Yukino had no idea her mother and sister were already shaken to the core by what they'd witnessed.
She wasn't thinking about them at all. Her expression was tense, her demonic power surging unevenly around her, mirroring her turmoil.
Cold wind roared around her. Ice formed and fired in countless shapes—shards, spikes, blades—yet Sharon shattered every attack with her hands and feet, slipping through Yukino's offense and steadily closing the distance.
Despite being indoors, Sharon moved as if gravity and walls were suggestions rather than rules. One moment she sprinted across the floor, the next she launched herself onto the ceiling, pushing off into a twisting dive. She leapt between walls like a phantom, weaving through the barrage of ice and destroying anything that got too close.
The gap between them shrank rapidly. If the Yukinoshita mansion's sitting room weren't so absurdly spacious, Sharon would've reached her already and torn into her with close-quarters attacks.
Yukino didn't dare let that happen.
If she gets close, I'll lose instantly.
She knew this clearly.
She wasn't Leo. She'd learned the Eligos family's detection methods, but without the Eligos bloodline she lacked their natural affinity. Being able to sense Sharon at all was already impressive—but tracking her every movement to dodge attacks like Leo could? Impossible.
She was a traditional devil. A Bishop-tier servant. Her strength was fighting with demonic power, not close combat.
If Sharon got in range, Yukino's limited aikido wouldn't save her. She'd be overwhelmed in seconds.
So she made a snap decision.
She fled.
Her devil wings snapped open, and Yukino launched herself into the air, shooting across the sitting room and out through the balcony.
Sharon followed without hesitation. Her charge kicked up a gust so strong the entire room trembled.
Only when both had vanished outside did Yukinoshita Haruno and Mrs. Yukinoshita finally react.
"Y-Yukino…"
Mrs. Yukinoshita stared at her daughter's devil wings as she flew away, her lips trembling.
"A devil…"
Haruno watched Yukino's retreating figure with wide, unfocused eyes, shock turning into a storm of conflicting emotions.
There was no need for further questioning.
Everything was already proven.
Yukinoshita Yukino—her quiet, stubborn little sister—had truly become a devil.
Devils were real. Exorcists were real.
And with that realization came something else.
Yukino… is she going to be exterminated by the Church?
"Haruno! Stop them!"
Haruno's fears were the same as their mother's. Mrs. Yukinoshita's face paled, panic overwhelming even her rigid composure.
Yukino had misunderstood one thing from the beginning.
Her parents had never seen her as Haruno's replacement.
They raised Haruno as the heir, yes. They believed Yukino was immature, yes. But that didn't mean they would ever allow their daughter—even as a devil—to be harmed.
Both women bolted from the sitting room.
But they were too late.
In seconds, that place became a battlefield neither of them could approach.
...
Outside the mansion, Yukino soared into the sky. Her flight was graceful and sharp, more like a snowbird cutting through freezing winds than a bat-winged devil.
She maneuvered midair with swift changes of direction, dodging the Light Bullets fired up at her.
Below, racing across the ground with terrifying speed, Sharon fired her exorcist handgun repeatedly. The Light Bullets sliced through the air in near-silence, dangerous enough to kill any devil.
Once, Yukino would have panicked under such concentrated fire.
But after witnessing Asuna's Sacred Gear—after feeling the lethal terror of a Holy Sword up close—she'd realized something:
Compared to a Holy Sword, these Light Weapons were nothing.
Light was poison, yes. But poison could be endured.
A Holy Sword was death. Touching it meant being burned. Being struck meant disintegration.
That was a devil's true nightmare.
When they reached an open clearing, Yukino finally stopped and hovered in place.
"Not running anymore?"
Sharon arrived beneath her, looking up with a mocking smile.
Yukino didn't respond. She stared down coldly, her expression hard as ice.
"I'll make you regret involving my family."
She spoke each word slowly, clearly.
"Shouldn't you be regretting becoming a devil?" Sharon tilted her head, unbothered. "A devil not even a month old—you really think you can beat me?"
To her, Yukino's performance was astonishing.
Barely a month since her Servant Conversion, yet she could already wield demonic power so skillfully that advanced techniques—normally unattainable for newly reborn devils—came naturally to her. The amount of demonic power she commanded far surpassed a typical newly reborn Low-Class Devil—comparable to long-established devils.
Sharon had to admit Yukino's talent was exceptional.
But Yukino was still a devil.
"You have talent. You're already stronger than some Mid-Class Devils." Sharon drew two dagger-length Light Swords, activating them with a quiet hum. "But compared to him, you're still far behind."
She meant Leo.
Three years ago, when she was first stationed in Chiba Prefecture, her first conflict had been with Leo. Even then, before he reached High-Class Devil, he had already pushed his Mid-Class Devil strength to its limit—one of the strongest in that tier.
Yukino was impressive for her age and time since rebirth—but she wasn't Leo.
As for Sharon, back then she'd already been Chiba Prefecture's strongest exorcist. Even facing Leo at his peak Mid-Class level, she had never fallen behind. She'd tangled with him endlessly, pestering him without ever letting him gain a decisive advantage.
Their miserable rivalry had been born from that deadlock.
And Sharon Holygrail had never feared Leo back then. So why would she fear Yukino, who wasn't even at his former level?
Let alone now.
Leo had become a High-Class Devil.
Sharon had also grown stronger—strong enough that she wouldn't lose to Leo as he had been right after his promotion.
She now had strength on par with a High-Class Devil.
If Leo hadn't gained the advantage of Evil Pieces and awakened the trait from being exposed to them, Sharon would have continued to fight him evenly.
But in just a few months, Leo had grown into something she could no longer measure.
She couldn't accept it.
And that was why she'd set her sights on his servant—Yukino.
Of course, she also knew Yukino wasn't showing her full power.
"You haven't used your Sacred Gear yet, have you?" Sharon approached slowly, one Light Sword in each hand. "Use everything you have. Otherwise you're going to learn exactly how painful Light is for you devils."
Yukino stared at her, demonic power burning off her body like a rising blizzard.
"Come out, Ice Princess."
At her command, the princess of ice appeared.
When she manifested, the cold around Yukino surged a hundredfold, freezing the air into shards of frost.
When she manifested, the temperature plummeted below zero in an instant.
When she manifested, Sharon's breath turned white, each exhale unable to slow the creeping chill eating into her body.
When she manifested, even the sky dimmed. Snow began to fall.
A soft exhale—
"Whooo…"
The princess of ice breathed, and the wind became an expanding storm—exploding outward in a blizzard of deathly cold.
Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack—
The ground froze solid. Ice spread in all directions, turning the world into a frozen wasteland. Yukinoshita Haruno and Mrs. Yukinoshita, running toward the scene, stopped instantly, trembling just like they had on the first day of school.
Sharon's face finally hardened.
"So this is the Longinus… 'Absolute Demise'?"
Before her voice could fade, Yukino spoke from above.
"If you die, don't blame me."
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You can read up to chapter 74 on patreon.com/NiaXD.