"You old bastards are actually willing to send me against a mere Emerald-level brat?"
A sinister-looking young man lounged casually in an ordinary single-family villa, plucking grapes from a bowl held by a dead-eyed mature woman standing beside him. He squinted at the elderly man before him with obvious contempt.
Ignoring the disturbing scene, Master Shifu said solemnly, "We've served you for years now. It's time you did something for us."
"Don't underestimate that 'brat' just because he's Emerald-level."
The young man scoffed dismissively. "You're pathetic. A mere Emerald-level Lore Cardian has you all terrified?"
"Fine, I get it. Where is he?"
Master Shifu shook his head slowly. "Unknown. The target vanished after completing his last mission."
"But according to our intelligence, he's most likely searching for his senior brothers and sisters."
He paused meaningfully. "I believe our previous assassination attempt alerted him."
Although the target had been well disguised, they suspected he'd grown suspicious of the assassins' true identity, they just lacked concrete evidence connecting the attack to their council.
This was precisely why the previous meeting had unanimously agreed to deploy the asset standing before them.
"Don't worry, though. He'll definitely return to Springcity eventually. You just need to wait for the right moment."
The young man nodded noncommittally and patted the woman beside him. "Go stay with your husband."
As he finished speaking, a single tear rolled down the woman's numb face. She staggered toward the bedroom.
A gust of wind blew the door open, revealing a male corpse dangling from the ceiling chandelier.
Moments later, a shadow materialized in the bedroom, suspended in mid-air.
Master Shifu observed the scene with complete indifference. "Remember to clean up properly when you reach Springcity. We won't be there to handle your mess. And make absolutely sure you're not caught before you return."
"Yeah, yeah. You're so annoying, old man."
With those words, the young man stood, stretched languidly, and disappeared from the villa.
A middle-aged man approached the elder quickly. "Sir."
Master Shifu glanced at him briefly. "Write it up as a murder-suicide. The husband discovered his wife's infidelity, poisoned her, then hanged himself out of fear of punishment."
"Yes, sir."
In Gaza Town, Jacob poured a glass of water for the young man in his living room, then asked with genuine confusion, "Junior Brother, what brings you here?"
Before Azrael could answer, Jacob joked, "Are you so disgusted with the Cardian Master Association that you're preparing to return to the Northern Defense Army?"
But after seeing Azrael's unusually serious expression, Jacob's smile faded. "Junior Brother, you're not actually planning to come back, are you?"
Azrael didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "Senior Brother, no one here can overhear our conversation, right?"
Jacob's breath caught. He immediately realized his junior brother had something critically important to discuss.
After a brief hand gesture, he nodded. "You can speak freely now."
"The imperial court tried to assassinate me."
Jacob's face darkened instantly. "Are you injured?"
He didn't even question the claim's veracity.
Seeing this, Azrael swallowed his prepared explanation and shook his head. "They sent three incompetents. They couldn't hurt me."
"Good." Jacob exhaled in relief. "Stay with me for now. They can't harm you while I'm here."
He assumed Azrael had come seeking protection.
Azrael appreciated the gesture, but he had something far more crucial to reveal.
Without hesitation, the young man dropped his bombshell, "The secret realm that Lord Lioren is suppressing was created by the imperial court."
Jacob stared blankly at first, as though he couldn't process the words.
Several seconds passed before his face turned deathly pale. "What?"
Azrael understood the reaction perfectly, he'd felt the same way when Memphis had first revealed the truth.
But Jacob quickly regained his composure, conditioned by years of crisis management. He fixed Azrael with an intense stare. "Is your information reliable?"
Azrael nodded. This intelligence came from the Crimson Oath Society. It couldn't be wrong.
"Where did you get this information?" Jacob muttered to himself.
He finally understood why his junior brother had seemed so strange today, he'd been waiting to drop this revelation.
Azrael hesitated, then decided to come clean about the Crimson Oath Society. He knew that without explaining his source, Jacob would never fully trust the intelligence.
But since he'd already decided to confront Lucian, having Jacob here made little difference.
"The Crimson Oath Society. I obtained it from the Crimson Oath Society."
"?"
Jacob turned to stare at Azrael stiffly, unable to comprehend what the young man was saying.
He could only think that he'd suffered multiple devastating shocks in rapid succession.
Azrael looked at him calmly. "Senior Brother, I'm a member of the Crimson Oath Society."
Jacob felt a wave of dizziness. His only coherent thought: Oh god, there's a Crimson Oath traitor among our sect members.
As if reading his mind, Azrael hurriedly explained, "Senior Brother, I'm not controlled by Jin. It's more accurate to say I'm the traitor."
Jacob took a deep breath to steady himself. With a complicated expression, he said, "I'm sorry, Junior Brother, but I still can't fully believe you."
"After all, I can't confirm whether this is some elaborate performance between you and the Crimson Oath Society."
"Stay with me until Master Lucian returns."
The good news: Azrael's life wasn't in immediate danger.
The bad news: he was under house arrest.
This didn't surprise Azrael. He would have reacted the same way.
After all, the claim that the imperial court had artificially created a Sovereign-level secret realm to trap Lord Lioren, the Empire of Aetherlight's only Sovereign-level Lore Cardian, was earth-shattering.
If this information leaked, it would undoubtedly trigger chaos throughout the Empire, which was exactly what the Crimson Oath Society desired. Therefore, Jacob couldn't help but exercise extreme caution.
But the next moment, under the Northern Defense Army commander's watchful gaze, the young man summoned a brown-haired young woman, then produced an electronic device resembling a communication terminal.
After having Misaka interfere with the device's security, Azrael handed it to Jacob. "Senior Brother, you can review the information in this device."
Jacob accepted it in stunned silence.
As he began reading through the data, his expression grew increasingly grave.
After a long moment, he released a heavy sigh and turned to Azrael. "Junior Brother, how many people know about this?"
"Only Senior Sister Alice."
Jacob nodded slowly.
He had some understanding of his Fourth Junior Sister. Although she could be somewhat aloof, she generally possessed excellent judgment of character.
If anyone actually thought she was easy to fool... well, one electroshock therapy session coming right up.
After all, if she didn't witness it herself, it didn't really count as torture, right?
Following another moment's silence, he addressed Azrael seriously. "Junior Brother, from a personal standpoint, I'm willing to believe you."
"But..."
"Forget it. I'll report this directly to Master Tempest and Master Fujimaru."
"Don't worry. Even if they don't believe you, you'll be safe. I'm here."
After all, even if Azrael truly was a traitor within the Crimson Oath Society, that was their sect's internal matter. Any punishment would be handled by Lucian.
"Wait for me here."
With those words, Jacob hurried out.
Watching him leave, Azrael felt a moment of helpless resignation. Things were taking a completely unexpected turn.
Before arriving in Gaza Town, his original plan had been simple: confront Jacob, have him report the Sovereign-level secret realm situation to the two Sovereign-level Lore Cardians, then remain in hiding.
But now that seemed impossible. There was a high probability he'd be personally interviewed by Masters Tempest and Ji.
However, his life wasn't in danger. After the Gulan incident, his identity should have been sufficiently established with the Northern Defense Army's two Sovereign-level masters.
Azrael hadn't considered fleeing.
If you've done nothing wrong, you fear no ghosts at your door. His identity as Bruce had been responsible for resolving many of the Association's troubles. Perhaps his most outrageous act had been killing President Kavach.
With a sigh, Azrael settled into a more comfortable position on the sofa and entered meditation.
However, before he could meditate for long, a commotion interrupted him.
Opening his eyes, Azrael found Master Tempest and Master Fujimaru staring at him with peculiar expressions.
"Master Tempest, Master Fujimaru, "
Before he could finish, Master Tempest, a middle-aged man with graying temples, looked at him with unconcealed curiosity. "Azrael, I didn't expect you to possess such a remarkable talent."
Azrael was taken aback. Apparently, the two Sovereign-level masters didn't suspect him of being a Crimson Oath spy.
Master Fujimaru quickly clarified his confusion.
The female Sovereign-level Lore Cardian chuckled softly. "The World Consciousness doesn't favor traitors."
Azrael suddenly understood.
Indeed, for a traitor like Jin, the World Consciousness would be fortunate not to actively sabotage him, let alone grant him special attention.
Of course, not actively sabotaging Jin might simply be impossible.
Azrael's experience suggested that each manifestation of the World Consciousness required assistance from Shiraori's [Ruler: Wisdom] ability.
"It seems 'It' faces more restrictions than I thought."
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. Azrael organized his thoughts before asking, "What do the two masters plan to do now?"
"Naturally, inform Lord Lioren, then conduct a final purge."
"?"