The days of special training passed one after another.
Every day, Rias and her group were mercilessly squeezed dry by Avrora under Izumi's supervision.
They ended each day collapsed on the ground like dead dogs.
But the results were undeniable.
Their growth was tremendous—
and Avrora's growth was just as terrifying.
On the first day, the clumsy, airheaded Primogenitor needed roughly an hour to defeat the entire group.
By the second day, she only needed half an hour.
As time went on, the duration kept shrinking.
Avrora's combat sense stabilized, and her power grew sharper with every fight.
But by the fifth day, something changed—
Rias and Sona began pulling the time back upward.
Now Avrora once again needed over half an hour to take them down.
Rias and Sona had grown from B- rank to B+, while Akeno had finally broken into B-rank.
Tsubaki Shinra lagged slightly behind—her strength only climbed from C- to C+, but considering her starting point, it was still solid progress.
Even Rias's newest servant, Xenovia, had risen from D-rank to D+, and looked ready to break into C-rank at any moment.
After being beaten to pulp by Avrora day after day, if they didn't grow stronger, Izumi really would've looked down on them.
But it wasn't just Rias's peerage.
Even Asia and Megumi had grown dramatically—their mana capacity had more than doubled, and they had learned a variety of supporting skills.
Megumi, especially, had improved at a frightening rate.
After learning reinforcement magecraft, combined with her natural Presence Concealment, even Rias had to treat her seriously now.
That skill was simply too broken.
If Megumi ever approached with killing intent, Rias wouldn't even have time to react before a blade was at her throat.
In fact—
if Izumi gave her a stronger Noble Phantasm-level weapon, Megumi could genuinely assassinate a C-rank fighter before they realized what happened.
Reinforcement gave her explosive short-term power.
Presence Concealment erased her existence from perception.
Even if she was still technically "weak," killing a C-rank was almost trivial.
Which is why Megumi was currently the one improving the most.
◆◇◆◇◆
That afternoon, Izumi lounged on a beach chair like usual, with Ophis—wearing her trademark school swimsuit—seated quietly beside him.
The others sat nearby, taking their break after finishing today's training.
Eriri and the rest were lazily scrolling through news on their phones.
Suddenly—
"Eh? The Knights of the Round revived?"
Eriri blinked, staring at her screen. "And they joined the frontline battlefield?"
Izumi raised an eyebrow.
"Knights of the Round…?"
Everyone else also leaned in, curious.
Seeing this, Eriri cleared her throat and read the article aloud.
A powerful woman claiming to be King Arthur had appeared on the frontlines, leading the Knights of the Round against invaders from other worlds.
Their overwhelming strength had crushed numerous otherworldly monsters, making them an instant worldwide sensation.
Especially the woman calling herself King Arthur—
wielding a holy lance, she pierced the heavens and brought down destruction on a massive scale.
The entire battlefield was shaken.
Izumi immediately burst into laughter.
There was no need to guess.
"Ahh… so Lancer Artoria decided to join the frontline."
The "holy lance that reaches the ends of the world" gave it away instantly.
No doubt the world was in complete chaos over the sudden reappearance of King Arthur.
Which also meant the Pendragon family must have acknowledged her existence—otherwise, they'd be the first to publicly deny the news.
And it wasn't just her.
Scathach had also gone to the frontline, achieving impressive results and winning the admiration of countless women.
Izumi glanced over the headlines without much concern.
"As long as they're safe, they can do whatever they want," he muttered.
The others, however, were stunned.
These were women Izumi had brought back…
and they were already becoming legendary figures.
Slowly, all eyes turned toward Izumi with a strange, indescribable feeling.
If the people he brought home were that strong…
Just how strong was Izumi himself?
After hesitating for a moment, Rias finally asked:
"Izumi-kun… could you tell us just how strong you really are? We've all been wondering."
Everyone nodded frantically—including Eriri and Megumi.
They all wanted to know.
Izumi looked around at the expectant faces.
Then he smiled lightly and said:
"Not very strong. I'm still pretty weak."
"Right now I'm only SS+ rank. Practically cannon fodder."
"I've only got one foot into SSS rank."
The beach instantly fell into absolute silence.
Except for Ophis and Avrora, every girl froze.
Rias's hand twitched, and she almost dropped her drink.
Her voice shook.
"You… you're not joking… right…?"
"SS+…??"
Izumi nodded calmly.
"Yeah. SS+ isn't a big deal."
To the girls, however, the statement was nothing short of pure bragging.
Akeno sighed, massaging her temple.
"If SS+ is 'not a big deal,' then what are we supposed to be?
Not even cannon fodder?"
"You do realize there are barely any SS+ individuals in the entire world, right?"
"Even reaching S-rank is something only a handful of humans can manage."
"Are you sure you're not just bragging, Izumi-kun?"
Her words were met with vigorous nodding.
Even Sona pushed her glasses up with a faint scowl.
"My elder sister Serafall, one of the Four Great Satans, is only S+."
"Rias's brother is SS−."
"And you're SS+."
"Do you understand what that difference means?"
"And you call SS+ 'cannon fodder'? Then what level counts as a real powerhouse in your eyes?"
At this point, they were all convinced:
Izumi was absolutely showing off.
But he wasn't.
He sighed softly.
"In your world, SS+ is indeed incredible."
"But did you know something?"
"In the neighboring EXE world…"
"Even SSS-rank is just cannon fodder."
"The foot soldiers serving under certain Outer Gods are SSS-rank."
"And they're stronger than Great Red."
A quiet stillness fell over the beach.
Izumi continued lightly:
"So tell me—"
"Do you still think SS+ is strong?"
He didn't mind telling them the truth.
Knowing how small they were was the fastest way to inspire them to grow.
The reaction was immediate.
Every girl at the scene stared at him wide-eyed, trembling.
Even Ophis turned her head slightly, surprised.
(Which for Ophis was equivalent to shouting.)
Izumi… knows about that world?
The revelation was earth-shattering.
Everyone's minds plunged into chaos—
—because what Izumi described completely shattered their understanding of strength.