Private Kuoh Academy.
Occult Research Club.
Rias and Sona sat facing each other.
After some time, Sona had also calmed down.
She adjusted her glasses and said in a low voice, "Rias, I was wrong this time."
"Sona…"
Rias wanted to comfort her, but Sona interrupted, "Just as he… Lynn said."
A complex emotion flashed in Sona's eyes as she continued, "I… was only thinking about myself, and completely failed to consider his situation."
Rias was silent for a while, then picked up her black tea and took a sip, before chuckling softly, "This is the Sona I know…"
When others made mistakes, she would point them out without hesitation; when she made mistakes herself, she would admit them frankly.
Sona also picked up her black tea and took a sip, regaining her composed demeanor.
"So what about your engagement?"
Rias asked curiously.
This attempt to dissolve the engagement could be said to be a big failure.
Although Lynn was not resistant to dissolving the engagement, and could even be said to be very cooperative, the outcome was obvious.
Sona paused, "The Rating Game is out of the question; that would expose him to the Old Demon King Faction's attention."
"I will try to convince my family."
Rias heard the firmness in her tone and joked, "If you ask me, Lynn isn't bad; why not just let it continue as it is?"
"..."
Seeing Sona fall silent, Rias, who knew her well, immediately said in surprise, "You're actually thinking about it?"
"My first impression of him wasn't bad."
Sona said frankly, "If things become unavoidable, I will try to cultivate feelings with him."
Rias's eyes immediately widened.
Something was wrong!
Extremely, utterly wrong!!
Lynn's indifferent gaze from before, his cold tone.
And that memorable line, 'You're truly full of yourself, aren't you?'
Hiss——
"Sona, you wouldn't be… that, would you?"
M-masochist?
"What?"
Sona was confused.
"No, haha, nothing."
Rias chuckled, her eyes darting around.
It couldn't be, could it?
"Strange."
Sona frowned, but didn't pay it any mind, finishing the tea in her cup and preparing to leave.
"Oh, right."
Sona took out a set of keys from her pocket.
"His living situation doesn't seem very good. The Xidi has a property in Tokyo's Minato Ward. These are the keys to one of the apartments there. If you have a chance, please give them to him for me; consider it an apology for this time."
After dropping that, Sona used a magic circle to leave.
Rias opened her mouth, but could only swallow the words, 'Why don't you give them to him yourself?'
Private Kuoh Academy.
Student Council Room, a red light flashed and disappeared.
Sona suddenly appeared.
"Tsubaki, I need a bath."
"Yes, President."
"And my clothes need to be washed too."
"Yes, President."
"…Wait! I'll wash my own panties!"
…
"You've been a great help, Aoyama."
"I'll treat you to ice cream next time."
Carrying the half-price bento he had snatched, Lynn successfully retreated from the convenience store.
After coming out, the sky had already begun to darken.
Lynn held the plastic bag with the bento in one hand, and fiddled with a black chess piece in the other.
"Aoyama also has the aptitude to reincarnate as a demon."
"Too bad, Aoyama wouldn't agree to me stuffing this thing into her body."
Lynn looked regretful.
"Can you see me?"
"Can you see me?"
A long-tongued Curse Spirit blocked Lynn's path, viscous saliva dripping onto the ground with sizzling corrosive sounds.
Lynn glanced at it with disgust.
The long-tongued monster immediately reacted.
"You can see me!"
"You can definitely see it!!!"
"You aaaaaah—!!"
Before the long-tongued monster could taste the human who could see it, red flames suddenly erupted from its body, incinerating it completely.
"You've got the wrong target, I'm…"
"A demon."
Lynn glanced at the Curse Spirits gathering nearby.
The Curse Spirits shivered when his gaze swept over them.
Lynn shook his head, not bothering with them.
There were too many of these low-level Curse Spirits; he couldn't deal with them all.
However, after breaking through the 'Mystery of the Womb,' he finally knew what world he was in.
A hodgepodge of anime!
For example, his current identity: the sole bloodline of a demon family from the Underworld, a new student at Shuchiin Academy, his homeroom teacher is Natsuki Minamiya, and the school even has a Totsuki Institute.
Oh, and there's also Aoyama Nanami from the convenience store.
Adding to that the Curse Spirits spread across the streets, Lynn reasonably suspected that there was also a Yotsuya Miko in this world.
"Hmm?"
Lynn paused, his eyes narrowing slightly.
On his status panel, the 'demon chess pieces' skill flickered faintly.
This was another effect of 'demon chess pieces': if it encountered someone with the potential to become a familiar nearby, it would remind him by flickering.
Lynn decisively released his magic power to sense his surroundings.
A few seconds later, Lynn's eyes lit up. "It must be there!"
Having sensed the location, Lynn changed direction and hurried towards it.
His familiar was currently in a bad situation, being chased by a demon.
Yes, a demon.
Not all demons, however, abide by the laws of the human world like he does.
Of course, it could also be a lost demon.
Through his sensing, it should only be of low-level strength, posing no threat to his power, which was close to breaking through to an Upper-Level Demon.
...
"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
Heavy panting echoed in the silent, deserted alley.
Kasumigaoka Utaha gritted her teeth and moved her legs, which felt like they were filled with lead. Her black stockings were torn and tattered at some point, and there were several scrapes on her legs, but she seemed oblivious, just running headlong.
Run, dead legs! Faster!!
She could feel that monster constantly following her closely, as if enjoying the thrill of hunting its prey.
She didn't know if she would live, but she knew that if she didn't run, she would definitely die!
So! Faster!!
Bang!
A dull sound suddenly rang out. Kasumigaoka Utaha suddenly crashed into a warm place, but she felt no warmth at all. Her mind was instantly filled with two words.
It's over!
"Looks like you might need a little help?"
"Just looks like it?"
Kasumigaoka Utaha panted, looking up.
A handsome face entered her vision, but she had no mind to think of anything else.
"Run… run quickly! There's a monster… behind us!!"
The collision had drained all her strength. If she hadn't completely leaned against the boy in front of her, she might have already sat on the ground.
She couldn't run anymore, but this boy still had a chance.
"Monster, are you talking about that?"
Lynn pointed behind her, his other arm holding her close to prevent her from falling.
Kasumigaoka Utaha turned around. A monster with a bare female upper body and a spider-like lower body was staring at her, drooling.
She swallowed with difficulty and gave a bitter smile: "So close, it seems you can't escape either."
"Why run?"
"It's just a low-level lost demon."