TABLE

OF CONTENTS

Prologue: Dedicating Everything to Each Other

Chapter 1: The Star of Hope Onto this Earth

Chapter 2: That Which Quells All Living Things

Epilogue: The Fruit of this Beloved Vow

To Dream and Learn of a First Experience

 PROLOGUE:
DEDICATING EVERYTHING TO EACH OTHER
 PART 1

— There was a space filled with the sweet voices of girls, yet overflowing with
an obscene scent.

It was the dimension Hasegawa Chisato – Afureia, created to rescue Basara.

In the center of the space, was the extra large bed from the Toujou household
basement.

There — Basara was exchanging vows with the five girls.

After taking Mio’s virginity and reaching the master-servant vow, he received
the element of fire.

Mio, who had drowned in pleasure to the point that her consciousness melted
was resting on the giant bed, and for an hour now, Basara had moved on
exchanging his vow with another girl.

Continuing on after the vow for “fire” with Mio, was with the loli succubus
which holds the element of “wood”.

Naruse Maria.

In the middle of the bed – she looked up at him, sitting on his lap, wearing
nothing but over-knee socks as she rode him.

“Aaah, haah ♥ Fuuh, ah… Haah, haah… Fuaaaaahn ♥”

As her moans grew louder with intoxicating pleasure, she was lost in moving her
waist up and down on Basara.

Her small elementary schooler body did a lewd dance on Basara’s lap.

Basara, who Maria was looking at, was fondling her breasts as if covering them
from below, as his own hardness lewdly pierced into her.

He had gone in all the way inside her, as she moved her hips, the membrane of
her vagina was like it was a living creature sucking him in.

“Kuh… Ah…”

In the pleasure, he inevitably ejaculated.

— Normally, a small body like Maria’s wouldn’t be able to take Basara’s

hardness inside her Her undeveloped body had a small entrance to the point it’d
be considered cute, and pushing in without trying could cause her precious spot
to tear.

But — Naruse Maria isn’t a human. She’s a succubus.

As such, regardless of how small she is, her body was able to take a man.

While being tight, Maria’s spot expanded enough to completely take Basara’s
penis.

As Maria shook her hips, it created a lewd wet sound. The wetness of a man and
woman mixed together overflowed from them. It lewdly fell down Basara’s
thighs.

— In that lewd meringue, was a pink tint.

The indisputable proof that Basara had already taken her virginity.
On the neck of Maria now, appeared the same thing as when Basara first held
her.

— The mark of the master-servant curse.

This was something activated between Basara and Maria by Hasegawa in the
step before the vow.

During the master-servant contract, natural y a succubus’ power was used.

Now that the curse was activated, Maria had fallen into a state of arousal.

And then – this was something that wouldn’t be gone until the vow is completed.

Even so, a succubus can take more pleasure than other species.

Therefore Maria moved her hips to match Basara,

“……Aaaah!”

As Basara passionately thrust his penis, he moved to pinch the sweet light pink
nipples that stuck out from the middle of the breast clasped in his hands.

“Noo ♥ aaahn… Fuh, aaah ♥ Haah, nnn — Aaaaah ♥”

At once Maria’s aroused voice spilled out, and with it a heightened pleasure.

Her long hair messed up, her small body bent back as it trembled in pleasure.

With that, Basara’s penis moved to be swallowed whole instantly by Maria’s

spot.

“Kuh… ah—!”
The complex movements of the vagina of a climaxing succubus, would bring
tremendous pleasure to her partner.

Therefore Basara didn’t hold back, releasing plenty of his seed inside Maria.

With that – at the part where they were joint, thick white overflowed.

Basara had made Maria climax a number of times, and inside Maria as well was
filled with a great amount of semen from Basara’s penis. As a result, it began
flowing out instead.

But without thinking about that, Basara put new seeds inside Maria as his lower
half relaxed from his own climax.

— But it wasn’t his limit, not as the vows with Maria and the others are
incomplete.

Therefore no matter how much he came, Basara’s penis remained erect.

With that — Maria who’s just calming down from an intense climax.

“Ah… Aaah… Mmm, haah… fuh… Mm… Fufu ♥”

She showed herself as a woman of utmost pleasure, her expression intoxicated as

she moaned sweetly.

With how that coquettish face was unbalanced with her young appearance,

“…”

More than anything else, Toujou Basara felt a strong arousal.

To mess this girl up – he wanted to make her completely his.

— Maria had a girl who was behind her, hugging her from behind.

It was Nonaka Kurumi, the girl with the element of water, who was going to tie
the vow with Basara next.

Kurumi, who up until this point had always been pleasured by Maria, saw the
loli succubus reverberating in climax.

“Amazing… Maria can be like this too…”

Saying that with eyes filled with arousal,

“…That’s, haah… ah, aaah… ♥”

With intense shame, Maria’s body trembled in masochistic pleasure as she

moaned.

— But even so, the mark on Maria’s neck didn’t disappear.

This meant that the master servant vow was yet to be completed.

But — up until now, Basara had gotten a number of girls to submit to him.

And that took all sorts of methods.

Therefore,

“…”

Toujou Basara will be able to accomplish this.

Even if — he’s now with this succubus.

——
— Before they did the master-servant contract ceremony so she could tie the
master-servant vow with Basara.

Naruse Maria was told by Basara about her upbringing.

About her father – the previous demon lord Wilbert.

However, Maria wasn’t surprised to hear about the truth.

In fact, she had accepted it. She felt like she final y understood how someone as
undeveloped as her had the all important task of being entrusted with Mio.

Further, when Mio was attacked by the Legion summoned by Balflear at Kinuta
Park — Maria released an attack dyed in waves of crimson.

That light, was surely one of power.

In the end she and Mio are sisters from different mothers — they’re truly Naruse
Mio and Naruse Maria.

As she thought about that, she felt awkward even though she was happy.

— However, feeling that she felt she reached a certain happiness.

That’s why after Mio regains consciousness, Maria has things she wants to
express — with that, when Hasegawa activated the master-servant contract
magic for her, she was tied to Basara in both happiness and arousal.

However — even with them both having reached an intense pleasure, the vow is
yet to be tied.

With Mio, after many climaxes her vow was tied as soon as Basara ejaculated.

Most likely — this was due to the difference in their submission level to Basara.
— Naruse Maria, thought that it’s for the best to dedicate her all to Basara.

In that feeling, she doesn’t want to lose to Mio or the others.

However, in terms of her subordination and submission towards Basara, she was
lacking.

Different from Mio, Yuki and Zest who had the master-servant contract from
before and submitted to Basara many times, and Kurumi received baptism from
Maria, Lucia and Sheila. In terms of Basara’s pleasure on her, Maria had always
on the side of inciting Basara.

As she is a succubus, the pleasure she receives from Basara is considerable but
at the same time precisely because of this nature, the amount of pleasure and
arousal she receives is still within her limits.

— If it’s just this, there’s a possibility she can’t bring about the vow with Basara.

No, that itself should be obvious. If it was so easy there would’ve been more
vows that came into existence up to this point.

However – she couldn’t think of a good solution to this.

Up until now, when Basara got Mio and others to submit to him, she had given
them countless pieces of advice to help, but she had never thought about how to
make herself submit to him.

…What should we do…?

It’s already been an hour since she and Basara began. They’ve climaxed
numerous amounts of times, and she had received a great deal of his semen.

Basara also remained inside her, this too is an obvious condition.

If they continue on with this, there’s a risk as well that it would create a sort of
spiritual resistance from her getting used to it.

In that case it would be even more difficult for her to submit to him.

— Plus, they’re limited by time.

After Maria, there’s still Kurumi, Yuki and Zest.

In the end, they can’t put her off until later. If they did that, they wouldn’t be
able to give their elements in the order of fire to wood to water to metal to earth
as they intended.

But — panicking would also ruin their concentration, and it’ll cause submission
to be further away.

Maria began to grow frustrated at how wretched she was.

“—Kurumi”

Suddenly, Basara cal ed to the girl behind Maria.

“—!”

Maria’s breath hitched subconsciously. In an instant, what she felt was dread.

— At times, Basara could be ruthless in his discernment of a situation.

As such, there may be a possibility to first prioritize the other remaining vows,
giving up on Maria’s element. Which was why, “W-wai—”

This time, Maria raised her voice in protest, not wanting to be left out.
“Do you remember what I did to Maria, that time in the demon realm, when we
proved our bonds in Lucia’s room?”

“…Yeah, I remember” Kurumi said in response to Basara.

Kurumi who had been peeping on the situation at that time, perhaps remembered
it and how she too, received the same from Basara after, spoke with bashfulness.

“At that time it was Lucia who showed us that… But Lucia is an important
person to Maria, her close, older sister. With her showing that, Maria accepted it
like it was expected.”

Basara said.

“But Kurumi… Maria is always on the aggressive side with you. That’s why
here, I’ll be watching Maria careful y, and I want to teach her. In that case—”

At those words,

“I see… Yes, I understand. Leave it to me.”

A coquettish smile appeared on Kurumi’s face — from behind, she pushed

Maria’s body down.

“Aah— ♥”

She fell on Basara’s chest from her riding position, and with it the angle of
Basara’s penis inside her changed, her hips trembled from the pleasure of that.

Doing this, she’s in a position where she covered his body, with his penis still
inside her.

And then — with Kurumi moving from behind her back to a slanting position,
Maria knew what he was going to do.
“ — Maria, I will make you submit to me”

With that declaration, there’s a spark of absolute will in Basara’s eyes.

Those strong eyes holding her in at such a close distance.

“…Yes”

Maria gulped down, and as Basara and Kurumi looked at all she is.

“Please… Punish me, and make me yours down to the marrow of my bones”

At the moment she pleaded — with a rupturing sound, Maria felt a burning
sensation against her ass.

Basara’s hands had slapped her hard.

— With that pain, they thought she would cry out But — with crying out, there
is a sensation that came upon her, much stronger than the pain.

It was a pleasure that was even greater than having her breasts fondled.

“—Aaaaaah ♥”

With that, Maria gave the loudest moans since Basara began with her.

— The reason for that was an intense climax she’s never had before.

The stinging pain to her ass… And the assault from Basara’s palm, was
expressed to the very depth of Maria.

…A, amazing… What is this…

It was something akin to the pleasure she received in Lucia’s disciplinary room.
However, it was completely incomparable.

Maria at once was muddled up from the unbelievable climax,

…Ah…

She ended up thinking of what condition she would be in the next moment.

Of course she would feel good — after all Basara’s hardness is inside her.

— There’s no reason more than that for it.

This is why her body trembled to the core with Basara’s palm, her womb reacted
to that impact.

With that, the inner walls of her vagina convulsed, it squirmed like it was licking
and sucking around Basara’s penis.

“…Ah, haaaah ♥ No, aaaaaaaah… ♥”

Maria who could feel the hardness of Basara’s penis inside her, climaxed all at
once.

— But it’s not over.

Before the trembling in the depth of her body stopped, Basara swung his hand
down for a second time.

“~~~~~~~ ♥”

To the intensely climaxing Maria —Basara slapped her ass for a second time.

— With that towards her ass, he also began to thrust intensely inside her.

The inside of her vagina shuddered with the spanking her ass received, she could
come with just that — but her vagina which already reached the utmost pleasure,
also had Basara’s hardness rubbing hard against its inner walls.

The answer to the lewd mystery of her body — is something Naruse Maria
herself understood.

That is, a pleasure of another dimension that only a succubus could experience.

“Haah… Basara, ah ♥ No… Ahh, mmmm ♥ Fuuh, aah, wai, waaaah,

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo — ♥”

Like a cry of pain, Maria moaned, but she could not escape.

Kurumi’s hand which had been on her shoulder suddenly moved down — she
pushed her towards Basara so she couldn’t get away. With that, “Aa~ah, you’re
coming so much from having your ass spanked…”

Kurumi who sealed her escape had an exciting and sexy sadistic smile on her as
she spoke, “Fufu… Maria you’re such a pervert”

Her tone purposely disdainful.

“…Aah, aaah…”

Maria who’s spilling with moans tried her hardest to argue back.

This was so she could submit to Basara but — in that case Kurumi who could
cum with just her armpits being licked too, is a pervert.

That’s what she wanted to say.

“…Aaaaaah~~~~~~ ♥”

But… what came out of her was the truth of Naruse Maria.
It was the sweet moan from the arousal from being taken roughly by a man.

Having her ass spanked, alongside having her innermost walls thrust against,
submitting to the boy she has the utmost love for, this is her happiness.

Maria who became a woman despite her loli body, all at once fell to being a lewd
sex slave.

In that itself — was a hell where even the word succubus could no longer catch
up to her.

— That’s why now, she no longer has reason.

Maria without realising began moving her hips intensely.

“Fuaaahn… Mmm ♥ Basara-sa… Aaah, us together… aaaah ♥”

Understanding it’s almost time for their vow, she pleaded as she held Basara’s
face in her hands, “…Aah… Let’s go… Maria”

Basara increased the intensity of his movements instantly.

And then — with a monstrous roar Basara spilled his cum inside Maria.

At the same time, he spanked Maria’s ass with the hardest force yet.

Therefore — together with that moment a torrential pleasure burst for Maria.

It was that time.

…Eh…?

Naruse Maria suddenly received a feeling of full affection.

— It wasn’t something she could feel from Basara’s ejaculation or the harsh
spanking.

Even though going on like that, they could finish it as such.

But at that intense timing, Basara gently caressed her ass.

And then, Maria who understood what he was doing to her.

“…Ah”

With a dumbfounded voice — at that moment.

The master-servant contract mark around her neck disappeared, bursting away.

— Naruse Maria had crossed the line to the master-servant vow.

That was not from the punishment of her master — but from the affectionate
kindness he has for her, “Ah, aaah…”

At not being able to understand it suddenly, at not believing how she had tied the
vow with Basara, “Maria —”

Basara lifted her chin,

“— With this you’re mine forever”

As he locked in with her eyes.

From Basara’s erection — he ejaculated into Maria with a burst.

 PART 2

The intense climax that Maria had right as her vow was tied, was more than
enough to render her unconscious.

Therefore, Basara placed Maria gently next to Mio, letting her sleep.

Then, as he watched the sisters who huddled against each other as they slept,

“Mm… Hey, Basara-ni chan”

A girl softly leaned, seductively against Basara.

It was the girl who was to tie the vow next with Basara — Nonaka Kurumi.

As he looked, the girl who was there to help support him in tying the vow,
Nonaka Yuki, had gotten on the bed.

“Basara—”

She cal ed to him, full of affection.

Therefore he faced another set of sisters — his childhood friends who wanted to
be held by him. With that, Kurumi was already in just her panties and over-knee
socks, while Yuki was in just her panties, with that, they were ready.

“Just like Maria, I’ll have the master-servant contract curse, with that I’ll be able
to submit to Basara-ni chan more… Is that alright?”
Kurumi said that, eyes hot with lust looking at his penis that he had just taken
out of Maria. Basara’s burly erection tilted back, and due to having cum a great
deal when it was inside Maria, it was trickling with a cocktail of his own and
Maria’s cum.

Therefore — Basara understood Kurumi’s ‘intention’.

“I don’t mind but…Will you be alright?”

Like Maria, the mark of the master-servant contract curse appeared on Kurumi’s
neck. She’s already in an aroused state. Even so, “Yes… I’d like to do it like
this”

Said Kurumi, having expressed her desire — therefore,

“Got it… If that’s what you want”

Basara will grant that wish. And then, he softly brushed against her cheek.

“Thank you… I’ll try my best”

Kurumi said with a happy smile, she then bent down to Basara’s crotch level. To
help her with this, Basara leaned against the headboard of the bed and spread his
legs.

“Mmmm… Chuu, haah ♥ Chuu, licks… Hmm… Chuu… Mmm ♥”

Kurumi took Basara’s cock in her mouth — and licked lewdly with her tongue.

Nonaka Kurumi found arousal from licking Basara’s cock.

— This is as her desperate wish had final y come true.

It was all thanks to Hasegawa — that now she, like the other girls, tied the
master-servant contract with Basara.

…At last, I too…

Up till now, due to various circumstances, Kurumi was not able to have the
master-servant contract with Basara.

Of course, there’s that time with Sheila’s baby doll negligee, where by Zest’s
power she had a pseudo master-servant contract with Basara, and that
strengthened the bonds between their hearts. There are also times where she was
told not to fuss about it by Basara, being able to find a lewd climax as three with
Basara and Zest.

However, even after that she had always been jealous of Mio, Yuki as well as
Zest — in the bottom of her heart, she felt an inferiority complex that could not
be completely erased.

But having left the Hero Clan to be with Basara and the others, there’s nothing
hindering Kurumi anymore.

— When they spoke of their decision to Basara, that time they went to the house
where he grew up.

If it had been possible, Kurumi would have wanted to tie the master-servant
contract with Basara right away then.

However, in this world one can only tie the contract during the full moon, and on
top of it Maria wasn’t there.

Therefore, during the night before that fight with Celis, the only way to give
Basara a power boost was to strengthen his bond with Yuki – while Kurumi
participated, in the end she had to fulfill her supporting role in that.
After that, Shiba began to take action and they kept moving this issue back.

— Then, as she opened her eyes in this created space.

She was real y surprised to hear about Hasegawa and Basara’s relationship and
how the two of them have tied master-servant contract, but there’s a little bit of
complicated feelings she held on how Hasegawa had crossed that line ahead of
her.

Even so, what kept her feelings from being hurt was that time with Zest.

Further, not only from Kouryuu but also during that time at the sports festival on
the incident with Sakasaki, Hasegawa had saved her, and is someone she owed
her life to. That feeling of thankfulness is on a completely different path than
hatred.

Even so when she heard about Hasegawa and the master-servant contract – once
again, she felt a strange helplessness at her inability to help.

…But.

The moment she heard that as a former Togami, Hasegawa was able to incite a
master-servant contract with the succubus characteristic even without the full
moon, Kurumi instantly pleaded this of her.

If she could somehow — tie the master-servant contract with Basara and have
that go on into a master-servant vow.

With that, Maria too asked of this favor… And Hasegawa decided to grant the
two girl’s wish.
That’s why now — Nonaka Kurumi has a dream she’s always held on to coming
true.

Her first master-servant curse… By the power of succubus,

…So, this is how onee and the others feel…

Feeling the same sensation that attacks Yuki up till now, Kurumi could not
contain her happiness. She had fallen into a state of arousal before, when she
received the baptism through Lucia or Maria, or with Sheila’s baby doll
negligee. But Kurumi felt that this pain from a similar state of arousal that comes
from a master-servant contract with Basara, is different.

— With this, she, like everyone else could submit to Basara, with this she final y
could be of help.

At that trembling happiness,

“Chuu… Nnn, chuu, lick, (kiss) haah… nffu… aaaah… mmm ♥”

Kurumi gave Basara fellatio, her mind completely dazed in it.

And then it was time, she drank down with the sound of a gulp, Basara’s semen
that was mixed with Maria’s wetness that she completely licked up.

“Mm — chuu… Aaah, haaah…… ♥”

Inside her pussy a burning fever began to arise, one that came from the arousal
and pain, Kurumi felt a sweet agony as she released Basara’s penis from her lips.

— A succubus’ cum, is an aphrodisiac.

Previously, she had heard about this when Basara and others came home from
the large home improvement store, when Zest and Mio not knowing this ended
up in an aroused situation due to it.

So it wasn’t that she had to wonder how it would be to lick Basara’s penis which
had been thrust into Maria numerous times as she kept climaxing. However,
unlike Mio and Zest who absorbed it having been diluted in the water of the
bath, Kurumi drank it directly.

However – the effect is far beyond her imagination.

“No… This, is so… Aaah… —— aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah ♥”

This time, from Kurumi’s heated up womanly entrance, cum overflowed.

In no time at all, it wasn’t something her panties could contain any longer, and it
had dyed the mattress under them, wetting her inner thighs. And then — at that
time, Kurumi was already, “Ah… Aaah, mmm… Haah… Aaah… ♥”

She was in a state of arousal which she could no longer move herself, and all she
could do was to let her sweet voice spill out of her.

However, it isn’t over yet — the real thing is starting now.

Therefore,

“Hey, Kurumi… Basara is waiting”

With a kind voice, Yuki held Kurumi from behind and hoisted her up on Basara’s
lap. With that, the inside most part Kurumi’s crotch is right at the tip of Basara’s
erection.

Sitting and facing each other — that’s the position Kurumi would take to tie
herself to Basara.

And then,
“Basara… come look”

Perhaps as she was excited by Kurumi deep in a state of arousal, Yuki spoke
with seductiveness in her eyes, she used her finger to go down to Kurumi’s
panties, moving aside the crotch area with her finger, and as such – completely
exposing Kurumi’s pussy. With that one could see that Kurumi’s nether region
was in a state where it could take in all of Basara, all without her realising it,
“—”

And with that, Kurumi who saw how close Basara was.

“…Aah…… aaaaaaaah……”

With great embarrassment, she relaxed herself from the waist down.

— Therefore, Kurumi natural y lowering down.

With that, Basara took his erection and arranged its angle — his tip a lewd shape
aligned to meet with Kurumi’s entrance perfectly.

And then, Kurumi in her complete state of arousal, did not stop lowering herself
down.

Then, with a wet sound, Basara’s penis touched her pussy, and as Kurumi falls
in, it slowly opened her womanly entrance.

With that, Basara’s tip buried itself inside Kurumi.

…Ah…

Nonaka Kurumi, could feel Basara’s tip touching the barrier wall inside her.

— When Basara’s penis pierces through this wall, she would truly become his.
Therefore — Kurumi turned over her shoulder,

“Hey… Onee, I’m sorry… I’m going ahead of you”

She said, apologising in hazy voice.

“Don’t worry about it. We all have agreed on this order for the five elements”

And then, Yuki smiled at her.

“I’m your older sister… It’s fine if I go later”

And then, at her older sister’s kind expression.

“…Yeah… Thank you…”

Kurumi nodded, and faced Basara.

And then at him, right in front of her – she said, to the man she is dedicating her
everything to.

“Please, Basara-ni chan… Take me”

At that request

“…Got it”

Basara said just that — he took her hips with both his hands. Then,

“Kurumi, let’s do this”

With Kurumi losing the feel of her own weight, she moved down as Basara
willed.

“…Aaah…”
With that Kurumi’s spot succumbed to Basara’s penis and took him in.

And then — as her crotch falls in, Basara thrusted up, and in that moment

“…Aah… Haaaaaaaaaaaaaah ♥”

Nonaka Kurumi climaxed instantly. It’s due to her strong arousal as Basara took
her virginity, taking his penis completely in her — with that pleasure, she came
with no restrain.

Perhaps it is due to her state of arousal, or perhaps it was thanks to her

experience up till now, but she did not feel pain at her first time, but rather,just
great pleasure, and from her eyes flew out tears of that pleasure.

— And then with that, she no longer thought of anything else.

As soon as she fell from her great climax, Basara began to thrust.

As Basara pierced into her, she felt good to the point it felt she could go crazy…
she grasped on tightly to Basara as she began to meet his thrust, moving her
hips.

With her doing that, Basara was more pleasured himself, and as they kept
moving as such, his penis gradual y grew bigger inside her.

— But Kurumi wasn’t sure what that’s a sign for.

Therefore.

“…Ah…”

As Basara grunted, he abruptly came inside Kurumi.

“No… Aaah ♥ Cum… Basara-ni chan is coming inside me…
AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAaaaaaAaahh — ah ♥”

A huge load of cum went deep into her deepest part — all the way into her
womb.

At that pleasure, Nonaka Kurumi climaxed yet once more as she moaned.

Toujou Basara saw Nonaka Kurumi shook as she climaxed right in front of him.

However despite that Kurumi’s master-servant contract slave did not fade.

— For a normal curse, this should have been enough.

However, what the two of them wished to tie was the Vow, and this much wasn’t
enough.

Therefore— as Kurumi was intoxicated with how her insides were filled with
cum for the first time, “…Yuki, help me with getting Kurumi to submit to me”

As he cal ed out,

“Of course… What should I do?”

Yuki who was behind Kurumi asked for his instructions.

“Do you remember that time at my house, where Kurumi and I did you?”

As Basara said that, he wrapped his arms to Kurumi’s back.

And then, he grabbed and spread the cheeks of her small ass With that,

“…I understand”

With just that, Yuki understood – on her lips was a slight, mischievous smile.
On the other hand Kurumi… As she was already in the midst of a great climax,
having her butt spread by Basara caused her to feel a tremendous pleasure, she
didn’t realize what the two of them planned to do.

“Aah… Haah… No… Mmm”

With Basara inside her, she bucked her hips lewdly.

— To Kurumi who’s in that state, from behind her, Yuki, put her right hand’s
middle and index finger all the way into her mouth.

And then — with Yuki slowly taking her fingers out of her mouth, it was
drenched with salvia, “…Kurumi, relax”

With a seductive smile, she whispered to her cute little sister’s ears.

Yuki cal ed to her — Kurumi who felt that,

“Mm… Haah… Onee…?”

With hazy eyes, she looked back behind her shoulders,

“Kurumi…”

She saw Yuki, with a captivating look, it was the first time she saw that look on
Yuki.

— But, now is not the time for Kurumi to question that.

Basara’s penis was still deep inside Kurumi’s vagina, and she was filled with the
sweet pleasure that came from that, and with it, she had let go of the very
concept of thought itself. Therefore, “…I’ll do the same thing that was done to
me”
At the moment Yuki said that to Kurumi, she felt something slipping from
beneath her.

…Eh…?

Nonaka Kurumi, didn’t know what’s being done to her.

Her entrance was already filled to its utmost by Basara’s penis, there’s no room
to put anything else in there. That’s how it should be — but something was put
inside Kurumi.

With that,

“You should be able to see it like this…”

Basara saying that, shifted his body a little to the back.

Kurumi, who was holding on tightly to Basara, natural y fell forward —

however, to connect to Basara, her butt lewdly raised up spontaneously.

…Ah…

It’s there — Nonaka Kurumi final y understood her own situation.

— At Kurumi’s butt, Yuki’s right hand extended.

With that she fol owed her line of sight — and with it, she saw the truth.

Yuki’s middle finger and index finger, are both inserted in Kurumi’s back
entrance.

“Eh… This is…”

It was a sight she couldn’t feel was real.

At Kurumi, who couldn’t quite understand her own condition,

“Let’s go, Kurumi”

“Take it all… For you to tie this vow with Basara”

Basara’s and Yuki’s kind voices came to her from somewhere — at that moment

“Eh… No…aaaaaaaaaaah ♥”

Nonaka Yuki, bent her body back and trembled as she reached an intense climax.

The two of them began thrusting in her — both her holes attacked at once.

— The Butt is Yuki’s weakness. It wasn’t, so to say, Kurumi’s.

However — Kurumi’s body was completely developed in the lewd movements

of the two. Even though it was her first time, Kurumi felt the intensity against
her inner walls, and could come as cum is loaded into her womb.

Therefore she would feel her being attacked at her back hole too — combined
with the attack from the front, Kurumi would feel two sense of climaxing
pleasure at the same time.

That enough is great but,

“…Not yet… more”

Basara said in a voice akin to a shout and continued the assault.

At their current face-to-face position, it was possible – as he thrusted intensely as

he lifted up her arm, holding tightly to it as he did so and began licking Kurumi’s
weakness, her armpit.
Kurumi’s panties were stretched forceful y, as it was left on as Basara inserted
himself in her, and with her sensitive spot lapped up,

“Haaah… Basara-ni cha, the… aaah ♥ mm… haaah… nooo ♥ Haah, aaah,
mmm… mmm, haah ♥ Hiaaaan… No, aaah… Fuaaaaaaah ♥”

Kurumi, swept by a storm of a new dimension of pleasure, fell submit to Basara

as her womanly shower poured out of her — Even so, they continued as such.

— And then

“…Ah… haaah ♥… Aaahn… Haah… Mmm ♥ Aaah… haaah, aaah… ♥”

Kurumi completely lost focus in her eyes as Basara and Yuki continued to attack
both her holes, drowning in the pleasure they bestowed on her.

Saying to her,

“…Ah… I’m coming again, Kurumi…!”

At Basara’s announcement as he reached pleasure yet once more,

“—”

Kurumi wrapped her legs around his back — clinging on to him to the utmost
limit.

— That reaction, was the instinct of a young girl who vows eternity to Toujou
Basara.

With that, in the next moment — Basara released with the instinct of a man who
had received eternal submission from Kurumi.

A wave like hot magma, all at once filled Kurumi all the way to her womb,
“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ♥”

Kurumi climaxed to the point her voice had given out, her grasp on her
consciousness reaching its limits.

And then — from her pale neck.

The mark of the master-servant curse disappeared.
 PART 3

After the vow with Kurumi was successful y tied, Zest entered the room.

Next, it’s final y Yuki’s turn — and after that’s done, it was only Zest that
remained.

Therefore, they put Kurumi next to the other two who were also finished with
their vow.

“Yuki…”

Basara cal ed out to his childhood friend.

“…Yes”

Yuki nodded happily, and leaned towards him.

— On her neck, is the same mark of the master-servant curse that was on
Kurumi earlier.

Even though she said it was fine for her to go afterwards as she’s the older sister
— her true feeling was that she couldn’t wait, and with the shame she felt
towards her own lack of discipline, the master-servant curse was activated.

That’s the strength of her feelings for Basara. Therefore,

“Let’s begin”

He announced everything with simple words,

“Basara-sama… Yuki-san, please allow me to assist you”

Zest had a seductive expression as she announced her present role.

The element “metal” of Yuki that Basara is receiving, is compatible with the
“earth” of Zest.

Therefore,

“…Yes, please, do me in well.”

Yuki said with hazy eyes, showing her own lewd will.

Therefore — Basara took a position for his fourth vow with Yuki and Zest.

He had Zest lie down facing up, then Yuki on top of her on fours.

Then,

“…Yuki, raise your butt higher for me”

At Basara who gave the quiet order,

“Mm… Yes, Basara”

Yuki replied looking over her shoulders, and she raised up her butt lewdly so he
could see her well.

Pulling Yuki’s panties while she’s in that position, Basara slowly slid them
down.

With that he could see the crack of her butt appearing slowly — and then as he
slid them down the back of her thigh, he then took the panties off one of her legs.

“…”
Without Basara saying anything, Yuki understood what had to be done.

Still on all fours — she widened her legs apart slowly.

And then the crack of her butt, and the entrance of her womanhood — Yuki was
showing both of them lewdly.

“Yuki… do you want it in the front or back?”

He asked, as he caressed her butt,

“…That’s…”

Yuki gulped at his teasing question,

“Mm… Whichever, do it as you like, Basara”

She pleaded, as her hips trembled.

Therefore.

“………Is that so — I got it”

Basara announced quietly to Yuki, and then he prepared his penis towards her.

And then, he lowered himself forward and pushed himself in.

As she felt Basara’s penis enter her.

“…Aah… ♥”

Nonaka Yuki let out a moan of ecstasy.

Her purity was taken by Basara — Yuki had been waiting and wishing for this
moment.

And, what Basara chose was the same as the others, that was to use her front
entrance.

— Although that should have been obvious.

To give their virginity to Basara — that was an absolute requirement of the

master-servant vow.

Even so, Basara had purposely asked her to reach a new height in their
relationship.

For Yuki and the others who are under the succubus’ aphrodisiac characteristic
of the master-servant curse, if they are to vow themselves for eternity to Basara
— there’s one thing they have to recognise.

And that is, that they are absolute sex slaves for Basara.

From childhood friend, to lover, then to a family — she can no longer wish for
such a progression in their relationship.

However, Nonaka Yuki didn’t mind that.

All of them have resolved themselves as Hasegawa explained to them.

Besides — there exists a feeling between Yuki and the others and Basara.

No matter how sexual y sinful their relationship might become, this feeling
would never change.

They have faith in this — and then, to prove it.

More than anything Basara, wanted Yuki and the others to make their own
decisions in becoming his.

And then Mio, Maria and Kurumi as well… They have already reached a new
height in their relationship.

Consequently Nonaka Yuki too, became Basara’s in body and spirit.

…Ah…

Contrary to that Yuki’s feeling — suddenly, Basara’s penetration stopped.

— Just a bit before Yuki’s entrance, there’s something stopping his erection from
pushing in.

She couldn’t believe it. With her thinking of Basara like this, and him inside her,
there’s something that stopped him from completely taking her.

Nonaka Yuki thought — how unnecessary.

Because it’s there, she couldn’t take Basara whole.

— But, that bothersome thing was something Yuki always treasured.

It was something that she always thought she wanted to give to the person she
holds most dear — to Basara.

And then now, that wish is to come true.

Therefore,

“Mm… Please Basara… Take my first…”

She pleaded, looking over her left shoulder.

“Yeah… I’ll take it, Yuki”

Basara, who spoke to her with strong conviction in his eyes.

“But it’s not your first… From here on, I’ll continue to take you”

At that kind yet absolute declaration.

“…Yeah…”

Nonaka Yuki nodded, her body trembling with happiness.

And then, Yuki heard a small breaking sound.

— Yuki well understood how big Basara’s penis is.

She had seen it many times before this, having serviced him like everyone else
with her lips and hands.

Perhaps it was because of the succubus medicine used by Maria, or because of

the continuous submission by Yuki and the others from the master-servant
contract, but now Basara had grown to be unbelievably big.

Yuki and the others as well experienced physical change, remarkably in the sizes
of their breasts. Even paizuri which was impossible for Yuki when they first
reunited, is now something she could do.

And now — Yuki’s lewd hole was able to take Basara in,

“Mm… Ah, haaaah…♥”

A trembling sensation ran through her hips and up her spine, and Yuki moaned in
pleasure.
— With her current position, she wasn’t able to see it with her own eyes.

But despite that, it was without a doubt that Yuki had taken Basara’s penis to its
base.

From that, from the hot, hard penis spreading her insides lewdly, she felt not just
that sensation and pain — she felt warmth against her butt.

That was Basara’s hips, right against her.

Nonaka Yuki had given her virginity to Toujou Basara — and now, she’s being
held by him.

— By her childhood friend who she has known for as long as she could
remember.

The two of them are now meeting miraculously with their lewdest of cells.

With that,

“Basara-sama, Yuki-san… At last, the two of you are tied together.”

Zest, who serves as a warm, soft cushion beneath her looking up, said with an
expression full of affection, congratulating them, “Now, beyond that… As
incapable as I may be, please allow me to assist you.”

Saying that, she encouraged the lewd exchange between Basara and Yuki.

And then — that too, was Yuki’s wish. Therefore,

“Basara, please… Completely mess me up”

The true part of herself — begged to be spoiled in the greatest submission she’s
to experience up till now.
“Got it… If that’s what you want”

Basara spoke quietly — He pushed his penis in slowly to get to the deepest part
of her.

With that, the neck of Basara’s tip brushed against her insides.

“…Aaaaaah ♥”

At that sweet sensation, Yuki’s hips trembled lewdly.

The pain she felt in the beginning now seemed like an unbelievable lie.

What’s left is just — what would come at any moment, the anticipation of
unknown eroticism.

With that, he pulled himself out to just about her entrance, and he grasped on
tightly to her hips.

Then.

“—Yuki, let’s do this”

He announced with a low voice.

“—”

Yuki nodded as she gulped down.

With a slapping noise, he hit Yuki’s butt without restraint.

For Yuki, her butt is her weakest spot.

Whenever she fell into a state of arousal due to the master-servant curse,
recently, Yuki could easily come with just that.
But right now, Yuki doesn’t feel the pleasure from her butt.

It’s because she felt much more intense pleasure from elsewhere.

— It’s what was hitting against her butt. It wasn’t Basara’s hand, but his hips.

Basara was — thrusting to the deepest part of her in quick strokes.

“…Aaah, aaaaaaah ♥”

Nonaka Yuki moaned louder as she felt a great wave of pleasure.

From the walls of her pussy to the deepest part of her, her womb, she felt
Basara’s penis move in quick, and she felt how hard and big Basara’s penis is —
The intensity of Yuki’s climax further increased.

“—Aaah, aaaaah… ♥”

Her hips trembled, and with that, her position on all fours collapsed.

She lost the strength in her arms and she fell forward on Zest.

With that, Zest’s soft, ample boobs took her in.

“It’s alright Yuki-san… I’m here to support you”

She said, softly holding Yuki’s head.

Zest’s chest, where Yuki buried her head in, had the nipples on its tips erect.

“That’s why, please give your everything to Basara-sama”

Those were her words… But Yuki was no longer listening.

Yuki’s butt that fell on top of Zest, was raised up forceful y.

It was because even as she was thrust into by Basara’s hardness, she received
another penetration.

“Mm… Aaah… Haah ♥ haah, Basara… Mmm, noooo ♥haaah… no, haaah,
mmm ♥fuaaaah, amazi… haaah, no, mmm… haaaaaaaaaaah ♥”

As Basara thrust into Yuki’s innermost part, his hips are hitting against her butt
with a bam noise, and with that, an even louder moan came from Yuki.

— The doggystyle position she had taken gave her the most intense penetration.

In addition to that, to make things easier for Basara, he raised up one of her legs,
and it gave him more width in how he could take her — at that erotic truth, Yuki
had orgasms one after another.

As the result of their union, Yuki’s blood, which wasn’t little in amount, flowed
with the juices of her pussy that came with Basara’s penetration, and it dripped
lewdly down, overflowing to Zest’s crotch.

Yuki and Basara, the two of them were like a single beast in the intensity of their
sex, “Guh… I’m going to come like this, take it!”

At Basara, who spoke so strongly due to the arousal of his pleasure.

“…Haah ♥… Come… Come in me, fill me up Bas… Aaaaaah ♥”

Yuki too, pleaded to be filled up with semen.

And then – that moment final y arrived.

“Yuki… a… Aaah!”
As he cal ed out to her, Basara thrusts all the way to her innermost part — and
with a wave spread through Yuki’s insides.

“No… Aaaaaaah, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah~~~~ ♥”

Her womb was filled with a shower of cum, and Nonaka Yuki intensely reached
a climax.

Though their current goal was not as sacred as that to make a child, she still felt
an unbelievable pleasure from that sweetness, “…Haah, mmm… fuuh…
haaah… ah… ♥”

Drunk on that sinful pleasure, Yuki sensual y shuddered.

With that,

“…”

Basara slowly took his hardness out of Yuki.

“Mm… aah… haaah… ah ♥”

Yuki whose body trembled, basking in the climax of having been creampied,
believed that with this her vow with Basara was tied.

Therefore.

“…Mm… Basara…?”

Yuki, who felt something hot against the crack of her butt, turned back with hazy
eyes —

That was when she saw that, in her butt, as affected as the rest of the body with
the fever of her climax, that Basara’s member that had ejaculated but was still
erect, began to bury itself into her, “Aah… no, Basara… that’s…”

Yuki weakly objected, her voice no longer having energy in it spilling out of her,

“It’s alright, Yuki-san… A vow is to give all of you to your master. You can’t say
no to something the master desires”

Besides, said Zest.

“Usual y, one requires further preparation for anal sex but… Since we came back
from the demon realm, I’ve been mixing my cooking with a certain medicine
I’ve received from Sheila-san”

As such.

“Therefore… There’s no risk at all for Basara-sama to take us there”

As proof that those words were the truth, Basara’s penis was swallowed up,

“Th, at’s… Aah… aaah… aaaaaaaaaah ♥”

And then, as it was entirely in her to the base — Yuki’s head was twisted by the
intense shame and with that, she shuddered with the sweet pleasure that came
with how the inside of her ass expanded out.

— It was completely different from that time in the Vil age, where Basara
inserted his finger into her butt.

Basara’s penis is of a size, both in thickness and length, that’s incomparable to a

mere finger and it spread her ass, penetrating deep to the deepest part of her.

…No way… Basara real y put it all in…

Even with the truth in front of her, Yuki, who still couldn’t believe the obvious
pleasure she derived from it, was spoken to, “…Yuki, your hands”

Then Basara, extended his hand softly.

But Yuki understood that it wasn’t an act of gentleness, Basara didn’t extend his
hand so they could hold hands. He did it to hold on to her wrists.

— So it was a position, where he takes her from behind while holding on to her
wrists.

Yuki imagined the position.

With that — answering to Basara, without a mistake the tying of the vow too
would be as such.

Zest had said… The vow is to give everything of yourself to the master, to see
no choices but the choice as willed by the master.

That wasn’t something she’s lost on — that’s the truth of the master-servant vow.

Therefore,

“Basara—”

Yuki extended her arms back.

With that — Basara gripped on tightly to her wrists.

“…Are you scared?”

He asked her.

“I’m fine… Basara, do me as you like”

Nonaka Yuki said as she looked over her shoulders.

Basara received from her, a seductive smile,

“For you to do that — that’s my deepest wish”

Nonaka Yuki spoke, saying the wish from the innermost part of her heart.

— Basara said nothing back to her.

Instead — he moved at once to answer to her feelings.

“~~~~~~~~~~~~ ♥”

With her insides being grazed against, Yuki experienced a forbidden pleasure.

With how her wrists were being held from behind her, her butt was raised up,
while her back down in the opposite direction, it gave her a deeper than ever
angle to take in Basara’s erection.

Further — perhaps it was because of the position that Basara’s hips hitting from
her behind got even more intense, hitting her butt louder than before.

“No… Haaah, aaahn ♥ haaah… this is, is… Basaraaaaaa ♥ hiaaaan… Aa,
Basara…

Basaraaaaaaaaaaa ♥”

She was intoxicated with how her butt was assaulted intensely, and she fell all
the way to the deepest part of hell in her forbidden pleasure.

With Basara’s cum that was just ejaculated in her earlier, with the mix of wetness
that came from the new pleasure, began dripping down her inner thighs.
With Basara’s penis assaulting her back hole, the inside of her ass had a hot
burning feeling that kept expanding in her — Yuki spread her legs, desiring an
even deeper connection between her and Basara.

And then, matching the timing of Basara’s thrust, she began moving her hips to
hit her butt against his waist, inviting Basara’s penis deeper inside her.

— The mark of the master-servant curse had disappeared from Yuki’s neck.

Since her butt was assaulted, Yuki had already tied the vow with Basara.

However — Basara didn’t stop his intercourse with Yuki.

Zest, without saying anything, watched over them.

As long as Basara desired Yuki, they wouldn’t finish their intercourse.

— Therefore, the two of them basked in it.

From Yuki’s ass, which had taken in Basara’s penis, a wet sound could be heard,
as the two of them had tied the vow, they grew more intense as they grew close
to the end.

Then — as Yuki, who drowned in the happiness of having Basara’s penis inside
her,

“…C… Yuki, I’m coming…!”

At Basara’s voice, which was filled with pleasure,

“…Aaah… mmm ♥ Come inside me… Basara, haaah… ♥”

She pleaded as she looked back to Basara behind her.

“—!”

Basara jerked her back towards him with her wrists which he held on to — Yuki
was held by Basara from behind. And then Basara, used his left hand to fondle
Yuki’s nipple, and then he used his middle and ring finger to go inside Yuki’s
pussy, “Naaah— haaaah ♥”

Yuki, who felt two pleasures, trembled, and at that moment,

“…ah… Aaah!”

Basara shot a huge load inside Yuki with a shout.

Her crotch was shot into intensely, her butt filled with hotness,

“~~~~~~~~~♥”

Nonaka Yuki, shed tears as she came, in the forbidden pleasure the other girls
have not experienced.
 PART 4

With the climax that came with being filled in her back hole, Yuki lost her
consciousness.

Even so, Basara was able to tie his vow with Yuki with no issue — that was all
that mattered.

With that, he left Yuki to sleep peaceful y.

“…I kept you waiting, Zest”

Toujou Basara, turned to the last girl to tie the vow with him.

Then,

“? Zest… What’s wrong?”

He asked, surprised.

“…I… I apologise… Basara-sama… aaah… mmm ♥”

Zest had hazy eyes as she spoke with a voice akin to a moan.

On her throat – the mark of the master-servant curse surfaced,

“Zest… Why did this happen to you…”

“Mmm… haaah… aaah… mmm ♥…Basara-sama… I apolo, mm… haaaaah ♥”

With her body trembling, Zest col apsed. She fell on Basara, caught by him and
he could feel how her tanned body was already heating up, a tel -tale sign of
Zest’s arousal.

With that Zest, who had fallen into a state of deep lust, had an incomprehensible
level of seductiveness about her.

“—Are you alright?”

Basara asked worried, even though he himself was turned on by the sight.

It was the first time he had seen Zest as aroused as she is now.

With Zest’s unsteady breathing, her large breasts bounced up and down.

And then — in the center of those breasts were her shapely nipples, poking out
to their very lewd peaks, begging to be sucked by Basara.

As he needed to exchange the master-servant vow with the five of them,

Basara’s penis remained erect, but seeing Zest as she is now, all at once he felt
light headed.

If possible, he would like to take Zest without mercy right as is.

— But, they have to tie the master-servant vow.

If she holds back so much towards her master Basara to the point of being in this
state, they wouldn’t be able to reach a new point in their relationship like he did
with the other four. Hence, “Zest… Let me relieve you a little”

As he announced that, Basara had Zest mount his lap.

With thiz position, the back of Zest’s head was right in front of him, it was more
or less her back to him.
But, Basara didn’t put his penis inside Zest.

Instead, he fondled Zest’s large breasts from behind instead.

With that, as Zest was in a state of arousal, her breasts felt exceedingly soft, like
they could melt into his hand, and as Basara seemed to enjoy himself fondling
them, he moved his index and middle fingers to pinch her nipples.

“Aaah ♥ noo… mm, haaaan ♥ aaa… haaah, no… fuaaah ♥”

Zest grinded against him as she moaned in the pleasure his handling gave to her,
she came with surprising ease — from her crotch, still concealed by gold panties
laced with black, plentiful amounts of her womanly honey, wetting the bed sheet
below her. At her seductive expression, “—”

Basara, who’s already held the other four and losing his reason, wanted to let go
and put his erection inside her.

However, he can’t do that yet.

— He had to get Zest to devote her everything to him, just like Mio and the
others did.

There must be a reason for her, at this unfortunate timing, to suddenly trigger the
master-servant curse stronger than what’s usual y normal for her.

As Basara’s maid, her loyalty to him is stronger than anyone else.

For someone like her to have this level of master-servant curse – it was the time
she felt that her existence burdened and troubled Basara.

…So what happened?

Surely it wasn’t because she didn’t want to be held by him.

That wasn’t his conceit. After all, Zest held great love for him.

And when she serviced Basara, she felt pleasure more than anyone else.

— It was easy to think that Zest would be the closest in fulfilling the master-
servant vow.

However, she’s now… she’s holding something back from him.

So — he drew himself closer to the Zest who held that to this point.

“I see Zest… you”

Toujou Basara spoke as he held the maid who is so obedient to him.

As he thought it through, he realised the fear in Zest’s heart.

“You’re anxious that if you lose your virginity, you’d lose your power with it.”

At the words Basara spoke,

“…Haah… I’m s-sorr, y… Basara-sama… aah, haah… ♥”

She asked for forgiveness as the master she loves so much fondled her breasts.

Those painful words of apology from her, was because what Basara pointed out
was the truth.

— To be held by Basara, was Zest’s dream from the time they were able to meet
again in the demon realm.

But — tying the master-servant contract, being indebted to those around him and
not just that, but as a result of getting power ushered in, the conditions had
changed.

— Zest is Basara’s maid now, but she was once an servant of the high ranking
demon cal ed Zolgear.

And the truth of that, is that she was created by Zolgear using forbidden magic.

And then, Zest who’s strong with how she used earth magic, even from the time
she was Zolgear’s servant, despite everything has the strength comparable to that
of a high ranking demon.

And the source of that power was her purity… That she maintain her virginity.

With the element earth and related to it, there’s Virgo of the Twelve Zodiacs* —
it is due to limitations related to this that Zest could use such strong earth
element powers.

T/N: While it’s Virgo, the author had used a not as common word for it that
literally means ‘virgin constellation’.

Most likely, that hasn’t changed till now.

— But, as Hasegawa explained the vow, she didn’t seem to hold any anxiety
over it.

Zolgear is dead, and Zest’s current power should have exceeded him then.

And on top of that, Zest now had tied the master-servant contract with Basara.

So, for her knowing that she could be able to be of more use to Basara, to be by
his side forever made her happy.

But — as the vow with Mio succeed, then with Maria, then with Kurumi, then
with Yuki, the anxiety within Zest built up.
— If, even if it was a one and a mil ion chance, that she would lose her power if
she’s held by Basara at the point where they are at now.

Zest would then just be holding Basara and the others back right at this
important watershed moment for them.

Of course — in consideration of Zolgear’s personality, Sheila herself had

confirmed whether or not Zest had any strange curse put on her when Zest
moved to the moderate faction.

…But.

How they had found no problems — is what’s causing Zest anxiety now instead.

Having climaxed from Basara handling her, and weakened slightly by the curse
of the master-servant contract, Zest timed herself to speak between her moans,
“Mmm… Basara-sama… I, know well what kind of man Zolgear was.”

She turned to Basara behind her.

“He was full of tricks, and reveled in nothing more than in the suffering of his
foes… And then, he had pursued ancient books, having deep knowledge of
forbidden arts. So there’s a chance that I may be holding a trap that no one had
detected until now.”

Said Zest.

“At the worst, if I lose my power, I don’t mind my life being ended… However,
if holding me puts you in danger”

She said, with her voice sounding like crying as she spoke out her fears.

“…Aaah… mmm ♥”
Zest, who felt ashamed towards Basara, once again fell into a state of arousal.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be okay… You’ll be oni chan’s power”

A kind voice cal ed out.

That was the person with the element of “fire” that’s compatible with Zest’s
“earth”, the girl who’s meant to support Basara in Zest’s vow — the first one
who tied the vow with Basara and slept as she reached her limit having been
taken by him.

It was Naruse Mio.

Embarassment having left her, she let out a moan.

Her body grew hotter. That wasn’t just the fault of the lust that came from inside
her.

— Basara was watching her.

At that fact, Zest felt deep shame — and more than that, undeniable excitement.

“Hey Zest… Show oni chan properly”

Mio who was behind her, whispered right to her ears,

“Mmm …Haaah… Basara-sama”

Zest giving a hot sigh — her glazed eyes were fixated on her master in front of
her.

With that,

“—Zest”
Basara cal ed to her, with a much deeper voice.

— With the master-servant vow, one must devote their everything to their
master.

And the wishes of the master, none of it should be refutable.

Those were the words that Zest herself said to Yuki — just a little before this.

So,

“…Please, take a look”

With both her hands, she spread herself, and with that she was able to fulfil the
general requirement of the master-servant vow. With that, when she spread
herself as far as she could go, she exposed the symbol of her purity to Basara.

“…How is it, Basara-sama?”

With her, asking him with feelings like a prayer,

“—”

Basara had Zest in his sight.

At his resolute eyes.

“Mmm… Aaah ♥”

Zest felt an intensity, like Basara was consuming her with his eyes, feeling the
vibration deep inside her womb, she bucked her hips lewdly. With that, from the
spot she spread out herself, her womanly honey spilled out, melting out of her to
the point of reaching her butt.
With that — Basara’s eyes on her grew gentle.

“…It’s alright. As expected, there’s nothing dangerous within you”

And those words, full of security,

“…Real y…?”

Zest asked, sounding dumbfounded.,

“Hey… I told you right?”

Mio said with a smile for Zest,

“Zest… You’re so serious so you might be troubled by the things oni chan feels,
you may be trapped by it.”

But.

“We didn’t just tie the master-servant contract we’ve lived together under one
roof, we’ve had our feelings build up over that time, Haven’t we? And your
feelings, of wanting to dedicate everything to oni chan — would that be defeated
by fear you may hold for a man who no longer exists?”

With Mio saying that, asking her so calmly,

“…No, Mio-sama… I do not think so…!”

With that strong proclamation, the power of the arousal coming from the curse
weakened.

At that proof the hesitation within Zest is fading,

“Yeah… that’s right”

Mio said, looking at her happily.

“When you tied the master-servant contract with oni chan you were reborn. And
now, as oni chan holds you, you’ll be reborn anew once more. Letting go of your
past, and you’ll real y become oni chan’s in the true sense of the word — It’ll be
the same as us”

As she heard those words

“—”

The anxiety within Zest disappeared — in exchange of that, a trembling pleasure

welled up from inside her.

— It would be good if she’s held by Basara.

So she thought — and she could no longer hold back.

Thus,

“Mmm… Basara-sama… Please, if you would”

Zest bucked up her hips lewdly, her spot inviting him.

“Yeah…”

Basara slowly began to go over her — and then his sizable erection pushed
against Zest’s entrance. Even though Zest had spread it plenty wide, Basara’s
penis is even wider than that, and as such with this position, it hadn’t quite
entered inside her.

Even so,

“—I’m putting it in”

Basara said that, and he slowly thrusted forward, as Zest spread out her lewd
hole, the tip began to bury itself in her. Then, …Ah…

At the bit where Basara had entered, his penis began to make contact with that of
Zest.

That, being the symbol of Zest’s purity — her hymen.

— Even though just seconds ago, she was so scared.

Now, she no longer had a molecule of fear in her. Within her is a new power, a
new relationship with Basara — when they reach that, then Zest would be reborn
anew yet once more.

Therefore,

“Basara-sama… Please, let me be reborn as your true maid”

At Zest, who spoke her heart with hazy eyes,

“Of course… I’m going in”

Slowly Basara, further pushed his penis into her.

With that, Zest’s hymen was pierced, like she was welcoming her master.

— It was at that moment.

From Zest’s neck, the mark of the master-servant curse dispersed and
disappeared.

“Eh—?”

At that, Zest made a dumbfounded noise.

Like the hard work of Mio and the others was a lie, Zest so easily tied the
master-servant vow.

It was so sudden, that she couldn’t believe it.

“It’s not so surprising, for you, your virginity is the source of your power”

Basara said with a gentle smile.

“To give that to me… In a case like this, it’s the same as you dedicating
everything to me”

As he said that — his erection was already deep inside Zest, the tip of it right at
the entrance of her womb, pushing right at it.

With that, the happiness of being held by Basara, the joy of having reached the
same vow with Mio and the rest, and the pleasure with how Basara’s penis is
inside her, swallowed by her pussy connected together, “Aah… aaah…
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAaaaAAAAAh ♥”

Zest, who reached the height of sensuality, let out a loud and absolute moan as
her body trembled lewdly.

— It was a pleasure completely incomparable to the times when her weakness,

her ears, were played with.

Zest didn’t protect her purity.

It was like her purity protected the inside of her pussy, from this kind of
pleasure.

— This intercourse, was to tie the master-servant vow with Basara.

So it would be fine if they were to end this now.

But — as Zest was reaching the height of her climax, Basara did the opposite.

He began to insert his erection within her.

But beyond her hymen — just after that, even as Zest had already gone into lewd
pleasure, feeling it on a completely different dimension, his meatstick rubbed
against her pussy’s inner walls, spreading it open from the inside, “No…
fuaaah… haaah ♥ aaah… Basara-sa, ma… aaahn ♥ haaahn… aaahn… haaah ♥
aaah, Basara-sama… aaah, aaaAAah ♥”

Zest already lost her thoughts, they melted away with the continuous pleasure of
a different dimension. Basara seemed like he wanted to play more, and give even
more intense pleasure after this climax.

And then — an hour later.

Zest, who continued to be marked by pleasures of a different dimension,

“Aah… haah… aaah… ♥ mmm… haaah… ahn ♥ haah… mm, fuh…Basara-

sama, aahn… mmfuu ♥”

This world’s most lewd maid was reborn, and she bucked her hips erotically on
top of Basara.

From the place where they merged in their sitting position, white cum spilled as
Zest moved her hips, trailing down the side of Basara’s erection to stain the bed
sheet.

While he thrusted his penis inside her, he had his arm around her from behind
and fondled her breasts to a different shape with both his hands, and she felt
good to the point her head felt twisted, “Fufu… Zest you’re making such a lewd
face… It looks like you’re feeling real y good…”
Perhaps excited at how Zest was being handled, Mio had the flames of sensuality
fanned within her.

Mio sticking to her from the front, sandwhiching Zest in between herself and
Basara, put her arms behind Zest’s waist and fondled Zest’s ass roughly, “Mm…
amazing, your nipples are so stiff… chu ♥”

Zest had her left nipples sucked by Mio’s hot mouth,

“No… Mio-sama, that’s… aaaaaaaaaaaaah~~~~~♥”

At the same time as this new pleasure, she bent her body as she came, her body
convulsed, and her womanly shower squirted out hotly onto Mio, And then, Zest
who has already had a countless number of climaxes, “…Ah… haah… ♥”

As she was completely taken in, she spilled out with moans of pleasure, Even
though they’ve done so much, Basara’s penis remained erect — and this meant
that he still wanted her. But even so, as Zest would soon no longer able to move
her hips in her trance, “…Oni chan, how is it?”

“…Yeah, I’m also… Mio, I’m leaving the right ear to you”

She heard the words of the two that let her be reborn.

This is something to end this lewd action,

“Mm… No… Basara-sama… ah ♥”

Zest, seeming like she wanted this to continue,

“Yes… Once we’re finished with all of this, we will do it a lot more”

Zest’s most wonderful master in the world, said something to her from
somewhere.
“…h, haah… ♥”

She nodded in reply and at the same time as she let out a pleasurable moan.

Basara and Mio each took one of Zest’s ears, their mouths closing in on them,

“Zest— you belong to me”

“Zest — you belong to oni chan”

As they whispered to her – the two of them took in Zest’s sensitive ears in their
mouth, “~~~~~~ ♥”

As she was penetrated, and her weakness being taken, she felt at that moment the
most intense pleasure yet, And then at the moment, from her womb to inside her
pussy, a movement pulsed through all at once — the walls of Zest’s pussy closed
in on Basara’s erection, wrapping tightly around it.

“Kuh… aah… uaaah”

Inside Zest’s tight pussy — Basara once more, came into her, unloading a great
amount of cum for the last time.
 PART 5

And then – with that, Basara completed the vow with the five girls.

So, energy final y left him, and just as his body began to fall on the bed,

“…Haah,… Haah”

Lying down spread out, he let out a sigh of relief with his rough breathing.

And then – he thought of what he had achieved, and a sense of trembling

achievement welled up within him.

— The legendary master-servant vow, he was able to tie five of such.

His sense of pride wasn’t just for himself, but also for Mio and the others.

This kind of absolute master-slave relationship, wasn’t possible with just the
master taking everything from them, but they themselves must want to devote
everything to the master as well.

Mio and the others, were willing to do that for Basara.

Thinking about that,

“…Oni chan, are you alright?”

With a sweet voice, one of the girls Basara tied to vow with climbed onto the
bed, letting the spring bounce a little bit as she did so, and looked upon him who
was lying down.
It was Mio, who just supported Zest’s vow just now.

Mio looked at him with concern.

“Yeah… How’s Zest doing?”

Basara said, asking as he slowly woke his body up.

“There’s nothing to worry about… She passed out at the end, but her breathing is
fine”

Mio said, taking a glance at Zest who’s sleeping by Yuki, then, she looked back
at Basara. And then — she looked at him with wet eyes.

“…What’s wrong?”

As Basara asked, Mio gave an “um” as she wiped tears off her cheeks,

“All of us… We real y are yours now right, oni chan?”

She said, sounding happy, at that,

“Yeah… You’re all mine”

Basara said what cannot be discredited, an absolute truth.

“I’m glad… We all managed to give you everything,”

As tears welled up under her eyes, Mio spoke happily.

With her like that, he took her shoulders and embraced her,

“Mmm… aaah, oni chan ♥”

Mio leaned her body in towards him.

— With that, Mio’s large breasts were pressed against Basara’s chest.

Mio’s breasts were still flushed with the fevers of pleasure, and as she felt the
melting sensuality in them, her nipples hardened, “Mio—”

As Basara, who just realised her condition cal ed out to her,

“Oni chan, do what you like… After all, I’m already all yours”

With an ecstatic face, Mio gave Basara the permission to do anything.

— Therefore Toujou Basara, did what he liked with Naruse Mio.

He took her lips forceful y, and in addition to that, he slipped in his tongue and
fondled her chest gently.

“Mm… nn chuu… haah, oni cha…n, ku chuu… mmm ♥”

Mio bent her body happily, as sweet sounds spilled out of her with their tongues
entwined —

further, she reached her right hand down to Basara’s penis which was still
covered in his own and Zest’s cum, and then began to gently rub against it.

This was — all the afterplay of having been drowned in intense pleasure.

Therefore, letting go of her lips, he took Mio’s arm and fell back onto the bed.
With that, as she falls on the bed over him, her breasts are directly in front of his
eyes — he began to take her standing pink nipples in his mouth.

“Fuaaan ♥ haah, mm… so good… aah, oni chan… ♥”

As Mio spilled out her moans, she didn’t let go of Basara’s penis and continued
to gently run her hand over it.
And then — as Basara felt satisfied with having sucked on both of Mio’s nipples
and let go of them, “Mm… Oni chan, just relax…”

Mio said, and she began descending down to his crotch.

And then, putting her bangs behind her ears, she began to take in Basara’s penis
which was still covered by his and Zest’s cum in her mouth, licking it.

“Haah… Chupu, mm… churu… fufu, it’s amazing… Oni chan is still so lively
here… lick, chuu…

mm ♥”

As Mio took Basara’s penis with much affection, a seductive smile appeared on
her face.

— It was an expression Mio never wore before.

Of course, when she serviced Basara under the master-servant curse, Mio had
made such seductive expressions.

But — Mio’s current expression is completely incomparable to those times.

When she dedicated everything to Basara, surely she had reached a point of lust
so deep she could no longer return from it.

It should be the same with those sleeping now, Yuki, Maria, Kurumi, and Zest.

With that being said, he believes it’s not like her mind and spirit were completely
broken, to a point where it couldn’t recover to full consciousness.

It’s undeniable that she’s currently in a state where she temporarily doesn’t have
a hold on her own mind.

It’s just — most likely, her sense of value was overturned from the very base.
Toujou Basara thought that much was natural.

This state was created by how he had given Mio and the others more than
enough pleasure.

And then now – right in front of his eyes is a sex slave by the name of Naruse
Mio.

That was something lost in the corruption of the vow, and something Basara
gained through it.

“…”

So Basara, looked at the Mio who completely belong to him.

“Mm… Churu, Nfu… nchuu, haah… ♥”

As she took his penis, Mio focusing her all into her lewd blow job, gave an
expression that shows she was melting in ecstasy.

— The first time they met in that Family Restaurant, he thought she was such a
cute girl.

His heart beat fast at the thought of how they were to live together.

Basara had made that Mio completely into his sex slave.

— But Basara didn’t have any regrets. Surely it’s the same with Mio and the
others.

The time they return to their everyday – with their own bonds changing between
them, winning this battle, there is no other method to live on besides that.
When they return to their everyday life – with their bonds changed , there was no
other way to win this battle besides that.

…Besides.

If they had regrets, then they wouldn’t have been able to tie the vow with Basara
in the first place.

All of them wished for it from the bottom of their hearts.

That’s why they tied the master-servant vow, and then Mio and the others
became Basara’s sex slaves.

By his desires, Mio and the others fell into the state of being sex slaves for
Basara — and at that fact, “—”

Basara, felt a dark excitement, and his penis became even harder.

“Mm… Fufu, oni chan, don’t hold back… do as you like”

Mio let go of his penis from her mouth, and slowly pulled up her knees.

And then,

“Hey look… Over here too, I’m already like this…?”

She exposed her most embarrassing spot to Basara.

With that, Mio’s most private spot was already flowing with her womanly honey,
desiring Basara’s penis.

It was exactly like — the aphrodisiac effect of the now non-existent master-
servant contract.
So, Basara roused up his body.

“Yes… That’s right, you’re mine now”

Saying that, he pushed Mio down.

“Ahhhh… ♥”

With Basara on top of her, Mio gave a pleasant voice as she felt his weight, and
she spread her legs apart, “It’s okay oni chan… Take me as you like”

Mio, who became a complete sex slave by the master-servant vow, said to
Basara.

“Hey, come here… I’ll help you feel good, oni chan”

Those words — were enough to take all reason from Basara.

“—”

So Toujou Basara, thrust his erection forward with no hesitation into the lewd
hole in front of him.

Like assaulting Mio – with all of the desire that welled up inside him.
 PART 6

After Hasegawa Chisato (Afureia) managed to rescue and protect Basara and the
others.

Shiba had managed to make Kouryuu manifest, and had begun establishing
control over it.

He began synchronizing with Kouryuu.

Therefore in place of Shiba, who was currently tied to Kouryuu in the Tokyo
tower, adjusting the power of the four gods in the area, as well as locating Basara
and the others, was a responsibility that fell upon Balflear.

— The adjustment of the four gods, proceeded without issue.

It was an obvious result, because there was no one to interfere with Shiba.

And even with “Byakko” that was brought by Basara, it was currently still
working with the others of the four gods, and the element of metal needed for
Kouryuu’s manifestation was still being released.

It was the same with Suzaku, Seiryuu and Genbu.

Therefore — with time, Kouryuu will be completed, And Kyouichi-dono will

attain the power to rule over all.

With that, there would be no one who could stop Shiba.

And this wish which they had been going through with for so very long, will
soon come true. Before that, if it was possible, he would like to be able to put to
rest the number one source of their worries. For that reason, Balflear flew all
over the heart of Tokyo within the barrier trying to locate Basara and the others.

Since Kouryuu had already manifested, they should have understood the space
well, and this should have been an easy search but, He wasn’t able to find their
location after all.

As a top class demon skill ed in stealth, as well as being able to use the powers
of the contracted demon Wraith, Balflear is good at sensing the indications of his
surroundings, and hiding himself. However Balflear couldn’t find Basara and the
others location.

The reason for that is without mistake,

…The power of Togami Afureia, huh?

Most likely, she had created a false dimension within this barrier.

It wasn’t just the barrier itself, but even Shiba couldn’t fol ow the path of
Basara’s group’s Ki.

With the reach of Balflear’s senses and magic, it wasn’t just limited but close to
impossible.

— Even so, to further the success rate of getting Kouryuu to manifest, he must
further strengthen the power within the barrier.

Even if it’s a false dimension, it wasn’t possible to prevent it from eventual y

breaking down.

Eventual y, there will be a gap in the space, and seams will start to come apart.
…To further investigate more than this without aim, could perhaps be a risk
instead.

After all, their forces were comprised of only the two of them…

Other than maintaining the four gods, If Balflear was to part away too far from
the center, they had to consider Basara and the others closing in on Shiba.

— That being said, Shiba right now is already much stronger than at the time
Basara and the others escaped.

There’s just a one in a mil ion chance that it may all be too late but… Balflear
was there to prevent that one in a mil ion chance.

That’s why Balflear decided to stop his search for Basara and the others for now
and returned to the central district where Shiba is.

And then on the observation deck of Tokyo Tower – on the edges of the outside
wall, he stood, “—”

Balflear couldn’t help but gulp down,

The power of the manifested Kouryuu far exceeded what they expected.

— It’s way beyond a level that they can even predict.

The current manifestation of Kouryuu is currently at 80%. It’s progressing as

expected.

However, even though it’s just at 80% — Kouryuu is already well beyond
Balfear’s 100%

estimate in terms of its power.

Shiba has the four vessels. And then, the four vessels channel the four gods.

So because of that, the four gods as per Shiba had skewed the calculation but,

“Even so… for it to get all the way here”

With the five elements, it contains the power of all of creation.

As such, with Shiba who manipulates ki, he not only takes the power of Kouryuu
but adds to the power of Kouryuu as well.

In short — they’ve reached an affinity.

With that,

“—Oh, so you’ve returned”

Without noticing it, Shiba was standing behind Balflear.

Surely he had hid his own ki.

However, Balflear as he is now, had gotten used to things like this, and wasn’t
surprised with it.

Shiba’s power — had far exceeded any dimension.

Even so,

“My apologies. In the end I couldn’t find Toujou Basara”

He said, reporting the situation.

“Don’t worry about it. Thanks to you stabilizing the four gods, Kouryuu is
manifesting without issue. That much is more than enough”
Besides, said Shiba.

“What is Basara going to do, what kind of plan he might have, I’ve pretty much
guessed it. I’m sure he’s going hard in thrusting his hips right now”

He said while shrugging his shoulders,

“It’s Afureia after all. Since she threw away her place as Togami, she’s lost all
sorts of her original power. I’m pretty sure she’s exchanged a contract with
Basara”

A sigh.

“Even so — I don’t think he can match up with me right now”

At the moment Shiba said that, a phenomenon took place in the sky proving that
truth .

In the middle and the four directions — the color of each attribute’s light shined,
the power of the 5 elements reached affinity.

And then, Shiba Kyouichi smiled as he watched over the situation.

“We’ll continue on with our plan no matter what. Everything is going as we

anticipated, Just as we wanted”
 PART 7

After using the last remnant of his arousal from tying the vows on Mio.

Toujou Basara moved towards the bathroom and took a shower.

— This space created by Hasegawa, used her apartment as a basepoint.

But it was made to be much larger, and it seemed like the guest room where they
tied the vow was changed up. As such, there were many doors in the guest room
that didn’t actual y exist.

One of those led to a dressing room which then connected through to the
bathroom.

— To be able to tie just one master-servant vow would have been a miracle.

To tie five consecutively in a row was nothing less than incredibly absurd.

So she must’ve thought that Basara might reach a stalemate midway through and
needed to change up the mood, therefore made the space as convenient as
possible. The bathroom was made to be the same as the one in Hasegawa’s
apartment, one Basara had known well and can use freely, and he began to wash
off the sweat he had worked up in bed.

— But he wasn’t with Mio and the others who he had worked up that sweat with.

It had recently become normal to shower with them, and often after getting his
back washed they would abruptly do lewd things in the bath. However, they
never crossed that last line.
However — now that they have crossed that line they protected so, they
wouldn’t be able to hold themselves back. If they were to bathe together surely
would result in acts of desire and wanting for each other.

Therefore, they went in one by one.

— With that, it was natural for Basara to go first.

As they’ve tied the vow to make him the absolute master, everything must
prioritize him.

Besides — Mio and the others were still passed out from their intense
intercourse.

Therefore, leaving them to sleep, Basara went into the bathroom.

With that.

After he finished showering, Basara left the bathroom – and in the changing
room a beautiful woman was there, waiting for him.

“Sensei—”

It was Hasegawa, who had been in a different room while Basara and the others
did the vows –

so that they could immerse themselves in their intercourse,

“Do you need clothes? If so, I could prepare anything with my power, even your
uniform”

Standing in front of him, she was wearing a sheer silk babydoll *.

T/N: The babydoll is usual y shorter than the negligee and is general y sold as a
set with a matching panty.

With the slim design decorated with lace, one could see her sensual breasts that
looked like they could just burst through and the outline of her butt.

— This sensual appearance that didn’t constrain her body at all, surely is her
loungewear.

Having forced herself into the barrier, saving Mio and the others from the blaze,
then saving Basara who was done for at the hands of Shiba, then creating this
space that couldn’t be found by their opponent. It had just been tens of hours, but
in that time having done so much, not even the extraordinary Hasegawa could do
so without breaking a sweat.

But Hasegawa didn’t even look the least bit tired, looking sublime in her beauty,

“In any case… it went faster than planned, but it all went well”

At her, who said the words seductively,

“…Yes, thank you”

As he spoke the words of thanks, Basara looked down at his right hand, his fist
clenched tight.

— He understood that his body now held a power he did not before.

It was the effect of the five vows, and the compatibility of the five elements.

Surely, Mio and the others too had their abilities increased ten fold.

Shiba too would have had an increase in power with Kouryu, but with this, they
can fight.
As Hasegawa said, they managed to tie the vow faster than expected.

— It was because with the exception of Mio, as soon as the vow was completed
the girl passed out.

That’s why although with Mio, they continued their intercourse for the
remaining five hours, with the rest they didn’t do so, ending it as such without
using the remaining time allocated to them.

And then with this remaining time, he could prepare for his strategy against
Shiba.

During their first fight, it was like they were dancing in the palms of Shiba’s
hand, just according to his plan. Even if they increased their strength, if they
didn’t take additional consideration, this time they’d face failure this time as
well.

…But.

They know what Shiba is aiming for now. Of course, Shiba may have a trump
card, and other things he may be aiming for, but even so they must adjust to the
information currently available to them.

Therefore,

“Thank you… Everything is thanks to you, sensei”

Basara expressed his gratitude once more.

“The power all of you attained, is proven by the possibilities you all had
cultivated, and it took form in this way. All I did was teach you about it.”

Hasegawa smiled softly, her expression looking a little sad.

“Naruse and the others who were held by you, they all seem so happy. I am
envious of that. If possible I too… I can’t help but to think that,”

Expressing her feelings on having seen them complete the vow from start to
finish,

“But if you hold me then it may unbalance the power within you again… You
may lose your ability to use Banishing Shift again, and we cannot entirely avoid
destroying the balance of the elements Naruse and the others had built with you.
You have to win against that man Shiba after all. But—”

Saying that, she gently cusped his cheeks with her hands.

“Even so… Please, allow this much”

She planted a kiss on him — Basara felt a warm, soft sensation against his lips.

— Toujou Basara knows how much Hasegawa feels for him.

So Basara put his arms around her waist, and held her close like that.

And at that, she,

“Aah… mm, chuu… haah, nmuu… Chupu… licks, nchuu… ♥”

From her closed eyelids, tears flowed down as she put her arms around his
shoulders and embraced him back, and she entangled her tongue lewdly with
Basara’s.

— It’s a kiss of promise between two who hold the same feelings.

They may not be allowed to go further than this for now.

But even so Toujou Basara will hold Hasegawa Chisato — he will take
everything and tie the master-servant vow with her.

They vowed to that certain future.

 CHAPTER 1:
THE STAR OF HOPE ONTO THIS EARTH
 PART 1

Only an hour remained before Kouryuu would finally manifest fully and emerge
in its completed form.

And at the summit of the Tokyo Tower was none other than Shiba Kyouichi,
overseeing the process beside it.

It was then that a dazzling light pierced the sky within the enclosed space; it
shone with the splendour akin to that of an enormous shooting star.

“So it’s finally arrived.” Shiba muttered, smiling as he gazed at the sky,
understanding what the appearance of the light meant. And the moment the light
rose above the Tokyo Tower, it split into five fragments.

Their trajectories divided the space of the barrier into five equal sections;
following that, each of the divided fragments began to take on a different color
of their own.

Red, white, blue, yellow and black — the colors of the Five Elements.

However, the trajectories of the lines that had split from the meteor and divided
the space they now traveled in had formed a different shape over Shiba’s existing
elemental space.

It did not appear to establish itself in the middle; instead, it equally divided itself
into five with Tokyo Tower as its center.
And the moment the scattered fragments of the shooting star crashed into the
ground, light of five individual colors and sped across the earth and sped toward
their respective diagonal locations.

And the moment that Shiba — who now stood at the highest point of Tokyo
Tower — caught sight of the massive pentagram,

“The Solomon’s seal, huh…as expected, that’s the game they’re playing.” Shiba
uttered, deducing the purpose of the meteor that had approached them — it was
the plan that Basara’s group had devised.

“Basara’s band of five girls will respectively assume each element — there’s
Naruse Mio, her demon follower, Maria, her maid, Zest, in addition to the sisters
from the Hero Clan, Yuki and Kurumi. I suppose that’s the gist of it?”

It was Balflear, floating next to Shiba, who spoke next.

Solomon’s Seal.

It was something utilized by famous onmyoji* (exorcists) back in the Heian Era
of Japan — Seimeikikyo, as they called it —and a different variation of the
utilization of the five elements as a foundation that did not share the same
emphasis on the bearing and direction like what Shiba had in his arsenal.

It was something that utilized the yinyang philosophy of the five elements,
emphasizing on their compatibility and incompatibility in order to maximize
their power.

In contrast to Shiba’s repertoire of the Four Gods and Georgius, Basara’s group
instead had Mio’s group of five girls, each representing one of the Five
Elements, being Wood, Fire, Water, Metal and Earth.

“Their goal is to construct a new, enormous space made from Solomon’s Seal, I
see…Afureia’s space is meant to hide them from us, whereas this new barrier
intends to alleviate the risk to the normal space outside when we release our own
barrier and possibly let the Four Gods run out of control, is it?”

It wasn’t a bad plan; it was perhaps better to say that it was their only plan.

Such was why the plan Basara and the others had decided to take was one that
Shiba had already accounted for.

It was to be expected; Basara and the others had no mere intention of simply
stopping Shiba’s goals.

They needed to protect the world from Shiba, who intended to bring the Hero
Clan to ruin.

Failure to protect Tokyo and its vicinity would be no different from them being
utterly defeated.

…Basara had yet to reveal any sign of his presence for that very reason.

Being unable to guarantee the safety of the exterior vicinity, Basara had surely
deduced that facing Shiba head on would be too grave of a risk; there was no
doubt that Basara himself had stayed behind in the special space Afureia had
made.

It was likely that Basara would only reveal himself again after Mio and the
others would complete the construction of the Solomon’s Seal; nevertheless,
there was a flaw in the strategy Basara’s group had devised.

“Intending to overlap an existing and established iteration of the Five Elements

with another…such a reckless act of imitation without a considerable amount of
strength would be impossible.”
As Balflear pointed that out, Shiba replied:

“Well, it’s not like the circumstances at hand would allow the convenience of
Basara and the others to devise a more effective solution…considering the scope
of our power and the fiveelemental barrier we have, anyway.”

And knowing that—

“I can see him at this very moment, still in Afureia’s imaginary dimensional
space making preparations to increase their chances of victory, however little,
even now…”

Shiba could feel everything, even from the range of his isolated vicinity.

The aura released by Mio and the others, now scattered across the land, had
elevated by leaps and bounds since their battle against the Four Gods.

Surely the scale of their development could not be described as them simply
being changed people; no, it was growth on a completely different level.

He could only imagine what Basara’s group of girls had done to obtain such
newfound power.

—As well as what Basara had been willing to give up on, how far he was willing
to sacrifice for them.

And while he did find the efforts of Basara and his group to be commendable—

“However…I, too, have risen to a new level of power.” Shiba smiled as he gazed
at Kouryuu above him, nearly completing its manifestation; it was then that
Kouryuu would transform and assume its second and final form as the divine
dragon.
Moreover, Kouryuu was not the only thing that had grown stronger.

Shiba, now synchronized with Kouryuu, had now accumulated almost an infinite
amount of Ki by virtue of the compatibility five elements within him; his
increase in power far exceeded that of Mio’s group even if the latter had
successfully defeated the Four Gods, that now manifested themselves in their
sacred treasure forms.

“You’re not the only ones who’ve managed to buy their own time and get some
newfound strength for yourselves.” Shiba muttered, as he oversaw the ground
beneath him. His mind wandered to the thought of the Holy King of the Vatican,
who had foolishly thought that he had Shiba in his control.

“If you can’t keep that in mind…pray you don’t walk down the same path that
old fool Albareos did.”
 PART 2

Basara and the others had planned to construct their magical barrier from
Solomon’s Seal by instilling their respective elements into the earth and letting
them take root.

Amidst such an occurrence, a certain young woman, now representative of the

Metal element, descended upon the Edo River in the East.

It was none other than Nonaka Yuki, the spirit sword Sakuya in her hand.

“………”

Yuki’s first course of action was to scan the surrounding area for any adversaries.

Much like the instance where she had defeated the manifested Seiryuu, there
seemed to be no sign of any enemy by the riverbank.

Yuki could not propel the magical power of the Wood Element immediately,
however; it was necessary for her to do something else beforehand.

In order to dispel Shiba’s fiveelemental barrier, they needed to suppress the

Sacred treasures that were the source of the power that maintained it; Yuki,
assuming the Metal Element, had thus arrived to suppress the spirit sword
Seiryuu, possessing the Wood element, situated in the east.

It wouldn’t be enough for them to simply overlap their barrier with the one Shiba
had constructed. By virtue of the Master-Servant Vow, the group had increased
their power in such an incomparable way that they never thought possible;
although Yuki had only narrowly defeated Seiryuu in its manifested state in their
previous skirmish, it was now possible for Yuki to be able to overwhelm it in her
current state.

However, even with the newfound power Yuki and the others had attained, there
was no denying that Shiba’s continuous possession of the fiveelemental
compatibility only meant that his power would continue to grow; if they did not
suppress it, the barrier made from the Solomon’s Seal would collapse should
Shiba allow the Four Gods to run wild.

Yuki had immediately discovered Seiryuu in its sacred beast form the first time
she had arrived here in this eastern district and subsequently battled against it.

As such, Yuki now moved toward the west, currently in search of the member of
the Four Gods she was to defeat—Seiryuu—away from the Edo River that gave
the weapon a positional advantage.

During the strategic discussion that took place before the group had left
Hasegawa’s enclosed space, they learned that Kurumi and Zest had come face to
face with two sacred treasures—the sacred sword, Suzaku and the sacred baton,
Genbu respectively—and had fought the manifested sacred beasts before they
could pinpoint the weapons’ actual location. Only the location of Byakko, which
Basara had been forced to surrender to Balflear, was known; it was situated in
one of the baseball fields of Kinuta Park, replacing the copy of Byakko that
Shiba and Balflear had initially used, Georgius.

And according to Basara…

The exit leading to the western district was connected to Kinuta park where the
copy of Byakko once stood.
Considering the necessity of the balance between the five elements, the other
members of the Four Gods scattered across their respective districts should be
situated nearby the space of that exit.

That means…

Seiryuu was nearby Yuki herself.

The eastern district, however, was giving off the signs of energy stemming from
the Wood Element of Seiryuu; moreover, it appeared as if Shiba and his group
had tinkered with things somewhat…or perhaps it wasn’t just the fiveelemental
barrier that he’d constructed that was feeding the power for Kouryuu to
manifest, but the Four Gods and Shiba himself, as well that resulted in Yuki
being unable to pinpoint the actual location of Seiryuu.

She wasn’t helpless in this case, though.

“Sakuya…guide me.” Calling her spirit sword, she implored it to find the
location of Seiryuu; Sakuya should be capable of detecting the waves of Seiryuu,
both weapons being of the Wood element.

“ ———”

A moment passed before Sakuya directed Yuki to the southwest—a patch of

greenland at the junction between the Edo River and the old Edo River.

The place was known as Shinozaki Town, situated near the Shinozaki flood gate.

“ ———”

As Yuki turned toward the direction Sakuya had given her, she could see
something familiar atop one of the trunks of the many trees that made the forest
situated at the cusp of the triangular scope of greenland;
it was the blue spirit sword, as she narrowed her eyes upon catching sight of it.

From the angle where Yuki was at, it was located at the opposite bank of the Old
Edo River; a river that had a minimum of a hundred-meter long width even at its
narrowest portions.

One would usually need to take a western detour towards the flood gate, whereas
the brave could best the river by swimming across it.

Yuki could now run along the water’s surface in her current state, though.

“ ———!”

Yuki slashed Sakuya vertically downward, toward the river’s surface.

As the blade glinted at the motion, it only cut through thin air; however, with the
slashing motion came a stream with sakura petals that formed a path along the
surface of the Old Edo River.

Yuki could now tread along the path of sakura petals across the Old Edo River.

And at that moment—

“ ———”

There was a shrill neighing, before a sudden tornado that whipped up a storm of
leaves horizontally lashed at her.

“——…!”

Yuki quickly leapt backwards to dodge the assault, thereupon which the blizzard
of leaves continued on toward where Yuki once stood, blowing away the path of
sakura petals that would lead her to Seiryuu.
Landing upon the riverbank, she quickly turned to the direction of which the
swirling storm of leaves had come from.

“…………”

To which she could see a silent, blue-colored beast now stood in her way
upstream, floating upon the water.

It was far smaller than the manifested Seiryuu in size, only comparable to that of
a well bred horse.

The aura it released wasn’t quite as comparable as Seiryuu’s, however; the

pressure it released could be said to be even higher than that of Kouryuu’s when
it had fired its elemental attack at them when Yuki had come to the central
district to aid Basara in his battle against Shiba.

Nonaka Yuki deepened her expression, knowing what exactly that creature
before her was.

“A blue Qilin…if I remember correctly, that’s—”

It was called Shoko.

Apart from Kouryuu, there was another divine beast that governed the central
district of the Five Elements—the leader of the Four Gods, Qilin.

Much like Kouryuu that represented the Earth Element and was assigned to
protect the central vicinity, Qilin possessed four other individual existences
representing the four other elements apart from Earth;

Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood.

Of the Fire Element, the crimson being Enku.

Of the Water Element, the black being Kakutan.

Of the Metal Element, the white being Sakumei.

And last but not least—

The blue being, representing Wood, and the first that caught Yuki’s gaze—
Shoko.

…But why?

Kouryuu and Qilin were supposed to be one being, leading the Four Gods.

It was unnatural for even Qilin to surface even whilst the manifestation of the
Kouryuu continued to progress.

Could it be that Kouryuu, now strengthening itself to its limit in the central
district, currently also possessed the secondary ability to summon Qilin and its
four other elemental counterparts?

…It was the best and worst explanation she could think of.

Shiba had chosen the central district to materialize Kouryuu because Qilin were
naturally docile and disliked fighting; that said, however, it would be wrong to
assume that the Qilin were weak.

It was quite the opposite, actually; it wouldn’t share the same role of being the
leader of the Four Gods with Kouryuu otherwise.

It was a sacred beast that had been assigned to protect Shiba and Kouryuu—and
now Seiryuu.

And if Shoko had come here…

Yuki was sure that the other forms of Qilin had also appeared were the others
were at, as well; in addition, their already formidable power would only increase
given that their elements were similar to that of the Four Gods, also members of
the Five Elements, as they scattered across each individual district.

Now Qilin were to face off against the group of girls, who had performed the
MasterServant vow with Basara and possessed the advantage of the
incompatibility between their elements.

“…………”

Yuki silently compared her own strength with that of Shoko.

Their strength seemed to be even—if slightly disadvantaged on Yuki’s end. Even

then—

“Not that I mind. It’s not like I expected this whole process to run smoothly from
the start, anyway.”

With Yuki’s dauntless declaration, she wielded her spirit sword Sakuya firmly in
hand, stepping forward.

The Qilin were tranquil beasts that did not enjoy disputes.

It was likely that she would not be attacked so long as she kept her distance.

On the other hand, however, Qilin would not move as well.

It would not move as she moved like Seiryuu did in her previous battle, deterring
her from changing their battleground.

That said, Shoko would only continue to increase the power of its Wood Element
through the synergy of using the water from the Edo River.
There was no time to hesitate.

There was not a moment’s time to waste before Kouryuu would fully develop
into its true form.

And thus—

“Don’t stand in the way. Neither ours, nor Basara’s!”

With a scream, Nonaka Yuki strode forward as she unsheathed Sakuya,

approaching the enemy that stood in her way—Shoko.
 PART 3

As Yuki had presumed, the other Qilin had appeared before the other girls.

Mio was pit against the white being Sakumei in the west; Kurumi against the red
being Enku in the south;

and then there was the black being Kakutan, pit against Zest in the north.

The Qilin had arrived to disrupt their attempt in constructing Solomon’s Seal.

However, one of the girls had been spared from the sudden appearance of the
Qilin.

It was Maria, representative of the Wood element, who had gone to the
northeast, between the north representing Water and the east representing Metal,
to play her part in constructing Solomon’s Seal.

Shiba’s fivefold barrier utilized bearings as a foundation for its construction.

As such, Shiba could not summon Qilin representing the Earth element to attack
them, as it was bound to the central district.

As such, this area was different from the others in that there was no member of
the Four Gods they needed to incapacitate before constructing their barrier— it
was supposed to be the less burdensome district to take over.

However—

“………!”
Naruse Maria was pit against a situation as bad if not worse than that of the other
girls in their respective districts.

The spot where she descended upon with intent to pour her magical power into
its surface was situated northwest of Tokyo, where a generous patch of green and
blue spread across its vicinity—the metropolitan Shakujii park.

The space Maria was now in, empty of traces of either the Qilin or the Four
Gods, was about to become a vicious battlefield; if one were to wonder why, it
was because the high ranking Demon that Maria had already fought in the same
park once in the past had appeared again.

“The fiveelemental compatibility of Solomon’s Seal is achieved with the Wood

Element as its center, eh?”

Balflear’s voice came from all directions—it was hard for her to pinpoint his
exact location, and even then, it wasn’t simply because he’d used his invisibility
magic.

She was now surrounded by an innumerable amount of enemies—the Demonic

Legion, high ranking Demons that were contracted to Balflear, and of which
Balflear had summoned during their previous battle in Shakujii park.

The individual strength of each Legion wasn’t particularly threatening during

their first skirmish, and Maria had been capable of handling them as a result.
However, the Legion before her now possessed significantly enhanced speed,
strength and other basic combat abilities, and were even capable of working
together if need be.

This excluded the fact that Balflear had assumed the important of role of sending
Georgius—then the copy of Byakko—to Shiba back then.
Could it be that he had been holding back during their first battle? Maria
thought.

“As long as I get rid of you, your plan is ruined!” Balflear let out a derisive
laugh, and then—

“ ———” “ ———” “ ———” “ ———” “ ———”

The Legion charged at her in numbers.

“Sure, you may be right—say that only after you’ve bested me, though!” Maria
repeated the same maneuver she used before to blast away the numerous Legion
channeling magic power in her fists, she punched the ground, producing radial
shock waves to knock them aside.

Solomon’s Seal could only be constructed after all five elements had been
instilled into the earth; Maria simultaneously prepared for that process as she
attacked the swarm of Legion.

If she were to continue to attack in such a manner though, it would be

problematic in that the Legion would simply attack from above if Maria were to
sink the ground beneath her with her repetitive attacks. The park’s ground had
fewer and fewer space through the littered holes she had made both above and
below, and it would be difficult for her to dodge them.

As such, Maria never stood in one spot, continuously moving as she continued to
smash the earth; such consecutive crushing force left the park’s ground filled
with massive craters, as if its surface was decimated by a meteor shower.

Maria bore no grudge against Shakujii Park; she didn’t exactly enjoy her act of
destroying the recreational location, but the entirety of Tokyo was under grave
danger at present. The park would return to its previous undamaged state after
the barrier would be dispelled, after all.

And so Maria continued her onslaught of attacks against the Legion, all the
while driving the magical energy needed for the construction of Solomon’s Seal
into the ground; she appeared to be successful thus far.

…However, she could not show even the slightest opening.

There was still so much that was unknown about the demonic Legion; there was
also the fact defeating the Legion alone would not allow her to set the Wood
Element in this northwestern district freely—she needed to defeat Balflear, who
was in control of the Legion himself.

And so in the Kinuta Park, Maria remained preoccupied with the unrelenting and
unceasing horde of the Legion, being unable to fight against Balflear directly.

Her opponent was a high ranking Demon with the power to make contracts with
other demonic beings on his own; he was undoubtedly her most difficult
opponent yet. That said, more than her simultaneous tasks of instilling her
elemental power and fending off the Legion, her attention was instead focused
on detecting any sign of Balflear, undoubtedly waiting in the wings for a
moment to strike Maria.

The Legion was a doubleedged sword, however; as much as it provided cover

for Balflear by covering the surrounding view and making it difficult for Maria
to detect him, Balflear also knew that the massive size of the Legion also meant
that they were walls surrounding Maria herself, making it difficult for him to go
on the offensive as well.

Additionally, the shock waves that Maria repetitively sent out toward her
surroundings meant that it would be even more difficult for Balflear to get close.
And although her shock waves, powerful enough to fend off the Legion, meant
that the amount of energy she instilled into the earth was lesser than usual due to
how the process were more distributed—

Maria had already used her fists to drive the power of the Earth Element into the
ground almost hundredfold; quantity could compensate for quality, and if she
kept this up, it would only take a few minutes to instill the elemental energy
needed on her end to construct Solomon’s Seal.

Balflear would definitely act before that would happen. And should it happen…

She would unlock the seal on her powers with the Magic Key if the
circumstances deemed it necessary.

And at that point, a single punch was all that was necessary for her to supply the
necessary energy needed for the Solomon’s Seal.

The key to this battle was opportunity.

“…………………”

It was at the most crucial point—and as Maria nervously continued to bring

punch after punch toward the ground, the energy within it nearing its required
capacity—

“………………!?”

A sudden occurrence caused Maria to draw a breath; a magic circle had suddenly
appeared in the ground before she could continue punching it.

…Damn it!
It was likely that this was no ordinary magic circle; she wouldn’t take the bait by
punching it. But she couldn’t stop, either—the Legion wasn’t going to stop any
time soon.

At the same time, Maria couldn’t stay in the air, as well; exposing herself
without cover in the air against Balflear would likely result in her being dead
meat given the latter’s access to invisibility.

She also didn’t have enough time to unleash her trump card—releasing the seal
with the Magic Key.

If that’s the case…!

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

With a resolute shriek, Maria unleashed her fists, now imbued with the crimson
mark of gravitational magic.

During her exchange of the MasterServant Vow with Basara, she had come to
the realization of the identity of her birth father.

The power she was releasing right now belonged to him—to Wilbert.

She restricted such unleashed power to only half of its full value, however;
unleashing such power fully would result in faintness and dizziness, but 50% of
that power was more than enough for the task at hand.

Even if the magic circle before her was a reactive trap, it was possible for her to
suppress with a gravitational force of a perpendicular direction.

Maria swung her right fist, clad in the surge of crimson energy, toward the magic
circle—and as the blast of the gravitational wave shattered the magic circle
before her,
“—Welcome.”

The next moment, however, Maria could hear Balflear’s voice call out close to
her.

And he was in the air.

“————!?”

The crimson gravitational wave that Maria had cast had begun to spread across
the earth at that moment.

“That magic circle I cast was made from Reis’ power—another member of the
Legion I contracted with.”

Balflear was now standing beside Maria, who was now shocked over the sudden
occurrence, in midair.

“And these two magic circles are connected to another dimension.”

Balflear had finished his preparations for his attack formation at that moment.
He opened his right hand toward Maria as dark aura swirled around it; in his
palm was massive, tenlayered magic circle.

“Good reflexes—not good enough, though.”

“!…Damn it!”

A massive fist lunged at her from the side, obscuring her view—Maria
vigorously flapped her wings in an attempt to dodge the attack, but there was
nowhere to run.

She could only take it head on—

“Howl, Loki.”

Before the impact could occur, however, a black shock wave came from above
following a familiar, composed murmur, devouring the gigantic horde of Legion
that were approaching Maria in one strike; the intense pressure of the flow of
magic from the attack spared no trace of the Legion that Balflear had summoned.

And as Maria turned to the direction where the shock wave had come from—

“But you’re—”

“…But why are you here?”

Her voice came out roughly the same time Balflear’s question did—and the two
combatants gazed at the sky, where a lone young man stood.

It was the current young Demon Lord, wielding his dark magic sword in his
hand—Leohart.
 PART 4

“What’s the matter…is it such a surprise that we would come to this place
personally?” The current Demon Lord, Leohart, addressed Maria and Balflear,
both of whom had yet to fully digest the situation.

He addressed himself with “we”; it meant that he was not the only one that had
come here.

And as if to affirm his words, someone else showed himself, his entrance one
that appeared as if he destroyed the empty space next to Leohart.

It was the current representative of both the current Demon Lord faction and the
Moderate Faction, a certain young man who had been entrusted with monitoring
the growth of Toujou Basara.

It was Lars—but he currently did not assume his demonic form, instead taking
the form of a certain human being known as Takigawa Yahiro.

“Man, this space really is something else, isn’t it…and it’s in the human world
too, so it wouldn’t have been exactly easy for even Demons like us to enter at
will in the first place.”

However—

“Nevertheless, we stand before you now. So take a guess why the impossible has
become the possible, won’t you?” Lars said.
“I see…Sheiladono, is it?” Balflear immediately came to the conclusion that it
was the work of a certain person, mentioning her name.

“My mother did…?” Maria asked, still confused.

“That’s right.” Lars nodded. “There are other ways to travel between the Demon
Realm and the human world apart from the dimensional boundaries. Your
mother had secretly put an insurance on you.”

Leohart then explained what said insurance was.

“Sheiladono, once esteemed as the most powerful succubus in the Demon

Realm, used her power to construct a dimensional tunnel. For the sake of the
inevitable, Sheiladono had created a link that was directly connected to her upon
you—her daughter.”

“Because of the higher dimensional isolation of this space compared to the

human world and the Demon Realm, though, the link connected to you severed
and the coordinates of our exit ended up being slightly off.” Lars said, “In the
end, though, we’ve managed to get in and in the nick of time, too, so all’s well
that ends well, I guess.”

“Could it be that…my mom anticipated this would happen after the final battle
between the current Demon Lord faction and the Moderate Faction?”

“No. Your mother had placed the insurance on you before you had come over to
Rendval Castle to battle the current Demon Lord Faction, so that she could head
to you at any time.” Leohart explained to Maria, who remained in disbelief,
“However… your mother had many opportunities to eliminate the link. And with
the Cardinal Sins no more, few if not no one in the Demon Realm have the
capability to match Toujou Basara and his group who had bested us, much less
go against them.”
And yet—

“On the contrary, if your group were to be in danger once again, your enemies
which threatened such danger would be those of which we need to prepare for
with all that we have, as well. Sheiladono had preserved the link in preparation
for that. It was a wise decision. They don’t compare her with Wilbert, famed as
the strongest of the Demon Lords, without reason.”

“And yet you’ve interfered with our affairs despite asking the Hero Clan to deem
Basara and his group sanctuary…you’ve made quite the thoughtless choice in
that regard, haven’t you?” Balflear, who had remained silent throughout their
explanation, suddenly spoke up. “Don’t you think that making such a rash
decision during such a crucial period where the two factions just started working
together would risk the future you and Lialasama fought so much for?”

“Tell me about it. You’d think he’d actually listen to me for once in this case.”
Lars’ gaze turned to Leohart, a wry smile on his face as he said so.

“It’s true that there’s a risk like that, yes,” Leohart did not deny the possibility
than Balflear had suggested. “However, Balflear…no matter how you look at it,
you’re still my subordinate—someone supposed to be under my command. If I
were to turn a blind eye as master to your involvement as my subordinate in all
this, it’d become a good excuse for the rebel forces to attack us nonetheless. I
decided to settle this discreetly before the news would spread.”

“So you’ve come to settle the matter yourself?”

“A master is responsible for the failures of his underlings. I’ve left the Demon
Realm in the care of the Eight Generals.” And even then—

“My sister, too, wishes for me to work together with Ramusasdono to maintain
the alliance between the two factions.”
“Lialasama did…?” Balflear raised a brow.

“And you’d think he’d actually listen to me for once in this case.” His tone
riddled with resignation, Lars repeated his former statement down to each exact
word. He then turned to Maria and prompted her: “That said, Leohart’s going to
keep that guy busy. Rather than dumbfoundedly standing around here, you might
as well hurry up and do something about that barrier.”

“…I understand. I’ll leave him to the both of you, then.” Deciding that she
would trust them, she descended to the earth’s surface and began to channel the
power of the Earth element necessary to construct Solomon’s Seal.

“Let’s see…I guess I’ll just sit back and watch, then.” Lars crossed his arms
behind his head, satisfied that he had finished his work.

“Lars. Do something about that.” Leohart pointed at the scene he was looking at.

It was the sight of the golden dragon coiled around the scarlet Tokyo Tower.

“Hey, hey, don’t take your jokes too far. I’m not about to go and bite off more
than I can chew.” Lars said.

“—Remember: your report spoke of another worrisome enemy.”

Leohart was aware of the existence of the man they called Shiba Kyouichi.

However, Basara’s chances of victory against him up until now were rather slim
according to Lars’ report.

Of course, it was not a fact that was exclusively decided by their combat
strength; Basara had always managed to pull through many deadly battles
against many foes far stronger than him, Leohart himself included. However,
even if Basara had bested many others in battle, the fact remained that Lars
himself had estimated that Basara’s chances against this particular opponent
were quite low—and Leohart never once doubted Lars’ judgment, knowing that
he was second to none in determining the gravity of a given situation, and thus
could not be mistaken in what he had proposed in his report.

“It would be too difficult for Toujou Basara to fight against someone like that
while having to keep that thing busy. Go and give him a hand.”

“Easier said than done. I am not going to entertain that decasized dragon all on
my own. Where’s your concern about my issues, huh?”

“…I ask this important favor of you. You should know that my older sister’s
busy with continuing negotiations with the Moderate Faction right about now.”

Leohart told him of a single truth. And then—

“Hmm? Ahh, yeah, that’s actually a pain in the ass, no doubt about that…” Lars
understood what Leohart was getting at, “But if both Toujou Basara and Naruse
Mio become goners for whatever reason, our alliance with the Moderate Faction
is toast, isn’t it? All your sister’s hard work is going to go to waste there.”

“And if my sister were to discover that such a scenario had occurred as a result
of your negligence…” There was a pause, before Leohart spoke again. “I wonder
what she would think.”

‘Wha…!…Damn it, no fair. What kind of threat is that?”

Understanding what Leohart’s words entailed, Lars spewed out some derogatory
language at him before disappearing. He wasn’t running away—he had simply
gone to carry out what he was supposed to do.

And now it was Leohart’s turn to carry out his duties.

“I don’t intend to waste too much time. Let’s settle this.” Leohart said,
brandishing Loki.

“Do you think you can turn the tables simply by adding two more people into
this fight?” Balflear laughed scornfully.

“Think before you speak. Didn’t you hear me earlier?” A smile appeared on
Leohart’s face as he addressed his former subordinate.

“I’ve already explained myself—I can entrust my absence in the Demon Realm
to the Eight Generals.”
 PART 5

Lars wasn’t the only one that the current Demon Lord Leohart that brought along
with him—he’d also invited his eight trusted Demon Generals to join him.

They had all arrived from the Demon Realm fight alongside Toujou Basara and
his group as allies.

Leohart and Balflear were now face to face with each other.

One of the aforementioned allies had now appeared in the south, where Nonaka
Kurumi was now caught in an aerial skirmish.

The blade of the spirit sword Suzaku had driven itself through the Kawasaki
thermal power station.

The Tokyo bay within the space of the barrier had been washed up dry due to the
power of Suzaku and Enku.

And despite knowing that, Kurumi had nevertheless endured despite her
disadvantage against the superheated crimson Qilin that stood above Suzaku —
Enku—with the open sky of the Tokyo bay as their battlefield.

“…! But why are you…!?” Kurumi exclaimed in surprise, presently caught in a
grave battle where she lacked the ability to attack due to her inability to utilize
her water controlling abilities. Someone had suddenly forced their way into the
battle —a demon that appeared as imposing as a rock.
It was one of the high ranking Demons Basara had sparred against in the Demon
Realm — the colossal Demon that had appeared during the siege of the
Moderate Faction headquarters, Wildart Castle, alongside the Heroic Spirits.

“You misunderstand, young maiden of the Hero Clan — I come here not as your
enemy.” The gigantic high ranking Demon — Gald — muttered in a low voice,
his gaze fixated on Enku.

“ ———”

The crimson Qilin immediately deduced Gald as an enemy — and reflexively

unleashed a massive, flaming sphere at him. The spherical clump of flames, akin
to that of a small sun, then took the form of a phoenix before lunging at Gald,
burning the surrounding air in its wake.

“Impressive…even without proper summoning, it is still capable of forming

such powerful beasts out of the flames.”

“Wait, what are you — …!”

She wanted to prompt the Demon to run when he merely stood there appraising
the enemy even as the flaming avian was inches away from crashing into them
— but then she remembered something.

She remembered the power that Gald had utilized while attacking Wildart Castle.

And she witnessed it before her very eyes once again; Gald calmly raised his
right hand as the flaming phoenix crashed into his palm—and the ensuing impact
did not cause an explosion, but an absorption.

The phoenix that Enku had spewed out had been absorbed into Gald’s body.

“ ———?”
The sudden situation appeared to have troubled Enku.

Gald’s body suddenly doubled in size at that moment—and with it a pair of

massive wings and a tail sprouted from his body, his strong arms pulsating as if
magma ran through their veins.

“A pity…you may fashion yourself a sacred beast, and yet as powerful as you
are…” Gald’s body roared with devilish flames as he said so, “Attacks of the
Fire element will not scathe me.”

And then —

“Hear me, young maiden of the Hero Clan…I am briefly informed of the
circumstances as per Lars’

report.”

“Lars’…”

“…How can I trust you?”

“So long as the pact between the Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction
holds, we have no reason to be your adversaries.” Gald replied to Kurumi, who
now stood behind him as he temporarily relieved himself from squaring off
against Enku.

“However, my sister and I are…”

Takigawa’s secret letter had not included the terms of the Demon Realm aiding
members who had been deemed sanctuary; moreover, their act of aiding them
now would be unfavourable for Gald and the current Demon Lord Faction.

Even so —
“No matter. I am aware of how you and your sister have since left the Hero Clan
through Lars’ report as well. That is why Leohart and Ramusasdono have
decided to deem you and the others sanctuary just as they have done Toujou
Basara and Naruse Mio. The Village and the Vatican of your home clan have
already been notified the moment you entered this space.”

“But how…and so swiftly too…” Kurumi raised her voice in surprise, evidently
taken aback. “Don’t tell me they’ve already prepared for this from the very
beginning…?”

When exactly had everything been arranged for Kurumi and Yuki to be placed
under sanctuary and for them to be aided?

“My apologies, but that it something that does not concern me…we have simply
arrived to provide our support against the man called Shiba and to stop Balflear,
who once served in our military.”

“ ‘We’?” And the moment Kurumi asked out of the suspicion of how Gald had
always implied that he had not come alone , a conspicuous, massive roaring
sound resounded from afar.

“That’s…”

Knowing that the sounds of battle across the other regions could be heard since a
moment ago, Kurumi, kept aloft in the sky of the Tokyo bay through flying
magic, turned toward and surveyed the Tokyo Tower that was situated in the
center.

That was when she could see it—before they’d even realized it, giants of a
height comparable to the height of towering skyscrapers had appeared in the
northern area.
 PART 6

What Kurumi saw next wasn’t the massive Legion that Balflear had summoned.

Elsewhere, Zest, responsible for the Earth Element, was now fighting against the
black Qilin, Kakutan, in the northern district; however, she was not fighting with
the golems she would summon from her magic.

Although her golems were no slouch themselves in terms of speed, Kakutan was
far faster than Genbu, and so her golems would not be able to land a solid hit.

As such, Zest could only manage to attack with her Earth magic, and Kakutan,
perhaps realizing her intentions, manipulated the flow of water from the Shakujii
water that flowed into the southern region of the JCSDF Camp Jyujou grounds,
the moisture in the air, and the water from the water pipes underground.

It surrounded itself with powerful walls of water, protecting itself from Zest’s
attacks of the Earth element while attempting to slowly whittle her down with its
own.

At the same time, Zest’s Earth magic possessed incompatibility against

Kakutan’s Water Element, allowing her to block Kakutan’s attacks. Even if water
could weaken the earth, it could not completely destroy it; as such, Zest utilized
every single ounce of soil she could use from the ground and the surrounding
buildings that made up the JGSDF Camp Jyujou.

Both sides possessed equally formidable defenses, but Zest herself lacked an
effective means of attack, leaving the battle in a stalemate.
—However, the longer the battle progressed, the closer Kouryuu would reach its
full manifestation;

something that would increase Shiba’s power significantly and reduce their
chances of victory along with it.

The sacred baton, Genbu, the source of the Water Element that flowed in the
vicinity, was now stuck atop the highest point of the metal communications
tower; Zest needed to suppress Genbu’s power and subsequently cast magic of
the Earth Magic onto the earth’s surface.

And as Zest prepared herself to attack Kakutan with such conviction—

A massive magic circle suddenly expanded in the heliport testing grounds of the
JGSDF Camp Jyujou.

Following that, a hulking giant towering far above the communications tower
appeared in the middle of the magic circle.

“That’s…” Zest muttered as she descended atop the roof of the auditorium,
gazing toward the giant that she had seen somewhere before. She had directly
faced such a giant herself during the battle of Wildart Castle—it was Mio’s
opponent during the battle between Rendval and the Current Demon Lord
Faction.

It was a Heroic Spirit—however, the one that now appeared in the JGSDF Camp
Jyujou looked different from the one she had seen before.

Runes of an ancient language surrounded its massive body, letting off a magical
shine.

“It’s chanting magic? No, wait, that’s…”

“Ah, thank goodness…it seems you’re alright.”

As Zest tried to guess what the Heroic Spirit was activating, a certain young man
who stood on the Heroic Spirit’s shoulder let out a relieved sigh and addressed
Zest as he noticed her.

She was familiar with this rather adorable looking young man; he was one of the
few people who had fought alongside Leohart with Heroic Spirits during the
battle between the two factions in the Demon Realm—Luka.

After the battle that had taken place in Rendval, rumor had it that he did not opt
to join Leohart’s newly established demon council, instead choosing to take the
path of a researcher in the academy.

“What brings you here?”

“An order made from the decision between the alliance between the Current
Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction.” Lars replied to Zest, looking
somewhat bitter. “Our aim is to capture Balflear, who’s gotten himself involved
in all this. The alliance has deemed you sanctuary, and we were ordered to
intervene to protect you from harm.”

After all—

“If anything were to happen to the sanctuary of the two main powers of the
Demon Realm, I’m afraid the conflict that would ensue would not concern the
Hero Clan alone…it would also destroy the peace between the Current Demon
Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction that cost so much to establish. None of
us want that to happen.”

“…So that’s how it is.” Zest muttered in agreement.

—It was likely that Luka had only told her of the official statement.
Balflear, now a traitor of the Demon Realm for treason due to his affiliation with
Shiba, was now a target that the Current Demon Lord Faction needed to cut all
ties with by all means; however, the faction seemed to have intentionally
maintained his affiliation with them as a reason to come here and provide Basara
and the others their aid.

Even so, she’d probably misunderstand it even more if she asked any further
details; besides, there another important question she needed to ask.

“How did you enter this space?”

“Through the dimensional tunnel Sheiladono made. I think the tunnel was
supposed to connect her to her daughter, Mariachan, but due to hindrances
between this space and the space outside, their connection was severed soon
after we entered this space…so we didn’t exactly end up landing at the right
spot.”

“…I see.”

She presumed that the direct connection between Maria and Sheila had been
broken when they were hiding in Hasegawa’s imaginary dimensional space; it
was such an elaborate construct that even Shiba, who easily detect the ki of
others, could not manage to find them. It was thus no surprise that the the barrier
she made had severed their connection, no matter how perfect the dimensional
tunnel Shera constructed could be. And as Zest continued to ponder on the
situation,

“At any rate, leave that sacred beast to me and this little baby here. Do what you
must!”

“No…I couldn’t possibly leave something like that to the both of you…”
Although she was grateful for their assistance, it was still too dangerous for Luka
and a Heroic Spirit to face Kakutan by themselves; it would be for the best if
they took down Kakutan first before beginning to erect their barrier.

Even if it would take a considerable amount of time, it was a far better scenario
than Zest attempting to best Kakutan alone.

The high ranking Heroic Spirit that Luka used during his battle against Mio was
far more agile than the golems Zest used to summon back then. Of course, there
was also the fact that Zest’s golems right now were possibly stronger than the
Heroic Spirit Luka had used back then, having made her MasterServant with
Basara.

However, she also did not know how far Luka himself had come since he’d
returned to the academy and continued his research on Heroic Spirits.

It was very likely that this particular Heroic Spirit could keep up with the speed
of Kakutan; and as such a thought crossed Zest’s mind,

…Wait a minute.

Zest suddenly realized that Kakutan had stopped attacking.

It hadn’t disappeared—the black Qilin was still floating directly above the
spacious recreational vicinity.

It appeared to have deemed the Heroic Spirit its main enemy now. But it was no
longer moving, and due to—

“It seems that that sacred beast has noticed it as well.” Luka explained, his gaze
fixated on Kakutan.
“After being defeated by Naruse Mio…I dedicated myself to researching and
upgrading Heroic Spirits in the hopes of one day being able to serve
Leohartsama once more on the front lines. It was then that I found information
about something relating to an ancient barrier once used by Chaos with the
capability to nullify all forms of magic, recorded in ancient language in the
academy archives.”

Of course—

“Only Chaos was capable of using such a powerful barrier, a barrier that’s
impossible for us to replicate in its exact form. But if we were to understand the
concept of it and apply it, it’s not impossible to produce something with similar
results. It’s our job as researchers to recreate ancient relics like this into more
modern versions, after all.” Luka said, a confident smile on his face. “This
Heroic Spirit is using an anti-magic nullifying barrier. Given that that sacred
beast had manifested from the Water Element, it’ll be immediately destroyed if it
so much as makes contact with the barrier.”

Such was why Kakutan had not moved despite recognizing Luka’s Heroic Spirit
as an enemy; it knew that it would be destroyed if it were to approach the Heroic
Spirit recklessly.

Meanwhile, Kakutan could only utilize the Water Element of the Five Elements
as ranged attacks; against such a barrier that blocked all attacks of a magical
nature, none of Kakutan’s attacks would prove to be a threat.

But such a powerful barrier definitely possessed its limits.

“This anti-magic nullifying barrier of yours…how long can it last?”

“…Good question. If I am to be honest, I’d say around thirty minutes.”

And having heard Luka’s answer—

So it’s capable of holding off a sacred beast of that level at best, huh…

If it could maintain such a barrier for a longer duration, it wouldn’t need to come
to this northern district, and it was an option to ask it to aid Basara against
Kouryuu in the central district instead.

…No.

If Luka’s Heroic Spirit were to get close, Shiba would immediately react and
attempt to destroy it, deeming it the primary threat to Kouryuu’s manifestation.

And there was the fact that Luka’s Heroic Spirit was only capable of nullifying
magical attacks; it would not be able to withstand Shiba’s attacks made of pure
Ki, unrestricted by the attributes of the Five Elements.

And having said that…

It would be best for them to hurry and complete the Solomon’s Seal while Shiba
was occupied in the central district; but if Kakutan had decided to appear here,
that would mean that the other Qilin had appeared in the other regions as well.

“You mentioned ‘we’ earlier…who else from the Demon Realm decided to get
involved in this?”

“There’s Leohartsama, Gald, and Lars.”

“So there’s four of you…”

Even if the three others had reached the other districts the same time Luka had,
one girl among the five would still be short of assistance.

“Then go somewhere else. Find the others who might need more help—”
“Don’t worry about that.” Luka held a confident smile and said so before Zest
could finish. “We only used Sheiladono’s dimensional tunnel after leaving the
Demon Realm.”
 PART 7

Amidst the fighting between Basara’s group of girls and the Qilin of the Five
Elements across their individual cardinal directions, one particular girl was
having a more challenging time than the others.

It was Naruse Mio, representative of the Fire Element, and responsible for the
Western section.

The greater difficulty of her battle didn’t come from the fact that the white Qilin
representing the Metal Element before her—Sakumei—was particularly stronger
than the other Qilin.

Mio, who had performed the MasterServant Vow with Basara much like the
other girls had after surrendering everything to Basara, now felt incredible
magical power growing within her to such an extent that even she couldn’t
believe it herself.

Moreover, Mio’s Fire Element was advantageous against Sakumei’s Metal

Element.

Even if Mio couldn’t let her guard down for a second against Sakumei—a
separate body of Qilin, equal to Kouryuu in rank—she could at least maintain
equal footing in a one-versus-one scenario.

And yet Mio found herself troubled amidst her battle; it turned out that Sakumei
wasn’t the only one in her way as she battled amidst the lush green surroundings
of one of the baseball fields of Kinuta Park.
“…Such a stubborn tiger.” Mio muttered, annoyed, as she floated into the air
with flying magic. Beneath her was another white sacred beast apart from
Sakumei, a beast that the group should have already subdued during their first
battle—Byakko.

The sacred spear, now situated upon one of the baseball fields of Kinuta Park,
was the real Byakko that Basara had brought into the barrier after their first
battle. Shiba had utilized the holy sword Georgius as a substitute for Byakko,
having stolen it from Celis as he left the Village during their skirmish. Balflear
had subsequently removed Georgius from its location by force, and Basara had
no choice by to stabilize the space by stabbing Byakko into the baseball field
back then; Shiba’s fiveelemental barrier, constructed in a reversed order of the
cardinal directions was about to be dispelled, but it couldn’t be returned to its
normal space with the risk of the Four Gods, arranged in an inverted order,
running wild.

Byakko had manifested into its sacred beast form as a result of this, and it took
Mio great effort for her to subdue it during their first battle.

But even that had been part of Shiba’s plans…with Mio and the others defeating
the manifested forms of the Four Gods, the central district could be put into a
critical state that would allow Kouryuu to manifest.

And even at this very moment, Kouryuu was growing ever closer to its full
manifestation.

As such, Byakko’s appearance was supposed to be impossible, as it would

otherwise hinder the manifestation period of Kouryuu.

And yet… it had manifested once more despite that.

Mio pondered upon another possibility.

The manifestation of Byakko that Mio had defeated back then had appeared
when Basara pierced the sacred spear into the ground of the pitcher’s mound.

The sacred spear had been bestowed the power of the Wind element from the
Four Classical Elements by the Hero Clan; however, the manifestation of
Byakko before her now was utilizing the Metal Element of the Five Elements.

Even if the alignment of the Four Gods could have possibly affected this,
Byakko being capable of fighting at full power after an immediate systematic
change from the Classical Elements to the Five Elements, such that its own
element itself had changed, no less, was rather unusual.

In other words—

Byakko had manifested itself from the energy of Metal Element driven into the
ground when the holy sword Georgius was used as a fake copy for Byakko; the
Byakko before her now, on the other hand, was manifested from the real sacred
spear, having changed its inherent element from one from the Four Classical
Elements to the one of the Five Elements—from the Wind element to the Metal
Element.

Nevertheless, it wouldn’t be difficult for Mio to take it down in her current state
—provided that it was her only opponent.

True enough, Mio was now to battle against both Byakko and Sakumei.

This fiveelemental space is more troublesome than I’d expected, Mio thought,
her attention on the Sakumei as the white Qilin was in battle against her in the
sky, while Byakko stood below.

The enemy’s power would increase additively or multiplicatively in a more

straightforward manner if this were a normal space; however, this was the
special space Shiba had made using the Five Elements as a base.

—The elemental relationships between the Five Elements were not exclusive to
compatibility and incompatibility; the Five Elements, classified into five as per
their namesake, also possessed five individual relationships: compatibility,
incompatibility, uniformity, synergy, and balance.

The simultaneous manifestation of Byakko and Sakumei was a compound

between both beasts that possessed the same Metal element, increasing the area’s
power to achieve a state of uniformity.

And quite a potent state, at that.

“————”

“————”

The sacred beast and the divine beast—Byakko and Sakumei— began to attack
Mio simultaneously.

On the ground, Byakko transformed magnetite sand from the earth’s surface into
countless spears and shot them at her at high speed; Sakumei, on the other,
expelled an unending flurry of crescent blades from its body that threatened to
cut through everything in their path.

The resultant combination between the linear and curved bladed attacks was a
devastation that took on a complex pattern as it approached Mio.

“Gah…Damn it!”

Mio immediately used her fire magic to form a spherical wall that surrounded
her entire body.
After exchanging her vows with Basara, her fire magic had developed as such
that she could elevate it to such burning temperatures that they were
incomparable to the magic she used to destroy Byakko in their first battle.

No—she had no other choice. It had to be done, as the enemy’s attacking power
wasn’t exactly the same as when she faced Byakko the first time either, and she
had to put in all of her strength to repel the two beasts’ attacks.

If she were to slack even in the slightest to save her magical power, her barrier
might be unable to fully resist Byakko and Sakumei’s attacks, that would
eventually pierce through and shred her to ribbons.

She had to give it her all.

Byakko and Sakumei’s attacks continuously lunged at Mio’s flaming barrier,

disappearing into ashes without a trace. And yet—

“————”

“————”

The sacred beast and the divine beast, both of the Metal element, showed no
signs of letting up any time soon.

The battle now stood at a stalemate where Mio could only focus on defending
herself from their attacks, without being capable of doing anything else.

—Kinuta Park was the center of the area housing the Metal Element; as such,
Byakko and Sakumei of the same element possessed inexhaustible power against
Mio, who instead had to use her full power and was vulnerable to resource loss.

… They wanted to drag the battle with a war of attrition to cut more time.
The longer the battle lasted, it would be disadvantageous not for Mio alone, but
for Basara as well.

Mio needed to find an opening to drive them back; however, she had yet to see
one thus far. She could inflict reasonable damage if she to strike the beasts with
the full power of her fire magic. Expanding her flaming barrier, she attempted to
attack the two beasts with a wide area attack with her fire magic after gauging
their reaction velocity; however, her attacks could not catch Byakko and
Sakumei, their powers strengthened from the uniformity of their relationship of
the Five Elements.

“If that’s the case—…Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Mio then utilized wind magic to form a tornado that surrounded them; she was
opting for the strategy she had used when she had first battled and subsequently
eradicated Byakko.

Using a tornado to stir up magnetite sand and electricizing it would form a

powerful electromagnet that would pull Byakko and Sakumei of the Metal
element to the burning temperatures of her flaming barrier and evaporate them.

“————”

But the moment Mio was about to cast her lightning magic, Sakumei let out a
shrill neighing, letting out a bright flash of white light from its body.

The next moment, her lightning magic struck with a thunderous roar, but its
trajectory steered away from the storm of magnetite sand that surrounded Mio,
instead directly falling upon Sakumei.

“!…It can’t be…it used itself as a lightning rod?!”

As Mio stood dumbfounded that Shoko had saw through her plan, the magnetite
sandstorm surrounding her was also quickly sucked in by Sakumei.

Sakumei of the Metal element had formed coils in its body that allowed it
control metal; after taking the full brunt of Mio’s lightning attack and electrified
itself, it transformed its flesh into a powerful electromagnet.

And the moment Sakumei had gathered a large amount of magnetite sand—

“————”

It began to glow brightly once more as it released large waves of plasma this
time shining with greater brightness than before, blinding all that was exposed to
the flash of light around it.

“————!”

Simultaneously, Mio quickly dispelled her fire barrier and cast her gravitational
magic.

Sakumei absorbed a large amount of magnetite sand into its body, transforming
the lightning magic that had brought about its conductive state into electric
particles and dispersing them; Mio’s barrier made from fire magic wouldn’t
withstand such an electrical attack.

As a defensive measure, Mio used her gravitational magic to create a

dimensional gap that formed a barrier; she subsequently dispelled her fire barrier
in order to avoid the violent explosion and conflagration that would ensue from
the clash between the fire barrier and Sakumei’s electric attacks from shaking the
space and break the existing gravitational barrier.

The next moment—countless clumps of plasma burst amidst the white flash of
fight.
The charged particles from Sakumei struck the space of Mio’s gravitational
barrier and exploded.

“…That was close.”

She had to sustain the surrounding magnetic storm until the flash of light would
disappear; if she hadn’t made the MasterServant Vow with Basara, she wouldn’t
have been able to sustain her gravitational magic for that long.

…Basara.

Mio’s thoughts fell on the one she loved more than anything else, her beloved
Basara, her one and absolute master.

Basara absolutely had to take down Shiba after all this.

In order to facilitate an advantageous environment for him as best they could,

Mio and the others need to hurry in making a new fiveelemental barrier with
Solomon’s Seal.

…And her responsibility at present was to first restrict Byakko—the white

colored sacred spear, the source of the power of the Metal Element brimming in
the west.

Sakumei was merely a product that manifested from said power; her priority thus
lied in defeating Byakko.

That said, it was still necessary for her to restrict their movement one way or
another before she could land any effective attacks on them.

In that case, then…

The moment Sakumei withdrew the electric current of its attack, Mio unleashed
an attack before her with gravitational magic.

She prepared to pin Byakko onto the ground with her gravitational magic while
unleashing her fire magic at her surroundings, destroying Byakko in one go; and
as she would do so with her barrier made from her fire magic intact, she could
nullify Sakumei’s Metal element attacks.

In other words, she intended to attack Byakko, subdue Sakumei, and drive the
power of the Fire Element into the earth’s surface—to perform all three tasks in
one fell swoop.

To put it in another way, that was the only thing she could do—she had no other
option.

“Take this…!”

The moment the flash of light would weaken and visibility of her surroundings
would turn to normal, Mio would be prepared to put her plan into action.

And the moment the flash of light dissipated as if it were mist—

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH—!”

Taking an offensive stance from her initial defensive stance with her
gravitational magic, Mio sent crimson waves across the earth’s surface below
her; and as she prepared to unleash her fire magic at the next moment—

…Eh……?

She prepared to unleash her fire magic, she suddenly lost sight of her target
beneath her—something that left Mio’s mind blank for a moment.
Byakko was gone.

Had it been subdued by her gravitational magic? It couldn’t have.

Had it been destroyed amidst Sakumei’s storm of charged particles? Neither was
that the case.

Where did it go, then? It was then Mio found a clue from a flattened, silver metal
object from the corner of her eye.

It was a metal clump crushed by Mio’s gravitational magic; and the size of the
crushed form of the metal anomaly before her appeared to be quite massive.

“—!?”

Immediately, Mio reflexively looked upwards behind her—toward her blind

spot.

And she could see that the massive Byakko was drawing closer to her before her
very eyes.

It turned out that Byakko had leapt into the air to a higher position behind Mio
through a metal scaffolding higher than Mio’s position in midair when her sight
had been obscured by the flash of Sakumei’s charged particles.

The moment she realized this, Byakko’s talons were already at such a close
range that it would be improbable for her to dodge them in time.

“Gah…!”

“————”

Mio had no choice but the release her fire magic on the spot, as Byakko aimed to
tear her apart before she could do so.
And then came the next moment.

A loud noise resounded—but it was neither the roar of a violent explosion nor a
sharp slashing sound.

It was instead a shrill clashing of steel—and it came from someone who now
stood before Mio’s eyes.

“But you’re…”

Mio dumbfoundedly stared at the figure who had suddenly got between her and
Byakko.

The golden-haired young man who had entered the battle in the nick of time
before Mio’s magic and the Byakko’s talons could clash wielded a weapon that
was different from Byakko…the Reienkyo.

Hayase Takashi of the Hero Clan now stood before her.

 PART 8

A battle was ensuing in the Eastern district—in an area nearby the Shinozaki
flood gate close to the Edo River.

Nonaka Yuki was now sparring against Shoko, the blue Qilin.

During her previous battle with Seiryuu, she managed to defeat it by changing
the venue of their battleground from the Edo River, first to Kinshicho, and then
Monzenkancho; however, she could not utilize the same tactic this time round.

…She had to suppress Seiryuu instead.

The sacred sword Seiryuu, now continuously amplifying the Wood element in
this eastern district, was currently stabbed onto a tree’s trunk in the nearby
greenlands.

She could not leave this place.

Above all, Shoko still possessed its typical tranquil demeanor and disliked
fighting despite it being another variant of Qilin—it would not come toward her
so long as she kept her distance. Nevertheless, Yuki was forced to fight Shoko in
such a location where the latter possessed a locational advantage, as the Water
Element of the Edo River possessed compatibility with Shoko’s Wood Element
that would strengthen it in battle.

Having made her MasterServant Vow with Basara, Yuki could initially match
Shoko toe-to-toe;
inevitably, however, she slowly began to become disadvantaged.

The space they were in was one made with the Five Elements as a base; as
Kouryuu’s manifestation rate continued to progress, one would assume that the
Five Elements within the space—with the exception of the Earth Element in the
central district—would amplify under their cycle of compatibility, subsequently
resulting in the power of the Four Gods and the Qilin in their respective regions
to grow over time.

Amidst this, Yuki, who was now fighting against Shoko, found herself in the
same dire situation Mio was in she sparred against Sakumei in the west.

Yuki’s Metal Element possessed incompatibility with Seiryuu and Shoko’s Wood
Element.

Yuki may have possessed the elemental advantage on paper; the issue lied in the
Edo River, which represented the Water element as one would expect.

Yuki represented the Metal Element, which possessed compatibility with the
Water Element of the Edo River; in other words, the presence of the Water
Element meant that Yuki was indirectly strengthening Seiryuu and Shoko;
moreover, such a relationship was somewhat parasitic in nature in that it
strengthened the beneficiary while it weakened the provider.

Of course, there was also the abundance of the Earth element around her to
consider that strengthened Yuki’s Metal element; between the riverbank and the
asphalt, a large portion of the vicinity was synthetically inlaid land.

Nevertheless…

It was no match for the amplification of the Wood Element from the
fiveelemental relationships that this area provided for the enemy.
She was thus incapable of defeating Shoko alone.

…If only Zest were here.

She could aid her by strengthening the Earth Element around her, thereby
increasing its compatibility with the Metal Element and increase her chances of
taking down Shoko…but there was no use lamenting over that now.

They had to assume the responsibility of each individual element on their own if
they were to construct Solomon’s Seal.

And so—

“……HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

With a flash of her blade, she sent out energy blades that attempt to slice through
all in their wake.

Mere slashes, however, were useless against Shoko at its current state; thus, Yuki
added the Earth Element to her energy blades as a compatibility reaction by
running the tip of her sword across the earth’s surface.

Her attacks of the Metal Element after running her sword across the ground’s
surface had sharpened as a result of the compatibility with the Earth Element,
such that they would be enough to defeat Shoko in one strike.

Such was what she expected to happen. However—

“—————!”

The next moment, Yuki was shocked by the sudden occurrence.

Her most powerful attacks had been knocked aside— and not from Shoko itself.
Instead, it was a massive shield made from massive trees that emerged from the
surface of the Kyu Edo River.

“But how…” Yuki was dumbfounded.

The best explanation would be that Shoko used the Water element of the river
sprout countless trees from the water’s surface; the expenditure of such an
amount elemental power dried up the Kyu Edo River for a moment, but the
riverbed was quickly refilled from the water supply upstream.

“—————!”

Seeing this, Yuki moved as if she were an arrow.

There was no time to hesitate; she had to make the most of the lack of water in
the Kyu Edo River if she wanted to take down Shoko. Running with all the
speed she could muster, she leapt from the riverbank and lunged toward her
enemy.

“—————”

In response, Shoko let out a shrill cry as a maelstrom began to form, encircling
their surroundings; the surrounding leaves and branches that made the greenland
of the Kyu Edo Driver lunged at Yuki as if they possessed a mind of their own.

“—————!”

Realizing the sharpness of the leaves that were coming at her, Yuki immediately
conjured a magic pentagram with the tip of her blade and formed a barrier of the
Metal Element; she knocked Shoko’s storm of leaves aside and forced herself
forward. And the moment she escaped the storm of sharp leaves, she swung her
sword inversely in a slanting, upward direction.
The sakura petals that were formed from the gesture formed an arch shaped
bridge above the massive trees that emerged from below the Kyu Edo River; and
as Yuki gave it her all and advanced forward, reached the highest point of the
bridge—

“—————”

Shoko cried again, and the trees of the Kyu Edo River grew even more
explosively.

“—————!?”

As Yuki swallowed a breath, trees with sharp blades as their tips sprouted from
beneath the bridge made of sakura petals made from Sakuya, lunging themselves
at her.

—Yuki could take the attack by calling out Sakuya; however, she would not be
able to dodge the trees that would emerge at her impact zone.

Rather than attempt to evade the attack, the only other option she had was the
jump.

Even then, she could wouldn’t be able to dodge the wooden protrusions in the air
where she could not keep any footing.

There was nowhere to run.

…If that’s the case…!

If there was no avoiding the attack, she might as well face it head on; she
immediately decided her next move—to jump.

She wasn’t attempting to dodge, however.

Yuki intended to accelerate her speed and lunge forward in a slanting motion;
and while she was still in midair, she wanted to strike before Shoko could make
its next attack and take it down with a single slash once and for all.

Of course, Shoko could still sprout massive trees to block Yuki’s attacks just as it
did before.

That was why—

…I must press on!

She had to succeed—she would cut and hack with all her might, cleave through
the wooden bulwark and defeat Shoko.

And as she wagered herself to do or die, a sudden gust of wind caused Yuki to
rapidly ascend from her location.

“……Eh…?”

As she opened her eyes in surprise, she found herself high above in the sky,
Shoko within her sight now as small as a grain of rice.

No matter how far Shoko’s trees could extend, they couldn’t possibly reach the
altitude she was now at immediately; Shoko itself could not reach her that
quickly either.

She had been saved—and as she settled into the reality of the situation,

“Don’t you think it’s a little too early for you to gamble on such a reckless
suicide attack?”

A familiar, laughing voice came out behind her; and as Yuki turned around, she
recognized a familiar face who now stood at her level of direct sight—a certain
childhood friend.

“Celis…” Yuki muttered, surprised by her appearance.

“Yes, it’s me…sorry to keep you waiting.” The Holy Knight of the Vatican, Celis
Reinhardt, smiled as she said so before snapping the fingers of her right hand.

“Earth Magic…”

“Yes. As the wielder of Georgius, I am capable of utilizing all four Classical

Elements…and much like St. George was a holy man of agriculture, my best
element happens to be the Earth Element.”

Thus—

“Although I’m not really suited to against that sacred beast of the Wood Element
and there’s the fact that I only have a substitute sacred sword since Georgius was
stolen by Shiba…I’m nevertheless still capable of using my power to increase
your Metal element with compatibility.”

It was exactly what Yuki desperately needed in this situation—the elemental

amplification that would give her the power to defeat Shoko.

“But how did you get in here?”

“Shiba’s actions are the responsibility of both the Village and the Vatican. In
order to prevent this from spreading out to other regions, our operation here
needs to be kept secret and resolved quickly—that’s what I’ve told headquarters,
at least.” Celis said, “And while I’m not convinced they’ll just take it as it is just
like that…they didn’t say anything in regards to my decision to help you guys
out, so I’m guessing they want to assess the situation first.”

And while she was at it—

“Takashi’s also come here on his own accord without consent from the Elders…I
imagine Shuuyasan and Kaorusan are covering for him right now.”

“Takashi’s here as well?”

“Yes…he’s gone to suppress Byakko.” She continued. “And as for how we’ve
managed to enter this space, it’s because of the dimensional tunnel made by that
young succubus girl you’re familiar with.”

“A succubus capable of making a dimensional tunnel…are your referring to

Sheilasan?”

“I believe that was her name, yes…she’s waiting for you all outside this space.”
Being unfamiliar with Sheila, Celis appeared puzzled with the way that Yuki
addressed her, but continued on, nonetheless.

“Takashi and I immediately set out for Tokyo after leaving the Village, but then
we met up with that young special corps officer from the Demon Realm and
some other Demons that appeared to be his higher-ups, and then that girl told us
—”

She took a deep breath.

“She told us that you and Kurumi have been deemed sanctuary like Basara and
the others, and such an order cannot be violated. And given that they too wanted
to help out with the situation…they asked us if we wanted to join them.”

“But that means…” Yuki’s eyes widened at Celis’ words.

She wasn’t surprised that Sheila had come to the human world; it wasn’t difficult
to understand the reasons for her intervention, for she was mother to Maria, who
was also involved in this difficult situation.
But if Takigawa’s comrades were truly high ranking Demons as Celis had
described, Leohart had to be among them.

She never would’ve thought that the current Demon Lord would have come to
involve himself in the matter personally; even more so, she could not fully sink
in the fact that she and her younger sister Kurumi had been deemed sanctuary
during such a time.

But above all, one fact stood out as the most surprising truth of them all: Celis
and Takashi had willingly agreed to Sheila’s suggestion.

…But the two of them are…

Celis and Takashi held great pride in their status as members of the Hero Clan;
they were unlikely to willingly utilize the power of Sheila, a member of the
Demon Realm.

They knew that such an act would be considered a betrayal of the Hero Clan.

And yet Celis and Leohart had appeared in their battleground—even Takashi had
joined the fray.

“But why did you…?” Yuki remained astonished at the actions of her childhood
friend, and asked her why she did so.

“It’s not like we’re actually cooperating with those Demons, you know?” Celis
suddenly smiled lightly as she said this, “It’s just that, Yuki…I believe in you
and Kurumi, just as I believe in Basara. I have no doubt in any one of you
having established historical peace by facilitating an alliance between the
Current Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction. I don’t think there’s
anything wrong with their desire to protect all of you.”

After all—
“That’s how both Takashi and I think of all this right now.”

“Celis…” Yuki was speechless at Celis, who smiled as if all of this meant
nothing to her at all.

—The current Demon Lord Leohart had brought an army of high ranking
Demons before them; as members of the Hero Clan, they were their enemies of
the absolute highest priority that they needed to address immediately.

But neither Celis and Takashi had acted as such.

They had willingly and temporarily put down their pride—their duty as members
of the Hero Clan—for the sake of coming here.

Not because they were ordered by the Village—not because they held the pride
of being a Holy Knight of the Vatican.

They simply came for the sake of their friends, and that alone.

“There’s something I really needed to say but never had the chance,” Celis said,
“And it’s that everything’s alright now. Six years ago, I was helpless, and I
wasn’t there for you guys when you were going through the toughest times…I
wasn’t capable of heading to the scene of the tragedy and give my aid. But now
—”

A resolute glint appeared in Celis’ eyes.

“Things are different this time…I can hold my head high and proudly claim that
I can become your power—to fight alongside you.” Her voiced then trailed with
a hint of apologeticness as she made her next statement. “Although…truth be
told, I do want to defeat that sacred beast one-on-one with my own strength.”
“No…you’ve done enough.”

Yuki nodded at her childhood friend and brought her into a tight embrace, to
which Celis returned with a light smile.

“Six years, huh…I’ve made you wait so long, haven’t I?”

Yuki did not so much as say the simple sentence of “That’s not true” to deny it;
much like Yuki’s own regrets when Basara was cast out of the Village back then
as she could only see him off, no one but Celis herself should be allowed to deny
her own thoughts and regrets.

Yuki would not apologize for involving Celis into all this, however; she would
never say such a thing, for she would then be trampling over the resolve and
goodwill of the person before her that she treasured so much.

There was only one appropriate answer that Yuki could give to Celis.

“Celis…thanks for coming over to help me.”

The next moment, Nonaka Yuki and Celis Reinhardt gazed at the scene below
them—at the sacred beast they were to defeat, one that represented the Wood
Element.

The blue Qilin quietly assessed its current situation.

The girl wielding the spirit sword that had battled it earlier was of the Metal
Element, an element that triumphed over its Wood Element; the golden-haired
girl who had arrived as reinforcements was of the Earth Element, an element that
had compatibility with the other’s Metal element.

And then there were the tall surrounding earth walls that the golden-haired girl
had erected around it.
The walls that were built from the bottom of the river were made to cut the water
supply of the Edo River and isolate their location; as Enku had already
evaporated the Tokyo Bay, if the Edo River’s water supply was cut short even
further, the supplementary power of the Water element for it would decrease.
It meant that the battleground—the circumstances—would be unfavorable for
Shoko.

“………………”

Shoko, however, deduced that it wouldn’t be a significant hindrance.

The golden-haired girl was evidently weaker than the girl with the spirit sword
and itself; the fact that she could provide compatibility via the Earth element
posed no threat to it.

So long as its opponents kept their distance, Shoko did not need to act
proactively; it was best for it to converse as much power of the Wood Element as
possible to supply Kouryuu’s manifestation in the central district.

Nevertheless, Shoko could also not sit by and watch; the power of the girl with
the sacred sword before her was increasing rapidly. With the water supply of the
Edo River cut, Shoko’s current strength couldn’t go against Metal element
attacks of such a powerful magnitude.

What is the meaning of this? The circumstances before it puzzled Shoko.

The massive increase in power of the girl wielding the spirit sword by virtue of
the compatibility with the golden-haired girl alone was unexplainable; however,
dwelling over how the girl with the spirit sword’s power had increased with the
arrival of the golden-haired girl would not solve anything.

“————”

Shoko let out all of the power of the Wood Element it had in its body in one go;
following that, countless, massive trees emerged from the surrounding earth,
their sturdy trunks twisting and extending horizontally, reducing the earth walls
in their path to dust as the resultant impact shook the earth with a deafening
echo, whipping out clouds of dust as earth and sand scattered in their wake.

Shoko had concocted a plan; it would make Edo River flow into the greenlands,
providing it with the compatibility needed to match the attacks of the girl’s spirit
sword.

However—

“————?”

The next moment, Shoko appeared to be confused.

The water of the Edo River did not flow into the vicinity.

Shoko immediately flew above the clouded view to survey the earth beneath it to
discover what was going on; it discovered that most of the water of the Edo
River had disappeared, exposing massive, barren portions of the riverbed.

Was it due to what Enku did in the north? No, it couldn’t be.

It was one thing to have evaporated the Tokyo Bay, but if the Edo River were to
be dried up as well, the eastern district would lose its elemental power and cause
the fiveelemental barrier to be unbalanced; and the power of the Wood element
in the entire eastern district had yet to decrease thus far.

Yet there appeared to be no water in the Edo River.

Eventually, Shoko finally found the answer upstream.

A new river that connected the Edo River to the Naka River had appeared near
the Shibamata Park.

It was likely that the golden-haired girl had changed the landscape with Earth
magic after using the earth walls to hide the surrounding view; this new river,
wider than the Edo River, had been made into the primary current that caused the
water of the Edo River to flow into the Naka River.

And the conflux of the river was slightly upstream of the divergence point
between the Naka River and the New Naka River; as such, the course of the
water of the Edo River was changed to flow into the conflux between the Naka
River and the Arakawa River.

Her elaborate plan of flood control had successfully redirected the river water.

Did the golden-haired girl of the Earth element secretly implement this plan
knowing she had little to offer in terms of raw power? The riverbed, having lost
its Water Element, was now solid ground—a substance of the Earth Element.

And the resultant Fiveelemental relationship provided compatibility to the Metal

Element.

The moment Shoko understood the situation, the power of the girl of the spirit
sword had accelerated to a level where even the compatibility brought about by
the remaining water beneath it would be no match for her.

“————…!”

Immediately, Shoko instilled its elemental power into the surrounding trees.

If there was no water nearby, it could only find a source on its own; it would
extend the roots of the surrounding trees toward the west, toward the Naka River
and the New Naka River, and absorb the water from those rivers with them.

However, the two girls had taken action far faster than Shoko could extend the
ground’s roots toward the neighbouring river; the golden-haired girl had already
drawn her holy sword before it realized it.
“HHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

The two girls, each wielding the spirit sword and the holy sword respectively, let
out a resolute cry in unison as they unleashed their power before Shoko.

The girl with the spirit sword let out consecutive slashing attacks, whipping out
countless energy blades of the the Metal Element; at the same time, the golden-
haired girl brought her holy sword down and let out Earth energy from it,
immediately escalating the elemental power of the energy blades.

It was reaction that came from the resultant compatibility—and the next
moment, an unstoppable barrage of seventytwo consecutive slashes came
lunging forth, swallowing Shoko’s line of sight.

There was no escape.

“————”

In such a moment of direness, Shoko called upon a massive wooden bulwark to

protect itself.

It managed to shield itself in time—but even that attempt ended in vain.

A slash of the Metal Element cleanly cleaved the wooden bulwark in two—and
the next moment, the Shoko’s body was cut to piece by an unending flurry of
elemental slashes.
 PART 9

Hayase Takashi had suddenly entered amidst the ensuing battle.

His appearance alone was a scenario that did more than enough to elicit a
surprised reaction from Mio Takashi, however, paid her no mind, defending
himself against the gaping fangs of Byakko.

“WOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”

With a resolute cry, he swung his arms as their muscles fleshed themselves out,
swinging Reienkyo in a horizontal motion; Byakko’s massive face was forced to
dodge the brunt of the attack, its maw releasing Reienkyo as it leapt backwards
and landed at a spot a considerable distance away from Takashi. Mio took the
opportunity she had to descend upon the ground Takashi was before asking him
again,

“How in the world are you here?”

Although she could see that he was moving right now, Takashi had been struck
with Shiba’s attack—he was supposed to have been knocked unconscious and
left in critical condition earlier on. And although Basara had managed to
stabilize his condition, he shouldn’t be able to move about freely for a while, at
least without having some period of rest.

Such was why Mio asked him that in the disbelief of his presence here; and yet
Takashi didn’t so much as even turn toward her to respond, his gaze instead
fixated on the pitcher’s mound before him—the spot where the sacred spear
stood, Byakko warily keeping watch beside it.
“Stay back. This isn’t exactly the best time to explain.” He gave no explanation
on his arrival here, and instead simply declared his role as well as Mio’s. “I’ll do
something about Byakko. For now, just defeat Sakumei!”

Between Mio and Takashi, the two lacked sufficient tacit understanding of one
another to be capable of working together cooperatively; as such their chances of
victory would be better if they were to fight their enemies individually rather
than cooperate for a two-on-two—the best course of action the two could take.

“…I understand.” Mio nodded, gathering her magical power as she turned her
attention to Sakumei— and Takashi then made his next move.

“……………”

Wordlessly, he stabbed Reienkyo into the ground—before walking toward

Byakko empty-handed.

“Wait, what the heck do you think you’re doing!?”

His sudden appearance was questionable enough; what else was he planning to
do now, attack with his unarmed fists? Takashi’s reckless actions elicited pleas
from Mio to stop.

“Reienkyo, otherwise known as the Seiryo Scimitar…perhaps it’s not a weapon

that’s suited to fight against my current enemy on paper.”

“But doing this isn’t…!”

This wasn’t the best way to go out even if he really wanted to kill himself.

And yet Mio could not leave the battlefield she could only restrict Sakumei
while her fire magic was active.
…If she were to make any sudden moves…

Sakumei would strike at any sign of faltering. And yet—

“Hayase!” Mio warned him again, and she received another composed reply as a
response.

“I’m not here to take it down—I’m here to take it back.” As he said so, Takashi
had already put himself within Byakko’s attack range.

And what came next was to be expected.

Byakko bared its teeth and lunged at Takashi as it detected his presence nearby,
countless steel blades sprouting from his body as it inched closer toward him.
Between its massive build and mass, predatory speed to catch prey, and the high
level of Metal element contained in the blades covering it, it possessed an
extremely potent cutting force, capable of running through anything in its path
like a hot knife through butter.

Committing to a suicidal clash against the giant sickle that was Byakko would
only result in Takashi being shredded to countless pieces.

Such was what was supposed to happen—but at the next moment,

“————?”

Byakko suddenly appeared puzzled.

Its prey—Takashi—had suddenly disappeared before its very eyes; Mio herself
could not comprehend as to how Takashi had dodged the attack.

She could only see Takashi now situated behind Byakko, as if he had simply
brushed past it unharmed.
“Have you forgotten who I am? I suppose I’ll make you remember, then.”
Takashi said, as he extended his hand towards the true form of Byakko—the
white spear impaled atop the pitcher’s mound.

Byakko, who had once recognized Takashi as its master, was now under the
control of Shiba and his fiveelemental barrier.

What would happen if Takashi were to simply touch Byakko in its current state?

Mio had experienced the answer firsthand with her very eyes—and her very
ears.

The moment Takashi laid his hands on the shaft of Byakko, a backlash of Metal
energy sprang forth and attacked him as if it rejected him.

Takashi’s native battle armor was shredded from the impact, sprays of his blood
fluttering in the air.

Takashi intended to free Byakko from Shiba’s control and reclaim its recognition
and the right to wield it.

Mio understood his thought process—but she and the girls would’ve done so
earlier if it were a valid option long ago. They’d decided to suppress the Four
Gods through the establishment of another barrier over it simply because Shiba’s
hold on the sacred weapons was too powerful and not easily shaken.

“That’s reckless, Hayase! Get out of there!” Mio’s screams were tinged with
grief. And yet—

“Naruse Mio. I believe I’ve already told you this, just as I’ve told Shiba as well
—”

And with an unwavering tone—

“Don’t underestimate the Hero Clan.”

Such was the extent of Takashi’s unfaltering pride—it was why he only held his
grip tighter on Byakko, unwilling to release it.

In response, Byakko released a vortex of white electricity that swallowed

Takashi, emerging in a violent explosion that devastated the surrounding
atmosphere.

“…………!”

In spite of all that, Takashi held his grip steady on Byakko—trying to get some
sense into it, as if to try and deliver the fact that Takashi was its true wielder, to
try and make it remember…

“————”

Eventually, the electric surge finally ceased after a long period of enduring—and
the materialized form of Byakko had vanished.

“…………………”

Stripped of energy, Takashi fell to one knee on the ground as if he were a puppet
cut of its strings—and yet even at such a dire moment, Takashi refused to let go
of the shaft of Byakko.

“Hayase…!” Mio cried. And at that moment, there were signs of movement near
her.

It was Sakumei.

A hail of crescent steel fell from the sky—aiming not at Mio, but at Takashi.

“I won’t let you…!”

Something had already protected Takashi before she could.

But what?

It was none other the sacred beast of the west, materializing once more to protect
its wielder— Byakko.

“————”

Byakko countered Sakumei’s hail of steel blades with its own bladed attacks,
protecting its master from harm; it took a moment’s passing of an unending
flurry of clashing steel before Byakko finally struck down Sakumei’s blades.
And then—

“————?”

Sakumei’s movements faltered somewhat—appearing as if it were disorientated

over witnessing the sudden betrayal of Byakko.

And before them was an opportunity Hayase Takashi had risked his life to
facilitate—one that Naruse Mio had no intention of letting slip away from her
fingers.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAHH!”

Releasing the energy she’d stored up until this point, she cast her magic a new
magic, one that was only possible after she’d made her vow with Basara, a
combination of both gravitational magic and fire magic.

Hellfire magic.

It was too late for Sakumei to dodge—Mio’s fierce hellfire abruptly consumed
the white Qilin and destroyed it. And with her attack she poured the power of the
Fire element into the ground—thereupon which a crimson glow ran across the it
as if the element were stretched across its surface.

The next moment, the elements of five colors combined their power together to
form a single crest.

The five girls of whom had exchanged their vows with Toujou Basara had
successfully completed Solomon’s Seal.
 PART 10

Something had sensed the full manifestation of Solomon’s Seal.

It stood directly below Kouryuu, the latter’s evermanifesting body remained

twining around the Tokyo Tower.

It was the yellow divine beast that was protecting the capital — the Qilin.

“…………”

Moreover, it could sense the destruction of four other beings apart from itself.

There was Enku in the south, its roaring flames absorbed by virtue of a Demon.

Kakutan in the north, felled and destroyed in a skirmish against a seemingly

massive enemy.

Shoko in the east, cut down by an elemental attack.

And Sakumei in the west, reduced to nothingness by an offensive magic.

The Qilin, however, was incapable of any sorrowful emotions in response.

The five were existences manifested from an enclosed space brimming with the
energy of the Five Elements. The five were thus assigned to each guard their
respective elemental bearings — such was the reason why the five chimeric
creatures existed.
As such, the moment Qilin sensed the shadow of a single person approaching
toward the west —

“————”

Qilin immediately became alert.

It was certain of its existence; slowly, but surely, it was approaching this place.

And the aura it exuded signified that it was someone of a level that could pose a
threat to Shiba.

Qilin immediately deduced that it was an enemy.

Stomping its forelegs into the ground, Qilin unleashed a golden magic circle.

Following the incantation was the rumbling of the earth, and from the ground
where the enemy was setting foot came the phenomenon of protrusions emerging
from below.

Countless, colossal sharp spikes emerged from the asphalt ground to attack the
enemy.

However, the sharp edges of the protruding spikes had not pierced their intended
target, instead running through thin air.

And the very moment that fact was realized, someone was already right next to
Qilin — a certain young man.

“Sorry — just passing through.”

And the moment that silent voice resounded, Qilin was horizontally cut in two.
 PART 11

A single stroke of a sword had cut down the manifested Qilin.

The act had been done by Toujou Basara, who had infiltrated the interior of the
Tokyo Tower.

The moment his footsteps tread onto the entrance, he discovered the first floor
was quietly still, as if it were a natural occurrence.

“…………”

Wordlessly, Basara walked toward the elevator that would lead him to the
spacious observation decks.

He went into the middle elevator from the three that were available to him —it
was one that was usually under the supervision of a female elevator attendant
who would monitor the floor buttons for the customers to choose between two
different observation decks.

As the doors shut themselves, a light floating sensation accompanied him as the
elevator began to rise.

And the higher the elevator ascended, one would notice that instead of the usual
Tokyo scenery that could be seen through the glass on both sides of the elevator
shaft, the visibility from such a height was now restricted due to the gigantic
Kouryuu coiling around the tower.
And as the doors finally opened again, Basara saw a figure directly in front of
the exit of the elevator—someone who had arrived here before he had.

It wasn’t Shiba.

Basara instead saw a familiar face dressed in the Hijirigasaka Academy uniform
—the same school he attended—standing still before him.

It was someone he thought to be incapable of carelessness, and thus someone

that he could rely on in times of need.

Takigawa Yahiro.

“Good grief. You’re late, Basachi.” Takigawa sighed lamentingly, and spoke in a
manner that was similar to that of their usual meetings with each other. And with
it followed a wry smile and a reply from Basara:

“Sorry. That said, though, what are you doing here of all places, Takigawa?”

“I know that.”

“In spite of the circumstances, you might as well come to the Tokyo Tower to
enjoy sightseeing like anyone else would, huh? It’s not like I wanted to follow a
certain asshole here to this place where you all are trying to fight to the death.
Leohart threatened me earlier.”

You’d do well to remember what you did. Takigawa muttered under this breath,
rather begrudgingly.

“Well, it doesn’t sound as good as it does given that Balflear’s on the other side,
though.”

“As I thought, Leohart and the others have arrived as well, have they…”
It seemed that Basara did not mistake the magical energy he sensed during his
journey to arriving at where they were right now.

“Did you bring them with you, Takigawa?”

“Who knows? I’m only here to explain my situation. The ones who decided to
intervene in this situation are none other than the tippity tops of both the
Moderate Faction and the current Demon Lord Faction, Ramsusasdono and
Leohart. Additionally, Sheiladono was the one responsible for making a path for
us to enter this space. And that’s not all. The more the merrier, as they say, right?
Some others have decided to tag along, as well. For instance, I did pick up your
frustrated childhood friend of yours, Basachi, and then there’s that female knight
that came with the Vatican.”

He was grateful that so many others had come to provide their assistance. And
seeing as things had transpired as he had hoped—

“I see…even Takashi and Celis have…”

He didn’t think it was possible for them to acquire official approval from the
Village and the Vatican.

It was likelier that the two decided to go out on their own and work closely
together, wasn’t it?

And Takashi and Celis chose to come and help nevertheless, even though the
damage from their skirmish against Shiba still lingered within them…Basara
wondered what significance the two genuine members of the Hero Clan held that
prompted their intervention towards this incident.

“It must’ve been hard on them.” As he muttered such words under this breath, he
swore in his heart that he would do everything in his power to bring this battle to
an end. He would willingly assume any punishment in Takashi and Celis’ place
for their part in this incident.

“Hey, hey Basachi…are you counting your chickens before they’ve even
hatched?” Takigawa asked, surprised. “Sure, I imagine you’ve had your share of
loveydovey moments with Naruse and the others already, but… don’t you think
you’re surprisingly relaxed given the situation?”

“I’m not really relaxed. Shibasan’s undeniably strong. And as much as I’ve been
made aware of how Mio and the others feel and have confirmed it with them
together.,,I honestly don’t think our victory is guaranteed yet.” Basara’s voice
was composed as he expressed his opinion on the situation.

“If you’re going to tell me that, I might as well just head back then…” Takigawa
scratched his head at Basara’s composed answer, before he narrowed his eyes.
“Well, what are the chances we’ll win this?”

“Who knows…well, I guess we’ll have enough as long as we keep struggling, I

suppose.”

“Man, I’m stuck having to walk over a tightrope with you again, huh?”
Takigawa muttered between resigned sighs.

Basara could only give a wry smile and a “Sorry” in a response.

And with a mention of “Where do we go from here?”, the two set out side by
side.

The two advanced onward on their current floor in a counterclockwise direction

from their surroundings, before continuing by ascending a nearby stairway.

Beyond that point was an elevator that would lead them to the next observation
deck.
The elevator doors opened as if to beckon the duo, as the two entered the
elevator and pressed the up button; the door then closed slowly before
ascending.

They arrived at an observation deck 25 meters above the ground roughly after a
minute or so, before moving toward the window before them after departing the
elevator.

And they saw the scenery before them—the interior of the Tokyo Tower
shrouded in a yellow sheen, whereas four colors—blue, white, red and black—
were divided into their respective sectors of the four cardinal directions of the
exterior.

The barrier that Shiba had constructed was shrouded in the colors of the Five
Elements by virtue of their compatibility.

However—lines painted with deeper colors of the Five Elements now ran across
the vicinity.

Each line moved diagonally from their vertex to form a pentagram—the two
then realized that Solomon’s Seal had been completed.

“It seems Naruse and the others have been successful somehow.”

“Yeah.”

And as Basara nodded in response to Takigawa’s words—

“My, my…not only Takashi and Celischan, but even the Demon Realm has
come to interfere, is it?”

A voice called out from behind Basara.

Simultaneously, the two sensed a presence—a dark, disgusting presence more
evil that even the darkest depths of the underworld. And as Basara and Takigawa
turned around slowly—

“———”

They were at a loss for words.

They could not recognize the figure’s outward appearance for a moment.

They couldn’t even describe him as simply turning into another person.

They now saw Shiba, now in the form of an utterly anomalous existence, before
them.

Reginlief’s plated gauntlets, that had covered only his arms in their first battle,
had already spread across his entire body in a single, unified piece of armor.
Moreover, the armor utilized a different metal element from that of what was of
the gauntlets’ origins, taking the form an organic suit of armor akin to that of a
devilish exoskeleton.

“…Hey, hey…he’s becoming more and more of a monster.” Cold sweat ran
down Takigawa’s cheek at the presence of Shiba’s terrifying pressure.

“Yeah…it seems that Shibasan’s fully absorbed Reginlief into him now.”
Discomforting sweat perspired in Basara’s back as well. Basara, wielding the
magic Sword Byrnhildr in hand, immediately understood what Shiba’s form—
no, his condition—entailed. In order to completely draw out Reginlief’s power
within him, he had willingly allowed the magic gauntlet he possessed to fully
corrode his body; such an act would have supposedly swallowed his flesh and
mind—utterly stripping him of his existence.

—And yet Shiba had managed to fully retain his form nonetheless.
If one were to ask why—the answer was hinted at from the organic armor that
now covered his body.

One could observe it as being quadricolored; painted in red, white, black and
blue.

The colors represented four out of the five main elements: Fire, Metal, Wood and
Water.

“My guess is that Shibasan wants to absorb the power of the fiveelement
compatibility between the Four Gods for himself while synchronizing with
Kouryuu. The fact that we can’t see the yellow of the Earth element on him
means that he still can’t absorb Kouryuu’s power while it’s yet to fully manifest
itself.”

“My kudos…you have a sharp eye. Well, you’ve got most of it right, anyway.”
Shiba’s profound smile affirmed their words.

—Compatibility between the Five Elements was no apt explanation for the sight
before them, however.

Colors of red and white painted Shiba’s armor more dominantly than that of
black and blue.

One could thus assume that Fire and Metal were the dominant elements within
him.

It didn’t mean that uzaku and Byakko were more powerful than the other two
sacred treasures though… probably.

The prominent red was indicative of the special characteristic of the member of
the Ten Gods that Shiba had absorbed into him—Reginlief.
—Reginlief was likely a divine being that had the ability to manipulate fire.

And the Fire and Earth elements shared a compatibility with one another—in
other words, the relationship was that of the former element strengthening the
latter.

So that’s how it is.

Basara was now clear of one thing.

It wasn’t just the critical stage of the Four Gods or the fiveelemental barrier he’d
set up; acquiring the power of the flames of a member of the Ten Gods was
another important piece for Shiba to fully manifest Kouryuu that represented the
Earth element.

The expansion of the Metal element from the resultant compatibility would
explain the development of the corrosive armor that spread from the magic
gauntlet to his body.

Moreover—

If Shiba and Kouryuu were to be synchronized, it wasn’t surprising that the

compatibility born from the Earth element would strengthen the Metal element
as well; the lack of balance between the Five Elements he possessed would no
longer a problem for Shiba.

As of now, Shiba had perfected and completed everything.

He now possessed an absolute power that would enable him to overwhelm all of
creation.

“…Well then, Basara, I don’t intend to pull any punches with you anymore. To
be defeated is to lose everything. Are you prepared for that outcome?”
As Shiba smiled, an overwhelming pressure unleashed itself toward them.

“Yeah…bring it on.” There was no hesitation in Toujou Basara as he let out

those words.

Shiba wasn’t the only one who had elevated their power to its absolute limit;
Basara, too, had exchanged his absolute vows with Mio and the others.

“I know I need to defeat you…and I’ve prepared myself for that, as well.”

“Sounds like fun…what about you, then?” Shiba’s thin slits for eyes widened in
delight at Basara’s declaration, before he then addressed Takigawa.

“You’re asking me if I’m ready for this? Please, I’d know better. I didn’t exactly
volunteer to be here, y’know?”

Despite truly disliking the current circumstances and expressing said dislike
thereof, Takigawa didn’t so much as flinch before Shiba’s current state.

“Nevertheless, it wouldn’t do for Basachi to face both you and that giant thing
outside all by himself, eh?

I guess it can’t be helped, then.”

“Huh…perhaps I should let Kouryuu have some fun with you, then, as so you
desire?”

And so—

“Well then, it’s about time we’ve begun, shall we?”

And the moment Shiba uttered those words, a massive impact reduced the
observation deck where the three once stood to naught but ashes.
It was Kouryuu, twined around the tower, its head suddenly lunging toward their
vicinity.

And within the enclosed, pitch black space of the Tokyo sky made of the Five
Elements, an explosion set off as if it were a blooming flower.

With a dreadfully thunderous roar and a flash of light, the curtain now rose on
the battle that held everything at stake.
 CHAPTER 2:
THAT WHICH QUELLS ALL LIVING THINGS
 PART 1

When Kouryuu’s massive body and the Earth elemental energy from the five-
elemental compatibility clashed, the resulting shockwave thundered as it
destroyed the Tokyo Tower. The main observation deck took the full brunt of the
attack—no trace of it remained, as if it had been razed by a flameless explosion.

“——”

But from the dust clouds of the debris jumped out a young man wrapped in a
blinding silver light:ToujouBasara. Even after taking such an attack head on,
there wasn’t a single scratch on him. This wasn’t due to just his own abilities,
however. Basara, once again, felt grateful to everyone who lent him their
strength.

Basara was now clad in a full-body armor that shared the color of his sword,
Brynhildr—he looked somewhat similar to Shiba, who had absorbed Reginleif.
Basara was now the strongest and most complete he had ever been at present.
Back in the Demon Realm, the appearance he had when he fought Leohart was
that of himself utilizing his demonic powers. When he fought Celis at the
Village, the power he wielded was that of Belphegor’s that lay dormant within
Brynhildr, but was unlocked thanks to the contract with Hasegawa; a
combination between the powers of demons and gods that both run through his
veins.

In the first fight with Shiba, Basara controlled his demonic and divine powers
through the use of Banishing Shift, but even then, he didn’t stand a chance
against Shiba. His current form was the result of pushing the Master-Servant
contract he has with Mio and the others, to its very limits.

However, there was a clear difference that separated Basara from Shiba; while
Shiba had completely transformed his appearance, Basara wasstillBasara with
just the armor on. That difference was the very representation of their different
beliefs; while Shiba disposed of his identity as a “human” and chose to
becomesomethingpowerful enough to overthrow demons and gods alike, Basara
chose to face this battle as who he was.

As the user of Banishing Shift, Basara knew that he could not afford to lose
control of his powers. He made a promise to never hurt his loved ones. And so
that’s why he used the bloodlines of the four races, the power of the Five
Elements and the five contracts, to gain full control of his own powers. In his
current state, Basara was powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with Shiba.

Basara willed himself to stop mid-air. With the power of the dragon, he was able
to move freely in the air. Looking down from above, he assessed his current
situation. His eyes darted towards the direction of Tokyo Tower, searching for
his trusted ally, Takigawa.

When Kouryuu charged towards Takiagwa before, who was in his demon form,
he raised his right arm to create a protective sphere around him. If this was any
other enemy, his protective shield would have held against any oncoming attack,
but this was Kouryuu, the dragon with the combined powers of the Four Gods.
Kouryuu shattered the demonic sphere and collided into the ground. However,
the ground remained undamaged even while a humongous mushroom cloud-like
dust cloud rose to the heights of what used to be the Tokyo Tower. But
underneath that dust cloud, there was no body to be found.

“You don’t have to act so surprised.”

Basara slowly turned towards the voice behind him to see Shiba floating
casually, without a worry on his face.

“Kouryuu is in the center, wielding the power of the Earth. He’s not as stupid as
to destroy the very power source that grants him strength.”

A cold grin replaced his aloof expression once he saw Basara’s new attire.

“Oh? Is that the power you gained while you ran from me with your tail between
your legs? Do you think it will be enough to beat me? Hmm…”

“Let’s see if it will work out for you this time.”

And with that, Shiba disappeared from his sight, and the next moment, Basara
felt a crunching blow to his left rib cage.
 PART 2

A cloud of dust enveloped the entire area. Kouryuu felt its body crush the young
man it was targeting. The Demonic Sphere he unleashed was not of the Five
Elements that it was used to, so the dragon did take some damage to penetrate
the barrier, but nothing serious. With its affinity for Earth, its health was slowly
regenerating because of its surroundings.

But there were some concerning things that itched at its mind. First, the amount
of energy being sent from the Four Gods have trickled down to miniscule levels.
Perhaps the enemies were restraining the Four Gods. Synchronizing with Shiba
has also stunted the speed at which Kouryuu could materialize all its power.

However, it was still a matter of time before Kouryuu could materialize its
power. And it had also just defeated one of the enemies. With its job complete,
Kouryuu prepared to fly towards Shiba to lend a hand against his fight, but was
hit by a crushing blow from in front.

Stifling its surprise, Kouryuu realized that the attack just now was of the same
element that young man used before for his barrier. Glancing up towards the inn
built in the park southwest of Tokyo Tower, Kouryuu was greeted with the sight
of the enemy it was sure it just defeated. Looking down, Kouryuu realized that
the “body” it had crushed from his attack before was a “doll”. With realization
that it had been had, Kouryuu looked back up to the young man, only to find
itself surrounded by hundreds of clones of the man.

However, even when surrounded, Kouryuu was not fazed at all. Abilities related
to clones and substitutions usually created weaker versions of the spellcaster.
That is, they stood no chance against the mighty dragon. Further to that, all the
clones were standing on the ground, which was the dragon’s element. They were
asking for a mass-execution.

Summoning its power, Kouryuu willed the ground to swallow up the clones.

But it didn’t.

Instead, it was Kouryuu that was being swallowed up by the ground.

Looking below, Kouryuu saw that the ground at its feet was not of its usual
brown hue, but pitch black.

“You know, you must have been distracted by Solomon’s Barrier, but other
affinities are also able to manipulate the sky and earth, you know?”

The young man continued.

“My shadow clones are made from concentrated demonic energy. If I wanted to,
I can make them act as “triggers” to some large-scale magic attacks. And my
Darkness Element isn’t your standard element. So a being of Earth Element like
yourself won’t be able to handle the darkness.

“I’m sure you can just swallow up this central area if you want to, and even my
magic won’t be able to counter that. But you don’t. And that’s because you’re
prioritizing in getting your full strength back.”

“If you were to launch an area-wide attack, you’d deplete your current Earth
Element energy and the rate of materialization for your power will decrease. And
that’s why you’ve been preserving your power by just launching direct attacks
by charging into us.”
Kouryuu suddenly became more wary of the young man that was opposing it;
though it did not think that he would be powerful enough to fell it, it had
underestimated how much of a threat he was.

The dragon unleashed its Earth Element energy all at once, the golden
shockwave destroying the hundreds of darkness clones that surrounded it. But
just as his clones were being destroyed, Kouryuu saw the young man extend his
arm toward it, beckoned it with his finger.

Come and get me.

And Kouryuu responded in kind—not caring that it would be compromising the

manifestation process, it lunged toward the young man that was its enemy, its
large body surging with the power of the Earth element.
 PART 3

Having closed the distance between himself and Basara in an instant, Shiba had
successfully attacked his adversary—with a punch from his right arm radiating a
massive amount of Ki.

It was an attack was similar to the one that Shiba had dealt to Basara, an attack
that prevented the latter from fighting any further during the first time they
fought each other.

And yet—

The destructive power of his previous attack was a far cry from what was being
unleashed from his current attack; his power had grown to an entirely different
level, with the combination of Reginlief’s corruption being unleashed, the
compatibility acquired from the Four Gods, and Kouryuu manifesting
simultaneously in addition to that.

That said, Basara would not have been able to escape certain death if he were in
the same state as he was when they first sparred.

“…Whoah!?”

However, Shiba was suddenly forced to move after testing his capabilities—and
he didn’t stop there.

“——”
Using the Ki surrounding him, he thrusted the surrounding space with his palms
and feet, the resulting reaction enabling him to move and dodge in three-
dimensions and without limit.

Shiba was spinning his body hectically to avoid an array of slashes that came at
him faster than even his own eyes could follow.

Nevertheless, Shiba did not feel alarmed.

One’s presence can always be detected in the wake of any conscious attack, and
this extended to other signs such as vigor or bloodlust when hostile intent is also
present, and even feints come with some form of consciousness. That said,
Shiba’s ability to both manipulate Ki and detect surrounding Ki meant that he
could dodge his opponent’s attacks without difficulty.

And he could do more than just dodge his opponent’s attacks if he had a grasp of
their consciousness.

“—There you are.”

Swiveling around, Shiba unleashed a backhand chop with his right hand, the
resulting attack making a massive, shrill sound.

His punch had been blocked.

But how? There was no defensive utility that should work against Shiba’s
attacks, now enhanced with massive amounts of Ki. Such Ki would seep through
any weapon it came into contact with and its wielder, and his Ki was even able
to penetrate through Basara’s Universal Rejection.

“…Heh.” Shiba smiled profoundly at the unexpected, foreign occurrence.

It was a first for him—to have the Ki from his punches being unable to run
through an opponent. His only consolation was the fact that he managed to fly
backwards the moment the space was attacked.

“I see…so you’re capable of defending against my Ki now,” Shiba said,

composing himself as he settled down after making distance from his opponent.
He was then met with a resolute declaration by Basara, wielding Brynhildr as he
stood right in front of him.

“I’ve already told you this. I’ve resolved myself to beat you, and I’ve prepared
myself for it.”

Shiba stared at Basara fixatedly. “It seems you’re finally able to put theabstract
conceptnature of that Universal Rejection of yours to use against me.”

Basara’s Universal Rejection was an ability that enabled Basara to deflect any
attack regardless of its nature, but it was of no threat to Shiba; Shiba’s ability to
manipulate Ki was not only a physical manifestation, but it possessed another
side to it—a conceptual activation that applied on abstracts.

What had decided the outcome of their first battle was the clash between
thephysicalityof something that repelled everything and theabstract conceptof
something that could go through anything—but Basara had actually managed to
defend against Shiba’s Ki this time.

It meant that Basara’s Universal Rejection had activated itsconceptualmechanic

of being able repel all things—and Shiba deduced the reason why it had
occurred from the complex aura of Ki Basara was now releasing.

“Humph. The blood of a Demon and a God—of your two mothers—as well as
the blood of Jin-san, a member of the Hero Clan who drank deep the blood of
the evil dragon Fafnir and gained its powers…it seems the powers of your
inheritance of four different bloodlines are coming to life. And the individual
balance between each bloodline is impressively even.”

Moreover—

“There’s also the Solomon’s Seal made by Mio-chan and the others and the
resultant compatibility from them. …Even so, all that alone shouldn’t be enough
for you to be able to defend against my Ki.”

Shiba’s proficiency in wielding Ki had drastically escalated ever since their first
battle; the fact that Basara was able to defend against Shiba’s attacks meant that
Basara had managed to attain a power that was even stronger than Shiba’s during
his disappearance.

And there was only one possible explanation for that.

“But of course, Basara, so you’ve…”

A cold smile surfaced on his face once more as he made the realization.

“You’ve finally crossed the line and made the Master-Servant Vow with Mio-
chan and the others in order to defeat me. That’s what it is, isn’t it?”
 PART 4

Basara remained silent as Shiba deduced what he’d done accurately—Shiba’s

ability to detect and analyze Ki meant that there was no hiding it.

…It’s only natural that you’d know.

Basara’s current power stemmed from the activation of the high balanced
composition of his four bloodlines, as well as the five-elemental compatibility
that came from the Master-Servant Vows he’d made with Mio and the others.

Being able to control the full extent of his newly acquired power was an
extremely difficult task, especially if said power came from an external source
rather than from an internal change.

An additive power boost alone might have been inadequate to attain a power that
was enough to defeat Shiba, however, so Basara had elected to combine all of his
powers multiplicatively. This caused his power to increase so drastically that it
became a futile effort to attempt to control it; and so he could only ask Mio and
the others to erect a barrier from the Solomon’s Seal beforehand.

Despite all that…Basara knew that taking such a turn was no mistake.

And although he could trace Shiba’s current power level to the five-elemental
compatibility of the Four Gods as well as the simultaneous manifestation of the
Kouryuu in addition to several other unknown factors…he never would have
thought that Shiba would be capable of releasing Reginlief’s corrosion.
Had Basara not elevated his Universal Rejection to attain its conceptual
application in preparation for Shiba’s gradually increasing strength, that attack
would have decided the battle there and then.

However, it also meant that the conceptual activation of his Universal Rejection
only applied against Shiba’s Ki; if the conceptual activation applied toward all
things, Basara would reject the very air he needed to breathe as well as repel
even the very space surrounding him, leaving him with nothing around him.

Basara had intentionally limited the conceptual application of his Universal

Rejection to only work against Shiba’s Ki to avoid that from happening.

Of course, he could also control it in a way that it could also repel attacks of a
normal nature—but it was best not to do so.

The correct conceptual adjustments meant that Basara would be able to

withstand Shiba’s attacks; at the same time, a mistake in conceptual deduction of
the particular abstract matter would be fatal.

There was also the fact that Shiba had likely not unleashed his full power when
Basara had blocked his initial attack.

Shiba hid his true intentions to the very end during their first battle—surely he
would have a trump card up his sleeve this time.

“…Still, I must admit that I’m really surprised that you’ve come this far.” Shiba
said, his anomalous self laughing lightly. “While I’ve made a barrier with the
Four Gods and gained power via their five-elemental compatibility, you decided
to use your girls who love you so much to achieve your own five-elemental
compatibility and asked them to make a barrier from the Solomon’ Seal. What
you’re doing is quite similar to what I’ve done, no doubt, but the fundamentals
behind our actions are night and day.”
After all—

“I’m using the Four Gods—the sacred treasures—but Mio-chan and the others
areliving beings.Come on, I don’t think you need me to tell you how cruel that
is. It’s hypocritical too, you yapping all the time about fighting to protect those
you can’t give up on, yet going as far as using your precious girls as tools to
boost yourself in order to beat me.”

Shiba’s words were met with another silence from Basara, and Shiba laughed
again.

“Oh, and that’s not all, right? You’ve advanced your Master-Servant Contracts
into Master-Servant Vows—meaning you can’t ever undo them once you’ve
made them. You’re now binding those whom you love to you for eternity—and I
do recall that you’ve also vaporized the corpses of your own kin of the Village
into nothingness when your Banishing Shift went out of control. Though I
suppose the fact that you want to defeat me and protect what you love makes it a
just cause.”

Of course, that was not the case.

“You really are too far gone if you’ve decided on something that’ll only bring
you irreversible tragedy after all those years and after all those dreadful battles
you’ve struggled against.”

He was criticising them for crossing the line.

“…”

After spending a long time in silence listening to what Shiba had said… Toujou
Basara then finally opened his mouth to speak.

“I won’t deny everything I’ve done—the fact that I was responsible for a
horrible tragedy when my power went out of control and when I condemned the
corpses of my companions to nothingness.”

Even so—

“I’ve never seen the girls as tools—not in the past, not now, and not ever. Even
now, they’re extremely important to me, and they’ll only continue to become
even more irreplaceable in the future…and I’m sure they feel the same way too.
All we’ve done was to make an eternal vow to ensure that no one can take away
any of us from one another.”

And if—

“You think that I see Mio and the others as tools, that’s just because you yourself
consider the Four Gods as nothing as tools to you, isn’t it?”

“…”

It was Shiba’s turn to be silent, his eyes narrowing as Basara continued speaking.

“But much like how Byakko recognizes Takashi, the Four Gods aren’t nothing
more than tools—they’re entities that fight alongside their wielders.”

And much like how Sakuya approved of Yuki—and how Brynhildr approved of
Basara.

“You only treat Reginleif and Kouryuu as tools to realize your own ambitions.
Someone like you has no right to say anything about the relationship—the bonds
—that we share among us.”

Youwilllisten to me, and you will listen well.

“Wealone will decide whether our bonds will end up in tragedy. At the very
least, I don’t approve of what you’re doing and how you’re threatening to take
their smiles and lives away—andthat’sone thing I won’t allow to happen either.”

“I can imagine you won’t…so what are you going to do about it?” He said
mockingly, and two

colon-shaped dark substances the size of his fists melded together behind him to
form a sphere, which then split into a total of nine others.

Shiba’s aura was also growing stronger by the minute—he was about to show
him his true strength.

That’s right,Basara’s thoughts changed again.We’re not the only ones who are
fighting with everythingon the line.

Shiba, too, had a past that cannot be erased—he had his burdens.

But Basara had things he could not afford to lose too.

Such thoughts pounded at his chest as he held Brynhildr at the ready.

“Shiba Kyouichi, I will defeat you—and with everything on the line!”

AndToujouBasara moved to make do on his word.
 PART 5

A massive magic circle was cast in the outdoor stage of the Shakujii Park in the
northwest; swarms of the Legion, a countless horde of evil spirits, were being
constantly summoned from it, yet also being cut down from a series of sword
strikes that were as strong as they were keen.

The battle had since gone on for thirty minutes; the number of Legion that
Leohart had brought down with his magic sword, Loki, was now in the
thousands, but the horde remained unceasing as they kept appearing in hordes
regardless of how many he cut down.

Leohart had two objectives in this battle—the first was to subdue Balflear and
arrest him, while the second was to protect Maria, who was forming the barrier
made from the Solomon’s Seal.

And an important factor of said battle was distance; Leohart had maintained a
constant, appropriate distance from Maria as he battled on, knowing that he
would drag her into the battle if he were too close, but caring to also not stray
too far to avoid the event of being unable to defend her in time.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

An overwhelming blade of air sliced through the surrounding Legion, and

Leohart ran the edge of his magic sword across the ground, raising his sword
upward in a sweeping motion that threatened to shake the earth beneath him. The
resulting shockwave riled up sand and debris as it blew away the hordes of
Legion that had just emerged from the massive magic circle.
“…Cut down as many as you want. It’s useless.”

It was Balflear, who had disappeared the moment the battle had started. His
voice could be heard everywhere, and the conjuring of another magic circle that
summoned even more hordes of the Legion revealed his location.

I see.

Having attempted to destroy the magic circles summoning the Legion several
times to verify the reality of the situation, Leohart could no longer deny that
what Balflear said was true.

The Legion would not be stopped off his current methods.

“The Legion are an infinite horde of evil spirits…there’s no stopping them.”

Balflear laughed even more coldly at their fruitless endeavour.

“…Is that really the case?” Leohart said, doubting Balflear’s words. Although
the Legion seemed to spawn endlessly no matter how much he cut down,
Leohart felt that there was some deception involved.

Having immediately inquired about Balflear and the Legion from Maria who had
sparred against Balflear before his arrival, Leohart suspected that one of the two
statements—the Legion being a god of infinite power, and the fact that Balflear
had managed to form a perfect contract with said Legion—was false, or that they
were both false.

It was impossible for both statements to be true—they were supposed to be

mutually exclusive.

And then there was the fact that their demonic powers were restricted from their
full potential within the five-elemental compatibility barrier made from the four
sacred treasures—the Demon God Legion included. At the same time, Shiba
could not have acquired such supreme power simply from being born of the
Hero Clan, the power needed to wield the sacred treasures and erect the
aforementioned barrier.

Leohart then spoke to the empty space before him, knowing that Balflear could
still hear him somewhere.

“If what you say is true, rather than idling around and trying to fight off sheer
numbers like what you’re doing now, you could simply decide the outcome of
the battle by combining your seemingly infinite horde of Legion into a single,
special entity.”

And that wasn’t all—

“I know everything. I’ve heard it all from Lars, knowing that he has more history
with you than I do, and he’s told me of the real reason you’ve decided to help
that Shiba person—as well as what you truly desire. Still, if the power of the
Legion is as infinite as you say—you yourself should be unmatched by now, and
you wouldn’t have proceeded with this plan to provide Shiba with the absolute
power he needed. And yet you have, planning this operation with Shiba
Kyouichi in the shadows, and now you’re just playing hide and seek while
facing us through a war of attrition.”

But that was not the case, because—

“There has to be a limit—be it with the Legion or you yourself. And the infinite
power of your Legion is no more under said limit. I would assume that there’s
something of a core situated somewhere else—the very source that results in this
horde that’s seemingly endless no matter how many beings are cut down, when
in reality it’s simply reusing a finite source to produce new hordes of Legion as
the previous hordes are destroyed. Am I wrong?”
“…”

Leohart was answered with a silence that was not still; the view before him was
cleared; the magic circle dissipated, and the swarming hordes of Legion were
also nowhere to be found.

“Has he…retreated?” Maria asked as she continued to supply her Wood element
needed to sustain the barrier made from the Solomon’s Seal.

“…No. I think he wants to settle this once and for all.”

It was a silence that suggested that Balflear was about to demonstrate Leohart’s
assumption—a silence that heralded the forthcoming of a stronger Legion.

“…Let me ask you something, Maria.”

“What is it? I’ve told you everything I know about him and the Legion…”

“I’m not asking you about Balflear. I want to know about this Shiba person—his
history, and the extent of his abilities,” Leohart said, “There’s a reason as to why
Balflear’s decided to work together with that man, with said man seemingly
treating Balflear as his only ally as well.”

There had to be some connection between the two.

“Make your explanation brief—and concise.”

“Shiba Kyouichi’s background and abilities? Let’s see…”

Maria then proceeded to explain to Leohart what she knew of their enemy: of
how he was a forbidden existence made from the Vatican, a clone of the war
god, Toujou Jin; and how he was extremely skilled at controlling Ki—perhaps
enough to call him the very unmatched master of the art.
She spoke of how his body was full of Kegare that could swallow anything…
he’s also absorbed Reginlief, a member of the Ten Gods, through another
forbidden experiment.

The information Leohart received along with his existing knowledge of the
Legion’s properties as well as the fact that Balflear revealing that he had spent a
longer history with Shiba seemed to be the answers the Demon Lord needed to
confirm his suspicions.

“So that’s how it is…” Leohart muttered.

“What exactly have you understood?” A soft voice suddenly said.

Leohart silently turned behind him to see Balflear, now around twenty metres
away from him, with the Legion beside him—it now looked drastically different.

“———”

Its flesh was now hard and firm—its physique was now undeniably strong at
first glance—instead of theslimy,unstable texture that it had previously assumed;
the sheer pressure that came from its mere, hulking presence was reminiscent of
the intimidating form of the Demon God Chaos that they had witnessed in the
past.

This form of the Legion was undoubtedly Balflear’s trump card.

“I’m not interested in fighting a war of attrition at all. All the Kouryuu needs to
manifest itself is to remain in this five-elemental compatibility barrier, with
Kyouichi-dono’s power only continuing to grow all the while. I’m simply buying
time. Well,” Balflear said. “I’d stop here and be silent now, but youaresomeone I
used to serve. I would much rather have preferred it if you’d simply stayed in the
Demon Realm happily living out the rest of your limited days with your precious
older sister…it’d be a bit of a shame to come all the way here just to die without
any good reason to.”

Balflear touched the Legion in its ultimate form. “This is the true form of the
Legion…I’ll say this now—you have no chance of defeating it.”

“Is that so—I suppose we’ll see about that,” Leohart said, readying Loki at
Balflear’s declaration.

“…Though is this truly alright?” He then tossed a question at him, “Is it truly
alright for you to show yourself like this, Balflear?”

“………”

His question erased any trace of emotion Balflear had on his face.

“From what I know, your abilities come from a contract made with the high-
ranking Demon Wraith—abilities that allow you to hide in gaps in between
dimensions. Near the end of the last great war, you were assigned to my unit as
my aide, and were responsible for many secret operations. But even so,” Leohart
said, “I felt that something was off after discovering that you’ve made a contract
with the Legion as well as your relationship with this man called Shiba. Shiba
Kyouichi was not involved in the previous battle whatsoever, and he had not left
the human world during that time as well; this means the two of you must have
come into contact in the human world.”

Even then—

“And while Shiba Kyouichi was being imprisoned for the past twenty years, why
did you return to the Demon Realm to participate in the last great war…? I think
I’ve found my answer after hearing Maria’s explanation of his history. And with
it I’ve also found out why you’ve decided to lend your strength to him.”
He then sighed.

“Balflear…you were imprisoned in the Vatican for a time after that last great
battle, weren’t you?”

What a troublesome fellow,Balflear thought. Leohart must now have at

leastsomegrasp of his history and his secrets.

Then again, Leohart was always someone who was extremely knowledgeable
and intelligent—he never needed a subordinate like Balflear.

He was straightforward and did not particularly enjoy pulling the strings or
working beyond the scenes like Balflear and Lars did, but he was no fool.

As Balflear pondered on the nuisance before him—

“Contracts that provide one with power carry a risk that’s directly proportionate
to the power being supplied. Normally, it would be utterly impossible to
accomplish what you’ve done and contract with the Legion as a single entity, no
matter how many miracles one could think of. The way I see it, you’re an
experimental product made from a test to see if one could contract with a Demon
God after being abducted by the Vatican—much like the man you call Shiba
being an experimental clone of Jin Toujou. And I doubt you’re the only one,”
Leohart said. “Though the number of casualties during the last great war are
unknown, I presume that half of those presumed dead were spared as not only
prisoners, but also test subjects—all for the sake of producing ridiculous
breakthroughs. And you, Balflear, are but the successful subject that had
contracted with the Legion.”

And perhaps—
“It was your Legion that was the final piece of the puzzle in making Shiba
Kyouichi the vessel for the Kegare left over from the experiments that no one
from the Hero Clan was capable of handling—and via containing the
inexhaustible supply of Legion into his body, isn’t it? That’s why you’ve decided
to work together with him—it’s because his desire for revenge against the
Vatican aligns with that of your own.”

“That is correct…that’s the gist of it. You’re wrong about one detail, though.”
Balflear said. He then unfastened the chest plate of his battle attire and undid the
active, optic magic seal on it.

“The prisoners of the Vatican were not forced to make contracts with the Legion.
I—we—were simply forced to become its hosts.”

He exposed the center of his chest—the heart of the Demon God Legion.

“The worst part of all this is that the Vatican had discovered a way to eliminate
their problem of having insufficient test subjects.”

Leohart’s eyes widened slightly at Balflear’s statement. “Could it be—”

“Yes—cloning. I am, like Kyouichi-dono, a living product of an experiment.

More specifically, I am a chimeric experimental being made from cells with high
compatibility rates extracted from the demons who were imprisoned there. I
don’t remember the demon I was cloned from or what number I was when I

was first produced—perhaps one of many million others like me. And it was
through countless experiments that the impossible finally happened: a successful
product born from the deepest depths of despair—I, 13thEdition BLFLA model:
Soul Composition Batch, Experiment Numberfi○○○48!”
When the vessel housing an immeasurable amount of Kegare as a result of
continuous absorption of the Legion was first transported to the Village in Japan,
he’d introduced himself as “Shiba”, derived from the remaining numbers from
Balflear’s experimental code. (4= Shi, 8=Ba).

“I never would have thought…something like that happened…” Maria

whispered, dumbfounded by Balflear’s explanation—and there was a barely
detectable laugh from him.

“That only caused the time I’d spent with Kyouichi in the experimental facility
to last even longer.”

“And that’s why the two of you decided to work together. To exact revenge
against the Vatican—revenge against the Hero Clan, is it not?” Leohart asked.

“Of course…and back when Kyouichi-dono first absorbed Reginlief, I left the
facility amidst the commotion while he intentionally stayed behind. We swore
there and then—to reunite once more when the right time came for us to enact
the glorious drama of destroying everything.”

You understand it now, don’t you?

“I sided with Kyouichi-dono not because I’ve spent more time with him—but
we’ve suffered within an abyss, a hell with more madness and cruelty than any
battlefield.”

Leohart was even more assured of the truth after listening to Balflear.

“…As I thought, then. You returned to the Demon Realm—”

“Exactly—to make a contact with Wraith.” Balflear replied immediately. “I

refused to die until the time was right—I had to find a place where neither blade
nor magic would be able to harm me.”
Wraith possessed the ability to traverse through the dimensions and remain in
their space at will; he was a demon of an even higher echelon that even high-
ranking members of the Demon Realm could not make contracts with.

However, Balflear had made the impossible possible given that he was a host of
the Legion—and his preparations were complete the moment he had acquired
Wraith’s powers.

“I’ve already tested the full extents of Wraith’s stealth abilities when I was
operating in the last war; had others known that my abilities now surpassed that
of my commander, I would have attracted a lot of unnecessary attention…and if
I had disappeared out of the blue before Kyouichi-dono’s preparations were
complete, I would have invited a lot of focus and investigation.”

That said—

“You gave me the solution I needed when you requested me as your adjutant.
You put me into a position where I didn’t need to worry about anything—a safe
haven, if you will—and most importantly, with it you provided me with power,
rank, and freedom. I’ve aided you in achieving the dream you’ve been carrying
for so long to return the favour.”

“I suppose we can agree on that—those old men are hardly any different from
the Vatican, after all.”

“Yes. Even the Demon Realm is not spared from the hell that I’ve been through.
Though perhaps such taboos and the despair that comes with them isn’t as rare
as it seems to be.”

And yet—

“Even so, I can’t let go of it all…not the sinners involved, nor the hate that
corrodes my own dignity.” Balflear said, his voice growing heavier by the
minute.

“I suppose I understand what you’ve been through and the emotions behind it
now, but…” Leohart said, “Why didn’t you think of using me if you wanted to
exact vengeance against the Hero Clan? It’s obvious that there would be many
who would oppose the operation you’ve planned with Shiba, and given how I
still needed the support of the Demon Realm even after succeeding Wilbert as
the new Demon Lord, you could have easily coerced me into launching an attack
on the Vatican, the headquarters of the Hero Clan.” Balflear said. “Well, I also
agreed with your decision to dispose of the Cardinal Sins to a certain extent.”

“Don’t you know full well why I never considered that option?” Balflear asked,
laughing callously.

“Youfought against the Cardinal Sins not only out of justice. …The main reason
why you did all that was simply to ensure your beloved older sister would be
able to live her life in the Demon Realm without leash orworry.I know full well
of that through how you’ve actively tried to avoid conflict with the Hero Clan,
instead seeking to unify the Demon Realm into an era of peace, and even now
you’re proceeding with an alliance negotiation with the Moderate Faction—even
if you’ve allowed us to attack Naruse Mio, the daughter of Wilbert, the previous
Demon Lord.”

But the truth is rarely so simple.

“Yet even with the recommendation of both the Warring Faction and the
Conservative Faction, your ideals are, at the end of the day, are still much like
Wilbert’s from when he used to reign from the Moderate Faction—to realize
your own ambitions and to ensure the prosperity of those closest to you. That’s
no different from what the Cardinal Sins have done. …No, that’s not the case,
now, is it? For a king meant to serve and sacrifice for his people to instead
sacrifice his own people for those personal to him—all while wielding the very
fact that it’s all for those you love as a convenient excuse—you’re simply far
worse.”

But such things could simply not be tolerated,Balflear said.

“An eye for an eye—pain must be repaid equally, and suffering must be shared
with those who condemn others to it. The hate I hold is just and cannot be
eliminated—how could it be, knowing that it would satisfy a mere insignificant
minority if it were possible! Be it the entire Hero Clan or the Ten Gods who
were responsible behind the scenes—they cannot be exempt from knowing the
extents of how we’ve both suffered.”

Balflear’s words were the culmination of the long-held resentment that he’d
carried with him for almost twenty years.

And Leohart’s was a simple reply.

“…I won’t let you do as you please.”

 PART 6

Despite finally understanding the strong, yearning feelings his former adjutant
had carried with him for so long, Leohart firmly rejected them.

“I won’t fault you and your hatred of the Heroes and the Gods for your past
experiences…and I can understand how your actions are all fuelled by a need for
vengeance toward them. However,” Leohart said.

“There are many in the Demon Realm who live in the moment, hoping for
tomorrow—I imagine the people in this world are like that too. And all you and
Shiba Kyouichi will be doing is restarting the war that involved both the human
world and the Demon Realm by breaking the ceasefire pact between the two
worlds. A full-scale war between the human world and the Demon Realm—
possibly involving even the Divine Realm—will only result in a terribly
irrevocable calamity for all sides.”

And—

“This battle will only bring about new pain and fan the flames to an unending
cycle of hate. You two intend to unleash your hate to the world, not knowing that
you’d be merely be creating many others like yourselves. Now that the long,
sorrowful period of strife in the Demon Realm is finally coming to an end, I will
not allow yet another pit of suffering to befall my people as the Demon Lord!”

Balflear sent a sharp glare at Leohart at his proclamation—he said nothing in

rebuttal, for he was fully aware of coming consequences of his actions.

And Leohart continued speaking.

“A king’s duty is not only to reply to those who have made his subjects suffer in
kind—a king must carry both the joy and sorrow of his people to lead them
toward a brighter future. This is the sacred duty of a lord, and a mandatory
responsibility that has nothing to do with one’s personal feelings. My older sister
and I know this all too well.”

Make no mistake.

“My intentions for defeating the Cardinal Sins and supporting a relationship
between the Current Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction are not
simply to provide a place where my older sister can belong—and that hasn’t
changed even now. The resultant pact between the two factions will form an
unopposable power in the Demon Realm…one that will adequately keep other
forces in check and limit the amount of blood that needs to be spilled. I believe
this would bring prosperity to all in the Demon Realm, present and future.”

There was no hesitation in Leohart’s words.

“The path I tread upon is lined by the smiles of my people and my comrades
awaiting me. And my older sister and I will attain true happiness when I finish
walking down this path. That is the future that I want—the future we want!”

But—

“And what are you two doing! What lies ahead in your single-minded endeavour
to fulfil your desire for vengeance and involving the innocent in it other than
satisfying yourselves? You’re now preparing to sacrifice countless lives in order
to realize your ambitions—what makes you any different from the Cardinal Sins
and the Vatican now? …Tell me, Balflear!”

“…Don’t get full of yourself!” Balflear’s voice now completely frigid, having
heard enough of Leohart’s earnest cries.
“Our pain, our suffering…our long-festered hatred…they belong to us and us
alone! We alone can carry them and not anyone else…!”

With strong emphasis on the final words of his statement, the Legion, now in its
final form beside Balflear, began to move—a catastrophic aura began surging
from the entirety of its titanic body, maelstroms of a bluish purple rattling the
surrounding air.

Leohart prepared himself, wielding Loki at the ready.

“If you needed the help of Toujou Basara and Mio Naruse to narrowly defeat
Chaos, I don’t think you can do anything to beat an evil spirit like the Legion.”
Balflear laughed.

“…I wonder about that.” Leohart said, a faint smile on his face.

“Why do you think you’re the only one who’s been concealing his true power?”

He then unleashed the power his magic sword as his grip tightened on its hilt.

“Devour them—Loki!”

Leohart appeared before Balflear and the Legion in an instant, his blade drawn in
a horizontal sweeping stance.

Loki was now freed from its usual restrained state, and Leohart’s current enemy
was its prey—with it came the incredible speed of its slicing attack.

Loki was known by many names, each of which possessed their own individual
abilities—and Leohart was now unleashing all of them to their fullest extent,
granting him the power he needed to fell what stood in his path.
Having closed the distance between him and his enemy and disrupted their
awareness with Master of Mischief, Loki augmented its attack with Finality,
threatening to bring about an immediate demise.

Leohart aimed such an unavoidable, fatal attack at the large body of the Legion;
and the next moment, the Legion’s titanic body seemed to explode and disperse
—

“————?”

Leohart was suddenly surprised; his sword didn’t seem to cut through anything,
and he soon realized why.

The Legion had not been sliced open—it had split up on its own into fragments.
These fragments recombined into six large eyeballs, the scattered objects circling
a hemispherical circumference above Leohart and the space around him with
their individual, nonuniform paces and with immense speed.

“What a shame.”Balflear said, having long since vanished.

The Legion’s eyes then simultaneously shot thread-thin, red-hot rays directly
toward Leohart that burned the very space they passed through—it was an
advanced phenomenon exclusive to one with calibre of a Demon God,
something that was much more different from mere magic.

—It was an exchange between their two trump cards, a clash between offense
and defense.

Having successfully avoided Leohart’s threatening attack by causing the final

form of Legion to split up, Balflear knew that he was going to achieve a narrow
victory as he concealed himself in a dimensional gap.

Leohart had been right when he had correctly deduced that there was a limit to
the Legion; although the Legion’s properties were truly unlimited, the same
could not be said for Balflear’s own powers as its host, and so he could neither
increase the number of the Legion’s bodies ad infinitum nor increase its strength.

Even so, his current strength would still be more than enough to send Leohart to
his grave, and Balflear had successfully outwitted his opponent in this exchange.

Leohart was to die here—the real battle was what would come after.

…A certain womanwon’t let this slide without a fight.

Liala, the Massacre Demonness, would definitely come after the life of anyone
responsible for the death of her beloved younger brother; even so, Shiba had
already grown to a level of unmatched power, and Balflear could simply hide
from her between dimensions.

And even then—

Balflear wouldn’t care whatsoever even if he were to die by Liala’s hand

anyway, and it wasn’t because he would willingly die for atonement.

The death of Balflear—and even Shiba’s death—would not cease her hatred that
came from the demise of Leohart, whom she loved above all else. She would
continue hunting, eventually discovering the operation that had taken place
twenty years ago, and eliminate anyone found to be involved. Her search would
extend not only to the Hero Clan; even the Divine Realm would not be spared
from her wrath if she were to find out that the cloning operation was secretly
founded by theTenGods—down to the last living thing.

He thought of the irony of the situation—of how the death of Leohart, who
swore to stop him from causing even more tragedy and hate, would only bring
forth a trail of blood in the wake of his own older sister Liala.
“A pity,” As he bade his last goodbye to Leohart, the Legion’s six eyes continued
firing their disintegration rays at the same time. The red lasers pierced through
Leohart’s body and drove themselves deeper into the ground below, causing an
overheating explosion as it reduced the Demon Lord to naught but cinders.

—Or so he thought.

“———”

It was surprise—not victory—that befell him next. The lasers aimed at Leohart
were suddenly deflected to the ground, and Balflear could not see Leohart or
discern why his attack had failed due to the resulting explosion and smoke from
the scorching attack.

He couldn’t possibly have escaped such a heated explosion even if it had been
redirected, but—

“…”

Balflear swallowed hard—he was feeling more and more nervous. If Leohart
managed to somehow deflect such a powerful phenomenon from the Legion, it
would also be easy for him to resist the explosion and come out unscathed.

“…There you are.”

Balflear flinched as he turned around at the sudden voice—Leohart had

unknowingly entered the dimensional space exclusive to only Balflear through
the powers he’d received from the contract with Wraith.

He was now wearing black armor; Loki remained in his right hand.

And there was a dimensional gap behind him.

No doubt the full extent of Loki’s powers had enabled him to cut through the
dimensions and allow Leohart to enter Balflear’s personal realm. And it was
likely that Loki’s power now surpassed Wraith’s in terms of manipulating
dimensions that enabled Leohart to pinpoint Balflear’s exact location amidst a
space with an almost infinite phase contrast.

“————!”

Balflear immediately cast a magic circle in front of him; the Legion followed by
lunging toward Leohart, its six eyes recombining.

If splitting up into six entities would not work against him, surely the Legion
would be able to defeat him in its ultimate form. And he would not be directly
attacking him—he would allow the Legion to explode, unleashing all the
corrupting power within to destroy his enemy.

That should do it,he thought—but he was once again denied his moment of
victory.

Leohart was wielding Loki at his waist; the blue-purple aura being absorbed by
the blade of the sword.

The next moment, Leohart unleashed a shockwave in a slashing motion, slicing

away the Legion in one fell swoop; the resulting attack also clashed with the
magic circle Balflear used to summon the Demon God, causing a massive
explosion.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Balflear was directly struck with the attack at point-blank range, causing him to
be knocked out of the dimensional space into the surrounding space; he collided
with the earth of the Shakujii Park below him, grinding the surrounding surface
as he fell into a rolling crash. He then fell into one of the western ponds of the
park, the booming noise causing the pond water to erupt from its reservoir;
however, the water also

cushioned the resulting impact, and he was left on the shore of one of the
floating islands surrounding the pond.

“Ah…gah…”

Balflear barely managed to stay conscious despite having taken tremendous

damage.

Balflear had utilized a magic circle meant to summon the Legon; although
Balflear lacked the ability to fully utilize the Legion’s powers, the summoning
circle required to bring forth the Demon God was nonetheless capable of
withstanding its limitless power, and so he had repurposed the magic circle to
protect himself from the full brunt of Loki’s attack.

Crawling out of the pond with the last of his strength, Balflear saw Leohart
arriving before him as he raised himself onto the floating island, now soaking
wet.

“……………”

Balflear continued staring at Leohart, now fully clad in black armor that
resembled his own sword, in disbelief.

Loki’s power was indeed a far cry from the power of Toujou Basara’s Brynhildr
—but much like how Balflear was unable to fully make use of the Legion’s
infinite powers, Leohart was also supposed to be incapable of unlocking the full
extent of Loki’s power. A forcible attempt at doing so would overwhelm his
body and his heart—that was why he had used Loki in a limited state when he
fought against Toujou Basara and Chaos.

Even for someone like Leohart, it should have been impossible to make use of
the full extent of Loki’s power—unless there was some blessing or contract
involved…

“Are you telling me that…” Balflear muttered. An impossible answer suddenly

became possible in his mind.

“You’ve made a Master-Servant Contract with Liala-dono?”

“…I don’t want to lose anymore.” Leohart said, affirming Balflear’s assumption
as the latter remained in shock.

Leohart thought of the time where he had to fight against Toujou Basara during
the conflict against the Moderate Faction; he had undeniably lost their battle to
him, even if said battle had been interfered while it was still proceeding.

There was also the fact that Chaos could not have been defeated without the aid
of Basara and the others—it had reminded him of the reality that he lacked the
strength to go against the Moderate Faction and the Cardinal Sins—as well as
the fact that Basara possessed the strength he did not.

The Cardinal Sins were now no more, and the proceedings of peace with the
Moderate Faction were currently underway—with its success possibly bringing
about a true, everlasting peace for the Demon Realm.

Even so, however, Leohart knew he lacked the strength to protect that peace—
such was why he could only do what he could and perform a Master-Servant
contract with Liala.

His contract was different from Basara’s contracts, though—he was theservantin
the contract, whilst Liala was his master.

Liala had accepted the idea for the Master-Servant Contract positively, knowing
that it was a means to deepen their already close bond and grow even more
inseparable; however, she had initially disapproved of the suggestion that she
was to be Leohart’s master in the contract.

It was the only request from Liala that Leohart had ever insisted against; he
would satisfy any of Liala’s desires with the exception of this one. Regardless of
the means they would use to form their contract, Leohart did not want any risk of
Liala getting afflicted with the curse, and more importantly, he simply had a
wish he couldn’t back down on.

It was his dream.

Leohart had never wanted to be the sovereign of his world—he had only
assumed the throne as a means to gain power to obtain power to protect Liala,
knowing full well that he only acquired the position on recommendation by the
Sins as a puppet ruler.

All this time, he only ever wanted one thing—to become a knight meant to serve
and protect his beloved older sister.

Liala had finally accepted his intentions after hearing of the dream he had—and
it was only with that contract that Leohart managed to arrive here with a newly
acquired power.

Looking below him as he wielded the power of Loki, his magic sword—his
Demon God—he saw Balflear spread-eagled and unconscious on the ground, as
if he had lost all of his will to resist after accepting that he had been completely
defeated.
“Much like Toujou Basara, I, too, have things that I can’t give up on. I will spare
none that will cross my lines, no matter who they may be,” Leohart said, and the
Demon Lord then quietly announced his purpose for coming here.

“Balflear, I arrest you for the crime of the highest level of treason.”
 PART 7

Shiba and Basara continued sparring in mid-air of Tokyo, the atmospheric

vibrations from their intense battle threatening to destroy the surrounding
atmosphere itself as the two beings of ultimate power continued fighting.

Their skills were limited in some way for this battle; Basara had to limit the
conceptual application of his Universal Rejection to only work against Shiba’s
Ki, whereas Shiba was now incapable of penetrating through Basara with his
primary ability. The sky became the stage for which the two sparred with their
weapons; Basara with his sword, Byrnhildr, and Shiba with the corroding magic
gauntlet Reginlief, now clad on this body as both armor and weapon.

With the dragon’s blood he’d inherited from Jin, he flew in between the gaps of
the skyscrapers of the city at high speeds; encircling the white structures, he
made a high-speed turn and lunged toward Shiba, who was also moving through
the air by virtue of his Ki.

“Wooooooooooooooooooah!”

He unleashed Byrnhildr as the two clashed, his attack a curved slash that
threatened to run through Shiba’s left shoulder and toward the right side of his
torso; his combined speed, pushed it to its absolute limit, along with the strength
he now possessed meant that he would be able to cut through anything.

And yet—

“…Tsk, tsk, tsk. You never learn, do you?” Shiba smiled as he took the attack
head on. His collar simply absorbed the full extent of the attack, causing only a
loud, clanging sound of metal.

Basara’s blade did not cut through Shiba, let alone cause any damage.

While Shiba had primarily used his Ki for offense in their previous battles, Shiba
was now using his Ki defensively now that Basara’s Universal Rejection was
able to resist the penetration of his Ki. He was now utilizing an ultimate defense
called the Ki Barrier, where his entire body was enveloped in a flow of Ki; it
turned Basara’s slashing attack into a mere blow and completely nullified the
force that came with it.

“I guess it’s my turn now.”

As Basara distanced himself from Shiba with the recoiling force from his attack
and straightened his position in mid-air, Shiba launched a fist resembling a
tiger’s claw upward.

“————!”

Basara managed to avoid Shiba’s attack that was aiming for the left side of his—
he fought against the recoil that had knocked Byrnhildr toward him through
sheer strength, and he then used Shiba’s left shoulder as support to evade Shiba’s
punch with a handstand.

He then prepared to swing Brynhildr down on Shiba as he turned around to get

behind Shiba as he loomed over him. It was then that he saw Shiba’s attack
causing a thunderous explosion in the building in front of him—about three or
four buildings had completely disappeared as if the claw of a giant beast had run
through them.

Basara gulped as he witnessed the extent of the attack’s

destructivepower.Although Shiba had reduced a building that Basara cut down to
dust with his Ki, his Ki had now grown to be so powerful that it left no trace of
anything it touched—enough to destroy or disintegrate anything completely. And
although Basara was clad in Byrnhildr’s armor much like Shiba was now clad in
his own, he doubted if he had the defences to stomach an attack of that
magnitude given that he was unable to use something like Shiba’s Ki Barrier.

—Having activated the conceptual activation of his Universal Rejection, he was

currently only capable of resisting the penetration of Shiba’s Ki that was fatal to
anything it made contact with.

And although Shiba utilized Ki in both his normal attacks and his penetration
attacks, the properties between the two types of attacks varied greatly—though
Shiba’s normal attacks were no less threatening in terms of their power.

Ki would be instilled into a target not only just from the point of impact, but it
could be fired toward a target that was far away as well—with Shiba’s most
recent attack being a dangerously apt demonstration. That said, Basara had to be
careful to avoid almost every attack Shiba threw at him since the beginning of
the battle.

Basara wasn’t worried despite all that, however.

If he could not avoid Shiba’s attacks, he would simply ensure Shiba would not
be able to dodge his own attacks—he would do what needs to be done.

“Mmm…as I thought, your speed is actually a little problematic.”

When Shiba turned around next, Basara was no longer within sight—his speed
had been increased twofold, far surpassing Shiba’s. He readied himself in a
slanting position above Shiba’s blind spot—behind his right side—and launched
an attack that could not be avoided or defended against—Extinction Sword.
Although the trajectory of destructive power of the attack when it was used in
their previous battle had been redirected through a flow of Ki, the previous
iteration of the attack was a normal manifestation of the move—it had been a
physical activation.

This time, he would be utilizing the conceptual activation of the move, much
like he had applied to his Universal Rejection.

With Shiba as the intended target, Shiba would not be able to defend against his
attack with his Ki Barrier; attacking from his blind spot also meant that he would
have no chance of dodging the attack as well.

This one hit would decide the battle there and then.

But—

“————!?”

Basara hurriedly flew upward as if he were deflected in order to dodge

something, even after unleashing such a powerful attack; his Extinction Sword
was cut down by a vertical, curved slash that came from below, red-black blade
marks cutting through the space below his feet and soundlessly slice through the
three skyscrapers line behind him.

“…”

Basara could not catch his breath; the Extinction Sword split into two equal parts
as if to evade Shiba as the fragments continued to travel further behind their
intended target, causing destruction in Asakusa Town in their wake. The
buildings behind him were also beginning to crumble.

“I don’t think I’ve properly explained this to you…but my battle style of

manipulating Ki is based on a concept called Ars Deicidium—one that prepares
me against even the highest-ranking gods and demons. And much like your
Banishing Shift granting you a set of primordial abilities for your use, my
concept also happens to come with some secret techniques of its own as well.”
Shiba laughed as he eliminated the Annihilation Slash with a spinning kick
towards the right behind him.

“Let’s start with one of the many abilities included…Fifth Rank—Nine-Headed

Kusanagi!”

Basara was taken back as Shiba revealed his first technique; before Basara even
realized it, he was already surrounded by nine blackmagatama (yin-yang
beads)around him—dispersed from Shiba’s back.

“Gah…!”

Basara steeled himself to face the attack directly, a sight which caused Shiba’s
smile to deepen.

“Eighth Rank—Tamemikazuchi!”

The blackmagatamasimultaneously suddenly shot out black and red electric

streams as Shiba revealed his second technique, constricting Basara and
preventing him from moving freely.

“Gaaah…damn…these…”

“I’m surprised you can still speak even after you’ve taken this attack…are you
telling me you still have the strength to escape?” Shiba said, watching Basara’s
frantic struggle against the electrifying chains with great interest. “Heads up,
though—the real Tamemikazuchi startsnow.” Shiba said, raising his right hand.

“Here, let me give you a taste…of what becoming lightning feels like.”
With a snap of his fingers, a dreadfully violent explosion preceded the lightning
bolt that was Toujou Basara as it crashed onto the ground.
 PART 8

The earth beneath him was incapable of handling the sheer strength of
Tamemikazuchi, and the electric chains binding him meant that he could not
even go against the forceful movement.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Having been driven through the asphalt and several underground floors, he
ended up on a platform of an underground train station. And having taken
several direct, consecutive blows to his back from the attack, the shock from the
impacts caused oxygen to escape from Basara’s lungs and pour out of his mouth.

“Kkk…gah…haaah!”

Although Brynhildr’s armor meant he sustained no serious injury to his internal

organs, he remained shackled by the Tamemikazuchi’s electric chains.

“———!”

Basara then willed the Universal Rejection to apply to the Tamemikazuchi,

knocking away the strong current of electricity binding him.

“…What is this place…?”

His gaze darted toward the signboard on the nearby wall—it was the Kamiyacho
Station of the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line. He then realized that he was now
northwest of the city
“What’s this? …You’ve managed to escape Tamemikazuchi?” Shiba said,
landing on the platform after following Basara down through the tunnel he’d
inadvertently made from the severe, drilling impacts.

Basara frantically attempted to make distance.

“How about this, then?”

The ninemagatamabehind Shiba then dispersed into groups of three, sealing both
ends of the platform as well as the massive hole that Basara had dropped out of,
creating a massive, triangular prison of electricity.

“…!” Basara grunted at the predicament he was in.

Shiba then activated a stance that was different from the one he used to cast
Tamemikazuchi, crossing his arms as he thrusted his palms toward Basara—

“Tenth Rank—Kurikara!”

A red-black stream of Ki energy surged forth from Shiba’s palms—the massive

amount of Ki took shape and assumed the form of a four-headed dragon.

Burning the half-sealed space of the platform, the dragon’s attention was now
fully fixated on Basara.

“———!”

Basara decided to run from the attack rather than face it head on this time—he
wanted to avoid being shackled by the Tamemikazuchi again if he were to
attempt to counter Kurikara with Banishing Shift. Moreover, the hellfire of the
Kurikara would incinerate the surrounding oxygen in the are almost
immediately, turning the underground station into a hellish oven—at the same
time, however, changing the rejected target of his Universal Rejection to the
Kurikara’s heat would leave him vulnerable to the Penetration property of
Shiba’s Ki.

He began to run behind him.

“Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Unleashing Banishing Shift towards the magatama that were covering the
direction of the Kita-Senju station, he deflected the electric current that was
blasting a hole in the electric barrier, before he jumped onto the underground
railway tracks and made a speedy sprint toward the north. The four-headed fire
dragon filled the underground tunnel completely as it chased after him.

…If this is the Hibiya line, then—

As Basara formed a map of his surroundings in his mind as he passed by the

Kasumigaseki station, the flames lined the space of the tunnel as they continued
chasing after him in the subterranean space, spreading across the intersection
that linked the Maruonouchi line and the Chiyoda line.

However, the wrath of the flaming dragon remained relentless as it continued

chasing after Basara.

As he reached a point of the Hibiya line railway tracks that curved right—

“…Here!”

Basara suddenly directed Extinction Sword in a curved slash upward as he ran,

forming a pathway that would lead to the surface. He then leapt upwards in a
slanting motion towards his right in a forward-bent posture through the tunnel
he’d created. The flames of the Kurikara followed him in a grand eruption
toward the tunnel they chased after him as it surged upward—Basara thus
escaped the extremely thick flamethrower that would have resulted in a fiery
fate.

Basara found himself arriving at a particular place.

Wary of the power of the Earth element that came with Shiba’s manifestation of
Kouryuu, Basara had consistently avoided fighting Shiba on the earth’s surface.
And although he wanted to continue using the power of the dragon’s flight that
he had yet to be fully accustomed to, he reconsidered the risk of being trapped
by the Tamemikazuchi again.

Nevertheless, in an area where there were many obstacles and hiding spots
present, Shiba’s reliance on Ki to detect his enemies’ position and movements
would put him at a significant disadvantage.

Basara had chosen a place where he would have the least risks continuing the
battle—the public square in front of the Imperial Palace. He wanted to fight
Shiba out in the open, where his line of sight was wide and left as little opening
as possible.

“I don’t know what to say…why exactly did you comehereof all places?” The
voice came with a bitter laugh. Basara turned upward to see Shiba floating in air,
situated approximately ten meters directly above the Sakuradamon.

“Well, I suppose in some ways, this is quite a suitable place for us to settle
things, isn’t it?”

Shiba slowly descended to meet Basara’s level as the latter stood on the public
square; maintaining a twenty-meter distance away from him, the aura of his Ki
suddenly rose drastically.

“…!”
“What’s wrong, Basara…are you implying that you don’t know what this place
is?” Shiba smiled faintly at Basara’s disturbed expression as he continued to
radiate a suffocating pressure.

“This palace was once the ancient Edo city…the central point of interaction of
the Four Gods. This is where their combined compatibility is at its maximum,
while it’s geographical location also happens to be helpful in strengthening the
central area. Note how the metropolitan rapid loop line circles around the city
itself—along with three other loop lines with it—a total of four rings matching
the number of the Four Gods. And that’s not all—note the ring roads that all lead
toward the center, too. It’s not just the Edo Period—even at this very moment,
the circular geography of Tokyo itself is supplying the power of the five-
elemental compatibility towards the central area.”

“…”

Basara only remained silent at Shiba’s elaboration—he knew full well what the
geographical surroundings of the Imperial Palace were like.

Even so, Basara had chosen this location as the stage for their final battle—it
was a not a suicidal decision, but a decision that was made out of the pure desire
of achieving victory.

“———”

And so he wordlessly readied himself to unleash the Banishing Shift.

“Well, I suppose I can’t say I don’t understand the reason behind you wanting to
risk everything on that technique of yours…you’ve relied on it so much to get
out of so many dangerous situations, after all.” Shiba said.

Still—
“Do you think such a reactive and improbable technique is better than my Ars
Deicidium given that you can only use it as a counterattack? Must I also remind
you that said technique only applies to only a single form of matter, and even
then it won’t necessarily guarantee its elimination?”

“…I don’t intend to prove that my abilities are better than yours,” Basara
declared. “I simply have no need to!”

Basara roared as he fired the Banishing Shift before Shiba unleashed an attack of
his own—he had not done so because he had broken his limits, and he was
utilizing the conceptual activation of the ability, much like he’d done with his
Universal Rejection.

He had unleashed the attack towards the massive amounts of Ki that surrounded
the Imperial Palace.

As Shiba had previously mentioned, Ki existed in all things, and the Imperial
Palace was now the point of which all of the Ki in Tokyo would gather. Basara
had used Banishing Shift against this abundant stream of Ki.

The surrounding Ki was almost unlimited—it would simply regroup from all
directions even if the current surrounding Ki were to be eliminated for just a
moment. But if Basara were to eliminate said surrounding Ki, he would be able
to temporarily turn the Imperial Palace into an empty zone devoid of Ki.

It would eliminate the Ki that Shiba would use for both offense and defense in an
instant—and Basara wasn’t about to waste such a fragile opportunity.

“—————!”

Using Universal Rejection behind him, he closed the distance between him and
his opponent in an instant, unleashing Byrnhildr in the opposite direction.
Shiba raised his arms, assuming a stance that implied he wanted to catch the
flying blade with his bare hands.

Basara paid him no mind; without the power of his Ki, he would be unable to
block his attack—and surely it would be over then.

“——————”

However, Shiba put his palms together in front of his chest as Basara stood his
ground with his own conviction—there was a clapping noise, and as his hands
parted, his chest and abdomen parted like a gaping mouth—revealing a space
that was darker than any abyss within.

A black substance seeped out of what seemed to be a dimensional gap, absorbing

Byrnhildr as it nullified its attacks; Basara was then promptly sucked into the
void.

“How disappointing…come into my body, Basara, and much like Reginlief, you
will become my newest source of power.” Shiba laughed.

“…And I’ve known that it’s exactly what you’ve wanted.” Basara replied with a
smile of his own.

Basara was wary of the possibility that Shiba would attempt to absorb him the
moment he’d heard that Shiba had absorbed Reginlief; he had remained vigilant
against him ever since. That said, Basara shifted his normal attacks to the
Banishing Shift as he continued attacking—he was casting Banishing Shift;
Geminus, a continuation of his first attack that was used to scatter away the
surrounding Ki.

Having prepared this technique for this exact situation, Basara managed to repel
the darkness—it didn’t matter that he didn’t manage to fully exterminate it yet.
Basara was already preparing another slashing attack before Shiba could make
his next move—but things did not go as intended.

“…It’s no use, Basara.” Shiba smiled.

The darkness that should have been eliminated by Banishing Shift simply
regrouped and devoured Basara before his attack could even reach Shiba.

There was no escape.

“But how…!”

“You have Afureia with you…of course I’d considered the fact that you’d taken
precautions against the risk of being absorbed into me.”

Shiba gave Basara an umpteenth, cold smile as the latter went still with shock.

“The Kegare within my body can swallow all forms of darkness—even

Reginlief, hailed as one of the TenGods, was unable to escape from it. Perhaps
one would have a chance if they were to completely eliminate my corruption, but
simply dispersing it will do absolutely nothing.”

That meant—

“YourBanishing Shift needs to discern the physical origins of its target and cut
off said origin before it can eliminate anything, yes? I’m afraid trying to detect
the origin of such an abstract matter, is more or less impossible, however.”

After all—

“Stare into the blackest and deepest depths of the abyss all you want—all you
can see remains nothing but darkness.”

Shiba Kyouichi had now swallowed everything of Toujou Basara— his body and
his consciousness.
 PART 9

“—Basara!?”

As Mio continued to sustain the Fire element of the Solomon’s Seal in the west,
she suddenly called out to Basara as she was assailed by an inauspicious feeling,
turning toward the north.

For a short moment, she could no longer sense Basara, who was supposed to be
fighting Shiba in the middle vicinity. She couldn’t have mistaken it—their newly
made Vows had only made their ability to sense the location and presence one
another much stronger.

Her mind suddenly thought for the worst.

…It couldn’t be.

The bond that kept them together—the Master-Servant Contract—would

disappear if Basara were truly dead. But it still remained.

As she frantically tried to detect any traces of his presence, she finally found the
faintest sign of his being.

Something had evidently happened to him—and it was undoubtedly Shiba’s

doing.

Mio had previous received some information via Yuki’s mother, Kaoru, back
when they were in the Village of the Hero Clan; Hasegawa had also told them of
the fate of Reginlief, one of the Ten Gods, when they were in her imaginary
dimensional space. Given those elaborations and the fact that they could not
sense Basara’s presence, even for only a brief moment, it was very likely that he
had been absorbed by Shiba.

…Basara…!

They had taken any lengths they could for the sake of defeating Shiba—they
even went as far to advance their Master-Servant Contracts to Master-Servant
Vows.

Yet Shiba Kyouichi was an unpredictable enemy, one who had mercilessly
shattered the bonds Mio and the others shared with Basara, bonds that bet their
body and soul to the same man they all loved.

Basara had always been the one to rescue them from danger up until now—but
Shiba had placed him into another dangerous situation again.

Mio couldn’t resist the welling urge in her heart to rush toward her beloved older
brother.

“…!”

But she couldn’t go—Mio and the others had to sustain the barrier made from
the Solomon’s Seal, and they were thus unable to leave the locations that they
were responsible. Mio’s face twisted in dissatisfaction as her sense of
responsibility got the better of her.

…If this keeps up, then…!

It was very possible that Basara would lose to Shiba again, much like he had
during the first battle.
Basara had only escaped death due to Hasegawa’s intervention, and she would
undoubtedly come for him again if he were to be put in a dire situation again.
However, her precious success was largely due to her appearance being largely
unexpected by Shiba, and so it was now uncertain that she could rescue Basara
again now that Shiba was wary of her presence. Moreover, Hasegawa’s powers
were limited despite the fact that she could activate them for Basara’s sake—and
their opponent was wielding the soul of Reginlief, a member of the Ten Gods
much like she was.

And even then—

Even if they were to rescue Basara, the simultaneous manifestation of the

Kouryuu meant that Shiba’s power would only continue to increase, whereas
they had already exhausted their final option in their Master-Servant Vows.

If they were to fail even now, they would truly have no chance of victory.

What was she supposed to do? As she single-mindedly ruminated on her ever-
growing doubt and unease—

“…Naruse Mio,go.” A curt voice gave Mio a push on her back.

It was Takashi—having forcibly regained the Byakko from Shiba’s control

during his scuffle with the sacred weapon, Takashi’s injuries were substantial,
but he was already beginning to recover gradually.

“But…if I were to leave here…and head toward Basara…”

“The barrier of the Solomon’s Seal has already been activated. If all it requires
now is for it to be maintained, I can take over from here.” Seeing Mio’s
hesitation, Takashi quickly replied to put her at ease.

After all—
“I am recognized by the Byakko—a being of theWindElement among the four
Classical Elements.Windhas the power to rile up and strengthen Fire. And wind
is of theWoodElement among the Five Elements, which has a high compatibility
with Fire.”

“…Do you remember the time when we first battled?”

“Huh?” Mio could not understand why Takashi was bringing up that past event.

“In the end, the Byakko ended up losing control because I acted immaturely…
and it was Basara who drove me to that point. But it was you, that succubus
servant of yours and Yuki that gave him the time he needed to do so,” Takashi
said, staring at Mio. “You were supposed to be no match for me back then. But
do you think the efforts you took during your struggle against us was nothing but
a waste?”

“————”

Mio widened her eyes at his statement—it was what she needed to finally make
up her mind.

“…Are you sure this will be okay?”

“I’ve already told you this—don’t underestimate the Hero Clan.”

As Takashi gave his answer, Mio immediately activated her flight magic and
hurried toward the central area, where Basara and Shiba were supposed to be
battling, her speed leaving even the wind in a cloud of dust.

Mio wasn’t going to the Imperial Palace, however—there was something she
had to make sure of first. She had rushed toward the south of the Imperial Palace
instead, where Takigawa was battling Kouryuu.
Takashi had mentioned his arrival previously, and Mio had also kept an eye on
the situation there when she was maintaining her side of the barrier of the
Solomon’s Seal in the south, given that the ensuing battle had raged on quite
viciously.

Mio had not arrived here first because she was more worried about Takigawa,
though—she had come here purely out of a need to help Basara.

Confirming Mio’s arrival, Takigawa temporarily distanced himself from

Kouryuu and landed on the top of a skyscraper. Understanding the
circumstances, Mio followed him onto the same building and immediately cut to
the chase.

“I have an unreasonable request, but…is it impossible for you to defeat Kouryuu

right now?”

“And just when I was wondering what exactly you had arrived here for, you
spout this nonsense out of your mouth…I’m kinda having a hard time here, so
can you not make it sound like it’s supposed to be easy?” Takigawa said, looking
completely disgusted. “That dragon manifested because of that Shiba guy, and I
assume that this massive beast will disappear once Basachi finally settles things
with him. I’m supposed to be simply buying time until that happens, but…” He
paused, sighing for a moment.

“Well, look at you—are you saying that something horrible’s happened to

Basachi?” He continued in a low voice, knowing full well that Mio had the
ability to sense if anything had happened to Basara.

“…I don’t know. I just really hope you’ll be able to hurry with it.”

Mio knew that she was making a very unreasonable request; Shiba’s immense
power now stemmed from the simultaneous manifestation of the Kouryuu.
At the same time, however, it also meant that Shiba’s strength would be reduced
drastically if the Kouryuu were to be defeated.

If they were to rescue Basara and defeat Shiba, this was a crucial task to
perform; and although Mio seemed to be entrusting Takigawa to do this all by
himself, she had done so for two main reasons.

Firstly, Mio had to hurry and rush toward where Basara was; given the danger he
was now in at Shiba’s hands, Mio had to stop him at any cost, even if her own
powers were no match for his.

And there was the second reason—Mio was responsible for the Fire Element.

Fire had compatibility with Earth; The Kouryuu could simply absorb Mio’s
attacks and grow stronger through them, and strengthen Shiba along with it—
they had to prevent that from happening.

And even if Mio could use her gravity magic, it was possible that she may
unconsciously augment her attacks with the Fire Element. And even then, her
gravity magic wouldn’t be particularly effective against Kouryuu, and carelessly
driving their opponent of the Earth Element toward the ground would only
induce the risk of a far stronger counterattack.

…But this is just so frustrating!

The truth was that it was best for Mio to not to get involved if they wanted a
chance at defeating Kouryuu—and Takigawa knew it full well, too.

“Ugh, what a drag…well, it’s not like Ican’tdo it, but it will take some time.” He
said, gazing at Kouryuu from afar.

It was the sacred beast’s innate instinct to primarily guard the central area.
“It’s only observing things right now because I’m not showing it any hostility.
The moment I decide to lay a finger on it, I imagine it’ll come flying straight at
me.”

“I suppose it really is a difficult task…”

It was likely that Takigawa was planning to accumulate his magic in order to
launch an attack that would be powerful enough to defeat to Kouryuu—it was
understandable that he needed the time to prepare for it.

And if time was what Takigawa needed, Mio could get it for him.

Even if it meant it would strengthen the Kouryuu in the process—

If I don’t hurry, Basara will…!

So long as their Master-Servant Vows were still intact, Basara remained alive
and he could be saved—but they didn’t have much time. The possibility of
Basara being fully absorbed by Shiba was the throbbing fear that completely
filled her heart.

She couldn’t waste any more time here—she couldn’t lower her chances of
saving Basara even further, or she would have to witness Basara’s demise with
her own eyes.

“I understand…make preparations, then, Takigawa. I’ll buy you the time you
need.”

Mio activated her flight magic and went forth—toward Kouryuu. As she closed
in on her target, Kouryuu also prepared itself to react to her.

“—————”
Using the immense energy of the Earth Element, its ascension from the ground
caused the earth beneath it to rumble and quake; the dragon then opened its
gaping mouth as light began to charge within it as it pooled from all directions.

Mio could not attack it, however—she could only show it her hostility and
occupy its attention, fully adopting an avoidant or defensive stance whenever
necessary.

It was alright with her; for so long as she could help Basara—

“I’ll do what I need to do to get its attention…come at me!”

As Mio braced herself for the Kouryuu’s breath attack, something unexpected
occurred; there was a thunderous noise as the side of the dragon’s head took a
heavy blow. The impact caused Kouryuu’s head to shake to the side, the golden
time charging its breath in its mouth vanishing in the process.

Mio then saw the arriving assailant—a familiar face, someone who was smaller
than everyone else in her household, but also someone who had physical
strength that far surpassed theirs.

“Mio-sama! Are you alright?”

“…Maria!”

As Mio called out Maria’s name in surprise, the succubus kicked off using the
Kouryuu’s massive head and spread her wings to fly toward her.

“I knew you’d come here, Mio-sama! I felt Basara-san’s presence disappear for a
moment too…oh, and Leohart-san actually came by to help us out, so he’s now
taking my place with his magic sword to sustain the barrier.”
“I see…I’ve also left my role to Hayase, and I’m trying to buy time for
Takigawa to defeat Kouryuu now.”

“————”

Kouryuu suddenly roared as the buildings nearby Mio and Maria were
influenced by the power of its Earth Element, disintegrating into sand as they
surged upward to reach them.

Before they could decide whether they would block or dodge, however, the
pillars of sand suddenly halted their assault.

Someone was standing on top of a nearby building, her hands on the surface as
she disrupted Kouryuu’s Earth element attacks with her own earth magic.

“Zest!” Mio cried.

“Sorry I’m late…Luka and my magic golems are substituting me in maintaining

the barrier.” Zest said as she reported her circumstances.

Her arrival was followed by another familiar girl who had arrived here by riding
the winds—Kurumi had also arrived.

“You guys got really lucky…the guy that came by to help me out just said
‘Sorry, I can’t maintain the barrier because I’m of the Fire Element’, so I had to
bury the elemental orb of Water there to replace me.” Kurumi said, smiling
fearlessly despite a moment of resignation. “But since Water isn’t that effective
against Earth in the Five Elements, so it should be fine…right?”

As she finished, Kurumi riled up the winds with her magic, and Kouryuu was
suddenly assaulted by a series of unseeable attacks—they were bullets made of
compressed air. Unlike Mio who used her own magic to fight, Mio instead lent
the power of her spirits to do battle, and so she wouldn’t be applying her Water
element when she was utilizing her Wind Magic.

Maria’s Wood Element was strong against Kouryuu’s Earth Element.

Zest’s Earth Element was equal against the same element.

And Kurumi’s own magic, which was of the Wood Element, was strong against
Kouryuu’s Earth element as well.

The three were far more suited than Mio to fight against Kouryuu.

“Leave the Kouryuu to us. Hurry up and go save Basara-san!” Maria said,
preparing for battle.

“But…Maria…!” Mio exclaimed.

“I’m sorry to say this, but your abilities won’t be effective against this particular
enemy of ours right now…but if Basara-san has really been absorbed into that
Shiba person’s body…” Maria said, turning around. “I think you already know
this, but…you might be the only one capable of rescuing Basara-san now.”

Mio understood what Maria was trying to imply. Only Mio could do what the
others could not now—she alone among them could rescue Basara.

“…I understand. I’ll leave things here to you.”

Nodding in approval, she then made haste to go where she needed to be and to
carry out what she alone could do and needed to do.

She had to save Basara.

 PART 10

Mio gasped at the scene below her as she flew toward the Imperial Palace.

Tokyo—the central capital of Japan—was being razed in hellfire.

The southern end of the Chiyoda district had been engulfed in a sea of flames;
various important areas of the capital, ranging from various governmental
offices, the National Public Safety Commission and the symbol of power
separation encompassing the Cabinet Office, the National Diet and the Judicial
Office, were also not spared from the reddish traces of fire.

The only respite was that such destruction was unfolding in the illusory barrier
that Shiba had constructed from the Four Gods.

Even so, if Shiba were to dispel this space without the barrier of the Solomon’s
Seal that Mio and the others had created, the reversed arrangement of the Four
Gods would cause them to go out of control and turn the scene Mio was
witnessing into a reality—if not a scene that extended to nearly the entirety of
Tokyo and of a far more drastic scale.

“———!”

As Mio pondered on the dangerous possibility as she flew over the Hibiya Park,
her cautiousness suddenly began to skyrocket.

She had met the gaze of her enemy, who was now standing in front of the public
square of the Imperial Palace. He was flashing an eerie smile at her, and his
deformed body was radiating a dazzling glow of three colors, red, black and gold
—perhaps the result of the mix between his absorption of Reginlief and the
simultaneous manifestation of Kouryuu. The aura he was exuding was of an
intensity that Mio had never felt before, sharing the golden, seemingly sacred
quality of Kouryuu, yet also extremely dangerous, as if unbelievably dark was
underneath him.

And as she had presumed, Basara—who was supposed to be fighting him—was

not anywhere within sight.

“…!”

Resolving herself, Mio landed on the public square right in front of Shiba.

“My, my—you’re late.” Shiba said, calmly welcoming her arrival. “It seems
Balflear’s been captured, and although things seemed to be taking a turn for the
worse for us…I think the victor is clear now.”

After all—

“Your beloved Basara has already been absorbed by the Kegare within me.”

“…That’s not true.” Mio said, steeling herself with a stern expression on her
face. “If Basara had been truly absorbed by the Kegare in you and become what
that god called Reginlief became—completely dissolving and melding with you
—our Master-Servant Vows would be undone by now. The fact that it hasn’t
happened yet proves that Basara is still alive.”

“Well, you know, I’ve never exactly said that I’vekilledhim, after all—I’ve
simply said that the victor is clear.”

After all—
“A single sentence from me and you suddenly lose all will to fight—‘resist any
longer and I’ll kill Basara,’, right?”

Shiba’s words were an undeniable truth—but Mio would not relent.

“…I don’t think so.”

She couldn’t surrender here—she couldn’t afford to lose.

All their hard work up until now would then be for nothing, and they would be
losing their futures as well.

Mio wouldn’t allow that to happen.

“If Basara’s really with you right now, maybe we really do have our hands tied.
And maybe we won’t be able to fight on even if Basara tells us to forget about
him and press on,” Mio said, only partially admitting to what Shiba had said.
“But that’s only if you’vereallyabsorbed Basara.”

She gave off a false, composed smile as she attempted to maintain her bold front
toward the enemy in front of her.

“If you’ve really absorbed Basara, give me proof that you have!”

“Aha…so that’s the game you want to play.” Shiba said as he smiled, pleased by
their exchange. “I think you can sense that he’s inside my body through your
Master-Servant Vow…or am I mistaken?”

“I do sense Basara nearby, yes. Unfortunately, I can’t say I can tell if he’s truly
inside your body or not.”

She was bluffing—she could indeed sense Basara’s presence inside Shiba’s
body, but admitting it would mark the end of everything.
Mio could not say anything that suggested she believed that Shiba was now
holding Basara hostage—especially when Shiba had no real evidence.

She held onto the fact that the maker of theirVowwas still alive, knowing that
their connection was still present even if he was really inside Shiba’s body
rightnow,and knowing that Shiba also did not attempt to prove her wrong
otherwise.

“Then why else would you have come here, Mio-chan? What other reason would
warrant you coming here when you’re supposed to be maintaining the barrier
made from the Solomon’s Seal, knowing full well it’s Basara’s business to fight
me here, and knowing full well that Basara had entrusted you with such an
important duty?”

Shiba was closing in step by step.

“Shouldn’t it be obvious? Hayase happened to drop by to help us out, so he

simply offered to take my place and allow me to come over,” Mio said, laughing
fearlessly. “So now I’m here to smash those stupid ambitions of yours. Did you
see me as an obedient little woman who just waits for Basara to come back while
leaving him to do all the dirty work for us?”

“I see…so you really have thought this through. I give you my kudos.”

Shiba smiled as if he were impressed byMio’sdecision to arrive—before he

suddenly disappeared in an instant.

“———!”

Shiba was already right in front of her before Mio could prepare to defend
herself.

“Let me take you to him then—and perhaps I’ll melt you down first before
Basara’s turn comes.”

Bringing his palms together and separating them, Shiba’s chest split open to
reveal the abyss underneath, the darkness springing forth to pull his target into
him.

“———!”

Mio immediately reacted by unleashing her gravity magic, having finished the
incantation long before she’d arrived and was now free to use it at will.

There was an extremely loud noise that came from the red waves of gravity
magic causing the dimensional attack to twist, halting the abyss’s assault on her.
The impact gave Mio the opportunity to fly backwards, creating significant
distance from Shiba.

“Huh…good reflexes. To think you would’ve escaped the absorption of the

abyss within me…” Shiba said, smiling calmly.

“…Don’t look down on me. I didn’t come here without making sure I’d be
prepared for you.”

Even so—

But to think I’d already charged all this power for so long…Mio cursed herself
inwardly.

She had spent the gravity magic she’d accumulated to defend herself—she
would need quite a significant amount of time before she could unleash another
attack of a similar magnitude, never mind the fact that Shiba’s powers were far
stronger than she’d anticipated.

I shouldn’t have done that.

She wouldn’t be able to save Basara if she wouldn’t be able to conjure up an
even stronger wave of magic—and Shiba wasn’t about to give her the
opportunity to do so.

“Even if you have made the Vow with Basara, I don’t think you can take this
attack one more time, now, can you?”

Shiba suddenly disappeared from sight again.

“———!”

Mio immediately formed a spherical barrier around her—

Huh?

But the barrier was reduced to dust the next moment—a single backhand blow
from his left hand as Shiba lunged at her from the side was all it took to break it.

As Mio went still with shock knowing her currently endangered situation,
Shiba’s right fist was already closing in on her—she could not avoid the
incoming attack.

However, Mio next heard the sound of clashing, bladed steel instead of the
sound of a dull blow—a certain someone had arrived to defend her, her back
facing her before her very eyes.

The person who had defended Mio from Shiba’s attack was a familiar face—
someone who had come here just as she had out of worry for Basara.

It was none other Nonaka Yuki.

 PART 11

Yuki could see it—her blade had successfully blocked Shiba’s punch.

“Yuki…” Mio called out her name from behind.

Mio wasn’t surprised at Yuki’s appearance—she had come here for the same
reason Mio did.

And Yuki knew full well why Mio had reacted that way.

“Don’t worry…leave this to me.” She turned around and nodded slightly before
she turned toward Shiba once again.

It was probably foolish of her to test an ability like this against Shiba the way he
was now—but it seems she was rewarded for her gamble.

“Hmm…I see you’ve left the Sakuya behind to maintain the Metal element of
the barrier, and I assume you’ve asked Celis to keep an eye on it, too…though I
must admit, the way you’ve used your magic power to make a blade like that is
quite impressive.”

Nevertheless—

“Forming a blade akin to a spirit blade with your magic power and maintaining
its shape is essentially asking to run your tap of magic power dry. How long will
you be able to keep that up, I wonder?”

“————”
She did not reply, a wordless affirmation of Shiba’s statement.

“…” Mio held her breath in worry of the aforementioned limitation.

“Don’t worry—I’ll hang in there. Mio, I’ll be leaving Basara to you now.” Yuki
said, her gaze fixated on Shiba.

Although the difference in their power was heaven and earth, Yuki did not fear
the opponent before her—she thought of nothing other than saving Basara and
defeating Shiba.

“Now, that won’t do…you’re not just limited by your magic reserves, you see.”
Shiba said in a mocking tone. “You’re only going to make the same mistake
Basara made if you’re going to fight me at close range.”

“…Basara took the risks and did what he thought was best even knowing the
difference between your power and his own,” Yuki said.

Basara did not come here to lose—he came here fully intent on defeating Shiba.

“And I will do the same. I know I can’t do much to stop you for long—but I’ll
go through with it nonetheless!”

Yuki unleashed a consecutive series of slashes with her magic blade at the
opponent in front of her, but she only managed to cut through nothing but thin
air.

Shiba had immediately backed off a notably long distance away from her blade’s
reach.

“Such earnest bravado, Yuki…and such earnest stupidity.”

“———!”
Ignoring Shiba’s taunt, Nonaka Yuki sprung forward toward her enemy.

And as Yuki rushed toward Shiba, a red, glowing aura began to rise from Mio’s
entire body.

“———”

It was the glow of her gravity magic—the glow of the magic would rescue
Basara.

At the same time, while Mio began to concentrate, a flurry of thunderous

explosions burst in the air of the southern corner.

The battle against Kouryuu was still raging on.

 PART 12

Maria, Kurumi, and Zest were continuing their battle against Kouryuu, who was
now guarding the central area; the three took their assault to the air, knowing that
fighting the dragon on the ground given that it was a being of Earth Element was
a suicidal decision.

The three continued soaring through the air at high speeds; Zest and Maria had
reverted to their original forms and were flying with their demonic wings while
Kurumi, the elemental mistress, was flying with her wind magic, and she was
performing exceptionally with her spirit magic. As the demons’ wings were

not fast enough for this particular battle, she was using her wind magic to
support their flight when necessary, allowing Maria and Zest to manoeuvre
through the air freely.

Having offered everything they could to Basara, the three girls were now
cooperating perfectly—their ability to read one another and function amidst this
dire situation was a product of the time they’d spend together as a family,
sharing the same home, the same desires, and the same, strong feelings and
bonds with one another, and this extended to their battles as much as they
applied in their daily lives.

They were currently being chased—not only by Kouryuu, but also by the
massive tsunamis of a height of almost 100 meters it was summoning from
Shibaura-Futo that threatened to sink the Tamachi region, tsunamis that
threatened to crush them under their wrath if they were not carefully.
And the waves were not made out of water—Kouryuu was forming them with
streams of earth and sand.

Nevertheless, it would be easy for the girls to avoid the tsunamis just by flying
higher; the girls did not do so, however, knowing full well that Kouryuu would
simply increase the size of the tsunamis it was summoning if they increased their
flying altitude. The increased area of the Kouryuu’s attacks meant that Takigawa
might risk getting dragged into their battle, and they had to buy time for him and
keep Kouryuu’s attention fully fixated on them, as he was busy accumulating his
power in order to defeat Kouryuu once and for all.

They had to minimize the impact of the tsunamis by directing them toward them.

“Maria, Zest!”

“Alright!” “Ready when you are!”

Zest and Maria responded to Kurumi’s call as the three rushed higher into the
sky simultaneously, avoiding another tsunami that the Kouryuu summoned and
turning it against the dragon. As Kouryuu prepared to respond, the girls suddenly
dispersed, and it was Kurumi who struck first at the short moment of Kouryuu
being disorientated.

Circling toward the right of the massive dragon, she extended her left hand
toward it as she cast her spirit magic, forming a large magic circle in front of her.

“Heeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

From the circle sprung forth bullets of air shot at Kouryuu’s entire body with the
speed of a machinegun. However, Kouryuu formed a cocoon of soil that
surrounded it, defending any of her bullets from inflicting any farm.

“…Blast it!” Seeing the ineffectiveness of her current attack, she charged her
wind magic to farm a giant mass of air before preparing to fire it at Kouryuu.

“Kurumi!” Maria cried out, and understanding what she wanted, she instead
fired her mass of air toward Maria as she rushed toward Kouryuu, accelerating
her speed to surpass even the speed of sound with the combination of Kurumi’s
wind magic and the speed of her own wings.

Kouryuu’s cocoon suddenly sprouted a massive claw that reached toward Maria,
and their speed would mean a dreadful collision.

But before it could ensue—

“Maria!”

It was Zest; using her earth magic, she created a slanting, spiraling slide that
reduced drag and friction—as Maria slid upon it, she leapt as she narrowly
avoided Kouryuu’s claw with a well-timed duck.

“Heeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

Using her speed, she then landed a powerful kick on the cocoon with her right
leg, the hit rumbling the air as it pierced through Kouryuu’s ultimate defense and
inflicted a heavy blow on Kouryuu.

“—————!”

Kouryuu bellowed as it attempted to repair the soil cocoon that protected it,
attempting to bury Maria in a coffin of sand.

“We won’t—” “—Let you!”

Maria’s speedy kick caused her to burst out from a crack in the cocoon, allowing
Zest to interfere with Kouryuu’s repairs. When the soil suddenly dissolved into
sand, Kurumi used a hulking wave of wind to blow away Kouryuu’s shield.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!”

Maria then launched multiple punches at the defenceless Kouryuu with both
hands, using as much speed and power she could dish out.

“————”

Resisting her assault, Kouryuu began to shape the earth beneath it.

“—————!”

Noticing the golden glow from below, Maria quickly kicked herself away from
Kouryuu and flew backward to where Kurumi and Zest were.

Walls with sharp edges emerged from the ground, piercing the space where
Maria once flew on—Kouryuu then continued to modify the walls, as countless
guns and cannons suddenly emerged from their hard surface.

Oh no!

Before they could finish expecting what was to come, a flurry of gunshots and
cannon blasts made from compressed earth and sand with a wide combined
attack range was already heading toward them.

As the gunshots arrived sooner due to their lighter weight, Maria thrusted her
arms toward the space before her, creating ranged shock waves that intercepted
the gunshots in mid-air.

“Haaaaah!”

The cannon blasts, however, had managed to pierce through Maria’s shock wave.
“Kurumi-san!” “Got it—cover me!”

Zest formed a barrier with her earth magic while Kurumi reinforced it with a
cushion of air. The earthly cannon struck the barrier they made as it formed a
fiery explosion, raising sand and smoke in its wake.

Even so, their combined efforts had successfully defended them against the
attack.

“—————!”

Using the smoke and commotion as cover following the exchange, he trio then
rested themselves on the top of the building of the res taunt that Takigawa was
standing on.

“Haaah…haah…” “…!”

…This is harder than we thought…Maria thought, not expecting the situation to

take such a dire turn.

Although Maria had already spent a great deal of strength on her own, Kurumi
and Zest had already spent even more strength than she had.

Kurumi and Zest were already nearing their limits—given Kouryuu’s current
strength, an unwanted mistake would prove fatal.

They had to hurry and defeat Kouryuu—this was the only thing they could do to
help Basara at the moment.

“Are your preparations not done yet?” Maria asked, taking his attention away
from Kurumi and Zest to focus on Takigawa for a moment.
“Sorry, but I’m almost done. …After all, this isn’t exactly our turf, and I
would’ve been done long ago if I was doing this in the Demon Realm. Charging
the power needed for me to do what I need to do will inevitably take time.”

“—How long do you think you’re going to take?” Maria asked, her eyebrows
furrowed.

“No more than ten minutes…give me at least five.”

“If I use my form without fully activating it, all my preparations will be for
nothing. I imagine Naruse and whoever else is going after Basachi won’t be able
to last that long either, so I really don’t want to have to redo this again.”

He was right—although Basara, Mio and Yuki’s situation on the other side was
concerning, the best way to help them would be to defeat Kouryuu for the time
being.

And they might as well accomplish that in one go—even if they had to wait for
Takigawa to do it.

“I understand…five minutes, right?” Maria said, slowly walking toward

Kouryuu on the building she was on.

—It was time for her to use her ultimate ability.

Maria set out a complex, three-dimensional magic circle in front of her chest—
her Magic Key then appeared amidst a pink, glittery light, its tip inserting itself
into the keyhole on the collar of Maria’s battle attire.

Although she was familiar with these proceedings, she was about to do
something she had never experienced before.
Maria would be activating her technique in the opposite direction—she would
turn her key in the other direction.

“Gah…ahh…!”

Such a forced endeavour would definitely come with its ramifications, and Maria
suddenly felt a pain that constricted her internal organs—nevertheless, she
steeled herself against the pain that was running through her entire body.

Wanting to help her family in ways she couldn’t before, Maria had secretly
attempted this technique after the war between the two factions of the Demon
Realm had come to an end.

A failed activation would mean death—and she knew she could only use it when
the chances of her winning such a dire battle were tied to her very life.

She had no choice—she had to do this, knowing that the lives of all she held
dear were now at stake.

“…Gah…eeee…uuuuuuuuuuuuu!!”

Gritting her teeth, her hands tightened on the Magic Key that was meant to turn
itself, and yanked it into the direction that she wasn’t supposed to turn it to.
 PART 13

There was the sound of a key unlocking something—no, the sound of something
shattering—and Kouryuu saw the coat of blinding light that was shining in the
space nearby it.

As the glittery, rose-colored light dissipated, Kouryuu saw the same succubus
that had first appeared now flying right in front of it—if looking slightly smaller
than before.

The sudden way she’d closed their distance caused the dragon to flinch, but
more surprisingly, the presence she was letting out had suddenly escalated to an
incomparable level, such that Kouryuu backed away slightly in the face of such
an overwhelming presence.

“…”

The little succubus suddenly opened her eyes, but she remained silent.

“—————!”

Kouryuu opened its gaping mouth and let out its powerful breath with all its
might.

It was a beastly instinct—it would exterminate anything it perceived as a threat

immediately, and Kouryuu’s breath was more than capable of achieving that
purpose.
The beam of the Earth Element surged forth, threatening to devour anything that
stood in its line of fire—before the line of breath could strike down the
succubus, however, the attack’s trajectory had been redirected.

The succubus only stood still—the immense magic aura she was releasing had
turned into a shield, deflecting the dragon’s breath.

Seeing this, Kouryuu prepared another attack, this time condensing the strength
of its next attempt at a single point—but its target had suddenly vanished.

“——————!”

But where did she go?As Kouryuu realized it had lost track of its enemy, a sharp
blow lunged from under its chin, striking it in the head as its massive body was
knocked toward the sky.

The girl had landed a severe, speedy uppercut with her right hand at it.
 PART 14

Having taken a massive blow to its chin, Kouryuu’s massive body staggered
backward, but Maria continued to attack it before it could straighten itself—her
series of kicks and punches were unrelenting, and she was forcing the strongest
sacred beast on the defensive.

“Incredible…” Kurumi couldn’t believe the scene that was unfolding before her
eyes.

“Is that…really Maria…?” Zest, too, was surprised at what she was seeing
Maria’s drastic change.

They really wanted to help her—but Maria’s current strength was simply too
powerful for them to be able to provide any assistance, and they would likely be
hindering her instead if they were to intervene.

“Oh brother…does that idiot know exactly what she’s doing?” As Kurumi could
only stare at Maria in bewilderment, she suddenly turned to Takigawa, who
sounded displeased as he made that comment. His expression was
uncharacteristically tense, given how she knew him as a person who was
composed and liked to joke around even in the most serious situations.

“—Hey, what are you talking about?” Kurumi asked, worried over Takigawa’s
unusual expression.

“Unlocking one’s own sealed powers usually carries some sort of risk one way
or another…and in her case, she’s going to unleash so much power that her own
body won’t be able to take it…unless she actually forces her body to grow to a
point where she can actually withstand her increase in strength.”

However—

“If that foolish girl’s going as far as to use the power meant for said forcible
growth to increase her powers, it’s not even a matter of how big the burden
would be on only her body anymore…I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s gonna
explode anytime soon.”

“But she can’t—”

Kurumi stared at Maria again, this time in shock over a new, ominous
premonition; was the aura Maria was releasing her life force—the very life force
she was willingly burning away—for the sake of her current powers, rather than
simply her own magic?

She knew that they had all chosen to risk their lives for this battle—they’d
always done so even in their previous battles, where they were willing to put
their lives on the line without a second thought, and they would continue to
remain unwavering so long as their actions would bring about peace for the
future.

But it wasn’t as simple as that for Maria right now—she was willing to burn
away her very life in order to gain the strength she needed to fell Kouryuu alone.

But how long could she last? And surely Maria didn’t intend to die fighting her
current opponent like this, even if she were to achieve victory?

Even then, even after Mio and Yuki had rushed to rescue Basara, there was still
no sign of his presence returning to its usual state.

Shiba was an opponent that was now far too strong—a single mistake would cost
them their very lives before they could even finish here.

Kurumi knew that Maria herself could not accurately estimate how much life she
would have left if she were to press on fighting with her flesh and her spirit
burning on in her mix of exhaustion and worry.

And even then—what would happen if they were to go through with this?

Even if they were to come out alive after defeating Shiba, how much time would
Maria have left for her life?

She could regain her lost strength—but would she be capable of restoring the life
force she would expend here?

“—Kurumi-san!”

“———!”

Realizing the danger Maria was in, Zest cried out to her as Kurumi called upon
the spirits to take them both into flight—they had to rush off toward Maria, who
was now fighting the Kouryuu without realizing the consequences of her actions.

“…Hang on. I understand why you’re rushing off, but don’t think with your
emotions.” Takigawa said before the two could take off.

“Don’t stop us. Maria’s going to—” As Kurumi turned around to argue against
Takigawa, who seemingly nonchalantly stopped her from going off, she couldn’t
finish her sentence.

Takigawa’s entire body was radiating a blue and black aura.

“But Lars…when did you…?” Zest exclaimed, and she gave off a surprised
expression as she realized why Takigawa was saying that Maria had made a
foolish decision.

He was also burning his own life force—he’d been hiding his aura all this time,
and it was likely that he’d already begun doing so before Maria unlocked her
seal.

He too, was willing to risk his very life to defeat the Kouryuu.

“Take it easy. I’m not trying to stop you—go ahead if you want. I’m just saying
that much like how the five-elemental compatibility increases the effectiveness
of a particular element, there’s also a way to increase a person’s life force. After
everything’s over here, you can just go ask Basachi to help her with that
afterwards.”

That said—

“You’re not supposed to freak out and hurry and go do something stupid in the
end. Just help me…give me just a little more time, and I promise you I’ll bring
that thing down. Do your best to push yourselves as much as you can for me.
Still—” Takigawa suddenly said, “I take it you don’t have much strength yet
either…don’t use it at the wrong place and at the wrong time. If you really want
to strike down that massive hulk of a beast you’re going to have to be your best
selves.”

“We don’t need you to remind us that…Zest!”

“Alright, Kurumi-san!”

Takigawa’s advice calmed their fires of their minds down and ignited the flames
of their hearts as they hurried toward Maria without further delay

And their own life force began to burn like hers as they made haste.
 PART 15

Having spun her Magic Key in the opposite direction, Maria’s soul was now
overflowing with power, surpassing her previous limit.

Combined with her inheritance of the strongest and most noble bloodline of the
Demon Realm as well as the effects of the Master-ServantVow,she was now in a
state where she could completely drive Kouryuu into a corner all by herself.

“—————”

Kouryuu frantically tried to readjust itself, attempting to block Maria’s attacks

while keeping distance away from her.

But Maria wasn’t about to give it that opportunity.

“Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

In an instant, Maria battered down Kouryuu with a series of attacks, all

occurring in an instant; it kicked it away with her right leg and instantly followed
up with her knee as she soared underneath the dragon.

Possessing her moment of overwhelming, yet self-destructing power, she had to

do what she could to strike it down, and even if to buy at least enough time for
Takigawa to finish preparing, if not outright defeat the dragon rightnow.

Her eyes sprung open as she reached for higher ground as she smashed her feet
into the dragon’s head.

“Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!”
She then sent a punch plunging down with all her strength—at the same time,
she released a shock wave made augmented by her Wood element.

“—————!”

Her countering element constricted the dragon as it crushed its massive body in a
booming crash onto the ground, causing a semi-circular crater with Kouryuu at
the center.

Maria’s attacks did not stop there, however: she continued hammering out right
punches to crush Kouryuu, though she was now feeling some resistance; the
Kouryuu was now fighting against her shock waves, using all its might to raise
its body under duress of Maria’s crushing force.

“—————!”

“Gah…haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Maria clenched her teeth as she further increased the intensity of her shockwaves
—she cared not if her blood would spurt forth from over-exerting herself if it
meant that she could defeat Kouryuu once and for all.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHH!”

Yelling at the top of her lungs, she forced another right punch toward Kouryuu,
forcing a deafening shockwave directly toward it.

As Kouryuu roared in pain at the attack and writhed around, Maria suddenly
witnessed something unexpected.

Its body was glowing with a golden light, light that blinded Maria and threatened
to devour it.
…Oh no…!

Maria hurriedly crossed her arms in a defensive stance as Kouryuu finally freed
itself from the gravity waves.

“——————”

The next moment, the dragon’s powerful breath began to envelop her—it
knocked her away from the central area toward the area of the Water Element,
the northern-most corner of Shiba’s barrier; although Maria was now of the
Wood Element that countered Kouryuu’s Earth Element, the fact that Kouryuu
could augment its attacks with a countering element of its own meant that its
attack was far more powerful this time.

Even after cornering Maria onto the corner of the barrier’s wall, Kouryuu’s
breath remained unrelenting.

Maria struggled against the force of Kouryuu’s attack, feeling as thought she
would be ripped apart at any moment—her arms were nearly
givingway,however, as the Kouryuu’s breath was about split her crossed arms
apart.

Before the dragon’s breath could overwhelm her, though, a sudden explosion
ensued upon the source of the breath, halting its oppressive assault on Maria.
Nevertheless, the dragon’s breath was so strong that it caused Maria to lose her
unsealed aura.

“Haah…aah…eh…huh…?”

Panting as she opened her eyes, she saw smoke rising from Kouryuu’s head as it
remained in the distance of the central area. Paying attention, she saw something
clogging Kouryuu’s giant mouth, forcing it to close from above.
“…But that’s…”

A massive chunk of obsidian crushed the bridge of Kouryuu’s nose, piercing

through the dragon’s chin.

Maria understood why it had happened—their group was constantly thinking of

ways to complement each other’s abilities, Basara included.

It was likely the product of wind magic compressing obsidian dust to form an
extremely hard and extremely durable solid, before said solid was sharpened and
launched toward Kouryuu from above, piercing through its mouth and causing
its breath to implode within.

Maria was then affirmed of her assumption.

“…Really, you shouldn’t be going off by yourself like that.”

There was a familiar voice beside her, and a light strength that supported her
body behind her—she turned around to see that Kurumi had arrived.

“…Seriously. What do you think Basara-sama—we—would do if anything were

to happen to you? Zest had also caught up with Kurumi and Maria, flying ahead
as if to cover them.

“—————”

Maria’s eyes widened as she saw the forms of her two comrades—she was at a
loss for words.

She suddenly realized that the obsidian crystals they’d created were strong
enough to force Kouryuu’s mouth shut, and they were also sharp enough to
pierce through Kouryuu’s body, which Maria had been unable to bruise with her
own punches.
And it was because Kurumi and Zest were now releasing strong auras of their
own, much like Maria.
 PART 16

As the smoke cleared following the explosion from its own breath trapped in its
mouth, Kouryuu saw the two previous combatants standing in its way again.

It didn’t matter that two more enemies had entered the fray, however—it would
make short work of them with its counter-synergetic breath.

Although its mouth had been pierced and it had been inevitably startled when
they turned its own breath on itself, it discerned that the effectiveness of their
attacks was a result of them burning their own life force.

They had temporarily retreated out of exhaustion; it was now certain that they
were incapable of lasting against it much longer, with the succubus nearing its
limit being all the evidence it needed.

Furthermore, its own imploding breath that had been trapped from the dark
obsidian matter that had shut its mouth was of the Earth Element—meaning that
it had not received any significant damage.

“—————”

Altering the spike of obsidian that had cut through its jaw by converting it into
energy of the Earth Element and absorbing it into its body, its wound that ran up
its chin till the bridge of its nose healed in an instant.

They were now back to where they first started—except Kouryuu’s enemies
were now situated north.
Kouryuu readied its breath to eliminate them again—

“—————?”

But its view was suddenly encased in darkness, causing it to panic—rather,

Kouryuu’s entire body was being encased in a dark matter.

“You’re really troublesome, you know that? You took way too much of my
time.”

As Kouryuu finally realized the predicament it was now in—a familiar voice
addressed it—and Kouryuu knew who was speaking to it.

It was the first opponent it had fought, the young man who could control the
dark magic spheres.
 PART 17

Takigawa’s giant, magic sphere suppressed the Kouryuu as the dragon struggled
amidst its grasp, attempting to escape.

“Struggle as you may…it’ll do you no good,” Takigawa said with a smile, flying
right outside his spheres’ field of influence.

Maria and the others were far away—they would not be able to hear him, and it
was then that he divulged a secret that no one knew of.

“Actually, my spheres aren’t exactly of a dark element…they’re actually

universal simulations compressed into spheres. It was really a pain having to
adjust them to this particular size and strength, but…it appears that it’s working
quite effectively on you.” Takigawa revealed the true nature of his abilities as it
spoke to Kouryuu.

And after all—

“You’vemanifested as a result of the power supplied to this area by the Four

Gods, which makes you a being of the Earth Element…in other words, you’re
made out of the Ki that runs through the surface of the Earth.”

However—

“My magic sphere is made out of the universal space of another dimension—
completely different and having no connection to the universe of this planet.
That said, you’re now isolated from the Earth despite being on that very Earth—
you’re now stripped of the very element that makes you, as well as the power
supplied by the Four Gods.”

If Kouryuu were to go on like this, it would be unable to continue sustaining

itself and eventually die off. As if it realized such a reality as well, the Kouryuu
struggled harder with its massive body.

“—————”

“Good, do struggle on…though I should say I’m kind of in a hurry here.”

There was still Shiba to worry about—he would not waste time with the
Kouryuu.

He would end it here and now.

“—Let us begin.” He said, distancing himself slightly further away from his
spheres.

Takigawa usually fought by conjuring several magic spheres, made from

fragments of a simulated universe that he created; creating an imaginary
universe such as this one would take a toll on his magic reserves.

That said, once Takigawa had a grasp of the extent of his abilities, the first thing
he did was to enhance the quality and volume of the sphere he’d made to its
absolute limit—it was afterward that he learned how to split it into as many
other, smaller fragments as possible.

Such modifications would directly affect the nature of his attack—nevertheless,

Takigawa believed that he had made the right choice.

“——————”
Facing the sphere that was swallowing Kouryuu, he extended the index finger
and middle finger of his right hand, concentrating on his fingertips—he then
swiped the two fingers at a high speed as if to

disperse the spheres he was controlling, and the magic sphere split into two.
Even with different parts of its body now trapped within two individual spheres,
Kouryuu still struggled to escape.

“…” “…”

“Come—the disassembly starts now.”

Takigawa then fiddled with his fingers as if he were a music conductor, enjoying
himself as he orchestrated a composition of slicing sounds. Even more magic
spheres were produced with each slice of his universal matter, shredding
Kouryuu into more and more fragments.

“I hope that the next time you do happen to manifest again, it would be because
a better person does so…”

And finally, when his magic spheres have finally surpassed a thousand in
number, he smiled wryly at the fragmented Kouryuu as if it pitied the subjugated
beast.

“…Here. You can have the finishing touch,” He said, turning toward the sky—
where a certain girl was now above the magic spheres he conjured.
“Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aahhhhh!”

It was Maria, who had been risking her life to defeat Kouryuu more than anyone
else—having been launched into the air through Kurumi’s wind magic, her right
fist was already raised in preparation to attack.

Smashing her fist squarely on the pile of magic spheres, the impact of her punch
crumbled all it struck in an explosive flurry of ashes and debris.

When all of the magic spheres finally dissipated, the Kouryuu—the sovereign of
the Four Gods—was nothing but dust, leaving only a shower of glittering light in
the wake of its demise.
 PART 18

“Huh…I never thought you would have been able to defeat Kouryuu,” He said,
eyeing the golden, glittery rain that showered the Imperial Palace in the distance,
looking quite impressed.

Having manifested Kouryuu alongside himself simultaneously, he was well

aware as to how the dragon could be defeated; creating a fake universal space
with magic did seem to be a probable method to defeat Kouryuu, but—

…It should be a negligible setback.

Shiba had no doubt that he would have no issues dealing with an ability like that.
Knowing that Takigawa was of no threat to him, he then turned toward a certain
person before him, smiling wryly.

“—Well, do you want to go on?”

Yuki was in front of him on bended knee, holding onto the spirit blade she had
made with her own magic to replace Sakuya for support—and she refused to fall.

Not yet.

“Ha…ha…” She struggled to breathe as Shiba had beaten her black and blue at
this point in time.

The blade she was wielding to replace her Sakuya with her magic was of a
durability that surpassed any steel—it was a magic blade of its best and final
form, such that it could be called one of the final forms of a generalist
swordswoman like Yuki.

“I must say, you’re actually really good at this. I imagine there’s really nothing
in this world that you can’t cut through the way you are now, Yuki-chan. And yet
—” Shiba did not hold back on his praise as he commended Yuki’s newest
ability that came with her Master-Servant Vow, but his sentence implied a
caveat.

“It’s just sad. Your blades cannot harm me—and so you cannot defeat me.”

“…That remains to be seen.” Yuki said behind gritted teeth, forcing herself to
stand up. “Now that Kouryuu is gone, the powers that it’s given you should be
no more as well…and now that you no longer have the power of the Five
Elements—”

“Hmm~ Well, that’s really not what I was getting at, though.” Shiba laughed
sardonically.

“Think about it. If you were to kill me here, the barrier made from the Four Gods
will be dispelled and destroy all of Tokyo—and you’ll also be releasing all the
Kegare within my body. That’s not something your barrier made from the
Solomon’s Seal can actually withstand. Forget about the Vatican—the Kegare
will spread across the entire world and infect everything it touches with death
and destruction. And I imagine you know full well the extent of what it can do
after trying to even fight against me.”

And last but not least—

“If I were to die, Basara would die within me as well. The only reason you’re
still capable of using the power of the Vow is that while I already have him
locked up within me, I haven’t decided to absorb him…yet.Good for you, huh?
Yes, Basaraisstill alive—but it’s exactly because the person who you care for
more than anything is still alive that you can’t even think about getting rid of
me.”

That said—

“You have to defeat me without killing me—but it’s a paradox you can’t really
find a solution for now, can you?”

“…!”

Ignoring Shiba’s words, Yuki persisted on raising her blade against him.

“Well,aren’t you just stubborn…you know I’ve been holding back from using
my Ki abilities just so I can prepare for the moment where I begin to drain the
life from your very bodies, right? I can’t have you get too roughed up now—the
power of the five elements within you will become imbalanced. After all—”

Shiba turned toward Mio, who had been charging her power throughout his short
scuffle against Yuki.

“I personally want to start with Mio—by the order of which you established the
elements of your five-elemental computability when you’ve made your Vows
with Basara. I’m only being fair to all of

you—consider the fact that he’s already used so much of your power already, so
if I’m going to take him in, I should absorb the compatibility that binds all of
you as well.”

Mio paid no heed to Shiba as she continued concentrating on building her magic
with her eyes shut, a crimson aura rising from her body.

…Impressive. Most impressive.

The pressure that Mio was releasing now rivaled Shiba’s, but her potential was
only continuing to grow—something that Shiba allowed knowing that her power
would soon become his own.

That was likely Mio’s ultimate move—much like Yuki’s was her magic blades.

That said, he would ideally absorb Mio first, followed by Maria, Kurumi, Yuki
and finally Zest in order.

Shiba and Balflear swore that they would proceed with the Divine Realm once
they were done with the Hero Clan—and all the pieces had finally come together
in the barrier that they had created, and more than what they had initially
anticipated. There was Leohart and his forces, who had arrived out of whim or
mere brazenness; then there were the two members of the hero clan, Takashi and
Celis, whose courage had led them to aid their childhood friend; and then there
was Afureia, whom could not act despite her presence.

If Shiba were to really absorb all of them into him, he would become truly
unstoppable.

“And after I’m done with all of you, even theTenGods of the Divine Realm will
be no match for me, let alone the Hero Clan itself…I will then stand at the
pinnacle of everything, becoming a being higher than even the gods
themselves…wouldn’t you say?”

If Shiba were to really absorb all of them into him, he would become truly
unstoppable.

“I won’t let that happen—never!”

Shiba wasn’t wrong—apart from having Basara as a hostage, as well as the risk
of the Kegare within, Yuki could not possibly kill Shiba.
Basara, however, could eliminate Shiba without the concern of the Kegare
overflowing—and Mio was preparing to rescue him.

She could only do what she could—to support them however she could. And
there was only one thing she could do now.

Much like how the others were battling the Kouryuu to reduce Shiba’s powers,
Yuki had to weaken Shiba with the best she could offer.

Yuki could not cut off both arms with a single attack—and she was getting no
second chances.

Her way forward was clear.

“A worthless struggle,” Shiba said, lowering himself as he raised his right arm to
prepare a punch, attempting to accelerate himself and slip under his approaching
opponent.

“Heeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Yuki replied with a vertical slash upward toward her right, her grip firm on her
blade to the very end as she swung it with full focus toward her target—Shiba’s
left arm.

She would send her ultimate attack at him.

The ensuing impact caused something to suddenly fly toward the sky—but it
wasn’t Shiba’s arm.

“…!”

The spirit blade that Yuki conjured with her own magic powers snapped before
her eyes, sending her into a state of panic.
“Like I said…a worthless struggle.” Shiba said, knowing that it was meant to be.

Yuki was already on the ground the moment she heard those words—Shiba’s
right palm landed an unrelenting hit on Yuki’s body.

“Gah…ah…! Hah…ah!”

Shiba did not inject his Ki into Yuki’s body through his Penetration, but instead
attacked her externally with a shock wave from his Ki attacks.

The sheer power of the shock wave caused relentless damage to Yuki’s body as
she was smashed into the ground; she coughed out blood from her mouth as her
internal organs seemed to be heavily damaged, the immeasurable pain
suffocating her. The massive blow deprived her of the oxygen she needed, and
her consciousness was fading fast.

…Not yet…!

Even so, Yuki pushed herself to stand as she lay on the ground, mustering all her
strength, telling herself she could still fight—that she should still go on.

She could not fall here—she could not fall tohim.

And yet—

“Such persistence…the last twitch of a squashed insect.” Shiba said, feeling

resigned. “I suppose the only thing I need to absorb you is to keep you alive, so I
suppose I’ll stop you from buzzing around any longer first…I suppose you have
no use for your arms and legs anymore, do you, Yuki?”

Shiba extended his hand toward Yuki as he gave the bone-chilling suggestion,
but then something changed—his body was letting out a phosphorescent red
light, and Shiba tilted his head in wonder, knowing that it was not his own doing.
“Hmm…?”

“You’ve gotten cocky for long enough…it’s about time I opened your eyes!”

It was Mio’s angry voice that came next, along with the red waves of her gravity
magic surging toward Shiba.
 PART 19

“Heh…magnificent.”

Shiba’s smile remained in the face of the immense pressure of the gravity field
that was threatening to cover him from above.

Although gravity magic was usually a magic that had a large area of effect, she
was limiting its influence toward Shiba alone—Yuki would not be affected by
her attack.

Mio had likely augmented her gravity magic to be able to only affect particular
targets she desired—another new ability brought about by the Vow she made
with Basara.

“You’re not going to be showing me anything if this is the amount of pressure

you can muster…how very naïve.”

Shiba, now in the form of Reginlief’s corrosion, simply resisted her attack head
on.

“If you’re already done playing, I think it’s about time I’ve taken you into me.”
As Shiba walked toward Mio, he noticed the expression on her face.

She was replying to him with a smile, unafraid.

“You think I’m already through? It seems that you’re the naïve one here!”

She then unleashed a second wave of her gravity magic as the two attacks
combined in a thundering roar to form a darker wave as they shot toward Shiba.
The synergistic attacks caused their intensity to skyrocket almost explosively—
but Shiba remained unaffected.

“As I’ve told you, if this is as far as you can—”

Although an umpteenth, wry smile came first, he was suddenly taken aback as
he swallowed hard.

He was feeling as though he was losing his power slightly—it was then that he
noticed the red line that was going through his chest. The next moment, the red
wave split open into two as it went deeper into Shiba.

Someone who was supposed to be trapped within the abyss inside him suddenly
emerged with the puling force of the bright red wave—Toujou Basara.

Stripped of Bynhildr’s armor and his school uniform in tatters, his body and his
limbs were nonetheless still in shape and unscathed.

“———!”

The unexpected occurrence caused Shiba’s mind to go blank.

Basara used this opportunity to pick up Yuki—now fallen at a side of the square
—as he leapt to Mio’s side with her.

“!…Basara!”

She tightly held him as he emerged, tears pooling in her eyes.

 PART 20

Amidst the warmth of Mio’s embrace after he emerged from the absorbing
abyss, Basara first attended to the injuries Yuki had sustained while she was
battling Shiba.

“…Yuki, are you okay?”

“…! Basara! Thank goodness…” Despite her current misery, she managed to
muster a small smile after realizing that Basara was alright.

She appeared to be severely injured, but she was at no risk of losing her life; she
was not going to be able to fight any longer, however.

“Mio…take care of Yuki.”

As Basara handed the injured Yuki to Mio, he then turned toward Shiba; the
calm smile that his opponent had constantly wore on his face was no longer
there.

“…What trickery is this?” He asked, his black eyes staring in disbelief at Basara.

“…The conceptual activation of Mio’s gravity magic.”

The pull of Mio’s gravity magic typically applied in a perpendicular direction;

given that it was applying the laws of their current world, her gravity magic
would usually cause a pull towards the Earth’s surface.

And yet—
“Mio set herself as the point of reference when she used her gravity magic the
second time.”

That was why the gravitational pull drew her waves’ targets toward Mio rather
than the ground—but if that were so, she should have only been able to pull
Shiba toward her and not pull Basaraoutfrom him.

This was where her second wave of magic came into play; much like Mio’s first
attack was meant for only Shiba, Mio had set her second gravitational wave to
apply only to Basara.

“Using the first attack to force you to face a perpendicular direction, she then
used her second attack to forcibly pull me toward her, and thus successfully save
me from being trapped in your body.”

Mio was incapable of seeing where Basara was inside Shiba’s body, of course—
but by virtue of the Vow, she was able to sense where he was at an impeccable
accuracy. However, they were only able to do so because Shiba did not decide to
absorb Basara yet due to his plan to absorb the rest of the girls to obtain the
power of their five-elemental compatibility.

In addition, while Basara was incapable of using gravity magic on his own, he
inherited the ability to manipulate said magic from one of his two mothers,
Sapphire; having waited for the moment Mio would use her gravity magic while
being imprisoned inside Shiba, he immediately allowed the gravitational wave to
envelop his entire body and launched himself toward the point of reference—
Mio herself.

And while the two should not have been able to connect given their dimensional
differences, the Master-Servant Vow allowed Basara and Mio to pinpoint each
other’s exact location even through said difference, and allowed their powers to
connect through the dimensions as well. The two had used their respective
mastery of gravity magic to form an ultimate attraction to one another, allowing
Basara to escape from Shiba’s body.

“Like I’ve told you, I’m well aware that you want to absorb me into your body,
so I’ve been really careful about that. And just in case, I also prepared myself for
the possibility that Iwouldbe absorbed into you.”

Shiba remained dissatisfied at Basara’s explanation. “Your precaution is a risky

gamble nonetheless…if I happened to pull you in and decided to just absorb you
immediately, you wouldn’t even be here right now.”

“It’s true that this was a risk…but we ended up making it so that

youwouldn’twant to absorb me first,” Basara said. “By applying the Five
Elements toward Mio and the others and asking them to make the Solomon’s
Seal and the resulting barrier, you wouldn’t resist the urge to want to absorb all
of them. And I knew that you’d want to absorb them in the correct order to
maximize the effects of said absorption.”

And they were able to accomplish what they did because—

“You’renot like me—you’regreedy.I only want to defeat you, whereas you won’t
be done here and want to exact revenge against the Hero Clan and the Divine
Realm. I knew you’d spare no opportunity to grow stronger, and I used it against
you.”

“Sothat’show it is…yet again, you amaze me with how ridiculous your little
plans are.” Having had his thoughts read like a book by hisenemy,Shiba couldn’t
help but smile another wry smile. “As if using

them as tools for your own tools isn’t enough, you’re now even using them as
bait as your personal life insurance when you need it the most.” Shiba said,
unwilling to admit the extent of their bonds.
“Think of me what you will—I simply won’t lose them again.” Basara replied.

“You attempted to use Kouryuu’s power to kill Mio and the others during our
first battle. We prepared this plan and intended to use it sooner or later if you
were to use it against us again. I wasn’t about to let you kill Mio and the others
—to that, it was important for us to make sure that they would at least pose some
form of value to you.”

“To think that you would willingly do such a thing…what if I had decided to
ignore you and target them first instead?” Shiba proposed yet another risk in
their plan.

“That’s why they made their countering barrier using the Solomon’s Seal instead
of with the cardinal directions. Since the manifestation of Kouryuu meant that
you’re restricted to the central area, setting the barrier in such a manner was to
ensure that you would have your power affected if you ever decided to move
away to meddle with things elsewhere.”

Every step that Basara and the others had enacted had a good reason behind it—
they were not meaningless whatsoever.

“The vows we’ve exchanged have left a psychological break in you and stopped
you in your tracks.” Basara’s words were a declaration of his unwavering
conviction.

“And now—”

But before he could continue, he fell on bended knee, deprived of strength.

“! —Basara!”

Mio’s voice was nearing a scream as she witnessed the sudden change in Basara
—he was kneeling with a pained expression, and his complexion was pale—an
almost earthly pale.

“What did you do to him!?”

Mio hurried over to support him, glaring at Shiba—he was most definitely
responsible for this.

“—Nothing,really.I simply put him inside mybody,and nothing more.” Shiba

smiled again. “Though despite that…hewasput into the abyss filled with the
extremely viscous Kegare while inside me. And like a potent poison the
corruption seeps and corrodes anything it touches, fromone’sflesh toone’smind,
causing anything in its path todecay.I suppose you can tell me ifhe’ssupposed to
be fine after that.”

Although—

“Youknow,Ididhappen to make sure that the Kegare Basara was exposed to while
inside me wasn’t too potent. I really didn’t want to kill him since it’d be useless
to absorb all of you ifhe’sdead, but much like I’ve toldYuki,I really only need
you to stay alive—temporarily—and I took the necessary precautions to ensure
you would at least not lift a finger.”

It should be expected that he would have taken such a measure.

“Did you think that you were the only ones that have made preparations? Much
like how you’ve prepared for the possibility that Basara would be sucked into
me, I’ve also prepared myself for the possibility that he would actually escape
after getting sucked in. Oh, and by the way—”

Shiba suddenly spread his arms, his body shining with a golden light—the same
golden light that Kouryuu had released.

“The earth’s veins can’t be controlled unless Kouryuu is being manifested…and

I admit it’s quite difficult for me to do so now. But of course, I couldn’t exactly
just absorb Kouryuu within me either—the Four Gods wouldn’t really be happy
with the fact that they’d serving someone who’d murdered their leader. So do
you want to know what I did?” Shiba said.

“I’ve synchronized with Kouryuu and obtained its blessings—a sign

thatit’srecognized me and granted me its powers. That said, if the Kouryuu
happened to be destroyed before it could completely manifest itself, where do
you think the power that the Four Gods was supplying Kouryuu with would go
to?”

As he said so, the pressure that Shiba was exuding suddenly elevated into an
entirely different level.

“…But how…?”

Mio could barely speak at the sight before her.

Could it be that Kouryuu had ordered the Four Gods to transfer all the
accumulated power to Shiba if it were to be destroyed?

“But the Byakko—”

“What, you want to say that the Byakko’s underTakashi’scontrol now?” Shiba
laughed, looking as if he’d seen right throughher.“Now that Kouryuu is gone, I
don’t need the Georgius to maintain the Earth Element anymore. And since I
can’t use the Byakko, I can simply use a copy as a substitute. It did happen to
assume the role of the Byakko, after all, and it can easily just revert to this role
with the will of Kouryuu transferred to it. And with the Four Gods losing their
sovereign and realizing the dire situation, they really only did what they should
do—transfer all their power to me.”
As if to prove his point, gusts of the five colors of the elements spun around with
Shiba as their center—the winds combined to form a massive maelstrom above
the Imperial Palace. The five-elemental compatibility of the Four Gods and the
Earth Element from Kouryuu riled everything around him like a storm, causing
the earth to rumble and even the very space around him to ring as if it were
being crushed.

Shiba couldn’t be happier as he stood in the middle of the swirl of energy

surrounding him.

“With this, my long-awaited ambition has finally been realized—I really have all
you to thank for this.”

“…But how could this be…?”

How could things have ended up with Shiba acquiring the ultimate form of
power, whereas she, Basara and the others were now bruised all over and worn
out?

All of them had thought all this through carefully.

All of them had made preparations as best they could for this battle.

All of them had exchanged the Master-Servant Vow with Basara—

But was all of that for nothing? Was all of that not enough to oppose him?

“—It’s not over yet.” A voice remained defiant against Shiba’s declaration of
victory, just when Mio thought all was now lost.

Toujou Basara slowly stood up—and wielding Byrnhildr in his hand, he was
going to see things to their very end.
 PART 21

Wielding Byrnhildr at the level of his waist, Basara assumed his most notable
stance, preparing to unleash Banishing Shift.

“…You continue to be futile, Basara,” Shiba laughed at Basara’s attempt to show

him that he still had some fight left in him, opening his arms. “I now have the
power to control all five elements, the power of Ki with Kegare as its functional
basis, and I also own the Ars Deicidium. Even if you can use Banishing Shift
against one of my abilities, you can’t possibly defend yourself against all of
them.”

Moreover—

“Even if you’ve already eliminated the surrounding Ki earlier, I’ve also

resupplied myself by absorbing your Ki while you were trapped within me. I still
have a reservethat’smore than enough to take you to your doom.”

“…Do you really think so?” Basara said, smiling as he refuted him. “Everything
in this world possesses some form of Ki—in other words, all of your attacks are
now comprised of that particular matter.It’s all part and parcel with you now.”

“And the way I am now…I can simply view the two separate entities as a
singular target and eliminate them simultaneously,” Basara said. “And given the
aforementioned fact, it means that I’m already exposed to Ki—I don’t need to
wait for you to attack to counterattack. The way you arenow,I can simply
unleash the Banishing Shift at will.”
Shiba had become the only target—the only person—that Basara can use
Banishing Shift on without any limitation.

“…I see. That does make some sense, yes.” Shiba said, agreeing with a portion
of what Shiba had said. “Nevertheless, the flow of Ki is various and can change
almost invariably…would you be able to see through the particular origin of Ki
required to counterattack it? And even then—” His gaze turned toward Mio and
Yuki beside him. “The two girls beside you can’t intervene to ensure that no
extraneous factors mess up your execution. I doubt someone who’s even
struggling to stand right now can pull something like that off.”

“You couldn’t…possibly understand.” Basara said plainly, his smile unwavering.

“They don’t need to fight alongside me to support me. They can provide me with
strength just by being there with me.”
That’s right,Basara thought.I’m not alone.

And many others were with him.

Basara could feel their presence—and their strength, things that were not
products of the Master-Servant Contract or the Master-Servant Vow.

They were products of their thoughts and emotions piling on one another as the
days passed by—they were products of the bonds they shared.

“———” “———”

And Mio and Yuki did not deny what Basara had said; their tranquil eyes were
brimming with strength, and an unshakeable faith that Basara would be able to
defeat Shiba.

And Basara needed to reward them believing in him—he then heightened his
senses to the maximum, concentrating as best as he could.
 PART 22

As Basara began to concentrate, Shiba also assumed an offensive stance,

preparing to attack.

He then accelerated his mind, paving his next move that would finally put him
on the path to victory.

—Basara just said that he no longer needed to use the Banishing Shift as a
counterattack.

But if he did not cast it based on Shiba’s reactions, it was very unlikely that he
would be able to eliminate his target. As the Banishing Shift required the
technique to eliminate the origin of its target, Shiba could simply alter the
properties of his attacks as they were exposed to Banishing Shift, and thus the
base of their origins.

An incompletely Banishing Shift would only be able to eliminate only one form
of matter from the Five Elements or the Kegare; Shiba would be able to simply
use another of the unrestricted matters against Basara and retake him into his
body once again.

That said, Basara wasn’t going to wait for Shiba to attack before he would
activate the Banishing Shift.

…What is he planning to do, then…?

After making a guess about his opponent’s next move, Shiba then reconsidered
his most appropriate option for their next clash.
Unlike Basara, Shiba had various options for his next move. He had the Ars
Deicidium and the Ki that came with it; he could use Earth element attacks with
the power he’d inherited from the Kouryuu; and he could simply feint with
normal attacks.

In contrast, Basara had no room for bluffs or feints; the strain from any attack he
would attempt to use against him would affect the specificity Basara requited to
cast Banishing Shift effectively.

Even then, Basara had no way of accurately guessing which attack Shiba was to
use first, and the former’s normal attacks could not go against Shiba’s Ki attacks
or utilize the any of the Five Elements.

With the lives of Mio and his other girls, Tokyo, the Vatican, the Hero Clan, the
whole world—everything and everyone at stake for this battle, Basara could not
afford to lose, and he would definitely not rely on chance—the way he’d planned
against the possibility of being absorbed into Shiba being a good indicator of his
current stance on their battle.

In a way, it could be said that Basara worked best when he was reacting to a
situation, not initiating it—Shiba’s best and easiest course of action would be to
simply stay still and let Basara exhaust himself after he’s reached his limits,
forcing him to pull the trigger when he could not hold on much longer.

That was the main, if not only, factor, that Shiba had to keep into account.

And if Basara were to make the first move in this situation…

He would not attempt any trickery and just close the distance immediately,
unleashing Extinction Sword at point-blank range—something that even Shiba
would not be able to withstand if it hit him directly, forcing him to either dodge
or block the attack. And it was quite possible that he could simply change his
stance in the middle of it and unleash Banishing Shift instead.

However, Shiba could simply avoid the attack and exhaust Basara in the
aftermath of the exchange, so he didn’t find that situation problematic.

What was the worst-case scenario for Shiba if Basara were to make the first
move, then?

It was if the Banishing Shift would be able to completely eliminate Shiba’s

counterattack when it would make contact with it—as Basara had illustrated
earlier, Ki was present in all things in an endless cycle, and he would be able to
simply unleash the Banishing Shift without moving from his position, ending
their clash with a series of eliminating Shiba’s Ki and five-elemental attacks with
Banishing Shift and following up with a second attack.

It was an improbable outcome—but Shiba wasn’t about to be neglectful of such

a possibility.

And given this particular risk…

It was the best course of action to use the Ars Deicidium and the Five Elements
to launch two consecutive attacks at him—this way, he would always have the
insurance of power to eliminate Basara even if his

Banishing Shift happened to successfully eliminate his Ars Decidium and his
five-elemental powers simultaneously.

As Shiba finished his preparations, Basara started to make his move—he roared
as he decided to commit to performing the first strike in order to defeat Shiba.

“Heeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!”
He was using Banishing Shift—just as Shiba expected him to.

“You really are quite honest, aren’t you…” Shiba laughed quietly, kicking
himself off the ground—the immediate, extremely speedy movement eliminated
any traces of distance between him and his opponent, before he raised his fists to
attack him.

“Goodbye, Basara.”

This move would finally decide things once and for all.

If the Banishing Shift was not fully cast, he would simply end him with this
second hit.

If the Banishing would disintegrate his first attack, he would simply use a
different source of power for his next hit—he would use the Kegare that festered
in the abyss of hisbody,the corruption that had the power to disintegrate anything
in touched.

“———?”

The moment he witnessed the outcome of their clash, however, Shiba went
completely still.
 PART 23

As Basara unleashed the Banishing Shift, the target that he had set for
elimination was not the power in Shiba’s fists.

As Ki was tied into all things in creation, Basara had proposed that he would be
able to eliminate any of Shiba’s Ki attacks provided that he targeted the right
origin.

Shiba’s current reaction confirmed Basara’s theory—but the rate of success for
such an assumption was supposed to be miniscule.

What could he have done, then, to ensure the success of the attempt and defeat
Shiba in the process?

He had acquired something that met both requirements of the matter he needed
to destroy with the Banishing Shift—something that was hidden within the
unending darkness of abyss that laid within Shiba.

Upon release of the Kegare, the expanding curse would expand to specific
targets, said targets being the Village, the Vatican, and beyond, and the corrupted
matter was also corrosive to one’s life force, and could cause severe damage
when used as an attack.

Apart from these qualities, however, there was also another crucial component. It
was the lifeline of his Kegare—Reginlief’s soul.

Basara considered the fact that Shiba would have obviously kept into account of
such a possibility—the fact that Basara would assume that Reginlief’s soul was
the linchpin of Shiba’s power. That was why he’d hidden it in a place where no
one would be able to acquire it—the bottomless pit of the abyss within him.

Basara had lost due to his inability to appropriately access the extents of Shiba’s
darkness during their first battle, but such a fact would have convinced Shiba
that Basara would be unable to destroy the Kegare within him, and had thus
chosen to absorb him knowing that it was safe.

But it had also provided Basara with a golden opportunity to find and retrieve
Reginlief’s soul while he was being trapped inside.

Basara did not get used to seeing through the darkness of the abyss while being
trapped inside Shiba, however. While dark adaptation allowed one’s eyes to be
more sensitive to a source of light after being in long periods of darkness, it
wouldn’t work in a world of darkness without the slightest trace of light, where it
mattered not how long one lay trapped in the dark.

There were other ways that Basara could use to see through the darkness of the
abyss, however. So long as there was a source of light, any darkness, no matter
how deep, could still be navigated through.

He considered the fact that Shiba would be wary of him if he were to attempt to
steal Reginlief’s soul and make the proper adjustments, however, and so he had
waited for his only opportunity.

“Don’t tell me that…you used the gravity wave you used to escape to…!”

Before Basara had arrived to the scene of the battle, Basara had utilized the
Banishing Shift to relieve Takashi of the Kegare that had corrupted him—and
that was because Basara had the ability to use Penetration as well.
Having applied Penetration to that exact situation—which in contrast to the easy
specificity of healing Takashi, was far more delicate due to the lack of precision
due to his dark surroundings—Basara had managed to find and eliminate
Reginlief’s soul without affecting Shiba’s body or mind.

Even if could not have entirely eliminated Reginlief’s soul, it would now take a
substantial amount of time for Shiba to regain what he’d lost: Shiba could no
longer produce and infinite amount of Ki like he used to.

Basara owed his success to the long years of experience he had—as well as the
Master-Servant Vows he’d made with Mio and the other girls.

—Basara knew that he’d once allowed his powers to run out of control and cause
tragedy in the Village; the energy of the Banishing Shift should have been
released when he had at least some form of control, but having had his mind
pushed to his limits back then, he’d released all the energy he had and caused
what continued to haunt him to this day.

As of now, however, Basara could now do the opposite to Shiba—not only

would he be limiting the energy of the Banishing Shift, he could also limit the
attack to only implode on the specific target it was designated for.

It was a level of power that Basara could not possibly have achieved by himself
—a miracle born from his unwillingness to lose those he loved and the
irreplaceable bonds he’d made with them.

And Basara was about to use this power to defeat Shiba Kyouichi at last.

“Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

Basara then forcibly unleashed the Banishing Shift: Geminus—now being able
to disintegrate any target regardless of its origin—as the bladed technique was
sent flying straight toward his enemy; despite the recklessness of his current
attack, said attack would be more than enough to defeat Shiba at this point.

“—I don’t think so.” Before the attack could touch Shiba, however, he suddenly
disappeared from sight again.

“———!”

Basara immediately turned above to see that his target was now in the sky—he
was now combining the power of the Five Elements and the massive amounts of
Ki he’d accumulated at a single point around his raised hands. The respective
matters condensed to form a vermillion blade as he raised it high.

“A pity, isn’t it, Basara…” Shiba smiled, bringing down the divine blade he’d
made by condensing his Ki.

It was the final form of the Ars Deicidium—the Totsuka Blade.

It operated on a concept that allowed it to cut through anything that stood in its
path, and there was no defense apart from avoiding its area of effect.

But Shiba had deprived Basara of that option—one swing of his blade would cut
throughYukiand Mio even if Basara would be able to avoid the attack, sparing
neither their flesh nor their souls. And Basara did not have the strength to carry
them both away in time.

He only had the Banishing Shift as his counterattack—but he needed absolute

concentration for it to work against his newest weapon. Perhaps his Vows with
Mio and the others would enable him to utilize it consecutively or drastically
increase its power to fell what stood in its path in a single strike—but even then,
there had to be a limit to what he could do.

Contrarily, Shiba was free to use theTotsukaBlade to attack as much as he

wanted without limit, with each swing and every draw of the blade releasing its
all-severing concept.

Even though the Banishing Shift was a technique that could allow its user to
escape their particular predicament and turn the tide of battle, Shiba’s Totsuka
Blade was the ultimate weapon that he would use to immediately decide the
outcome of the battle.

In other words, Shiba had assured his victory the moment he had manifested the
Totsuka Blade.

…And now…

Releasing power of the concept which threatened to cut through anything, Shiba
carefully and calmly considered the upcoming development of the battle.

He was no longer interested in absorbing Basara; Basara’s death would mark the
end of the

Master-Servant Vows, and the remaining girls—Maria, Kurumi and Zest—could

be made short work of.

Takigawa’s magic spheres with the power to imitate universal space could still
be cut down with the Totsuka Blade, and he would then proceed with cutting
down the rest of the group that was now scattered to maintain the barrier of the
Solomon’s Seal: he would start with Leohart and Loki, and his remaining troops,
as well as Takashi and Celis, would be no match even if they were to attack him
simultaneously.

Basara’s previous Banishing Shift had cost Shiba no small loss of his Kegare: his
current reverse would be inadequate to destroy theVaticanafter it was done with
Japan.
Then again, the Kegare and a part of Reginlief’s Soul still remained in Shiba;
after settling things with Basara and the others, he would have all the time he
would need.

He would rebuild his barrier with the Four Gods and have Kouryuu manifest
again: the way Shiba was now, he could simply rest the construction of the
barrier by recalling the Four Gods and remake a new barrier, allowing him to
manifest Kouryuu again without any difficulty. And although Mio had
mentioned that Takashi was now in control of the Byakko, he could simply
substitute it with the Georgius.

Having decided that this was to be his future, he suddenly felt a massive wave of
Ki coming from the space before him.

“———!”

At the opposite spectrum of the Totsuka Blade he was wielding, where Shiba’s
blade was releasing a flow of energy threatened to destroy any concept—one
could sense an extremely disconcerting feeling of

bone-chilling, callous intent.

The killing intent was being released surprised even Shiba—and its source was
right in front of him.
 PART 24

“———”

Basara’s eyes were shut as he silently assumed the stance needed to unleash the
Banishing Shift, ready to face the conceptual attack of Shiba’s Totsuka Blade.

The Banishing Shift: Geminus that he had forcibly unleashed yet seemingly
avoided by Shiba had retained its immense power—Basara had saved the energy
required for the attack.

Had Shiba relented after losing the power of Reginlief’s soul, the attack would
have been enough to defeat him.

Shiba had not ceased his ambitions, however—not once. Not only had he
attempted to kill Basara, he had also tried to kill Mio and Yuki as well.

He had not been satisfied with a single attempt—he had attempted to take away
what Basara loved multiple times.

To that, Shiba was unforgivable.

Basara would allow no one to get away with trying to take away what was
precious to him.

His eyes went wide open—

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Roaring at the top of his lungs, Basara swung Byrnhildr toward his enemy.

Basara had unleashed Penetration as he caused the exterminating energy of

Banishing Shift to implode upon cast during his previous attack.

His current attack was the exact opposite—he unleashed the fullest extent of the
exterminating energy he’d accumulated in that single strike.

It was an attack that was of an entirely different level of power compared to

Extinction Sword—it was Banishing Shift: Annihilation, the ultimate flow of
exterminating energy unleashed on an opponent.

“—————————————”

The two conceptual attacks collided at the next moment—it was a clash between
a concept that could sever anything and a concept that could eliminate anything.

The clash did not end equally, however—the collision between the two attacks
did not result in both powerful techniques exterminating the other.

That was because Shiba intended to attack consecutively—Basara, on the other

hand, had bet all the strength—all the will—he had on that single strike.

The difference in their strength was obvious and the outcome was clear—
Basara’s Banishing Shift: Annihilation swallowed the slashing attack of the
Totsuka Blade.

The exterminating power returned everything it reached to nothingness, casting a

blinding light as the power surged into the sky.

…
…

Basara then found himself in a world of nothing but pure whiteness.

Having used every last ounce of his strength, he had no further doubts, and was
fully convinced at what he’d done. Dispelling Brynhildr, he slowly leaned
forward—

“————”

And he was welcomed by a loving embrace from all sides.

He could feel five familiar responses surrounding him as he reveled in the

pleasant sensation.

He then breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he had successfully protected

those he cared so much about.

It had finally come to an end.

At that moment, his vision became blurry, and his body and consciousness felt as
if though they were at their limits.

Before he would pass out, though, he had one very important thing to say—not
as the head of the household, but as a fellow member of the family sharing his
feelings to those dear to him.

They were words that were meant for the girls who have swore to be by his side
eternally and had offered everything they had to him.

“…Let’s go home.”
 EPILOGUE:
THE FRUIT OF THIS BELOVED VOW
 PART 1

A facility lay undetected underground beneath the world’s largest cathedral.

It was a secret location known to only very few to this day, housing
abominations under the order of the Vatican, the headquarters of the Hero Clan
— a research facility utilized by the predecessors of the special corps to create
clones made from Jin’s cells.

The interior of the dimly lit facility possessed a long passageway that appeared
to be as amply deep as it was tall; the only source of illumination of the
tenebrous space, denying any traces of sunlight due to its location underground,
was the innumerable amount of large, cylindrical water tanks that lined the walls
left and right, their liquid contents within possessing a special power that made
them shine with a pallid glow, as if the tanks themselves were the very lighting
of the room.

And a sole figure was present within the deathly still space — the stark white of
the vestments he wore, standing out amidst the gloomy space, were ones that
were only fit to be donned by the sacred king.

“……………”

His gaze was fixated upon one particular tank that now contained nothing but
emptiness, connected to tubes and pipes of different thicknesses and materials.
Wordlessly, he placed his right hand upon the tank’s curved wall of glass,
thereupon which the chill of its surface took his temperature away as it spread
through his body from the surface of his right palm.
“Twenty years, huh…” And as he suddenly muttered those words, his thoughts
returning to days of long past —

“So this is your little secret castle, Albareos.”

A voice resounded behind him, and the man could see the reflection of another
figure behind him through the pane of the tank.

And so Albareos, who reigned as the top of the pyramid as the leader of the
Vatican — the headquarters that governed the Hero Clan — turned toward the
source of the voice. Before him stood a man that once upheld the responsibility
of the Hero Clan; a man renowned among friend and foe alike, where allies
would revere him as the strongest member of the Hero Clan, while his enemies
feared him for his reputation as a war god.

“Jin…” Albareos narrowed his gaze, his eyebrows creased as he uttered the
figure’s name.

“Well, I see you don’t look so pleased to see me. By the way, this is overdue, but
I haven’t really said it yet, haven’t I?” Jin said, looking as if he had just
remembered something, “Congratulations. You’ve finally got what you’ve
always wanted, huh? Taking the title of the whole sacred king and all.”

“I see you’ve fallen quite low yourself.” Albareos snorted in response to the
comment of his former comrade, “You, once a revered hero, who then suddenly
brought back a child with an unknown mother out of nowhere during the war,
and ended up choosing to step back from the front lines and eventually
relinquish the duties of the Hero Clan of your own accord.”

“What, is it really that surprising? Well, truth be told, I didn’t expect myself to
have a kid as well, but it can’t be helped, can it?” There was no sign of shame or
regret in Jin’s words, as he continued, “After all, I happened to stumble across
women who I knew I could call the love of my life. Women who knew their own
strength more than anyone and used that strength to fight for others more than
themselves…women who would put on a brave front, refusing to show weakness
to anyone else.”

And yet —

“And yet they willingly gave it all to me — their unpainted faces, their
weaknesses, everything. Of course I’d come to decide that I’d protect them no
matter what.”

What Jin said next came in a voice more sombre than usual.

“Even now I still can’t forget it all…how happy I was when I knew how one was
pregnant with my child. How helpless I felt when the other had to give birth to
him while I couldn’t even protect her. Even so, I can’t let anything happen to the
product of our bonds — the beacon of hope the three of us had made together.
That’s why I’d resigned from being a member of the Hero Clan. My duty is no
longer to the world — but to my son.”

“You would assume such trivialities as your own duty? How risible.”

And as Albareos mocked him —

“Is that so? Is your own duty any more noble than mine, then? You always went
on and on about elevating the standings of the Hero Clan, making the world a
better place and whatnot.”

And yet —

“But c’mon, what happened after that? Has the world really changed for the
better — even if a little — after you stuck your ass on a throne?”
“It’s not something your eyes can see…what one sees of the world changes with
one’s particular viewpoint of it. And so if one is to truly reform the world, one
must oversee it through a view comparable to that of a god.” Such as Albareos’
answer to Jin’s question.

“A god, huh…c’mon, don’t you think you’re too old for that kind of childish
nonsense already? And I thought you would stop being all self righteous and
whatnot after the whole fiasco you pulled with Kyouichi.”

“…I have already grasped the situation and have full control over it. There are
no issues pertaining to that anymore.”

It was then that the sacred king, Albareos, finally cut to the case.

“Well, what is your purpose here?”

“Isn’t it obvious why I’m here? I’m here to take out the trash, of course.” Jin
immediately answered,

“Basara’s already done his job…guess it’s about time I did mine.”

Toujou Jin now directly faced Albareos.

“To think you wouldn’t even bring any followers with you as the holy king…
quite careless, aren’t you?”

And the next moment, he slowly stepped his way toward him.

“And for you to take control of the situation off the other side of the sea while
neglecting your own situation right now…if that’s your so called ‘viewpoint of a
god’ or whatever that is, I’d say it’s quite lame, if you ask me.”

And as Jin let out those words —

“In the end, you and I share different visions. You’re blind to what I see.”

A group of people now stood in front of Albareos, who let out a smile, in his
defense. Jin immediately understood why each of them were identical to the
other in almost every aspect, from looks to form.

They were clones—clones of Shiba Kyouichi.

There appeared to be a total of seven standing in a row before Jin.

“As I’ve said before, I’ve already grasped the situation and have complete
control over it.” Albareos said, calmly. “I have no need for your son or his so
called friends of his…I can always use these to crush that flawed specimen as I
see fit.”

“……So that’s how it is.” Jin muttered, having had Albareos’ trump card
revealed before him.

— It had been twenty years since that day.

To Jin, such a period of time was the arrival of a new happiness before him —
the birth of his son, Basara, and the time he had spent with him.

To Shiba Kyouichi, such time had been months and years spent to accumulate
power with the purpose of taking revenge on the Hero Clan.

And to Albareos, twenty years had been, to him, time spent mounting the
stairways of becoming the holy king and securing such a position for himself.

…Such was was the likeliest conclusion, at least.

Shiba wasn’t the only one Albareos saw as a threat to him — there was also Jin.
He feared that Jin would one day appear before him just as the scenario
presented itself before him at this very moment.

That was why he took whatever measures necessary to eliminate all obstacles in
his path — and he had been storing power for that purpose to this day.

“After all, I did consider the possibility that the Village, whom I entrusted that
specimen with, would plot to use him against me…I made good to save a few
hairs of his and create a couple of spares before his transfer.” Albareos said,
“The appearance of a specimen capable of absorbing the corruption in its
entirety was a miracle back then…but the world has changed so much in the last
twenty years, and with the advancement of magic and technology of an
evolutionary level, it wouldn’t be difficult to recreate that miracle with the way
things are now.”

“ ——————”

And as Albareos said so, an aura of dark Ki energy seethed from the seven
clones of Shiba.

It was a sign that the clones were not only identical to the original in appearance
— they also possessed the same abilities.

“………………………………………”

Jin narrowed his gaze, looking straight toward the group of clones before him.
And then —

“And since you’re here…I’d say it’s a good opportunity. I suppose I could use a
few clones of you as well.”

“When you returned from the Demon Realm after the last great war, I sensed a
reaction in the soul within you like I’ve never seen before. And I will recreate
everything of you with my own hands, and elevate you to an even higher level,
such that even your current moniker of a war god would pale in comparison.”

Albareos smiled and said.

“Man, you really don’t know when to stop, do you? You’ve already done
enough, letting Kyouichi getting out of control and all.” Jin looked evidently
displeased at Albareos’ words. “Heck, at this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if
you’d find some excuse to invite Basara and the others to you after all of this is
over.”

“Naturally, I would. My duty is to lead this world toward a distant, bright future.
And in order to fulfill that duty, I cannot cease my footsteps, even if it means
walking down the path to becoming a god. And I will make good use of your son
and his companions in order to achieve that future.”

And then —

“And that future will start with you…” Albareos sneered. “A hair or a piece of
flesh will suffice…kill him.”

At his command, Shiba’s seven clones moved as ordered; Albareos witnessed

the seven clones of Shiba charging toward Jin simultaneously.

One particular clone led the charge while the six others followed behind it; the
extreme speed of their formation closed their distance from Jin an instant.

The other six would follow up and finish Jin at the moment he would respond to
the first clone; It didn’t matter if the one leading the charge would be sacrificed
in the process.

They were merely clones and nothing more; he could always procure a
replacement regardless of the expense he would need.
…And there was the prospect of obtaining an even more valuable research
subject once he got rid of Jin.

As Albareos’ heart danced as he filled his thoughts of such a future seemingly

seconds away from reality, he then saw it —he saw Jin casually raising his right
palm toward the first clone charging toward him.

And the next moment, a flash of blinding light was released from his palm.

The light swallowed the leading clone of Shiba and the six others behind it—and
the moment the flash of light dissipated,

“… — What in the world…?”

Albareos was dumbfounded.

All seven of Shiba’s clones had been destroyed; and there was not the slightest
trace of any of them.

Albareos then understood the phenomenon that just occurred.

It was the Banishing Shift, an iteration similar to Basara’s own Banishing Shift
that sent its target to the zero dimension.

“Impossible…I thought only your son could use that technique!”

“Not surprising, really…like father, like son, as they say. Why wouldn’t I be
capable of using my son’s abilities? I even know the whole gist of how it
works.” Jin said, “Well, my iteration isn’t as unrefined as Basara’s though; I’m
not limited to using it for counterattacks.”

Jin’s words, explaining his stance as if it were only natural for it to happen, took
any semblance of words Albareos had left in his mouth.
And before he knew it, something resembling a tattoo suddenly appeared on
Jin’s body.

It was the crest of an ancient dragon.

“Actually…you wanna know something? Before I arrived here, I went over to

the restaurant you used to take me to for a bite, and I must say, it gave me quite a
shock. I imagine it’s because of the good business it now has that it feels so
different?” Jin stared into space as he thought of that, “I tried most of the food
there. It all tasted good, of course. It’s just…the price and the stuff they put in
the menu we used to order during old times is completely different now. Too
extravagant, really, like it was something else entirely.”

And Jin’s next words sounded somewhat lonesome:

“A pity, isn’t it, that the food we once shared there is no more — much like how
your old self is no more as well.”

“………………!”

Albareos swallowed hard, unable to move.

The pressure that Jin was exuding before him was already far beyond that of
Shiba’s; it was at such an unseen level that scared the color out of the holy king’s
face.

“Do you know why I didn’t make my move sooner even after the whole incident
with Kyouichi you pulled? It’s because of Basara. If I were to make any careless
moves, surely you could take the opportunity to mess with him during my
absence in the human world…that’s the only reason I’ve left you alive until
now.”
“ ——————”

Albareos’ gaze slowly rose as he could not keep his eyes off Jin; the form of the
man before him was changing before his very eyes.

From a man, Jin slowly transformed into a dragon, its entire body coated in an
exoskeleton as white as the battle armor that the Hero Clan donned.

Albareos’ eyes widened; he was at a complete loss.

“What’s the matter, Albareos? Don’t you want to know why my soul had
evolved to be so great after the events of the great war?”

The moment his voice grew to be so deafening it shook the very atmosphere
around them, Jin’s appearance had completely changed, now taking on the form
of a titanic, white dragon, looming over the holy king as he gazed at him below.

“You once said that you wanted to make the world a better place, and I have no
doubt your words were true back then…but alas, only back then. In the end, even
you ended up being tainted by your own filthy desires.”

The dragon’s gaping maw did not snap shut as it finished speaking; on the
contrary, it only opened wider.

And then —

“Adios, Albareos.”

A flash of blinding light burst open following the massive dragon’s words; the
holy light then swallowed what was every fiber of Albareos’ existence — his
body, his mind, his essence.
 PART 2

… — He was dreaming of it again.

Gazing at the gruesome scenery of the tragedy that had unfolded in the distant
past, Toujou Basara knew full well that he was in a dream.

He could see a pair of crazed, crimson eyes looming over his younger self.

They were the eyes of Seito, seemingly possessed by an evil spirit, as Basara
could hear the shrill screams of despair of the surrounding adults that were cut
down in his wake.

He could see his childhood friends sunken amidst an ample pool of their own
blood.

And there was Yuki, young as he was behind him, the sound of her fearful
breathing, trembling and sobbing all too clear to him.

Eventually, Seito, driven mad with insanity, slowly stepped toward the two kids.

And Basara knew better than anyone what the next tragedy entailed.

His body felt as if it was tied up, his breathing hard. And yet —

“………………………………………”

— It wasn’t that he was used to it; he simply could do nothing but watch it
directly in his dreams. He could only watch his unerasable past, and his
unerasable sins before him.
Before long, the tragedy that unfolded before him and the fear of impending
doom drove the psyche of Basara’s younger self to its limit; the next moment, a
flash of white light suddenly emerged before dispersing across all directions,
with Basara as its center.

The power of Banishing Shift had gotten out of control ; the blinding light then
mercilessly devoured everything surrounding Basara and Yuki — the corpses of
the adults and friends murdered by Seito along with it.

Even so —

“ ——————”

Toujou Basara continued to unblinkingly relive the day of the tragedy that he had
enacted—as if it were the responsibility he had sentenced his sinful self to.

When Basara opened his eyes next, he found himself feeling startled again.

He should have awoken from his dream but it was pitch black before him, and it
was difficult for him to breathe.

His next thought was toward the abyss Shiba had locked him in; and as Basara’s
thoughts first went to the bottomless pit of corruption —

“!…Whaa ii tthh……!”

Even Basara’s exclamations sounded vague; darkness was plastered upon his
face, deterring even his ability to speak. And then —

“Nnnn…fuaahn ♥…oh, Basarasan, you’re already so assertive even after you’ve

just woken up…”
Amidst the slight warmth in the darkness, he could hear a familiar, irritating
voice, one that spurred him to forcefully push his way out of the blackness that
stood in front of him. His forceful attempts of clearing away what was before
him were accompanied by the sound of cloth being ripped and torn apart, but his
vision was still obstructed.

Even if he could see something other than darkness right now, there was a small
butt in front of him; it plastered warmth to his mouth and his nose, and a
somewhat comfortable sensation of weight was pressing on his chest and
abdomen.

What in the world was going on here?

Apparently, Toujou Basara was now locked in one would describe as the 69
position, a girl’s butt now sitting on his face. As his hands pried himself free
from the darkness, he could feel the distinct sensation of ripped underwear.

“ ——————”

Basara wordlessly placed his hands on the waist that was suffocating him, lifting
away the girl was who sitting on top of him before he picked up the digital alarm
clock placed on the bedside table, checking the time on the clock through an
inverted point of view.

It was 5:30 a.m.; it was a morning earlier than usual, one that was welcoming
sunrise.

And having understood what he could about his current circumstances, Basara
finally spoke.

“…Um, Maria.”

“Yes, Basarasan? How may I help you?”

“Explain our situation right now.”

“Hmm, let’s see…where do I start with this, huh…” Maria stared into the
nothingness in the midair as she spoke.

“Can you just tell me what you’re doing for the time being?” Basara repeatedly
reminded himself in his heart to not be angered by it all, asking her politely.

“Given that it was Miosama and I that did it with you yesterday, I thought
waking you up should be my rightful duty as a result. I figured I’d get the best
out of my head and use it to wake you up.”

“You mean to say you wanted to get the best out of your knowledge. Your head
inspires questions; it rarely has answers.”

“Oh, no, I insist I’d go for “get the best out of my head”, though for a succubus
like me, perhaps ‘get the best out of my breasts’ might be more befitting…shall
we start over?”

“I’ll pass. Go on.”

“I see…what a shame. Anyways, I was remembering the many ways I’ve been
trying to wake you up until now because of this.” Maria said, quietly. “In the
end, I realized that although I’ve always been messing inside your T-shirt and
your underwear, I’ve never actually invited you to the same inside my own
clothes and underwear. I was careless in that regard…such an oversight really
gave me quite a shock, and I felt really guilty as a result.”

Basara had yet to turn angry at Maria’s words. “I see. And then?”

“My pleasure. Making as much space as I could by pulling the waist portion of
my panties with my right hand,
What do you think? Although I used some of my succubus sleeping magic so
that you won’t be woken by such small movements, this new 69 position is still
an outstanding new achievement, don’t you think?”

“…I don’t even know where to start with you.”

“As long as you’re going to start with your dick, both my upper and lower holes
will welcome you with open arms.”

“I’m not even going to try and respond to that statement…why are you so
obsessed with this new 69

position, anyway?”

“Oh~I’ve been thinking that our morning fellatio sessions haven’t been as spicy
lately.”

“You don’t have to worry about something like that. I’m really happy with the
way you guys are waking me up daily as is.” As Basara kindly told her that
everything was alright, Maria simply waved her hand is dismissal.

“Oh, no, Basarasan — I’m the one who’s unsatisfied with things being are they
are.”

“So it is about you, huh!”

And he ended up losing it after all.

Stop being such an idiot! Even if you can’t take it, just keep it in! Do it with all
you’ve got!

And then said idiot became shocked at Basara’s response.

“But that’s…I’ve already crept into your shirt and your underwear, and you
won’t even let me return the favor. What exactly do you even want me to do,
Basarasan?”

“Just wake me up the way one normally would, damn it!”

“Normally, huh…oh, it’s true that I can’t say good morning while my mouth is
holding your thing during sessions…I’ve seen the light!”

“Given that lustful little mind of yours, I don’t expect you to be able to see
anything.”

“……Nnnnn……”

Following Basara’s bitter remark, Mio, who was sleeping right beside him,
slowly fluttered her eyelids open as she woke up and took a breath.

“Sorry…seems we’ve woken you.” Basara immediately apologized.

“It’s nothing…good morning. What are you two up to so early?” Mio asked,
rubbing her eyes.

“Basarasan and I are discussing and experimenting on the most ideal way to
wake him up in the morning.”

“……………What’s this…I think there’s something hard in here…” Mio

suddenly discovered that something felt odd, appearing rather puzzled.

“Eh? Is something wrong with Basarasan’s —”

“ Maria! Look…I’m talking about this.” Mio then reached under the bedsheets
and withdrew a plastic box from beneath them — one that was commonly used
to store games or film CDs, its cover incidentally facing Mio and Basara, and the
two then took a closer look to discover what it was.
The cover was decorated with girls dressed as lavisciously as their expressions,
their necks chained with collars. The name of the product happened to be —

‘My Unknown Adolescent Life with my Real Sister-in-Law v II.”

It was an erotic game.

“Ah, the new arrival on the market released late last month.”

“I don’t care what it is! What’s with the game having a version II, is it really that
popular right now!?”

“But of course. The budget for production was quite high for this piece, there are
many character and routes for you to go through, and there’s a massive influx of
sex scenes, as well. Apart from it being far more spicy and heavy, there’s even a
perfect harem route included in this.” Maria said proudly. “That said, you really
must use this game as your own personal reference, Basarasan.”

“………………………………………” “………………………………………”

Maria’s preposterous words caused Basara and Mio to turn silent, and the entire
room suddenly went still along with it.

After a while, Basara turned the box around to see what was behind the cover;
the scene on it was filled with pictures of lewd girls that were being disciplined
by the main protagonist, their expressions melting with pleasure at the delight of
yielding to their master in sexual fashion. It was likely that it was done as
fanservice that would attract customers.

And the acts and expressions of the characters of this restricted game were no
longer an illusion to Basara the way he was now; he’d already done most if not
all of them to Mio and the others already.”
Swallowing hard, Basara then turned to Mio and Maria.

“Ah……ya……haaah, nnn……oniichan…fuaaahn♥…”

“Oh, Basarasan…nnn, even though you were already so intense yesterday…

haaah!♥”

That alone had already managed to trigger Mio and Maria’s lustful curses.

“Mio…Maria…” As he said so, Basara brushed away the silk sheets they used as
bedsheets, exposing all three of them naked, just as they were since yesterday
night. Basara’s member was already painfully erect, whereas the thighs of Mio
and Maria glistened with their womanly fluids as the two lost themselves in their
lust.

“Spread your legs…both of you.”

“………………………………………” “………………………………………”

At Basara’s order, the two nodded obediently and did as they were told —
exposing the most obscene part of their bodies.

And their gazes betrayed their excitement, waiting for Basara to make his move.

“ — I got it. I’ll make you guys feel better now.”

And as Toujou Basara finished those words, he immediately acted upon them —
as if to satiate his own carnal desires, he ravenously helped himself to the two
sisters.
 PART 3

A week remained following the end of the battle against Shiba; said week was
the last few days of time before their spring break would end.

And within this period, Basara had continued to make love with his girls day and
night.

— Maria had acted too recklessly when she battled the Kouryuu, and she needed
to restore her life force as a result; acting on the pretense that it would be for
Maria’s sake, Basara and the others had decided to use succubus drugs to
stimulate themselves, engaging in continuous sessions of obscene activity. They
had only needed to engage in such erotic activity in order to dispel the effects of
the curse or increase their strength up until now, but after they had crossed the
line and attained the Master-Servant Vow, whatever rationale and restraint that
they had held up until now had finally shattered, and they were incapable of
helping themselves.

Within this week, Basara had come to actively desire Mio and the others on his
own accord; they too, however, had released their own desires that they had
suppressed for so long in order to achieve their Vow, and were instead happy that
Basara himself was taking the initiative toward them.

And while the curse would no longer trigger at signs of betrayal of the servant
toward their master after advancing their contract to a Vow, another change had
occurred within Mio and the others; whenever Basara would feel any sexual
arousal toward them, the Vow would react in response and trigger the curse that
would excite Mio and the others as well, allowing them to accept Basara’s
desires accordingly.

Such was the repercussion that came with Mio and the others’ decision of giving
everything to Basara and accepting everything of him in return.

However, Basara as well as Mio and the others decide that they would not hold
any regrets over their decision, devoting themselves to drowning in their own
pleasure as if to drown out such guilty feelings.

Up until now, everyone had sought after the other upon the enormous bed in the
basement that still had space to spare even after accommodating six people;
Starting yesterday, however, Basara had decided to sleep in his own room.

Given that Mio and others were to succumb to the lustful effects of the curse
simultaneously, Basara would have to take a lot of time to tend to all five of his
girls, and as a result, he had been incapable to secure time for sleep until
morning; to solve this, the group had decided that two girls would get to sleep
with Basara in his room at a time, allowing all of them to get the adequate rest
and sleep they needed.

And for the first day since their decision, Mio and Maria were given that initial
privilege.

After leaving the Mio and Maria lying on the bed, the two of them dizzy from
the ecstasy of their previous excitement following their countless climaxes after
being held in Basara’s embrace after waking up, Basara left his room; as he
entered the corridor, the fresh morning air, signature to the spring, soothed his
warm body as it brushed past him.

He then went downstairs, heading toward the bathroom.

As he opened the wooden door and stepped into the dressing room —

“…Oh, I forgot a change of clothes…oh well.”

Although he had forgotten to bring a set of clothes with him, there were bath
towels on the shelf; he decided that he could just cover himself with it when he
was done.

And so Basara entered the bathroom to begin his shower; a warm bath would
wash off all the sweat from Mio and Maria that they’d put on him from last night
till earlier that morning.

As Basara began to wash his body, however, another girl suddenly entered the
bathroom.

It was Yuki — as one would expect given the setting, she was stark naked.

“Good morning, Basara…can we bathe together?”

“Be my guest. What’s wrong? You don’t usually get up so early.”

“It’s because I heard Mio and Maria earlier…” She said, a wry smile on her face
as her feet stepped on the wet bathroom floor, inching toward Basara.

“I see…I’m sorry to have awoken you.”

“No worries.” Yuki shook her head in dismissal of Basara’s apology. “Basara…
can I clean you up?”

“…Mmm, I’ll leave it to you, then.”

At Basara’s response, Yuki then walked before Basara before squatting directly
in front of him. What came next, she opened her mouth and took Basara’s
member within it.
“Nnn…bleargh, chuu…hum…nnn, chuu…chuuu♥”

And as Yuki’s slippery tongue slid through every nook and cranny of Basara’s
member in order to clean it, Basara readily accepted her erotic service.

The relationship between Basara and the others had evolved as such that these
sessions were commonplace in their lives.

Basara’s placed his hands on Yuki’s head and gently stroked her as she lost
herself in servicing him, exciting his beautiful childhood friend even more as she
continued to lick Basara’s member more intensely; before long, Basara’s thing
had become slippery, fully coated in Yuki’s saliva, before she finally released it.

“Nnnn…haah…nnnn…♥there’s not only your taste, Basara…there’s a little of

Mio and Maria’s taste as well.” And as Yuki noisily gulped down the saliva that
was all over her mouth, Yuki’s expression was absolutely captivating.

It was to be expected; Yuki’s fellatio had already excited Basara’s member so

much that it was now fully erect. It meant that Yuki had succumbed to the lustful
effects of the curse, as well.

That said —

“Yuki — …”

As Basara called out her name, Yuki stood up and turned her back toward
Basara, placing her hands on the bathroom wall as she spread her legs and stuck
out her shapely butt.

“Mmm…before we start showering, I want to leave my taste all over you,

Basara.” She said, her eyes wet with lust as she looked over her shoulder,
smiling seductively.
“Alright…”

As Basara’s hands clutched Yuki’s rear, he then slowly inserted himself within
her — and the next moment, Yuki’s libidinous cries echoed across the bathroom.
 PART 4

After finishing with Yuki, Basara took a shower once again, wiping Yuki’s sweat
off along with it.

Yuki, who felt exhausted over the aftermath of the session of pleasure, need a
while to recover before she could leave the bathroom.

If she were to stay in the bathroom any longer, though, she might not be able to
recover from her excitement no matter how long she were to stay in there; that
said, Basara had prepared a hot tub for Yuki and soaked her within the bathtub
before leaving, knowing that she could catch a cold if he didn’t do so.

Wiping himself dry from the droplets on his body with a freshly cleaned bath
towel, he wrapped it around his waist as he left the dressing room and headed
toward the living room. As he headed towards his destination, Basara could
detect a pleasant aroma from the corridor; as he entered the living room, he
could see that Zest was already preparing breakfast in the kitchen. Kurumi was
also sitting on the sofa, dressed in her pyjamas as she fiddled with her laptop.

“…Morning. Looks like you guys are up early too.”

“Good morning, Basarasama.”

“Good morning, Basaraniichan. You’re up early as well.”

At Basara’s greeting, Zest and Kurumi responded with sweet smiles; Basara then
approached Kurumi, situated at the closer distance from him between the two.
He found that she was wearing only her pyjama top, leaving her lower half
defenseless except for her panties. Her exposed thighs added to her coquettish
figure all the more.

“What are you doing with your tablet?” Basara asked as he stood behind her, his
gaze attempting to make out what she was doing on the tablet screen.

“Mmm…nothing. I’m just mailing my dad and my mom.” Her expression

appeared somewhat lonely as she said so.

“…I see.” Having sensed her feelings through her words, Basara took Kurumi
into a close embrace from behind her, and Kurumi placed her hands upon
Basara’s warm arms in reciprocation, the two remaining like that for a few
moments. Before long,

“…Ah, that’s right. The moving company mailed us a while ago.” Kurumi then
showed Basara the new mail she received that she suddenly remembered about.
“They said that they could be transferring everything at night as per our contract,
and we should call this number if we have any changes to report to them.” The
phone number included in the mail’s contents would likely connect them to the
manager.

“Got it. Seeing as school ends around the afternoon today, I don’t think they’ll
be any problems…do send me that mail just to be safe, though.”

“Mmm, will do.” Kurumi nodded, preparing to send him the mail through her
tablet.

“I’ll leave it to you, then. Thanks.” After thanking Kurumi, Basara went to the
kitchen and withdrew a carton of milk. As he took a drink and let the cool
sensation of the milk trickle down his throat and quench his thirst fresh after
taking a shower, he let out a satisfied sigh.
“……………………………………”

His gaze then idly turned toward Zest, already dressed in a kitchen maid’s
uniform as she continued cooking in the kitchen, handling many dishes at once.
With every flip and gesture she made with the frying pain, his attention would
turn to Zest’s sizable breasts as they jiggled before him.

It was absolutely tempting.

“ ——————”

“……Um, I’m sorry. Are you already hungry? I thought you’d be waking up a
bit later today, so it’s going to take a little longer before I can finish breakfast.”
Zest said apologetically, noticing that Basara was staring at her. “Or should I cut
up some fruits for you first? Or if you don’t want to wait, I can let you have a
taste right now…” She then turned off all the stoves as she said so.

Basara knew exactly what she meant by that lattermost statement, but he
pretended not to understand, continuing to gaze at her back.

“…………Ah……Nnnn……!♥” Zest let out a seductive voice, appearing to be

unable to help herself as she lightly shook her butt. Seeing this, Basara placed
the carton of milk he was holding upon an empty space on the kitchen counter,
slowly approaching Zest before hugging her from behind. He then groped her
breasts and squeezed them, all while shoving his erect lower half between her
hips and her rear, showing her how aroused he already was.

“Aaah……haah, nnnnnn…tsu…Basarasama…Nnnn!…♥”

Zest had fully fallen into the effects of the lustful curse, moaning as she stood at
the mercy of Basara’s loving caress.

It would be dangerous for them to do it near the gas cooker, and they couldn’t
dirty the kitchen while Zest was still preparing breakfast, either; Basara then
carried Zest in his arms to the living room.

As he placed her upon the sofa, Zest fully understood what it was that her master
wanted.

“…………I understand.”

She then embarrassingly raised her hips and pulled up her skirt, exposing her
shapely hips and butt along with the white lace of her garter belt and her panties;
it led way to the fully transparent shape that was Zest’s most embarrassing spot
between her crotch, now wet with her womanly fluids.

“……………………………………”

Basara immediately stripped her of her underwear.

After completely exposing Zest’s private part, Basara undid the knot on his
towel that was wrapped around his waist. At the same time, a pair of hands came
from behind and extended themselves in front of Basara, gripping his erect
member as a tongue began to lick all over his back.

“Um…I’ve already sent you the mail…nnnn♥” Kurumi said provocatively,

appearing as if she had responded to Basara’s arousal.

“I see…thanks.”

“Nnn…Basarasama, Kurumisan…I know today’s your big day, and yet I…” As
Basara thanked Kurumi, Zest apologized for unsightly behavior as she shook her
butt left and right.

“Don’t worry…you’ve done nothing wrong.”

This was all due to the fact that they had made the MasterServant Vow with one
another — they couldn’t have managed to defeat Shiba without committing to it.

That said, they would willingly accept their current circumstances; it’s just that
Zest, who was fully obedient to Basara as his maid, felt somewhat guilty despite
also feeling happy that she had managed to entice Basara.

— Her current state of lust, however, was entirely due to Basara’s arousal toward
her, resulting in her curse triggering; Basara was obviously the one at fault in
this case.

Basara could not apologize to her as her master, however; Zest was a maid who
had sworn absolute loyalty to him, and to do so would be to wound her pride as
she adopted that role.

So Basara instead spoke of nothing related to an apology or some such, instead

asking:

“Zest…what are you?”

He wanted to know what Zest’s role was.

Kurumi, who had been behind Basara, then circled toward Zest’s side, her lips
ticklishly close to Zest’s sensitive ears and whispered:

“Hurry up, Zest…hurry up and tell Basaraniichan who you are. I’ll end up going
first if you don’t, you know?”

“Alright…” With the way Basara and Kurumi were treating her now, Zest
couldn’t help of let out sighs and moans of genuine euphoria. And then —

“I’m a maid…I’m a maid that’s given absolutely everything to Basarasama.”

Zest was already at her limit as she confessed what exactly she was to him.
And so Basara thrust her waist into the girl before her, giving the maid before
him her rightful reward.

He would convey to Zest what exactly Toujou Basara was to her.

 PART 5

After thoroughly enjoying himself with Zest and Kurumi on the sofa, Basara and
the rest of the household had breakfast and went off to school after finishing
their preparations.

A clear azure sky spread out across the horizon as sakura petals danced about ,
heralding the arrival of spring, and a perfect day for Hijirigasaka Academy to
host two important events for the occasion —the school was to hold a ceremony
to celebrate the forthcoming of the new year along with the annual school
opening ceremony for its new students.

A particular spot within the grounds of Hijirigasaka Academy was crowded with
students—bulletin boards with stands had been placed in front of the school
entrance specifically for this day. The mix of joyful and disappointed looks that
were scattered across the faces of the students who inspected the board were due
to the fact that the students’ respectively assigned classes for the year were
posted on it; the matter of which circles and friends the students would be
spending with this year was one of lifeanddeath for them.

However, even amidst the mix of expectant and anxious gazes of the
surrounding students toward the bulletin board—even amidst the cacophony of
their cheer and lamentation—as Toujou Basara kept his gaze upon the bulletin
board, he was calm in every sense of the word.

Much like how both Yuki and Takigawa had infiltrated the school and had been
placed in the same class as Mio with the intention of keeping an eye on her last
spring, Basara had pulled some strings of his own and had ensured that he would
share the same class as Mio, Yuki and Takigawa this year once more in
preparation for various risks and worst case scenarios.

Basara was thus not looking for his own name on the board; he was instead
ensuring that there were no errors in the outcome that he had expected.

“Year 2 class F…it seems everything went smoothly. That’s good.” He

murmured, as he confirmed that all of the particular names he was looking for
had been assigned to the same class without flaw.

“Mhm. We have to thank Hasegawa-sensei later.” Yuki, who was standing next
to Basara, nodded as she remembered that it was Hasegawa who had
manipulated the assignment of their classes to their liking.

Although they felt rather penitent of having to go so far as to manipulate the

minds of the school faculty, they found it a necessary evil to reduce the risk of
potentially endangering their surroundings, given that it would easier for
enemies to target Basara and the others of they were to be scattered across
different classes; after all, even after the incident concerning Shiba had come to
a close, it did not mean that all their worries and concerns had been dispelled.
Moreover, Hasegawa held a special position in the school as the school nurse, so
allowing her to take on such a task was decided as the best way to reduce their
concerns to a minimum. Considering the fact that Yuki and Takigawa had each
done so once respectively last spring added by Hasegawa’s instance of doing so
when Basara had first transferred here during the second semester, the group had
manipulated the minds of the school faculty up to a total of three times;

settling everything with this last and single instance of manipulating the student
faculty was done rather lightly as a result, and there seemed to be no significant
ramifications.

“……………………”
Mio, however, who was standing beside Basara albeit opposite from where Yuki
was standing, refused to look at the bulletin board, her head hung downward.
Her slightly nervous expression betrayed the fact that she was both expectant
and fearful of the results of her assigned class deep down, much like the rest of
the students.

“Ah, I’ve found them! Chikachan, over here!”

Amidst the hustle and bustle in front of the bulletin board, an especially loud
voice of a girl suddenly resounded amidst the noise. Turning toward the source
of the voice, the three could see Aikawa behind them, waving at them as she
approached with another girl.

“So you did find them! Good morning, you guys.” It was Sasaki greeted Basara
and the others with with a smile, seemingly guided to them by Aikawa.

“Yeah.” Good morning.”

“Ah…mmm. Good morning to the both of you.”

As Basara and Yuki greeted the two girls in return, Mio, who was closest with
Aikawa and Sasaki among their group, somehow greeted them with an unusual,
intricate expression on her face — and Basara understood why.

— Aikawa Shiho and Sasaki Chika, both of whom were in the same class as Mio
last year, had been inadvertently dragged into the incident where Mio was being
targeted by Zolgear; the incident caused Mio to be torn between her personal
desire to share a class with them and the guilt and fear of endangering them back
then. As much as sharing a class with them would expose them to potential
danger, it would also be easier for Mio to protect the two girls in case of said
danger; both choices had their merits and there was no right or wrong in this
case.

That said, Basara and the others decided to leave Mio to make her own decision
on the matter, given that she was the closest to Aikawa and Sasaki among the
group —t hey would respect her decision regardless of what she chose.

— Regardless, there was no denying the fact that the two innocent girls had been
dragged into their affairs back then; the fact that Mio also possessed the trauma
of her adoptive parents murdered by Zolgear because of her meant that she could
not make her decision even at the last second, such that in the end, she would
leave it to fate to decide whether or not she would be sharing the same class with
Aikawa and Sasaki without any personal manipulation on the matter.

It was something that Mio was unsure about as she kept pondering upon whether
or not she had truly chosen for the best —something that she had yet to find a
proper conclusion to, even now.

“Have you seen what class you’re going to be assigned to, Mio?” Sasaki asked.

“Um…”

Basara and Yuki already knew the answer; Mio herself had yet to confirm it.
And as Mio tried to think of a reply that would not come across as weird —

“It’s a relief that we’re all in the same class again, huh~ Let’s all get along well
this year too, alright?”

Aikawa suddenly rushed up to hug Mio as she said so.

“Eh—…?”
Mio, surprised by the sudden news, first turned to Aikawa, then Sasaki, and then
to Basara; Basara smiled and nodded at her, having known the outcome
beforehand.

“Yeah. I look forward to getting along with you guys this year, as well.” He said.

Mio looked as though she was about to tear up for a moment, but she quickly
changed her expression into a smile immediately after.

“Me too…I’m really happy that we get to share the same class again this year.”

That said —

“Please get along with me this year, as well.”

There was a lot of resolution and determination placed within her words —
sentiments that Basara and Yuki shared as well.

Mio wasn’t the only one who was a friend of Aikawa and Sasaki — they were
friends with Basara and Yuki too.

No, they weren’t the only ones —they had many other friends and acquaintances
within the school, as well.

This school was an irreplaceable part of their daily life for Basara and the others
—one of many things the group wanted to protect and to keep in their hands.

And so they would protect it no matter what—they renewed such a resolve there
and then.

Kurumi suddenly approached them, having received the class she would be
placed in from the bulletin board opposite the school entrance surrounded by
second and thirdyears; however, she appeared to be somewhat perplexed.
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Kurumi?”

“Is there a problem with your assigned class?”

“…No, I wouldn’t call it a problem.” As Basara and Yuki asked her what was
going on, Kurumi couldn’t help but stroke her cheek with her finger, appearing
to be slightly disturbed at what she’d just found.

“It’s just…there appears to be a Naruse Maria among my classmates from the

list.”

“Eh………?” And as Basara and Yuki stood in disbelief by the news —

“Fufufu~ At last, this day has come!” And as they spoke of the devil, a certain
erotic loli succubus suddenly showed herself beside them, a brazen smile on her
face.

Toujou Basara could not look away from the sight before him; with her hands on
her hips and with her chest puffed with pride as she cleared her throat to draw
the group’s attention, Maria was wearing the Hijirigasaka school uniform.

“Hold on a second, that outfit…are you saying you’ve…”

What was he going to do with her? Just thinking about it gave Basara a
headache. The fact that it suited her as if it were the most natural thing in the
world only served to anger him more.

“Yeap! Although the three of you can keep an eye out on each other, Basarasan,
it’s far too dangerous for Kurumisan to be alone all by herself, right? That’s why
I’ve come along to school with you guys! Oh, how could I have thought of such
an excellent idea, even if I do say so myself~” Maria said, hugging her body as
she wiggled idly in self praise over her decision, a beaming smile alight on her
face as she appeared before the group. “That said, I’ll be under your care from
now on, Basara senpai!”

“You should’ve told us something like that sooner, kouhai!”

If she was doing it to protect Kurumi, it’s not as if Basara had any reason to
object; she must’ve kept quiet about it because she recognized that fact. Besides,
it was quite atypical of the mischievous Maria to plan surprises such as these.

However, that said, her decision to come to the school left them with another
problem they couldn’t ignore.

“We can’t let Zest take care of the house all by herself though, can we?” The
school was quite some distance away from the Toujou household, and they might
not make it in time should something happen to her.

They needed to give her a reason to come to the school .

For the time being, I guess I’ll consult Hasegawa about this later. And as Basara
thought of that —

“Ah, about that, you don’t have to worry about that anymore, alright? Fufu~”
The erotic loli succubus of a new student said, smiling suggestively.

The meaning behind Maria’s words was revealed during the short morning
homeroom period.

Before the school opening ceremony, all currently enrolled students were to
gather at the gymnasium for another important event — the term opening
ceremony. It was a ceremony different from that of the school assembly; after
the students took their seats on the folding chairs prepared for them in the venue,
the prerequisite principal’s speech came first, before new additions to the school
staff were introduced.
An approximate of ten or so new staff members went up the stage — and among
them was a familiar, beautiful woman with brown skin.

It was Zest.

“Next is Miss Zest. B . Steward, who will be teaching English for the secondyear
students.”

“Um…my name is Zest. B. Steward, and I will be working as a part-time teacher

starting today. I’ll be responsible for teaching English, and I hope I won’t cause
any inconveniences during my stay here…one way or another, I hope you’ll all
bear with me.”

It was a message clearly meant for Basara — it was likely that Maria was also
behind this, so she was apologizing for not saying anything about it.

A part-time teacher was different from a fullfledged teacher of the school in that
the former was not bound by several school duties such as being a homeroom
teacher, acting as advisors for clubs, and counselling and guiding students; they
would only need to come to school to give lessons, and could leave immediately
after finishing them.

With this, Zest would not be left alone at home while still being able to act on
her desire to be responsible for the entirety of the chores and housework in the
Toujou household.

That aside —

Steward, huh.

Zest had chosen such a surname for herself from the word “steward”, meaning a
person who serves, such as a maid or butler. She had decided against using
Toujou as her surname due to the fact that it would invite any unwanted
misunderstandings, but also wanted a name that held some semblance of
meaning, at that. Moreover, the middle name of “B” likely came from the first
letter of Basara’s name.

There was no particularly special meaning behind the name; Zest had named
herself after her role and duties to Basara as his maid.

And after she finished her brief introduction, she bowed deeply, inviting a
fervent round of applause that enveloped the gymnasium. Amidst the noise,
Basara’s eyes met with Zest’s as she slowly raised herself.

“ ————”

As Zest gazed at him apologetically, Basara simply smiled back at her and shook
his head lightly, all while giving her a loud applause at her introduction.

Don’t worry about that — it’s fine for you to teach here. Mio and the others
likely shared the same thoughts and expressions as Basara did right now.

“ ………………………!”

Zest’s expression lit up upon seeing Basara’s response, her smiling eliciting
another round of cheer and applause from the boys, so loud that no traces of the
vice-principal’s attempt to calm them could be heard.

Once more, Basara’s attention went away from the stage amidst the obstreperous
noise—to the wall right next to the stage.

Among the staff members who were watching the stage just like the students, his
gaze met with a certain female teacher’s, her gaze locked only upon him.

“ —————”
It was Hasegawa — prominent, all too beautiful, and dressed in her white
doctor’s coat, she gave off a smile of satisfaction at Basara. To that, Basara
returned her smile with a wry smile of his own, knowing in his mind that he had
much more other things to thank her for beyond her involvement in assigning
their classes.

The term opening ceremony ended shortly after the introduction of all new
members of the school faculty;

as Basara and the other currently enrolled students moved from their seats in the
front to the prepared seats in the middle, the school opening ceremony finally
began.

The ceremony began with the entrance of parents and guardians; it was custom
of the Hijirigasaka Academy that they, too, deserved to be congratulated along
with their children of whom they had sent to study in this new environment, and
the students heralded their arrival with a welcoming applause. After the parents
and guardians who had arrived before the ceremony had taken their seats, it
didn’t take long before the gymnasium gradually became silent once again.

“Now for the arrival of our new students. Everyone, please give them a round of
applause.”

A thunderous applause followed after that announcement as the freshmen

entered the gymnasium one by one amidst the congratulatory noise.

“ — Next, we’d like to welcome Miss Morino Miki, the homeroom teacher for
class 1F.”

The young female teacher entered with a bow before she took the microphone
and called out the names of the students that would be in her class and the
numbers of their respective seats, starting with the boys and then the girls.
“ ———————”

Suddenly, there was a small stir amidst the procedure; two girls appeared to be
standing out among the female students.

It was none other than Maria and Kurumi; as Maria pridefully trod into the
gymnasium, Kurumi followed right behind her, looking somewhat embarrassed.
The two were assigned into the F class as Basara and the others’ classroom was
directly above the classroom the two younger girls would be studying in, making
it easier to detect any abnormalities and reach them within the shortest distance
should anything occur.

…I have to thank Hasegawa for that, too. She was the one who planned all this,
didn’t she? Basara thought of how he needed to properly and thoroughly thank
Hasegawa later.

And as he gazed at Maria and Kurumi, clapping his hands at their entrance —

I wish I would’ve invited them all here.

He wished that he could have invited Yuki and Kurumi’s parents in the distant
Village, Shuuya and Kaoru.

And in the Demon Realm, there was Maria’s mother, Shella, her sister, Lucia,
and Ramusas.

However, he could not invite them all to celebrate with them today.

Between the alarming strength of Shiba’s barrier, the manifestation of the

Kouryuu, and the power that he had previously attained, the incident about Shiba
had spread to the other factions of the Hero Clan beyond the Vatican and the
Village; the other factions had relentlessly bounded the concerning factions after
the incident, particularly the factions from America and China, such that Fuji,
Kumano and Atsutara had to relinquish their titles as the Village’s elders.

If everything proceeded smoothly, perhaps the relationship between Basara’s

group and the Village would gradually improve and head toward a better
direction.

That said, if they were to contact Basara and the others now, it would trigger
potential rebellion against Shuuya assuming the role of elder, so they had to wait
for the time being.

On the other hand, Shella and Lucia could disguise themselves as humans or
hide themselves from detection through invisibility magic; Basara had only
known of Maria’s decision to enter the school just before the ceremony,
however, and was unable to contact them in time as a result.

Perhaps Maria could have informed them firsthand—but she appeared to not
have done so.

The secret message that was sent by Takigawa from the alliance between the
Current Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction to the Hero Clan entailed
their request for the Hero Clan to place Basara and the others under the mantle
of sanctuary; the Demon Realm couldn’t possibly get close to them so easily
given that request.

And besides—

Given that Kurumi couldn’t invite Shuuya and Kaoru to her school opening
ceremony, Maria would be unwilling to invite her own family members, Shella
and Lucia, over on her own either.
As for Ramusas—no, Wilbert—he wouldn’t have come even if he was invited.
He had chosen to live on as Ramusas, and would likely keep certain distance
between them in the future just as he was doing now. However—

…I still really want to invite him, though.

Even if he were to reject his offer, Basara still wanted to show him that he
understood how he felt.

It was an opportunity that Basara would never get, though; that said, he had
asked someone to take pictures and videos of Maria and Kurumi.

He had done so hoping that he could be able to see them this way someday in the
future, loving his two precious family members just as Basara did.

After all the new students had been registered in the gymnasium and the
principal and guests of honor had given their speeches, it was then time for the
representative of the currently enrolled students to give her welcome to the new
students; the representative was the former vice-president now turned official
student council president starting this spring, elected via popularity vote due to
the fact that there was no replacement candidates following the events of the
school sports festival last year.

It was Kajiura Ritsuka—and as she stood on the rostrum of the stage and
oversaw the students gathered in front of her, she began her speech.

“To all new students, I bid you all a very good morning. Similarly, I bid the same
for all parents and guardians present today. Congratulations for being a part of
our school. I am Kajiura Ritsuka, the student council president. I’m sure that all
our current students are just as excited as I am for this day, and we all give you a
warm welcome for entering this school.”
Following that, she then explained the tradition of the school as well as
Hijirigasaka Academy’s special characteristics from the perspective of a student.
And then—

“Up next, I would like to introduce several annual events that students can
participate in regardless of what year they’re in. We hope that these activities
would not only evoke the students’ sense of belonging and pride for the school,
but also inculcate love for the school and cooperation amongst one another.” As
she talked up to this point, she began to appear somewhat embarrassed.

“Even as student council president, I’m still new to all of this much like all of
you are, and had participated in student council affairs as vice-president up until
last year…within this period, I had a lot of aid and assistance from my fellow
friends at school, not just from upperclassman and classmates, but I also
received plenty of help from those younger than me, as well. To all our new
students, I hope that all of you can find your own irreplaceable group of friends
and comrades and add a new spark and something to look forward in your school
lives.”

Even so, her eyes held a gaze most sincere, and each word she uttered reflected
how much heart and soul she placed into it.

“And last but not least…I want to give another warm welcome to all of you to
our beloved school. I hope from the bottom of my heart that all of you will enjoy
a wonderful school life for the next three years from here on out.”

And the moment Ritsuka ended her speech—

“ ———————”

She was honored with the greatest applause of the day. Between the freshmen
and parents and guardians present, even the currently enrolled students and
school staff, everyone — they were all greatly touched by her words.

And Basara too joined in, unhesitatingly and generously adding to the
surrounding applause.
 PART 6

After the end of the school opening ceremony, the students began to return to
their classrooms according to their respective grades. Basara had secretly split
away from the wave of students, heading toward a certain location.

He was heading toward a particular spot of Higirigasaka Academy that was

closest to the sky —th e rooftop.

And after he walked up the flight of stairs that preceded the door before him,
Basara opened it and went outside to discover a refreshing scenery welcoming
him —it was a sky of spring, an azure canvas decorated with shades of white
from thin clouds.

The combination of the wind that blew past the area, soft as ever, along with the
gentle warmth of the sun’s rays, delivered a sensation of openness to those that
arrived here.

— However, someone else appeared to have arrived there earlier than Basara; it
was another male student, his back and elbows resting idly upon the railing, built
to prevent anyone from falling from the rooftop.

It was a certain young man who didn’t appear during homeroom, someone who
didn’t even attend the school entrance ceremony — Takigawa Yahiro.

“Hey, Basachi…skipping class?” Takigawa smirked, to which he was replied

with a smile from Basara:
“I guess. I figured I’d find you here, so I came up here to see if I was correct.
What about you?”

“Same here. I thought you’d show up eventually if I lazed about here for a bit.”
Takigawa shrugged.

“I see,” Basara nodded, approaching Takigawa to stand next to him. “How long
have you been here? Have you gone back to the Demon Realm after that battle?”

“Yeah, I did. That Shiba guy did end up starting that whole mess at the exact
same time I was instructed to the Hero Clan’s Village as a special envoy, after
all. The fact that there was also the matter with Balflear to worry about meant
that I had lot of troublesome reports to settle. It was a real pain in the ass,”

Takigawa sighed. “Oh well, it’s all come to an end, for the most part…and so I
ended up coming here last night. My current orders from the alliance between
the Current Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction remain keeping an
eye on you and your ladies, as usual.”

After all —

“Seeing how the incident ended up weakening the Vatican and the Village, it’s
not a stretch to assume that the Hero Clan will take up our current proposal of
ceasefire. It doesn’t seem as if the Hero Clan intends to investigate your group in
any way, after all, given that the elders have also retired from their post… it was
Nonaka’s dad who was in charge of the ceasefire negotiations, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah…”

After defeating Shiba and returning the Four Gods to the Village, Basara and his
group had promised to keep the all the inconvenient truths of the Village and the
Vatican secret, from the truth about Shiba to the subsequent incident following
his revolt.

They were doing both factions a favour, in other words —a nd the three elders
had resigned from their post as an act of gratitude toward that favour, apart from
the fact that the U.S and Chinese factions of the Hero Clan had been pressing the
three former representatives on the incident.

The incident concerning Shiba along with the defection of Yuki and Kurumi had
caused the management of the Village to be placed under question; as such, the
decision for the Village to be the main window to form the agreement with the
Demon Realm despite that had also received considerable opposition from the
other factions of the Hero Clan, but the Demon Realm had brushed such
disagreement aside with the claim that it was the Village that understood Basara
and his group — now deemed sanctuary as per their mutual decision — more
than anyone else, causing the ordeal to end without incident.

That aside, there was also a great disturbance in the Vatican — one that
Takigawa came to explain.

“Oh, right. We’ve had reports saying that Albareos, the holy king of the Vatican
is missing. It’s unclear as to whether he’s playing chicken after what he’s done or
if someone else took care of him, though.”

There was a pause.

“ — Basachi, you’ve gotten wind of something, haven’t you?”

“No…I know nothing at all.”

Basara’s denial of Takigawa’s question was a lie.

Just a few hours after Shiba’s defeat at the hands of Basara’s group, there had
been measurements of a severe earthquake with a magnitude of 7 in the Vatican.
What was peculiar, however, was that the tremor had only occurred beneath the
cathedral as its hypocentre, whereas the structures and foundations on the
surface had no sign of shaking whatsoever — a discovery that was limited to the
knowledge of the Hero Clan alone. They then set out to investigate the
occurrence the next morning, and eventually, a large crater was discovered in the
cathedral’s lower ground.

Toujou Basara knew who was responsible for the particular occurrence; the
perpetrator himself had contacted him personally.

“You don’t have to worry about the Vatican messing with you guys anymore.”

Jin, who had phoned Basara for the first time in quite a while, had imparted
those words to him during the phone call.

At the same time, he informed Basara that he wouldn’t be returning for the time
being; he had finally discovered the whereabouts of Sapphire, apparently being
kept prisoner in the Divine Realm. Jin had presumed that she had attempted to
rescue her on her own because she had been unable to contain herself upon
hearing of Raphealine’s sealing when he had heard of her capture.

“Given the circumstances, I intend to rescue both of them.” Surprisingly enough,

Jin sounded rather nonchalant about the matter during the call. Basara had
offered to give him a hand to rescue Sapphire and Raphealine — both of whom
were his mothers — only to be flatly refused by Jin.

“They’re my women. The only thing you need to do is to take care of your own.”
He’d said back then. He did apologize, however, over the possibility that Basara
and the others would be inevitably dragged into a conflict with the Divine Realm
if the situation developed to such a point. Basara had only told his father to pay
it no mind, knowing that his father was only doing his duty as a man, and for his
family.

Basara, too, would definitely do what Jin intended to do should Mio and the
others be captured to the Divine Realm.

He didn’t mind the level of risk that Jin was placing on them, and he would
readily provide his assistance whenever necessary.

They were all family, after all.

Incidentally, Jin also mentioned that he had been traveling with a young man of
the Demon Realm called Fio after the war of the current Demon Lord Faction,
and intended to take him to the Divine Realm with him. Jin had laughed while
mentioning that Fio had cried while pleading him to take the young Demon with
him which was seemingly responded by a sudden, shrill cry of objection from
the other end of the call, leading Basara to presume that Jin had exaggerated the
scenario somewhat.

Fio, once a child soldier of the current Demon Lord Faction, had been dragged
into the skirmish between Jin and Leohart and was subsequently relocated to the
Moderate Faction by Jin. Although he was still allowed to live in Wildart Castle
as usual, Jin considered the issue of the ill treatment of Zest in the Moderate
Faction, who was a Demon that once served until the current Demon Lord
Faction just as he did.

…So that’s why dad did that.

Jin had enticed Fio to follow him under the pretense that he could play a part in
the rescue of Sapphire, the sister of the previous Demon Lord, Wilbert; with
Fio’s involvement in such a significant, meritorious deed as a souvenir when he
would return to the Demon Realm, any concerns and inconveniences relating to
his stay in the Moderate Faction would be nonexistent from there on out.

That was why Jin had strong armed Fio to come with him.

And as Basara’s thoughts lay tenderly on his father —

“Humph…well, I’ll leave it at that, then.” Takigawa said, deciding not to pry any
further.

— It was possible that Takigawa had already caught wind of more detailed
information regarding the incident, one way or another; even so, even if he
already knew the truth or if Basara’s secret had been exposed, Basara wouldn’t
admit it so easily.

The revelation of Jin’s disposal of the holy king, Albareos, would be quite
inconvenient for them; if the Hero Clan were to expose it, both Jin and Basara’s
group would be placed in an immediate dilemma.

Such was why Basara neither informed Takigawa of the truth nor admitted it
when asked about it.

Of course, the two were in the same boat, so to speak; they had already shared
various secrets between one another, after all, and Basara knew that Takigawa
would likely not report his findings to the Demon Realm even if he did tell him
the truth. The amount of secrets that Takigawa could not tell anyone would only
increase if he were to confide in him, and would make it impossible for
Takigawa to turn his back on Basara.

Even so…

Basara had decided against it; adding more unneeded risks than necessary onto
Takigawa would also add to the risk of his possible betrayal, as well.
— Basara’s victory against Shiba was largely due to his superior tactics; the end
of the battle had unfolded through both sides reading the other’s trump cards and
attempting to overwhelm the other in one fell swoop.

According to Maria, Leohart had defeated Balflear utilizing the full power
unleashed by his magic sword, Loki; his power back then would’ve rivaled that
of Basara and Shiba’s, though this was primarily due to his MasterServant
contract with his older sister, Liala. It was a level that Basara achieved only
through the combination of his possession of the magic sword, Byrnhildr, and
the Vows he made Mio and the others; a level shared by Shiba, who had
synchronized with Kouryuu and was in possession of Reginleif, one of the
former Ten Gods, his power sealed within a pair of magic gauntlets.

Takigawa was different, however.

He had defeated Kouryuu through his own abilities alone, without any
possession of a MasterServant contract or any special weapons; although he had
help from Maria stalling it out and Kurumi and Zest buying time for him, there
was no denying that Takigawa had defeated Kouryuu with his own hands.

— Basara knew that Takigawa wasn’t someone he could ever fully understand
the moment he met him; he was usually unmotivated and loquacious, and always
found it annoying whenever he had to do something — much like what he was
feeling right now.

However, Takigawa Yahiro —t his man called Lars — had casually reached a
level of strength that Basara and the others couldn’t possibly have reached on
their own.

The way he was now, it was possible that Basara could defeat Takigawa head to
head; but if they were to face off with no punches pulled and all cards played,
Basara was not confident that he would be able to protect Mio and the others
from the man that stood before him right now.

Losing what was precious to him would be nothing short of defeat to Basara; and
so it came to pass that Takigawa was someone Basara could take down but never
truly win against.

— Even so, Basara was fine with things as they were now; it was exactly
because Takigawa was the way he was that he could trust him with his secrets,
and even entrust his life to him when the situation demanded it.

He also couldn’t forget the fact that Basara was able to take down Shiba because
it was Takigawa who had reported the situation to the alliance between the
Current Demon Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction in the Demon Realm,
and had brought not only Leohart with him, but Takashi and Celis as well;

although Sheila’s dimensional tunnel had acted as their trump card, it was
Takigawa, at the end of the day, who had facilitated the favourable
circumstances.

It was due to his efforts that Basara was able to achieve victory and keep Mio
and the others safe; Basara was very much obliged to return the favour.

And then —

“At any rate, now that you’re all officially deemed sanctuary, I have to come
check up on you all to see if everything stays normal. The Hero Clan’s also
going to send that Celis girl from before to check up on you guys starting next
week, so as the representative of the Demon Realm, I have to keep my eyes
peeled for any traitors from the Moderate Faction or the Demon Lord Faction, as
well as any possible disturbances from the Hero Clan or some other external
force. Good grief, man, it’s just such a drag that I only get more and more work.”
“Now that you mention it…Takigawa, there’s something I have to ask of you.”
Basara asked after Takigawa finished lamenting over his situation.

“…………Hey, hey, you’re not asking for me to kneel at you like some errand
boy again, are you?”

Takigawa looked blatantly displeased upon hearing of Basara’s request.

“I suppose. It’s really not going to be a pain for you though — not all of it, at
least.” Basara forced a smile before he revealed something he’d planned ever
since the end of his battle against Shiba.

“We want to form an alliance with you. I want you to act as my messenger to
Leohart.”

“You guys want to form an alliance with us, Basachi…?” Takigawa couldn’t
help but knit his eyebrows in response to Basara’s proposal; he couldn’t
understand what Basara was getting at. “Given that you’re asking me to say this
to Leohart…are you saying you only want to ally with current Demon Lord
Faction and not the Moderate Faction?”

“No — I mean to forge an alliance with the alliance between the Current Demon
Lord Faction and the Moderate Faction. It’s just that I want to talk about it with
Leohart first.”

“What’s that all about, dude…? If we do end up forming an alliance with you,
you and your group won’t be deemed sanctuary anymore. Even then, given your
relations to the Moderate Faction, if word comes out that you turned to the
Current Demon Lord Faction as a point of contact for an alliance first, there’s no
telling what it’d do to your current relationship with them. Unless you mean to
say that…”
Takigawa’s eyes narrowed into thin slits.

“You’re planning the topple the peace treaty between the Moderate Faction and
the Current Demon Lord Faction?”

“No, I have no such intentions to destroy your alliance at all…it’s just that it’s
actually quite troublesome for us to be deemed sanctuary, you see.” Basara said.

“After all, if anything were to happen in the Demon Realm, we wouldn’t be able
to give you our assistance, wouldn’t we?”

…I see. So that’s what you have in mind. Quite naive of you, though. Takigawa
thought, having finally understood what Basara meant after being confused
before his explanation.

Basara and the others had received assistance from the Demon Realm during the
incident with Shiba; that said, they wanted to return the favour by being there to
provide their aid in return whenever Takigawa and the others would require it.

However —

“I don’t know, dude…if that’s the case, you don’t have to use Leohart as a
window for that, right?

Wouldn’t it be better for you to directly discuss it with the Moderate Faction and
open a conference about it?”

“When I said I wanted to talk to Leohart about it, I really only meant to tell him
externally, that’s all. Besides, compared to the backlash we’d receive from the
Moderate Faction if we were to talk with the Current Demon Lord Faction first,
don’t you think the situation would be worse if we did it the other way around?
Truth is, I intend to let both the Moderate Faction and the Current Demon Lord
Faction know about this beforehand — by talking to both Ramusassan and
Leohart simultaneously.” Basara explained,

“After all, the main purpose of the alliance between the two factions is to bring
peace to the Demon Realm, no? With the two main powers of the Demon Realm
bound together by a ceasefire pact and an alliance, there would be no bloodshed
from sides, and it would also keep other foreign forces in check.”

“Yeah…you got that right, I guess.”

“That said — haven’t you guys thought about eliminating any further attempts of
direct hostility by adding us into your alliance, at least? I think we’ve very much
proved ourselves in that regard.” Basara subtly hinted at their performance when
they had managed to defeat Chaos.

“Whoah, hang on, there…you haven’t really thought this through, have you?
You’re forgetting that you and the Nonaka sisters are humans. The fact that you
guys were once from the Hero Clan doesn’t do you any favours in the popularity
department either. Sure, you can fashion yourself a threat given the strength you
guys have, but that doesn’t deny the risk that you’re making another enemy at
heart.” Takigawa calmly spoke to him of the potential risks of his plan.

“We can effectively reduce that risk by exposing the truth of my birth…my
mother, Sapphire, was the younger sister of the former Demon Lord, Wilbert,
after all.” Basara’s words came without hesitation.

“Whoah, whoah, whoah, are you serious right now?”

Takigawa wasn’t supposed to know about that fact; however, he hadn’t denied
that he didn’t know about it, either. Basara had already revealed to Takigawa that
Sapphire was her mother when he told him of his plan to assassinate Belphegor.
Knowing that he had the power of not only Banishing Shift but also could attack
with gravitational waves, Basara made a wager that both he and Takigawa won
in the end.

And after Takigawa was appointed with the role of keeping an eye on Basara and
his group once more as the representative of the alliance between the Moderate
Faction and the Current Demon Lord Faction, he’d asked Leohart to provide him
with as much important, albeit classified information as he could so that he could
make the best decision on the spot. The request was granted, and thus Takigawa
had an overall understanding about the plans and secrets regarding Wilbert and
Jin.

“And as for Kurumi and Yuki, as long as I reveal that we’re bound by a
MasterServant Vow, they’d know that they couldn’t possibly be any risk of
betrayal.”

“About that…well, it’s not like they could ever betray you anyways, Basachi.”
Takigawa agreed. “Well, sure, you could make it work out in the Demon Realm,
all right…but an alliance with the Demon Realm isn’t something the Hero Clan
will let slide so easily, I think you know that. Are you sure it’s alright for you to
throw away your efforts of calming the waters between you and the clan?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll be discussing this matter with the Hero
Clan, as well.” Basara then spoke of the unthinkable. “I have Mio and the others
with me, after all…as much we’ve done both the Village and the Vatican a big
favour this time, though, there’s sure to be other groups that don’t really like us
all that much as far as the other factions are concerned. That said, rather than
isolate us with the mantle of sanctuary, I think it’d be better for us to be included
in the ceasefire agreement between the Hero Clan and the Demon Realm.”
“Hold on. Sure, you might be right, but don’t you think that there’d be folks that
would really get pissed off by your relation with the Demon Realm and ruin our
plans for a ceasefire agreement?”

“I’ll be discussing that issue with Shuuyasan or Celis to find a solution to

persuade the Hero Clan to accept. They already had initial intentions of
accepting the ceasefire treaty with the Demon Realm, and given that we’re
establishing something similar, I don’t see any real reason for them to object.
Even then, I don’t think the Hero Clan really wants any more trouble to do with
us…especially after we defeated Shiba, who managed to manifest the Kouryuu.”

Besides —

“If we can ensure that there won’t be any conflicts with the Demon Realm, we
can reduce the risk of the Hero Clan the Demon Realm terminating the ceasefire
treaty due to any ill winds. Rather than being completely untouchable, don’t you
agree that it’s better if we maintained a situation where we had a fixed interval of
contact? It should be doable if we manage to persuade them over the benefits of
this plan.

After all, it was the Demon Realm alone that suggested to deem us sanctuary, so
it’s not like the Hero Clan would accept wholeheartedly even if they agreed to
it.”

Difficult as it sounds, it does kinda make sense, actually.

In short, they weren’t going to exclude Basara and the others, but instead use
them as a medium to establish a treaty between them.

—Relating to that, it was Ramusas who had proposed the notion of deeming
them sanctuary for the sake of Mio and the others in the first place; he had done
so to isolate Mio from the conflicts of the Demon Realm, so it was possible that
Ramusas would disagree to his proposal for an alliance. On the other hand, he
would receive the benefit of having their aid whenever they would require it.

Even to Leohart, he was positive that he would have no reason to reject the
opportunity to strengthen his forces to keep external forces in check. That said,
there was only one real doubt left.

“I see what you mean by all that…what’s in it for me, though?”

“Mio heard about it from Noel…about your past, I mean. That said…” Basara
said with a positive tone,

“If the big forces of the Demon Realm stopped squabbling and formed a peace
treaty with the Hero Clan, we could reduce the amount of innocent children
suffering from similar tragic fates…that doesn’t sound bad, doesn’t it?”

“ ————”

Takigawa widened his eyes in response to Basara’s words.

— Takigawa lost his parents during the previous great war and was raised in an
orphanage; there, he finally found new family members: two people he looked
up to as brother and sister, only for them to be murdered by a man tainted with
disgusting desires. He wished for nothing more than a world as Basara had
described, a world without people like him who had suffered as a result of war
and evil.

Basara meant that he and his group could offer a far better means of fulfilling
Takigawa’s wish over what Ramusas and Leohart could provide.

“…Sorry. I’m not interested in such nonsense.” Takigawa said silently in

response to Basara’s invitation.
“I see.” Basara murmured.

“Well, it’s not like it’s all that bad, though.” He suddenly said again, a wry,
resigned smile on his face.

“Sure, it might be fine to stick with things the dumb way they are now, but if you
refine the main point a bit, perhaps you may be up to something. That said,”

Takigawa Yahiro — Lars — said,

“Count me in for the time being…into the idea you just proposed, anyway.”

“…Thanks.”

And the moment Basara returned Takigawa’s smile, the school bell rang; the post
ceremony homeroom class had ended, and school was now over for the day.

“Well then, it’s seems it’s about time I left. I promised Mio and the others to go
shopping with them after school. We’ll continue our conversation tomorrow…
there’s a lot of other stuff that I need to talk to you about in particular.”

“Gotcha. I’m expecting highgrade meat the next time we meet, though.”

“Yeah…I’ll remember to make a reservation for us.” Basara then turned to leave.

“By the way, Basachi,” Takigawa Yahiro suddenly tossed a question at him,
gazing at his back as he saw him off — a question asked out of genuine curiosity.

“What are your plans from here on out?”

“I don’t see anything changing on my end. Obviously, I’ll just keep on

appreciating my daily life as usual. However —” Basara turned back toward
Takigawa as he said that last word.
“If anyone even tries to hurt or destroy anything I hold dear, I won’t let up when
that happens…I’ll fight them to the end.”

He took in a breath.

“ — No matter who they may be.”

 PART 7

Someone was overhearing the conversation between Basara and Takigawa on the
rooftop a certain distance away from them.

It was the school nurse, Hasegawa Chisato, who was returning to the infirmary
after the school opening ceremony.

…Basara…

Her master’s declaration had renewed Hasegawa’s love for Basara.

“Well, don’t you seem in high spirits today, Afureia…oh, I’m supposed to call
you Hasegawa-sensei here instead, am I?” A voice suddenly teased her, its owner
wearing a gentle smile on his face as he addressed Hasegawa. It was a certain
young man with slits as thin as thread for eyes, someone who had been in the
infirmary as Hasegawa had .

Shiba Kyouichi.

“Does it please you so much that Basara’s list of ‘things he holds dear’ happens
to include you?”

“If you’re here only to mock me, then get lost…I haven’t forgiven you yet for
what you’ve done.”

Hasegawa said, tranquilly expressing her anger toward the smirking Shiba.

“Now, don’t be like that. I am truly grateful to you for saving my life, you
know?” Shiba shrugged, his words genuine.
Before Shiba could be swallowed by the torrent of Basara’s Banishing Shift:
Annihilation, Hasegawa had rescued Shiba from the fate of destruction by
transporting him to her imaginary dimension; however, there was a reason why
Hasegawa had performed the unusual deed of rescuing Shiba, who had been
their enemy.

“I’ve already told you…I had no intention of saving you. I only did so because
Basara asked me to.”

— It was something that was planned before Basara’s final battle against Shiba;
Basara had told Hasegawa that he would absolutely figure out a way to defeat
Shiba, so he had asked her to secretly restrain Shiba without anyone knowing
about it.

And he’d told her that if he were to attempt to destroy Shiba, Basara wanted her
to save Shiba from death if that were to happen, if possible.

— However, he wasn’t forgiving Shiba after he had attempted to kill Mio and
the others; he also didn’t think that the two would come to understand each other
if Basara were to defeat him.

Of course he wouldn’t; the master of Hasegawa Chisato — Toujou Basara —

was no simple fool.

Why was it, then, that Basara choose to secretly spare Shiba’s life?

Shiba then explained the reason why, looking evidently impressed.

“Still, I have to give Basara credit…I didn’t think he’d actually make a
MasterServant contract with me.”

That’s right —after the battle, Basara had secretly made use of Hasegawa’s
power to form a MasterServant contract with Shiba. That said—
“If you know that, think before you act…I’m sure you’re not ignorant of the fact
that a few unnecessary words from your mouth could cost you your life.”

“But of course. My contract’s different from that of yours and the other girls’,
after all, being made from Basara’s special power instead. One wrong move and
I’d be sent to an empty dimension via the Banishing Shift without a trace. I’m
certainly not about to go against that.” In response to Hasegawa’s warning, Shiba
let out a wry smile as he described his current circumstances.

“And Albareos seems to be no more, as well…the holy sword Georgius, one of

the ornaments of power owned by the Vatican, has also been destroyed by
Basara’s Banishing Shift. The Vatican will either disband or reform at this rate.
Oh well, I guess I’ll take that little bit of justice Basara’s done for me and
obediently follow the contract. I’ve already fulfilled his request to record
Kurumi and Maria’s video about attending the orientation ceremony, haven’t I?”
Shiba said, showing the camera he had in his hand, “And after defeating me after
the trouble I’ve caused, they’ve done a great deal for the Village, so it’s safe to
say that any problems concerning the Hero Clan on his end have been solved.
And considering the fact that it’s likely that he’ll be able to make that
nonaggression peace treaty with the Demon Realm…we can all be relieved for
the time being now, no? Though I guess that’s what I should expect from Basara.
For him to not feel a thing despite everything……he knows exactly how difficult
it is to protect everything that he loves.”

After all —

“I trust what I’ve done will draw the attention of the Divine Realm…and
considering Basara’s the one who cleaned up my mess, apart from the fact that
he was born from Raphealine, I imagine the Divine Realm’s going to keep a
close eye on Basara. Well, Jin-san’s probably intending to head there as well,
and I guess the best scenario is that everything goes smoothly on his end…if
things go wrong, an all out conflict against the entire Divine Realm would be
unavoidable. I guess Basara made his MasterServant Contract with me in
preparation for that. However —” Shiba smiled as he turned to Hasegawa, “It
seems he didn’t do that just to prepare for that alone. For instance…apart from
Miochan and the others, Basara had also secretly made the MasterServant Vow
with a certain former member of the Ten Gods before our final battle.”

“…When did you realize that?” Hasegawa asked after Shiba pointed that out.
She was confirming that what Shiba had said was indeed the truth.

And then came his answer.

“Let’s see…Basara revealed it when he was directly inside me, fighting against
the corruption that could swallow even Reginlief. They shouldn’t have been able
to move an inch in the dark abyss, but Basara utilized the gravitational waves
from Miochan to escape from by body, defeating me in the process. I thought it
to be really strange, even after the Vow with Miochan and the others.” Shiba
said.

However —

“As odd as it was, I didn’t think it was impossible, either. The most effective
defense against the power of the corruption happens to be the holy elemental
power of a divine being. And the divine power that flows within Basara comes
from his mother, Raphealine, and you, who made a MasterServant contract with
him. Even then, however, I didn’t think it would’ve been enough.”

Unless —

“With the MasterServant Vow meaning that you’ve given him all your power,
though, it’s a completely different story entirely. That’s the main reason why
Basara could still fight despite being swallowed by the abyss of the corruption
wasn’t it?” As he went on, he suddenly gave off a puzzled expression.

“There’s something I don’t understand, though. I didn’t think you’d recommend

Basara to tie the knot with you. Sure, I don’t intend to deny how much you love
each other…but practically speaking, doing so would mean the chances of being
eyed on by the Divine Realm would only escalate.”

If one were to wonder why —

“Even with your restricted power, he’s still managed to make you surrender
everything to him — you, a former member of the Ten Gods. I imagine that the
Divine Realm…and the remaining members of the Ten Gods, particularly, will
not turn a blind eye to Basara’s existence now. From what I think of Basara,
though, I didn’t think him to be the type to ask you to share his bed just because
he needed the power of the Vow to achieve victory. That’s why I initially thought
he wouldn’t make the Vow with you. As much as it’s important to be aware of all
dangers, being too wary may also result in crucial errors in judgment in a battle
with so much at stake.”

And yet —

“You committed to that Vow with Basara nonetheless…why did you do it?”

“……Do you know that your boorish intuition is going to be the death of you?”
Hasegawa narrowed her eyes as she said so.

“And there you go again — am I not allowed to be aware of Basara’s intentions

as his secret weapon?”

Shiba smiled, “The fact that I’m still alive is a secret known to only you and
Basara. If word goes out on the street that Basara spared my life after everything
I’ve done and even contracted with me to increase his battle prowess, you can
imagine what chaos would ensue if it were to be known…and a secret weapon
works best when it is used as per its namesake — secretly.”

That said —

“Given that I’m going to be Basara’s personal detective from the shadows from
now on…don’t you agree that it’s necessary for me to understand Basara and the
things concerning him, regardless of what it may be?”

“If you really think that way, why don’t you go ask him instead?”

“I’m not so disrespectful as to ask Basara directly regarding affairs concerning

his women, even if it is for his own good. Isn’t it better for me to fulfil my
responsibility as his servant by learning his intentions from others that know of
them, all the while showing some delicacy while I’m at it?”

Hasegawa gave off a sigh of reluctance in response to Shiba’s justification.

“I can’t say you’re wrong…the idea to make the MasterServant Vow with Basara
wasn’t ours.”

Then who was it that proposed it? Hasegawa then revealed the answer.

“The one who wanted me to make the Vow with Basara…was Mio.”

“Huh…it wasn’t Mariachan…but Miochan?” Shiba exclaimed, evidently

surprised at Hasegawa’s revelation.

…I’m not surprised you’d react that way. Hasegawa thought. She herself was
quite surprised when Mio proposed it to her, after all.
There were many things to worry about when making that decision, the first
being their current circumstances; there was the risk of being eyed by the Divine
Realm if they were to do that, as Shiba had previously explained.

Then there was the matter of their own feelings: Basara had clearly stated that
they should not force one another to cross the line of making the MasterServant
Vow.

Even while Hasegawa and Basara hesitated over performing the Vow, however,
Mio had refused to give in.

“If anything were to happen to Basara, if he were to die here, even…we are
going to regret it greatly should any of that happen.” She’d said back then.

“We”, of course, included Hasegawa herself, as well; Mio emphasized how they
needed to do what they could, and finally:

“If you’re willing to give everything to Basara, sensei…then please, live on with
us, walk with us— for Basara.”

Hasegawa, of course, could not refuse such a request; after all, Hasegawa herself
desired to offer Basara everything she had, much like Mio and the others did.

And so she’d offered Basara her virginity, eventually arriving at their

MasterServant Vow after countless sessions in each others’ arms, becoming his
and his alone.

“ ————”

Hasegawa’s body trembled as she recalled the happiness she’d experienced back
then.

And starting tonight, she would be able to revel in more of such happiness.
Basara had asked Hasegawa to come live with them in his household; Zest had
already used her magic to establish Hasegawa’s own room in the basement of the
Toujou Household. All that was left was for the movers to move Hasegawa’s
luggage into the house before Hasegawa could start living together with Basara.

And then…

Starting next week, Celis Reinhardt, who had been sent by the Hero Clan to keep
an eye on the Toujou Household, would also be moving in to live with them.

— Celis was uninformed of the relationship Basara shared with Hasegawa and
the other girls, however.

They could only imagine her reaction if she were to know of the truth, but
according to Yuki, she’d eventually share the same feelings they did, considering
that Celis herself apparently possessed feelings for Basara as well.

No one among them could have every imagined that they’d go so far as to
perform the MasterServant Vow with one another; however, neither of them
possessed even the slightest regret whatsoever after doing so.

They only felt scarily proud and euphoric over it all…and Hasegawa and the
others would stay by Basara’s side and continue to strengthen the happiness they
shared from now on.

And as Hasegawa’s thoughts lay on the future, Shiba took a moment to ponder
upon the truth of her MasterServant Vow with Basara after hearing her
explanation. Eventually, he said:

“Now I see. I never really understood how the fiveelemental power that Basara
had obtained after making his Vows with the five girls didn’t become imbalanced
after making his Vow with you as well, but now I understand.” Shiba explained,
“The combination of the relationship of the Five Elements and the YinYang
relationship became a YinYang Five Elemental relationship. Much like the taichi
diagram consisting of Yin and Yang, Miochan, Mariachan and Zestchan of the
Demon Realm represented the Yin element, whereas you, a divine being, and
Kurumichan and Yukichan of the Hero Clan represented Yang. You utilized the
balance between these two relationships to surpass that of an ordinary
FiveElemental relationship.”

On the contrary —

“I, on the other hand, did not seek the power of Yang…or perhaps it’s more
appropriate to say that I couldn’t obtain it. After all, the Yin power of the Kegare
within me couldn’t be balanced by absorbing Reginlief alone. Perhaps this very
difference was the factor that decided the outcome of our little conflict.” Shiba
said, appearing to have put two and two together.

“So I guess my job now is to make sure no one interferes with your contracts
with Basara from here on out. Things are going to be different from the past in
the future we’re dealing with enemies that attempt to lower your strength apart
from enemies that attempt to overwhelm you with sheer strength itself. Well then
—” Shiba murmured as he walked toward the door of the infirmary, “I’ve asked
what I needed to ask.

I should get going. Given that your fighting strength’s going to be affected at
present…I’ll stand in for you all for the time being.”

“? What do you mean?” Hasegawa asked, finding his words dubious.

“I’m not surprised you guys haven’t realized it yet…I only know because I have
the ability to sense and control Ki.” Shiba said. “I really don’t want to
awkwardly disappear after I tell Basara about this all of a sudden, but…I’d
probably have to do the same thing later on if something were to happen because
I didn’t tell him about it anyway, so I might as well spill the beans.” There was a
pause, “Maybe it’s not something you want to hear firsthand from me
specifically, though.”

And following that preface, Hasegawa Chisato then learned of the most shocking
truth that she’d ever heard in her life from Shiba Kyouichi.

“Basara’s sperm is quite strong, all things considered. I’d suggest that you and
Mio and the other girls of course take extra good care of yourselves for the time
being. You’d do well to be look out for yourselves.”
 PART 8

After saying what he needed to say, Shiba Kyouichi had promptly left the
infirmary where Hasegawa was. New students and parents alike were present
along the corridor after the school opening ceremony, but none of them noticed
Shiba, who had eliminated all traces of his presence.

“Oh, the look on her face…ah, priceless.” As Shiba leisurely strolled along the
hallway, he recalled Hasegawa’s reaction when he had revealed the news of her
pregnancy and couldn’t resist a chuckle.

Even amidst the happiness of such news, however, there was one fact that
neither of them could overlook.

— Having made the MasterServant Vow with Mio and the others, Basara was
now at a level at a level that could match even the strongest of Divine Realm, the
Ten Gods; Mio and the others had also reached a level of power beyond what
they were capable of until now following their Vows with Basara, and even
Hasegawa had reclaimed her full power from when she was once one of the Ten
Gods, Afureia.

Mio possessed the blood of the strongest Demon Lord in history, Wilbert,
running through her veins.

Maria was heiress to the most powerful succubus in the Demon Realm, whose
father also happened to be Wilbert himself.

There were Kurumi and Yuki, both of whom now possessed superior strength
over the Hero Clan despite having defected from the very clan itself.
There was also Zest, whose abilities now far surpassed that of Zolgear and the
other high ranking Demons of the council.

Additionally, Hasegawa — once a member of the Ten Gods — and Celis,

currently the most powerful member of the Hero Clan, were now added assets in
their arsenal.

…And then there’s me. Shiba felt flabbergasted as he calculated the strength of
their group in his mind.

“And of course, there’s Basara, someone born with the mixture of four races in
his veins, and whose father also happens to be Jinsan, possessing the power of an
ancient dragon and historically the strongest of the Hero Clan. And his two
mothers are of the level of one of the Ten Gods and the Demon Lord
respectively, as well.” He said those words out loud.

With such strength on their side, surely there would be more people that would
deem them threatening than those would find them trustworthy.

Regardless…

Several of the aforementioned members were currently expectant, and it would

be best if they did not force themselves during this time.

“There’s so much worth looking forward to, huh…” Shiba casually went through
his thoughts.

What Basara had proposed to Takigawa was for his group to become a
cornerstone between the Hero Clan and the Demon Realm, simultaneously
assuming the role of balancer for the two races; such an arrangement would
enable Basara’s group to provide aid to not only the Demon Realm, but the Hero
Clan as well if anything were to happen.
A group comprising of several people, a group that could not even be deemed a
significant political power such as theirs —such a single family would act as the
mediator for two worlds, for two races. Such was what Basara had declared.

If the circumstances allowed it, he would even go as far as to make it so that the
Divine Realm would not reject their freedom and existence.

On one hand, Basara had held strong feelings to protect all that he would not
give up on up until now; on the other, he would crush his enemies that would
attempt to harm those things, no matter how gruesome or cruel he needed to be.

To his loved ones he would be affectionate; to his enemies he would be

merciless. He would be equal in doing both.

How much new love would such a young man have to cradle after knowing that
he would be having his own children, and what stains of darkness would he have
to harbor on the other side along with it?

It was simply preposterous just thinking about it.

“Jinsan seems to have gone through a lot of compromises to get this far…”
Shiba smiled and muttered, “I wonder how far you’ll go — Basara.”
 PART 9

After the two ceremonies had come to an end, the students returned to their
respective classes and introduced themselves during the extended homeroom
class.

With that, the first day of school of the new year came to an end.

Basara returned to class 2F to find Mio and Yuki, the both of whom were
apparently still in class along with Maria and Zest, laughing while making
conversation with Aikawa and Sasaki; the two girls had visited the Toujou
household not long ago and had already acquainted with Maria and Zest, the
latter of whom had been introduced as a distant relative from Basara’s maternal
family who had come to Japan with the intent of studying there. Given that she
had previously mentioned that she was looking for a part-time job, as well,
Zest’s surprise appearance at the academy and her role as a part-time teacher
there was also passed off with little excuse.

After Aikawa had called out Basara on skipping homeroom class on the first day,
Basara, along with Mio and the others, went toward the gate to meet up with
Zest, who was waiting for them outside the school building after dismissal. A
welcoming party had been arranged for new teachers and lecturers for the year,
though Zest had politely declined to attend.

Hasegawa would also be returning to her apartment after the mandatory meeting
during this time of year, and would immediately head toward the Toujou
Household as soon as the movers were finished with her luggage.
As such, the Toujou household was going to be full of unexpected celebrations
today; apart from Kurumi getting into school and Hasegawa living with them,
they also had to celebrate Maria’s entrance into school and Zest getting a job
there. Basara, Mio and Yuki advancing into the next year was also something
they would have to celebrate, but the main stars of that night would be the
aforementioned four, after all.

As such, Basara and the others stopped by a supermarket on their way home to
buy ingredients for their celebration tonight.

“Well, let’s make our celebration tonight as grand as it can be, alright? We’ll be
doing all kinds of splurging today! Let’s start with the meat!”

“We’ll bake a cake to celebrate! We’ll make it so good that we can’t possibly
lose to what Maria and Zest will whip up.”

“Right. That, and I’ve also prepared what you call red rice earlier for the
celebration. We’d have to buy some extra ingredients for that, as well.”

With excitement glittering in their eyes, Maria and Zest began looking for their
required ingredients.

“They’ll be using the oven for their own cooking as well, though, so we’d
probably only be able to make one, at best. What we lack in variety we’d have to
make up for with impact.”

“If that’s the case, let’s make a slightly bigger sponge cake. Should we make it
into something like a pizza with two halves, or would a decoration with four
halves be better? Maybe with the four flavors of shortcake, chocolate, fruit and
cream cheese…”
Mio and the Nonaka sisters were deep in their own discussion as they headed
toward the confectionery aisle.

“It’s going to be quite hard getting everything everyone wants for dinner now,
huh…” Basara smiled, evidently pleased that the five girls were excited over the
celebration.

During the earliest days when Basara was living together with only Mio and
Maria, they would manage with the bicycle basket and handle for such shopping
trips; however, there were now six of them.

— Hasegawa would also be joining them later tonight, and by next week, Celis
would be joining them as well.

Although they weren’t particularly worried about the weight of the stuff they had
to carry, the fact remained that the amount of groceries they needed had now
increased. Nevertheless, it was quite the enjoyable experience for the family to
come out together and work on their own shopping.

They couldn’t do this all the time at present, though; the Toujou Household
would need a car for that.

Hasegawa already had her driver’s license, whereas Zest was fit in both
appearance and age.

He could have never expected this after he had left the Village with his father,
Jin, and when the only the two of them were living together.

Basara reveled in the happiness he held in his hand once more and headed to the
restroom to relieve himself. As he reached the door, a middle-aged man dashed
out of the restroom, looking rather flustered as he brushed past Basara.

“? What in the world?”

Puzzled, Basara stepped into the restroom, and then he immediately understood
why what he saw earlier had occurred.

There was an adorable little girl inside.

Although she appeared to be dressed as a male student, she was the splitting
image of a girl, no matter how one looked at her —and she was a girl, one that
Basara was familiar with.

“Nanao — …?” Basara called out the girl’s name, recognizing her through her
reflection from the sink mirror.

“Eh — …Toujoukun?”

Upon noticing Basara, Tachibana Nanao immediately became excited and rushed
up to him.

After not seeing her throughout spring break, Nanao now appeared to be much
more feminine, and even her voice had become more high pitched —s omething
that gave Basara quite a shock.

“What are you doing in a place like this…? I didn’t see you at the opening
ceremony. That made me kinda worried, you know?” Basara asked, attempting
to hide how surprised he was.

As per Basara’s request, Hasegawa had assigned Nanao to be in the same class
as Basara, and true enough, her name was listed to be in the F class; however, he
had not seen any sign of her in class today.

The homeroom teacher had informed him that she was absent because she was
sick, so Basara had attempted to ask her of her condition through messaging her
on his phone, but there had been no response;
he had initially assumed that she was still asleep due to having a cold or some
such and intended to message her later that night.

“I’m sorry to have made you worry… I had something going on, so I couldn’t go
to school today. And something went wrong with my phone, so I couldn’t
contact you either.” Nanao said, apologetically.

“Come here, Basarakun.” Taking Basara’s hand, she then dragged Basara into
one of the individual toilets; the toilet she had brought him appeared to have a
white paper bag hanging on the coat hook on the door inside. Nanao then locked
the door before her with her hands behind her back and began to explain,
looking rather embarrassed:

“You see…it’s because of you that my body’s now taken on the form of a girl,
Toujoukun, right, Toujoukun…?”

“Ah…yeah.”

With the way Nanao murmured that with upturned eyes and their close proximity
in the cramped space of the toilet, Basara’s face reddened as he recalled what he
had done with the young vampire during the celebration of completing their
course last year.

“And then, well…although I haven’t really noticed despite looking at myself in

the mirror every day, my figure’s changed completely throughout spring break,
and now I can’t fit into my old uniform anymore.

Look,” Nanao said, unfastening the first few buttons of the shirt of her male
school uniform to reveal a modest cleavage that secured her identity as a girl.
Her chest seemed to have grown to such a conspicuous size that it lifted her
small shirt slightly; although her breasts were still not as large as Mio’s, Zest’s,
or Hasegawa’s, they were comparable to that of Yuki’s, whose own breast size
had increased significantly through the countless lustful sessions she shared with
him.

And it appeared that…

Nanao’s cup size shared the same label as the class they shared together in
school.

She would not be able to hide it without wearing an additional shirt inside given
her current size, evident through the slight traces of white lace that could be seen
through her blouse.

“Is that why you didn’t come to school today?” Basara asked, averting his gaze.

“Mhm. I planned to have my uniform adjusted accordingly, but I discovered this

problem a bit too late, so I couldn’t wear it to school this morning. I was picking
it up earlier after getting a call saying that they’ve already finished adjusting my
uniform…but if I were to say that I was the one who was going to wear it, it’d
invite a lot of unwanted misunderstandings, so I came here to test it and see if
there were any problems. From the looks of it, it can now cover the curves of my
body, so as long as I get myself a shirt that can cover my underwear, everything
should be fine.” She said, happily.

“II see…” Even if she could conceal her body lines, however, Basara thought
that it might not be possible for her to hide her true gender any longer, and
pondered upon whether or not he should be honest with her regarding that fact.
“But Nanao, why are so adamant on portraying yourself as a guy? You could just
use your magic eyes to alter memories and let others think that you were a girl
from the very beginning, no?”

“It’s not that I don’t have that option…I do prefer to avoid using my magic eyes
to manipulate others for my own convenience, though. And by dressing as a boy,
I can be with you during gym class or events outside of classes, right? That way
we can make and leave memories that you wouldn’t even have with Narusesan
and the others.” Nanao said, “The truth is, I really wanted to go the the school
opening ceremony today…I thought of just covering my chest with a cloth and
just go to school like that. But you said that I was a girl, Toujoukun, and you did
end up making me a girl, didn’t you? I don’t want to hide it or lie about it
anymore…this is what I want, after all.”

That said —

“If I’m going to become more and more feminine…I hope to let you see the real
me, Toujoukun.”

“ ——— !”

After hearing Nanao’s true thoughts, Basara’s heart thumped wildly; even after
already doing it so many times earliest that morning, he couldn’t help but feel
excited again. Perhaps because of his continuous lustful sessions with Mio and
the others, it was getting harder and harder for him to control his own sexual
urges, and he would respond easily to even the slightest trace of arousal.

“Ah…Toujoukun…”

Nanao suddenly realized the erection Basara was having on his crotch, and
swallowed hard.

“Uh, this is…” As Basara stuttered in realization of his current state, Nanao’s
expression suddenly took on a coquettish hue.

It was the gaze of a woman.

“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault, isn’t it?” Although she was apologizing, she
sounded really happy as she did so. “Toujoukun…if it’s alright with you, can I
show you how much more feminine I’ve grown to be throughout spring break?”
She said teasingly, slowly unfastening the buttons on her shirt. As the shirt of her
uniform fell onto the floor of the individual toilet they were in, she then undid
her belt, the button on her pants and her zipper, causing her pants to fall off and
glide down to her ankles.

The provocative aura and expression she was letting out as she took off her
clothing was quite extreme, and as Basara swallowed hard at the sight before
him, Nanao had already taken off her bra. Her breasts, free from the lace,
appeared as though they were bigger than usual, likely due to the smaller size of
her bra.

“Nanao…”

“Don’t worry…I’ll have my uniform cleaned up, and I did bring a spare change
of clothes for when I would go home.” With how seductive Nanao was as she
smiled at him and took off her panties, coupled with how wrong the situation he
was now in — he was with a near-naked girl in the individual toilet of a
supermarket — there was no excuse for how increasingly big Basara’s erection
was getting.

At that moment, another person had entered the bathroom.

Basara suddenly swallowed hard at the realization, but Nanao didn’t seem to
mind, knowing that she was the one had triggered Basara’s sexual arousal. She
then hugged Basara and whispered:

“Don’t worry…he’ll be out soon enough.”

And as Nanao had predicted, the person who had just entered left very soon
after; despite being startled by their sudden appearance, however, his excitement
toward Nanao caused Basara’s crotch to continue bulging out nonetheless.
“Now you won’t be able to get out…please sit over here.” As Nanao smiled
seductively, she asked Basara to sit on the shut toilet seat, before squatting in
front of him, completely naked as she slowly pulled down the zipper of Basara’s
pants.

And then she reached into the opening of Basara’s zipper with her fair hand.

“Ah……”

The length of Basara’s erection caused Nanao to gasp in surprise and excitement
—and then she slowly withdrew it from Basara’s pants.

Her ten fingers gently wrapped around Basara’s member, now exposed to the air.

“I hope you can thoroughly feel that…I’m really a girl right now.”

And as Tachibana Nanao said so, she used her fangs and her mouth to lovingly
caress Basara’s member.
 PART 10

After thoroughly enjoying Nanao’s service and having let everything out in her
mouth, Basara had returned the favour by indulging her pleasure that only a
woman would be able to experience.

Thereafter, Basara had left the toilet they were in earlier, before he then said
something to Nanao, who remained inside to change her clothes.

“Ah, right. Listen, Nanao…about that invitation from Kajiura for me to join the
student council…I’ve decided to take her up on her offer.”

“Eh…really?” A surprised voice resounded behind the door.

“Yeah…although a lot of stuff happened when we were preparing for the sports
festival, I still had a lot of fun. At any rate, me, Mio, Yuki and Kurumi have
agreed to join.”

Maria was still uncertain about it, but he assumed that she would join given her
personality. At this rate, they also needed to give Zest a reason to stay back after
school.

…Mmm, we’re going to make it work out somehow.

Staying back after school as a part-time teacher was not particularly against the
rules of the school, though she would not receive any added salary for that, as
well; if there were really any problems concerning that in particular, though, they
could always ask Hasegawa to settle it.
Regardless, it would be best for them to discuss this in particular when they got
home tonight.

However, no matter how much Kajiura would plead them for it, Basara did not
intend to assume any significant duties or posts within the council; after all,
Basara could not deny that the possibility that he would need to be absent from
school without a proper reason someday was not zero.

Nevertheless, he had decided that he would not distance himself from his
surroundings and restrict his everyday life over the fear of negative possibilities
or risks; such was why he had secretly asked Hasegawa to put Aikawa and
Sasaki in the same class Basara would be studying in.

When Basara had to choose between distancing himself from others and keeping
them close for the sake of protecting them, Basara had opted for the more
positive option of the two.

Only loneliness awaited at the end of the path to protecting others out of the fear
of exposing them to potential danger —and the most effective way for him to
reduce such a risk to a minimum would be death.

— Of course, that was what Basara was thinking right now, at least.

Given the circumstances, it might be inevitable that Basara would have to give
up on school one day.

Sacrificing oneself out of the mere fear of a worst case scenario would be wrong,
though.

Toujou Basara would not give up the daily life he had struggled so hard to
maintain that easily.

“I’ll go talk to Kajiurasenpai when I go to school next week.” The door of the
toilet suddenly opened to reveal Nanao wearing the sailor uniform of
Hijirigasaka Academy, portraying her fully as a girl.

“I think you’re better suited to dressing up like that, after all…” Basara smiled,
still feeling somewhat embarrassed.

“Thank you…but it’s alright, really. As long as you’re the only one that knows
about it, that is.” Nanao gave off her sweetest smile. “That aside, it’s great that
you and the others will be joining the student council, Basarakun. I’m sure
Kajiurasenpai and the others will be really glad to hear about it.”

“Is that so? We’re glad to be able to help out, I guess.”

“Let’s make more memories with everyone from now on, okay?”

“Yeah.” Basara nodded in response to the girl smiling before him.

11

After biding farewell to Nanao in front of the toilet, Toujou Basara returned to
Mio and the others; Basara presumed that they had just finished their shopping,
having detected their presence at the parking lot outside.

“It seems I’ve kept them waiting, have I…”

And as Basara hurried toward them, passing through the wave of people buying
ingredients for dinner and stepping outside the gate of the mall —

“Get lost. If you so much as lay a finger on me, I’ll kill you a hundred times
over.”

Startled, Basara hurried toward them. And then —

“Whoah, are you serious right now…?” The first sight that came into view
dumbfounded Basara.

Mio and the others were surrounded by a group of shady people — there
appeared to be around more than ten of them, and Basara could vaguely
remember some of their faces among them.

Those are the guys from back then, right?

He wasn’t mistaken — they were the same guys that had harassed Mio back
when they first moved here and were trying to familiarize themselves with their
new vicinity. He didn’t expect to meet them here again, of all places; then again,
it would be even more surprising if they hadn’t even crossed each other even
once up until now, given that both groups lived in the same neighbourhood.

The current situation was growing to be very dangerous, though.

“………………” “……………”

Mio and Kurumi in particular looked quite displeased and appeared as if they
would explode at any second.

“ ——” “ ——”

The fact that Yuki and Zest’s gazes were now cold with murderous intent didn’t
make the situation any better, either.

Things weren’t looking good—the group of guys would probably really die a
hundred deaths at this rate, but there was also the fact that the large number of
people grouping together was attracting the attention of other customers that
were passing by.

What should I do? And as Basara scrambled for a solution to resolve the
situation without fuss—
“Ah, Basarasan!”

A certain perverted loli succubus, apparently the only one that was enjoying the
scene that was unfolding, called out Basara’s name in a moderately loud voice as
she noticed him.

All eyes then suddenly gathered on Basara.

“…It appears we didn’t manage to get ourselves some pepper today.” Basara
said with resignation as he approached the group of girls that were waiting for
him.

—One way or another, Mio and the others could deal with such a group easily;
however, he wasn’t about to let anyone else handle the situation.

It didn’t matter if he was dealing with random punks on the street or the
strongest of the Demon Lords and the most supreme of the Gods.

The role of protecting his family — protecting Mio and the others — belonged
to Toujou Basara alone and no one else.

And so —

“Excuse me…do you guys happen to have a problem with my companions?”

And so they were to continue on with their lives day by day, where an ordinary
everyday life would intertwine with the unbelievable and for the cycle to
unendingly repeat itself.

Unable to face his past directly, he could only continue to shoulder the weight of
his sins if only because he was to live on because there was something worth
protecting.
Such thoughts had since become as old as the time that had passed since he had
first acquainted with Mio.

Even if he was to carry an irreversible past and every single ounce of sin that he
had committed, Toujou Basara would only continue to move forward.

— He would do so with the family he had exchanged his vows with.

And he would do so for the sake of that which he cannot yield to anyone — to
protect everything he loves.
 TO DREAM AND LEARN OF A FIRST EXPERIENCE

It was one of those days where Basara would occasionally be absent from the
Toujou household.

In light of such an occasion, Mio, Yuki and Zest were usually capable of
detecting their master’s location —Basara’s location — by virtue of their link to
him via their MasterServant contracts.

However, the three did not opt to do so in this particular instance.

They knew that anyone would want some private time for themselves once in a
while and deserved to have such time; that said, Mio and the others would
simply let their time pass leisurely while Basara wasn’t around. And as they
spent their evening thusly, Mio ventured into the kitchen wearing only her bath
towel around her after her shower before taking the carton of milk from the
fridge.

“Um, could you hear me out for a bit, Miosama?”

“Hmm? Is something wrong, Zest?” In response to Zest’s formal tone of

questioning, Mio asked her what was going on.

“Yes…I wouldn’t exactly call it a problem, but something’s been bothering me

for a while now.” Zest replied, as the two then went into the living room; they
then discovered Maria lying on the sofa in a particularly strange position, her
eyes covered by an oddly designed eye mask as her hands were crossed above it.
“…Mhmmhmm…nhaaah…muhuhuhuhu……ah, that’s good, that’s very
good…”

Occasionally, the erotic loli succubus would toss and turn and let out some
uncouth words as she slept.

“I agree. Perhaps it’s not really a problem as you say, but this is quite the
predicament.”

“Yes. I was hesitant on whether or not I should just leave her alone…”

Although the phenomenon that Maria was displaying as she slept on the sofa of
the living room was nothing worth reprimanding her for in particular nor
anything particularly out of the ordinary, they had to admit that something was
amiss; nevertheless, the kind Zest had felt that it would be inappropriate to wake
her.

“I’ll handle this…come on, Maria, if you’re going to sleep, you should head
back to your room and sleep on your bed…” Mio stood in for Zest and gently
shook Maria’s shoulders in an attempt to rouse her.

“Mhmmhmm…don’t worry about that, Basarasan…Miosama’s saying “no”, but

she’s only doing so because she’s about to become a lewd and full grown woman
ready to give you everything as you ravage her —”

“…! What in the world are you even dreaming about?!”

A dull thump rang through the air as Maria awoke to Mio’s right fist slamming
down on her head.

“Oof, that hurts…huh? Miosama? Darn, what were you thinking? And I was just
about to get to the good part!” Maria said, evidently dissatisfied as she slid off
her eye mask, to which her response elicited a sigh from Mio.
“Excuse me…but could you stop letting your imagination run wild and enjoy
yourself with other people frolicking about your dreams without their consent
first?”

“Oh, but you’ve misunderstood me so very terribly, Miosama. I’m not helping
myself with all this at all, I assure you. This is actually a form of hypnopaedia,
or sleep learning — so to speak, you could call it hypnotic preparation.”

“Hmm? What do you mean by that?”

“Having made our MasterServant contracts with Basarasan and for the sake of
strengthening you all to the way you guys are now, Miosama, we’ve pretty much
surrendered ourselves to him in every obscene way possible, haven’t we? As
succubi, Lucianeesama and I have inherited a dark element similar to that of
Kurumichan’s. I should say that it’s not an exaggeration to say that such lewd
sexual conduct between us has become absolutely necessary.”

“That’s…touche, I guess…”

“I suppose you’re right. We can’t really deny that at this point.”

Mio and Zest were red-faced as they could not find anything to say against
Maria’s reasoning, knowing full well that what the succubus had said was the
truth; Mio and the others had only managed to attain their current strength due to
the countless sessions of erotic deeds that they had committed with Basara.

It was not as if they particularly enjoyed it, however; it was simply necessary for
them to do so, given that a battle against a particularly powerful opponent was
fast approaching.

Even so…
Mio was well aware that there was no longer a barrier between her and Basara
ever since they had returned from the Demon Realm.

She could not deny her happiness when Basara did all those obscene things to
her when Mio herself willingly surrendered herself to him.

Mio and the others realized that their relationship with Basara had transformed
into that of one typical between man and woman rather than that of a mere
familial one; at the same time, however, they could not deny the pride that would
well up in them when Basara would take the initiative and do what he would
with them, no matter what it was or how violent it would be even if they were
the only ones who could feel such pride amidst their secret relationship.

“As I was saying, the way things are now, we’ve never really crossed the final
line with Basara for fear of the risk of losing our powers, but I know there’s a
way for us to clear that risk somewhere out there.”

Maria then continued.

“About that…we —”

“You guys want Basara to finally take you that way?”

Mio and Zest exchanged glances in disbelief.

Of course, the two had thought of doing something like that in the future.

More specifically, they wanted to belong to Basara — as of now, it had become

their greatest desire.

“That said, if you guys are going to act all ignorant and mess up when you
finally get the opportunity to experience the real thing, you’re going be nothing
more than killjoys.” Maria said, “And there’s also the fact that you and the others
have different weak spots, Miosama…it’s thus very important to consider the
ideal positions for Basarasan when he finally makes his move on you all given
that fact.”

“…Is that so?”

“But of course, Zestsan. If you’re asking why, it’s because we won’t know
exactly when Basara will make his move, more or less the situation of which
he’ll do so. It’s exactly because of that that we need to think about this as a
group simultaneously rather than individually.”

“Why don’t you just treat your first time in each others’ arms as if it were work
or something?”

“Basara would never do something as horrible as —”

“Of course, I know full well Basara’s not someone who would do something like
that. Still, I can’t help but believe that he’s going to get tired about our lack of
progress, even if he himself hasn’t realized it yet. Don’t you guys think that it
would be really bad if such a worst case scenario were to be true? And if he
happens to get tired all because we weren’t prepared enough to make it happen
and left everything to Basara himself…don’t you guys feel that you’ll regret
that?”

“That’s…” Mio’s thoughts sealed her ability to let out any words in response.

Mio had never thought about the ideal scenario and timing of which she would
finally tie the knot with Basara; nevertheless, if she were to finally cross that
line, she wanted for Basara to be the one to initiate it, to desire her — such was
the extent of the unyielding heart of the young maiden she was.

That said —
“…If that’s the case, what’s our best course of action from here, Maria?”

Mio’s inquiry for advice was met with utmost delight from Maria.

“As I mentioned a short moment ago, you must first decide the ideal positions
for yourselves. In your case, Miosama, since your breasts are your weak spot,
and considering that Basarasan would likely take the lead and start by groping
your breasts passionately, I’d say the standard missionary position would suffice
for you. As for Yuki, who’s weak on her butt, she has to be taken from behind
doggy style. Then there’s Kurumi, whose weak spot is her armpits, so a sitting
position opposite him where he could lick them while the two hold each other
would be best for her. This would strengthen Basarasan’s arousal toward us as he
holds each and every one of us one at a time.”

“Well, Maria, what of me, then…?”

“Your ears are your weak spots, Zestsan, so let’s see…I think it’s best if
Basarasan was behind you in a sitting position. Of course, he could sit directly in
front of you and bite your ears that way, but then he’d be vulnerable to being
distracted by your breasts, so the former position would serve to limit
Basarasan’s options.” Maria said. “Now that we’ve decided on positioning,
what’s next is to put it into practice.”

“You mean we really have to do those things? But that’s really just…”

“Of course, I don’t mean for you to do the real thing literally. I’ve been using
hypnopaedia or sleep learning for that purpose. You’ll be able to retain your
virginity no matter how many times you want to indulge yourself in his arms~
May I present to you Super Lewd Mistress Gitachan!”

As Maria explained, she showed them the headset that she was putting on earlier.
“When you put this baby on when you sleep, you’ll be able to dream about the
person you love and desire having his or her way with you. The sensation of this
can’t be compared with the recent big hits of virtual reality and some such,
though: while the VR sets only give you an illusory experience through what
you see and what you hear, this set directly connects to your brain to reenact
those experiences as if you were really feeling them. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Sure, it does sound quite amazing…but after exposing yourself to repetitive

sessions of dreams that feel that real, won’t your mind automatically adapt and
become used to it?”

As much as they did want to prepare for this, it wouldn’t be right if they were to
become too accustomed before they actually had sex for real.

“You don’t have to worry a thing about that. While you might actually remember
and feel all those memories when you put this Shitachan on upright, you won’t
remember anything once you wear it in reverse direction. In other words, while
there won’t be any particular memories left, Basarasan’s body will still react on
its own accord to accept you. It’ll leave your innocence of a prim and proper
virgin behind. How’s that?”

“………………”

“………………”

Mio and Zest fell utterly silent — their reddened cheeks came from the highly
inviting words that Maria had said to them.

“It’s a common saying among humans who are in love that one’s first time
doesn’t always go smoothly and end up being quite awkward…and it’s no
surprise sometimes that the worst case scenario happens and the couple splits
apart because of that. However, as long as you have this baby with you, you
guys don’t have to worry about anything whatsoever~ There’s absolutely zero
chances of failure, after all.”

Surely Maria had kept Mio and Zest’s personal insecurities into account.

“How about it? What do the two of you say to trying this little jittery tool?”
Maria asked, a coquettish smile on her smile. “I want the two of you to do it
willingly and without excuses…I’m not letting the two of you use this device to
have perverted dreams about doing lewd stuff with Basarasan reluctantly or to
give it to the both of you as a present. It’s just that I’ve prepared just the right
amount of these things for all of us.”

And with a single whisper from the demon — both Mio and Zest lost their
ability to refuse Maria’s suggested technique.

Minutes passed after that.

“Who would’ve thought I’d get them to play along so smoothly! And with the
way things are going…Mmhmmhmmhm…”

Naruse Maria could not resist her snickering as the Nonaka sisters suddenly
knocked on her door on the second floor.

“…Maria?”

“Is something the matter?”

“Yes. Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it a problem, but there’s something I want the
both of you to see.”

Maria said, and the two sisters promptly followed the succubus back down to the
first floor.
And the moment they passed by the living room —

“Ahn…haaah…oniichan…haahn, oniichan…!”

“Nnn…aah…Basarasama…aah! Basarasama…!”

Mio and Zest’s sweet moans echoed across the room.

“…This is…?”

“Wait a minute, what on earth are the two of you doing?!”

The moment Yuki and Kurumi stepped into the living room, they raised their
voices in shock upon discovering Mio and Zest sweetly moaning and writhing
upon the sofa.

“Oh, the truth is, Miosama and Zestsan are having Basarasan all to themselves in
their dreams right now~ They’re preparing for the day where they actually get to
do the real thing and really hold Basara that way in the near future. Call it
hypnopaedia. Or sleep learning!”

The erotic loli succubus answered as she licked her lips.

“Now, let’s see…how will I go about letting the two of have sex with Basara in
your dreams as well?”