The roars, wails, crashing sounds, and all the other noises that had echoed through the Entertainment Facility fell completely silent as ice shards and dust filled the air.
"Phew..."
Only then did Yukino Yukinoshita lower her raised hand and let out a soft breath, as if trying to dispel the complicated emotions in her heart.
"Clap, clap, clap!"
Leo had watched the whole thing from the sidelines. Only now did he begin to applaud, admiration plain on his face and in his eyes.
"Well done, Yukino," Leo said with a smile. "I thought you might not be able to bring yourself to do it."
"...I suppose it helped that the monster didn't look human," Yukino Yukinoshita replied, her expression troubled. "If he'd looked human, maybe I really wouldn't have been able to do it."
She didn't want to seem weak, but she had just ended a living being's life with her own hands. No matter how she looked at it, it was hard to pretend she felt nothing.
For Yukino Yukinoshita, who had been an ordinary human just a month ago, killing someone with her own hands was something she couldn't take in stride, even if she was who she was.
Fortunately, that Stray Devil wasn't human anymore. He was nothing but a monster, and he had committed such unspeakable atrocities. That was what had let Yukino Yukinoshita steel herself.
Otherwise, her performance tonight would have been considerably worse.
"You did very well." Leo was quite satisfied. Seeing that Yukino still looked troubled, he reached out and ruffled her hair. "To perform like that in your first battle is something plenty of people who grew up around the supernatural can't manage."
"I can tell you with complete certainty: tonight, you did better than at least ninety percent of the Devils in my peerage."
"And your opponent was just a damn piece of trash. There's no need to look so troubled."
Yukino silently let Leo ruffle her hair for a few seconds before swatting his hand away and returning to her usual self.
"I know. He deserved to die, and what I did was right. You don't need to comfort me."
Her opponent was someone beyond the reach of the human world's laws, so he had to be dealt with according to the rules of the supernatural world.
And in that world, he had been sentenced to death, with no injustice done to him.
Since that was the case, what she had done was absolutely right. After all, she had accepted the task of carrying out his sentence, just like law enforcement officers in the human world.
Thinking of it that way helped calm Yukino down.
Then another question came to mind.
"That Stray Devil just now must have been a vicious person even before he was reincarnated, right?" Yukino hesitated for a while before finally voicing her question. "So why did he seem... kind of weak?"
That was right. Weak.
Her opponent was someone who had given himself over to power and desire, even at the cost of becoming a monster. Yukino had thought someone like that would be as dangerous as Leo had said earlier. She had even considered summoning the Ice Princess and using her Sacred Gear from the very start.
But in the end, he hadn't been nearly as frightening as she'd imagined. Apart from his impressive speed, he hadn't done anything that left Yukino awestruck.
Could someone like that really deserve to be called "dangerous"?
Yukino found it hard to reconcile.
Leo merely smiled.
"You think he was weak?" he said meaningfully. "Then what if I told you that, in terms of strength alone, that Stray Devil was actually stronger than the Fallen Angel who killed you a month ago?"
"What?" Yukino froze, then stared at him in disbelief. "That monster... was stronger than the Fallen Angel from a month ago?"
Could that be true?
Even now, Fallen Angel Vaden still cast a shadow over Yukino's heart.
She remembered that day vividly. She hadn't even been able to escape him. He had simply turned around, appeared behind her, and run a spear through her abdomen, killing her.
Although Yukino had still been an ordinary human then, that didn't mean she was a defenseless girl.
She was naturally talented in many areas. She was smart, got excellent grades, and was skilled at every kind of housework. Whether it was cooking, laundry, cleaning, or anything else, she could do it to an excellent standard. She was practically a master of household chores. She had also dabbled in horseback riding and knew how to ride. Though her stamina was poor, she had studied Aikido, and if endurance wasn't a concern, she could perform above average in all kinds of sports—well enough to hold her own against club members who practiced day after day.
The fact that Vaden had caught up and killed her after she'd barely managed to run a few steps showed just how powerful he was.
Yukino had always thought he was strong. She never expected Leo to tell her that the Fallen Angel was weaker than the Stray Devil she had just casually toyed with.
Seeing Yukino's stunned expression, Leo didn't keep her in suspense. He explained.
"That Fallen Angel could easily kill the old you, but he was using supernatural power to bully an ordinary human. That doesn't prove anything."
"Don't let his big talk fool you. He was always going on about how everyone else was an inferior life-form, but he was only a Two-Wing Low-Class Fallen Angel, at the very bottom of any faction."
"As for the Stray Devil just now, before he betrayed his master, he was already close to the level of a Middle-Class Devil. After modifying his body and degenerating into that form, he crossed fully into that tier. He was considerably stronger than an ordinary Low-Class Devil, Low-Class Angel, or Low-Class Fallen Angel."
If Vaden and that Stray Devil had fought, Vaden probably could have won.
But that was because he was a Fallen Angel who wielded Light Power that countered Devils, while the Stray Devil had been half-mad. Even though he was stronger, he could only charge around like he had just done. He couldn't use any decent combat techniques. That was why Yukino had been able to toy with him so easily, and why Vaden could ultimately defeat him and claim victory with the Light Power that countered him.
But if they were judged solely by their strength on paper, the Stray Devil had undoubtedly been stronger than Vaden. For one thing, his incredible speed, derived from the "Knight" class, was beyond what a mere Low-Class Fallen Angel could match.
"The reason you thought he was weak is, first, that he'd degenerated to the point where he'd lost the discipline needed for combat and become a beast that did nothing but roar and charge around. And second... you're underestimating how strong you are now."
Leo didn't hold back in praising Yukino. He gave her the assessment she deserved.
"From the moment you were reincarnated, you had enough Demonic Power to stand out among Middle-Class Devils. And for the past month, you've been diligently reading and learning all the techniques for controlling and using Demonic Power that the books describe."
"The books in our manor's library aren't cheap volumes you can find just anywhere. They're ancient books treasured by my Eligos Clan for generations. All the knowledge they contain is incredibly valuable and advanced. Anyone who learned even a trick or two from them could distinguish themselves among ordinary Devils."
"So you've already transformed without even realizing it. Even without a Sacred Gear, you'd be rated on par with a Middle-Class Devil."
As Yukino stared at him in a daze, Leo patted her shoulder and spoke with heartfelt pride.
"Your talent and excellence far surpass what I expected. You've shown me that even in our world, you're still the undisputed genius you were in the human world."
At least in terms of pure talent, Leo, with his half Pure-blood Devil heritage, was inferior to Yukino.
At the very least, when he first entered the supernatural world, it had taken him a full three months of hard training to reach the strength of a Middle-Class Devil.
He had been young then, but his soul belonged to an adult, and Demonic Power didn't have much to do with the age of one's body. Even a very young child could match a High-Class Devil, as long as their Demonic Power was strong enough and their control techniques were advanced enough. That wouldn't be strange at all.
"If that Fallen Angel were still around, you could avenge yourself with your own strength, and toy with him just as one-sidedly as you did with that Stray Devil." Leo sounded absolutely certain. "That's how strong you are now. You can be proud of it."
Leo's words swept through Yukino's heart like a gust of wind.
As she looked at Leo smiling at her, she felt an inexplicable emotion welling up inside.
"Um..."
Yukino wanted to say something, but she was so bad at dealing with people that she had no idea what to say.
"It's a shame I didn't get to see you use your Sacred Gear. I wonder how strong you'd be if you went all out," Leo murmured, as if he hadn't noticed. "Looks like I'll have to find you a stronger opponent next time. Otherwise, it won't be much of a trial."
Yukino fell silent.
"The matter's settled. We should head back, shouldn't we?"
After a long pause, Yukino turned and said this.
"Wait." Leo narrowed his eyes at the Entertainment Facility. "Let's go inside first and check whether anyone's still alive, and how many were injured or killed."
Remembering what the Stray Devil had said, Yukino's expression darkened. She nodded.
The two of them walked together into the building, which lay shrouded in darkness...
Before you continue