There was something Sharon still hadn't told Yukino:
The so-called devil-slayer weapon was a failure.
If it weren't, then even if the Church couldn't mass-produce it due to its involvement with the taboo domain of souls, it would've at least been known by name. A weapon specifically designed to destroy devils—not being known at all was simply impossible.
At least Leo was certain of one thing: in the original story, nothing like this weapon had ever appeared.
If it never showed up, there had to be a reason.
And the reason was this—
The devil-slayer was a rejected prototype.
The explanation was simple: the negative emotions stored within the weapon didn't just devour a devil's flesh—they also had a devastating effect on the wielder's mind.
For devout followers of the Church and angels with unwavering belief, the effects were fatal. Their faith would waver, their will would erode, and their souls would be tainted. Even if they died, Heaven would never accept them. They would never enter paradise.
For the Church's believers, this outcome was terrifying beyond words.
Thus, the weapon was officially deemed a failure and destroyed. Even the method for creating it was erased.
Originally, the weapon itself was supposed to be destroyed too—but its creator was unwilling to let it vanish. He hid it away.
Eventually, a secret group within the Church smuggled it out and delivered it to the faction serving the old Maou. That was where Sharon had first encountered the weapon.
Back then, newly recruited into that organization, she asked immediately for power.
And she chose the devil-slayer without hesitation.
"With Demon Factor in my body, I'm not getting into Heaven anyway," she murmured once. "So why should I care about tainting my soul?"
Truthfully, Sharon Holygrail had never possessed firm faith. She wore the uniform of a nun solely because it made exorcising devils easier.
So she didn't care about the devil-slayer's drawbacks at all—as long as it made her stronger.
And ironically, this weapon was a perfect fit for her.
Others would need to injure a devil first, allow the blade to devour devil flesh, activate its dormant power, and then grow stronger.
Sharon didn't need that.
Her own flesh—tainted with Demon Factor—worked just as well.
When the weapon devoured her flesh, its power awakened. She grew stronger. And a stronger Sharon found it even easier to injure devils, which fed the blade even more… and so on, spiraling upward until she completely overwhelmed her opponent.
"It's time to end this, Yukinoshita-san."
"Click—tch…!"
Sharon burst forward through a cloud of black mist, rushing Yukino like a demon from the abyss.
Yukino clicked her tongue, the space around her twisting—Absolute Demise manifesting behind her once more.
Even with her abdomen pierced, she was no longer the fragile girl who died from a single stab by a low-tier fallen angel. As long as she sealed the wound and stopped the bleeding, a devil's tenacious vitality meant she could still fight.
She would continue fighting.
Across the battlefield, Leo watched Yukino struggle under Sharon's relentless assault. His expression darkened.
Meanwhile, Lafei roared with laughter.
"You see that? Your servants are moments away from death! Soon, this labyrinth will become their grave. They'll never see the sun again."
He glanced deliberately at the icy figure behind Yukino, then at Shiina Mahiru struggling to maintain her purple flames. His gaze turned feverish.
"Who would've thought? A few lowborn human girls turned devils—and two of them are Longinus wielders. One even possesses one of the three greatest Holy Relics. Truly unexpected."
Both Rias and Sona, even in their panic, were taken aback when they saw Mahiru wielding those violet flames.
If this were outside the labyrinth, their reaction would've been far stronger.
But now, with every servant fighting on the brink of death, they had no space left in their hearts for surprise.
"All the better," Lafei sneered. "Eliminating the Holy Cross wielder is an unexpected gain. And that Absolute Demise holder—keeping her here forever means removing a future enemy of the true Maou faction."
"The one with Blade Blacksmith must die too."
"Every existence that might become a threat to us must be erased!"
"Eligos's servants will all die here!"
He was provoking Leo on purpose.
And he succeeded.
Because Leo's killing intent finally erupted.
"You think you've already won?"
The moment he spoke, his killing intent condensed into raw power, igniting within his body.
"BOOM!"
A massive pillar of demonic power erupted from him, shooting into the air and battering the ceiling of the arena.
"RUMBLE—!"
Thunder rolled. Thick black clouds gathered overhead, forming a stormy sky that crackled with lightning.
"BOOM!"
A bolt of lightning tore through the darkness, illuminating the entire space.
Leo spread his eight devil wings wide. Under that storm-dark sky, the overwhelming might pouring off him made Rias, Sona, and even Lafei's face twist in disbelief.
That aura—
"Sacred Gear!"
Lafei stiffened.
"That's… a Sacred Gear's power?!"
"He's… he's a Sacred Gear user too?!"
Rias and Sona's eyes flew wide.
"BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!"
Lightning lanced downward one after another, but instead of crashing into the ground, they stopped—held in place around Leo as if by invisible hands.
The bolts reshaped themselves, twisting into brilliant spears of lightning.
"Go."
Without hesitation, Leo unleashed the Sacred Gear. The lightning spears shot forward, tearing through the air toward Lafei.
Lafei panicked. He poured everything into forming massive defensive magic circles.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!"
The lightning spears struck the barrier like falling comets, detonating with deafening thunder.
The barrier shattered into pieces—
"CRACK!"
—and vanished into sparks.
"BOOM!"
Lafei was hit dead-on before he could react. Lightning ripped through his body, hurling him through the air.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH—!"
Smoke rose from his charred body, but through the agony he forced himself to form more magic circles. He unleashed a torrent of massive demonic power blasts, filling the entire arena with explosions in an attempt to burn Leo to ash.
But Leo simply surrounded himself with a roaring cyclone, sending every incoming blast flying away.
All of Lafei's attacks failed.
Every single blast was deflected by the storm surrounding Leo—he looked like the calm center of a raging hurricane, wearing a suit of wind and lightning.
Leo beat his wings once and tore straight through the barrage, flying directly toward Lafei.
"Stay away!"
Lafei wasn't some ignorant backwater devil. Living over a century, he definitely recognized a Longinus—especially among the four top-tier Sacred Gears capable of destroying nations.
Seeing Leo command the sky, manipulate lightning and the air itself, he already knew which one it was.
He didn't want to believe it, but he couldn't deny it.
He was afraid.
Terrified.
Facing one of the four greatest Longinus—second only to the True Longinus itself—Lafei's courage shattered.
He screamed and unleashed demonic power everywhere, sending massive blasts in all directions.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
Explosions tore across the arena. Firestorms and shockwaves rippled outward, turning the space into a warzone.
Rias and Sona fled desperately, their wings beating frantically to escape the spreading destruction.
Only Leo surged forward, shrugging off every explosion with the cyclone around him.
"RUMBLE!"
Suddenly, countless boulders materialized around Lafei, drawn toward him as if magnetized, slamming into him and burying him alive.
"Ghh—!"
Leo appeared behind the mound of stone, reached in, seized Lafei's wings—and ripped one off.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH—!"
Lafei's screams ripped across the arena.
Blood rained down alongside the severed black wing—violent, brutal, and merciless.
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Note: Happy New Year Everyone!!!!
May 2016 be your year
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You can read up to chapter 146 on patreon.com/NiaXD.