Watching Grayfia glide over, Takumi's breathing inevitably got a little heavier.
There was no question—she was the most eye-catching woman in the room. That overwhelming presence, that cold, razor-sharp elegance… even if she just stood there in silence, she'd still pull everyone's gaze like gravity.
Grayfia stopped in front of Takumi and raised her glass. "As the referee for this Rating Game, I'm truly honored, Takumi-sama."
She smiled—stunning in a way that felt like a plum blossom blooming in a snowstorm.
Takumi immediately lifted his own glass in return. "So you're Miss Grayfia. The honor's mine. I've heard your name for a long time—people say you're the strongest female demon in the Underworld, right?"
"No, I am!" Serafall suddenly popped out, puffing up and protesting.
Grayfia's expression stiffened—just a fraction—when she saw her old rival.
But she still answered with graceful restraint. "I am not the strongest female demon… but Serafall-sama is absolutely not, either."
The words were polite, but the needle was sharp.
Serafall immediately locked eyes with her, bristling. Two breathtaking beauties, neither willing to give an inch.
Stuck between them, Takumi could only sigh internally.
And while Grayfia sparred with Serafall the way she always did, her attention kept sliding back to Takumi.
She knew Serafall's temperament better than anyone.
For Takumi to be this close with Serafall… it meant he'd earned her approval the hard way—through actions, not talk.
Which suggested Takumi wasn't just a Demon King-level powerhouse on paper.
And besides, the strength Takumi's pieces had shown in that game was… impossible to ignore.
After Grayfia, more and more female demons came up to speak with him.
"Takumi-sama, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Latia of House Astaroth—your performance in the Rating Game was truly beyond extraordinary!"
"Um… h-hi. I-I'm Iryuka, from House Glasya-Labolas… I'm Ravel's classmate… u-ugh…"
…
The second even Iryuka—Ravel's shy, social-anxiety-ridden classmate—worked up the courage to come over, Ravel completely lost it.
This was supposed to be her moment—her chance to talk with Takumi, to get close, to make progress.
And yet woman after woman kept stepping in and blocking her path.
Ravel tried to fight for air in the crowd… and got swallowed whole. Even Takumi couldn't withstand that level of enthusiastic attention.
It wasn't that he disliked chatting with pretty girls—he didn't—but this kind of formal networking at a banquet just wasn't his thing.
"Alright," he said at last, smoothly cutting it off. "I'm tired. I'm heading back to rest."
After he'd met and exchanged a few words with most of the girls—enough to be polite—Takumi used that excuse and cast a teleportation circle to leave.
Setsuna and the others—who'd been happily stuffing their faces at the feast—vanished right along with him.
Watching Takumi leave in a hurry, the demon girls all looked openly reluctant.
Even Iryuka—shy as she was—found herself genuinely liking that gentle, well-mannered big-brother vibe he gave off, and she drifted toward Ravel to ask for more information about him.
Ravel, meanwhile, was in a full-blown slump. She hadn't seized the chance at all. She'd barely gotten a few sentences in.
Her parents didn't look worried. "Takumi doesn't seem to enjoy official, formal socializing," they said, exchanging a meaningful look. "In that case, Ravel—we'll arrange for you to attend Kuoh Academy in the human world. Use that opportunity to build a real connection with him. The Phenex Clan can't afford to make an enemy of someone that powerful. Ideally… we should have a friend like that."
Ravel's parents gave her a very pointed glance.
Ravel understood instantly—and her cheeks turned a deep, burning red as a bunch of very unhealthy images exploded in her head.
She'd been cramming that kind of knowledge lately.
After she'd blurted out that whole clapping while she runs thing in public, her mother had realized Ravel needed a serious education upgrade in that department.
Ravel had always been pure and straightforward—so after absorbing all those lessons… every time she thought about Takumi, her imagination immediately sprinted off a cliff.
Seeing their daughter obviously smitten—and not rejecting the idea of an alliance-by-marriage—the Phenex parents quietly relaxed.
If both sides could accept it, that was best.
Because if they got another mess like Riser… the Phenex Clan really would be humiliated beyond repair.
…
Back in the Morax territory mansion, Takumi finally let loose completely.
This huge territory now held only him and his followers.
"That Phenex banquet bored me," Takumi said, grinning. "We're throwing a bigger party here to celebrate! Kureha, Setsuna… all that pent-up energy you couldn't burn off earlier? I'll help you burn it off."
He spread both hands.
An alchemical array unfolded, covering the entire estate, and in the blink of an eye, a dazzling spread of delicacies and luxury food appeared, wall to wall.
With the girls crowding around him, Takumi was clearly planning to eat—and to eat them—at the same time.
Beneath the Underworld's purple sky, time blurred into something meaningless.
Using his Space-Time Realm to cover the area and twist the flow of time itself, Takumi went hard for three full days—and only then did he finally push his way out of the pile of bodies, breathing like someone resurfacing after a long dive.
"Yubelluna," he said, voice satisfied and lazy, "I'm leaving the mansion's management to you for now. Gather some girls with good personalities, good looks, and clean bodies to serve as maids. Get everything in order."
Yubelluna—still in the middle of cleaning him, over and over, while being thoroughly inspected the entire time—nodded with a sultry smile.
Takumi ruffled her hair, then casually produced over a thousand divine chess pieces.
"All of these are yours. Any maid who meets the standards—you can give her a piece."
"Mmm… I understand, Master," Yubelluna replied, her voice husky, her cheeks soft with a sweet, satisfied glow.
She could feel it—Takumi trusted her, valued her, which made her heart lift like it might burst.
The order he'd given her… she had to execute it beautifully.
If she could earn even more of Takumi's favor, Yubelluna felt like she could die smiling.
As the last drop of divine wine went down, Yubelluna felt her power settle completely—solid and stable.
She was now a true High-Class Mage.
If she unleashed her explosive magic at full power, she could blow a mountain range apart like it was paper.
Before this? She wouldn't have even dared to dream it.
And all of it—every bit of it—was something Takumi had granted her.
The others weren't much different.
One after another, the girls had reached the point where they practically worshiped Takumi like a god.
As Takumi pulled on his clothes and prepared to head home, he opened his status panel.
[Cross-World Gate Progress: 2857%]
[Ding! Yubelluna's affection has reached the threshold. Copying trait: Explosion Magic (Blue)]
[Ding! Ni's affection has reached the threshold. Copying trait: Nekomata Bloodline (Blue)]
…
Takumi looked through the long list of newly copied traits and filtered them. Most of them, he chose to fuse.
It was a shame, though—his current batch of followers weren't exactly overflowing with potential. The traits they dropped were… decent, but nothing mind-blowing.