What Does It Mean to Be Like a Demon?

Although Leo did not reveal that he possessed the Zenith Tempest, even so, in the eyes of Sona Shitori and Tsubaki Shinra, his improvement this time could be called incredible.

"You're probably stronger than me now, aren't you?"

Sona Shitori's expression appeared somewhat complex.

In the past, Leo had always been weaker than her. After all, Leo was only half-human, while Sona Shitori was a pure-blood devil. There had been a gap in their demonic power from birth, so in terms of strength, Sona Shitori had always been ahead of Leo.

Not to mention, Leo had only recently been promoted to a high-class devil, while Sona Shitori had already been one before coming to the human world. She had attained the rank of high-class devil much earlier than Leo, so naturally, her strength could not be weaker than his.

As a result, this gap, which had never narrowed, was now directly leveled—or even surpassed—simply because of the feedback from a single peerage devil?

Then, when Leo collected all his peerage members, how strong would he become?

"Are you trying to make me let my guard down?" Leo didn't know what Sona Shitori was thinking, but he could guess a little, and he laughed helplessly. "You are Sona Sitri. Who would dare say that just because they are stronger than you, they can beat you?"

Leo had been dealing with the young girl before him for several years and knew her abilities better than anyone.

Sona Shitori's actual strength was not considered very high among high-class devils; she couldn't even rank in the upper echelon among young devils of the same generation. However, her true strength lay not in her demonic power or raw power, but in her ability to strategize and plan.

She was intelligent and highly skilled at utilizing strategy and tactics. She could often play her opponents in the palm of her hand with precise arrangements, causing everyone who underestimated her to suffer a crushing defeat, allowing her to overcome the strong with the weak.

She once had an engagement, but she never intended to fulfill it. She even released news that she would not marry someone weaker than herself. Consequently, she made a bet with her former fiancé using a game of chess; if she won, the engagement would be unconditionally annulled, and if she lost, she would immediately bring her dowry and marry him. In the end, she won a sweeping victory, shattering her former fiancé's mentality and causing him to fall into a state of withdrawal—even though that fiancé had been significantly stronger than her.

In the future, she would also have a debut match against her childhood friend, Rias Gremory, where both sides' peerages participated in full. In terms of strength, both she and her peerage were far inferior to the Gremory peerage, the original main cast. Yet, she used her strategies to force them into a bitter struggle. Her performance was so brilliant that even the devils of the underworld marveled at it, believing she was more suited to be a "king" than the princess of the Gremory clan.

In the future that Leo knew, including the Gremory peerage, those new-generation devils who participated in one major event after another were all "cheating." Either they had a longinus holder as a peerage member, or they had found another way to possess astonishing strength. Only the Sitri peerage under Sona Shitori consisted mostly of ordinary humans; they lacked talent and ability, and there were only one or two sacred gear holders among them. Yet, she still earned the title of "one of the four kings of the new generation."

Thanks to this, the Gremory peerage, who were maxed out in talent and ability, had always regarded the Sitri peerage as a formidable enemy not to be underestimated. Even though they had fought against gods and devil kings, they were not afraid of powerful enemies, but were instead wary of the weaker Sitri peerage. It was evident they had truly been traumatized by Sona Shitori.

Therefore, seeing Sona Shitori say that he was stronger than her, Leo not only didn't feel happy, but felt a bit annoyed.

"You already have quite a few peerage members, don't you? I've only just gotten one!"

If Leo remembered correctly, Sona Shitori should have six by now.

"Recently, I discovered another talent at the academy. If nothing goes wrong, they should be a holder of a rare sacred gear." Sona Shitori smiled gently and said, "I plan to observe them for a while and then recruit them into my peerage. If you have time, you can come over and take a look for me."

"Forget it, I still have to find my own peerage members." Leo shook his head. He couldn't say he wasn't interested, but he was certainly lacking enthusiasm. "Yukino has only just reincarnated as a devil, and I still have a lot to teach her. Before that, I'd better not wander around aimlessly."

"That's fine too." Sona Shitori nodded in agreement with Leo's plan. "Sobu High School, where you attend, is also a school with a lot of potential. Besides Yukinoshita, there should still be quite a few talents there. Strive for it; perhaps you can recruit all those talents."

"I will."

Leo returned a smile to Sona Shitori and then began to talk about other topics.

It was mainly about the fallen angel from yesterday. Leo had ground the other party to dust, which posed some problems.

However, Leo's attitude toward this was firm.

"If the fallen angels had done their research properly, they would know that Yukino is someone I've claimed. I've already warned the church, yet a low-class fallen angel who just arrived dared to lay a hand on her. If he got wiped out, he has no one to blame but himself."

The fallen angels were the ones who struck first; Leo was merely retaliating. What could possibly go wrong?

"Aren't you worried about breaking the current status quo and triggering a large-scale conflict between the devils and the fallen angels?"

Sona Shitori offered a reminder, but Leo didn't take it to heart.

"It's not just the devils who don't want another war; the fallen angels can't afford one either. We don't want to break the status quo, but do they?" Leo saw things clearly, or perhaps he was simply fearless. He laughed, "The fallen angels are in the wrong. Even if a few hot-headed ones want to cause trouble, I doubt their governor general would want to see that happen. So, there's nothing to worry about for now."

"Besides, that was just a foolish low-class fallen angel. He wandered into the territory of a high-class devil—did he really expect to walk away unscathed?"

"He dared to commit violence in the middle of the street. Even if I hadn't slaughtered him, he would have been killed if he'd run into someone from the church."

Sona Shitori eventually accepted Leo's reasoning.

In truth, this matter wasn't particularly big, nor was it particularly small. It didn't involve any important figures from the fallen angel side; it was merely the life of a disobedient low-class fallen angel. Who would go out of their way to cause trouble for a high-class devil over such a minor character?

Even if they wanted to cause trouble, they would have to weigh the costs.

At the very least, in Sona Shitori's view, once she wrote up a report on today's meeting and submitted it to the Underworld, Leo would certainly be given greater importance and receive even stronger protection.

A single member of his peerage had allowed him to transform from a newly promoted high-class devil into a six-wing high-class devil, placing his strength in the upper echelon of high-class devils. What would happen once he recruited more?

Even if not every member of his peerage brought such a massive boost, the cumulative effect meant that Leo would at least become an ultimate-class devil in the future, or perhaps even reach maou-class, becoming a top-tier combat force for the Underworld.

Add to that the fact that his peerage already included a holder of a Longinus—an incredible prospect—how could the Underworld not take him seriously?

If the fallen angels wanted to cause trouble for him because of this, they would likely have to get past the maous first.

Overall, Sona Shitori had only offered her warning out of caution; she didn't truly believe it would lead to any major issues.

Therefore, after briefly pointing it out to Leo, Sona Shitori stopped discussing the matter.

"I've asked about everything I needed to. It's time for us to take our leave."

Sona Shitori glanced at the time and stood up.

"Not staying the night?"

Leo stood up as well, asking with a smile.

"I have classes tomorrow, so I'll pass." Sona Shitori adjusted her glasses and said, "Once you're finished with your business here, we can have our peerages meet and get to know each other. It won't be too late to stay over then."

"Fair enough." Leo knew he was just being polite and hadn't actually expected her to stay the night. He shrugged and said, "Give my regards to that red-haired princess of destruction."

"I will." Sona Shitori thought of her childhood friend and smiled. "She's been wanting to invite you for tea for a long time. I'll introduce you next time there's an opportunity."

"We shall take our leave, Leo, and Yukino Yukinoshita."

Tsubaki Shinra bowed once more, excusing herself on behalf of her master.

"See you next time."

Yukino Yukinoshita returned the bow, her attitude finally much better than when they had first met.

Clearly, Yukino Yukinoshita had developed a somewhat positive impression of Sona Shitori and Tsubaki Shinra; she was no longer as tense as she had been at the start.

Sona Shitori's calm and intellectual demeanor aligned well with her own preferences, and Tsubaki Shinra had been friendly toward her. Since that was the case, Yukino Yukinoshita naturally wouldn't keep her guard up indefinitely; she still understood that much about social graces.

With that, Leo and Yukino Yukinoshita accompanied Sona Shitori and Tsubaki Shinra to the basement.

"Goodbye, Leo."

"Goodbye, Sona."

"Goodbye, Yukinoshita."

"Goodbye, seniors."

After exchanging farewells, Sona Shitori and Tsubaki Shinra stepped into the magic circle together. They gradually vanished amidst the rising red light of the magic circle, departing from the manor.

"Are they really devils?" Yukino Yukinoshita watched them leave, only speaking her thoughts once the light of the magic circle had faded. "They don't feel like it at all."

"And what exactly is a devil supposed to look like? Horns, fangs, and a hideous face?" Leo glanced at Yukino Yukinoshita and said, "You are a devil now, too. In the eyes of others, do you think you look like one?"

As he spoke, Leo turned around and headed toward the upper level of the basement.

"Let's go. Back to reading. In a few days, you'll have to start learning how to be a proper devil."

Hearing this, Yukino Yukinoshita silently followed in Leo's footsteps, leaving the basement behind.