Yukino Yukinoshita's Weakness

"Is it you...?!"

Feeling the incoming icy wind being blocked and the surroundings no longer as cold as before, Haruno Yukinoshita turned her head immediately to look behind her, her expression changing instantly.

Mrs. Yukinoshita also recognized the newcomer.

After all, this was the devil who had taken her youngest daughter as a servant, as Haruno Yukinoshita had described. How could Mrs. Yukinoshita not have investigated him?

Even before her, Haruno Yukinoshita had already investigated Leo, even compiling his information into a file and handing it to her mother to browse, which included a headshot of Leo.

"We meet again, senior."

Leo acted as if he were just someone passing by, seemingly unfazed by the earth-shattering scene around them, and greeted Haruno Yukinoshita.

It wasn't just Haruno Yukinoshita; he greeted Mrs. Yukinoshita as well.

"You must be Yukino's mother, right? It is a pleasure to finally meet you, madam."

Facing Mrs. Yukinoshita, whose aura was significantly stronger and who was an adult with a social status far exceeding that of a high school student, Leo showed not a hint of stage fright, appearing entirely at ease.

If this had happened before, Mrs. Yukinoshita would surely have felt somewhat surprised and taken aback upon meeting such a person. But knowing his true identity, she no longer found his casual demeanor in her presence problematic.

Although he was indeed a young high school student, that would only matter if he were an ordinary person.

The boy before her was a devil. In front of him, she, a mere ordinary person, had no deterrent power whatsoever, did she?

"...You must be Mr. Leo Eligor, right?"

Mrs. Yukinoshita took a deep breath, suppressing the complex emotions in her heart, and bowed solemnly toward Leo.

"Nice to meet you. Although there is much I would like to say to you, before that, please, stop those two and make them cease their fighting."

Neither she nor Haruno Yukinoshita could intervene in this conflict. Only Leo, Yukino Yukinoshita's nominal master and a devil noble closely watched by the church, had the means to stop them.

"Don't worry." Leo could naturally see the anxiety and concern in the hearts of Mrs. Yukinoshita and Haruno Yukinoshita. He smiled and said, "Looking at the current situation, neither of them can do anything to the other for the time being, so there is no harm in watching for a while."

To be honest, Leo was quite interested.

He had originally intended to test Yukino Yukinoshita's strength, but unfortunately, the stray devil from last time was too weak; it hadn't even been able to force Yukino Yukinoshita to manifest her sacred gear, failing to serve as a proper test of her abilities.

This had led Leo to consider finding a stronger opponent for Yukino Yukinoshita, though he hadn't had the chance to implement it yet.

Now, however, Sharon had decisively jumped out and targeted his peerage. Letting her test Yukino Yukinoshita's strength was not a bad choice.

Having been entangled with that woman for several years, Leo knew better than anyone that this exorcist, who was far too beautiful to look like a nun, possessed strength far beyond that of an average exorcist. Using her to test Yukino Yukinoshita's strength was the perfect choice.

And so, while maintaining a demonic power barrier, Leo began to watch the battle with great interest.

"Is Yukino really going to be okay?" Haruno Yukinoshita was not as relaxed as Leo. Her usual shrewdness seemed to have vanished in this moment, and she became even more anxious than Mrs. Yukinoshita. "After all, the opponent is an exorcist from the church."

Haruno Yukinoshita did not know the classification of supernatural powers, nor could she distinguish who was strong or weak. However, based on general logic, church exorcists were professionals specifically tasked with hunting devils. Facing such professional exorcists from the church, could Yukino Yukinoshita, a devil herself, really come out on top?

"Don't worry." Leo waved his hand at Haruno Yukinoshita, unconcerned. "If Yukino were just an ordinary devil, it would indeed be dangerous, but she isn't."

A Longinus was a power capable of breaking the balance. As long as one mastered this power, challenging opponents of a higher rank was a simple matter.

To say nothing else, just looking at Yukino Yukinoshita's performance at this very moment, Leo could say with certainty that even a high-class devil would not dare to underestimate her and would have to avoid her edge.

The sight of those continuous icebergs crashing into the ground was truly shocking. How could an ordinary devil possess such power and such destructive force?

Therefore, while it was hard to say what Yukino Yukinoshita's overall strength was right now, that astonishing freezing aura definitely possessed the power to threaten a high-class devil.

Under this overwhelming force, Sharon could only temporarily avoid the brunt of the attack, struggling to survive in the cracks. Her figure, appearing far too small compared to the constantly falling icebergs, was moving at full burst. Relying on astonishing speed and superior agility, she continuously dodged the icebergs falling from the sky, making anyone watching break into a cold sweat for her.

Yet, facing such a perilous situation, Sharon remained solemn from start to finish, never losing her composure.

As human exorcists, everyone, including Sharon, had to understand one thing before battle.

That is, never compete with a devil in terms of raw power.

A devil's physical capabilities far exceeded those of mortals, but that was not impossible to overcome. However, the demonic power possessed by devils was a formidable force that humans could hardly reach.

Low-class devils were one thing; generally speaking, the demonic power attacks released by middle-class devils were already quite threatening, no less than bombs or artillery shells. As for high-class devils, they could cause large-scale destruction with a mere gesture; leveling a mountain peak was a common occurrence. Once they unleashed their full power, destroying an entire city street in an instant was not impossible.

This was a power that humans could never confront head-on. Unless one possessed a Sacred Gear created by God or special supernatural abilities, one must never clash with such power directly.

As an exorcist capable of rivaling a high-class devil, Sharon had long since mastered the skills of playing to her strengths, avoiding weaknesses, using indirect tactics, and overcoming the strong with the weak.

Therefore, she was not the least bit anxious. She remained calm, constantly seeking survival in the face of danger while looking for an opportunity to counterattack.

She was waiting—waiting for Yukino Yukinoshita to exhaust her strength.

A Longinus was very powerful, but the stronger the power, the greater the consumption required to use it. Even though Yukino Yukinoshita possessed demonic power that could be considered decent among middle-class devils, how long could she maintain such unreserved output at the level of a high-class devil?

If it were a battle-hardened devil, they would absolutely never squander their power so recklessly right from the start. But Yukino Yukinoshita was, after all, a newborn devil who had only been reincarnated for a month. Sharon had already spotted the weakness of her severe lack of combat experience and was therefore waiting for the moment Yukino Yukinoshita showed an opening.

"Boom!"

The world was still roaring. The power of ice ravaged the ground, giving everyone present the sensation of being thrown into the polar regions.

Yukino Yukinoshita also noticed that Sharon was holding on and had not suffered any serious injuries. Consequently, she changed her strategy. Instead of condensing icebergs to smash down, she had the ice princess blow a blizzard directly across the frozen land below, intending to leave Sharon with nowhere to hide.

Unfortunately, Sharon was no pushover. She noticed Yukino Yukinoshita's intent and quickly changed her own strategy as well. While maintaining a distance from Yukino Yukinoshita, she kept firing, using light bullets to force Yukino Yukinoshita to slow her offensive, which gave her the chance to dodge the area-of-effect attack.

The two remained deadlocked, entering a white-hot war of attrition.

"Ha... ha..."

After a long while, Yukino Yukinoshita finally began to pant heavily for the first time, showing the first signs of exhaustion.

"Oh no!"

At this moment, Yukino Yukinoshita realized Sharon's strategy, a look of miscalculation crossing her face.

She had forgotten that a lack of stamina had always been her weakness. Even when she was human and excelled at various sports, this flaw had held her back, limiting her impressive results to short bursts. Now that she had become a devil, this weakness still persisted.

No, it should be said that compared to the power of the Longinus she possessed, her middle-class devil level of demonic power could naturally not sustain it for long. A lack of stamina was only to be expected.

Yet, this very obvious fact had given Sharon the chance for a desperate counterattack.

"Now is the time!"

As Yukino Yukinoshita's offensive could no longer be maintained, Sharon did not hesitate to flip the light blades in her hands and thrust them into the ground.

"Hum!"

On the ground, a magic circle formed of pure light suddenly emerged.

"What?!"

Yukino Yukinoshita's expression changed.

The moment she saw that magic circle of light, Yukino Yukinoshita understood. Sharon had not just been fleeing and doing nothing; on the contrary, while she was running, she had secretly laid out the means for a counterattack, carving an exorcism spell formula into this frozen land.

"God, Please Punish The Sinner—"

Sharon chanted the incantation to activate the exorcism spell, allowing a dense amount of light power to overflow from the magic circle.

"Boom!"

The next moment, a brilliant, dazzling light formed a pillar of light that reached from the earth to the sky, rising from the magic circle.

Yukino Yukinoshita flapped the wings on her back, trying to dodge, but the pillar of light covered a wide area and overflowed with great speed; she had no time to escape.

Thus, as the pillar of light shot toward the sky, Yukino Yukinoshita's figure was swallowed by the dense light power.

"...!"

Yukino Yukinoshita already felt the threat of death.

After a month, she finally experienced the feeling of death once again.

Just as she subconsciously wanted to close her eyes, a figure appeared before her.

"Boom!"

The roar of the pillar of light shooting into the sky continued to resound, never-ending.