Eligos Territory, Ancient Battlefield outskirts.
When Leo and Rem arrived together, there was no sudden surge of vengeful spirits or monsters like in the past. Instead, the area was eerily quiet.
There was no helping it. For more than half a month, the entire Ancient Battlefield had been used by the Eligos peerage as a live combat training ground. The inner area was one thing, but the outer perimeter had already been thoroughly ravaged. Vengeful spirits and monsters were now rarely seen, and the terrain was scarred with craters and shattered ground everywhere, clearly battered beyond recognition.
The two stood facing each other.
Leo looked relaxed. Rem, on the other hand, was visibly tense.
"All right, let's begin."
He rested one hand on his hip, completely at ease, looking nothing like someone about to face a berserk oni head-on.
"Relax. I'll be watching right here. There's no one around, so even if you lose control, it won't affect anyone. Don't hold back."
He deliberately reassured her, and Rem did loosen up a little, though the unease in her eyes hadn't fully faded.
"Are we really… doing this here?" she asked hesitantly. "Actively entering oni form?"
She asked again and again, unable to make up her mind.
For someone who frequently lost control and went berserk, the idea of choosing to enter oni form was terrifying. Years of experience had left her deeply afraid of that state, bordering on trauma, and she'd never dared to deliberately awaken her horn.
"You're not worried about hurting me, are you?" Leo said with a chuckle. "There's no need. Even if it were just you, or even if Ram came to help, the two of you probably still couldn't do much to me. Whether you could even force me to go all out is questionable."
In the past, Leo wouldn't have dared to say something like that.
Before fully claiming Ravel, he hadn't even completed the Balance Breaker state of Zenith Tempest. At full power, he'd only been on par with a ten-winged devil. Taking on two oni who had reached the Ultimate-Class Devil level would've been risky.
But now, even without using Zenith Tempest, his own strength already rivaled that of a ten-winged devil. Even an oni-transformed Rem was still a level below him. Hurting him was out of the question.
"Hurry it up. Stop hesitating. Or do you want me to call Ram over to keep you company?"
He pressed her again.
"N-no… Rem understands. Please don't call my sister."
She didn't want to trouble Ram again. Taking a deep breath, she slowly closed her eyes.
"Hmmmm…"
Before long, Rem's aura grew violent. A white light flickered on her forehead, and the faint outline of a horn began to emerge, as if it were forcing its way out.
"Ugh…"
Pain crept into her expression, her voice strained. The turbulence around her intensified.
Snap!
Just as her consciousness began to sink, a hand suddenly reached out and flicked her forehead.
"Ah!"
The sharp pain jolted her awake. She clutched her forehead and cried out.
The violent aura dispersed, and the white light vanished in an instant.
"L-Leo-sama?"
Tears welled in the corners of her eyes as she looked up at him, standing right in front of her without her noticing, clearly questioning why he'd done that.
"Fail. Start over," Leo said calmly. "You were already being affected by oni form the moment you tried to awaken your horn. Your aura was completely unstable. There's no way you'd have kept control. You would've lost it, guaranteed."
"So try again. This time, awaken it slowly. Endure the process and don't let your consciousness sink."
"Focus on good memories. Don't let negative emotions interfere: hesitation, anxiety, all of it. If you can clear those away, you'll last longer."
He offered his thoughts and advice, and surprisingly, it all made sense.
After all, he'd read a large portion of the books in his study. Maybe not with Yukino's obsessive determination to read everything, but more than half, at least. That accumulated knowledge was proving useful, letting him give guidance in many areas. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to design training plans for all his servants like he did now.
Those were qualities a King needed. To lead properly and help his servants grow, knowledge was essential.
Because of that, Leo could quickly pinpoint Rem's problem and guide her accordingly.
"Come on."
He stepped back to his original position, urging her on again.
"Yes."
Rubbing her reddened forehead, Rem calmed herself and swiftly entered oni form once more.
Her aura flared again and again, her face twisting in pain, her voice strained.
Each time she was about to lose control, Leo flashed forward and flicked her forehead, breaking her state and forcing her back out of oni form.
"No, you're still rushing it. Slow down more. You need to consciously control the pace. Don't dive in all at once."
"Slower. Your mind can't keep up with the surging power. You'll just get overwhelmed."
"That was too slow. You suppressed the rising power with your consciousness. You can't even enter oni form like that. Again."
"No. Again."
"Again."
Leo had turned back into that Spartan demon instructor who mercilessly rained down barrages on the girls during morning training. His attitude was casual as ever, but his hands showed no mercy. He interrupted Rem again and again with forehead flicks, until her forehead was bright red.
She was on the verge of tears. She even recalled the last time she'd gone berserk, when Leo had flicked her unconscious and she'd fallen into his arms.
The memory left her flustered and irritated. Her usually expressionless, delicate face finally cracked, emotions spilling out.
And with those emotions taking over, when she entered oni form again, she completely cast aside hesitation and anxiety.
Instead, that embarrassed frustration pushed her into oni form faster than ever before.
So fast that Leo didn't even have time to stop her.
The white horn that had been flickering on her forehead finally fully emerged, and her eyes instantly glowed red.
"Aaaaaah—!"
As expected, Rem lost control.
Her aura exploded, leaping from Mid-Class Devil straight into Ultimate-Class Devil territory. The demonic power within her, normally not that high, surged violently, breaking through Mid-Class Devil, then High-Class Devil, and continued rising. By the time it stabilized, her output wasn't much weaker than Ram's.
"So most of her demonic power is absorbed by oni form… It only truly erupts after transformation."
Watching this, Leo finally confirmed his suspicion. He'd found the real reason Rem's growth had been so slow.
Her immense potential was almost entirely concentrated in oni form.
As that realization settled, the fully transformed Rem attacked.
"Boom!"
With demonic power erupting around her, she shouted and thrust her hand toward Leo. An astonishing cold burst forth.
Countless shards of ice shot out, blanketing the sky as they surged toward him. Wherever they passed, the air temperature plummeted.
This was Rem's specialty.
Unlike Ram, who excelled at wind magic and could even create her own spells, Rem specialized in ice magic. She hadn't invented any of her own. She'd only learned a few basic spells. Her repertoire was limited, mostly simple ice barrages like this, showing just how weak her aptitude for magic really was.
But backed by Ultimate-Class Devil-level demonic power, even such straightforward spells became terrifying.
Thousands upon thousands of ice shards filled the sky, impossible to dodge.
Facing the torrential rain of ice, Leo didn't bother evading. He met it head-on.
"Boom!"
Purple demonic power burst from his body, instantly overwhelming Rem's aura. One magic circle after another appeared around him.
Bang!
The ice slammed into the expanding magic circles, colliding again and again with deafening noise.
The shards shattered on impact, the force strong enough to kick up shockwaves that shook the ground beneath Leo's feet, sending thick dust into the air.
Moments later, the dust was blown away.
Leo stood there completely unharmed.
The sight only further provoked Rem's bloodshot eyes.
"Die!"
She roared and launched herself like a cannonball, sonic booms ripping through the air as she swung her small fist down.
BOOM!
The ground exploded under the punch, collapsing into a massive crater as debris flew everywhere.
Leo had already taken to the air, ten devil wings spread wide behind him. He streaked past at incredible speed, neatly avoiding the blow.
Rem tried to pursue—
But she was stopped.
A magic circle appeared beneath her feet without warning. Chains formed from pure demonic power shot out, wrapping around her before she could react, binding her tightly.
"Ugh… aaahhh…!"
She struggled violently, unleashing tremendous strength, yet couldn't break free.
Then, in a flash, Leo appeared behind her.
He raised his fingers and aimed for her forehead.
Rem instinctively flinched at the familiar motion, but unfortunately, that didn't help her escape what came next.
Thud!
The flick landed again, this time reinforced with demonic power. The impact slammed into her forehead, and Rem experienced that disorienting shock to her consciousness once more.
"Leo-sama..."
Her eyes widened as the red light faded. The white horn dissolved, her swollen aura and demonic power rapidly weakening. Then she went limp, collapsing unconscious into Leo's arms.
"Good. The transformation was short this time, so the strain on your body and mind isn't too bad."
Holding her, Leo gave her a quick check before popping a small fruit into her mouth.
"Cough…!"
Rem snapped awake and sat bolt upright, her face twisting in agony.
"So bitter!"
It was the bitterest thing she'd ever tasted, more bitter than all the hardship she'd endured trying to catch up to her sister over the years.
"Good medicine tastes bitter," Leo said lightly. "Well, it's not medicine, but it wakes people up instantly. For you, it's pretty useful."
He smiled at her first—
Then immediately switched back into Spartan mode.
"Since you're awake, let's continue. Don't waste time."
Rem stared at him.
She was now absolutely certain.
Her master was a devil among devils. A demon among demons.
And yet, for some reason, his merciless attitude made her feel… at ease.
She didn't want pity. She didn't want sympathy. Those looks only reminded her how inadequate she was.
So Leo's strict, almost ruthless approach reassured her instead.
At least this way, she didn't have to worry about disappointing him. Or being abandoned.
Someone who was truly disappointed would never push her this hard.
As she thought that, Rem found herself thinking of her sister.
Ram looked cold and uncaring, but she was gentler than anyone.
That kindness had saved Rem—but it also made her anxious, constantly afraid that one day Ram might leave her behind.
Leo-sama wasn't gentle.
But that was exactly what Rem wanted.
It made her realize something.
She wasn't just carrying her sister's expectations anymore.
She was also carrying her master's.
Then—
"Let's continue."
Having steeled her resolve, Rem forced herself to stand and entered oni form again.
She didn't notice that, somewhere unseen, a figure almost identical to her was standing there, watching silently…
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
You can read up to chapter 200 on patreon.com/NiaXD.