Despite his ntal preparation, Azrael's heart still sank like a stone.
He frowned, his expression grave. "Is this related to the recent arrival of the [World-Devouring Disaster] on Earth?"
Sifting through his mories, Azrael could only think of this single explanation. Otherwise, there was no reason for the situation to have deteriorated so suddenly.
In response to his question, the Earth's World Consciousness first shook its head, then nodded. "It was rely the trigger."
"But his actions did tear a hole in the barrier I established."
The pure white figure paused, then raised its featureless head slightly. "Though I doubt he has many tricks left."
Azrael fell silent.
What had transpired in Great Britain was, admittedly, a rare anomaly. It was unfortunate that this particular anomaly had been the one to breach the Earth's World Consciousness's defenses.
He didn't bother asking why the [World-Devouring Disaster] refused to abandon its assault on Earth, even at trendous cost.
First, sunk costs prevented it from retreating. Second, Earth was clearly more powerful than any world it had previously consud.
The potential rewards were self-evident.
This centuries-long war was approaching its inevitable conclusion.
If Earth erged victorious, the universe would gain an incredibly powerful transcendent civilization.
If the [World-Devouring Disaster] won, the universe would be plagued by an incredibly terrifying harbinger of destruction.
After a prolonged silence, Azrael finally spoke again. "Why did you summon today?"
He doubted the events that had just occurred warranted a personal eting with the Earth's World Consciousness. After all, Earth's situation had already been dire for quite so ti.
As expected, upon hearing his words, the pure white figure released a weary sigh before walking over to him. Its tone grew solemn. "Today, I will help you reach Sovereign-tier."
"?"
Azrael was genuinely startled. He felt he still had considerable distance to cover before reaching Sovereign-tier. Without external interference, it would likely take substantial ti before he could achieve that breakthrough.
However, due to his unique nature, there were no barriers for him below Sovereign-tier.
What truly shocked Azrael was that the Earth's World Consciousness possessed such a thod of empowernt.
He hesitated montarily before asking, "Vangeance there be any side effects?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Azrael could have sworn he saw an expression of exasperation cross the featureless face of the pure white figure. "I've taken so much from you already. Have you experienced any side effects?"
Hearing this, Azrael imdiately understood what the Earth's World Consciousness was planning. "You acquired so good materials again?"
It was obvious his fellow entity had obtained sothing valuable from sowhere.
"Good materials?" The pure white figure scratched its cheek, and a small black-and-red fragnt materialized in its hand. "You could say that."
Seeing the ominous object, Azrael couldn't help but narrow his eyes. "That thing doesn't look particularly safe."
In response to Azrael's concern, the pure white figure nodded matter-of-factly. "This is a fragnt of the [World-Devouring Disaster]."
Though it remained at a disadvantage against Earth's greatest enemy, that didn't an it lacked any ans of retaliation.
This fragnt had been seized when the enemy beca distracted and descended into Earth's interior. This was precisely why the World Consciousness hadn't appeared during that crisis.
At that mont, the Earth's World Consciousness stared directly at Azrael and whispered, "Want to consu it?"
As it casually weighed the fragnts in its hand, Azrael fell silent.
After a mont, he asked, "Why don't you consu it yourself? That should significantly improve your condition, shouldn't it?"
"I cannot." The Earth's World Consciousness shook its head. "If I consu it, there's a small probability it could seize control of a portion of Earth. That's far too dangerous."
Even if the probability was minuscule, it remained a possibility, one they couldn't afford to risk.
Therefore, it would be better to use the fragnt to enhance the strength of their kin.
Upon hearing this, Azrael frowned. "If I consu it, won't there be a risk of it controlling ?"
Azrael had no desire to beco a puppet of the [World-Devouring Disaster]. Otherwise, he wouldn't have spent so long suppressing secret realms on Earth.
Seeing his resistance, the pure white figure explained, "Adele and I will assist you."
"Don't worry. It will be fine."
Unlike the World Consciousness itself, the risk of Azrael losing control after consuming the fragnt remained within acceptable paraters.
After all, even if he truly lost control, the World Consciousness possessed the ability to suppress him. It would simply waste years of cultivation.
But in a life-or-death situation, it could only resort to desperate asures.
However, if Azrael refused to consu it, the World Consciousness wouldn't force him.
Hearing this, Azrael sank into contemplation, staring at the fragnt pulsing with malevolent life in the Earth's World Consciousness's hand.
He could, of course, choose not to absorb it and slowly climb to Sovereign-tier through his card creation abilities.
But the question was: how long would that take?
One month? Two months? Six months? A year?
Did Earth truly have that much ti?
Beyond Earth's current predicant, the Empire of Aetherlight wasn't faring well either.
Aside from Edley in the sky, there was also the malevolent Motian to the south.
Combined with the Earth's World Consciousness's earlier words, it wouldn't be long before the Four Evil Gods returned.
After an extended silence, Azrael said hoarsely, "Let's do it."
Upon hearing this, the Earth's World Consciousness handed him the fragnt, then walked over with Adele. "You've absorbed World Consciousness from secret realms before. Just follow the sensation you experienced then."
The fragnt of the [World-Devouring Disaster] in Azrael's hand was essentially identical to the remnant World Consciousness from Adele's secret realm, so the absorption thod was naturally the sa.
He recalled his previous actions and wrapped his ntal power around it.
But the next mont, Azrael felt a sharp, piercing pain lance through his skull. Fortunately, the Earth's World Consciousness and Adele reached out to him in ti, sowhat alleviating the agony.
Sensing the imnse energy contained within the fragnt, he couldn't help but wonder internally: 'It's so small, yet it possesses such incredible power?'
Azrael took a deep breath, calming his turbulent emotions, then focused all his attention on absorbing the power from the fragnt in his hand.
With the assistance of the Earth's World Consciousness and Adele, Azrael continuously absorbed power from the fragnts.
The imnse spiritual force, laced with traces of corrupting malice, relentlessly assaulted his mind, causing his face to contort in pain.
"Ugh!"
Azrael even began involuntarily retching while absorbing the power.
If the World Consciousness in Adele's secret realm had been a sumptuous feast, then the fragnts of the [World-Devouring Disaster] were an absolutely vile concoction.
It was reminiscent of canned herring mixed with blue cheese, blended into juice and combined with okra and cow brains.
This tornt continued for so ti. As the power from the [World-Devouring Disaster] fragnts gradually diminished, Azrael slowly began to recover.
Finally, after a disembodied voice echoed through Azrael's mind, he successfully broke through to Sovereign-tier.
Pale-faced, Azrael gripped his knees, gasping for breath.
If at all possible, he genuinely never wanted to experience that again.
Fortunately, the rewards were substantial. The power contained within the fragnts had successfully propelled him to Sovereign-tier.
After so many years of struggle, he had finally reached the pinnacle of this world.
Unfortunately, even at Sovereign-tier, resolving the troubles posed by the [World-Devouring Disaster] remained sowhat unrealistic.
'Beyond Sovereign-tier?'
It wasn't until he truly broke through that Azrael suddenly realized reaching Sovereign-tier wasn't as simple as rely absorbing World Consciousness.
After all, if that were the case, he, a remnant of World Consciousness, should have broken through directly by now.
Azrael vaguely sensed what achieving this would require, but when he tried to contemplate it further, he found himself utterly clueless.
It was like viewing flowers through fog, the answer remained frustratingly elusive.
Confused, Azrael glanced at the Earth's World Consciousness beside him, wanting to inquire.
Before he could speak, the pure white figure shook its head slightly. "I've been like this since birth, so I wouldn't know even if you asked."
The Earth's World Consciousness couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at Azrael's breakthrough to Sovereign-tier.
While it had possessed considerable confidence in success, failure would have ant years of painstaking effort wasted.
Fortunately, Azrael had ultimately lived up to its expectations.
Azrael experienced montary disappointnt after hearing the Earth's World Consciousness's response, but he quickly accepted reality.
After all, if the World Consciousness had known, Earth wouldn't have been without a Sovereign-tier being for so many years.
Sighing silently, Azrael stared intently at the Earth's World Consciousness and asked, "What do you need to do?"
He didn't believe he could simply rest after reaching Sovereign-tier. The World Consciousness must have had a purpose in assisting him.
Upon hearing this, the pure white figure flicked its finger, and a beautiful blue planet materialized beneath the three of them.
"Help eliminate as many Sovereign-tier demons on Earth as possible."
"It will also increase our chances of victory in the final battle."
Azrael was sowhat surprised by this. He hadn't expected such a straightforward request.
Even if the Earth's World Consciousness hadn't ntioned it, he would have done it anyway. After all, they were all in the sa precarious situation. The [World-Devouring Disaster] might spare other Sovereign-tier beings, but it certainly wouldn't let him survive.
However, even if he eliminated all the demons on Earth, Azrael doubted it would significantly affect the [World-Devouring Disaster].
Thinking this, he nodded slightly, about to agree.
Just then, the Earth's World Consciousness reached out and stopped him, saying, "Don't be so hasty. If necessary, I'll need you to serve as my grave bearer."
"..."
Azrael stared at the white figure before him, his mouth opening wordlessly.
However, the Earth's World Consciousness didn't want to dwell on the morbid topic, so it simply shook its head. "Don't think about it too much. When the ti cos, you'll know what to do."
"Alright, you and Adele can return now."
As the words fell, Azrael found himself back in reality.
He looked down at his palms, muttering subconsciously, "Grave bearer."
No matter how one interpreted it, the title sounded ominous.
He had probably figured out what the Earth's World Consciousness was planning.
After a mont's contemplation, Azrael vanished from the room in a flash.
Elsewhere, Lucian, Tempest, and Attila were handling the daily affairs of the Empire of Aetherlight when they suddenly received notification that Azrael was accessing Sovereign-tier materials.
They were initially startled, then their heads snapped up, staring at each other in disbelief.
A simultaneous thought occurred to them.
"Azrael..."
"Broke through to Sovereign-tier?!"
It was no wonder they reached this conclusion. After all, from their perspective, it was completely pointless for a Master-tier Azrael to access Sovereign-tier materials.
On Earth, bypassing tiers in card creation had never occurred before.
Without ti to contemplate further, the three of them vanished from the room, heading directly toward Azrael.
Elsewhere, Azrael surveyed the nurous Sovereign-tier materials before him, unable to suppress a sense of relief.
"Fortunately, I extorted so resources from the Indo-Arican Federation earlier. Otherwise, the Empire of Aetherlight's materials alone wouldn't have been sufficient to sustain my card creation."
"But speaking of which, why hasn't Louis XXIV's surprise arrived yet?"
Thinking of the [Near-God] currently suppressing the secret realm in Antarctica, Azrael couldn't help but grumble internally.
Honestly, he was curious about the so-called surprise, but France hadn't delivered it yet, so he couldn't proactively inquire.
Furthermore, with the French Emperor currently occupied suppressing the Antarctic secret realm, he suspected the surprise wouldn't arrive anyti soon.
With this thought, Azrael steadied himself and prepared to enter his card creation space.
Just then, three figures materialized before him.
"Azrael, you've reached Sovereign-tier?!"
Azrael hadn't expected his teachers to react so swiftly. He had originally intended to wait until he finished creating his card before revealing the news.
But since they were already here, he decided to address the situation first.
"Teachers, within the next two years, a series of Sovereign-tier secret realms will manifest on Earth. Please prepare contingency plans."
Upon hearing this, Lucian, Tempest, and Attila's initial excitent at Azrael's breakthrough to Sovereign-tier was instantly extinguished.
They stared at the young man before them, stunned, and asked, "Has the situation deteriorated to this extent?"
None of them questioned the reliability of the information source. There was no point.
Wasn't it obvious where Azrael, now a Sovereign-tier Lore Cardian, had obtained his intelligence?
"Probably within the next two years," Azrael said calmly, leaning back in his chair. He regarded the three elders before him with a steady gaze. "What Earth's final outco will be..."
"We'll discover soon enough."
With these words, the study fell into profound silence.
The intelligence Azrael provided undoubtedly had an enormous impact on Lucian, Tempest, and Attila. After all, just minutes ago, they had believed the Empire of Aetherlight was flourishing.
But catastrophe never allows ti for preparation.
All Azrael and the others could do was accept the reality and endeavor to resolve it to the best of their abilities.
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