If they had stayed where they were, they would have encountered Takeyo by now.
At the place where Takeyo had departed, a young figure descended unsteadily across space itself, his feet trembling slightly as he materialized.
"Hah... hah... hah... Tiamat really is a crazy woman," Takeyo sighed deeply, his breath still ragged from exertion.
Not that he had any room to complain. His entire body ached with a bone-deep soreness that made even standing an effort. After using the incarnation of World Dragon Kurimo in battle against Tiamat, the strain had become exponentially worse.
Of course, the sign-in had to be completed first. After all, Takeyo had deliberately pushed himself into over-limit mode for precisely this opportunity.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for completing the daily plot sign-in! Sign-in rank: Diamond!]
[Sign-in plot: The Legendary Dragon Knight]
[Plot description: Become the legendary dragon knight! Riding a dragon requires strength, and only a Dragon King-class mount will suffice!]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the reward: Gift of Power, The Corridor of the Fairies!]
[The Corridor of the Fairies: The perfected, gifted version from the Godslayer world. Originally the power usurped by Lady Aisha from the Celtic goddess Queen Nyfael, manifesting from her reluctance to accept her fate.]
[This ability opens a corridor to the "non-eternal world", referring to the secluded realms, past eras, and potentially even future timelines and parallel dimensions. Originally, this power was completely uncontrollable. Lady Aisha could never activate it at will, and it would spontaneously trigger at random, pulling her into different eras. However, wherever she appeared, there were always people in need of assistance.]
[When traveling to the past, temporal correction minimizes the traveler's influence on history, while also protecting the traveler's own safety from paradoxical elimination.]
[The perfected Corridor of the Fairies has eliminated all weaknesses and expanded its operational range significantly. Whether traveling to the past, entering secluded realms, visiting the future, or even crossing into entirely different worlds, this gifted power makes all such journeys possible.]
[Warning: Consumes enormous amounts of energy. Use according to available power reserves.]
A time and space travel ability. No, it was more than that. With sufficient power, this could theoretically allow him to traverse between entirely different worlds.
"So transcendent-level power would be sufficient for world-hopping?" Takeyo mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "That's easier than using the other incarnations, and the power consumption for cross-world travel using the incarnations would only allow single trips anyway."
"Unfortunately, the energy consumption is still enormous. It would drain my power reserves almost instantly," he muttered, wincing at the prospect.
After studying his newly acquired ability briefly, Takeyo limped toward the location where he had arranged to meet Rias and the others.
Speaking of which, they had been waiting for him while he went off and enjoyed himself thoroughly. The thought made him feel somewhat guilty. Was this behavior a bit too scummy?
Well, scum was scum. Being labeled a scumbag only applied when you lacked the ability to handle your relationships properly. If you possessed the capability to manage everyone's expectations and keep them happy, then it wasn't being a scumbag, it was called being passionate and loving.
"But... where is everyone? Did they go looking for me after I took so long to return?"
Takeyo frowned, scanning the empty clearing. He was genuinely too exhausted to go searching for them now.
"Forget it. I'll just sleep here for a while until they come back. They'll definitely return to this meeting point eventually."
With that thought, Takeyo collapsed onto the forest floor. Despite the aching pain throughout his entire body, he fell asleep within moments, utterly spent from his encounter with Tiamat.
The sheer depth of his exhaustion spoke volumes about how intense that particular "battle" had been.
"Takeyo-senpai?! Takeyo-senpai!"
Roughly half an hour later, Koneko was the first to spot Takeyo lying motionless on the ground.
At the nekomata's urgent call, everyone immediately rushed back to their original meeting location.
"Takeyo must have been caught in the aftermath of that Dragon King battle! Otherwise, he certainly wouldn't be in this condition!" Rias said worriedly, immediately channeling healing magic into his prone form.
However, her healing magic produced almost no visible effect on Takeyo's body.
What she didn't know was that Takeyo hadn't been affected by collateral damage. He had been a direct participant in the Dragon King's battle, and depending on one's perspective, he had simultaneously won and lost.
Only one of those two battles actually qualified as combat in the traditional sense.
"Regardless, let's take Takeyo back first. Once we return, we'll find a specialized doctor to heal him!" Sona said calmly, her analytical mind already working through their options.
According to her observation, Takeyo bore no external injuries. The primary concerns were internal damage and spiritual exhaustion.
"Right!" Rias agreed without hesitation, immediately activating a teleportation circle.
She regretted her decision deeply now. If she had known that a Dragon King-level battle would erupt in this forest, she would never have brought Takeyo here today.
In her heart, she blamed herself entirely for this situation.
Today wasn't even the standard time for familiar acquisition. The usual interval between familiar-hunting trips was one month, but she had used the Gremory family's connections to schedule an earlier excursion.
Yet she hadn't expected them to be caught up in a Dragon King's battle as a result.
"Then, Familiar Master, we'll be taking our leave first."
After Rias and Sona exchanged a few brief words with the Familiar Master, the teleportation magic circle flared beneath their feet.
"I apologize... I wasn't much help this time."
The Familiar Master spoke awkwardly, genuine regret coloring his tone.
He truly hadn't contributed anything useful. In fact, if others didn't know that the battle had erupted because of Takeyo's actions, they might have accused him of gross negligence.
After all, he hadn't even known when two Dragon King-class dragons had entered the Familiar Forest. If he had been aware, he would never have permitted Rias and the others to enter.
"However, there's something strange about this entire situation."
After Rias and her group departed, the Familiar Master began exploring the battleground where the two Dragon Kings had clashed.
"This doesn't make sense. There should be a victor still present. How did both Dragon Kings simply vanish?"
He couldn't comprehend the situation at all.
The truth was simple: both combatants had "fallen."
Takeyo had collapsed from energy depletion, while Tiamat had succumbed for entirely different reasons.
When Takeyo opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was a man with distinctive green hair, the Devil Satan Ajuka Beelzebub.
"Oh, you've finally awakened. While you were sleeping, Rias and Sona brought you back to your home and then informed me about your condition. You really outdid yourself this time, kid."
Ajuka set aside the curriculum materials he had been preparing and walked toward Takeyo.
As long as Takeyo was physically unharmed, Ajuka actually didn't mind him sleeping for extended periods. The extra time allowed him to refine his teaching materials properly rather than rushing through compilation.
Originally, he had planned to simply dump all the magical knowledge he had collected from the Underworld directly onto Takeyo. Now that he had extra time, he could personally improve and organize the information first.
"Did I really sleep for two more days?" Takeyo asked, feeling an unsettling hollowness within his body. Yesterday's Tiamat had been... well, the day before yesterday's Tiamat had been absolutely relentless.
He knew he had slept for two days because his system had refreshed the daily tasks twice during his unconscious period.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for triggering the daily location sign-in! Sign-in rank: Bronze!]
[Sign-in location: Jeanne's twin-tails.]
[Sign-in time limit: 30 days.]
[Remaining time: 28 days and 15 hours.]
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for triggering the daily plot sign-in! Sign-in rank: Silver!]
[Sign-in plot: The Sekiryuutei's Awakening.]
[Plot description: For the Sekiryuutei and Hakuryuukou to become lifelong friends, the Sekiryuutei's power must first awaken.]
[Note: Must at least reach Balance Breaker level.]
[Sign-in time limit: 1 day.]
[Remaining time: 15 hours.]
These were the sign-ins that had been refreshed while Takeyo slept.
Seeing that Takeyo still appeared somewhat dazed, Ajuka smiled knowingly.
"Indeed, it's been two days. During that time, your studies made absolutely no progress," Ajuka said, shaking his finger with mock disappointment.
"Actually, there has been progress. Hasn't my spiritual power increased?" Takeyo countered with a slight smile.
If he wanted to grow into a High-Class Devil naturally, it would take approximately three or four months, even while sleeping. But that pace was far too slow for his purposes, so he constantly sought ways to accelerate his development.
"You're really a monster, you know that?" Ajuka said helplessly. Was it really acceptable to ignore your teacher's carefully prepared lessons like this?
"However, don't be so reckless next time. I heard from them that you were affected by a Dragon King's battle, but I think... you didn't just get caught in the aftermath. You actually participated in the battle itself, didn't you? And ultimately, it turned into a three-way conflict?"
Ajuka didn't believe for a moment that Takeyo's condition resulted merely from collateral damage. With Takeyo's current strength, being affected by a Dragon King's battle wouldn't have left him in such a depleted state.
The far more likely possibility was that Takeyo had directly engaged in combat with the Dragon King, using methods similar to his previous fight against Tannin, which had resulted in his current condition.
Looking at his completely energy-depleted state, the parallel to his battle with Tannin was unmistakable.
"Something like that," Takeyo admitted vaguely.
Since others had already constructed a reasonable explanation for him, he saw no need to elaborate further. After all, how exactly would he explain the truth? "I successfully became a dragon knight and enjoyed myself from Tiamat's dragon form all the way through her human form?"
That would raise far too many awkward questions.
"Anyway, I've already entered you into the Evil Piece ranking system, and your value has been set at twelve, which is the maximum allowed limit."
"You should be participating in Rating Games soon, correct? Many competition rules are calculated using family member values, so having an official system registration is essential."
"Ah, thank you, sensei."
Beyond other considerations, he absolutely needed to obtain a legitimate identity within the Evil Piece system to help Rias properly. If he existed outside the system, opponents could exploit that loophole to prevent him from participating at crucial moments.
Of course, these weren't insurmountable problems.
After all, the system administrator was Ajuka, his own teacher.
"These are some of my personal research notes and experimental records. After you finish learning everything in the crystal orb, you can study these."
Ajuka tossed another small object to Takeyo.
This wasn't a formal curriculum or structured lesson plan, but rather Ajuka's personal magical handbook, documenting numerous unconventional techniques and experimental methodologies.
Perhaps the only being who could surpass Ajuka in this particular domain was the late God of the Bible himself.
"Isn't it too early to give me this?" Takeyo frowned slightly.
He genuinely preferred to master the fundamentals thoroughly first before advancing to experimental applications.
"It's a bit early, yes, but I think you might need it sooner rather than later. After all... cough cough... recently, my schedule has become rather tight. You might finish my new curriculum before I've even completed compiling it."
Ajuka coughed awkwardly.
It wasn't his fault. He had recently collected such an extensive volume of magical knowledge from throughout the Underworld that he needed to personally process and organize everything before it would be suitable for Takeyo's education.
"Ahem... Please don't look at me with that expression."
Ajuka noticed Takeyo's subtly judgmental gaze. Wasn't this situation entirely caused by your own abnormal learning speed?
"In any case, that's the situation. Since you're fine now, I'll be leaving first. If you need anything, you can contact me. And in the future, please refrain from casually challenging Dragon Kings to combat."
Ajuka spoke with exasperation in his tone. Do you know or not what I hope for most? That you would stay quietly at home until you successfully advance to transcendent level!
At minimum, you should wait until you possess stable Maou-class strength before venturing out again, shouldn't you?
Otherwise, with only High-Class Devil-tier power, you wouldn't even have the basic qualifications to escape when facing a transcendent-level being.
"I understand. I genuinely do value my own life," Takeyo replied sincerely.
He never undertook actions without careful calculation. His decision to engage Tiamat had been made only after accurately assessing the absolute limits of his World Dragon Kurimo incarnation.
"Alright, as long as you understand."
"Then... goodbye."
After saying this, Ajuka vanished from Takeyo's house in an instant.
As for the Fallen Angel living in Takeyo's residence, Ajuka trusted that Takeyo possessed sufficient judgment to handle such matters independently. He didn't need to interfere.
What he did know was that he had encountered both the ten-winged angels of Heaven and the ten-winged fallen angels of Grigori, yet here in Takeyo's home, he had observed a ten-winged being that belonged to neither category.
This had forced him to develop an extremely peculiar theory.
Could Takeyo possibly be a god? Specifically, a deity superior even to the God of the Bible?
After all, even the Biblical God could only create angels. He had never demonstrated the ability to create ten-winged angels or ten-winged fallen angels of equivalent power.
Ajuka had no intention of investigating this matter further. He believed that after Takeyo grew to a certain level of power, the young Devil would voluntarily explain everything.
"Sigh... Ajuka-sensei is truly an excellent teacher."
Takeyo sighed appreciatively after his mentor departed.
"It makes me feel somewhat embarrassed, honestly."
Takeyo was indeed someone who reciprocated kindness generously. He responded well to gentle persuasion rather than force. While he could handle aggressive approaches, this type of sugar-coated encouragement was far more effective.
The metaphorical "cannonballs" of kindness Ajuka had been firing his way were admittedly quite substantial. They felt less like sugar-coated cannonballs and more like sugar-coated missiles.
What Takeyo didn't know was that an even larger sugar-coated nuclear warhead awaited him in the future.
Just as Takeyo contemplated whether he should continue studying despite his physical discomfort, a young girl entered through the doorway.
"Clatter, "
The plate in the girl's hands slipped from her grasp, falling gently to the floor.
Droplets of crystalline tears flowed from emerald eyes as she rushed directly toward Takeyo.
"Takeyo-san! Takeyo-san! You're alright, aren't you?" Asia cried, throwing herself into his arms.
She had tried numerous times to heal him, but even using the Smile of the Holy Mother, her Sacred Gear Twilight Healing, she hadn't been able to wake Takeyo from his coma.
"Yes, Asia. Don't worry. I believe I still value my own well-being quite highly," Takeyo said gently, stroking Asia's head with tender affection.
"Mm! Mm!" Asia nodded emphatically, her relief palpable.
To be honest, during Takeyo's unconscious period, she had nearly fainted from excessive worry. Only her newly acquired ten-winged angel physiology had sustained her through the ordeal. Otherwise, she would have collapsed from emotional exhaustion long ago.
"It's okay now. Everything's fine."
Takeyo continued comforting Asia with soothing words. How could anyone not treasure such an adorable and devoted younger sister?
At that moment, evening had just fallen across Kuoh.
Koneko was performing her duties as a Devil, traveling to form contracts with humans who had summoned her.
"Flash, "
After a burst of crimson light, Koneko's petite figure materialized in the summoner's room.
"Oh! Are you Devil-chan? Welcome! I'm Le Fay!" A beautiful blonde girl bounded excitedly toward Koneko, examining her with sparkling curiosity.
"Le Fay? Are you the client for this request? What is your commission?" Koneko asked softly, her usual monotone voice betraying nothing.
She could sense the magical power emanating from this person. She was a human magician.
Devils frequently established long-term contracts with human magicians, so such commissions were relatively common in their line of work.
"My request? I just want you to stay with me and keep me company!" Le Fay said playfully, practically gluing herself to Koneko's side as she spoke.
"Do you want to sign a long-term contract with me? I apologize, but I don't believe I'm a qualified Devil yet. For something like that, you'll need to wait until I've matured and become more powerful," Koneko replied with a slight frown.
Generally speaking, no human magician would sign contracts with Mid-Class Devils.
Most such arrangements were negotiated through high-level communications between the Magician's Association and Devil authorities, with both parties agreeing to the contract terms before finalization.
Koneko hadn't yet reached that level of qualification.
"Ah! I haven't asked Nii-sama about this sort of thing. Would you agree to it?" A very familiar voice suddenly emerged from the corner of the room, a voice Koneko recognized instantly!
"Nee-sama!?" Koneko's golden eyes widened in shock, her pupils contracting dramatically.
Had her older sister come here to take her away?
"This is my companion's younger sister, nya?" Kuroka purred, licking her lips with feline grace as she addressed Le Fay.
"I'm Le Fay Pendragon! I'm the younger sister of Arthur Pendragon!" Le Fay announced cheerfully, her energetic personality on full display.
"Nee-sama, are you here to take me away?" Koneko asked, her voice tight with apprehension.
Although she understood Le Fay's introduction, Koneko paid it no attention. Her entire focus remained fixed on Kuroka, awaiting her sister's response.
"That's right, nya! Our boss is very interested in your power! After all, you're a nekomata from my family!" Kuroka declared, her eyes gleaming with cunning intent as she stared directly at her younger sister.
The air between the two sisters crackled with tension as past and present collided in that small room.
☆☆☆
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