A month's time wasn't enough to leave any noticeable changes on an estate, at least not in Leon's manor.
Although Leon had left with his followers, the familiars remained to maintain the grounds. Thus, the manor looked exactly as it did when they departed—not a single thing out of place.
Miyamoto Musashi had indeed brought people from the Devil Realm to lie in ambush. Over the past month, they had attempted to make contact with the entities targeting Leon's group. Leon's mana perception picked up several such figures hiding near the manor, seemingly keeping a constant watch.
However, those individuals had not entered the estate, likely wanting to avoid being detected by any third parties.
"A pity. It's not very effective," Leon said, shaking his head.
Since Leon could sense them, others surely could too.
It couldn't be helped; the Devil Realm wouldn't station truly powerful figures here. Setting aside the Satans, even High-Class Devils held prestigious positions in the Devil Realm. Barring extraordinary circumstances, forcing them to guard a group of un-debuted New Generation Devils would be a waste of resources and manpower.
Those sent to garrison the area were essentially servant-class devils. Even Miyamoto Musashi fell into this category; high-ranking devils wouldn't spend their time waiting around for a "stump-watching" operation. Their time was far too valuable.
Consequently, the strongest among the guards were likely Upper-Class Devils, with Musashi being the only one reaching the level of an Ultimate-Class Devil. Such a group naturally couldn't escape Leon's mana perception, and they would struggle to hide from any truly powerful observers.
"In the end, we have to rely on ourselves."
The sense of urgency in Leon's heart had actually dissipated quite a bit. This trip to the Underworld had yielded massive gains for both him and his peerage. They now possessed the preliminary strength to handle various dangers. Because of this, Leon no longer felt as threatened as before.
"Right, I should contact Rias and Sona."
Leon remembered his promise. He had agreed to check in with Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri upon his return to exchange information.
"It's still early; they should be at school, right?"
Leon glanced at the sky outside, then expanded a communication magic circle in his palm to contact Sona. However, after waiting for a while, there was no response. He tried contacting Rias, but she didn't answer either.
"Forget it, I'll wait until tonight."
Leon wasn't suspicious yet; this wasn't unusual. Both Sona and Rias took their roles as students very seriously, treasuring their time in the Human World and their connection to Kuoh Academy. During school hours, they wouldn't accept communications unless it was an absolute emergency. Leon had encountered this before, so he didn't think much of it.
But when evening arrived and Leon tried to contact them again only to be met with silence, he finally felt something was wrong.
"Did something happen?"
Leon frowned and walked quickly to the basement, stepping into the teleportation circle.
Vroom—
The magic circle began to glow red, intending to jump Leon to Kuoh Academy. But before the light reached its peak, the circle slowed down and the glow dimmed.
Seeing this, Leon's face finally darkened. He knew what this phenomenon meant. It meant that the magic jump was either being interfered with by an unknown source or the destination was blockaded.
Something had happened at Kuoh Academy.
Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, Kuoh Town.
As night fell, a bright red magic circle suddenly appeared on the outskirts of Kuoh Town, and several figures emerged silently.
"If we use a magic circle jump, the closest we can get is the edge of town?"
Leon arrived in Kuoh Town with his followers, everyone looking grim. Especially Leon, Yukino Yukinoshita, and Ram—their expressions turned solemn the moment they saw the town under the night sky.
"What is this?" Yukino's face changed. "The flow of power throughout the entire town feels distorted."
Yukino was the only one besides Leon who had mastered mana perception, so she easily detected the abnormality. Beside her, Ram closed her eyes and tilted her head, sensing the atmosphere.
Her specialty in wind magic was closely tied to the atmosphere. Combined with her "Clairvoyance" ability—which allowed her to share the vision and wavelengths of other creatures to see across vast distances—her detection skills were not weak at all. In fact, they were arguably superior to Yukino's. Furthermore, unlike Yukino, Ram was a trained magic caster.
She quickly identified the cause of the anomaly.
"A massive destruction formula has been carved into the ground beneath this town. If activated, the entire town will be destroyed instantly."
Ram's report made everyone's expression shift.
"Because of this formula, the flow of power in the town has become chaotic. That's why any magic jump targeting the interior of the town is being interfered with."
Even if there wasn't a deliberate manual blockade, the presence of the destruction formula was a clear signal: someone was making a move on Kuoh Town.
"Is that why the communication with Rias and Sona failed?" Leon pondered with a frown, then looked at Ravel. "How is it? Have you contacted the Underworld?"
"Yes, I've already sent word," Ravel said, having already deployed a small communication circle. "They are taking action, but considering we can only transfer to the outskirts, it will likely take quite a while for reinforcements from the Underworld to arrive."
"Then what do we do?" Utaha Kasumigaoka asked. "Are we going to wait for the Underworld forces?"
"No," Asuna Yuuki said anxiously. "That will definitely be too late."
She was right. If the underground destruction formula was triggered before the Underworld reinforcements arrived, everything would be over. The Gremory and Sitri peerages inside the town would likely be wiped out.
"Who would do such a thing?" Mashiro Shiina asked softly. "Is it the Old Satan Faction again?"
"Not necessarily," Rem added quietly. "If two figures closely related to the Current Satans live in this town, the number of people targeting this place is endless."
Since Rem hadn't met Rias or Sona, her perspective was objective. It made sense; the sisters of the Satans were living in one spot. Any faction with a grudge against devils would see them as prime targets. They were high-value targets with limited local protection.
In the past, nothing had happened because their location wasn't widely known, and the Three Great Factions were in a period of recovery and peace. But once the situation shifted, their safety could no longer be guaranteed.
"A town-destroying formula..."
Leon narrowed his eyes at the town ahead. He had a rough idea of what was happening. This was an event from the original story—one that was significant enough for him to remember.
However...
"The timing seems wrong."
If he remembered correctly, this should have happened after Riser Phenex came to Kuoh for the arranged marriage, only to be beaten by Issei Hyoudou and left with psychological trauma. The marriage conflict was supposed to happen shortly after Issei became Rias's servant. Based on the current timeline, Riser should be arriving around now, and the town-wide destruction event should be much later.
Why was it happening now? Leon was puzzled.
What Leon didn't know was that after his last encounter with Riser, the latter didn't dare underestimate him. Although Riser was a spoiled noble, he wasn't an idiot. After seeing Leon's anomaly, he had investigated him and learned about his friendly relationship with Rias. Coupled with Sirzechs' subtle guidance and the discussions within the Phenex family, they weren't as desperate to fulfill the marriage contract as in the original timeline. Riser was hesitant to act, fearing Leon's intervention, so that plot point had been shelved.
As for the destruction of Kuoh Town, it had been moved forward due to the influence of Luffy Trix and the Old Satan Faction's previous attack. Because of that incident, the existence of Kuoh Town, Rias, and Sona had entered the vision of various factions much faster than in the original timeline. Not only was Leon being watched, but the two devil heiresses had also been targeted, causing the event to trigger early.
Leon didn't dwell on the butterfly effect for too long. This world was already different; his own peerage members weren't even from this world, people held Sacred Gears they shouldn't have, and he himself was the host of "Zenith Tempest." Any further deviation wasn't unthinkable.
The priority now was the safety of Rias and Sona.
"Let's go."
Leon stated his intent simply. Five pairs of bat-like devil wings snapped open behind his back, and he soared toward Kuoh Town.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Yukino and the others immediately unfolded their own wings and followed him without hesitation. They were like black arrows piercing through the night air, braving the high-altitude winds as they rushed toward Kuoh Academy.
Suddenly—
"GAOOOOOOO!"
A vicious roar echoed through the sky.
"Watch out!"
Yukino and Ram called out simultaneously. At that exact moment, several massive fireballs surged up from the ground, illuminating the darkness and hurtling toward the group with a wave of heat.
The fireballs exploded into rolling waves of flame, forcing Leon's group to scatter in different directions.
"Over there!" Yukino's sharp eyes caught the attacker.
It was a gargantuan creature standing on the ground. It was at least ten meters tall, pitch black, and shaped like a cross between a dog and a wolf. White steam snorted from its nose, and its blood-red eyes glinted with malice in the dark.
But its most defining feature was its three vicious heads.
"A three-headed dog?" Asuna cried out in shock.
"Cerberus!" Ravel exclaimed.
"What is a Cerberus?" Utaha asked quickly.
"It's the watchdog of Hell. A magical beast that originally dwells around the Gates of the Underworld," Rem explained.
"Why is a creature from Hell appearing here?" Mashiro asked a question no one could answer.
"The situation is getting troublesome," Ram said, using her Clairvoyance to gather information on the ground.
The others soon realized why she said that.
"GAO!"
"GAOOOO!"
Around the black three-headed dog, several more Cerberuses began to emerge. Finally, one last hound appeared. It was several times larger than the others, and the aura it radiated made even Yukino and the rest feel a chill.
"The Cerberus King..." Leon muttered, staring at the massive beast.