The Jabberocky had indeed not been dealt with.
Given the state of the Eligos household at the time, they truly lacked the capability to resolve that monster—a creature that even the current Lucifer's own peerage struggled to completely eliminate.
Unlike Issei Hyoudou, Yukino Yukinoshita and the others didn't have the luxury of "plot armor" that could attract Great Red at any moment to fuse with them and combat the beast. At that time, they were genuinely in despair.
If not for the fact that the Jabberwocky was a demonic entity—making it highly susceptible to the suppression of Asuna Yuuki's holy sword and Mahiru Shiina's Holy Cross—and the support of Yukino Yukinoshita and Utaha Kasumigaoka, who had both attained Balance Breaker to distract it, as well as the frontline defense provided by a promoted Ram and a demonized Rem, they would have undoubtedly been wiped out.
In the critical moment, it was Ravel, the strategist, who stepped up.
"I noticed that the sub-dimension seemed to be experiencing some issues back then. The structure had become unstable, as if a corner were missing. It felt as though it were on the verge of collapsing."
It was Utaha Kasumigaoka who spoke.
As a barrier master, her sensitivity to space was far greater than an average person's. Having discovered this by chance, she spoke up to warn everyone to be careful not to shatter the space, lest they all be unable to return to the human world. To her surprise, upon hearing this, Ravel immediately proposed a bold idea.
That idea was to actively destroy the structure of the sub-dimension and exile the Jabberwocky.
Since they couldn't defeat it, they had only three choices: hold out until reinforcements arrived, retreat immediately, or make the opponent disappear. There was no fourth option.
But at that time, the Eligos peerage could hardly wait for reinforcements, and they had no idea how to retreat from that specific sub-dimension. Therefore, Ravel unhesitatingly chose the most aggressive approach: dropping the enemy into a collapsing spatial turbulence to exile them.
Given the state of the sub-dimension then, achieving this wasn't overly difficult—especially with a barrier master who could reach the domain of Balance Breaker and another who could transform an area into a world of ice and blades. With clever planning, the goal was within reach.
Thus, the girls put everything on the line. Under Ravel's direction, they exerted every ounce of strength to trap the Jabberwocky within a specific pocket of space. Then, Yukino Yukinoshita and Utaha Kasumigaoka shattered that space, successfully exiling the monster.
"—You girls certainly are daring."
Hearing the result, Leon was stunned.
He could roughly guess why that sub-dimension had been so unstable.
Firstly, the intensity of his battle with Cao Cao had exceeded the threshold of that space. Specifically, the power unleashed during their final exchange had directly broken the dimension's structure, leading to both him and Cao Cao being exiled into the Dimensional Gap. Under such circumstances, the sub-dimension's structure naturally became extremely unstable, and its endurance plummeted.
Secondly, the creator of that sub-dimension—Georg, the wielder of Dimension Lost—had already developed the intent to retreat. To preserve the Hero Faction's combat strength, he had forcibly teleported many members away. This forced mass transfer placed an additional burden on the already unstable space, making the structure even more fragile.
Combined with Utaha's Balance Breaker ability, which could turn the nature of an opponent's power from "real" to "illusory," the already unstable structure lost its grounding in reality. When hit by the impact of Yukino's ice-and-blade world, collapse was inevitable.
And so, the Jabberwocky was exiled. In all likelihood, just like Leon and Cao Cao, it had been cast into the Dimensional Gap. Naturally, the girls were able to escape the danger.
Leon understood the logic, yet he was still struck by the audacity of Ravel's plan.
Given the state of the dimension at the time, a single mistake could have meant that it wasn't just the Jabberwocky being exiled, but the entire Eligos peerage left swimming in the Dimensional Gap.
"In that situation, we had no choice but to take the risk. Otherwise, the result would have certainly been total defeat for all of us."
Ravel appeared exceptionally calm, even somewhat cold, causing Kanna—a Dragon King herself—to shrink her neck slightly in a bit of fear.
This young lady of the Phenex house had always walked the path of "hegemony." In some respects, she shared a similar style with the Hero Faction: the type who could accept necessary sacrifices to achieve a goal. Therefore, making a risky decision wasn't difficult for her.
Leon looked deeply at the young lady but didn't intend to scold her.
Hegemony or not, Ravel's words were true. If they hadn't taken the risk, the entire Eligos household would have been wiped out. In that case, it was better to try.
Had Leon been there, he would have done the same.
Moreover, Ravel had ultimately achieved a perfect result without any casualties. She successfully exiled the Jabberwocky and brought all the girls back alive. To criticize or lecture her for being "too cold" would be the height of hypocrisy.
Leon didn't want to be the kind of person who stood on a moral high ground just to spatter others with nonsense. Instead, he rubbed Ravel's head and offered praise.
"Well done, Ravel. As expected of my servant."
With that single sentence, the coldness on the girl's face instantly dissolved into a light blush.
"Th-this level of thing... it was just child's play."
Though clearly embarrassed, she still spoke with her head held high. Her appearance made everyone present, not just Leon, break into laughter.
"And finally, how did you all escape that sub-dimension?"
While still stroking Ravel's head, Leon asked his final question.
"We made use of the mist from the wielder of Dimension Lost," Ravel answered.
"Ram analyzed the mist and reverse-engineered the coordinates of the human world. That allowed us to use a magic circle jump to directly exit the sub-dimension and return," Yukino added.
Leon turned his gaze toward Ram.
"I simply felt it could be done, so I did it."
Ram's expression was serene, but her matter-of-fact attitude gave her an air of mysterious arrogance.
Of course, she had the right to be proud.
As an Oni who had "clicked the wrong branch" of the talent tree—a genius divine child evaluated by Tiamat as a transcendent among the Oni—Ram's magical talent was indeed immense. Her mastery lay in wind-attribute arts; manipulating the atmosphere and air currents was routine for her. Both are somewhat related to the formation of mist. Even though this wasn't ordinary mist but the product of a Longinus, Ram used her incredible talent to analyze its properties and successfully pinpoint the location of the human world.
One could also see from her Clairvoyance talent that her sensory abilities were significant. Since the mist of Dimension Lost serves as the medium for forced transfer, it was understandable that Ram could locate the world by analyzing it.
Thus, the Eligos household had successfully repelled the Hero Faction and returned alive from the sub-dimension, achieving a massive victory.
Although the cost was severe injuries for everyone—with Ram and Rem needing Phoenix Tears to recover—the fact remained that they had repelled the Hero Faction through their own strength and survived.
As Sona Sitri and Musashi Miyamoto had said, the entire Eligos peerage was likely about to become famous, making quite a splash in the underworld and among other factions.
After this battle, the higher-ups of the underworld would surely raise their evaluation of the girls significantly.
Had it not been for their injuries and Leon's disappearance, the Demon Kings would likely have already summoned them for a public commendation. Their achievements were just that dazzling.
"You all did wonderfully. Even I was shocked. Truly impressive."
Leon gave a thumbs-up to the girls and spoke with emotion.
"Not long ago, we were living in unease because we were targeted by a terrorist group like the Hero Faction. We had to leave school and the human world to go to the underworld for special training, putting in all that effort just so we wouldn't be bullied by others."
"If we had chosen to accept the underworld's protection back then and continued to enjoy a false peace, today's results would never have happened. We might have even fallen into a trap because of another Hero Faction plot."
"But I—or rather, you all—did not choose that path. You decided to accept that cruel training, and that is why we have today's victory."
"I am very happy. We overcame the enemy's greed and malice, rejected a brief peace, and exchanged it for a great victory."
"We defeated the enemies we once had to avoid. We have truly grasped freedom and peace in our own hands."
Upon hearing these words, the girls were deeply moved.
Especially Yukino Yukinoshita, Asuna Yuuki, Utaha Kasumigaoka, and Mahiru Shiina. Recalling the events of that time, they looked at each other and smiled, a massive sense of accomplishment swelling in their hearts.
Back then, the Eligos peerage consisted only of the four of them. They were the ones who had experienced the training from start to finish; Ravel, Ram, and Rem had joined later.
Therefore, only the four of them knew how much they had hated their own weakness and helplessness. That feeling of being unable to control one's own destiny had been truly painful.
It was from that moment that these four girls from ordinary human backgrounds began to change their worldview, recognizing reality and pursuing strength and freedom as devils. They accepted training that would have been hell for an average high school girl and faced the dangers of combat head-on.
Ultimately, they successfully conquered themselves and the enemies they once viewed as unstoppable monsters.
Thinking of this, Yukino and the others couldn't help but turn their gaze toward the man who was smiling and giving them a thumbs-up. Their hearts were touched once more.
They had not forgotten who was responsible for everything they had today.
During the training, this man had been a literal devil, showing them no mercy. But it was precisely because he had meticulously planned everything that they were able to be reborn with their current strength and achievements.
This man had changed them, molded them, and allowed them to obtain everything they desired.
As Utaha and Mahiru thought about it, the look in their eyes as they watched Leon changed. Needless to say, the emotions in the hearts of Yukino and Asuna were surging even more. After all, both had already established a physical relationship with him.
"By the way, Lord Leon."
At this moment, Ravel seemed to remember something.
"Lord Sirzechs sent a message just now. He requested that once you are settled at home, you should pay a visit to Kuoh Academy."
Hearing this, Leon nodded without any surprise.
"Since I've returned safely, I should indeed go see Lord Sirzechs."
As for why it was Kuoh Academy—obviously because his sister was there.
Sona Sitri had also mentioned that once things were settled here, he should visit her. He might as well see both of them at once.
"Yukino, Asuna, Utaha, and Mahiru, you four continue your recovery. Ram and Rem, the house is in your hands as usual."
Leon didn't want to delay and stood up.
"Ravel, please arrange things for Kanna and Stella. As you've probably guessed, they are my new servants from this trip. When I return, we'll have a celebration and a welcome party. I'll reward you all for your performance and properly introduce them to you."
Leon's words drew all the girls' attention to Kanna and Stella.
"Muu—"
Kanna, still in her timid state, immediately hid behind Stella. Stella remained unmoved, ignoring the girls' stares and continuing her silence.
Seeing this, the girls exchanged glances but said nothing, nodding in agreement.
"You two, please follow me. I'll show you around," Ravel said, approaching the two dragon girls with polite hospitality.
Perhaps it was her innate royal upbringing that made Stella unable to ignore Ravel's impeccable etiquette. She pursed her lips unnaturally but nodded and followed her. Kanna tried to slip away but was caught by Stella and dragged along.
After greeting each other, the girls left to attend to their own tasks.
After confirming the status of the manor and leaving Musashi Miyamoto in charge, Leon headed to the basement. Using the magic circle there, he teleported to Kuoh Academy.