The sudden attack by the Old Satan Faction had finally come to an end.
Although the process had been harrowing, after overcoming the crisis unscathed, many had gained new insights, feeling they had reaped significant rewards from the event.
For instance, the various peerage members all realized that their current strength was likely insufficient, leading them to resolve to work even harder to improve themselves in the future.
This was true for Yukino Yukinoshita, Asuna Yuuki, Utaha Kasumigaoka, and Mahiru Shiina; their spirits and temperaments felt completely different than before.
Previously, although they had all been reincarnated as devils and become Leon's peerage servants, they had never faced real danger or a true life-and-death battle. Consequently, their mindsets were still somewhat leaned toward the level of ordinary humans.
After experiencing this incident—be it Yukino Yukinoshita and Asuna Yuuki, who had been part of the Eligos peerage for some time, or Utaha Kasumigaoka and Mahiru Shiina, who had only recently joined—they all quietly shifted their mindsets and began to seriously consider their futures.
In particular, the realizations gained by Yukino Yukinoshita and Mahiru Shiina following this event were the most profound.
Yukino Yukinoshita successfully redeemed herself through her fight with Sharon, but through Sharon's experience, she also realized the complex, ever-changing, and secret dark side of devils. This left her more thoughtful and composed than before.
Mahiru Shiina had faced this crisis abruptly without adequate preparation. She had encountered danger several times during the ordeal, yet this only strengthened her desire to prove herself, causing her to explode with a level of willpower she had never possessed in the past.
With this experience, once they returned, they might be able to transform these realizations into motivation and become even stronger.
This was a vital matter; after all, the nourishment required for a Sacred Gear to evolve and grow stronger was one's willpower and conviction.
With these new insights, the members of the Eligos peerage—including Asuna Yuuki and Utaha Kasumigaoka—were bound to enter a period of rapid development.
Something was changing within the Gremory and Sitri peerages as well, but those were matters for Rias and Sona Sitri to worry about, and concerns for the future.
As for today, Rias, in her capacity as the host, had decided to take Leon and the others out for a good stroll. The three peerages would sit down together for a banquet to properly entertain one another and strengthen their bonds.
Naturally, this was met with enthusiastic approval from everyone, sparking a wave of cheers.
Clearly, after what happened yesterday, everyone wanted to relax and celebrate.
Indeed, after facing a life-and-death situation together, the relationship between the three peerage groups had grown much closer in an instant.
Tsubasa Yura had somehow started chatting with Utaha Kasumigaoka. The two were inseparable the entire time, with an expressionless Koneko Toujou following beside them, looking very much like two older sisters taking an introverted younger sister out shopping.
Reya Kusaka and Momo Hanakai were also constantly talking and laughing with Mahiru Shiina. The three walked hand-in-hand; anyone unaware would have thought they had known each other for a long time.
Meguri Tomoe was, naturally, talking with Asuna Yuuki. The two discussed many issues regarding the way of the sword, appearing very much like kindred spirits.
As for Ruruko Nimura, she was constantly observing Yuuto Kiba with caution. Whenever Yuuto noticed her, she would hurriedly and flusteredly avert her gaze with a blushing face, clearly looking like a young girl in the first throes of love.
Even Yukino Yukinoshita, who had been isolated during yesterday's events, was chatting about something with Akeno Himejima, whom she had fought alongside earlier. Tsubaki Shinra occasionally chimed in as well; they seemed to be exchanging insights regarding their daily training.
Leon, Rias, and Sona Sitri were naturally very pleased to see this.
The original purpose of this meeting was for the three of them to connect with one another. Looking at the progress now, it could be considered a complete success—it couldn't be better.
The three of them also discussed their upcoming debuts, focusing mainly on the young generation of devils who would be debuting alongside them.
The young devils they mentioned were naturally not newly promoted High-class devils with no background, but rather the descendants of various Pureblood devil houses.
House Bael, House Agares, House Astaroth, House Glasya-Labolas—these were all families with significant origins.
House Bael went without saying; it was the first-ranked family among the Seventy-Two Pillars. Their title was Great King, and their status was second only to the Devil Kings.
House Agares was the second-ranked family among the Seventy-Two Pillars with the title of Archduke, a status second only to the Devil Kings and the Great King.
House Astaroth was ranked twenty-ninth among the Seventy-Two Pillars. The family itself wasn't particularly powerful, but one couldn't ignore the fact that they were the original house of the current Devil King Beelzebub. Ajuka Beelzebub's former surname was Astaroth, and he was from a branch family; had he not become a Devil King, his status would not have been as high as those of the main family.
As for House Glasya-Labolas, they were similar to House Astaroth; not inherently powerful, ranking twenty-fifth among the Seventy-Two Pillars, but the current Devil King Asmodeus hailed from this family.
Add to that the Gremory and Sitri families, who had also produced Devil Kings—
"Good grief. Aside from me, everyone else either has a Devil King backing them, or they're a Great King or an Archduke, right?"
Leon couldn't help but remark.
Although he had known from the original story that the devils debuting in this generation all had extraordinary backgrounds, it was only after experiencing it firsthand as one of them that Leon realized how absurd it was.
The former title of House Eligos was Duke. The only titles higher were Devil King, Great King, and Archduke. As it turned out, in this debut, he had actually become the person with the lowest social status. Who could he even complain to?
If the others were merely descendants of these families, it might be one thing, but the key was that like Rias and Sona, they were all the succeeding heads of their houses—the next generation of leaders. Like Leon, who was about to inherit the entirety of House Eligos, they were all legitimate heirs.
With identical identities, their relative status was naturally distinguished immediately.
"Don't you also have Lord Ajuka backing you?" Rias remarked.
"It's different, isn't it?" Leon shook his head and said, "Lord Ajuka is only watching over me as a supporter. That is a completely different matter from someone backing their own family members."
Even if he were from a branch family and had a certain rift with the main house, they were still blood relatives of the same lineage; the bond was naturally much deeper than that of a mere supporter.
"But in terms of strength, you should be the strongest of our generation, right?" Sona Sitri mused.
No matter how deep their backgrounds, young devils were still just young devils. Like Rias and Sona, they were all High-class devils.
And Leon?
While he still held the status of a High-class devil in the underworld, his strength had long since surpassed his rank. He was essentially equivalent to an Ultimate-class devil. Furthermore, as the host of "Zenith Tempest," he could fight against an Ultimate-class devil of the ten-wing level. His strength was at least two levels higher than a High-class devil.
With this strength, he would likely be among the top contenders even if he participated in the Rating Games immediately.
Of course, that was without calculating the strength of his peerage.
The participants in the Rating Games were entire peerage teams led by a "King." The peerage members under other ten-wing level Ultimate-class devils likely had strengths at the High-class devil level at the very least, and Ultimate-class fighters would not be few in number.
Compared to them, Leon's peerage was much lacking. Not only was the number of members far from full, but in terms of quality, only Yukino Yukinoshita was barely presentable; the others still needed time to develop.
There was no helping it. Leon had been a High-class devil for too short a time, and the time since he received his Evil Pieces was also too short—only a few months to date. Even if his peerage members all had staggering potential, they still needed time to grow.
In this aspect, there was a gap between him and the other young devils. Setting aside Rias and Sona, some members of the other four houses had been cultivating their peerages for over a decade, and they certainly didn't lack combat power at the High-class devil level.
Furthermore—
"My strength isn't necessarily the strongest among the young devils, you know?"
Leon spoke these words, causing Rias and Sona to freeze.
"You're still not the strongest?" Sona Sitri was somewhat surprised.
Rias, however, seemed to think of something and suddenly fell into thought.
Leon smiled slightly and said, "Ms. Musashi once told me that an incredible fellow appeared among the young devils of this generation. Their strength truly isn't necessarily weaker than mine."
As soon as he said this, while Sona Sitri remained uncertain, Rias spoke up directly.
"You're talking about the one from House Bael, aren't you?"
Rias immediately guessed who Leon was talking about.
"It seems you know," Leon shrugged.
"After all, he is my cousin," Rias said with a wry smile. "His father is the current head of House Bael, and my mother is the current head's half-sister. We are related by blood."
Under such circumstances, Rias naturally knew a bit about him.
But—
"Is he really that strong? So strong that even the current you might not be his match?"
This was what astonished Rias. She knew he was special and a remarkable person, but she hadn't expected him to be so strong that even Leon might not be his match.
"The succeeding head of House Bael?" Sona Sitri frowned and said hesitantly, "But isn't he hailed as the most talentless pureblood devil in the history of House Bael?"
Upon hearing this, Leon curled his lips into a smile.
"Perhaps. He indeed has no talent for being a devil, but that doesn't mean he can't find another way to become strong."
Leon recalled things about the individual and dropped this final remark:
"Just wait and see. That man is going to astonish everyone."
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