The Eligos territory, outskirts of the ancient battlefield.
When Leon and Rem arrived together, the area did not suddenly teem with swarms of vengeful spirits and magical beasts as it once had. Instead, it was eerily quiet.
It couldn't be helped; for over half a month, the entire ancient battlefield had served as a live-combat training ground for the members of the Eligos peerage. While the inner regions might still be populated, the outskirts had been thoroughly ravaged. Vengeful spirits and magical beasts were now rare occurrences, and the terrain itself was a mess of craters and ruins—a testament to the heavy devastation it had endured.
Leon and Rem stood facing each other; one looked relaxed, while the other appeared tense.
"Alright, let's begin."
Leon stood with one hand on his hip, looking completely at ease. He didn't seem like a man about to confront an Oni who had lost all reason.
"Don't worry, I'll be right here watching. There's no one else around, so even if you lose control and go wild, it won't cause any real damage. Feel free to go all out."
Leon provided Rem with a bit of reassurance first, which noticeably relaxed her expression. However, her eyes still betrayed a deep-seated unease.
"Do I really have to enter the Oni Form voluntarily?" Rem asked for confirmation once more, her voice hesitating.
For someone like her who frequently lost control and went berserk, voluntarily entering the Oni Form was something she had never dared to consider. Years of traumatic experiences had left her with a severe aversion to it, creating a psychological shadow that made her dread ever intentionally stimulating her horn.
"Are you afraid of hurting me?" Leon laughed. "There's really no need for that. Even if Ram were here to help you, the two of you wouldn't be able to do much to me. It's an open question whether you could even force me to use my full power."
In the past, Leon wouldn't have dared to make such a bold claim. Before recruiting Ravel, Leon hadn't even fully completed the Balance Breaker for "Zenith Tempest". At his maximum output, he was roughly at the level of a Ten-Winged Devil. To face two Oni reaching the level of Ultimate-Class Devils simultaneously might have been a struggle.
But now, even without using the power of "Zenith Tempest," Leon himself possessed strength equivalent to a Ten-Winged Devil. Even in her Oni Form, Rem would still be a full rank below him. How could she possibly harm him?
"Hurry up, don't dither. Or do you want me to call Ram over to keep you company?" Leon continued to urge her.
"Re... Rem understands. Please do not call Sister."
Rem had no desire to trouble her sister further. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Hum—
Moments later, the aura around Rem became frantic. A white light began to flicker on her forehead, and a horn started to emerge faintly from beneath the skin, as if struggling to grow out.
"Ngh—"
Rem's expression turned pained, and her voice carried a muffled groan as the aura around her grew even more violent.
Snap!
Just as Rem's consciousness was about to succumb to the chaos, a hand suddenly reached out and flicked her forehead.
"Ow!"
Rem's consciousness was instantly jerked back by the sting on her forehead. She clutched the spot and cried out in pain. Thanks to that, the frantic aura around her vanished, and the white light on her forehead dissipated instantly.
"Li... Lord Leon?"
While rubbing her forehead, Rem looked at Leon—who had appeared before her unnoticed—with teary eyes, as if questioning why he would treat her so roughly.
"Failure. Try again," Leon said with a neutral face. "You were influenced by the Oni state almost the instant you stimulated the horn. Your aura was so chaotic it was obvious you wouldn't be able to control yourself. You would have lost control one hundred percent."
"So, do it over. This time, stimulate the Oni state slowly. Try to hold on during the process and don't let your consciousness sink."
"Think of pleasant things. Don't let negative emotions affect you—including hesitation and unease. If you can eliminate those, you should be able to hold out longer."
Leon offered his perspective and advice, and it actually made quite a bit of sense. After all, he was a man who had devoured a significant portion of the collection in his study. While he wasn't as obsessive as Yukino Yukinoshita, who wanted to read every single book, he had finished more than half. This accumulated knowledge was very useful, allowing Leon to offer guidance in various fields; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to devise training plans for each of his peerage members as he did now.
These were the necessary qualities of a "King." To lead the team better and help his followers grow, accumulating knowledge was essential. Thus, Leon could quickly identify where Rem's problem lay and provide a certain degree of guidance.
"Go on."
Leon retreated to his original position and urged her again.
"Yes."
Rem rubbed her reddened forehead, calmed her emotions, and quickly attempted the Oni Form again.
Time and again her aura became frantic, her face turned pained, and her voice became agonized. However, every time Rem was about to lose herself and her consciousness was about to sink completely, Leon would instantly flash forward and interrupt her state with a flick to the forehead, pulling her out of the Oni Form.
"No, still too rushed. Slow down more. You need to consciously control the speed of the transformation; don't just drown in it all at once."
"Slow it down even further. Your consciousness can't keep up with the surging power. That will only make the massive sense of power go to your head."
"This time was too slow. The surging power was suppressed by your consciousness, so you couldn't enter the Oni state at all. Again."
"Still not right. Again."
"Again."
Leon seemed to have transformed back into that Spartan devil instructor who would ruthlessly rain down barrages during the morning basic training. His attitude remained casual, but his actions were merciless, interrupting Rem time and again until her forehead was quite red.
Rem was on the verge of tears. She even recalled the scene where she had been knocked unconscious by Leon's forehead flick during her last berserk rampage—and hadn't she ended up falling into his arms at the end?
This realization left Rem feeling both annoyed and flustered. Numerous expressions broke through her usually stoic face. Driven by these emotions, her next attempt at the Oni Form was completely devoid of hesitation and unease; instead, her feelings of embarrassment and annoyance caused her to enter the state at an unprecedented speed.
So fast, in fact, that before Leon could intervene, the single white horn on Rem's forehead finally grew out completely, and her eyes instantly glowed with a red light.
"I—!!!"
With a roar, Rem lost control as expected.
Her aura surged violently, jumping instantly from the level of a Middle-Class Devil to that of an Ultimate-Class Devil. The magic power within her body, which was supposed to be relatively low, exploded upward, surging through the Middle-Class and High-Class levels without stopping. The final eruption of magic power was actually not much weaker than Ram's.
"As I thought, most of her magic power was absorbed by the Oni state; it only truly erupts after the transformation..."
Seeing this, Leon completely confirmed his previous suspicion. He knew he had found the real reason why Rem grew so slowly. Rem's high-level potential was indeed entirely concentrated within the special ability of her Oni Form.
Just as Leon confirmed this, Rem—now completely lost to her Oni state—attacked.
Boom!
Amidst a flare of magic power, Rem let out a scream and reached toward Leon, causing a terrifying frost to manifest. Thousands of ice shards shot out from the frost, blanketing the area toward Leon. Everywhere the frost touched, the temperature of the air plummeted.
This was the magic Rem specialized in. Unlike Ram, who used wind magic, Rem excelled at ice magic. However, unlike Ram, she didn't have the ability to create her own spells. She had only learned a few types of ice magic, and her repertoire was extremely limited; most of the time, she could only fire ice to attack opponents, showing how low her aptitude for magic truly was.
However, supported by the massive magic power of an Ultimate-Class level, Rem's ice magic, though simple, increased drastically in power. The shards she fired numbered in the thousands, creating a pervasive barrage that was nearly impossible to dodge.
Faced with this downpour of ice, Leon naturally chose not to dodge but to face it head-on.
Boom!
A purple aura of magic power erupted from Leon, instantly overpowering Rem's magic. Magic circles manifested around his body.
Bang bang bang bang bang—!
The next moment, countless ice shards struck the magic circles deployed around Leon, clashing continuously and creating a deafening cacophony. The ice was blocked and shattered upon impact. The force was enough to kick up gales, shaking the ground beneath Leon's feet and gradually swirling up a thick cloud of dust.
Before long, the dust was blown away, and Leon's unharmed figure appeared, further provoking the red-eyed Rem.
"Die!"
Rem let out a frantic roar and shot forward like a cannonball. Creating a sonic boom, she raised her small fist and punched outward.
Crash!!!
A massive explosion occurred as the ground was pulverized by Rem's simple punch, turning into a giant crater and sending debris flying everywhere. Leon's figure appeared in mid-air, ten devil wings unfurled behind him as he soared through the sky at incredible speed, evading her strike.
Rem wanted to give chase, but she was halted. A magic circle appeared beneath her feet without her noticing, and chains condensed from pure magic power shot out from within. Before Rem could react, they wrapped around her, binding her tightly.
"Ugh—Aaaahhhh—!"
Rem struggled desperately, exerting incredible strength, but she couldn't break free from the magic chains.
Swish!
Leon appeared right in front of Rem, his finger curled and positioned before her forehead. Rem seemed to have a stress response to this motion, flinching violently. Unfortunately, that didn't save her from what was coming next.
Thump!
"...!"
As Leon flicked her forehead once more—this time carrying magic power that acted as a shockwave—Rem experienced the sensation of her consciousness being struck for the second time.
"Lord Leon..."
Rem's eyes widened, the red glow faded, and the white horn on her forehead dissipated. Her surging aura and magic power rapidly weakened, and she slumped unconsciously into Leon's arms.
"Fortunately, the transformation didn't last long this time. The load on her body and spirit shouldn't be too heavy."
Holding Rem, Leon did a quick check and then popped a small fruit into her mouth.
"Cough—!"
Rem woke up immediately, sat up abruptly, and her face twisted in a look of pure bitterness.
"So bitter!"
She felt she had just tasted the bitterest thing in the world—far more bitter than the hardships she had endured trying to catch up to her sister's footsteps for all these years.
"Good medicine tastes bitter. Although this isn't exactly medicine, it can instantly wake someone from unconsciousness. It's a very useful item for you."
Leon gave Rem a smile before immediately shifting back into Spartan mode.
"Since you're awake, let's continue. Don't waste time."
Rem: "..."
Confirmed. Her master was definitely a devil among devils, a demon among demons.
Yet, for some reason, this merciless attitude actually made Rem feel a strange sense of peace. She didn't want people to look at her with pity, and she certainly didn't want sympathy; that only made her more conscious of how inferior she felt. Therefore, Leon's strictness made her feel secure in a way. At least she didn't have to worry about him being disappointed in her or wanting to abandon her. Someone who was truly disappointed would never demand so much of her.
Thinking this, Rem couldn't help but think of her sister. Sister appeared cold and heartless, but she was gentler than anyone. That gentleness had saved her, but it also made her constantly anxious, fearing that one day she might be cast aside. Lord Leon wasn't gentle, but that was exactly what Rem needed.
It made Rem realize that she now carried not only her sister's expectations but also her master's.
In that case—
"Let's continue."
Strengthening her resolve, Rem forced herself up and prepared to attempt the Oni Form again.
In her focus, she didn't notice that not far away, a figure remarkably similar to her own stood silently, watching everything.
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