"How could such a thing happen?"

Azrael frowned, once again reminded of just how vast and incomprehensible this world truly was.

George VII and Apache, standing beside him, also sensed the aura of this newly emerged Master-level demon. While they noticed something peculiar about its presence, neither showed particular concern.

Fortunately, this terrifying aura emanated solely from within the secret realm, its master hadn't yet emerged into the physical world.

The reason was straightforward: George VII and Apache's cards had successfully contained it within the dimensional boundary.

But neither of them possessed Azrael's capabilities. Fighting three powerful Master-level demons simultaneously was already stretching their limits, let alone the appearance of a fourth with an unusually potent presence.

George VII's expression darkened, though relief flickered beneath his grim mask. He was grateful to have three Master-level Lore Cardians on his side. Even if they couldn't achieve victory, at least they wouldn't face defeat.

He had initially brought in the Empire of Aetherlight and the Indo-American Federation to create a counterbalance, but now that alliance had become Great Britain's lifeline.

At that realization, he couldn't help but release a quiet breath.

Inside the secret realm.

Five giant dragons of varying colors engaged in fierce battle against a swarm of cards.

The most striking was a dragon that shimmered with rainbow-colored brilliance in the sunlight. From this magnificent beast emanated the strange aura that Azrael and the others had detected.

The seven-hued dragon opened its massive maw, and a breath of prismatic light instantly engulfed the swarm of cards.

As it suppressed its enemies, the dragon's thoughts churned silently. This strange world. Ever since its arrival, everything had felt wrong. Strange people. Strange powers.

Fortunately, everything remained within its control.

Just as that comforting thought crossed the dragon's mind, a giant fox draped in purple armor charged toward it, defying its devastating attacks.

"Outrageous!"

The dragon could tell, of course, that this wasn't a real fox, but rather two young men controlling it through some unknown means.

However, having fought for that person across countless worlds for so long, the dragon had witnessed many bizarre phenomena. This was hardly the strangest.

With that thought, it extinguished its breath and flapped its enormous wings, soaring high into the sky.

Seeing this, the other four dragons immediately scattered, no longer engaging with the opposition's cards.

Faced with such an unprecedented situation, the cards on the battlefield undoubtedly realized something catastrophic was about to occur.

Naruto and Sasuke, naturally, wouldn't simply stand there idly. They immediately fled.

It wasn't that they didn't want to stop their opponent, it was simply too late.

A dazzling rainbow-colored meteorite plummeted from the sky, making not even a whisper of sound.

No, it wasn't that it made no sound, but that its speed surpassed the speed of sound itself.

Only when the meteorite impacted the ground did a shrill, piercing shriek of displaced air finally ring out.

BOOM!

In a brief instant, brilliant iridescent energy began rapidly expanding in all directions from the meteorite's impact point.

Such a terrifying attack caused George VII and Apache, who stood outside the secret realm, to immediately pale.

Watching the trembling, expanding spatial rift before them, like a torn wound in reality itself, both men instinctively whispered in unison, "Is this truly a Master-level card?!"

The situation was rapidly spiraling beyond their control.

Azrael, however, managed to maintain his composure. After all, the world was vast enough that occasional freaks would inevitably appear.

Rather, for a Master-level demon capable of devouring its own kind, this level of power wasn't particularly shocking. Azrael himself possessed numerous methods capable of causing such devastation.

Fortunately, George VII and Apache were veteran Master-level Lore Cardians, and some of their cards had survived the onslaught.

[Destroyer Carrier Storm Tlaloc] and [Earth Mother Goddess Danu].

The former belonged to Apache, the latter to George VII. Together with Azrael's Naruto and Sasuke, these were the remaining cards still active within the secret realm.

King George VII's face was visibly grim at the current situation, but he forced himself to control his turbulent emotions. He turned to Azrael and Apache and said, "I know this isn't the full extent of either of your capabilities right now."

"Please give it your all. Upon completion, your compensation will be increased to ten Master-level materials."

His voice trembled as he spoke.

Even for Great Britain, twenty Master-level materials represented a staggering expense.

King George VII was well aware that Azrael and Apache weren't exerting their full strength. After all, he would have done the same in their position.

He hadn't intended to raise the stakes further, but the situation was deteriorating rapidly. He gritted his teeth and increased the reward.

After all, Azrael and Apache could simply walk away if things became too dangerous, but King George VII couldn't, unless he was willing to become a king in exile, begging for France's protection.

Upon hearing his words, Azrael raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised that George VII was willing to pay such a steep price.

After a brief moment's consideration, he summoned Artoria.

The next instant, the tall, blond, and aloof King, enhanced by the Holy Lance's divine power, materialized beside him.

Everyone present displayed different reactions upon witnessing this.

George VII had simply wanted Azrael to stop holding back and quickly unleash whatever powerful abilities he possessed, including that devastating card that could expel a Sovereign-level demon.

Therefore, he had never expected the young man to possess a third Master-level card.

"Lord Azrael..."

George VII opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.

Elsewhere, upon witnessing this scene, Apache's already grim expression darkened even further.

Disbelief consumed him.

The Indo-American Federation's intelligence division had already overestimated Azrael's capabilities, but they hadn't expected the young man to possess three Master-level cards!

He himself only commanded four!

The crucial difference was how long he had been a Master-level Lore Cardian, while Azrael had only recently achieved that rank.

There was no comparison.

Apache's eye twitched uncontrollably, and he couldn't help but think: Something is wrong. He must possess some secret method. I must inform Lord Edley after this is over.

With that thought, the brown-skinned man forced himself to control his expression, avoiding any outward display of emotion. He then summoned his only remaining Master-level card.

Unlike King George VII and Apache, Leon was completely stunned.

He recognized the identity of the Master-level card Azrael had just summoned.

"King Arthur?!"

Although the card's appearance had changed dramatically since he'd encountered her at the Emerald level, he still recognized Artoria.

"King Arthur can be promoted to Master-level?!"

Leon's face filled with bewilderment, drawing the attention of his siblings.

His loss of composure wasn't surprising. After all, even after so many years of the Secret Realm's existence, the Celtic mythology's Supreme God [Dagda] in Great Britain was only Master-level, or Sovereign-level, depending on the Lore Cardian's skill.

As for King Arthur...

Honestly, Leon had already found it absurd the first time he saw the Emerald-ranked [Knight King Artoria].

But he had never imagined she could ascend to the Master level.

Leon was utterly bewildered about what unique qualities King Arthur possessed that allowed her to reach such heights.

"Could it be some fusion with Vatican mythology?" The Holy Grail had appeared in Azrael's arsenal, so the prince could only speculate in that direction. "Maybe it's just raw talent."

After a moment's deliberation, Leon finally felt relieved. Why should he bother analyzing such a freak of nature?

He then stole a glance at King George VII and noticed the king seemed oblivious to the blond woman's true identity.

Then again, no one could have imagined the Knight King could be female, and yet still ascend to the Master level.

Inside the secret realm.

After unleashing its previous devastating attack, the rainbow dragon's vast eyes gazed upon its surviving opponents in the distance.

"Remarkable! They actually withstood it!"

A glint of surprise flashed through its ancient eyes. That had been a savage attack, one few creatures could withstand.

But merely blocking it was meaningless. The dragon's true goal had already been achieved.

The cards, which had previously outnumbered the dragons, were now instantly at a disadvantage.

The four dragons that had vanished without a trace moments ago suddenly reappeared on the battlefield, their predatory gazes fixed intently upon the remaining cards.

The crimson dragon, the first to have escaped the secret realm only to be dragged back by the mighty Nine-Tails, glared viciously at the now-dispersed fox with bloodthirsty eyes.

Just as the battle was about to reignite, two unfamiliar auras suddenly manifested on the scene, drawing the rainbow dragon's attention.

Turning its massive head, it observed two more powerful beings of equivalent level emerge from the spatial rift.

One appeared to be a metal creature of some kind.

Nothing particularly noteworthy.

The other was a human woman.

"No... a dragon?" As the Dragon King, the rainbow dragon was naturally sensitive to the auras of its own kind. It sensed dragon blood flowing through the blonde woman clad in brilliant silver armor. "Besides dragon essence, there's also something... unpleasant."

With a contemplative thought, the dragon opened its mouth and exhaled.

A torrent of rainbow flames, brimming with terrifying destructive energy, instantly erupted toward Artoria.

Witnessing this, she simply raised her right hand. Golden light split the dragon flames cleanly in half, then surged forward in a devastating beam straight toward the dragon.

Facing Artoria's counterattack, the dragon didn't flinch.

The golden energy bombarded its rainbow-colored scales, then splattered harmlessly in all directions.

"Boring."

The dragon shook its head slightly, feeling no pain whatsoever from the attack.

This level of power couldn't hurt it in the slightest.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke had disengaged from their powerful Nine-Tails fusion, immediately transforming into their [Ashura Nine-Tails Mode] and [Susanoo: Tailed Beast Cloak] forms, respectively.

After all, the mighty Nine-Tails fusion was already struggling against this opponent. They had to switch forms and deliver a decisive blow!

Seeing this transformation, the crimson dragon froze mid-flight, its instincts screaming warnings not to approach.

But if it didn't move, Naruto and Sasuke certainly would.

In the crimson dragon's horrified vision, two enormous creatures, seemingly grinning with predatory delight, rushed directly toward it.

If dragons possessed fur, it would have stood on end in terror.

Observing this, the rainbow dragon immediately focused its full attention on Naruto and Sasuke, who now posed a genuine threat.

Just as it prepared to move and support the crimson dragon, a subtle whistling sound suddenly echoed in its ears.

The rainbow dragon turned its head and witnessed a figure wielding a golden spear charging toward it at incredible speed.

"What a foolish move!"

It swung its massive claws, striking fierciously at the blonde woman approaching it.

The next moment, tremendous force erupted from the point of impact.

Ding, ding, ding!

With a series of crisp sounds, in the blink of an eye, Artoria shattered several of the rainbow dragon's sharp talons.

Witnessing this, the dragon's pupils contracted sharply. It quickly retracted its injured claws. Then, with a swift rotation of its massive body, its scale-covered tail whipped toward the tiny figure before it.

THUD!

Artoria slammed into the distant ground like a cannonball.

The next instant, she burst forth from the swirling smoke once more.

A stream of searing air emanated from the dragon's nostrils, instantly dispersing the obscuring smoke from the battlefield.

"I was mistaken."

The dragon admitted internally that it had underestimated its opponent. The tall, blonde humanoid woman standing before it was indeed worthy of fighting at full strength.

With that acknowledgment, the dragon charged forward, its forelimbs, now fully regrown with razor-sharp claws, slashing upward at Artoria.

The keen aura instantly shattered the earth beneath them.

Facing this terrifying assault, Artoria neither dodged nor evaded. Her left hand, currently unoccupied, swung lightly. Several beams of golden light shot toward the descending claws.

The rainbow dragon's attack halted instantly. It could only watch helplessly as its enemy charged directly toward it.

But as the Dragon King, it wouldn't simply accept death. In the blink of an eye, a breath of devastating force gathered in its mouth and erupted before it.

Whoosh!

A rainbow radiance instantly engulfed Artoria's figure.

Meanwhile, George VII and Apache, standing outside the secret realm, had received messages from their respective cards.

They understood, naturally, that Azrael's newly summoned card had engaged the strongest of the demons.

However, after witnessing the enemy's overwhelming might, neither expected the blonde card to actually slay such a terrifying opponent.

Therefore, George VII said sternly, "Lord Azrael, it falls to you to hold that one off from now on. Once we've dealt with the other Master-level demons, we'll come to your aid."

In the King's tactical assessment, this seemed the safest option.

Unfortunately, if he could recognize this strategy, the rainbow dragon within the secret realm would certainly see through it as well. It wouldn't stand idle and watch its subordinates be slaughtered.

After suppressing Artoria with its breath attack, the dragon began moving toward the distant battlefield.

The rainbow dragon's first priority was supporting the crimson dragon being assaulted by Naruto and Sasuke, after all, it was on the verge of death.

Artoria naturally wouldn't allow such interference.

She prepared to cripple it.

The Lion King, who had remained silent since the battle's beginning, now opened her mouth slightly. Her cold voice echoed across the battlefield with absolute authority.

"Let me show you."

"The Storm Anchor that tears apart the sky and binds the earth."

As her voice fell, golden light descended from her hand to the ground. Then a presence that made every creature on the battlefield instinctively freeze emanated from the heavens above.

"Holy Lance, lift anchor."

"The Spear That Shines to the End of the World, Rhongomyniad!"