"Zenith Tempest"

Bang!

With a sound like shattering glass, the Anti-Human Barrier surrounding them was dispelled.

As the one who had set up the barrier, Vaden's death immediately rendered it ineffective, so it was naturally dispelled at once.

Leo slowly lowered the hand he had raised at some point, and the magic circle rotating above it vanished.

As he had said before, the gap between a High-Class Devil and a Low-Class Devil was like that between an elephant and an ant. Even though Leo had only recently advanced to High-Class Devil, taking care of a Two-Wing Fallen Angel on the same level as a Low-Class Devil was still a matter of minutes.

His opponent wasn't like Leo, whose rank hadn't kept up with his strength. His power was entirely in line with his rank.

So Leo admired him.

"With that level of strength, where did he get the nerve to look down on people and call them lowly?"

All he could say was that no matter the faction, there were always foolish idiots like that.

Leo soon put the idiot out of his mind and crouched down in front of Yukino Yukinoshita.

He pressed his fingers against Yukino Yukinoshita's pale neck. A moment later, Leo confirmed it.

Yukino Yukinoshita's heart had stopped beating, and she had stopped breathing.

She was dead.

Leo's expression didn't change in the slightest.

"I was going to wait a little longer, but since things have turned out this way, you don't have a choice anymore, Yukino..."

Murmuring softly, Leo took out a transparent chess piece, scarlet as blood.

At that moment, the piece was glowing.

The Evil Piece was an item only available to High-Class Devils who had been granted peerage and held a title. It could reincarnate members of other races as Devils, taking them in as servants and members of their peerage.

Using it allowed one to form a master-servant bond with another person and reincarnate them as a Devil.

Now that she was already dead, Yukino Yukinoshita could only keep living by accepting the reincarnation ritual and completely abandoning her identity as a human.

"Then, let's begin."

Leo placed the scarlet Chess Piece on Yukino Yukinoshita's chest and began chanting an incantation.

"By the name of Leo Eligos, I command you—"

"You, Yukino Yukinoshita, return your soul to this place once more, to become my servant—"

"Become a Devil, and rejoice in your new life—"

As the solemn incantation came to an end, the scarlet piece on Yukino Yukinoshita's chest immediately radiated a brilliant light. It then crumbled as if shattering, turning into particles of light that seeped into the girl's body.

The reincarnation ritual began in earnest. The blood that had spread beneath Yukino Yukinoshita like a pool flowed back into her body, as if time were reversing.

This was how Devils recruited servants into their peerage.

For anyone else, this would usually have been the end of the matter.

However, the very next moment after Leo took Yukino Yukinoshita into his peerage, an astonishing change occurred in Leo himself.

"Thump, thump—"

It was as if a force had suddenly surged into him from nowhere. Leo felt his heart beating with tremendous strength.

His Demonic Power was burning.

His blood was boiling.

His power was increasing at a visible rate, making his eyes shine brightly.

Then, as if by divine inspiration, Leo received a message.

[Peerage Transformation Trait is now in effect...]

—"Trait."

In the world of Devils, this term generally referred to two different things.

The first was the distinctive feature of each type of Evil Piece. When someone was reincarnated as a Devil using an Evil Piece, they gained the special ability possessed by that piece. This could be called a peerage trait.

The second was a special power passed down through generations in pureblood High-Class Devil families. Only members of those families could awaken and wield it.

Each of the 72 Pillars had its own special power. These abilities were the traits of the bloodlines belonging to each family.

For example, members of the Bael Clan, ranked first among the 72 Pillars, had the chance to awaken a trait known as "Power of Destruction." It allowed them to wield Demonic Power with the attribute of destruction, giving them astonishing destructive power.

Sona Shitori had a childhood friend she'd grown up with, the little princess of the Gremory Clan, Rias Gremory. Rias's mother was from the Bael Clan, and she had been fortunate enough to awaken the trait of "Power of Destruction" as well. With her destructive Demonic Power, she was one of the strongest among the High-Class Devils, far stronger than Leo or Sona, who were also High-Class Devils.

As one of the 72 Pillar Devil families, the Eligos Clan naturally had a family trait of its own.

According to historical records, the first Eligos possessed the special abilities to perceive hidden things and influence the will of warriors. He was therefore known as the War Controller, capable of shaping the course of a battlefield and strengthening a commander's resolve.

The Eligos Clan's family trait was related to these abilities. Even those who hadn't awakened it had a talent for perception.

Leo was no exception. While other Devils found it difficult to wield Demonic Power with perceptive effects, he could do so with ease.

Not long after he advanced to High-Class Devil and received his Evil Pieces, his family trait had suddenly awakened without warning.

And perhaps because his soul came from another world, his family trait had undergone a mysterious change.

"Peerage Transformation"—that was the trait Leo had awakened.

As the name suggested, it was a trait like the Evil Piece, one that could be used to recruit servants into his peerage.

The Eligos Clan's trait had originally been an ability to influence the will of warriors. But in Leo, it had mutated into the ability to conquer their souls, and it could even convert that process into information, allowing him to understand and use it by receiving it through his will.

To use this trait, he first had to connect it to a contract, then use that contract to recruit servants into his peerage.

That was why the trait had awakened when Leo received his Evil Pieces, automatically forming a connection.

Under these circumstances, whenever Leo used an Evil Piece to recruit a servant, his own Peerage Transformation Trait would also take effect.

Once the Peerage Transformation Trait took effect, Leo would receive a certain degree of feedback based on the strength and potential of the servant he recruited, thereby increasing his own power.

Now that Leo had recruited his first servant, he had successfully triggered the Peerage Transformation Trait and received a power boost.

[Basic Feedback Obtained—Demonic Power (Large Amount).]

[Advanced Feedback Obtained—Rank (Six-Wing).]

[Additional Feedback Obtained—Sacred Gear (Awakened).]

The changes became apparent the next moment.

As the Demonic Power in his body surged, three pairs of wings unfurled behind Leo.

His rank as a Devil had finally increased. He was no longer a Two-Wing, the rank corresponding to a Low-Class Devil, but a Six-Wing, matching his actual strength.

At the same time, Leo involuntarily rose into the air, and all kinds of supernatural phenomena began to appear around him.

Flames, snow and ice, storms, floods, flying sand and rolling stones... All kinds of forces tied to nature suddenly manifested around him, affecting even the atmosphere and the weather. A thunderous rumbling filled the sky as thick clouds gathered overhead.

"What is this...?!"

Leo had still been rejoicing over the increase in his Demonic Power and rank, but at the sight of this phenomenon, he suddenly shuddered.

He understood what was happening and realized what had occurred within him.

"There's a Sacred Gear... residing inside me too?"

It was something Leo had never expected.

Sacred Gears were extraordinary powers created by the God of the Bible and implanted in certain humans. They could turn the impossible into reality, granting ordinary humans special abilities that could let them stand against Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels.

Leo had never imagined that something like this was residing in him too. And if he wasn't mistaken, it was an extraordinarily powerful Sacred Gear.

It was the highest class of Sacred Gear, one of only thirteen in legend, and one of the Longinus said to be capable of destroying God and the Demon Kings.

"A Sacred Gear that can control the weather and command any natural element—the second-ranked Longinus, Zenith Tempest!"

Even among the Longinus, it was one of only four Top-tier Longinus. Depending on how it was used, it could destroy an entire country and have an enormous impact on the world...

"I'm actually the wielder of Zenith Tempest?"

Leo couldn't believe it.

Zenith Tempest... Wasn't that the Sacred Gear belonging to Dulio Gesualdo, the Church's strongest exorcist in the original story?

How had it ended up in him?

"No, that's not right. In this life, I've never even heard of someone called Dulio Gesualdo!"

He'd had quite a few dealings with the Church. If it had a trump card who could be called its strongest exorcist, there was no way Leo wouldn't have heard his name.

So...

"Dulio Gesualdo doesn't exist in this life?"

Leo was overcome by mixed emotions.

"Or could I actually have some connection to Dulio Gesualdo?"

He was called Leo in this life, while the other man was called Dulio. Could that really be mere coincidence...?

But he had never heard that the Dulio Gesualdo from the original story had any connection to the Devils...

Thinking of this, Leo couldn't help looking at Yukino Yukinoshita, whose breathing and heartbeat had returned.

On second thought, this world had already diverged from the original story long ago.

Someone who shouldn't have existed in this world had appeared here, and the Sacred Gear residing in her body—if he wasn't mistaken—should originally have belonged to someone else, too.

"Then there's no point thinking about it too much."

Leo calmed down and reined in his Demonic Power and wings, causing the supernatural phenomena around him—the earth, water, wind, and fire—to fade away.

The rumbling sky gradually quieted, and the clouds dispersed.

By the time people began appearing near the station again, Leo and Yukino Yukinoshita were no longer there.

As if they had never appeared in the first place.