If Aizen in his fifth fusion stage had abandoned his Zanpakutō and fought solely with his immense spiritual pressure, then in his sixth stage, he reclaimed Kyōka Suigetsu, the very embodiment of his illusory power.
At this moment, Fox sensing something amiss, immediately lashed out with her claws.
Swish!
The claws, gleaming with icy light, instantly tore vast scars into the earth. However, it was useless, such a simple attack clearly couldn't harm Aizen, who had already reached his sixth fusion stage.
With a crisp, shattering sound, the world seemed to transform into a mirror.
Fox sensed something strange, but for a moment, she couldn't identify the cause.
Suddenly, she felt an extremely sharp aura approaching from her right. Turning, she saw a yellow-haired youth shrouded in an ominous black aura, attacking with a blade.
Of course, the demon fox wouldn't surrender. Her tail suddenly descended from the sky, blocking the attack.
The next moment, Fox Nine watched as the yellow-haired boy's strike landed squarely on her tail, only to be whipped away.
But soon, the demon noticed something incredibly strange, after blocking the attack, much of her tail's fur had been charred black, as if burned by intense heat.
This clearly didn't align with the abilities of the yellow-haired boy's card from their earlier encounter. Instead, it resembled the power of Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, who stood not far away.
Her enormous fox face darkened. "Something's not right."
"Zero, have you noticed anything?"
The situation was beginning to spiral out of Fox Nine's control, yet just minutes ago, she'd felt confident about holding her own.
The huge disparity left her feeling torn.
"Illusion," Zero said succinctly. As a semi-spectator, he could assess the situation clearly.
Upon hearing this, Fox Nine's expression darkened.
Unlike Zero, the fox's skill points were largely focused on physical prowess, so she was completely oblivious to anything amiss.
Without hesitation, Fox Nine quickly made a decision. "Zero, you take over!"
"Understood."
As Zero's voice echoed within her consciousness, the fox's body instantly changed owners.
Switching to Zero's perspective, Fox Nine finally realized something was wrong.
The world now felt like a reflection in a mirror, a moon in water, filled with a sense of unreality.
After successfully gaining control, Zero immediately lunged at Aizen, the man he considered the instigator.
Faced with this, Aizen calmly raised his right hand and lightly tapped the air.
The next moment, a thin beam of purple light shot from the tip of his index finger toward Fox Nine.
Screech!
The terrifying speed caused the air to whistle, and even though the purple beam didn't touch the ground, it still left a horrifying gully in its wake.
Seeing the lethal attack coming straight at him, Zero remained expressionless, dodging it with a simple tilt of his head.
But it came at a price, a large patch of hair disappeared from the right side of the fox's head, giving her a rather comical appearance. However, putting aside the fact that this was during battle, and the body wasn't even Zero's, he certainly didn't feel bad about it.
Ignoring Fox Nine's impotent rage, Zero had already arrived before Aizen.
He leaped up, spun 180 degrees in the air, and his nine tails slammed down on the brown-haired man like falling meteorites.
BOOM!
A massive blast echoed, and a deep abyss formed in the earth.
As for Seoul? Forget about that city, it had long since vanished.
Azrael even thought it would be easy to continue the battle and turn the peninsula into an actual island.
Watching the fox fiercely attacking empty air in the distance, he turned to Aizen, who supposedly stood engaged in combat beside him. "Aizen, when do you think he'll notice something's amiss?"
Aizen remained indifferent. "I'm already a little surprised they could see through the first layer."
"If they can see through this layer, I'd be more impressed."
Indeed, from beginning to end, Fox Nine and Zero hadn't escaped the influence of Kyōka Suigetsu, everything was just wishful thinking on their part.
Hearing this, Azrael nodded slightly, then lowered his gaze to the communication device in his hand.
[Lucian: Azrael, there's something wrong with the Empire. Report back quickly.]
[Lucian: Stay safe.]
Both messages were sent several minutes ago, around the time Tempest left.
The first was sent by Lucian as the Empire of Aetherlight's Master-level Lore Cardian, the second as a teacher.
Azrael lowered his eyes, took a deep breath to calm his emotions, and then said, "Let's end this quickly."
"Understood."
Elsewhere, looking at the few remaining cards before him, Fox Nine couldn't help but smirk inwardly. What Azrael? He looks like nothing more than that!
Tempest actually fell to him!
She completely forgot about the moment she'd had her tail severed during her first fight with Azrael, and how she had just recently considered running away.
But Zero couldn't be happy.
Too weak.
As a test subject from the City Within a City, he naturally knew Azrael better than Fox Nine.
And the battle that had just transpired had gone so smoothly, so smoothly that it seemed as if the heavens were blessing them.
With this thought, Zero raised his head and scanned the messy ground around him.
Then, he looked at Ichigo Kurosaki and the others who were staring intently at him from a distance.
"I see."
Zero sighed and closed his eyes.
"Don't want to fight? Then let me do it!" Fox Nine, confused for a moment, noticed his actions and became eager. After all, she was confident she could defeat these worn-down opponents before her.
However, Zero ignored her, maintaining a firm grip on the body.
Crack,
The crisp shattering sound echoed again, and the demon opened her eyes.
Looking at the intact cards staring coldly at her, Zero muttered with a faint smile, "Almost got tricked."
Fox Nine naturally realized what had happened.
Through Zero's vision, she stared blankly at Azrael's completely undiminished cards, growling in disbelief. "That was also an illusion just now?!"
"Yes. Two layers."
Zero's affirmative response gave Fox Nine a wave of fear.
If she had truly regained control of her body, she might have died without knowing how.
"How can you brainiacs be so treacherous!"
"I'm counting on you from now on, Zero."
Fox Nine retreated again, having decided to leave the rest of the battle to Zero. She wouldn't show up unless her life was in danger.
Naturally, Zero had no objection.
The battle resumed, but this time the intensity was much higher.
This only confirmed Zero's suspicions.
"This world is real."
While pondering this, he had already engaged Azrael's cards.
It must be said that while Fox Nine's attack power was slightly inferior to that of similarly ranked demons, her defense and survival methods were far superior, not to mention the bonus Zero now provided.
Therefore, even if the attacks of the other cards could inflict damage, they would be little more than scratches to the demon fox's massive frame.
Of course, given the sheer number of cards Azrael possessed, coupled with Yamamoto Genryūsai's ability to summon the spirits of those killed by his blade, even simple scratches posed considerable trouble for Zero.
As the battle dragged on, the wounds on Zero's fox body grew more numerous.
Finally, after neutralizing two [Moonless] attacks with two of her tails, Zero felt the balance of victory tilting in his favor.
"I've won."
In his eyes, Azrael, having exhausted all his means, had no chance of a comeback. After all, even if the boy had tricked Tempest and forced him to use the method that could reset other cards' cooldowns, those abilities had already been used.
Thinking of this, Zero looked at the solitary Azrael in the distance, his tone tinged with admiration. "You're very strong."
Although, as a newly born experimental subject, Zero hadn't encountered many of his peers, he could not deny that the young man in the distance was undoubtedly a top-tier Master.
Even if he was merely perceived as a Diamond-level Lore Cardian in terms of rank.
But that didn't matter, did it?
Fox Nine had never thought that the day of her revenge would come so soon. When they'd first fought today, she thought she would have to die again.
The demon fox said eagerly within her consciousness, "Zero, let me handle the next part."
"You know, I have a grudge against him."
Hearing this, Zero paused.
Perhaps considering that there would still be cooperation between the City Within a City and Fox Nine, he returned control of the body with only slight hesitation.
Realizing that she had regained control of her body, Fox Nine was overjoyed. "Okay, okay, Zero, I was right about you!"
"Today's matter is written off!"
After saying this, she didn't care about Zero's response but walked step by step toward Azrael and lowered her head.
Fox Nine's mouth widened, a ferocious, foul gust of wind emanating from it. "Boy, you didn't expect this, did you?!"
"Hehehehe."
"Today is your death day. Not only you, but also your companions, your elders, your lover, "
"They will all become my food."
Fox Nine observed the young man before her, who seemed dwarfed by her massive size.
Sadly, to her disappointment, Azrael seemed frozen in fear, not reacting at all.
Though somewhat puzzled by this, Fox Nine didn't dwell on it. Instead, she mused about Aizen. After all, the brown-haired man had put her under considerable pressure.
"That card of yours nearly scared me to death!"
"It's a shame he's still not strong enough. He only uses those little tricks, but he can't defeat me."
"And thanks to him, I've achieved true perfection."
"How ridiculous."
Seeing Azrael still unresponsive, Fox Nine decided to stop. After all, her stand-up comedy alone was rather dull.
Just as she opened her mouth wide to swallow Azrael, a cold voice suddenly rang out.
"When did you have the illusion that you had reached reality?"
Hearing this, Zero instantly realized that something was wrong.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
"Fall into confusion and delusion, and eventually shatter like a mirage."
Bang!
The sound of shattering glass announced death.
The scene before Fox Nine suddenly became chaotic, and countless lenses reflected scenes from the previous battle.
The sudden change caused the fox's fur to explode all over her body, and the shadow of death began to gradually spread in her heart.
She shouted the name of the other demon in her consciousness in great panic. "Zero?!"
However, Zero seemed to have frozen and didn't make a sound for a long time.
Only when the lenses surrounding Fox Nine reflected the image of her devouring Azrael in one gulp did he speak, his voice dry. "It was still an illusion."
"...?"
Before Fox Nine could process Zero's words, the lenses suddenly vanished, and an abyss shimmering with purple stars swallowed the demon fox whole.
The next moment, all the damage inflicted from Aizen's sixth fusion stage until Fox Nine swallowed Azrael was reflected back at the demon.
Whether it was attacks from Azrael's cards or attacks from the demon fox herself,
"Ah!"
A deafening wail echoed through the heavens and earth.
In just a few breaths, only the last two of Fox Nine's tails remained.
The scent of death lingered in her nostrils, and the nation-destroying demon fox was completely overwhelmed by fear.
"How could I die in a place like this?!"
"I'm still trying to become Sovereign-level!"
She couldn't believe that one day she would actually be halfway into the abyss of death. After reaching the Master level, this was the first time she had been reduced to just two tails.
At this moment, Fox Nine no longer had the will to fight.
She wanted only to escape, to flee to a place where the monster on the other side, even more monstrous than herself, could not find her.
Azrael remained impassive in the face of this. Beside him stood his cards, who were in mostly intact condition.
He let out a sigh, waved his hand, and said, "Kill her."
With that, the cards pursued Fox Nine, who had already fled.
Deafening wails echoed across the sky, and a scarlet rain of blood dripped down across Korea territory.
Near Suseong County, Kim Woo-bin and a group of resistance soldiers stared blankly at the huge demon fox, the blood-stained sky, and the cards pursuing it.
Only after all the figures vanished from view did everyone gradually regain their composure.
"That's a Master-level demon!"
No one had expected that, on such an ordinary day, they would witness the fall of such a formidable Master.
Compared to the others, Kim Woo-bin saw more.
The image of the young man with his arms folded atop a giant wooden figure flashed through his mind, and he subconsciously muttered, "My benefactor."
Meanwhile, Azrael and his cards had already pursued Fox Nine into the territory of the small nation controlled by her.
At this moment, the people of the small country, who had lived under the bloody rule of demons for countless years, looked up in bewilderment at the scene in the sky that would never have occurred in normal times.
Even gods can bleed.
As the only Master-level demon in the small country, Fox Nine naturally occupied the top of the food chain, and therefore, in the small country, she was the supreme god.
But it was not until today that the humans of this land realized that gods could also be hurt, could even die.
And the ones who caused all this seemed to be humans like themselves.
The flame of hope silently ignited in the hearts of some people, and they realized that they were not the livestock that those man-eating monsters claimed they were.
The demons in the small country were now filled with only fear.
After all, even Fox Lord had become so miserable, and their survival as minions would surely not have a good end in the future.
In the sky, Fox Nine fled all the way and finally saw the secret realm where she was born.
She plunged in, bellowing, "Everyone, come and protect me!"
Having established herself in the small kingdom for so many years, the demon fox naturally had loyal followers.
Unfortunately, even the strongest among them was only at the Diamond level.
At this moment, Azrael and his cards also entered the secret realm.
The young man glanced at the demons surrounding the demon fox and curled his lips in boredom.
"A useless move."