Death Would Be Your Own Fault

At that moment, Yukino Yukinoshita had no idea that her performance had sent shockwaves through her mother and sister.

She had no mind for anything else. Her expression grave, she watched the scene before her as Demonic Power surged through her, betraying her inner turmoil.

Chill winds swirled around her as she fired off shards of ice in all shapes and sizes, fighting with overwhelming force. But Sharon effortlessly shattered every attack with her hands and feet. She even seized several fleeting chances to close the distance, drawing nearer to Yukino bit by bit.

Though they were indoors, Sharon moved as if the surroundings posed no restrictions at all. One moment, she darted across the floor; the next, she leaped onto the ceiling, kicked off upside down, and shot forward. At times, she bounded rapidly back and forth across the walls, darting left and right like a shadow as she evaded and shattered every incoming ice attack.

Thanks to that, she and Yukino were drawing ever closer. If the Yukinoshita Family home hadn't been a mansion, with a living room absurdly spacious even by those standards, Sharon would have reached Yukino long ago and launched a relentless close-quarters assault.

That left Yukino not daring to let her guard down for even a moment.

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I can't let her get close, or I'll lose in an instant.

Yukino had little trouble reaching that conclusion.

She wasn't Leo. Though she had learned Magic Detection from the Eligos Clan, she lacked their bloodline, and with it, some of their innate gifts.

With her level of detection, simply sensing Sharon's presence was already impressive. Hoping to perceive every one of Sharon's movements like Leo and dodge her attacks with her own footwork was wishful thinking.

Yukino was, after all, a traditional Devil and a Bishop-class servant. Fighting with Demonic Power was her specialty.

If Sharon got close, Yukino's meager Aikido skills wouldn't save her. Sharon would beat her in an instant.

So Yukino promptly decided to change the battlefield.

Whoosh!

Devil Wings spread behind Yukino like a bat's. She rose into the air and flew through the balcony, out of the living room.

Sharon followed without hesitation. Her charge stirred up a gust that sent the living room into turmoil.

Only after both of them had left the living room did Haruno Yukinoshita and Mrs. Yukinoshita finally react.

"Yukino..."

Mrs. Yukinoshita watched Yukino fly away on her outstretched Devil Wings, her lips trembling.

"A Devil..."

Haruno, too, stared blankly at her younger sister's retreating figure, her expression growing complicated.

There was no need to talk any further, or to confront anyone about anything.

Everything before them was proof enough. The best proof there could be.

Her sister, Yukino Yukinoshita, really had become a Devil.

Devils and exorcists were real.

As that truth sank in, urgency welled up in Haruno's heart.

Could Yukino be exorcised by the Church's exorcists?

"Quick, Haruno! Stop them!"

Mrs. Yukinoshita had reached the same conclusion. Her expression changed drastically, and worry flashed in her eyes.

There was one thing Yukino had gotten wrong from beginning to end.

Her parents had never seen her as a replacement for Haruno.

They intended to raise Haruno to represent and inherit the Yukinoshita Family, entrusting everything to her. They also felt that compared to Haruno, Yukino was less mature and had many shortcomings. But that didn't mean they could stand by while someone hurt their daughter.

Even if that daughter had become a Devil.

The two women of the Yukinoshita Family immediately ran out of the living room.

Unfortunately, they couldn't stop the fight.

This place was about to become a forbidden ground they couldn't approach.

Whoosh!

Outside the Yukinoshita mansion, Yukino's flight looked brisk and nimble. She didn't resemble a bat at all, but rather a snowbird darting through the cold wind.

As she flew, she changed direction from time to time, dodging one Light Bullet after another.

On the ground, Sharon raced toward her, drew an exorcism gun, and repeatedly pulled the trigger, firing silent Light Bullets at Yukino.

Compared to Sharon's hands and feet, the Light Bullets posed a much greater threat. No Devil could afford to ignore them.

Before, facing such a dense barrage of Light Bullets would have made Yukino tense, raising the hairs on her body.

But after seeing Asuna Yuuki's Sacred Gear and coming into close contact with the Holy Sword—the thing Devils feared most—she suddenly felt that mere Light Weapons were nothing by comparison.

Light was indeed poison, but poison could be cured.

The Holy Sword was different. Even touching it could leave you burned, and being struck by it meant you vanished. That was the truly terrifying Anti-Devil Weapon.

When they reached an open area with a clear view, Yukino finally stopped.

"Not running anymore?"

Sharon came to a halt before Yukino and looked up at her, hovering with her wings spread. She gave a light laugh.

Yukino ignored Sharon's taunt and looked down at her, her delicate face icy.

"I'll make you regret targeting my family."

Yukino spoke each word with deliberate emphasis.

"Shouldn't you regret being reincarnated from a human into a Devil?" Sharon ignored Yukino's taunt in turn and tilted her head. "You've only been a Devil for a month. Do you really think you can beat me?"

Yukino's performance had to be called astounding, even by Sharon's standards.

She had only been reincarnated as a Devil a month ago, yet she could already wield Demonic Power with such proficiency. She also used advanced techniques—unattainable for ordinary Devils—with remarkable ease. Her performance was truly impressive.

Her Demonic Power was also far greater than that of an ordinary Low-Class Devil who had only recently been reincarnated. Even many Devils who had trained for years couldn't cultivate Demonic Power on that scale. It was enough to show just how talented the Yukinoshita family's Second Young Lady was.

Sharon had to admit that Yukino was impressive enough to make even her marvel.

But she was still a Devil.

"You're very talented. Even now, you're already as strong as some powerful Middle-Class Devils." Sharon took out a pair of Light Swords the size of daggers and slowly activated them. "But you're still nowhere near that person."

"Even when I first met him, he was far stronger than you are now."

Sharon was referring, of course, to Leo.

She had been assigned to Chiba Prefecture three years ago, and her first clash with Leo had taken place then. Even at that time, he had already been quite powerful.

He hadn't reached the level of a High-Class Devil, but he was already at the very peak of Middle-Class Devil strength. There shouldn't have been any Devil of that rank stronger than him.

Yukino's performance was certainly astonishing, but she had only been reincarnated recently. She couldn't compare to the Leo of that time.

And Sharon had already secured her place as Chiba Prefecture's strongest exorcist back then. Even against Leo, she had been able to hold her own, relentlessly hounding him. She had made him sick of her while never posing a real threat to him. That was how their so-called ill-fated bond had begun.

Sharon Holy Grail hadn't feared Leo even back then. Why would she fear Yukino, who was still weaker than he had been?

Besides, three years had passed. Leo had broken through to become a High-Class Devil, and Sharon had grown stronger as well. At the very least, she wouldn't lose to Leo as he had been when he first advanced.

In other words, Sharon now had strength approaching that of a High-Class Devil.

If Leo hadn't become a High-Class Devil and awakened the Peerage Transformation trait—his cheat ability—after coming into contact with Evil Pieces, he and Sharon would probably still be locked in the same old stalemate.

Sharon had thought she would keep clashing with Leo forever. Who could have guessed that after leaving for just a few months, he would advance so far that she could no longer understand his strength?

She was now nowhere near his match.

The thought continued to weigh on Sharon.

That was why she had set her sights on Yukino, who had become one of Leo's servants.

Of course, she knew Yukino still hadn't shown everything she could do.

"You haven't used your Sacred Gear yet, have you?" Holding one sword in each hand, Sharon slowly walked toward Yukino. "Give it everything you've got. Otherwise, this will be your first taste of the pain Light Power brings to Devils like you."

Yukino simply watched Sharon in silence as her Demonic Power turned into flames, burning around her.

"Come forth, Ice Princess."

At Yukino's command, the princess of ice appeared.

As she emerged, the chill swirling around Yukino surged dozens, even hundreds of times stronger, and ice crystals formed in the air.

As she emerged, the temperature across the entire world seemed to plummet, dropping below zero in an instant.

As she emerged, Sharon's breath turned white. She kept exhaling, but nothing could stop her body from growing colder and colder.

As she emerged, the sky seemed to darken a little, and snowflakes began drifting down.

Whoosh—

The princess of ice exhaled softly. Her breath became a freezing wind that grew larger and larger, turning in the blink of an eye into a blizzard-like cold wave.

Crack, crack, crack—

The earth froze, and a Frozen Land gradually took shape. Haruno and Mrs. Yukinoshita, hurrying toward the scene, no longer dared to approach. They stood trembling in place as if they had been transported back to the first day of the school year.

Sharon's expression finally turned grave.

"So this is the Longinus—the 'Eternal Ice Princess'?"

As Sharon's whisper faded, Yukino's voice immediately followed.

"If you die, don't blame me."