Chapter 417: Dividends
Testing Grayfia would have to wait. For now, with Haruto becoming a god-level powerhouse, all the beautiful girls had reaped a wave of dividends, their strength greatly enhanced.
However, everyone tacitly agreed not to disclose the information about Haruto's god-level status.
Previously, the strength of the Occult Research Club had already made the Hero Clan wary. Now, with the addition of a deity and over a dozen Satan-Class powerers, not only the Hero Clan but all supernatural factions in the human world would likely lose sleep and appetite.
While Haruto was busy helping the girls improve their strength, a major event occurred within the Hero Clan.
The former hero, Toujou Jin, had returned, bringing along his son, whose talent and strength were even more monstrous than his own.
After practical training with Haruto, Toujou Basara had grown much stronger.
However, as a hybrid of four races, he innately mastered the bug-like skill "Dimension Lost," and Haruto could no longer help him progress further.
While Haruto sought ways to break through to the god-level and advance his strength, Toujou Basara hadn't been idle either.
Seeing that Haruto had stopped coming to school altogether, Toujou Basara asked Mio about it and decided to drop out as well.
Compared to rescuing his mother as soon as possible, attending school held no meaning at all.
Although Toujou Jin was not by Toujou Basara's side, he had always been keeping an eye on his precious son.
After discovering his problems, he quickly returned.
Following a 'friendly' exchange between father and son, Toujou Basara was taken under Toujou Jin's wing for training.
Toujou Jin didn't possess the ability to manipulate infinite dimensions, but as a man recognized by the ancient dragons, he had a deep understanding of the power within Toujou Basara and knew exactly how to train him to grow at the fastest pace possible.
Additionally, Toujou Basara currently lacked real combat experience and his mental fortitude still needed improvement.
Bringing him back to the Hero Clan was also meant to address these shortcomings.
The Hero Clan had numerous missions, ranging from actual combat to tests of character. By undertaking several missions, Toujou Basara would naturally mature.
Coincidentally, the Hero Clan happened to be in need of powerful combat strength, so Toujou Jin and Toujou Basara's arrangement worked out perfectly for both sides, leading to immediate close cooperation.
So close, in fact, that it seemed as if all past grievances had never existed.
In reality, Toujou Jin didn't have any issues with the Hero Clan—the main problem was that Toujou Basara hadn't been happy during his childhood there.
But given Toujou Jin's reputation as the War God, Basara hadn't suffered too badly, so he quickly accepted the situation.
It seemed that with the return of the former War God, the upper echelons of the Hero Clan—those old fossils—were beginning to stir again.
After some discussion, they decided to continue monitoring Haruto and the Occult Research Club.
Having lost two talented and beautiful female warriors from their Japan branch, they naturally wouldn't agree to this demand again. Instead, they dispatched a beautiful female warrior from their European branch.
The girl's name was Celis Reinhardt, the most gifted and powerful warrior of her generation from the Vatican.
Since Celis had lived in Japan during her childhood and had no language barriers, the mission fell to her.
The Hero Clan trusted her abilities completely, believing she would definitely carry out the surveillance mission properly. Even if the mission failed, at least she wouldn't betray them like the Naruse Sisters had.
This was the Vatican higher-ups' confidence in their brainwashing capabilities.
Just like with Irina—even with Michael himself intervening, the worldview formed by childhood beliefs, or rather brainwashing, proved difficult to shake.
But when encountering Haruto and facing his rule-level dual cultivation ability, no beautiful girl could resist.
Even Irina, who had been reborn as an angel, had fallen—let alone Celis, whose strength was only S-class.
From the moment this golden-haired warrior beauty accepted the mission, her fate had already been quietly sealed.
While Celis was on her way to Kuoh Academy, something happened on Haruto's end that delayed their first meeting by several days.
It was late November, with only one month left until the end of Haruto's second semester of his second year.
This was also his first day back at school after breaking through to god-level.
Though at this level, whether he attended school or not hardly mattered.
But just like with Rias, was the purpose of school really to gain knowledge?
No, it was merely to experience life.
After reaching god-level, the initial cultivation benefits had greatly boosted the strength of the Occult Research Club members and prodigies like Mio, but other girls with lower strength potential weren't so fortunate.
If the power gap is too large, just like the heroines in adult series, they would be unable to digest Haruto's life energy early on.
As Haruto became a god-level powerhouse, the threshold for digesting his life energy has now risen to S-class.
Apart from Rias and others who reaped the benefits, there was also the regular monthly visitor—the dark-skinned beauty Katerea.
To enhance her power, she had previously fused with abyssal energy, barely reaching Satan-Class.
Yet just one monthly dual cultivation session completely stabilized her power. This time's benefits directly elevated her to Super Devil Class.
Facing this reality, Katerea first felt joy, then frustration.
She was angry at herself for not meeting Haruto earlier, and annoyed at having fused with abyssal energy—now she'd have to find a way to purge it.
The corrupt abyssal energy conflicted with Haruto's life energy, though not noticeably.
But if she wanted to continue improving through cultivation, or even break through to god-level, she must completely purge the abyssal energy.
As the saying goes, it's easier to invite a guest than to send one away.
If fusing with abyssal energy offered a fifty percent chance of success, purging it was a near-impossible ordeal.
However, thoroughly subdued by Haruto and having witnessed the excellence of dual cultivation, Katerea still decided to find a way to purge it.
Because without removing the abyssal energy, becoming a god-level powerhouse would require fully embracing the abyss and transforming into an abyssal monster.
Most abyssal monsters lack rationality; only apex beings retain self-awareness—essentially no different from death.
Reaffirming her stance, after cultivation, Katerea reported the Old Satan Faction's movements to Haruto as usual.
"Master, the Old Satan Faction is planning major moves. They intend to kill the youngest and weakest Satan, Leohart, and replace him."
The dark-skinned beauty lay limp in Haruto's embrace, her shapely legs still wrapped around his waist, yet her words could shake the Three Realms.
After the failed Three Factions Summit and her capture, Katerea's status plummeted upon her return. But with Haruto's help, her power soared rapidly.
Power always speaks loudest. As her strength grew, Katerea regained her position among the Old Satan Faction's highest echelons.
Being Leviathan's descendant, she knew all the faction's schemes clearly—she was even one of the planners herself.
"Leohart?"
Haruto blinked. Was there such a person among the current Four Great Satans?
Besides Serafall and Sirzechs, what were the other two Satans called anyway?
After much thought, Haruto realized he didn't know, but recalled some information about Leohart instead.
Leohart was the new Satan from The Testament of Sister New Devil who inherited the position from Wilbert, Mio's father. Ostensibly a hardliner, he actually advocated for human-devil coexistence.
Rather than waging war, he focused on excavating ancient civilizations, gaining knowledge from ruins to drive the Underworld's overall development.
Since this world primarily follows the "High School DxD" worldview, where the Four Great Pureblood Families and the Four Great Satans are commonly known, he had nearly forgotten about this young Satan.
Given that Wilbert was the previous Satan and had connections to the Gremory family, it seemed unsurprising that Leohart, who succeeded him, remained one of the Four Great Satans alongside Sirzechs.
As for the one who was replaced...
From his limited memories, Haruto knew that the remaining two Satans, like Serafall, were forced into their positions. If someone were willing to take their place as Satan, they would undoubtedly flee faster than anyone else.
Thinking of Leohart naturally led Haruto to Mio's uncle.
That middle-aged red-haired devil noble with glasses claimed to be Wilbert's younger brother. However, in Haruto's memory, many speculated he was actually Wilbert who hadn't died.
There was no concrete evidence for this, only conjecture, as this "younger brother" appeared too conveniently and even mastered Gravity Magic.
Haruto personally leaned toward him not being Wilbert. The evidence supporting them being different individuals far outweighed any proof of them being the same person.
Wilbert had publicly demonstrated formidable fire-based abilities, and when Mio faced danger, this "uncle" showed no reaction whatsoever.
His attitude toward Mio afterward was even cold—unlike either a father or an uncle.
Of course, this could have been Wilbert's intentional act; otherwise, it would have been impossible to deceive all the devils.
After brainstorming and recalling all relevant information from his memories, Haruto rubbed his temples and finally gave up pondering.
It was too complicated. Whatever the Old Satan Faction wanted to do, whatever plans they had—he'd just crush them directly.
Wasn't this exactly why he worked so hard to improve his strength?
Still, while despising the enemy strategically, he needed to respect them tactically. Haruto carefully inquired about the Old Satan Faction's detailed deployments.
Katerea naturally held nothing back, divulging all intelligence except perhaps the color of the plan's executors' underwear.
After listening, Haruto instantly understood the whole story.
Right after the Three Factions Summit, the Old Satan Faction—which had long sought to overthrow the current Underworld—joined forces with discontented old conservatives under Leohart's command.