"President, please don't open your eyes."
Takeyo gently removed Sona's glasses and set them aside on her desk.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for completing the location sign-in! Sign-in level: Silver!]
[Sign-in location: Sona Sitri's glasses.]
[Congratulations to the host for the reward: Mystic Eyes of Death Perception!]
But at that moment, Takeyo didn't care about any rewards. A beautiful girl stood before him with her eyes closed. As a man, how could he not react?
Sona stood there motionless, and a fresh, delicate fragrance spread quietly throughout the student council room.
Her elegant brows furrowed faintly, and shallow worry and anxiety were visible on her refined face. The girl's shyness was displayed vividly.
With the glasses removed, Sona had a much more girlish air than usual.
Previously, those glasses had added considerable points to Sona's cool, intellectual aura.
Seeing this vulnerable side of her, Takeyo leaned forward gently.
"Mm..." Sona whispered softly.
It was exactly as Sona had expected.
Takeyo could only say that he clearly felt the breath of a girl for the first time in such an intimate way.
He wasn't worried about Sona being angry. He'd told her not to open her eyes, and she hadn't opened them. That was already a certain degree of consent.
Generally speaking, even if one were just changing glasses, one could simply change the glasses. But Takeyo had specifically told her to close her eyes. At that point, Sona should have been mentally prepared for what might follow.
One minute passed.
When they finally separated, Takeyo slowly placed the new glasses on Sona's face.
"President, do you forgive me?" Takeyo asked with a smile as he looked at Sona.
"This... I don't know how to answer that... It depends on your own efforts from now on."
There was an unusually cute contrast in Sona's demeanor at that moment.
After saying this, she closed her eyes again.
"My, my, the President really does like to act spoiled," Takeyo said, shaking his head slightly. Are you testing my rationality? This is still the school, after all.
Perhaps this is the reward for asking the President for her help, Takeyo couldn't help but think.
Half an hour later, Takeyo emerged from the student council room and immediately ran into Tsubaki and Asia, who had just finished processing the transfer paperwork. After all, they needed to attend class before the end of the school day.
"The paperwork has been completed. She can attend class directly starting now," Tsubaki said, adjusting her glasses.
"Oh, thank you, Vice President."
Takeyo smiled. The efficiency was truly amazing. In just half an hour, Asia had already changed into her school uniform, and all the procedures seemed to have been completed.
"No need for thanks. This was the President's request," Tsubaki replied coolly before heading straight into the student council room.
At that moment, she witnessed a scene that would be seared into her memory for life.
President Sona, the wise and composed president who always maintained the aura of an ice goddess, was currently radiating the atmosphere of a lovestruck young girl.
The glasses Takeyo had given to Sona were naturally not ordinary glasses.
As a Devil, Sona wouldn't be nearsighted in theory. Her usual glasses were plain lenses with no prescription.
The glasses he'd given her were tactical glasses with functions such as energy measurement, item analysis, virtual mapping, and more.
He couldn't possibly give her worthless glasses as a gift.
Next came Asia's transfer ceremony, which proceeded the same as any ordinary transfer student's introduction.
Perhaps because Asia was so cute, everyone wanted to get close to her. After class ended, Asia found herself surrounded by curious students eager to befriend her.
"Hmm? Koneko-chan? Here again? Is there something going on with Rias?"
After school, Takeyo spotted a small white-haired figure waiting near the doorway of his classroom.
"Koneko?"
Takeyo walked out and addressed the petite girl.
"Takeyo-senpai, the President said that contact has been made with the other party. Senpai can go tonight," Koneko said softly.
"Oh, Rias is that efficient? Thank you for letting me know."
It seemed his Dragon Knight sign-in quest might actually be completed soon.
After all, he'd wanted to convince Ophis to come home with him before, but due to Ophis's own independent will, he hadn't succeeded yet.
If Ophis wouldn't work out, he'd have to pursue other options.
Today he'd heard another urban legend circulating through the school.
There was supposedly a young man wandering around the city. When facing different people, he would ask different questions and give rewards or punishments based on their different answers.
It was said that one blessed person had apparently transformed directly from a pathetic weakling into a muscular powerhouse.
When Takeyo had heard Kiryuu mention this urban legend, he'd actually wanted to say something.
The urban legends of Kuoh Academy were proving to be as real as the supernatural phenomena in Academy City.
That boy, hadn't Takeyo already had a face-to-face encounter with him? It seemed he had some specific purpose and had been wandering around Kuoh Town for a while now.
It was just that the boy seemed ordinary on the surface. Takeyo hadn't noticed anything special about him before.
Old school building, Occult Research Club.
"So that's the situation. Asia, why don't you say hello to everyone?"
Takeyo briefly explained Asia's background. After all, the Occult Research Club was one of the major powers in this school and had the right to know.
It would be troublesome if they attacked her because of Asia's holy power without understanding the situation first.
"Asia? Another poor child exiled by the Church. It's okay. You can stay here forever," Rias said gently as she looked at Asia with compassion.
Her peerage member Yuuto Kiba was also a victim of the Church's corrupt system, so she sympathized deeply with what had happened to Asia.
The Church's rules were simply too old-fashioned and inflexible.
Rias didn't know that with the God of the Bible having died long ago, allowing someone like Asia, whose existence would affect the faithful's beliefs, to remain on the side of the Angels would cause dangerous fluctuations in Heaven's system.
Of course, even knowing that, the Church's decision was still inappropriate and heartless.
However, although Asia had experienced such sadness, she never said anything resentful. Perhaps she truly was a natural little angel.
"It's nice to meet everyone. I'm Asia," Asia said with a genuine smile.
In this school, she'd made her first real friend as an equal, the boisterous Kiryuu Aika, and for the first time felt emotions she'd never experienced before.
Feelings called friendship.
"Ara ara, what a lovely little nun. I'm Akeno Himejima. Just call me Akeno-senpai," Akeno said with a warm smile.
Although Asia was wearing a school uniform now, she still wore a nun's cross around her neck, so Akeno immediately recognized her former identity.
"Hello! I'll be counting on everyone's support from now on."
Everyone could see that Asia had a wonderful personality, and they began chatting warmly with her. Meanwhile, Takeyo sought out Rias privately.
"President Rias, thank you for your help with the Familiar Forest matter."
"It's no trouble at all. It's just a small effort. After all, Takeyo is now my peerage member," Rias said, still holding onto that subjective viewpoint, just like Sona did.
Unless someone threw the entire Underworld's worth of Evil Pieces plus multiple King Pieces at him, it would be impossible to reincarnate him as a Devil. His power was simply too vast.
"That may be so, but I still need to thank you. By the way, President Rias, I heard from President Sona that you seem to be troubled by something recently?"
Rias's troubles were naturally related to that arrogant Phoenix heir.
"Sona told you that?" Rias asked with some surprise.
"No, no. But your reaction just now, Rias, confirms that you really are troubled by something," Takeyo said with a knowing smile.
"Well, yes, I am," Rias admitted after a moment.
Rias tilted her head slightly, having noticed that Takeyo had been observing her carefully.
"Could you tell me about it? I feel like you've been hesitating to bring this up for a while now."
Takeyo asked directly, his tone gentle but encouraging.
In fact, he'd long since guessed what was troubling her. However, some things needed to be said explicitly. Even though he knew the truth, if the other party didn't speak first, it would be difficult for him to offer help directly.
The problem was the engagement arranged by Rias's family.
Although Takeyo himself didn't come from a prestigious clan in this world, he understood the ways of powerful families quite well from his extensive reading and knowledge.
Just as he'd expected, Rias was facing pressure from her family.
"Takeyo, have you heard of the Phoenix Clan?" Rias asked seriously, as though she'd made a significant decision.
In the past, she hadn't wanted to mention this because she was afraid Takeyo would think she was using him. But now it was Takeyo who had asked about it, so naturally, the situation was different.
"Phoenix... the legendary phoenix bird, if I recall correctly. They're one of the 72 Pillars of the Underworld," Takeyo replied thoughtfully.
"So Takeyo, do you have the confidence to defeat a Phoenix?" Rias asked, her voice tinged with hope.
Although Riser's strength hadn't reached the level of a Satan-class Devil, defeating him was even more difficult than defeating a Satan-class Devil in some ways.
As long as his spirit didn't collapse, he could resurrect almost infinitely.
Of course, he wasn't without weaknesses.
Basically, anyone at the Satan level could torture a high-class Devil Phoenix to spiritual exhaustion and death. If they used sufficiently powerful techniques, it was even possible to obliterate one instantly with no possibility of resurrection.
For an ultimate-class Devil, the outcome was less certain. It would likely require a peak ultimate-class Devil's full power to guarantee complete spiritual destruction.
"The Phoenix? Rias, do you think the Phoenix is invincible?" Takeyo asked with an amused smile.
He currently possessed more than a dozen different methods to eliminate a Phoenix permanently. The only question was how many rounds Riser could actually survive.
"Isn't it?" Rias asked rhetorically, confusion evident in her eyes.
"Well then, have any members of the Phoenix family become Satan? Whether it was the old Satans of the previous generation or the new Satans of this current era, there doesn't seem to be any Phoenix among them, does there?"
Phoenix-level regeneration?
The power of his World Dragon Kurimo incarnation could achieve a similar immortal effect through healing, but that alone wasn't sufficient to offset all the side effects of using his various incarnations at full power.
Not to mention, how many Mass Burst attacks could a Phoenix withstand? Or perhaps several light beams from the Holy Sword of the Stars? Wouldn't that directly traumatize the poor Phoenix heir?
A Phoenix was naturally not the equal of a Satan, and Rias knew this fact as well.
But the problem was that there was no appropriate Satan willing to take action. Would anyone really ask a Satan to personally deal with a junior member from the Phoenix family?
Not only would they likely refuse, but even if they agreed, the Satan's reputation would be severely damaged by such an act.
"That's true... The Phoenix isn't truly invincible, but to defeat a Phoenix requires..."
"I believe my power is sufficient. After all, a Phoenix is still a Devil, correct?" Takeyo interrupted Rias calmly.
At the same time, a silver elven holy sword materialized in his hand, gleaming with divine radiance.
The holy sword that slays Devils, Est!
"A Holy Sword!"
Rias stood up abruptly from her seat. A Holy Sword! Was Takeyo actually a Holy Sword wielder? But more importantly, she couldn't help but recognize what this particular Holy Sword represented.
"Holy Sword..."
Besides Rias, there was another person intently watching the Holy Sword in Takeyo's hand.
Yuuto Kiba.
However, he looked away after staring for a brief moment, because this Holy Sword wasn't any of the Excalibur fragments he sought.
His goal was to destroy all the Excaliburs and take revenge for his fallen comrades.
"The Holy Sword that slays the Devil King, Est," Takeyo announced.
With a thought from Takeyo, astonishing sacred power erupted from Est's blade, radiating outward in visible waves.
Moreover, unlike when Asia's latent angelic nature had emerged and wounded Yuuma Amano with uncontrolled holy power, this extremely powerful and rich sacred energy was tightly wrapped around the Holy Sword itself.
Condensed to the absolute extreme.
"The Holy Sword that slays the Devil King? I've never heard of such a weapon... But with that blade, you could certainly devastate Riser's spirit thoroughly," Rias murmured, her eyes widening.
The Holy Sword that slays the Devil King? Did that mean this Holy Sword had once accomplished the feat of destroying a Satan?
Regardless, with such overwhelmingly strong sacred power concentrated in the blade, even a Phoenix would suffer a complete nervous breakdown after prolonged contact with it.
Indeed, just looking at this Holy Sword made Rias feel as though death itself stood directly before her eyes.
However, something unexpected happened in the next instant. The brilliant radiance on the Holy Sword gradually dimmed, and the sensation in Takeyo's hand became strange, almost warm and soft.
"Master..."
Est appeared, now in her human form wearing a sailor-style uniform, with an uncomfortable expression on her delicate face.
"Master, you poured in too much. Est can't handle it..." Est said softly, her cheeks slightly flushed.
"Huh?" Rias raised her eyebrows, a flush creeping across her own face.
"Ara ara," Akeno said with a knowing smile, covering her mouth with one hand.
"Wha, ! What is this?! And what exactly do you mean by that, little girl?!" Rias's face turned completely red as she stammered in surprise and embarrassment.
"Est, remember to tell me when you're reaching your limit in the future," Takeyo said, somewhat exasperated as he gently patted Est's head.
Through their spiritual connection, he understood what Est actually meant.
"Okay, I understand. I won't infuse so much energy at once next time," Takeyo said apologetically.
It turned out that Est had felt overwhelmed because he'd poured too much spiritual power into her in an extremely short period of time.
It wasn't that Takeyo's spiritual power reserves were particularly excessive, but rather that the quality was extraordinarily high, making it difficult for Est to convert and process it all immediately.
"Rias, this is Est. She's the Holy Sword that slays the Devil King I just mentioned. Unlike the sword spirits of Eastern legends, Est herself is the embodiment of the Holy Sword that slays the Devil King."
"A life form I've never encountered before, Takeyo? Just how many secrets are you hiding?" Rias smiled helplessly, shaking her head.
She'd genuinely felt like she might be killed instantly just moments ago when looking at that concentrated holy power.
"Ara ara, isn't this wonderful? Now the President doesn't have to worry about that troublesome matter," Akeno said warmly as she brought hot tea to both Takeyo and Rias.
"That matter? What exactly is 'that matter'? Does it have something to do with the Phoenix you mentioned, Rias?" Takeyo asked, his expression deliberately confused.
Of course, he was asking this on purpose to draw out the full explanation.
"It's like this..."
Rias took a deep breath and finally made up her mind completely.
If Takeyo possessed this kind of overwhelming strength, defeating, or at least repelling, Riser shouldn't be a problem at all.
That evening, at the agreed-upon time with Rias, Takeyo arrived at the Occult Research Club.
"Takeyo, you're finally here," Sona said, adjusting her glasses in a way that clearly indicated she wasn't particularly happy at the moment.
Why had Takeyo asked Rias to arrange his trip to the Familiar Forest instead of asking her?
Why? Why didn't he come to me first?! Obviously, I came first! I knew him first, I kissed him first!
At this moment, the girl who'd just lost her first kiss earlier that day felt an irrational sense of loss and possessive jealousy.
"Sona? Did Rias tell you I was going to capture a familiar?" Takeyo asked, though he wasn't particularly worried about managing this situation.
If he couldn't handle a scenario like this, how could he possibly manage a proper harem in the future?
"Um, actually Sona figured it out herself. She suddenly came to me asking if I had business with you today, and then she just... knew," Rias said awkwardly, avoiding Sona's pointed gaze.
Subjectively, she definitely hadn't wanted to inform Sona about this particular outing.
But being confronted by Sona directly at this moment, she indeed felt somewhat guilty.
'Damn it! I'm the one who paid out precious Evil Pieces, so why do I feel like a guilty mistress caught in the act right now?!' Rias thought indignantly to herself.
"Sona, you're already working hard enough dealing with Student Council affairs every day, so I didn't want to trouble you with this as well," Takeyo explained gently.
"Since I'm going to capture a familiar tonight anyway, would you like to come along?" Takeyo asked Sona directly.
"Of course. It's my responsibility to help you find a suitable familiar, Takeyo," Sona said without hesitation, her mood brightening immediately.
With the activation of a transport magic circle, everyone teleported to the Familiar Forest.
"The Familiar Forest, home to countless potential familiars, ranging from common creatures to legendary beings," Rias introduced to Takeyo enthusiastically.
She was genuinely happy to be able to help Takeyo with something he couldn't accomplish on his own.
"Familiar Master! I've arrived!" A cheerful voice called out as an eccentric middle-aged man with a red cap emerged from the forest canopy, dropping down dramatically.
As if responding perfectly to Rias's introduction, the somewhat eccentric-looking middle-aged man appeared before them.
"Oh! If it isn't the lovely Gremory and Sitri princesses! Who's the lucky one looking to capture a familiar this time?" the Familiar Master asked with an enthusiastic grin, rubbing his hands together.
"That would be me," Takeyo said, stepping forward.
As his memories had suggested, everything about this old man matched perfectly, the backwards-facing cap, the iconic clothing, the color coordination of his outfit, and even the catchphrase-like manner of speaking.
It all gave Takeyo an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.
A sense of meeting a middle-aged version of a certain legendary Pokémon Trainer.
It was like encountering an aged Satoshi who kept shouting "Pokémon! Gotta catch 'em all!"
Perhaps this was evidence of the legendary phenomenon where parallel world timelines interfered with one another, creating amusing crossover coincidences.
☆☆☆
-> 50 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.co-m/AshenMoon
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you