The First Glimpse of a Queen's Presence, S-Class

"What's wrong? What's wrong? Weren't you acting so cocky just now? How come you can't even fight back anymore?" Cain jeered as blood-red spears shot at Yuri from around him like machine-gun fire. Yuri's earlier antics had clearly infuriated him.

Yuri swung the Red Queen again and again, deflecting the blood-red spears and protecting both himself and Sonia in his arms.

He taunted, "You're no good either. With strength like that, how long is it going to take you to send me down there?"

Seeing that Yuri was still so arrogant despite being at a disadvantage, Cain's forehead bulged with veins. "Is that so?! Then let me show you just how terrifying the Blood Devil is with his Demon Heart restored!"

With that, Cain's magic power surged once more. He seemed to have completely fused with the Demon Heart during their fight.

His skin, pale as death in the moonlight, began to flush with blood, and the veins clearly visible beneath it writhed constantly.

The veins burst through his skin like horsehair worms. Once outside, they grew in the wind, rapidly swelling from slender earthworms into thick tentacles.

The tentacles then curled back up Cain's body, enveloping him like a suit of impenetrable black armor. His body swelled to nearly three meters tall.

At the same time, two sharp horns sprouted from his forehead, his mouth filled with jagged fangs, his hands and feet turned into claws, and his eyes glowed a savage crimson.

Cain was now probably even stronger than he had been at his peak three hundred years ago. He had officially joined the ranks of the S-Class.

"Devil Trigger..." Yuri murmured. Suddenly, without looking back, he tossed Sonia high into the air, sending her flying away.

Devil Trigger was an ability all devils possessed. It was not some special magic that amplified their magic power, but a devil's peak state... or rather, their true form.

In this age when humans ruled the world, many devils chose to disguise themselves as humans.

Though doing so brought them many conveniences, it also restricted their power to a certain extent.

So when they needed to use their full strength, devils would return to their true bodies and fully reveal their devil forms. This was what was known as "Devil Trigger."

However, it was worth mentioning that a devil without a Demon Heart could not use Devil Trigger. That was also why Cain had not confronted Yuri head-on at first; he had not yet fully fused with the Demon Heart.

Of course, everything above applied only to pureblood devils.

Under normal circumstances, half-devils of mixed blood like Sonia and Yuri could never activate Devil Trigger of their own accord. It could only happen if they were completely consumed by devil power and went berserk.

After all, half the blood flowing through their bodies was human.

Sonia had been able to do it after absorbing the Demon Heart and becoming a complete devil, but she had reverted to her original half-devil form after her heart was ripped out.

Seeing this, Cain immediately sneered. "After witnessing my power, you finally decided to abandon that burden? It seems those human emotions of yours amount to nothing more than that."

Yuri was not intimidated by Cain's current presence. He merely smiled. "Feelings and bonds are sometimes stronger than you imagine."

As soon as he finished speaking, an angry squawk came from a certain disgruntled big bird behind him. "Hey, watch it, bastard!"

Griffon had arrived on the battlefield.

Two minutes earlier...

"No, we have to help him." Watching Yuri being pressed back by Cain not far away, Erza suddenly stood up.

"Help him? Who? You?" Griffon glanced at Erza, whose magic power was depleted and whose injuries were still serious, and tried to dissuade her. "Forget it. After that guy Cain devoured Sonia's heart, his Demon Heart was fully restored. If you go up there, you'll only get in Yuri's way."

"But..." Erza was at a loss for words, because she knew Griffon was right.

But she had been powerless when Sonia's heart was ripped out earlier. Was she supposed to stand by and watch Yuri die in front of her too?

She said urgently, "Are we just supposed to stand here and do nothing?!"

Griffon cocked his head and looked at her. "Not exactly."

"What can we do?" Erza asked eagerly.

"Whatever we do, it won't involve you." Griffon gave the injured girl, who had no sense of her own condition, an exasperated look. "Relax, strawberry girl. Leave the helping to me. I'm Yuri's contracted devil, after all. Don't mistake me for some decoration who can only crack jokes."

Erza looked at him in silence for a while, then said thoughtfully, "You can make snarky remarks too."

"I can do a whole lot more than that!" Griffon protested, flapping his wings in anger.

After that little farce, Griffon flew resolutely toward the battlefield, a grave expression on his face!

Less than a minute later, he flew back.

"So you just went for a quick lap..." Erza was speechless.

"Says who? Can't you see I've got someone with me?" Griffon indicated the figure he was carrying in his claws.

"Sonia!" Erza came to her senses and hurried forward to take her.

Seeing Sonia's tightly closed eyes and the stillness of her breath, Erza could not help but stare blankly.

Because of her past experiences, she had few friends now—very few, in fact.

But she admired Sonia from the bottom of her heart.

Strong, brave, calm, gentle... If hatred and devil power had not blinded her, she would have been a radiant girl.

Yet now she had ended up like this...

"Smack!"

"She's not dead yet!" Griffon snapped Erza out of her private grief with a slap of his wing and explained, "With the combined power of the Plant Devil and the Blood Devil, her life force has become remarkably tenacious. The devil blood left in her body won't let her die so easily. As long as we can get the Demon Heart back in time, she can still be saved."

Erza listened, utterly bewildered.

She could still be saved after her heart was ripped out? That was neither scientific nor magical!

Griffon glanced at her and laughed. "What a fuss. You really are an ignorant little girl."

Veins bulged on Erza's forehead, but knowing time was short, she decided not to argue with Griffon.

"Then let's hurry and get Sonia's heart back!"

"Come back!" Griffon grabbed the fired-up Erza and pulled her back. "I already told you, you'll only get in the way. Stay here and behave."

Griffon's words brought Erza back to reality once more. The feeling of helplessness was just like back at the Tower of Heaven, when she had watched Grandpa Rob sacrifice himself to protect her.

She did not want to lose another companion, but right now she was nothing but a burden.

Erza clenched her fists, unsure what to do.

"It's all right to rely on your companions' strength a little when the time is right."

For some reason, those words echoed in her mind. The guild master had said them to her before she set out.

At the time, however, she had not understood what he meant. After all, she was on a solo mission.

As for companions...

Erza looked down at the unconscious Sonia, then glanced at Yuri as he fought. Finally, she turned her gaze back to Griffon, who was watching the action from the side.

Having made up her mind, she said, "Please help Yuri defeat that guy and get Sonia's heart back."

As she had said before, since Yuri was so strong, there was no reason his contracted devil Griffon should be weak.

"Sorry, I refuse..." But even faced with the girl's request, Griffon still chose to refuse.

The moment he finished speaking, however, he suddenly felt a strange presence radiating from the girl before him. Like a queen, she made him afraid to talk back.

The last time he had felt this way was when Yuri was angry.

Wh-what's going on? How did this girl suddenly become scarier than a devil?!

"I! Am! Asking! You!" Erza stepped up close to Griffon, enunciating every word.

Griffon broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly explained, "Listen to me. It's not that I won't help, but that guy Yuri... If I interfere in his fight without permission, something terrible will happen."

As he finished, Griffon delivered the warning with a grave air.

"But Sonia..."

"I told you, relax." Griffon waved a wing, unusually serious. "As long as he's fighting a devil, Yuri will never lose."