Groom Leon to be the next Maou!
This was the thought that had just flickered through Sirzechs' mind.
Previously, he had only regarded Leon as a future pillar of the Devil race. He had protected him all this time with the intention of nurturing an outstanding talent for the Devil world. After all, as exceptional as Leon was, in Sirzechs' heart, he was still a new-generation Devil who required shielding; he hadn't yet reached the point of being completely independent.
But now, as Leon unfurled those twelve devil wings before him, the act instantly made Sirzechs realize that the youth before him was no longer a rookie in need of protection, but a powerhouse who could represent the Devils.
Twelve wings—this was the indisputable status of a highest-tier Devil. Many powerhouses in the Devil world who had survived since the primordial era, as well as high-ranking officials whose status was second only to the Four Great Maous, had a significant portion among them who had not yet reached this rank. Yet, Leon had already achieved it.
If someone like him wasn't qualified to be a powerhouse representing the Devils, then who was?
Not to mention, he was a Sacred Gear user—a Longinus possessor—and the gear he held was a high-tier Longinus like "Zenith Tempest." Aside from the "True Longinus," no other Sacred Gear could compare to it.
Being a highest-tier Devil himself, rivaling the Maou-class in strength, and possessing the world's second-strongest Longinus, Sirzechs could say for certain that Leon's current strength would place him in the top ranks among all Devils. He might even break into the top five, becoming an existence second only to the Four Great Maous.
Crucially, such an existence was still incredibly young and had not yet officially debuted. Coupled with that miraculous "Peerage Assimilation" trait, anyone could see that this youth would continue to grow rapidly in the future, reaching heights unimaginable to others.
It was this realization that prompted Sirzechs to move toward grooming Leon as his successor, intending for him to become the next Maou.
"Once this incident concludes, the day of Leon's official adulthood and debut will soon arrive."
"At that time, I can unite the Four Great Maous as well as families like the Gremorys, Sitris, and Phenexes to invest in helping him rebuild the Eligos territory. We can help him restore his family and firmly establish his position as the Patriarch of a Pure-blood Devil family."
"Once he has this orthodox noble status, recommending him as a candidate for the next Maou at the High Council meetings will not face much resistance."
The more he thought about it, the more Sirzechs felt his heart stir, and the more feasible it seemed.
Originally, the high-ranking officials of the Devil world were planning to hold a debut battle for this batch of new-generation Devils when they officially entered the scene. They would have them compete in Rating Games to encourage their growth while allowing more people to see their performance, helping them quickly gain a foothold in the Devil world.
The reason they had this idea was that the new-generation Devils debuting this year were truly special; among them were several descendants of prestigious and powerful families.
There was the Bael family, who held the title of Great King and ranked first among the Seventy-Two Pillars.
There was the Agares family, who held the title of Grand Duke and ranked second among the Seventy-Two Pillars.
The main house of the current Maou Lucifer, the Gremory family.
The main house of the current Maou Leviathan, the Sitri family.
The main house of the current Maou Beelzebub, the Astaroth family.
The main house of the current Maou Asmodeus, the Glasya-Labolas family.
Maous, Great Kings, Grand Dukes—the families occupying the top three tiers of status in the Devil world all had someone debuting in this batch, and each was the successor patriarch of their family. Add to that Leon's unique existence, and the fact that he had the daughter of the Phenex family under his command, and this was practically a showdown between the heavenly houses. It could be called a Golden Generation representing the future of the Devil world.
Therefore, this batch of new-generation Devils had attracted a vast amount of attention before even debuting. Countless Devils were watching them, and even news channels were giving them special focus, mentioning the matter repeatedly until the entire Devil world was gradually becoming loud and lively with anticipation.
Because of this, the high-ranking officials had held multiple secret discussions, ultimately deciding to turn this batch into a Golden Era by holding a debut battle to bring them more recognition.
Among them, Leon was a person of particular interest. Not only was he unique himself, possessing a mutated trait and the world's second-strongest Longinus, but he also had two other Longinus possessors and several subordinates with outstanding potential under his command. His future was extremely promising.
Many high-ranking officials were actually looking forward to seeing what kind of name this special new-generation Devil could make for himself in this Golden Era.
Particularly those who knew how special this generation's Bael successor was; they were all waiting to see what kind of sparks would fly when that person and Leon clashed in a Rating Game.
But now, it seemed those expectations were likely to end abruptly.
There was no helping it. Including Leon, the growth speed of the entire Eligos Peerage was too fast—so fast it was considered inconceivable by the entire Devil world.
Forget about Leon; even the performance of the rest of the Eligos Peerage during the summit incident had already left the high-ranking officials speechless.
Those girls, none of whom were over eighteen years old, had actually faced off against the Hero Faction of the Khaos Brigade alone and even repelled them. This record was simply too good, too outstanding; the high-ranking officials of the Devil world couldn't help but be shocked.
One had to understand that the Old Maou Faction, which sat on equal footing with the Hero Faction within the Khaos Brigade, had forced Maous like Sirzechs and Serafall to personally take action to succeed. Yet, the Eligos Peerage could repel the Hero Faction on their own. This feat stunned not just the Devil world, but the Angels and Fallen Angels as well.
Once this record spread, the Eligos Peerage would truly become famous among the Three Great Powers. Many people had already changed their perspective, no longer viewing them as new-generation Devils.
Now, Leon had returned with two newly recruited members, making the Eligos Peerage even stronger. He himself had become a twelve-winged highest-tier Devil. How could such a Devil still be regarded as new-generation?
If Leon took the Eligos Peerage into the upcoming debut battle, wouldn't everyone else just lose immediately?
Sirzechs could already imagine it. At the next high council meeting, many pure-blood Devil families would certainly voice their objections and demand that the Eligos family be excluded from the debut battle roster. Specifically, the Bael, Agares, Astaroth, and Glasya-Labolas families—these four would definitely make such a proposal.
And why wouldn't they?
They couldn't just watch their successor patriarchs get brutally slaughtered and lose face in front of the entire Devil world, could they?
They were all nobles, and prominent ones at that; they certainly didn't want to see such a scene unfold.
Therefore, Leon's debut battle was likely cancelled.
But this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
After all, if the major Devil families were proposing to exclude the Eligos family, they would have to give them some compensation, wouldn't they? Otherwise, it wouldn't be an exclusion, but blatant ostracization and a fixed game.
Sirzechs had already decided how to proceed.
"This time, your Eligos Peerage performed with merit in resisting the Hero Faction—significant merit. You must be rewarded."
Sirzechs looked at Leon standing before his desk and dropped a bombshell with a smile.
"I will recommend your promotion to Ultimate-class Devil. Simultaneously, I will recommend your 'Bishop' Yukino Yukinoshita, 'Bishop' Mahiru Shiina, 'Rook' Utaha Kasumigaoka, 'Knight' Asuna Yuuki, and your two 'Pawns' Ram and Rem to participate in the Middle-class Devil assessment."
The moment these words were spoken, forget about Rias and the others—even Leon was greatly shocked.
"Promotion to... Ultimate-class Devil?"
Leon had a look of utter bewilderment.
"Brother?"
"Lord Sirzechs?"
Rias, Sona Sitri, Akeno Himejima, Tsubaki Shinra, and the others were equally stunned.
The "Ultimate-class Devil" being referred to here didn't just mean strength, but status and rank within the Devil world.
In the Devil world, the ranks and status of Devils were strictly defined. From highest to lowest, they were: Maou, Ultimate-class, High-class, Middle-class, and Low-class.
Previously, whether it was the Eligos, Gremory, or Sitri Peerages, aside from the "Kings"—Leon, Rias, and Sona—who were High-class Devils, everyone else was a Low-class Devil.
Ravel was an exception; as the daughter of the Phenex family, she already held High-class status, she just hadn't chosen to receive Devil Pieces and debut as a "King" yet.
In the Devil world, as long as one became a High-class Devil, they were considered nobility.
As for Ultimate-class Devils, they were either the pillars of major Devil families, high-ranking officials in the truest sense of the Devil world, top-tier superstars in the Rating Games, or celebrities with special status.
In short, aside from the Maous, Ultimate-class Devils were the highest-status existences in the current Devil world.
In the future, a "Special-rank Devil" tier between Maou and Ultimate-class would be added, but that was a matter for the future.
Now, Sirzechs was telling everyone he was going to recommend Leon to become an Ultimate-class Devil?
How could everyone not be shocked?
"What?" Sirzechs asked back with a smile. "Do you think Leon is not qualified for promotion to Ultimate-class?"
Hearing this, everyone looked at each other and fell into a stunned silence.
Was he qualified?
Thinking carefully, Leon really was qualified.
In terms of strength, Leon was already a twelve-winged highest-tier Devil, rivaling Maou-class and perhaps even stronger than an average Maou-class. How could he not be qualified for promotion to Ultimate-class?
What he lacked was only achievement and seniority.
As long as his achievements and seniority were there, he would naturally be qualified to become an Ultimate-class Devil, and an indisputable one at that.
And now, his achievements seemed to have met the mark.
At the summit meeting that decided the future peaceful coexistence of the Three Great Powers, he and his Peerage had faced the Hero Faction alone and repelled them. This achievement was by no means small; in fact, it was quite significant.
Furthermore, Leon had previously performed many deeds of merit, such as killing Rizevim Livan Lucifer, rescuing the Gremory and Sitri Peerages, and not long ago, defeating the Fallen Angel cadre Kokabiel single-handedly to stop a conflict that very likely could have exploded into war. These were all tangible achievements.
The same applied to the members of the Eligos Peerage. Aside from Ravel, who was already High-class and not yet ready for the next jump, everyone else—based solely on their performance in this incident—was already qualified for recommendation to take the Middle-class Devil promotion assessment.
Sirzechs decided to take this opportunity to make it official, raising Leon's status in the Devil world as quickly as possible so that he would be qualified to be his successor.
He believed the high-ranking officials would also find this idea attractive.
Once Leon was promoted to Ultimate-class, he would no longer be qualified to participate in the new-generation debut battle, right? After all, an esteemed Ultimate-class Devil couldn't exactly go and bully a bunch of High-class Devils who had just debuted, could they?
This way, they wouldn't even need to find an excuse; they could just announce the news to the public, saving the families from criticism.
This was also the compensation they were giving to Leon and the Eligos Peerage.
"Go back and prepare yourselves," Sirzechs said to Leon with a smile. "Before long, the official notice for your promotion ceremony will be sent down."
Hearing Sirzechs say this, the group finally began to digest the heavy news.
"Congratulations, Leon."
Sona Sitri pushed her glasses up her nose and offered Leon her sincere congratulations.
"I didn't expect you to be promoted again so soon. It's truly incredible."
Rias gave a wry smile.
Leon also felt a bit dazed as he recalled his promotion ceremony from not long ago.
That was only half a year ago, wasn't it?
At that time, he had barely managed to scrape together enough achievements for promotion. It had taken him fifteen whole years to barely reach the standard for a High-class Devil so he could officially be promoted and receive his Devil Pieces.
At that time, he was happy and relieved. His thoughts back then were simple: he could finally take a breath, enjoy the life of a noble slave owner, and live a decent life in the Underworld.
Who would have thought that in just half a year, he would be promoted again. And this time, it was to Ultimate-class. Even his Peerage members would get the chance for promotion.
Truly... life is unpredictable.
"You need to work hard too, Rias."
Seeing his sister still standing there with a wry smile, Sirzechs couldn't help but offer a reminder.
He hadn't forgotten that he was planning to let Rias "undermine" Sona's position. Although that person from the Phenex family had gone into hiding and become very low-key since meeting Leon, and the matter of the marriage contract had become blurred under the tacit understanding between Sirzechs and the Phenex Patriarch, dragging it out forever wasn't a solution.
Now that Leon was about to be promoted and wouldn't be participating in the debut battle, he would most likely return to the Underworld to revive his family and territory. If Rias didn't work hard now, it would be difficult later.
Maybe... he should let Rias represent the Gremory family and send her to the Eligos territory to help with the reconstruction?
Yes... that could work!
Sirzechs thought happily to himself.
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