In the arena, with Ruth's commanding voice, the battle officially began.
However, the alluring woman didn't immediately seek out Azrael.
After all, this time, Azrael wasn't alone like during their previous encounter.
He was accompanied by two Diamond-level Lore Cardians, Commander Kageyami and Jacob. Although they had already deployed most of their Diamond-level cards, they still possessed one or two reserves, not to mention their own self-defense cards.
But Ruth wasn't impatient. Knowing that the current situation was a trap set by Greg, she assumed they were well prepared.
At this point, Jacob quietly asked Commander Kageyami, "Lord Kageyami, should we retreat?"
"Seizing experimental materials and data is probably impossible now."
He believed that since the demon army was already well-prepared, the original plan to raid the laboratory in the demon stronghold and seize the data was essentially doomed.
After all, even if his group successfully defeated the group of Diamond-level demons, the demons in the stronghold would likely have already destroyed all the experimental data.
Upon hearing this, Commander Kageyami nodded imperceptibly. "We'll find an opportunity to retreat."
The two Diamond-level Lore Cardians quickly finalized their plan and immediately turned their attention to the battle in the distance.
Seeing the battle between the cards and the demons gradually reaching a stalemate, Commander Kageyami gave the order in a deep voice. "Everyone retreat!"
Quickly, the Lore Cardians present, as practiced by their training, summoned their own cards to form a protective perimeter.
Meanwhile, a large number of demons and limb-joining demons poured out of the demon stronghold, mixed in with a small number of cards belonging to the Onefold Doctrine's Lore Cardians.
Seeing this, Commander Kageyami was not surprised. With a simple flick of the long serpent in [Kuafu]'s hand, a deep gully spread across the ground, but he immediately engaged in a fierce battle with another Diamond-level demon.
While this move couldn't completely halt the demon army's pursuit, it would at least delay them slightly.
Just then, a voice echoed from the large demon stronghold, expressing regret, "How decisive! If I hadn't been prepared, I'd have let you escape."
"But it's a pity. From the very beginning, you've already stepped onto the stage I've prepared for you..."
"Curtain Call."
As the voice spoke, a transparent cage, obscuring the sky, instantly descended from the vast heavens, enveloping everyone present.
"[Binding Barrier]?"
Azrael muttered, somewhat bewildered.
After the incidents in Donglai and Sardinia, this wasn't the first time he'd encountered this kind of demon army tactic.
This time, however, the transparent cage had an inexplicable, strange quality to him.
Before he could process it, the ground suddenly shook.
Jacob, evidently sensing something, immediately tried to grab Azrael's arm. "Junior Brother, hold on tight!"
Just as he was about to say something, the same voice echoed again.
"[Binding Barrier: Deathmatch Theater]."
The next moment, a sudden sense of weightlessness washed over Azrael.
Then, in a trance, the young man realized the original earth, the demon stronghold, and the Lore Cardians had vanished.
"..."
He found himself in the center of a massive theater, the surrounding auditorium empty.
Across from Azrael stood three Emerald-rank demons with malicious intent.
Without hesitation, Ulquiorra appeared before him.
"Enclose, Murciélago."
The pale figure's voice echoed without a trace of emotion, and a pitch-black spiritual pressure surged from the ground, instantly forming a torrential downpour of spiritual energy on the platform.
Azrael had no time for a round-based game of slapping with them.
Seeing this, the three Emerald-rank demons' faces, once filled with hostility, froze.
They couldn't help but glance at each other, seeing the bitterness on their companion's face.
Without a doubt, they had won the grand prize.
But after feeling their own immense power, the three demons calmed down slightly, a grim grin spreading across their faces. "Boy, you've run into us!"
"Swish!"
An emerald spirit spear pierced their chests from behind.
Two of the demons stared blankly at Ulquiorra, who had appeared behind them out of nowhere.
"How dare you challenge Lord Azrael at this level?"
Ulquiorra flung aside the corpse on the spear tip and immediately stabbed the remaining two demons.
The two demons barely managed to fend off Ulquiorra's attack, unable to help but roar inwardly, "Are you fucking Emerald-level?!"
They had been strengthened by Lord Greg and were no longer the mere filler they had been before.
"Whoosh!"
The fierce spirit spear soared, piercing through yet another demon before flying straight into the distance. It wasn't until it collided with the edge of the theater that a violent explosion erupted.
Seeing himself alone, the final demon roared, "What are you doing?"
"Stop talking nonsense, you scoundrel! You're just adding to the noise," a flat voice echoed from behind him, followed by a sudden, dark flash that engulfed him.
After dispatching the three Emerald-level demons, Ulquiorra carried their battered bodies back to Azrael.
"Lord Azrael, I have accomplished your mission."
But Azrael's thoughts were completely focused on Ulquiorra at this moment.
"Well done," he nodded in satisfaction.
He had to admit, after transforming into his Released form, Ulquiorra's combat prowess certainly lived up to his expectations.
With just one use of his Resurrección, Ulquiorra had dispatched the three Emerald-level demons, whose materials, if converted to blue quality, were practically annihilated in a single blow.
With this in mind, Azrael extracted the materials from the three demons. Blue-quality materials could earn him some points.
However, upon seeing the quality of the three materials, he froze in his tracks. "White? Green?"
To Azrael's surprise, the materials from the three demons weren't the purple quality he'd expected, but rather white and green, the lowest quality.
"How could that be?" Azrael was puzzled, but a thought soon struck him, "Could this space amplify the demons' strength?"
It was a reasonable guess.
After all, in his opinion, if this so-called [Binding Barrier: Deathmatch Theater] was merely used to divide the battlefield, there wouldn't be any need for such a fuss.
"So what's next?"
Azrael, confused, reached the edge of the theater.
He reached out and probed, only to discover an invisible barrier preventing him from leaving.
Then, at his signal, Ulquiorra unleashed a lightning spear into the distance.
Nothing happened.
Seeing this, Azrael was momentarily at a loss.
Just as he was pondering how to escape, several figures appeared in the center of the theater.
They were demons.
Larger, slightly stronger than the three smaller creatures from earlier.
"A fight to the death?"
Azrael took a deep breath. Perhaps he understood the meaning of [Binding Barrier: Deathmatch Theater].
Another theater.
Jacob and Commander Kageyami stared at the group of Diamond-level demons in the distance with grim expressions. "What a clever plan, Greg."
Hearing this, Greg smiled faintly, "You're too kind."
"If it weren't for your cooperation, I wouldn't have been able to pull you all into this dimension so easily."
"Thankfully, my preparations paid off."
Greg had put considerable thought into creating this [Binding Barrier: Deathmatch Theater], even using many of the important props he had accumulated over the years. Only then did he successfully pull off his plan.
Then, as if to discourage the two, Greg continued, "Don't overthink it, you two."
"You won't be able to leave unless you kill every demon in the theater."
Hearing this, the two felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.
They could naturally sense the aura of the distant Diamond-level demons suddenly growing stronger upon arriving here.
Therefore, they easily deduced that this dimension possessed the ability to enhance the demons' strength.
Without a doubt, the balance of victory was gradually tilting towards the other side.
But that wasn't all. Greg then teased, "Perhaps you can hope to break through to the Sovereign level on the spot?"
Hearing this, the two fell silent. They knew a Sovereign-level Lore Cardian could definitely break through here.
And let alone break through this [Binding Barrier: Deathmatch Theater], if a Sovereign-level Lore Cardian were truly here, they could easily annihilate every demon present.
But Greg had one more thing left unsaid: to trap the only two Diamond-level Lore Cardians present, he had channeled the vast majority of the [Binding Barrier: Deathmatch Theater]'s power to strengthen the barrier of this theater.
Therefore, if anyone in the other spaces used to trap Emerald-level Lore Cardians could reach the Diamond level, it would impact all other spaces besides this theater.
"Okay, Greg, don't say anything more to them." Ruth licked her lips and said impatiently, "My sweetheart's still waiting for me."
Greg smiled helplessly at this. "Don't worry, I've told my men not to hurt him."
The two demons' frank conversation made Jacob's face darken.
He knew who the sweetheart was, of course.
But the thought that his junior brother wouldn't be in any danger until the outcome was decided on his side lifted his spirits slightly.
Of course, based on Jacob's previous observations, with the power of Azrael's two Emerald-level cards, most Emerald-level demons wouldn't be a match for him.
After calming down a bit, the two Diamond-level Lore Cardians immediately set out to confront the demons.
At this moment, Greg, who had always appeared calm and composed, as if everything was under control, suddenly showed a hint of surprise, as if something unbelievable had happened.
His face darkened, and two figures instantly appeared in the theater.
"Big Brother?!"
"Junior Brother?!"
"Sweetheart?!"
As the figure appeared, several voices with different tones suddenly rang out in the theater.
...
P@treon is available for all those who want to read 30 chapters (Soon 40) ahead and take a peek at the stash of books I am editing there. I will soon be releasing new translations I've been working on in Webnovel. Be sure to look out for them.