The meeting concluded with the expected outcome—though in a way no one had anticipated.
By the time everyone left the reception hall and gathered outside the Gremory mansion, it was time to say their goodbyes.
"Then I shall entrust my daughter to you, Mr. Eligos."
Lady Phenex gave Leo a small bow, her words filled with sincerity and an appreciation far deeper than before. Clearly, she was quite satisfied with her daughter's new master.
"Rest assured." Leo crossed his arms. "Since she's my servant, I'll naturally take good care of her. I won't let anything happen to her."
"I believe you." Lady Phenex's words carried weight. "The abilities you've displayed make that promise all the more convincing."
Having witnessed firsthand how Leo's Servant Conversion trait had dramatically increased his power upon taking her daughter as a servant, Lady Phenex no longer harbored any doubts about his future.
She believed this man would surely become a pillar of the devil world—perhaps even shouldering its future one day.
Even now, his strength was already something she had to look up to.
Recalling the sight of him spreading ten devil wings, casually conjuring countless natural disasters with a wave of his hand, Lady Phenex felt certain that even the current Leo would hold a prominent place in the devil world, ranking among the elite.
She very much looked forward to this man's future.
"Ravel, you know what you need to do, don't you?" Lady Phenex turned to her daughter, now standing behind Leo, and spoke earnestly. "Since you've pledged yourself to Mr. Eligos, you must fulfill your duties as a servant. Listen to your master's orders, and get along well with your fellow servants. Only then will you be a worthy daughter of House Phenex. Understood?"
"I understand, Mother." Ravel nodded firmly. "I will never disgrace the Phenex name."
Lady Phenex nodded in satisfaction, then cast a glance at the son standing beside her—finding him rather irritating at the moment.
"It's time to go, Riser. Aren't you going to say goodbye to Sirzechs-sama and Mr. Eligos?"
At her words, Riser—who had been surprisingly quiet since earlier—twitched at the corner of his mouth.
He'd been trying his best to minimize his presence. Why did she have to bring him up?
Riser felt irritated, but when he saw Leo's amused, mocking gaze directed at him, his whole body tensed, nearly triggering an involuntary reaction.
He admitted it—he was starting to fear Leo.
Though he'd heard various rumors about Leo through different channels, they were just rumors. He'd had no idea this seemingly pathetic guy was actually such a terrifying figure.
Whether it was Leo's Servant Conversion trait or his true strength—while the upper echelons of the devil world led by Sirzechs knew all the details, that information was limited to those high-ranking individuals. Those with good connections might know a thing or two, while those without knew nothing at all. They only knew Leo was the offspring of a pureblood devil lost in the human world, the heir to the once-extinct Eligos family, and a new-generation devil about to make his debut.
Unless someone had interacted with Leo up close or had powerful intelligence sources, learning about his exploits was definitely not easy.
As the third son of House Phenex, Riser wasn't exactly uninformed. But he'd looked down on Leo from the start—so why would he have bothered learning about him?
That's why when he saw Leo display eight wings, he was stunned. And when he saw Leo activate Zenith Tempest's Balance Breaker and transform from eight wings to ten, his brain completely crashed.
After all, even he—already debuted and with achievements in the Rating Games—had only reached High-Class Devil level in terms of power. His wing count hadn't increased at all.
Forget eight or ten wings—Riser hadn't even reached six yet.
The eldest son of House Phenex, the one the family was most proud of, who already possessed Ultimate-Class Devil strength? Even he didn't have eight wings yet.
And the result?
The "pathetic nobody" he'd looked down on not only already had eight wings, but could reach ten through his Sacred Gear's Balance Breaker, casually manipulating natural disasters with terrifying power. Who was Riser supposed to complain to?
He was even starting to feel grateful now—grateful that when he'd tried to attack Leo, he'd been stopped by Leo's servants. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
No wait—if the master was a monster, then those servants were monsters too.
Weren't they supposed to be rookies who'd been reincarnated for less than a few months, with zero prior experience with supernatural powers?
So what did that make him, getting subdued by such rookies in one move? Trash?
Thinking about this, Riser felt somewhat depressed.
He didn't want to look at Leo anymore. He just wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.
"W-We'll be going now, Sirzechs-sama, L-Leo... -sama..."
Riser forced a smile that couldn't have been more strained, struggling to bid farewell to Sirzechs and Leo.
Especially when saying Leo's name, he had to add an honorific. It made him want to die.
If he'd known this would happen, why had he picked a fight?
Riser felt terrible inside.
"Take care." Sirzechs maintained his gentle demeanor, as if he'd merely witnessed a perfectly ordinary transaction. "Do come visit again sometime."
"If the opportunity arises, we will."
Lady Phenex bowed to Sirzechs once more, then departed with Riser, disappearing into the magic circle beneath their feet.
The moment the magic circle appeared, Riser practically fled into it like a streak of fire, clearly unwilling to stay a second longer.
That embarrassing display, compared to his earlier villainous young master act, was the starkest contrast imaginable—enough to make anyone laugh.
Leo watched the direction Riser had vanished in and suddenly spoke.
"Is it really a good idea to let someone like that become Rias's husband?"
His seemingly casual words made the gentle smile slowly fade from Sirzechs's face.
"You think it's not?"
Sirzechs didn't look at Leo, but asked anyway.
"Does Sirzechs-sama think it's fine?"
Leo's words carried hidden meaning.
"But my opinion doesn't matter." Sirzechs's words were equally loaded with significance. "After all, I've already branched off from the family. The moment I decided to become a Maou, I gave up the Gremory name. I have no right to interfere in family matters."
"And those who do have the right to interfere—including my parents—all think this is a good thing."
If that weren't the case, House Gremory wouldn't need to form a marriage alliance with House Phenex.
It was precisely because it benefited both families that the engagement had come about.
"My parents are too anxious. They're worried no one will be able to carry on House Gremory in the future, so they've always wanted Rias to marry." Sirzechs spoke as if thinking aloud. "House Phenex is equally anxious. Even though they already have three sons and one daughter, they want to ensure the family bloodline continues, lest it be cut off someday."
This was something almost every pureblood devil family worried about.
They couldn't help it—of the original seventy-two Pillar pureblood devil families, how many had already disappeared?
Marbas, Valefor, Buer, Gusion, Leraje, Eligos, Botis, Bathin, Marax, Ipos, Aim, Bune, Ronove, Foras, Gäap, Marchosias, Halphas, Malphas, Raim, Vepar, Sabnock, Vine, Bifrons, Haagenti, Crocell, Alocer, Caim, Murmur, Orobas, Ose, Amy, Zagan, Andras, Flauros, Cimerius, Amduscias, Decarabia, Seere, Andromalius...
All of these were extinct Pillars.
The once-renowned Seventy-Two Pillars—now more than half had been cut off entirely. How could the remaining pureblood devil families not feel anxious?
Especially with the pureblood devil population dwindling while the devil world's numbers were gradually being filled by various mixed-blood devils and servant devils. Those pureblood families were terrified, fearing that the family bloodline might end on their watch.
And this worry was even more pronounced in families that particularly valued bloodline purity.
"What if there are no more pureblood devils in the future?"
"What if the traits and characteristics passed down through generations no longer appear?"
"What if devils are replaced by reincarnated outsiders?"
Sirzechs's voice seemed both distant and near.
"The more traditional the older generation of devils, the more they worry about such things. That's why marriages between pureblood families are politically correct in the devil world. No one can escape it."
"Of course, just because you can't escape doesn't mean you can't resist."
"Take Sona, for example—didn't she use her own abilities to successfully break off her engagement?"
As for the fact that House Sitri had already set their sights on Leo, viewing him as their future son-in-law—Sirzechs didn't mention that.
They weren't even in a hurry yet. Why should he, an outsider, be anxious?
Sirzechs also didn't want Leo to know that even though Sona had successfully broken off one engagement, her family would still try to arrange another one for her. As long as Sona remained unmarried and hadn't successfully produced an heir, House Sitri would continue worrying about family succession and keep pushing her out time and again.
This might make the promising young man feel distaste for the current state of the devil world. Sirzechs felt it was better not to be too explicit.
Besides, once this engagement was formed, everyone would be happy. Why not?
One could only say that the current head of House Sitri had put in considerable effort. To prevent his daughter from opposing another engagement, he'd deliberately chosen someone Sona actually liked this time—even going so far as to ignore the objections of his eldest daughter, who was serving as a Maou.
"So Rias can only decide her own future through her own abilities, is that it?"
Leo felt he understood Sirzechs's underlying message.
"Not necessarily." Sirzechs smiled slightly. "If someone were willing to stand up for her and resist all of this, there might be a way."
"For example?" Leo looked at Sirzechs. "You?"
"No." Sirzechs shook his head. "I can only support her from the shadows. I can't openly help her resist."
This was, after all, something decided by his own elders. Even as a Maou, he shouldn't interfere. And precisely because he held the position of Maou, he couldn't casually meddle in a pureblood devil family's internal affairs—that would only make people suspect he was abusing his power for personal gain.
"Support from the shadows, huh?"
Leo seemed to understand something, falling into thought.
"I actually have you to thank for this." Sirzechs looked at Leo and smiled. "Because I helped arrange things between you and Ravel, House Phenex now owes me a small favor. That favor might not be able to help Rias directly, but it can do something indirectly."
Sirzechs had already been negotiating in secret with the current head of House Phenex—Ravel and Riser's father.
He believed this would definitely buy Rias some time, or at least secure some favorable conditions.
Then, during that period, perhaps he could do some work on Leo's thoughts, help these two young people get together.
If something could develop between Leo and Rias, then perhaps he could bring about a result where all three parties were happy—and only Riser got hurt.
Compared to Riser, Sirzechs much preferred Leo.
As for whether this might make the current head of House Sitri throw a fit—that was none of Sirzechs's concern.
He hadn't done anything openly. If young people developed feelings on their own, what did he do wrong?
At worst, they could compete fairly. After all, Rias and Sona were both friends and rivals. Adding another layer of romantic rivalry shouldn't matter, right?
Thinking about how things might develop if everything went smoothly, Sirzechs actually found himself looking forward to it.
He wanted to see rivers of blood... ahem, wrong—he wanted to see the perfect ending where both families got along lovingly.
Eligos Territory, Ancient Battlefield Camp.
When the magic circle appeared before the bonfire, Leo's group returned not only unscathed, but with one additional person, making the place livelier.
"Alright, everything's been taken care of. You all continue your special training."
Leo clapped his hands, drawing the girls' attention, and made this announcement.
"Special training?" Ravel clearly didn't know about the Eligos peerage's group training here. Her eyes, which had been surveying the surroundings, returned to focus on Leo. "Should I be doing special training too, Leo-sama?"
"You?" Leo looked Ravel over, rubbing his chin, then said, "For now, come with me somewhere first."
Where?
Ravel was puzzled.
Seeing this, Leo uttered two words.
"Tokyo."
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You can read up to chapter 186 on patreon.com/NiaXD.