In the afternoon, after school—
Having teleported directly back to the mansion via the magic circle in the Occult Research Club's activity room, Leon and his group met up with Ravel, Ram, and Rem in the basement.
"Are you ready, Ravel?"
The group hadn't even changed out of their school uniforms. Standing before the magic circle, they spoke to Ravel, who was unfolding a small magic circle in the palm of her hand.
"Yes, everything is prepared," Ravel reported to Leon while confirming details within her small circle. "The Underworld has sent the coordinates for the relevant sub-space and has registered the demonic power signatures of our Eligos peerage."
"Currently, the magic circle in this basement is linked to a specific sub-space coordinate. As long as registered personnel step inside, they can use the magic circle to jump directly into that dimension."
Hearing this, Leon nodded.
"In that case, let's go take a look."
With those words, Leon was the first to step into the magic circle. The girls followed suit one after another, walking into the array.
Zheng—
In the next second, the magic circle erupted with an unprecedentedly bright red light, enveloping Leon and his group and forcing them to instinctively close their eyes.
When they opened them again, they were no longer in the mansion's basement. They had arrived in an unfamiliar space.
"Is... is this the sub-space Sir Sirzechs prepared for us?"
"It's huge!"
The girls of the peerage were startled at first, then broke into a flurry of excited chatter.
The space was vast—one could even say the horizon was nowhere in sight. Rather than a mere sub-space, it felt more like an alternate world, devoid of any sense of enclosure.
The terrain and scenery within the space were not uniform but complex and varied. There were hills, plains, forests, lakes, and even scattered buildings. It made one deeply doubt whether this was a naturally evolved landscape or a man-made environment.
Leon and his group appeared atop a ridge, right at the edge of a cliff, allowing them to easily take in the various sights of the realm. It was no wonder the girls couldn't help but gasp in admiration.
"Is this truly a man-made sub-space?" even Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help but remark. "Has Devil technology reached the point where it can accomplish something like this?"
Even though she had learned about such things from books, witnessing the natural scenery of this sub-space with her own eyes still prompted such a comment. Clearly, she was equally amazed.
"This isn't actually a very rare technology," Ravel said from the side. "Heaven and the Fallen Angels have mastered similar levels of technology, making the existence of sub-spaces common among the Three Great Powers. Especially in our Devil society, sub-space technology is used every time a Rating Game is held. Perhaps, among the Three Powers, our utilization of sub-spaces is the highest."
The arenas for Rating Games in the Underworld were generally set within a sub-space, and a different one was chosen for every match. This was to test the Devils' ability to compete under different environments, terrains, and conditions, seeing just how much of a performance they could put on.
Sometimes it was a boundless wilderness, sometimes a city of towering skyscrapers, and sometimes they would even recreate iconic landmarks from the Human World to serve as the match venue.
In the original story, the engagement battle between Rias and Riser took place in a sub-space that replicated Kuoh Academy. The debut match between Rias and Sona Sitri also took place in a sub-space replicating a shopping mall in Kuoh Town. This showed how high the Devil utilization of sub-spaces was and how mature the technology had become.
"However, constructing a sub-space of this scale and topographical complexity is still quite a hassle. Sir Sirzechs clearly put a lot of heart into preparing this place."
As Ravel spoke, the response didn't come from anyone in the Eligos peerage, but rather a familiar, light chuckle.
"If my brother knew his hard work wasn't in vain, he would certainly be very happy."
The person saying this was, naturally, Sirzechs' younger sister, Rias.
On the hill behind Leon and the others, two magic circles spun and expanded simultaneously, allowing two groups of people to appear at once. They were the Gremory peerage and the Sitri peerage.
"You guys came too?" Leon greeted Rias and Sona.
"Yes, we came to take a look," Rias said, walking over with her peerage while smiling. "I didn't expect you to beat us to it."
"We just got here ourselves," Leon shrugged. He then raised an eyebrow as he spotted a particular figure. "You're here too?"
Not only Leon, but Yukino and the others were also somewhat surprised. Because that person wasn't anyone who had previously appeared in the Gremory peerage; it was the Holy Swordswoman from the Church, the wielder of Durandal—Xenovia.
Indeed, this blue-haired Holy Swordswoman was standing with the members of the Gremory peerage, having arrived with them.
Everyone present was highly capable, and they easily noticed the difference in the blue-haired swordswoman. Her body no longer held the aura of a human; instead, it carried the scent of a Devil.
"You... you reincarnated as a Devil?" Asuna Yuuki cried out in surprise.
The others were also shocked, save for the members of the Sitri peerage, who were calm, suggesting they had known beforehand.
"Allow me to introduce her," Rias said with a slight, pleasant upturn of her lips. "This is my newly recruited member. Like Yuuto, she is my 'Knight'."
Just as Rias finished speaking, Xenovia silently unfolded her Devil wings, exposing a pair of pitch-black bat wings to everyone.
"I can understand your surprise, but this is the reality," Xenovia said expressionlessly. "Since the Lord is no longer here, I am merely a lost lamb who has lost her faith. In a sense, it seems quite normal to cast myself as a Devil, doesn't it?"
Although Xenovia maintained a stoic face, everyone could hear a sense of self-abandonment in her voice. At that moment, everyone understood.
"Because she lost her faith, she turned into a Devil out of desperation... she's even more impulsive than me," Utaha Kasumigaoka muttered under her breath.
"Xenovia..."
As a fellow member of the Church, Asia felt pained for Xenovia and began to comfort her.
"Well, becoming a Devil isn't exactly a miserable thing, right?" Issei Hyoudou rubbed his nose and said loudly, "I actually think becoming a Devil is quite lucky, Xenovia!"
Well, since Devils can openly build a harem, that point alone was enough for him to think "I have no regrets becoming a Devil in this life." At least, that was how it was for Issei.
"Lucky? That was once a domain governed by the Lord. Now that the Lord is gone, becoming a Devil can actually be called a stroke of luck. Truly, the world is unpredictable," Xenovia sighed.
The members of the Eligos peerage looked at each other and eventually accepted the situation.
"With this, the Gremory peerage also has a Holy Sword wielder," Mashiro Shiina whispered, causing the others to nod silently.
Holy Swords were the natural enemy of Devils. Therefore, Asuna Yuuki, who possessed the Sacred Gear "Holy Sword Creation," was considered an exceptionally sharp weapon even among the talented Eligos peerage. Especially in a Rating Game against other Devils, the future Asuna was bound to have an incredibly brilliant performance. Because of this, Asuna's reputation in the Underworld was actually quite high, and she was someone other new-generation Devils needed to be wary of.
And now, the Gremory peerage had a Holy Sword wielder as well—and a genuine one at that. Durandal was one of the highest-grade holy weapons in the world. It was easy to imagine that the Gremory peerage, having obtained this sword, was now even more formidable.
Of course, compared to Mashiro Shiina, a user of a Holy Relic, Durandal was still a step below. Therefore, while the Eligos peerage members took note of this, they didn't feel like they were facing a mortal threat.
For instance, regarding Xenovia—
"I think the one we need to be more wary of is Kiba-kun," Asuna's gaze drifted between Kiba Yuuto and Xenovia, finally settling on the smiling Kiba.
After the Kokabiel incident, this "Knight" of the Gremory peerage had overcome his psychological trauma and successfully conquered the shadows of his past. No longer hating Holy Swords, he had finally reached the highest realm of a Sacred Gear and completed his Balance Breaker.
"Sword of Betrayer," this Balance Breaker had the ability to create weapons that simultaneously possessed the opposing and conflicting powers of both Holy Swords and Demon Swords.
If Kiba utilized his Balance Breaker to use the Holy-Demon Sword, he could similarly achieve a specialized advantage and counter against Devils.
Leon had already told his peerage that Kiba, having reached the Balance Breaker realm, now possessed a strength that was easily top two, if not number one, within the Gremory peerage. Even Xenovia with Durandal, or Rias and Akeno Himejima—both High-Class Devil combatants—might not be his match.
This gave Asuna a sense of urgency.
After a month of special training, Asuna was confident she could defeat the previous Kiba and would not lose to his Demon Swords like last time. But Kiba having reached Balance Breaker was a different story.
Asuna felt that even her current self would still not be a match for Kiba in his Balance Breaker state. It couldn't be helped; their Sacred Gears were of the same grade. At most, Asuna had a slight edge because her Holy Swords could counter Devils, but Kiba's swordsmanship, combat experience, and physical abilities were all stronger than Asuna's, enough to make up for that advantage.
Now that Kiba could create Holy-Demon Swords, he also had a way to counter Devils, and that advantage vanished. If Asuna wanted to surpass such a Kiba, there was only one way: she also had to reach the realm of Balance Breaker.
"...Now I have to work even harder."
Asuna sighed, but she immediately became full of fighting spirit. Unlike before, she wouldn't give up easily now!
Leon didn't know that his own peerage members were already used to being so competitive among themselves, as his attention toward Xenovia and Kiba wasn't that high.
After all, he was already a Perfect Devil and no longer had the weaknesses of a Devil. To him, a so-called Holy Sword was just a weapon with a special power. The strength of Xenovia and Kiba wasn't quite enough in his eyes; even Kiba in Balance Breaker hadn't reached the level of an Ultimate-Class Devil yet, let alone Satan-Class.
At his current level, that kind of strength was practically negligible.
So, he didn't pay special attention to Xenovia and Kiba. Instead, he was somewhat curious about another of Rias's members.
"Didn't Sir Sirzechs say your 'Bishop' could be unsealed? How come I don't see him here?" Leon asked curiously.
"I'm not ready yet," Rias answered simply. "That child is too introverted and shy. Forget about bringing him to an unfamiliar outdoor environment like this—it's a struggle just to get him out of his room."
Rias was also having a bit of a headache over this. Her other "Bishop," while possessing strong abilities and unusual potential, had a personality that was a major issue. Getting him to leave the house was a challenge, let alone bringing him to a sub-space.
"In the short term, that child probably won't be able to come. Once I've given him enough psychological counseling, I'll bring him over to introduce him to you," Rias said with a wry smile, causing Leon to chuckle.
"Fair enough. Just another problem child; it's not like I don't have those in my house."
Yukino and the others immediately glanced at Leon but remained silent.
Leon ignored them and clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.
"Since everyone is here, why don't we have a few practice matches?"
Sirzechs had said this sub-space was not only a shelter but also their training ground. It was a rare occasion for the peerages of three High-Class Devils to be gathered here. Having a spar would certainly be a good thing.
As expected—
"It's a rare opportunity. With such conditions, we must make good use of them."
Rias and Sona looked at each other and then smiled in unison.
"Let's have a friendly exchange, everyone!"
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