But Do You Want to Leave?

Stray Devils.

As the name suggests, they are Devils who have left their clans, no longer bound by them, and run wild outside.

At the Underworld's original publication site, remember the domain

In the Underworld, every High-Class Devil had the right to receive Evil Pieces and recruit servants into their peerage. But for that very reason, the quality of the servants recruited by High-Class Devils varied wildly. No one could guarantee that none of their servants would be reckless troublemakers.

This was especially true of Devils reincarnated from other races. They might change their temperament after gaining power, or they might have been dangerous to begin with, only to unleash their true nature once they gained power and become more Devilish than the Devils themselves.

Most Stray Devils were like that. Some refused to be controlled after gaining power; others resented being kept in check; still others developed ambitions or wickedness they should never have entertained. In the end, they chose to betray their masters—sometimes even killing them—before becoming masterless Devils and fleeing.

Simply put, Stray Devils were fugitives among the Devils: dangerous criminals with bounties on their heads.

"Has a dangerous criminal like that shown up here?"

Late at night, on the outskirts of the city, Yukino Yukinoshita appeared inside an unfinished Entertainment Facility and turned to Leo with a question.

Yukino had changed out of the Sobu High School uniform she usually wore and into clothes that were easier to move in.

She wore a plain checked shirt and cropped jeans. Her long, straight hair, usually left loose, was tied into twin ponytails. She looked a little less aloof and a little more lively.

"If the information Sona gave me is right, this should be the place."

Leo replied lazily, his hands in his pockets.

He wasn't wearing his school uniform tonight, either. Instead, he had on dark casual clothes: a black short-sleeved shirt, black slacks, and a black jacket. His whole demeanor had transformed, from a sunny, cheerful boy by day into a cool young man by night. He looked almost like an assassin who had shed his disguise and emerged from the darkness.

"Apparently, he's a cruel Devil. He was already a scumbag before he was reincarnated. He'd spilled plenty of blood even before becoming a Devil, and after that, he went completely off the rails. Not long ago, while his master was away, he killed a fellow servant he'd lived alongside, then ran off. His former master was so furious that he put out a bounty and offered a high price for the ungrateful wretch who'd betrayed him."

Leo shared what he knew, and Yukino furrowed her pretty brows.

"What was that master thinking? Why would anyone take a guy like that into their peerage?"

Yukino couldn't understand it.

If you made someone that dangerous your servant, wouldn't you worry that you might be the next victim?

She couldn't make sense of it at all.

"You're being a little too naïve." Leo could tell what she was thinking. He tapped her forehead and said, "Do you think all Devils are sunny, cheerful boys who hate evil like me? Some Devils are even more terrifying than anything you've read about."

"They don't care how many people someone they favor has killed. Humans are nothing but inferior creatures in their eyes. If someone they like can fight their way out of that crowd and strike without hesitation, they won't be disgusted. They'll admire them instead."

"So they reincarnate people like that into their peerage, or they only care about someone's talents and don't give a damn about their character. In the end, they sow the seeds of disaster."

Leo looked down on Devils like that, and thought they deserved whatever happened to them.

"Of course, some servants betray their masters simply because they're unhappy." Leo yawned. "Some were forcibly reincarnated after catching the eye of a High-Class Devil. Some couldn't accept becoming Devils and chose to fight back. Others finally snapped after being oppressed and bullied by their masters, and struck back. They aren't all reckless, dangerous criminals."

Stray Devils like those usually weren't directly hunted down, as long as their masters weren't too vicious. They were simply arrested and taken back to face strict discipline.

But this Stray Devil wasn't someone with a justifiable reason for rebelling. He was simply a villain, and his master wasn't a forgiving sort. The job was to eliminate him outright. They didn't need to bring him back alive.

"The Devil world generally doesn't turn a blind eye to Stray Devils like this. They either put out a bounty or hire Devils active in the Human World to deal with them. You could say they're enemies of everyone. Other factions also consider Stray Devils dangerous, destabilizing threats. Whether they're Angels or Fallen Angels, if they find one, they'll wipe them out."

Leo raised his eyes to the dark Entertainment Facility before them, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"By the way, the Church has Stray Exorcists, too. They're supposed to be holy servants who destroy Devils in God's name, but sometimes one of them enjoys killing Devils, or acts like a fanatical heretic who'll do anything to wipe every Devil from the world. They find meaning and pleasure in that. The Church, which worships God, usually drives those people out, considers them a threat, and secretly disposes of them. No exceptions."

"In this era, when large-scale conflicts and battles between the Three Factions have all but disappeared, you might be let go if you run into a regular Church exorcist, for one reason or another. But if you encounter one of these Stray Exorcists out in the world, they won't ignore your existence."

"So remember: when you're out and about, your greatest enemy might not be the Church. It might be one of these Strays."

Yukino drew a deep breath.

This was a world she'd never touched before, one that truly involved bloodshed and combat. She couldn't help feeling nervous.

She'd never had to deal with violence and unfathomable darkness before. Now that she was suddenly expected to face them, she couldn't calm down no matter how hard she tried.

So Yukino instinctively changed the subject.

"So anyone could leave their master and become a Stray?" Yukino asked, feigning composure. "Are you worried I might become one?"

After all, she hadn't been reincarnated willingly.

The outcome was that Leo had saved her life, but apart from that, Yukino hadn't wanted to become a Devil at first.

That was only natural. Why would anyone choose to become a Devil—evil, filthy, and ugly in the eyes of others—when they could remain human?

Putting herself in their shoes, Yukino thought it perfectly understandable that someone might be unable to accept being reincarnated as a Devil and betray their master to win their freedom.

If Leo hadn't saved her life, then, after being forcibly reincarnated as a Devil, she certainly wouldn't have compromised and obediently become someone else's servant.

With that in mind, Yukino grew curious. She wanted to know if Leo worried that she might betray him.

But Leo didn't look worried in the slightest.

That was because the servants he reincarnated were different from other servants.

Other Devils mainly relied on the power of Evil Pieces to reincarnate people. Leo had used Evil Pieces as well, but the "Peerage Transformation" trait had already connected to them. The Evil Pieces merely fulfilled the conditions needed to activate the trait; the trait itself was what truly performed the reincarnation ritual.

As mentioned earlier, the Eligos Clan's original trait was the ability to influence a warrior's will. But the "Peerage Transformation" trait had mutated into the ability to conquer a warrior's soul.

In other words, when the "Peerage Transformation" trait took effect and reincarnated Yukino as one of Leo's servants, it had already branded her soul with his mark.

She wasn't just Leo's servant in body. Her soul belonged to him, too. Even if she died somewhere, her soul would return to Leo on its own, where he could claim it.

That was also why Leo's servants instinctively felt close to him and found it easy to obey him. If they left him, they would feel inexplicably restless. Yukino had been like that earlier.

It was an instinctive response, an outward sign that their souls already belonged to Leo.

Only if Leo did something truly outrageous, making Yukino sincerely loathe him, could her revulsion overpower that instinct and make her turn against him. Otherwise, it would be difficult for her to even think of leaving him.

If Leo focused, he could also sense the location of his servants through their souls. So even if Yukino really did run away, he could find her.

In short, as long as Yukino didn't genuinely hate Leo, he had no reason to worry that she'd become a Stray Devil.

Leo looked at Yukino and suddenly smiled.

"Then, do you want to leave?"

Leo answered with a question, and Yukino froze.

"Tap..."

Before Yukino could answer, footsteps drew closer from somewhere nearby, catching both their attention.

"Who's there?!"

The approaching footsteps stirred some unpleasant memories in Yukino, and she called out without thinking.

The owner of the footsteps didn't answer. Under Leo's eerie gaze, he slowly emerged from the darkness.

"...I smell it. The scent of one of my kind."

A deep voice rang out, carrying a trace of amusement, obsession, madness, and danger.

"You caught up so quickly, huh? The Underworld's lapdogs?"

As he spoke, the figure slowly entered Yukino's view, and her pupils trembled.

The shadow reflected on the ground twisted, not human in the slightest...