The Approaching Exorcist

"Hmm?"

In the dead of night, Leo had just emerged from the unfinished entertainment facility and was about to leave when he suddenly lifted his gaze, as if sensing something.

"What is it?"

Yukino Yukinoshita, who had been hurrying to catch up while carrying her school bag, asked in confusion the moment she saw Leo stop in his tracks.

"It's nothing." Leo stared in one direction, smiling as if he had locked onto prey. "Just some eyesores have arrived."

Eyesores?

Yukino Yukinoshita was filled with confusion, but before she could ask for clarification, several figures came sprinting from the direction Leo was watching at an incredible speed.

They were clearly not ordinary people. After all, ordinary people didn't possess such speed, nor could they move like these individuals—leaping across walls and the tops of street lamps, approaching silently like ghosts.

"That is..."

Yukino Yukinoshita saw the full appearance of those people, and her expression couldn't help but change.

After becoming a devil, Yukino Yukinoshita naturally possessed night vision, so even from a distance, she could clearly see the appearance of the newcomers.

It was a group of clerics, some dressed in priest attire, others in nun habits.

"People from the church?"

Yukino Yukinoshita easily identified the origin of this group, and her heart couldn't help but tighten.

Leo, however, was different from Yukino Yukinoshita; he only looked at the person in the lead.

It was a nun dressed in a very traditional style.

She had beautiful long blonde hair that couldn't be hidden by her veil even in the dark of night. Her features were those of a classic Western beauty, and her figure was so well-proportioned that it couldn't be concealed even by the nun habit that covered her skin. A pair of emerald eyes shone in the night, dignified and compelling.

The nun led several priests as they broke in, coming to a sudden halt once they saw Leo and Yukino Yukinoshita.

"Devils!"

The moment the priests saw Leo and Yukino Yukinoshita, they immediately assumed an offensive stance.

However, the leading nun raised her hand, stopping them.

"Don't move. You are no match for him."

The nun's voice had a sweetness that felt completely at odds with her identity as a cleric, giving anyone who heard it a tingling sensation down their spine.

Leo watched as she held back her colleagues and gave a sudden smile.

"It really is you."

Leo's tone was nothing like that of someone meeting an old adversary; it sounded more like he was greeting an acquaintance with whom he shared a twisted fate.

"Oh my, I never expected to run into you in a place like this."

The nun also offered a charming smile. Her smile and voice were as sweet as her appearance, and the way she greeted Leo was just as familiar, yet there was an indescribable chill in her eyes.

"You know her?"

Yukino Yukinoshita felt a bit sickened by the nun's saccharine demeanor. She frowned and asked Leo.

Leo nodded noncommittally and spoke to Yukino Yukinoshita.

"Her name is Sharon Holygrail. She is one of the strongest exorcists in the local church of Chiba Prefecture, known as pure sharon. Ever since she was transferred here from the church headquarters three years ago, she has been hounding me. She's a devil slayer who is gentle on the surface, but cold-blooded and unscrupulous in reality."

Leo's words took Yukino Yukinoshita by surprise.

"The strongest exorcist... and she's been hounding you for three whole years?"

From this single sentence, it was easy to tell just how troublesome this person was.

After all, an exorcist capable of hounding a high-class devil for three full years could hardly be considered some run-of-the-mill small fry.

"Three years ago, I wasn't a high-class devil yet." Leo could naturally tell what Yukino Yukinoshita was thinking and immediately explained, "Of course, I wasn't far off from becoming one back then, so she does have some real skill. You'd better be careful."

Hearing this, before Yukino Yukinoshita could respond, Sharon spoke up first.

"Coming from you, that sounds quite ironic." Sharon's smile didn't waver. "If an exorcist who hasn't been able to do anything to you in three whole years can't claim the title of 'strongest,' then who can?"

As she spoke, Sharon cast a glance at Yukino Yukinoshita.

"That must be the peerage member you took in a month ago, right? I haven't congratulated you on your promotion to high-class devil yet!"

The last time Sharon had encountered Leo, he hadn't been a high-class devil yet.

Therefore, this was their first meeting since Leo's promotion, but it was clear that Sharon had been keeping a close eye on him, investigating every change and action he had taken during this time.

"Coming from you, that sounds more like sarcasm." Leo said to Sharon with a mocking smile. "What? Can't handle me, so you're planning to set your sights on my peerage?"

Yukino Yukinoshita's expression tightened instantly.

"How could that be?" Sharon said with a beaming smile. "If I were to take action against a daughter of a prominent Chiba Prefecture family, even with a legitimate reason, it would lead to a lot of trouble later on. So, even if I ran into the second young lady of the Yukinoshita family out in public, I would simply pretend I didn't see her."

These words didn't make Yukino Yukinoshita feel relieved; instead, she felt looked down upon, and a look of displeasure appeared on her tense face.

"Do you think I'd believe your nonsense?" Leo scoffed. "It's not like I don't know how cold-blooded and unscrupulous you are when dealing with devils. Cut the act—don't force me to send you to hell right here."

The smile on Sharon's face vanished instantly.

The next moment, accompanied by a "boom" of displaced air, Sharon's figure suddenly vanished, kicking up a gust of wind in her wake.

"----!"

Standing beside Leo, Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly looked up, her expression changing drastically as she stared into the air.

Sharon had leaped high into the air at some point, raising her long, slender leg before plummeting downward, slamming her foot into the ground.

"Boom!"

In an instant, it was as if a massive iron ball had smashed down from the sky. Sharon's heel struck the earth with such force that the ground shattered, sending gravel flying and whipping up a violent gale. The display of power was staggering.

Leo and Yukino Yukinoshita both leaped backward a second before the impact, narrowly avoiding the heavy blow.

"You...!"

After regaining her footing, Yukino Yukinoshita's temper flared. Just as she was about to lash out, she realized she had been surrounded by a group of priests.

The priests pulled hilt-like objects from their robes, and sharp blades of light instantly extended from them. Alarm bells rang in Yukino Yukinoshita's mind.

Light is poison. That was the first thought that crossed her mind, echoing Leo's past warnings.

There was no doubt that these priests were exorcists of the church—individuals blessed by God who used light weapons forged from the light power of angels to eradicate devils.

The weapons they held in their hands were light swords designed specifically for exorcism.

Her devil instincts told her that if she were touched by those, the damage would be immense. It might even be worse than the wound she sustained when the fallen angel Vaden pierced her abdomen.

"...Move aside. I don't want to clash with you."

Yukino Yukinoshita said this, if only for the sake of it.

However, the priests attacked without a word, swinging their light swords and slashing at her without mercy.

"Tch...!"

Left with no choice, Yukino Yukinoshita clicked her tongue and released her demonic power, conjuring a freezing chill to counter them.

While Yukino Yukinoshita was entangled with the group of priests, Leo was being kept busy by Sharon.

The beautiful foreign nun held a dagger-sized light sword in each hand, her figure moving like a gust of wind as she lunged toward Leo, unleashing a relentless barrage of attacks.

"Swish—swish—swish—swish—swish—"

Accompanied by the constant sound of air being sliced, the light swords tore through the atmosphere, leaving long trails of light as they slashed toward Leo's body.

Her sharp strikes were far more sophisticated, faster, and more dangerous than the reckless charging of the stray devil from earlier.

If it had been Yukino Yukinoshita, she might not have been able to handle such an onslaught in her flustered state and would likely have suffered a significant injury.

But Leo had been dealing with Sharon for three years; naturally, he was more than capable of handling her offensive.

"Still as merciless as ever with your offensive. You can be laughing and talking to someone one second, and taking their life silently the next. You truly live up to your reputation as the infamous devil slayer."

Leo held an unconscious young girl in his arms, yet his movements were not the least bit sluggish. He shifted his footing like a butterfly weaving through flowers, flickering constantly amidst the crisscrossing trajectories of light to evade Sharon's attacks one by one.

"Weren't you the one who called me cold-blooded and unscrupulous? Why should I hold back then?"

Sharon didn't seem to expect she could take Leo down easily. As she responded, she suddenly threw the light sword in her hand, sending it flying toward Leo's face.

Leo had just tilted his head to dodge the two incoming light blades when he immediately saw Sharon pull a handgun from beneath her nun habit and pull the trigger repeatedly, aiming straight at his chest.

Instantly, light bullets erupted from the muzzle, streaking toward Leo.

That gun was also a type of light weapon. It wasn't loaded with ordinary ammunition, but with light bullets, making it silent and impossible to guard against.

Leo had just finished his evasive maneuver when a massive wave of light bullets arrived. The shots were so fast and fierce that there was no time to dodge a second time.

"Hum!"

Without hesitation, Leo released his demonic power, condensing it into a barrier.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—"

The light bullets struck the barrier of demonic power, creating a rhythmic clatter as particles of light scattered like sparks.

Seeing this, Sharon narrowed her eyes. Just as she was about to charge at Leo again, several magic circles suddenly appeared around her.

"Boom!"

A staggering shockwave erupted from within the magic circles, striking the spot where Sharon stood and triggering a thunderous roar.