Azrael hadn't expected Leon to use such a tactic.
He lowered his head, pondered for a moment, and then agreed. It was best not to create unnecessary animosity under the circumstances.
After all, they were in enemy territory, and he truly needed the two men's help to break through the Fallen Cult's blockade.
Of course, part of the reason was that he didn't know where the secret realm's exit was; searching on his own would be a waste of time.
He could also understand why Leon hadn't eliminated the Fallen Cultists at the entrance before arranging the materials.
Leon was probably afraid Azrael would run away, so he took advantage of the young man's need for his and David's help, using it as a threat to coerce him into taking the risk.
However, Leon was more intelligent and didn't speak bluntly.
Azrael was ready to agree but still had to ask, "Have you already investigated, Your Highness Leon?"
"If it's too dangerous, I'm sorry to refuse."
If Leon's target was truly dangerous, Azrael wouldn't be so foolish as to be used as a pawn.
Hearing Azrael's question, Leon nodded. "Indeed, the material I need is guarded by a group of demons. I'm afraid I can't defeat them all by myself."
Fearing that Azrael wouldn't agree, Leon added, "Don't worry, sir. The three of us shouldn't be in any danger."
Azrael's heart sank at this.
He could already sense the strength of the female card that had just appeared.
If that kind of card couldn't handle it, then the demons must be dangerous.
"But there shouldn't be any diamond-level ones. He's probably not that stupid.
"I just don't know the specifics."
Azrael analyzed silently.
After a long moment, he finally said, "Okay."
Although he agreed to Leon's request, Azrael had already made plans. If things went wrong, he would run away with Amina.
After all, he and Leon had only just met, and there was no need for him to put himself in danger.
"Just guarded by demons..."
Is it an item or venue material?"
Azrael thought.
Seeing Azrael agree, a satisfied smile appeared on Leon's face.
David had no objections, of course, and simply followed Leon with a cold expression.
Azrael patted Amina on the head and followed her.
Honestly, although Leon had acted normally so far and seemed like a good person, Azrael remained wary. He hadn't removed his Sacred Blade Armor but stayed close behind the two of them.
Leon's expression showed no sign of surprise.
Soon, a city perched high on a mountain came into view.
"A city of this size?"
Azrael's eyebrows jumped. He understood why Leon had wanted to bring him and David along.
Densely packed houses rose from the mountainside and eventually formed a massive circular structure enveloping the entire peak.
Azrael curled his lips and asked Leon, "Are you sure there aren't any dangerous targets inside?"
Azrael knew from a single glance that his mental power wouldn't be enough to cover such a large city.
If this city were in the Empire of Aetherlight, it would be guarded by at least a Diamond-level Lore Cardian.
Leon nodded. "When this secret realm first appeared, only Emerald-level demons appeared.
"I've also secretly entered the city to investigate."
"Don't worry, Your Excellency."
Hearing Leon's words, Azrael felt relieved for the moment.
He was prepared to flee if anything went wrong.
David was the most dangerous of the three.
After all, Leon and he could hide behind their cards, but David had to charge into the city himself.
Just as Azrael was about to summon Ulquiorra, David, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke up. "Your Highness,"
Leon said. A hint of helplessness crossed his face. He knew David would bring it up.
Luckily, he had already ascertained the situation during his earlier investigation: "Those demons don't believe ordinary people from outside the secret realm are worthy of entering their royal city.
"So don't worry, David."
Azrael, who was listening, understood.
"No, buddy. Are you such a saint?"
Having heard Leon's description before, he'd assumed the church on this earth would play the same villainous role as in the novels before his time travel.
Now, it seems perhaps not all clergymen are willing to bless children.
However, with the Fallen Cult around, there must be quite a few who do.
Hearing Leon's words, David nodded silently and said nothing more.
Summoning Ulquiorra, Azrael turned to Leon and said, "My card has long-range attack capabilities. Would you like me to take the initiative?"
Leon was stunned, then overjoyed. "Then I'll leave it to you, sir."
He had been a bit worried. Although their current high-end combat power was sufficient, it would be difficult for the three of them to deal with all the demons in such a large city.
Furthermore, his cards lacked long-range, wide-area damage capabilities.
David was even more of a heavyweight; he was a completely melee character. He was incredibly strong in one-on-one combat but completely out of his depth when it came to wrecking.
At Azrael's signal, Ulquiorra quickly condensed a spear of lightning in his hand.
He had also made up his mind, though.
Since Leon had already determined that they had enough fighting power after seeing Ulquiorra's first-stage Resurrección, Azrael wasn't ready to show his Segunda Etapa yet.
One must be cautious.
Perhaps this hidden backup plan would come in handy at some point.
Most importantly, there was no need for him to go to great lengths to acquire Leon's materials.
"Whoosh!"
An emerald green lightning spear shot out, piercing the air in an instant and landing among the buildings halfway up the mountain.
A sudden surge of pale green spiritual energy engulfed the surrounding buildings in the blink of an eye.
While retaining sufficient fighting power, Ulquiorra fired two more lightning spears into the city.
Unfortunately, the demons within had already reacted after the initial blast. Only one of the subsequent lightning spears caused damage; the other was blocked by several demons.
Seeing this, Leon and David exchanged a glance.
The blond man, in particular, silently pondered what would have happened if he had been caught off guard by this attack during their previous encounter.
In a split second, he concluded that, while not fatal, it would be difficult to handle.
Suppressing his fear, golden flames transformed into a coat of fire that enveloped David's body.
Just as he was about to charge at the demon already engaged in combat with Ulquiorra, Leon stopped him.
Leon wasn't worried about the demon; rather, his card ability had activated.
"Here, here's a weapon,"
Leon said. Azrael watched as the inhuman woman who had recently stopped the fight manifested a longsword out of thin air and handed it to David.
Ulquiorra didn't receive a weapon because Leon was also wary of Azrael.
After all, they had only known each other for a short time.
"But this card is interesting."
Azrael's mind flashed through many cards that could generate weapons.
For example, there was Hephaestus, the god of craftsmanship, and the river god who asked, "Did you drop the golden axe or the silver axe?"
Of course, the latter wasn't the strange river god who claimed that the Milky Way was also a river.
However, considering this was Great Britain, he suspected it wasn't one of those two.
And if it was a sword...
"Lady of the Lake—Vivian?"
A name popped into Azrael's mind:
"What a shame Lily didn't reach Emerald level; otherwise, she would have been an eye-opener."
As he pondered this, Ulquiorra had already engaged the demons that had flown out of the city.
As Leon said, there were no Diamond-level demons in the city. Otherwise, with only a single level of Resurrección, Ulquiorra wouldn't have been able to handle the situation.
With Leon's cards and David joining the fray, the situation instantly tilted in Azrael's favor.
Azrael was surprised that Leon's remaining cards weren't characters from Arthurian legend.
He didn't recognize any of them as members of the Knights of the Round Table, at least.
Come to think of it, though, the Lady of the Lake was absent from orthodox Arthurian legend.
Just when the three of them thought victory was certain, a roar echoed from the mountaintop: "Die!"
Then, a flash of sword light descended from the sky and descended upon all the cards, including Ulquiorra.
"Swish!"
Before the sword's light had even fallen, a roaring wind ripped through the earth.
Sensing the overwhelming aura of the incoming force, Leon's face darkened.
He hadn't detected its presence during his earlier explorations.
Azrael, on the other hand, was startled.
In his perception, the demon emitting this sword light was terrifying.
Its aura was slightly stronger than that of Hansen, whom he had encountered in the Death Battle Theater.
But he soon understood why.
As the sword light revealed its true form, two captivating auras pierced the hearts of everyone present.
As for why there were two...
"Item-type materials?"
Azrael muttered to himself as he observed the longsword clutched tightly in the newly emerged demon's hand.
"So these are the materials Leon needs?"
He glanced imperceptibly at the brown-haired man nearby and noticed a grim expression on his face.
Clearly, the newly emerged demon had caught him off guard.
"Isn't that so? Then it can only be venue-type materials."
After all, if Leon's goal were the longsword material in the demon's hand, he definitely wouldn't have looked like that.
Meanwhile, Leon barely managed to control his emotions. Although the situation was somewhat out of his control, he felt that he still had the upper hand.
Fear is fear.
The brown-haired man silently glanced at Azrael and pursed his lips.