Rem had lost consciousness, but not for very long—at most, half an hour.
When she finally woke up, the first person she saw wasn't a stranger, but her sister.
"You're awake, Rem?"
Ram was sitting beneath a tree, while Rem lay on the grass with her head resting on her sister's lap. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, falling gently over the twin sisters and forming a scene so serene it looked like a painting.
"…Sister?"
Rem's head was still foggy. She stared blankly up at Ram for a moment before suddenly jolting, trying to sit up—only for Ram to press her back down.
"Don't move. You didn't suffer any serious injuries, but the physical and mental strain from Oni transformation was too much. You need proper rest before you can recover."
Rem listened to her. As she relaxed, the exhaustion and pain flooded in, leaving her limbs heavy and weak.
But even after understanding what had happened, she felt no relief, only frustration.
"…Rem lost control again, didn't she?"
Her voice was faint, her expression filled with guilt. The self-blame and inferiority were impossible to miss.
"This isn't your fault." Ram gently stroked her sister's hair. "You did your best. Ram saw it. You were still desperately trying to hold yourself back even after your horn activated, weren't you?"
The moment the horn on her forehead activated, Rem had known things were going badly. She had forced herself to stay in control, fighting against the surging power with everything she had. That was why she had been standing there, enduring it in silence.
"But Rem still failed." Her voice dropped further. "Compared to Sister, Rem is really useless…"
In front of Ram, Rem had always felt inferior.
They were twins, yet her sister had been gifted since childhood. At a young age, Ram had already become the strongest in the Oni village, hailed by their people as a prodigy, radiant and untouchable.
Rem, by contrast, lacked the physical strength Oni were proud of. She tried learning magic like her sister, but her talent fell short, resulting in half-baked skills. Forget comparing her to Ram; even among average peers, she lagged behind. She had endured countless whispers from outsiders, branded as the Oni clan's failure.
If that were all, she could have accepted it. But fate seemed cruelly ironic. She was granted Oni transformation, the one ability that could let her catch up to her sister, yet it came at the cost of losing reason and going berserk. Not only had it never helped Ram, it always ended with her sister cleaning up the mess and restoring her sanity.
It was humiliating. And painful.
As an Oni, she was weaker than her sister. As a mage, weaker still. Even when seeking power comparable to Ram's, she still needed Ram to save her afterward.
All of it crushed Rem beneath layers of self-blame and shame, leaving her unable to lift her head in front of her sister.
Ten years ago, when Ram lost her horn to save her, Rem had sworn to grow stronger—to protect her sister. She trained relentlessly, using Ram as her goal.
But in ten years, no matter how hard she worked, her progress was negligible. Even now, she was only on par with a Mid-Class Devil—nowhere near Ram's strength from a decade ago.
This time, she had finally met a master capable of reincarnating her as a devil. She thought she could gain demonic power and grow stronger at last…
Yet she had lost control again.
All her buried guilt and inferiority erupted at once.
"Maybe someone as useless as Rem… shouldn't have been born in this wor—"
Before she could finish, Ram cut her off.
"If you keep talking, Ram will get angry."
A rare trace of anger appeared on Ram's usually expressionless face, leaving Rem stunned.
She respected her sister more than anyone, and understood her better than anyone.
Ram was arrogant and sharp-tongued, always carrying an air of calm confidence. Yet beneath that exterior, she was soft-hearted and considerate.
Unlike Rem, who was plagued by insecurity, Ram had always remained composed. Even after losing her horn and most of her power, when she was weaker than Rem, she had still carried herself with quiet confidence, strong when needed, assured when it mattered.
Someone like that rarely truly got angry.
But now… Ram was visibly upset.
"Didn't Rem promise Ram that we'd always be together?" Ram stared down at her sister, her voice fierce. "Or was that a lie?"
"O-Of course not!" Rem blurted out. "Rem would never lie to Sister!"
"Then don't say things like that again." The anger faded from Ram's face, her voice softening. "Rem is Ram's little sister. Of course an older sister is supposed to be more capable. That's only natural. You don't need to compare yourself to me."
"Rem is Rem. You don't need to care about what others think. Just be yourself."
"Ram is an Oni. Rem is also an Oni. We're neither prodigies nor failures. Being Oni is enough."
"So don't ever say those things again. Understand?"
Rem's eyes welled up.
"…Yes, Sister."
Under the shade of the tree, with only the two of them left, the time that had stood still for ten years finally began to move again.
Watching the sisters, both Tiamat and Leo smiled faintly from a distance.
"It looks like they're fine now," Tiamat said with relief. "That puts my mind at ease."
Leo and Ravel exchanged a glance and smiled.
"Remember to say a proper goodbye later," Leo said. "I'll be taking them with me."
"I know." Tiamat didn't look at him, but her tone was solemn. "I'm leaving those sisters in your care."
"Relax," Leo replied calmly. "As their master, I won't let anything happen to them."
"That much I'm not worried about." Tiamat smiled. "You three aren't the type to stumble into danger easily."
Ram had regrown her horn, restoring her strength to its peak. Even now, she possessed the power of an Ultimate-Class Devil, and with her potential, she would only grow stronger, perhaps strong enough to catch up to Tiamat one day.
Rem was weaker by comparison. In her normal state, she was below even a High-Class Devil. But in a crisis, if she ignored the risk of losing control and entered Oni transformation willingly, her power could rival Ram's. Ordinary opponents wouldn't stand a chance.
As for Leo… even Tiamat couldn't see through him anymore.
Before, she had been able to gauge his strength. He had defeated Lafei Trix after the latter consumed Ophis' Snake, meaning Leo was at least Ultimate-Class Devil level, not eight wings, but ten.
Now, though, his demonic power alone rivaled a ten-wing devil. He had ten demonic wings, making him a genuine ten-wing devil even in his base state. Add Zenith Tempest, the second-strongest Longinus in the world, and even compared to a Maou-Class existence, the gap shouldn't be large.
And according to information from Ajuka, the boy had already mastered Balance Breaker, reaching the ultimate domain of a Sacred Gear.
If that were the case… what level would he reach after activating Balance Breaker?
Maou-Class?
Or…
Tiamat looked at Leo, a burning fighting spirit rising in her eyes.
"What's with that look?" Leo noticed immediately; she hadn't even tried to hide it. He raised an eyebrow. "You look like you want to fight me."
"It's not a look. I do want to fight you." Tiamat openly sized him up, feeling the changes in him more clearly than ever. "It feels like you finally have enough strength to trade blows with me."
"How about it? Want to try challenging me?"
Dragons were naturally battle-hungry. Even Tiamat, who looked like an icy beauty, had that instinct carved deep into her bones.
She had no interest in ordinary opponents. But if someone strong enough to make her serious appeared, she wouldn't hesitate to test them.
At the very least, they needed to be Maou-Class.
The old Leo hadn't qualified. If he hadn't been the host of Zenith Tempest, with his unusual trait and potential to help recover her treasure, she wouldn't have bothered with him at all.
Ten-wing strength meant nothing to her. To someone suspected of being near Super Devil level, that was something she could crush with a single claw.
But now it was different.
The boy before her had grown enough to pique her interest, and that ignited her battle instinct.
Her dragon's intuition told her that Leo, as he was now, could give her a satisfying fight.
Unfortunately, Leo refused without hesitation.
"You want me to fight the strongest Dragon King?"
Was she kidding?
He was still a young devil. His usual opponents should be devils like Rias or Sona. Why would he pick a fight with a Dragon King?
Tiamat was the strongest Dragon King, at least Maou-Class, possibly on the verge of Super Devil level.
Even current Maou Leviathan and Asmodeus would have a hard time taking her down. If Tiamat truly were a Super Devil, only monsters like Sirzechs or Ajuka could handle her.
Leo was stronger than before, sure, but why would he pick a fight with a Dragon King like that?
"Are you scared?"
Tiamat pressed on, dissatisfied.
"Yeah," Leo replied bluntly. "I'm scared you'll get carried away and forget what 'holding back' means. Then I'd have to fight for my life. If I die, you'd have to take those twin sisters back."
He wasn't joking.
Dragons were like that. Once they got into a fight, they easily lost themselves.
Legendary dragons throughout history were notorious for it. They acted on impulse, rampaging wherever they pleased, destroying cities and leaving without a care. One by one, they were hunted down, giving rise to countless dragon-slaying legends.
Even the famous Heavenly Dragons were no exception. During the great war between devils, angels, and fallen angels, they fought recklessly in the middle of everything, devastating the battlefield. In the end, they angered all three factions and were torn apart: bodies shredded, souls forged into Sacred Gears by the God of the Bible. Thus, the title of the Heavenly Dragons was passed down through their hosts.
And their hosts were always the same, clashing again and again without regard for surroundings, causing untold destruction.
Getting involved with dragons rarely ended well.
Tiamat was the strongest Dragon King beneath the Heavenly Dragons and still alive today only because she was relatively restrained.
Relatively.
She was still a dragon.
Leo had no desire to fight someone who might lose control and cause massive problems.
If he couldn't satisfy her, fine.
But if he did, and awakened her competitive spirit, that would be real trouble.
And now, Leo finally had the qualifications to attract that kind of trouble.
So he absolutely refused to fight her.
"…Fine."
Tiamat frowned. Seeing his resistance, she didn't push further, regretfully abandoning the idea.
"Get ready, Ravel," Leo said, no longer addressing Tiamat. "It's time for us to go."
"Yes."
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You can read up to chapter 197 on patreon.com/NiaXD.