At that moment, the ornate longsword remained motionless in a slender, pale hand.
The visitor's face filled with disbelief as he looked up at the emotionless Ulquiorra before him in astonishment. "You..."
"Swish!"
Before he could finish speaking, a pale arm cleanly pierced his chest.
As the visitor's body slumped to the ground, Azrael breathed a sigh of relief.
He had discovered the intruder's identity: a demon.
At least this confirmed that he was still on Earth.
When he first awakened and heard Amina's description of noble lords and divine powers, he thought he had been transported through time again. With all that talk of lordships and magical abilities, it sounded like a fantasy world.
"I just don't know exactly where I am now," Azrael muttered to himself.
Based on Amina's words, he suspected he was most likely in Europe. As for the specific country, he ruled out France and Germany immediately.
"Great Britain?" Azrael murmured, sounding somewhat puzzled.
Amina's eyes lit up at the sound of his voice. "You truly are a noble lord."
Her words confirmed Azrael's suspicions, but he simply shook his head. "I'm not. You're overthinking this."
Hearing his denial, Amina tilted her head in confusion. "Then why do you possess divine abilities? You're as powerful as Baron Albert."
In her heart, Baron Albert was the most powerful person with supernatural abilities she had ever encountered.
However, Azrael didn't know who Baron Albert was or how powerful he was, so he simply patted Amina on the head and said nothing more.
He then retrieved an item card he had obtained from the Crimson Oath Society and muttered to himself, "Let's see if I can use the Blood Ritual Array Teleport to get back to Australia."
If he was truly in Great Britain, the Blood Ritual Array should be able to teleport him home.
However, to be on the safe side, he chose to set an anchor point at his current location first.
After all, if he were to teleport away immediately, Amina would definitely not survive alone. Having received her help, Azrael certainly wouldn't abandon her.
Just as he attempted to establish the anchor point, however, the Blood Ritual Array sent him an error message:
[An unknown error has occurred. Anchor point update cannot be completed at the current location."
"What?"
Azrael froze, a sense of foreboding washing over him.
With a grim expression, he quickly traced a magic circle on the ground with blood from a nearby demon corpse.
Unfortunately...
"It won't activate?"
In Azrael's perception, the blood magic circle on the ground was just a hollow façade, completely lacking its intended function.
The [Blood Ritual Array: Teleport] didn't react at all.
"So I really have been transported again?" Azrael felt a moment of panic, but a glance at the nearby demon corpse dispelled that worry. "Or am I in a secret realm?"
Memphis hadn't mentioned whether the Blood Ritual Array could function within secret realms. Teleport could function within secret realms when he handed it to him, so he was uncertain of the situation.
Of course, there was also the possibility that he had been transported to a place similar to Earth, but Azrael dismissed this idea as highly unlikely.
"Let's assume we're in a secret realm for now," he sighed, looking at Amina beside him. "Amina, can you tell me how you ended up here?"
Under normal circumstances, Azrael knew it was impossible for someone like Amina to appear naturally in a secret realm.
If so, it could only mean one thing: the local defenses had been completely overwhelmed by demons, allowing them to capture civilians and bring them into secret realms at will.
Of course, Azrael was basing his inference on the situation in the Empire of Aetherlight. Perhaps in other regions, Lore Cardians and demons were collaborating.
However, as Amina recounted what had happened to her, it became clear that Azrael's suspicions were correct.
He had subconsciously transformed the noble knights Amina mentioned into Lore Cardians, the divine powers into cards, and the monsters into demons.
As for the lair she described, perhaps it was the secret realm itself.
With this thought in mind, Azrael gestured to Ulquiorra, asking him to remove one of his eyeballs.
As Ulquiorra crushed the eyeball between his fingers, a remarkably realistic projection of a spatial rift appeared before Amina.
"Amina, have you seen something like this before?"
Seeing the projection, Amina nodded quickly. "Yes, that's exactly how the monsters used it to capture us and bring us to their lair."
Azrael sighed inwardly. "As expected."
The situation was now clear. He had been transported to this unknown, secret realm by the spatial fluctuations caused when Greg self-destructed his Binding Barrier: Deathmatch Theater.
Azrael theorized that Greg had originally intended to use the Binding Barrier: Deathmatch Theater to contain and attack his opponents. However, the clash between multiple Diamond-level combatants had escalated the spatial fluctuations into dangerous spatial turbulence, and Azrael had been caught in the crossfire.
"Lucky I had the Sacred Blade Armor; otherwise, I wouldn't have survived being transported here."
Azrael felt a wave of relief.
Had he not switched to Shiraori's Wonder Ride Book at the critical moment, he would have perished in the turbulence.
After all, Shiraori was proficient in spatial magic and could increase his resistance to dimensional damage.
The Sacred Blade Armor, which utilized the Shiraori Wonder Ride Book, had naturally inherited some of these protective properties.
Thinking of this, Azrael let out a long sigh and asked Amina, "Do you remember which direction the entrance is?"
At first, Amina shook her head blankly. Then, she lowered her gaze, pinched the corner of her clothes, and said anxiously, "Master, I only remember the direction I escaped from."
Hearing this, Azrael did not blame the young girl.
After all, for an ordinary person to face such danger alone for so long and survive, let alone rescue wounded strangers, was a feat far beyond the capabilities of most.
"It's all right," Azrael said, gently patting her on the head. "I'll help you clean up first. It's not appropriate to stay this dirty."
"Also, just call me Azrael."
"Yes, Lord Azrael."
Meanwhile, in the Gaza Town camp, Jacob listened expressionlessly to Master Fujimaru's speech and immediately wanted to leave.
But just then, a soft voice called out to him from behind. "Lord Jacob, please wait."
It was Master Fujimaru.
When Jacob turned around, the elegant middle-aged woman smiled and said, "I have something to discuss with you. It will only take a moment of your time."
Jacob fell silent for a moment, then replied in a dry voice, "Master Fujimaru, please speak."
With a genuine look of apology on his face, Master Fujimaru said softly, "I'm sorry about what happened to your younger brother."
"But I was busy dealing with the leader of the demon army, so I couldn't closely monitor your situation."
I'll explain everything to Master Lucian when he returns."
Hearing this, Jacob sighed silently.
He knew that Azrael's situation wasn't Master Ji's fault. Having served in the Northern Defense Army for so long, Jacob understood Master Ji's character well.
What she had just said reflected exactly what he had been thinking.
He could only blame himself for not taking better care of his junior brother.
Murmuring to himself, Jacob said, "Perhaps this is fate. Besides, my junior brother is only missing. He might be on his way back to the Empire of Aetherlight by now."
Master Fujimaru didn't refute Jacob's hopeful words.
Although she felt that it would be difficult for an average Emerald-rank Lore Cardian to survive that level of spatial turbulence, she couldn't say for certain that a miracle wouldn't occur.
Furthermore, judging by the file she had recently reviewed, the young man might actually have the skills to survive.
At that moment, Jacob bowed respectfully to Master Fujimaru and prepared to leave the camp.
However, as he departed, he was hastily approached by an Emerald-rank Lore Cardian.
"Master Jacob," the man said urgently. "There's a Diamond-rank Lore Cardian outside the city who calls herself Alice and wants to see you."
Upon hearing this, Jacob's face darkened.
He had explained everything that had happened to Azrael in his reports to their organization.
His fourth junior sister had already come to see him.
Perhaps his second and third junior sisters would soon follow.
Meanwhile, looking at the now-refreshed Amina before him, Azrael nodded with satisfaction.
He had changed her into spare clothes that Misaka had stored in the Shadow Kingdom.
There was no other option; the brown-haired girl was the only one of his summoned characters with a similar build.
He then led Amina in the direction she had indicated as her escape route.
Soon, Azrael's enhanced perception detected a ruined area ahead.
Contrary to Amina's prediction that the Lore Cardians and demons would be dead, however, he could sense a powerful presence within the ruins.
It wasn't a demon, though; it was definitely a Lore Cardian.
"Should I engage?"
Just as he was considering this, the presence spotted them and began charging rapidly toward them.
"Boom!"
Amidst a deafening roar, a figure in a black robe clutching a black book in his right hand landed not far from Azrael like a falling meteor.
"The Royal Knights?"
A strange voice spoke in English, causing Azrael to frown slightly.
He finally got a clear look at the newcomer's face.
The man was handsome, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He stood over two meters tall, and his muscles threatened to burst through his robes.
His face and massive physique were utterly mismatched.
Uncertain what the blond man meant by "the Royal Knights," Azrael chose not to answer directly. "Who are you?"
Rather than being led by the nose, he preferred to control the conversation himself.
However, the man immediately saw through his evasive tactics: "You are not from the Royal Order."
Azrael was startled and unsure where he had given his position away.
Was it because he looked different from the average British person? Despite his vampiric heritage, he was quite pale-skinned.
Fortunately, the man's next words answered his question: "Chivalric virtue: honesty."
Members of the Royal Order don't evade direct questions."
"So..."
"Whoosh!"
With a sharp sound cutting through the air, the man's pitch-black book suddenly slammed toward Azrael.
Azrael then realized that the man's left hand held an iron chain attached to the book.
The blonde's voice followed: "I think it's best to capture you first and then interrogate you properly about who you really are."
...
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