When Did You Become So Strong?

"Boom!"

A deafening roar echoed through the otherwise silent night, causing the entire area housing the entertainment facility to tremble.

Billowing dust rose from the epicenter of the blast, sending rubble and debris flying alongside the shockwave, much like the aftermath of a high-powered missile strike.

There was no fire at the scene, but the shockwave had transformed into a violent force, churning the air and sending waves of pressure rippling outward one after another.

Yukino Yukinoshita, who was entangled with several exorcists nearby, felt a jolt of alarm. A force like a typhoon barreled toward her, forcing her to raise her arms to shield her face. White, mist-like frost surged around her, freezing the incoming debris mid-air and preventing it from touching her.

The exorcists did not possess such capabilities. They were either swept away by the air currents or struck by the flying rubble, managing only short gasps or cries of pain before crashing into the ground in the distance.

Amidst this scene of destruction, Leo was the only one unaffected. Six devil wings were spread wide behind his back as he hovered in mid-air. He held the unconscious young girl in one arm, while his other hand remained outstretched. The terrifying magic power surging from it made it clear to everyone who had caused the destruction.

"Ugh..."

Sharon appeared in a different position, having seemingly dodged the magic circle that had surrounded her at the very last second, narrowly avoiding the direct hit of the astonishing magic impact.

However, her condition was far from good. Her nun habit was tattered, as if shredded by the flying debris, and her exposed fair skin was covered in fine cuts and bloodstains. Even her beautiful face was smeared with dust, leaving her in a disheveled and wretched state.

"You..."

Clutching her injured arm, Sharon looked up at Leo, who was hovering in the air. Her eyes had completely changed.

They were filled with shock and fury.

"When did you become this strong?"

Sharon stared at the three pairs of devil wings behind Leo, feeling the astonishing magic power rising from him, her heart filled with shock and anger.

Although she hadn't dealt with Leo for a while, it had only been a few months.

About three months ago, she had received orders from the church headquarters regarding some unusual activity involving the fallen angel side, and she had been sent to investigate.

Therefore, she had actually left Chiba prefecture during this time and traveled to the church headquarters, only returning a short while ago.

During this period, she had received news that Leo had been promoted to a high-class devil, so she had prepared herself for the possibility of encountering a stronger Leo upon her return.

But she never imagined that Leo, having been promoted to a high-class devil, would undergo such a massive transformation.

Six-wing?

Wasn't he just a two-wing before?

And this magic power, this destructive force—how could this be the power of a newly promoted high-class devil?

This power was barely any different from that monster she had encountered three years ago, was it?

Sharon couldn't help but recall a deeply etched memory.

It was before she had been transferred to Chiba Prefecture.

At the time, she had received word from the church that a devil, sealed away since the primordial era, had been discovered in a remote rural area. The devil possessed incredibly dangerous power; if it were allowed to return, it would inevitably cause no small amount of trouble.

Therefore, she and a group of elite exorcists sent by the church entered the sealed land, only to encounter a group from an unknown faction who had received the same intelligence and were preparing to break the seal.

The two sides clashed, but the result was a mutual defeat.

However, the reason for their mutual defeat wasn't the fighting between the two factions, but rather the fact that the unsealed devil went berserk on the spot and began a massacre, turning the scene into a living hell.

That day, Sharon managed to escape with her life by pure luck, while the rest of the church members were killed on the spot. The people from the unknown faction, after paying a massive price, managed to take the unsealed devil away with them.

To this day, Sharon still remembered how powerful that devil was. It was said that this was even without the opponent unleashing that dangerous power; if that power had been fully utilized, even the top-tier combatants of various factions would likely not dare to underestimate it.

The original Leo could never have been compared to such an existence, but the current him, in terms of demonic power alone, was not far off from that devil.

This left Sharon both astonished and furious.

"Have you never heard the saying, 'One should look at an old friend with new eyes after three days of separation'?"

Leo looked down at his old rival, who had pestered him for so long, and seeing her in such a disheveled state, he immediately broke into a cheerful grin.

"You and I haven't seen each other for months; that's far more than three days. Isn't it normal to have such changes?"

Normal?

To advance from two-wing to six-wing in just a few months, with demonic power increasing by who knows how many times—you call this normal?

Sharon's chest heaved, and the nun habit that had previously covered her completely was now tattered and torn, revealing glimpses of scenery that invited wild imagination.

"Sister Sharon!"

"Lady Sharon!"

At this moment, the few exorcists dressed as priests stumbled to Sharon's side. Judging by their battered and bruised appearance, it was clear they were in no condition to continue fighting.

"...Retreat."

Sharon suppressed her anger, gritting her teeth as she issued the order.

"But our mission..."

One of the priests spoke up hesitantly, seemingly full of concerns.

They hadn't come here to block the door of a high-class devil like Leo. Rather, intelligence had indicated that there were unexplained disappearances in the area, and it was highly likely that a stray devil had appeared. That was why Sharon had led the team to investigate and eliminate it.

But now, they hadn't even reached the gates of their mission location before running into an existence countless times more dangerous than their target.

Leo Eligos—the very representative of the local devils in Chiba Prefecture. He had been active in this region for fifteen years, a presence the church had been unable to take down despite repeated attempts.

It was said that he was the last surviving heir of the extinct Eligos clan. Half of the blood flowing through his veins was that of a pure-blood devil, while the other half belonged to an exorcist affiliated with the church. As a descendant of a prestigious family, he was continuously monitored and supported by the Underworld, making him a source of constant trouble and headaches for the local church in Chiba Prefecture.

After he was promoted to a high-class devil, the local church even issued a directive allowing local exorcists to abandon their missions and flee immediately upon encountering him.

However, the person in charge of this mission was nun Sharon, who had always been able to trade blows with him. They hadn't intended to give up on the mission immediately; instead, they had planned to keep Yukino Yukinoshita occupied while Sharon made her move, ensuring no outsiders could interfere.

Who would have thought that the saying "three days of separation warrants a new perspective" would ring so true? Nun Sharon, who had previously been able to fight him to a standstill, had ended up in such a wretched state in the blink of an eye. The opponent's strength had grown exponentially, and his devil rank had even reached the six-wing stage.

Was there any point in continuing this entanglement?

"Mission aborted. I will be responsible for submitting the follow-up report." Sharon seemed to have calmed down. "Besides, no matter how you look at it, their purpose for being here is the same as ours. Perhaps the stray devil has already been purged by them, so we cannot exactly call this a failure."

However, compared to the news of failing to purge a stray devil, the fact that Leo himself had been promoted to a six-wing high-class devil—his strength increasing to the point where she was no longer a match for him in a single exchange—was likely the worst possible news for the church.

Sharon could already imagine the church officials looking at each other in dismay, eventually left with no choice but to accept the situation.

"Go!"

Sharon made a swift decision. Once her mind was made up, she did not hesitate. She stared at Leo for a moment, engraving his appearance deep into her heart, before leaping back into the darkness behind her.

Several exorcists dressed as priests followed immediately, not daring to show the slightest hesitation for fear of being pursued by Leo.

Leo merely watched the group depart, doing nothing. It was only after the presence of these exorcists had completely faded away that he retracted the wings on his back and descended from the air.

"Are you not going to pursue them?"

Yukino Yukinoshita stepped forward. Seeing that Leo was unharmed, she let out a breath of relief, though she did so without making it obvious, and asked her question.

"If I wanted to do something to the church's exorcists, why would I have waited until now?" Leo shook his head. "The three factions are currently in a period of truce, after all. Me killing a low-class fallen angel who doesn't follow the rules is one thing, but if I were to go on a killing spree against the local church exorcists, that would truly be a diplomatic incident."

This was a sort of tacit understanding between them: they could fight fiercely and clash head-on, but it was best to leave a margin for error so they could still face each other in the future.

Otherwise, if a descendant of a pure-blood devil like Leo were to just set up shop in the church's territory so brazenly, the church would have sent top-tier exorcists to eliminate him long ago. Why bother letting a few small-fry locals keep tangling with him?

Sharon might be cold and ruthless when facing devils, but she didn't necessarily dare to ignore the supporters behind Leo and go for the kill. That was likely why she had been hounding him for the past three years—a mix of hesitation and lingering resentment.

Leo didn't intend to hold a grudge against the woman. After all, she had even tried to use a honey trap on him when they first met, which had earned him quite a few perks...

Thinking of this, Leo couldn't help but smile, though he felt a tinge of regret that there were too many people around. Otherwise, this "pure Sharon" might have given him another treat.

"What are you thinking about?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked, suddenly suspicious. "Why are you making such an annoying expression?"

What kind of expression was that?

Leo swallowed the question that almost slipped out and rolled his eyes at Yukino Yukinoshita.

"Let's go. Time to go home."