on the Nine Clans, he was going all-in on their entire shattered world.
A win would bring joy to all.
A loss would mean a happy ending to the race-based elimination game.
At that moment, a spellcaster scurried up to the two of them. "Grand Speaker, another outsider has intruded."
"Attack with all your might, and make sure he's stopped!" the Grand Speaker decisively ordered.
"Yes!"
Elsewhere, Aizen had just entered the so-called secret realm when he saw countless attacks raining down upon him.
"What a grand welcome!" The man, still sporting that gentle smile, adjusted his glasses. "Bakudō #81: Dankū."
The strongest form of defensive Kidō, cast without incantation, instantly unfolded.
A transparent barrier rose before Aizen, and a variety of attacks bombarded it, creating violent explosions.
Crimson flames dyed the azure sky red, and vast plumes of smoke obscured the sight of all the spellcasters.
"Dead?" the Grand Speaker, his sullen face twisted with concern, rushed to the scene, witnessing the spellcaster army's attacks overwhelm the intruder.
A moment later, the smoke gradually dissipated, revealing a cracked transparent barrier.
The unharmed man in black stood behind the barrier, an ordinary longsword now appearing in his right hand.
"Shatter," a calm voice, accompanied by a sound like breaking glass, reached everyone's ears.
"Kyōka Suigetsu."
As Aizen's voice fell, the Grand Speaker's pupils shrank, and he immediately launched an attack.
Before the attack reached him, the Grand Speaker took in the confusion and fear that crossed the black-clad man's face, until his own attack consumed him.
In a breath, the once arrogant man was reduced to ashes, leaving no trace.
Seeing such an easy elimination, the Grand Speaker was stunned, then muttered to himself in confusion, "So weak?"
He felt that killing the man was as easy as stepping on an ant.
But then he vaguely sensed something was amiss.
Before he could even consider it, Pierro's voice beside him brought him back to reality, "As expected of the Grand Speaker, you killed this beast with a single strike."
"But these outsiders are looking down on us, sending such a weak vanguard."
The Grand Speaker was silent for a moment, but ultimately suppressed his doubts. "Notice, the general attack originally scheduled for tomorrow has been moved up to midnight tonight."
The old man decided to launch the attack early to avoid further complications.
Anxiety enveloped him like an impenetrable fog.
Outside the secret realm, a group of Lore Cardians quietly awaited Azrael's orders.
Suddenly, a gleam flashed in Azrael's eyes, and he said, "You can enter! Let's go."
Upon hearing this, Alice entered the secret realm without hesitation.
Godfrey and Diesel exchanged bewildered glances. "So quick?"
"Could it be that we were wrong?"
But since Alice had already entered, there was no reason for them to hesitate. They immediately led the stationed Lore Cardians into the secret realm.
The two Gold-level Lore Cardians had suddenly arrived in this unnamed secret realm.
What greeted them was a devastated landscape, Alice surveying her surroundings, and the Vice President's card.
The Vice President, with his hands tucked into his wide sleeves, said, "I'll be counting on you from now on."
Diesel and Godfrey were still bewildered, unable to grasp what was happening.
"Director Diesel, Director Godfrey, quickly arrange your forces," Azrael's voice boomed from behind them. "We need to annihilate all the demons near the entrance."
"Vice President, what is this?" Diesel hesitated, then asked.
Before Azrael could say anything, a long sword appeared in Aizen's hand. "My ability is to manipulate the reflections of mist and water to confuse the enemy's vision."
"So now they see an empty entrance."
His explanation was identical to the original series, it was naturally Azrael's arrangement.
He couldn't possibly reveal Aizen's true ability.
"Just like this," Aizen held the long sword upright before him. "Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."
Nothing happened.
The brown-haired man sheathed his sword, his smile undimmed. "Just kidding! I won't attack my companions."
Diesel and Godfrey were somewhat bewildered, dismissing it as the Vice President's newly crafted card's personality.
Seeing the entrance to the secret realm, once heavily guarded by demons, now accessible as if it were their own backyard, the two middle-aged men opened their mouths, unsure what to say.
A mere illusion could accomplish this?!
They had never heard of such an outrageous thing.
Only Alice glanced at Azrael and Aizen in confusion, but after some thought, she remained silent.
Godfrey wondered, "Can water flow be used like this?"
"Can Prime Minister Turtle use this skill after training?"
His Prime Minister could control water, naturally, so could he control fog and flowing water? But before today, he had never considered using it in this way.
"Or is it the power of his card?"
Godfrey, unsure of the exact situation, decided to give Prime Minister Turtle a thorough training once this was over.
Diesel was stunned. "So easy?"
He glanced at Godfrey, who was lost in thought, and then suddenly realized, "As expected of Vice President."
"No wonder I thought your new card was a little strange. It turns out all the power is here."
High EQ: Strange. Low EQ: Weak.
Diesel felt he had guessed the truth.
The young man before him had undoubtedly focused his new card's abilities entirely on deception to resolve Donglai's current predicament.
Being able to deceive so many demons at once, this one ability alone must be at the top of the Gold tier. It's understandable that other aspects are a bit weaker.
Thinking of the new Vice President going to such lengths for Donglai, sacrificing his own materials and card slots, and recruiting people...
Family, truly.
Meanwhile, President Kavach... could only be said to fit in perfectly with his reputation.
Thinking of this, Diesel couldn't help but feel a bit of resentment.
"Speaking of that material the Vice President left with," the square-faced middle-aged man then recalled that Azrael had obtained the [Speed Spellcaster] material before deciding to create a new card.
This meant that the brown-haired man before him definitely had more abilities than he had shown.
Could it be...
However, probing a Lore Cardian's card information was taboo. Diesel's emotional intelligence wasn't that low, so he ultimately suppressed his suspicions.
Watching the square-faced middle-aged man before him, whose expression shifted several times before finally settling on admiration, Azrael curled his lips. "You two, make your arrangements as soon as possible."
"Yes!"
Hearing Azrael's voice, the two hurriedly bowed their heads in response.
The incoming Lore Cardians were quickly and methodically deployed.
Cards of all shapes and sizes were summoned, awaiting Azrael's command to unleash their strongest attacks.
Glancing at the demon camp surrounding the entrance to the secret realm, Azrael's face was cold, "Attack."
"Leave no one behind."
The next moment, countless attacks, entwined with powerful waves, surged in all directions, instantly overwhelming everything around them.
Even with such a commotion, Aizen was still able to conceal it.
It was like facing the Emperor of Hueco Mundo in the original story, only after the enemy's Hollows were completely annihilated by his allies did Aizen release the Kyōka Suigetsu.
However, at this moment, Azrael allowed Aizen to temporarily release the Kyōka Suigetsu.
If Godfrey wanted to convince Magnus that Azrael was Bruce, Kyōka Suigetsu would have to hold back on displaying too much power.
To deceive others, one must first deceive oneself.
After all, Aizen had just said that he could only camouflage himself by using water and fog reflections.
But on Earth, Kyōka Suigetsu's behavior would certainly not be as abnormal as in the original series.
No one knew if a Lore Cardian might possess strange detection cards.
Moreover, various cards certainly possessed their own unique energy fluctuations.
Kyōka Suigetsu only controlled the five senses, not altered perception.
Even Aizen would be helpless against a card that could detect energy fluctuations.
Fortunately, Azrael was only trying to deceive Godfrey. From his observation, the Director of the Public Security Office probably didn't possess such a card.
Since Azrael and Magnus were both Lore Cardians, there was no difference in their energy levels, so deceiving them would be a piece of cake.
Furthermore, it was clear that the demons in this secret realm had no detection methods. The demons near the entrance showed no defense against the sudden attack.
The ultimate outcome, of course, would be death.
The resounding roar and the simultaneous deaths of numerous demons instantly captured the attention of the Speakers.
"Who?!" a furious voice echoed as the Grand Speaker, leading a group of Gold-rank Speakers, appeared near the entrance.
However, all they saw were heavily wounded and routed Spellcasters.
His furious gaze swept across the secret realm's entrance, and the Grand Speaker immediately spotted the brown-haired man he had recently slain.
A near-growling voice rang out from the old man's throat, "It's you!"
Aizen simply stared at the old man nearby with a smile.
He was also an old man, but he was nowhere near as terrifying as the monster he remembered.
"When did you develop the illusion that I didn't use Kyōka Suigetsu?"
Regret and anger gnawed at the Grand Speaker's heart.
He regretted not checking more carefully.
He regretted not attacking more decisively.
If he could do it over again, he would have the Spellcasters launch a saturation bombardment.
The old man had already guessed that the brown-haired man had undoubtedly used some kind of illusion to deceive everyone, allowing outsiders to enter the secret realm silently.
As for when it would be launched...
"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."
In a trance, the Grand Speaker seemed to hear the sound of shattering glass, his pupils shrinking. "That's when!"
The old man then realized that he had already fallen into the opponent's illusion before his attack had landed.
He had already paid the price for his arrogance and carelessness.
That price was the countless corpses of the spellcasters lying on the ground.
Forcefully suppressing his negative emotions, the Grand Speaker spoke almost word by word, "I will make you pay with blood!"
Unfortunately, after the secret realm entrance was captured, the offensive and defensive dynamics had become difficult.
A blazing orange beam instantly reached the demons.
A colorful barrier appeared, blocking the attack.
It was Pierro.
But now, without the support of the spellcaster army, the defensive barrier he cast was far less powerful than before.
A massive black sand giant stood between heaven and earth, its powerful electromagnetic beams bombarding the multicolored barrier.
Godfrey and Diesel were also busy.
[Flying Zombie] and [Prime Minister Turtle] launched their strongest attacks upon their appearance, targeting the group of gold-level demons.
The five-colored barrier lasted only a few breaths before shattering into thin air, forcing the demons to face the killing blows of three gold-level Lore Cardians from the Donglai Cardian Master Association.
But the demons were no pushovers. Several spellcasters, whose chanting speed was faster or even negated, launched their first attacks, delaying the assault. Then, the remaining gold-level demons followed suit, counteracting the oncoming killing blows.
Diesel, far from disappointed, muttered to himself with a hint of delight, "Much weaker than before."
He sensed that the gold-level demons, without the support of their legion, had plummeted several notches in strength.
You have to remember that during the previous invasion, they had only managed to repel them with the support of the Legion.
This was undoubtedly thanks to the calm young man beside him.
"If it weren't for President Azrael, we would have had a hard time tackling this tough challenge," the square-faced middle-aged man felt a sense of relief.
Without Aizen's help, the Lore Cardians would have had to sacrifice lives to secure the entrance to this secret realm, hoping to gain the opportunity for the three of them to attack.
And even at such a huge cost, it was doubtful they could even capture the entrance.
But now, under the cover of Kyōka Suigetsu, the Donglai Lore Cardians had achieved an incredible zero-casualty victory.
Who would believe that?
Of course, this assumed that Alice hadn't intervened.
Azrael's foreign aid, this high-ranking talent, who seemed somewhat unsympathetic in Diesel's eyes, was staring at her junior, wondering what was going on.
At this moment, Azrael calmly issued his next order.
"A quick victory! Push them back and build defensive fortifications."