One crisis had barely ended before another emerged. Without hesitation, Azrael gathered the materials and departed with Amina.
Shortly after he left, the battle-weary duo Leon and David reappeared at the spot where he vanished. Their forms were covered in dust, bearing clear signs of their harrowing encounter.
Seeing the now-empty battlefield, Leon's face twitched with frustration barely concealed.
Several long moments passed before the brown-haired prince could regain his composure and process what had transpired.
The situation had finally become clear: Azrael and the Fallen Cult were separate entities with conflicting agendas.
After all, despite having a decisive advantage in their confrontation, the foreign Lore Cardian had deliberately targeted distant Fallen Cult members with attacks far more intense than those in his previous card battles.
More tellingly, Leon hadn't been struck by Ulquiorra's devastating Lightning Lance, even though the Espada clearly had the power to kill him easily.
Most importantly, Azrael had clearly had the capability to kill both Leon and David yet chose restraint—a clear demonstration of mercy that spoke volumes about his true intentions.
Of course, the possibility remained that this was an elaborate Fallen Cult deception, but Leon instinctively favored the former explanation. Unlike his ambitious siblings back in Great Britain, this foreign Lore Cardian showed no obvious political machinations or hidden agendas.
Could Azrael be attempting to manipulate Leon into becoming a puppet regent? Leon immediately dismissed the thought; after all, Great Britain's master-level Lore Cardian, King George VII, was still alive and in power.
At that moment, David finally spoke through gritted teeth, his voice strained from pain. "Your Highness, I believe we may have fallen victim to a calculated trap."
"That Azrael fellow doesn't appear to be affiliated with the Fallen Cult whatsoever."
Though the blonde priest looked miserable after Ulquiorra's smaller crow familiar hit him directly, leaving his chest a grotesque mess of necrotic flesh, he still managed to speak despite the obvious agony.
Truth was truth and falsehood was falsehood. David wouldn't ignore undeniable facts simply because of his previous animosity toward the foreign Lore Cardian.
Hearing this assessment, Leon nodded slowly before releasing a deep, regretful sigh.
Because of his momentary anger and poor judgment, the venue materials he had been certain he had secured had vanished. Now, he could only hope to encounter other Lore Cardians willing to trade, assuming he could find something valuable enough to exchange for what he needed.
Of course, that was assuming he would cross paths with Azrael again during their time in this secret realm.
However, given the Fallen Cult's continued blockade of the secret realm's exit, Leon knew such an encounter was virtually inevitable.
Unless Azrael possessed an alternative method of departing this mystical space entirely.
Meanwhile, after leaving the Royal City far behind, Azrael and Amina discovered a secluded cave within the mountains and took refuge there.
After deploying several Shadowkhan to ensure Amina fell into a peaceful sleep, Azrael began carefully cataloging his recent acquisitions.
First and foremost was the Noble Royal City venue material.
Azrael settled into a comfortable chair he had retrieved from his Shadow Kingdom and contemplated the newly acquired venue materials with calculating eyes. "This could potentially be used to upgrade the Seireitei, couldn't it?"
If he remembered correctly, the Seireitei served as the residential district for Soul Society's nobility and as the headquarters of the Gotei 13.
Azrael's original strategy had been to locate Leon after securing the venue materials and extort additional resources from the British prince. As royalty, Leon undoubtedly possessed valuable items worth acquiring.
This was precisely why he hadn't instructed Ulquiorra to launch a second Lightning Lance at Leon and David.
However, if Leon remained convinced that Azrael was collaborating with the Fallen Cult despite all evidence to the contrary, there was little point in attempting further negotiation. In that case, Leon could approach Ulquiorra directly and receive the Lightning Lance himself.
Rather than dwelling on Leon and David's misconceptions, Azrael summoned the Seireitei venue card from his collection.
Venue materials were consistently difficult to obtain, so now that he had acquired the materials needed to upgrade the Seireitei, it was only logical to use them immediately.
However, before committing the Noble Royal City materials to the Seireitei enhancement, Azrael hesitated.
He suspected that combining these materials with his Lily card might yield a powerful Venue Card — perhaps something like the Sacred Round Table Domain.
After carefully weighing his options, Azrael ultimately decided to proceed with the Seireitei upgrade.
He preferred the certainty of step-by-step advancement to gambling on Lily's potential for creating an unknown Venue Card. After all, he still had the promise of eventually obtaining the Soul King's power to consider.
As he committed the Noble Royal City materials to his existing Seireitei card, the venue erupted in brilliant, cascading light.
The radiant glow persisted for several minutes before gradually dissipating, leaving behind a noticeably transformed card.
Observing the luminous Seireitei card before him, Azrael knew the upgrade was successful.
He recalled the card to examine its updated properties and quickly reviewed the enhanced Emerald-level Seireitei's new capabilities.
While the individual abilities hadn't expanded significantly, the effects of the Gotei 13 had been substantially enhanced.
The Gotei 13 states that all abilities of summoned Shinigami cards will increase from slightly to significantly depending on their rank and division affiliation.
Furthermore, a new ability called Soul's Refuge had been unlocked.
Soul's Refuge: Upon defeating any non-spiritual demon or hostile entity, a wisp of their departing soul is drawn into the Seireitei. This soul energy can subsequently be used to enhance existing Shinigami cards or forge new spiritual weapons.
However, while the Seireitei had advanced to Emerald rank, Azrael's overall combat strength hadn't increased dramatically.
His primary limitation is his lack of an Emerald-ranked Shinigami card from any of the 13 Divisions.
Nevertheless, since he already had the materials to advance his Lily card to Silver Arm, Azrael wasn't disappointed by this temporary setback.
He then retrieved Adam's corpse, along with the two legendary longswords the demon king had wielded in battle.
In his haste to escape the Royal City, Azrael hadn't taken the time to properly condense these valuable materials.
Rubbing his hands together in anticipation, he muttered, "Time to see what treasures await."
Hopefully, these will yield some genuinely useful materials."
Azrael began by condensing Adams's remains into crafting materials.
Emerald-grade [Flawless King] (Red).
Azrael felt a surge of satisfaction as he examined the high-quality materials now resting in his hands.
These materials represented an excellent start to his collection and were undoubtedly components he could utilize effectively.
He then turned his attention to the two legendary longswords that had accompanied Adams's corpse. Optimistically, he thought, "I trust you won't disappoint me."
However, a few moments later, Azrael's expression grew complicated as he studied the two newly acquired materials.
The good news was that both materials were usable for his purposes.
The bad news was that another card besides Lily could potentially use them as well:
Emerald-grade [King's Sword] (Red), Emerald-grade [Starry Sky Holy Sword] (Red).
In Azrael's assessment, these two materials were perfect for advancing the Silver Arm card.
Both Lily and the Silver Arm required one emerald-grade material each to reach their next evolutionary stage. If he were still in the Empire of Aetherlight, this wouldn't be a problem. He could have easily gathered the necessary materials through trading with fellow Lore Cardians or redeeming Association points.
However, he was currently trapped in an unknown secret realm deep within Great Britain.
"I suppose I'll simply have to wait and see if additional materials become available later," he concluded pragmatically.
With this resignation, Azrael settled into a meditative stance to recover.
The intense battle at the Royal City had depleted his mental energy reserves substantially.
Several days had passed since the climactic confrontation.
No one had discovered the cave where Azrael and Amina had taken shelter. More accurately, he hadn't detected anyone actively searching for their location.
"Strange," Azrael mused, touching his chin thoughtfully. "Could this venue material not have been their primary objective?"
He had originally assumed that, after acquiring the Noble Royal City venue materials, both Leon and the Fallen Cult would launch a comprehensive effort to track him down.
However, the current atmosphere of calm made him question his initial assumptions.
"So perhaps Leon was the only one here specifically seeking venue materials?" Azrael murmured to himself.
If the situation were merely about a single venue material, the Fallen Cult wouldn't have needed to go to such extraordinary lengths to seal off this entire secret realm.
The few Fallen Cult members who had pursued them earlier were probably acting opportunistically, hoping to capitalize on any unexpected discoveries rather than following a coordinated plan.
What they hadn't anticipated was that Azrael had deliberately held back during his confrontation with the demons in the Royal City, failing to utilize his full capabilities.
Leon had simply been unlucky, trapped in the realm by the Fallen Cult's machinations while on a straightforward mission to acquire a material.
"But what exactly is their true objective?" Azrael wondered.
He quickly abandoned this line of speculation. Whatever the Fallen Cult planned to accomplish had little direct relevance to his situation. Such concerns were better left to the European governments to address.
After efficiently packing his essential belongings, Azrael prepared to venture out and gather intelligence about the broader situation.
During his initial reconnaissance search for their hiding spot, he carefully observed the surrounding area.
Several dozen miles east of his cave, he had spotted a medium-sized city that appeared to be inhabited.
The settlement didn't emanate any particularly dangerous auras, making it seem like a relatively safe location for gathering information.
Today, he planned to capture a local demon and interrogate it about potential exit routes. After all, Azrael still had no idea where the exit to this secret realm was located.
Furthermore, after spending numerous days in this mystical space, he realized that it was far more expansive than any other secret realm he had entered.
This raised an intriguing question: Why was the strongest cultivator in such an expansive realm only at the Emerald level?
Moving with practiced efficiency, Azrael deployed his Shadowkhan to abduct a weak demon from a distant city.
As the trembling, unknown demon found himself surrounded by spectral soldiers, he heard a calm voice ask, "Do you know where the exit to this realm is located?"
Simultaneously, a projection of a spatial rift—the type typically used as secret realm entrances and exits—appeared before the terrified creature.
The weak demon examined the projection with obvious fear, trembling as he rapidly shook his head. "No, no, I don't know anything about that!"
"Sir, I really don't know anything useful!"
Hearing this response, Azrael sighed in disappointment and muttered under his breath, "This fellow is too weak to have been involved in the previous invasion attempts."
With this realization, he prepared to have his Shadowkhan dispatch the demon quickly and cleanly.
Just as he was about to give the order, however, every hair on Azrael's body stood on end as an overwhelming sense of mortal threat washed over him like a crushing wave.
"Release him. I can answer your questions."
Suddenly, a figure emerged from the shadows. The figure was cloaked in tattered, weathered robes and wielded a rust-covered longsword that had clearly seen countless battles.
Azrael immediately sensed that this newly arrived entity was also a demon.
And one significantly more powerful than Adam had been.
This newcomer barely qualified as Diamond-level in terms of raw power.
More concerning still, Azrael could instinctively sense that the longsword itself was a valuable artifact.
While its physical appearance was far inferior to the Starry Sky Holy Sword, the weapon's spiritual aura was immeasurably more potent and dangerous.
"What in the world is happening here?" Azrael thought with growing alarm.
"Are the experts and rare materials in this secret realm just freely distributing themselves?"
Azrael was genuinely surprised. Despite the demon king's confident claims during their battle, he had never expected that Adams wasn't actually the strongest entity within this secret realm.
The newcomer had clearly stated otherwise during their previous confrontation.
"Tsk..." Azrael clicked his tongue in frustration, realizing that the situation had become far more complicated than he had initially anticipated.