While Leon was immersed in the changes within his body, on the other side, changes were also occurring in Ram and Rem, who had completed their reincarnation.
A pair of bat-like devil wings unfurled from their backs simultaneously. The power within their bodies merged with the newly born mana, allowing the strength of a Devil and the strength of the Oni clan to coexist within them in perfect harmony.
"My power—"
Ram raised both hands, staring at her palms. she felt a familiar power slowly returning to her.
It was the power she had lost ten years ago.
Ten years ago, in the final battle of the Oni Village, her only horn had been severed, leading to a massive loss of power. Since then, she had no longer possessed the strength that had earned her the title of the Oni clan's strongest.
But now, under the effect of the reincarnation ritual, her power was gradually returning.
"The horn!"
Ravel, standing to the side, let out a cry of surprise, causing Tiamat to look toward Ram's forehead.
There, a fractured horn emitting a white light appeared out of nowhere. Like a lizard's tail, it was slowly growing back.
Before long, the broken horn was restored to its original state, becoming a sharp point radiating a white glow. Far from looking grotesque, it actually appeared somewhat cute.
"It has finally recovered."
A smile appeared on Tiamat's face.
Under the power of a reincarnation ritual capable of bringing the dead back to life, Ram's broken horn had finally grown back. This meant that the Ram once hailed as the Child of the Oni God had returned at this very moment.
Boom!
A storm erupted around Ram, causing the aura emanating from her to surge wildly.
"This... is this the power of an Ultimate-class Devil—?!"
Ravel was nearly blown away by the gale. She managed to steady herself with great difficulty, raising her arms to shield her face. However, her eyes behind her hands trembled uncontrollably, filled with shock.
Ram—actually possessed power equivalent to an Ultimate-class Devil?
How was that possible?
"Nothing is impossible."
Tiamat extended a hand and pressed it onto Ravel's shoulder to help her steady herself. Tiamat herself stood fully exposed to the storm, unmoved in the slightest, with an irrepressible smile on her face.
"The Oni are a very powerful combat race, second only to the Dragons. An adult Oni naturally possesses strength equivalent to a High-class Devil. Since Ram was hailed as the strongest of such a race, how could she not have Ultimate-class power?"
This was the terrifying aspect of Ram.
One must remember that ten years ago, Ram already possessed this level of strength. At that time, she was merely a young girl not even ten years old. To possess power equivalent to an Ultimate-class Devil before the age of ten was more terrifying than even the descendants of the Great Demon Kings.
"In a sense, Ram can be considered a type of 'Transcendent.' Like Sirzechs and Ajuka, she is an existence that has undergone a mutation, transcending her original race."
That was why she could demonstrate such staggering potential and strength even with only one horn. Before she was ten, she possessed power that could be called the strongest in the Oni clan, earning her the title of the Reincarnation of the Oni God, or even the "One-Horned Oni God."
This was also why she had been so difficult to reincarnate into a Devil. Not only did she already possess strength surpassing a High-class Devil, but as someone who achieved such power before ten, her body undoubtedly hid even more astonishing potential. If the master were not an existence surpassing the Demon King class, it would have been impossible to successfully reincarnate her with any Evil Piece other than a Mutation Piece.
Even for an existence surpassing the Demon King class, attempting to reincarnate her would likely require the consumption of multiple pieces to stand a chance of success.
This was the true worth of someone who reached high-level potential without a Longinus or being a Sacred Gear holder.
Of course, there was another such existence present.
"Ugh—"
As Ram was recovering her strength, a startling pressure was also being released from Rem's body, her power beginning to climb step by step.
Compared to Ram, who naturally possessed Ultimate-class strength, the baseline Rem was undoubtedly much weaker. Even after reincarnating into a Devil, her power fluctuations were likely only equivalent to a Middle-class Devil, far inferior to her sister.
However, at this moment, under the reinforcement of the Evil Piece's power, Rem not only reflexively unfurled her devil wings, but a single horn radiating white light also grew from her forehead unnoticed. This caused her power to surge rapidly, catching up to Ram in the blink of an eye.
Yet, as her horn was stimulated, Rem seemed to be in great pain, letting out a stifled, agonized sound.
"This is bad!"
Seeing this, the smile on Tiamat's face instantly vanished.
"Rem!"
Ram also snapped out of the sensation of her returning power. Seeing her sister's state, her expression shifted.
"Grrr... Haaa... Haaa..."
The next moment, the agonized Rem suddenly let out a sharp cry. Her blue eyes glowed with a crimson light, and all emotion within them was replaced by ferocious violence. The power fluctuations emanating from her became instantly violent and turbulent.
Boom!!!
Before anyone could react, Rem's slender leg rose and stomped heavily onto the ground, setting off a thunderous roar. In the midst of the roar, the ground shattered instantly, centering on the spot where Rem's foot landed.
The ground collapsed.
Rumble—!
Accompanied by the eruption of dust and the violent shaking of the earth, the mansion in the remote outskirts—which had been the subject of many mysterious rumors—collapsed amidst a series of booms.
The ground gave way, and the sprawling mansion disintegrated within the erupting dust and sinking earth, eventually collapsing completely into countless piles of rubble.
Swish!
Before the ground fully collapsed, a corner of the erupting dust was disturbed. Tiamat, carrying Ravel, flew out and landed a short distance away, escaping the disaster site.
"Cough, cough—"
Ravel coughed violently, seemingly choked by the dust, as she spoke in shock.
"Wh-What's happening? What's going on?!"
The answer to that question was quickly revealed.
"The newborn power has stimulated Rem's horn, awakening her instincts as an Oni," Tiamat said, her gaze fixed intently on the dust ahead, her voice heavy. "Rem has once again lost control of her surging power. She's gone berserk."
Just as Tiamat finished speaking, the dust ahead was torn apart by a force, and Ram's figure appeared, flying backward out of the cloud.
"Rem!"
Ram's forehead still sported the glowing horn, and her entire body was wrapped in a violent gale. However, there was no joy on her face; instead, she called out to the front with desperation.
In this situation, a figure slowly walked out from within the dust.
Clang— Clang— Clang—
It was the sound of heavy metal scraping against the ground.
As Rem slowly emerged from the dust, a morning star had appeared in her hand at some point, and she was dragging it slowly across the ground. It was a flail consisting of a spiked iron ball connected by a chain to a handle, which Rem held in one hand. As she walked, it dragged a deep furrow into the earth.
Just from this sight, Ravel knew that the weapon must weigh at least a hundred kilograms, perhaps even close to a ton. Such a ponderously heavy weapon shouldn't have appeared in the hands of a petite and cute maid like Rem, but when that maid's eyes glowed red and her face was filled with mania, the scene no longer felt out of place.
"Haaa—!" Rem let out a beast-like roar. With the white horn atop her head, she swung her slender arm, and the heavy morning star was instantly whipped into motion, turning into an afterimage as it flew forward.
"Tch—!"
Ram let out an audible click of her tongue. She stopped calling her sister's name and, wrapped in a gust of wind as if flying on the breeze, she retreated backward at extreme speed.
Boom!
The iron chain, moving like a blur, slammed down heavily. The hideous spiked iron ball smashed into the spot where Ram had stood a second before, shattering the ground once more.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!—
Rem had fallen completely into a berserk state, swinging her morning star desperately. Time and again, the heavy iron ball slammed down, targeting Ram. As Ram dodged repeatedly by riding the wind, the ground was pulverized over and over, with explosions of sound erupting continuously.
For a time, dust filled the air and sand swirled violently. Rem seemed to have transformed into a berserker, relentlessly smashing the ground. The area looked as if it had suffered a natural disaster; the ground collapsed repeatedly under the violent strikes, and in an instant, the place became a broken mess of craters and rubble.
"I-I'll go help!"
Seeing Ram at a disadvantage and narrowly escaping the morning star time and again, Ravel couldn't watch any longer. Flame wings unfurled from her back as she prepared to rush forward to stop Rem.
"Wait." Tiamat kept her hand on Ravel's shoulder, pressing down firmly as Ravel prepared to charge. She stopped her from flying out and said, "Let's see what Ram does first."
Tiamat's expression had returned to normal as she watched the battlefield ahead with burning eyes. Although Rem had lost control again, Ram had also recovered her strength. Tiamat wanted to see exactly how much she had recovered.
"There's no other way."
Seeing that Rem showed no sign of regaining her senses, Ram knew that continuing to dodge was futile. She stopped retreating, and a more intense storm erupted around her body as she moved to meet the iron ball swinging down from above.
Bang!
The storm and the iron ball collided fiercely, triggering a shockwave that sent both rebounding.
"Calm down! Rem!"
Ram steadied herself after repelling the morning star. She raised both hands, and a hurricane suddenly swept forward. It plowed through the earth as it rushed toward Rem, cutting through the ground around her and causing Rem to fall into the hollow beneath.
"What incredible wind power!" Ravel was shocked again. "Is that magic?"
"Indeed," Tiamat confirmed, her gaze never leaving the battlefield. "Normally, the Oni are a race with extremely strong physical capabilities and are masters of melee combat. But Ram is different from other Oni. She is not skilled at close combat at all. Instead, she has shown astonishing talent in magic since she was a child."
"Her specialty is wind magic, and almost all the wind spells she uses are her own creations."
"For the Oni clan, who are naturally gifted at fighting with their bodies, magic is a field they rarely touch—often never touching it at all. Thus, the collection of magic books in the Oni Village was extremely sparse. Only a small portion, brought back as spoils of war, was left to gather dust in the corners of an ignored warehouse."
"But Ram, by chance, came into contact with those magic books and the power of magic, and she was captivated by it."
Thus, Ram demonstrated her startling magical talent. In a few short days, she learned all the knowledge in the village's magic books and even innovated, creating many wind spells to become a powerful Oni mage.
This was also why Tiamat referred to Ram as a Transcendent. Despite being an Oni, her physical abilities were mediocre, yet she was exceptionally skilled in magic, leading one to suspect she had undergone a racial mutation that transcended the Oni species.
"Ram also possesses an ability called Clairvoyance. It is a secret technique only she can use. It allows her to share the vision of any creature with a matching wavelength, enabling her to look across a distance of a thousand miles."
Tiamat spoke as if introducing a daughter she was proud of, before suddenly shifting her tone.
"In contrast, Rem, who was born together with Ram as her twin sister, is her complete opposite. Although she also has the ability to learn magic, her talent in that area is far inferior to Ram's. Even her physical abilities couldn't match an Oni child of the same age; she was once considered a failure of the Oni clan."
"For these ten years, because Ram lost her horn and her power, her strength was a shadow of its former self. To protect her sister, Rem trained relentlessly. Even so, as she approached adulthood, she was only equivalent to a Middle-class Devil. Compared to other Oni who can rival a High-class Devil upon reaching adulthood, she was undoubtedly lacking."
"However, it's as if all her talent was poured into her berserk state. Once her horn is stimulated and she enters the 'Oni-fication' state, Rem's power undergoes an unbelievable surge. She receives an amplification dozens or even a hundred times stronger than other Oni who undergo Oni-fication, bringing her power close to Ram's."
"But, the side effects of Oni-fication are amplified along with it."
"When other Oni undergo Oni-fication, at most their mental state is affected, becoming a bit frantic. Rem is different; she loses her reason entirely and becomes extremely violent, attacking even her most respected sister without hesitation."
If Ram was the prodigy and the Reincarnation of the Oni God of the Oni clan, then Rem was the true Oni.
In the title "Oni God," the word "Oni" refers to Rem, while the word "God" refers to Ram.