Underground, beside the blood pool.
Li Gang was admiring his masterpiece when his brows suddenly furrowed, his expression changing drastically. "Damn it! Those Association lackeys are here!"
As a Gold-level Lore Cardian, Li Gang naturally couldn't be unaware of the waterworks workers evacuating aboveground.
Cliff was stunned at first, then quickly fiddled with his instrunt. "Why isn't there an alarm?!"
Out of caution, Cliff had hacked into the nearby electronic equipnt. Combined with the shielding equipnt he brought from the demon army, this should have ensured their sacrificial site remained completely secret.
Not to ntion Li Gang's card also possessed concealnt-related abilities.
As for having soone monitor the waterworks above? That would only increase the risk of exposure.
But the two soon realized what had happened.
It was Azrael's brown-haired girl card.
Since she had previously demonstrated the ability to manipulate electromagnetic force, she must also possess the corresponding ability to manipulate electronic equipnt. It's just that she hadn't demonstrated this before, so they hadn't considered it.
However, the plan had reached its final stage, and there was no way they would abandon this place and make another plan.
Although he couldn't figure out how those Association lackeys had discovered this place, Cliff said without hesitation, "Abandon the uncollected wedges outside and proceed directly to the final process. I'll take the n up there to hold them back."
"No ti for hesitation!"
The first-level researcher said, and began to operate the instrunt in his hand.
Li Gang's face turned grim upon hearing this. After all, the incubation stage hadn't yet reached its peak, and forcing it into the next stage was unpredictable.
"Damn it!"
"Association lackeys!"
More importantly, without those wedges outside, the final result would be greatly compromised.
However, Li Gang still had so determination. Taking a deep breath, he imdiately summoned his last card, [Dangun].
As the middle-aged man in the red dragon robe gradually walked into the blood pool, [Dangun] slowly drifted away and rged into it.
As Cliff had said, in Li Gang's mind, even if the next process was completely uncontrollable, it was better than being ruined by those Association lackeys above!
How could years of planning go to waste in a single day!
"Azrael, I swear to kill you!"
Li Gang roared in anger, his eyes bloodshot.
The next mont, a torrent of blood surged, accompanied by a giant dragon in mid-air, instantly engulfing Li Gang.
Above Ground
By then, the workers at the waterworks above had largely been evacuated.
Thanks to chanization, the workforce was relatively small.
Seeing only four of his own Gold-level Lore Cardians remained, Azrael took a deep breath and said calmly, "Action!"
With that, his cards prepared to destroy the ground.
But before they could act, the ground collapsed, and a terrifying aura erupted from it.
Azrael and his four companions retreated with solemn expressions, leaving the battlefield to their own cards.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of figures descended steadily from mid-air, led by none other than Cliff, whom Azrael and his companions had t once before.
Cliff's expression was grim, as if he had been stricken by so great misfortune.
It was like those agricultural college students before Azrael's ti travel who discovered their graduation projects had been gnawed by animals.
He'd have the sa expression on his face when faced with an unexpected situation nearing the end of a project.
Cliff took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and asked in a deep voice, "How did you find out?"
Azrael, however, wasn't about to respond.
Besides the fact that answering his question wouldn't do any good, anyone with a reasonable degree of wit would have known the demon was stalling for ti.
"It seems the item down there is very important to you."
As Azrael finished speaking, his cards suddenly launched a fierce attack.
Seeing he wasn't fooled, Cliff's face darkened, and he glanced at the surrounding mbers of the Onefold Doctrine.
He already knew the details of the previous clash with the young man, so the Onefold Doctrine mbers around him were all above Gold rank.
Any lower-rank demon would have simply been a bounty for Luffy and Aizen.
Soon, the Gold-rank limb-replacing demons, demons, and Lore Cardians affiliated with the Onefold Doctrine confronted Diesel and the other two.
Seeing this, Cliff's expression gradually cald, and he spoke indifferently, "So what?"
"Besides..."
"Your initiative to co here today was your biggest mistake."
"If we had succeeded in our plan, I don't think Donglai would have suffered such great damage."
Azrael didn't intend to refute the other party's shaless remarks. He felt that the demon on the other side was simply trying to use moral coercion to disturb his mind.
Seeing the young man's lack of reaction, Cliff curled his lips in boredom.
He dodged a coin and gradually manifested magical tools around him: books, staffs, crystal balls.
"I'm not like that useless Lannide."
"Do you really think you can defeat ?"
A transparent defensive magic circle instantly ford, blocking the huge black fist coming from the side.
Cliff chuckled softly and flew into the air, fighting and fleeing away from the waterworks.
Finally, seeing only himself, the young man across from him, and his cards, his face turned cold and he sneered, "Behold destruction within the cage."
As Cliff's voice rang out, a vast barrier suddenly enveloped the battlefield.
The Binding Barrier
"A spatial barrier?"
Azrael frowned slightly. He rembered that during his previous battle with Lannide, the other had displayed a similar technique.
However, seeing the barrier before him, which seed to be tangible, Azrael imdiately had Misaka test it with the Railgun.
Unlike Lannide's barrier, Cliff's barrier withstood the impact of the Railgun without a scratch.
The demon researcher in a white lab coat sneered, "It's useless! Even if you kill , you can't escape."
"This is a thod our demon army has developed specifically to deal with freaks like you."
After years of confrontation with the Empire of Aetherlight in the north, the demon army had already suffered at the hands of various geniuses.
It's important to note that there are still differences between people of the sa level, and the destructive power of geniuses is far greater than that of ordinary Lore Cardians.
And the [Binding Barrier] he currently possessed could completely trap a peak-Gold rank being, far more than a half-baked like Lannide could match.
Unless the young man in the distance managed to temporarily break through to Erald rank.
However, considering that even if the Lore Cardian reached Erald rank, he wouldn't have any Erald-level cards for a while, Cliff's expression darkened.
At that mont, a massive, pitch-black coffin instantly enveloped him.
Aizen's face was impassive as he softly chanted, "Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi."
"Bang!"
The next mont, the coffin shattered, and Cliff, with only the corners of his clothes slightly torn, erged. "No wonder Lannide died at your hands, and no wonder Li Gang was beaten like a dead dog by you."
"Azrael, you're truly strong."
"But it's a pity."
"Everything you do is like a mantis trying to stop a chariot."
"Even what you protect will ultimately be crushed by us."
Azrael sighed.
Then, a pale figure appeared beside him.
Cliff, floating in midair, was surprised. "I didn't expect you to have another card."
But then he let out a laugh. "It's only an extra Gold-level one."
"Boom!"
A flash of erald green suddenly struck the defensive formation in front of him, stirring up a puff of smoke.
"You still can't get out."
The smoke dissipated, and Cliff remained calm.
However, Azrael ignored him, rely glancing at the pale figure beside him. "Leave it to you, Ulquiorra."
Ulquiorra nodded slightly, "Yes, Master Azrael."
He then drew the long sword hanging from his waist and pointed it at Cliff in mid-air.
"Enclose, Murciélago."
The Fourth Espada's Release
Instantly, a surge of dark green spiritual pressure surged into the sky, and within the barrier, a powerful rain of dark green spiritual pressure fell.
Cliff didn't understand that Shinigami cards only reached their normal combat power after being released, nor had he seen Azrael's Silver-rank Nel.
Therefore, when he sensed Ulquiorra's sudden surge of aura, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. "As expected, using [Binding Barrier] was the right decision."
But just as he was rejoicing, a figure with jet-black wings, wielding a green spiritual spear, arrived before him.
"If this is all you have, it's truly boring."
Despite his seemingly aloof personality, Ulquiorra was surprisingly vocal during battle.
As Cliff's pupils constricted, a spear of green spiritual energy slashed fiercely at the defensive formation before him.
"Bang!"
The demon researcher was instantly sent flying, leaving a long trail in the air before colliding with the barrier.
Azrael, standing in the distance, frowned slightly at the unmoving barrier.
The smoke cleared, revealing Cliff's face to be gloomy. But before he could say anything, the shadow of a pale palace towered behind Ulquiorra.
"A venue card?!"
At this mont, Ulquiorra, mid-air, extended his right index finger with a cold expression. "If you want to say anything, survive this blow first."
A jet-black energy instantly converged at the tip of his index finger and shot towards Cliff, arriving in front of him in an instant.
This was a Cero Oscuras, empowered by the [Las Noches] venue card, a technique only possible after the Espada have been released.
"Boom!"
A deafening explosion echoed throughout the surroundings, yet Azrael's face darkened. "Escaped?"
Cliff, now outside the barrier, patted his chest with lingering fear. Having just faced the Cero Oscuras, he felt as if the sharp weapon of death was pressed against his throat.
Fortunately, the [Binding Barrier] was easy for him to co and go.
After calming himself down, he turned to Azrael, still within the barrier, and said, "New cards, and a venue card."
"Luckily, I was prepared, otherwise I'd have ended up like that fool Lannide."
"But for now..."
"You'd better stay inside the barrier and wait for death."
Without even glancing at Azrael's reaction, he flew straight towards the waterworks.
Cliff was no fool. He knew the lesson of running away when you can't win. After all, he couldn't expect a researcher like him to fight a battle with a group of combatants.
Desperate asures
Azrael, inside the barrier, had a gloomy expression. He had just used his four cards to attack the barrier with their strongest power, but it remained motionless.
"Tsk..."
"Or..."
At this mont, a certain prop card appeared in his hand.
Looking at the cards that were locked in a bitter battle with the mbers of Onefold Doctrine, Diesel's face was solemn.
Turning to look at Azrael, he found that his own president was getting further and further away from the leading demon.
The middle-aged man knew that now they could only rely on themselves.
However, before he could give any orders, the movent from afar attracted his attention.
A huge barrier appeared out of thin air, covering Azrael and the demon together.
"Have you been prepared?"
Seeing this, Diesel did not feel panicked. After all, the young man was teleported to so secret realm by Onefold Doctrine last ti and remained unhard, not to ntion that this ti it was just a barrier.
Unfortunately, the middle-aged man didn't realize the barrier was rely designed to trap Azrael.
As Diesel and the other two watched, the demon that had been battling Azrael erged from the barrier in disarray, clearly suffering a significant loss.
Only after seeing Azrael remain motionless despite his opponent's appearance did the three gradually realize what was happening.
However, before they could react, the Onefold Doctrine mbers, who had been engaged in a card battle with them, suddenly launched an even more violent attack.
With no other options, they could only deal with the madn before them.
The Dragon's Birth
After escaping the barrier, Cliff ignored the Association's Lore Cardians and flew underground.
The final data from the experint was crucial, and the ti he had just wasted dealing with Azrael was already a source of deep regret.
Arriving at the blood pool, he gazed at the dried-up blood and the giant red dragon hovering above it, its eyes closed. For a mont, he was amazed. "It actually worked?"
Cliff hadn't expected Li Gang to actually achieve this.
Without the eggs outside, the giant red dragon before him would be the equivalent of a premature baby.
No, it's worse than a premature baby. More accurately, it's the placenta.
As if sensing the demon researcher's arrival, the dragon suddenly opened its bell-like eyes, and Li Gang's voice rang out, "Cliff..."
"I've shed my mortal side." The resonant, bell-like voice froze for a mont, and then Li Gang's voice switched to that of a young man, "Father!"
"For..."
Before he could finish his words, the voice switched back to Li Gang's.
At this mont, the red dragon closed its eyes with a hint of fatigue. "Cliff, you saw it too."
"The sublimation wasn't successful. My son's will still exists."
"Although I can suppress his consciousness, it's not perfect after all."
"And..."
"This power hasn't t expectations."
Cliff touched his chin upon hearing this. "I can't solve your son's problem right now. We'll find a solution later."
"As for the power..."
"There is a solution."
He said this with a malicious smile on his face. "Although the wedges haven't been recovered, if you can swallow those carriers, you can still obtain most of the planned power."
"That's a disguised form of recovery."
Cliff said no more, simply waiting quietly for the dragon before him to make his decision.
The choice he offered was actually ulterior motive. If Li Gang really chose to consu those carriers in Donglai, he might not be able to return to Korea alive.
Did he really think the association was blind?
He said this simply to collect more data for his experint.
Li Gang, upon hearing Cliff's words, instantly erupted in rage, "Yes."
"Yes!"
"As long as I can swallow those wedges, I can still ascend perfectly!"
"And that association, and that Azrael!"
"Hahahahahaha, I've shed my mortal body, who can stop !"
Watching Li Gang's gradual descent into madness before him, Cliff's eyes flickered, and he pondered to himself, "Sure enough, it's more than just the original body's consciousness remaining unpurged."
"Li Gang's mind has clearly been affected."
"Sure enough, this project still has significant flaws."
He couldn't help but sigh at this thought.
However, Li Gang was unaware of the demon's thoughts. His massive body suddenly soared upwards, crashing through the ground and soaring into the air.
"Roar!"
The terrifying roar instantly dispersed the surrounding clouds for kiloters.
Erald-Level Threat
Diesel and the other two stared blankly at the giant red dragon surging across the sky.
"Erald-level?"
Before they could react, the giant red dragon they saw had already lowered its head and rushed towards the city.
The three n's expressions changed drastically. Although they didn't know what the giant red dragon was planning, it was clearly the Onefold Doctrine's trump card.
If it were allowed to charge into the city, Donglai would likely be expelled from the Empire of Aetherlight that very day.
However, at this mont, the Onefold Doctrine mbers who had been harassing them ceased fighting and retreated in unison.
This was naturally an order from Cliff.
Now that the plan had been completed, there was no need for the Onefold Doctrine to waste their energy here.
This was a good opportunity for the Association to test the difference between Li Gang's combat effectiveness and that of a normal Erald-level warrior.
As for Li Gang, in Cliff's eyes, the middle-aged man was no longer useful.
With the data in hand, it would be easy for the demon army to replicate such a low-quality experintal subject.
Although they didn't understand what was happening, Diesel and the other two didn't intend to continue the stalemate. They imdiately turned and rushed towards the dragon.
"Oliver, go see if you can help the president escape. Director Godfrey and I will return to the city to provide support."
"Yes."
Evolution's Price
Within the barrier, Azrael looked anxiously at Shiraori, who was wrapped in a pale cocoon.
"No one told I'd have to wait so long after using it."
He had originally assud that even if he gave it to Shiraori, it would only evolve gradually, like Aizen.
But who would have thought that Shiraori would beco silent after being enveloped in the pale cocoon?
"No wonder it's an imperfect Hōgyoku."
He now understood why, despite all the restrictions, the Hōgyoku was only Gold rank.
Azrael wasn't trapped in the Prison Gate like the Prison Master; he could still see the commotion outside.
"I hope I can catch up."
Although he still didn't know what Shiraori would beco, the aura emanating from the cocoon already gave him a shiver of fear.
The Dragon's Rampage
At the headquarters of the Donglai Cardian Master Association, Godrick sat before a large group of Lore Cardians, resting his eyes.
With Azrael and the other three gone, he was the only one in charge.
The Lore Cardians below couldn't help but wonder.
Didn't they know what the director in front of the crowd was like? They didn't expect him to be willing to take the lead at this ti.
"I wonder how things are going with the president and the others," Godrick couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
However, the next mont, the middle-aged man's expression changed drastically.
He sensed an incredibly powerful aura descending from the sky.
"Alert! Evacuate!"
"Boom!"
Godrick barely managed to utter those two swift words before being flung back by the blast.
"Cough, cough, wow."
The imnse force of the impact rippled through the middle-aged man's old wounds, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.
He struggled to his feet, gazing blankly at the scene before him.
The association's headquarters lay in ruins.
A giant red dragon rummaged through the rubble, searching for sothing.
Godrick's eyes widened in disbelief, his voice mumbling in a dream, "Erald Level."
The next mont, he snapped awake, a cold sweat covering his back. "The President and the others won't..."
The HR director, battling old injuries, imdiately tried to flee, but stopped after taking a few steps.
Where else could he escape to?
Day and night, he dread of that nightmarish night.
At this thought, Godrick gritted his teeth, turned around, and roared, "Damn it, you and , "
Before he could finish his words, the giant red dragon was already in front of him, its massive claws pinning him to the ground.
"Strange."
"You sll so good, but why isn't there a wedge?"
The dragon's questioning voice reached Godrick's ears.
But before the middle-aged man could comprehend the aning, the dragon lashed its tail furiously.
"Why not?!"
"Why not?!"
Like an earthquake, the ground shook uncontrollably under the thrashing of its tail.
Just as Godrick felt his life was numbered, the giant red dragon suddenly stopped.
"Found it!"
With a screech, it dropped the middle-aged man in its claws and instantly soared into the sky.
Looking in the direction the dragon had departed, Godrick felt a chill run through his body.
It was the direction of the hospital.
The Hunt for Wedges
There, Stephen leaned wearily against the headboard of his bed.
Just yesterday morning, he had received a ssage from the association asking him to co to the hospital due to his declining health.
Several other patients, all looking just like him, lay in beds beside him, their faces gaunt and bodies emaciated, evidently suffering from the sa condition.
One patient weakly asked, "So, does the Association have a cure?"
Stephen casually replied, "Probably, otherwise we wouldn't have gathered."
But as he finished speaking, his heart suddenly stopped.
He saw a large eye peering intently through the ward window.
"Found it!"
Found what?
Before Stephen could even begin to wonder, the wall vanished.
With its fading presence, he realized the chaos outside the hospital was already in turmoil.
Most residents in the area had already witnessed the giant dragon raging in the sky, and the devastated city it had ravaged.
However, the dragon ignored the cries and screams, its bloodshot eyes extending its claws toward the hospital.
Just as the patients gathered in the hospital were losing hope, a calm voice reached everyone present.
"Enough of playing house."
Segunda Etapa
The next mont, a pale hand pressed down on the giant red dragon's head.
"Boom!"
The dragon instantly flew backward, leaving a long scar in the city.
At this mont, everyone present, whether it was the Lore Cardians who ca to evacuate the crowd or the chaotic residents, stared blankly at the black and white figure in mid-air.
Stephen stared blankly at the black and green feathers that fell to his palm.
Looking up again, he saw two pairs of pitch-black wings, stretching out wantily to show their presence.
[The World of Nothingness (Incomplete) - Ulquiorra (Resurrección: Segunda Etapa)]
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