"What do you need me to do, Miss Grayfia?" Tenra asked, his tone matching the gravity on both women's faces.
Grayfia's reply was as crisp as ever. "There's a Sacred Gear hidden inside each of us. Use your power and extract them."
Tenra frowned, uncertainty flickering across his features. "What's going on here? I don't sense any Sacred Gear aura from either of you."
He was rarely caught off guard. If there truly were Sacred Gears in their bodies, his senses should have picked up on them long ago. But Grayfia and Venelana's behavior tonight was anything but normal.
Grayfia's eyes narrowed. "Just because you haven't detected them doesn't mean they aren't there."
Venelana's voice trembled with urgency. "Little Tenra, just do as we ask. We'll explain everything afterward."
This was no joke. Tenra nodded, the air around him growing heavier. "Alright. Who's first?"
Grayfia shook her head. "Both of us—simultaneously. You need to extract both Sacred Gears at once."
Demanding, but not impossible. Tenra set Ophis down, rolling his shoulders. He'd never tried pulling two Sacred Gears at the same time, but if that's what they wanted, he'd make it work.
"Hold tight."
With a deep breath, Tenra activated his Sacred Gear Plunder, plunging both hands into Grayfia and Venelana's chests. His fingers closed around something cold and alien.
"There really is something here!" Tenra's eyes widened in disbelief. No aura, no warning—yet the Sacred Gears were there, hidden deep inside.
"Quick—get them out!" Grayfia's voice was sharp, her beautiful face drained of color.
Tenra nodded, beginning the extraction. But the Sacred Gears fought him, writhing and clinging to their hosts, resisting with a desperate ferocity he'd never encountered before.
He almost laughed. Sacred Gears, rebelling against him? They were out of their depth.
"Hurry!" Grayfia gasped, her face ghostly pale.
"If I rush, you'll suffer more," Tenra warned, irritation creeping into his voice. He was trying to be gentle, but his concern was met with impatience.
Venelana's plea was almost a whisper. "Don't worry about us, Tenra. Just get them out. Please."
There was no room for hesitation. Tenra gritted his teeth and pulled, wrenching the Sacred Gears free in one swift, brutal motion.
Two agonized screams echoed through the night. Grayfia and Venelana collapsed, trembling, as Tenra finally got a good look at what he'd extracted.
Not the usual gemstone shapes—these were more like twisted, demonic chess pieces. Unlike the familiar crimson of Evil Pieces, these artifacts were a wicked, oily black, their aura so tightly coiled that he'd never sensed them until now.
Even separated from their hosts, the Sacred Gears pulsed and twitched. With a series of harsh clicks, they sprouted spider-like steel legs, slithering tails, and hideous, malformed heads.
In an instant, they transformed into two grotesque monsters.
The things shrieked, lunging for Tenra, desperate to burrow into his flesh.
"Destroy them!" Grayfia and Venelana cried out together.
Tenra's lips curled in disdain. He unleashed a surge of spiritual energy, crushing the monsters in his grasp to dust.
Finally, it was over. Grayfia and Venelana slumped to the floor, relief etched on their faces. Tenra's own expression was grim, his eyes dark with suspicion.
"Now," he said, voice low and cold, "I expect answers. What the hell was that? And what's really going on tonight?"
He didn't doubt for a second—if those twisted artifacts had managed to invade his body, disaster would've followed.
Venelana managed a weak, teasing smile. "Little Tenra, after all we've been through, can't you show a little more chivalry and let us rest first?"
Tenra's mouth twitched. These two—his sister-in-law and mother-in-law—were never easy to handle.
With a wave of his hand, he whisked them away in a flash of magic.
The Holy Demon Palace—
"Welcome back, Lord Tenra."
Seramiria and her fellow girls bowed as Tenra appeared. Once famous nuns and saints, they now worked in secret chapels, spreading Tenra's faith and tending to his followers' devotion. Tonight, they'd returned to the palace for rest—and, as always, to receive Tenra's "rewards."
"Ophis, go play with them for a bit. I'll come get you later," Tenra said, handing Ophis off.
"Seramiria, take good care of her."
"Yes, Lord Tenra," the girls chorused.
They noticed Grayfia and Venelana trailing behind Tenra, but these clever women knew better than to ask questions that weren't theirs to ask.
With Ophis taken care of, Tenra led Grayfia and Venelana to a private room.
The extraction had been brutal—Grayfia and Venelana still looked pale and shaken. Tenra activated Virgin's Smile, sending two gentle waves of healing light into their bodies. Slowly, color returned to their cheeks.
Venelana recovered first, fixing Tenra with a mischievous look. "I didn't know you had such a fancy space artifact, Tenra. And you're keeping other women in there? I'm telling Rias about this later!"
Tenra snorted. "She already knows. You're late to the party, Lady Venelana."
He straightened, his tone turning serious. "Alright. Enough games. Who are you running from? And who put those abominations inside you?"
"Tell me everything. Now."
He stared them down. Tonight's mysteries had piled up, and he wasn't leaving until he had the truth.
Grayfia and Venelana exchanged a long, heavy look. Both faces were solemn as Grayfia finally spoke:
"Sirzechs."
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