There was unmistakable confidence in Rias's voice—and when she rushed out of the steel cabin and into the wasteland, that confidence became even more apparent.
All Leo could hear were deafening roars and explosions, followed by waves of blazing light and the stench of scorched flesh. Countless zombie birds fell from the sky one after another, crashing into the ground and becoming fuel for the spreading flames.
As far as Leo could see, there was nothing left but fire—and the corpses of zombie birds. The flames ignited by their burning bodies spread across the sky, turning everything in his field of vision into shades of red and orange. If not for the barrier protecting the steel cabin, there was no doubt that everyone inside would have been roasted alive by the inferno and heat.
Twenty minutes passed like this before Leo could finally make out Rias's figure clearly.
She stood calmly at the edge of the cliff, a wall of flames swirling around her like armor. Zombie birds hurled themselves endlessly at her barrier, only to ignite and turn into blazing fire the moment they made contact.
Often, all she needed to do was flick her arm—sending a whip of fire lashing out, knocking down countless zombie birds and sending them crashing to the ground, utterly lifeless.
Fire and her hair danced together in the air, to the point where Leo could no longer tell which was flame and which was hair.
Charred corpses rained down. Against this backdrop of black smoke and burning skies, the red-haired Rias displayed a bewitching, almost demonic beauty. As a devil, she spread her wings amid death and slaughter, wielding flame and whip alike. The scene itself—death, destruction, and her presence—captivated Leo, drawing him deeper into that intoxicating beauty and charm.
"She's… beautiful," Leo couldn't help but murmur.
"But… Miss Rias…"
Lux seemed to want to say something. Her upbringing told her that devils were absolutely not good beings—but Rias had treated her well. She hadn't abandoned Lux in danger and had even been injured protecting her.
Because of that, Lux couldn't bring herself to say anything bad about Rias.
"Yeah. She's a devil," Leo said softly, taking a deep breath. Though he had firmly refused earlier, it was impossible to say he didn't yearn for this kind of power.
"Hey—don't go down the wrong path. Anyone who makes deals with devils never ends well, even in legends from my world," Kelly warned as she walked over, a piece of candy in her mouth.
She had scavenged it from a vending machine. Resting her arm on Leo's shoulder, she pressed her chest against the back of his head and leaned her chin on top of his hair.
"Even I'm a bit jealous, sure—but I absolutely don't trust someone who calls herself a devil. Who knows if those monsters weren't deliberately led here by her?"
Kelly still felt uneasy about Rias having brought such a massive wave of monsters with her.
Maybe the Kelly who lived in Arad wouldn't care—but this Kelly, who hadn't been away from the battlefield for long, clearly disliked that kind of thing.
And now that Rias had displayed overwhelming combat power, Kelly found herself even more suspicious of her motives.
Even with the excuse that this world suppressed power, Kelly knew very well that even when Tsunade was suppressed—chakra recovery speed and intensity reduced—the total amount of chakra hadn't changed.
At most, it went from smashing half a mountain with one punch to smashing a tenth of one.
The upper limit was reduced—but against these fragile monsters, it was still complete domination.
"But right now, her combat power really is far beyond ours. And she hasn't attacked us directly… In a few days, you won't need to worry anymore," Leo replied.
He took the candy Kelly handed him and noticed she gave one to Lux as well.
"And what about you? Without me and Tsunade, how are you supposed to survive in this world?" Kelly snorted.
She knew Leo's situation well.
"There's always a way to survive," Leo exhaled slowly.
He knew Kelly was worried about him. After all, the difficulty of this world was clearly increasing, and everyone could see it. If it kept escalating, sooner or later he'd be trapped inside the steel cabin forever, endlessly besieged by zombies.
And when that happened, there would only be two words left.
Totally screwed.
"You idiot…" Kelly snorted coldly, pushed Leo away, and walked out with her gun.
"I don't believe there are truly endless monsters in this world. That Rias told me something while you were unconscious—she found a factory that's still operating, one that keeps producing zombies. That place should be tied to the truth of this world. We'll investigate it together when the time comes."
Leo didn't object. Kelly could fix vehicles, so finding intact ones elsewhere made sense. And investigating a factory that endlessly spawned monsters was definitely the right move.
"Alright," Leo nodded.
He pulled out a gun as well and stepped out of the steel cabin, beginning to hunt down the few remaining zombie birds.
This time, though, it was more troublesome. With so few birds left, they couldn't just fire blindly. It took nearly another half hour before they, together with Rias, finally cleared out the last of the zombie birds.
By then, night was falling, and zombie bird corpses were scattered everywhere. Though they had survived the crisis, there wasn't much else they could do that day.
They hastily ate a meal. During dinner, Leo took some time to use pure system blocks to build another house beside the steel cabin for Rias and Lux. Only then did he return to his own bed to rest.
However…
In the middle of the night, Leo suddenly felt something straddling him. Groggily opening his eyes, he saw Tsunade above him, her expression complicated.
Just as he was about to speak, Tsunade suddenly asked,
"Why did you play the hero?"
Firelight reflected in her eyes. Even though it was hard to see clearly, Leo could clearly make out the anger and unwillingness within them.
"Because we need their strength. If we want to live better, it was necessary," Leo replied.
But before he could finish, Tsunade grabbed his collar furiously and growled,
"Is my strength not enough?!"
Leo couldn't answer—because tears were already streaming down Tsunade's face, and she had collapsed into his arms.
There was something Kelly hadn't told Leo.
When Leo rushed out earlier, Tsunade had already regained her ability to move—and she had watched as he was swallowed by zombie birds.
Leo had wanted to say that, yes, her strength wasn't enough—but Tsunade never gave him the chance.
The two of them quickly became entangled, and then—
"Hey, mind if I stay over for the night?"
With reddened eyes, Kelly knocked on the door of Rias and Lux.