Excellent peerage are hard to come by

Leo's manor, basement training room...

As the day began to brighten and daylight started to replace the night, illuminating the entire earth, Leo was training in the basement.

Today was Saturday, so there was no school. Unlike his usual routine of waking up, eating breakfast, and heading to school, Leo came straight to the basement after waking up.

"Rumble—"

Amidst thunderous roars, a thick, swirling vortex of dark clouds gathered against the basement ceiling. Bolts of electricity flashed within, making the air in the entire basement feel as oppressive as an approaching storm.

With three pairs of devil wings spread wide, Leo stood beneath the dark clouds. A terrifying aura burned around his body, and his demonic power poured into the sky like a flowing river, causing wild bolts of lightning to descend like a torrential downpour.

However, the falling lightning did not strike the ground directly. Instead, as if guided by an invisible force, it gathered around Leo, transforming into brilliant, dazzling spheres of lightning.

The ball lightning danced up and down around Leo, extremely dazzling. It moved back and forth through the basement space with incredible agility, as if obeying the commands of the lord of thunder.

"Again!"

Feeling he still had energy to spare, Leo immediately channeled Zenith Tempest, triggering its second attribute—fire.

In an instant, endless flames appeared out of thin air, bursting forth like an explosion. Yet, under Leo's control, they behaved just like the lightning, gathering around him to form spheres of fire.

The lightning spheres and fire spheres intertwined, turning blue-white and crimson into the primary colors of the basement.

"Boom!"

The next moment, a lightning sphere and a fire sphere suddenly collided, triggering a roar.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...

As if a chain reaction had been ignited, the lightning and fire spheres dancing in mid-air suddenly went berserk, colliding with one another and stirring up a continuous series of roars.

Flashes of fire and lightning appeared in every direction instantly, making the space around Leo look like a feast of explosions. Everywhere there were roars, everywhere there was fire and lightning.

"Hoo..."

Only when all the lightning and fire spheres had collided and vanished into thin air did Leo exhale, a smile spreading across his face.

Zenith Tempest truly is a sacred gear with endless potential. I've only just acquired the memories of its previous wielders, allowing me to use it with more variety and proficiency, yet the power of this sacred gear has already skyrocketed by several levels. It's simply incredible.

As his proficiency with Zenith Tempest grew, Leo gradually gained a brand new understanding of the power of this Longinus, ranked second in the world.

In his view, Zenith Tempest had not even reached the stage of Balance Breaker yet, and his mastery of it could not be called ultimate. Even so, the power of this sacred gear was enough to threaten existences one or two levels higher than Leo. Its power was so great that it was hard to imagine it was something a human could possess.

No wonder so many people are puzzled as to why God would create such things. Setting aside ordinary sacred gears, the Longinus truly have the ability to disrupt the balance of the world. The claim that they can destroy gods and devil kings is no empty boast. It's hard to believe that God would create a power capable of threatening Himself.

Compared to Zenith Tempest, Leo's devil abilities—which would have left Sona Shitori and Sharon dumbfounded—were nothing; they could even be considered small fry in comparison.

Of course, if Leo didn't have his current level of demonic power, it would likely be difficult for him to use the power of Zenith Tempest so freely, wouldn't it?

After all, the most basic cost of using a Sacred Gear is physical stamina, which is why humans are capable of wielding such power. However, if one has mastered supernatural power, that energy can be used as a substitute for the cost.

Leo was exactly this case. His demonic power was so immense that it could completely replace physical stamina as the fuel for using his Sacred Gear. Naturally, the stronger the demonic power he poured in, the greater the power of the Sacred Gear would be, and the longer he could sustain its use. He was not like that Red Dragon Emperor, who, despite possessing the power to infinitely strengthen himself, could barely utilize it a few times due to his own lack of ability—it was simply a waste of a divine gift.

Therefore, the fact that Leo's power was approaching the limit of a high-class devil was also one of the primary factors enabling Zenith Tempest to exert its current level of power. This was the foundation of utilizing a Sacred Gear; naturally, the stronger, the better.

"If I can continue to receive feedback on Sacred Gear proficiency when recruiting new members for my peerage in the future, then adding two more members with around medium potential should allow me to push the power of Zenith Tempest to its absolute limit."

"If it were a member with high potential, even one would probably be enough."

"Then, I can proceed to the next stage and start finding a way to reach Balance Breaker."

Balance Breaker was the ultimate realm of Sacred Gears, a power truly capable of disrupting the balance of the world.

A Sacred Gear user before reaching Balance Breaker and one after were in completely different leagues. The latter could likely suppress the former even without using their Balance Breaker form, or even toy with them effortlessly.

And once he reached the Balance Breaker state of Zenith Tempest, Leo's strength would at the very least be enough to contend with a Maou-class entity.

"It's a pity that excellent peerage members are not easy to come by."

Leo retracted the wings behind his back, landed on the ground, and sighed.

Not to mention members with high potential, even for those with medium potential, Leo currently only knew of one other person.

Sona Shitori was indeed correct; Sobu High School was a school with great potential. Aside from Yukino Yukinoshita, there were likely one or two other Sacred Gear users hidden there, and none of them had awakened yet.

Sacred Gear users were rare existences, yet the fact that Sobu High School harbored multiple such hidden talents was truly incredible.

This was also the reason why Leo had insisted on staying at Sobu High School to study until now; otherwise, he would have long been considering returning to the Underworld to develop the territory of the Eligos clan that had been neglected for who knows how many years.

"Perhaps I should speed up the progress a little."

Thinking of that potential recruit he had been in contact with, Leo felt a surge of impatience.

"Are you finished?"

Yukino Yukinoshita had come down to the basement while Leo was lost in thought and walked toward him.

"Just about." Leo snapped back to reality, nodded at Yukino Yukinoshita, and said, "Are you here to train as well?"

"I'll come after I finish lunch," Yukino Yukinoshita said, revealing her schedule, and added, "I came to tell you that the new member you recruited has woken up."

"Shall we go take a look?"

Hearing this, Leo raised an eyebrow and turned around.

"Let's go. Let's go welcome our new companion."

On the third floor of the manor, in a room different from the one Yukino Yukinoshita had previously used but equally luxurious, the young girl sat on the bed, gazing at the scenery outside the window, lost in thought for a long time.

Leo brought Yukino Yukinoshita here, and upon seeing this scene, he instinctively lightened his footsteps and movements.

Yet, the girl seemed to sense the arrival of Leo and Yukino Yukinoshita, turning her head to look toward the doorway.

Her chestnut-colored long hair rose and fell with her movement, and immediately after, Leo saw a pair of hazel eyes. Though not particularly bright, they were filled with a unique luster.

"Who are you...?"

The girl was also momentarily stunned by Leo's striking appearance, then asked in confusion, her voice clear and soft.

Leo did not answer the girl's question. Instead, he walked into the room with the silent Yukino Yukinoshita, approached the bedside, and pulled up a chair to sit down.

"How are you feeling?" Leo met the girl's beautiful, large eyes and said with a light chuckle, "Is anything hurting?"

"Um..." The girl hesitated for a moment, then decided to be honest, saying softly, "It doesn't hurt, but I feel very sleepy, and being in the sunlight doesn't feel very comfortable."

Hearing this, Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help but show an expression of recognition.

Thinking back to when she had just reincarnated as a devil, she had been the same. She hadn't felt pain, but rather felt that her body was strange; she had no energy at all during the day and was repulsed by sunlight.

Now that she had made it through, seeing a newcomer start down the same path gave Yukino Yukinoshita quite a few feelings.

She could count as a senior now, right?

Later, she could have a chat with this young lady of the Yuki family and let her know that she had gone through the same thing in the past.

"This is a normal phenomenon, you don't need to worry." Leo didn't reveal everything right away and continued with a smile, "Once you get used to it, you'll feel that not only have you gotten better, but you've also become stronger."

This slightly chuunibyou remark made Yukino Yukinoshita instinctively curl her lip.

The girl, on the other hand, asked impatiently.

"Did you save me?" The girl looked eager to know her current situation and said, "This doesn't look like a hospital. Is this some kind of private nursing facility?"

"Neither, actually." Leo still didn't answer the question the girl was most desperate to know, saying with a beaming smile, "This is my home. You are currently in one of the rooms in my house; you haven't gone to any private nursing facility."

"Y-your home?" The girl was a bit startled and became unnaturally vigilant. "Then, who are you...?"

"My name is Leo Eligor, a third-year student at Sobu High School." Leo stopped keeping her in suspense. "You can just call me Leo."

"Mr. Leo." The girl didn't follow his request, greeting him with great courtesy before introducing herself, "I am Asuna Yuki. My family lives in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, and I am currently a second-year student at a private elite school there."

She didn't reveal the name of her school because she felt it wasn't necessary.

After all, she lived in Tokyo, and they were in Chiba; even if she mentioned the school's name, the other party might not necessarily know it.

However, the girl still revealed her name and address, which could be considered a sign that despite her vigilance, she chose to believe Leo had no malicious intent toward her.

Even if he did have malicious intent, he should hesitate a bit upon hearing her surname, right?

"Yuki, is it?"

Leo looked at the girl before him, who seemed both familiar and unfamiliar, and sighed with emotion.

"It really is a famous name, isn't it?"