The Intermediate Magic Tome was an advanced version of the basic magical knowledge I'd obtained earlier. Not only did it significantly enhance the original effects, but it also granted me incredibly powerful magical resistance.
With this, I'd moved one step closer to becoming a true magical fortress.
Between my unlimited magical power, my ability to use magic from nearly every system, and my massive computational capacity allowing simultaneous spell casting, I could easily function as a permanent magical artillery platform if I chose to.
A walking magical fortress, that's what I could become if I wanted.
"Thank you so much, Takeyo-sama,"
Le Fay gazed contentedly at the signature flowing across her undergarments, nodding vigorously with satisfaction.
"You're welcome,"
While Arthur watched with visible discomfort, I reached out and patted Le Fay's head once more. She really was adorable, with a lively, natural cuteness that was genuinely endearing.
"By the way, Vali, there's something I need to tell you," I said, deciding I didn't want him constantly bothering me for challenges. Better to redirect his battle-lust elsewhere.
"What is it?" Vali frowned, an ominous premonition settling over him.
"Simple. Don't bother me... but feel free to challenge him instead."
An image materialized in my hand, a projection of Issei Hyoudou.
"Him? The Sekiryuutei of this generation?" There was a hint of disdain in Vali's tone.
Though the Red Dragon Emperor was theoretically his destined rival, the only enemy he truly recognized was me!
Cao Cao? What was Cao Cao compared to this?
Of course, Vali didn't know that Cao Cao had been slapped down by me not long ago, and far more thoroughly than he had been. After all, defeating Vali required either exploiting specific weaknesses or overwhelming force, but defeating Cao Cao? That only required a single hit.
Cao Cao, who prided himself as a technical fighter, was nothing but a crude and arrogant fool in front of me.
Speaking of which... I'd forgotten to do something important not long ago. I hadn't collected Cao Cao's soul signature for my system rewards.
"Yes, Issei Hyoudou. He's become incredibly strong this past month, and he'll only get stronger," I said with a slight smile. "It doesn't matter when you defeat him, but you have to beat him before you can challenge me again. I don't always have time to spar with a defeated opponent."
With Vali's personality, after hearing that Issei would become even stronger in the near future, he'd definitely wait until he deemed the timing right before challenging him. That would buy me some peace and quiet.
And besides... the battle between Vali and Issei? The outcome was far from certain!
After all this time, Issei had completed his racial evolution, transforming into a dragon similar to Ddraig himself!
"Since you're the victor, I suppose the loser has no choice but to obey," Vali shrugged, though he privately agreed. He didn't feel qualified to challenge me yet anyway.
Albion, dwelling within him, shared that sentiment. Despite knowing I should be severely injured, both he and Vali felt an overwhelming certainty, if they attacked me now, they would die.
"Well then, we'll take our leave. I mainly came to help Le Fay with her... request. Now that it's done, we should go,"
After saying this, Vali departed with his team.
Naturally, I suspected Vali had also come at Azazel's request, but that didn't really matter.
"Let's go. Don't worry about the White Dragon Emperor, he's just slightly stronger cannon fodder,"
I ran my fingers through Rias's crimson hair reassuringly.
Unlike Cao Cao and Vali, who had glaring weaknesses, I had virtually none. The only way to defeat me was through absolute overwhelming power.
Even my resistances were extremely high. The permanent incarnation of Buddha Shakyamuni combined with my human bloodline origin gave me over ninety-five percent resistance to magic of equivalent level.
After explaining my battle with Vali to Rias, we headed to school together.
"Mm?"
I frowned slightly. After escorting Rias to the third-year building and walking toward my own classroom with Asia, I sensed someone's gaze upon me.
Under Sona's arrangements, Asia had been assigned to my class.
"Asia, go ahead without me. I have something to take care of."
I patted her head gently. It seemed... someone had discovered what I'd done last night.
"Huh?" Asia looked confused, but seeing I didn't want her to follow, she wisely didn't press. She wanted to report to Aika Kiryuu that I had returned safely anyway.
On the other side of the school, I made my way to a secluded location.
Behind me, a green-haired figure materialized. He'd been using invisibility magic, but now that I'd come out here, there was no need for concealment.
"Sensei, did you need something from me?"
I addressed the green-haired Maou directly.
That's right, the one who'd been observing me was none other than Ajuka Beelzebub himself.
"Yes, there is. Yesterday's incident has been resolved. You don't need to worry about any retaliation from the Phenex family," Ajuka said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
He wasn't particularly concerned about that. What worried him more was the possibility that if I held a grudge, I might target the Phenex household directly once I became stronger.
However, given that the young Phenex girl seemed to have a good relationship with me, perhaps that concern was unfounded?
He could see certain signs, after all...
"I see. Not that I'm afraid of them coming after me."
The corner of my mouth lifted slightly. Maybe they'd provide some useful sign-in opportunities. I'd actually welcome them trying something.
"There's one more thing."
Ajuka tossed me a crystal orb.
"This contains knowledge of the Underworld. I've personally refined and processed it. Please study it carefully. I believe it will be far more beneficial for you to learn and explore independently than if I simply taught you directly."
His expression carried the weight of a teacher's paternal pride, like an aging mentor saying, "I've grown old, you must walk this world alone now~"
"This... is this recording the magical knowledge of the Underworld?"
I paused, needing to confirm whether this matched my understanding.
"Yes. It contains the magic of the seventy-two Pillars and various lesser Devil families still remaining in the Underworld."
As Ajuka spoke, she seemed to remember the hard work she'd put into compiling these lessons, and couldn't help but stretch wearily.
"..."
"Alright... Thank you very much, Sensei..."
I wasn't someone who often expressed gratitude, but this time I genuinely wanted to thank Ajuka.
Theoretically, even as his only disciple, I shouldn't have received such treatment.
This level of access... not even the other Maou possessed it.
"By the way, I want to ask you one last thing." Ajuka sighed before addressing me. "You didn't know who stole them at first, but after checking the movements of all the chess pieces, I made a breakthrough discovery."
He was very familiar with this pattern, it was similar to when he'd tried using the Devil chess piece system to locate me not long ago.
Plus, I had successfully advanced to mid-class Devil using thirty-three worth of Devil pieces.
So... he'd come to see me today about that as well.
"Did you visit my office yesterday?"
Ajuka asked directly.
"I did..."
I answered immediately, without even a moment's hesitation.
I had indeed been there, after all, to obtain something!
"Then... you took the King pieces I'd hidden away? You really have some skill. That was a test King piece I'd set aside, and you managed to loot it?"
Seeing I didn't even try to deny it, Ajuka felt like he might develop the human-world condition called heart disease.
"Well, that's how I just advanced to high-class Devil," I admitted with genuine embarrassment.
The previous day, I'd absorbed all five King pieces with the thought of "I've been your apprentice for so long, surely this cheap teacher should give me some benefits~"
But... today Ajuka had directly given me an enormous gift... so... I really was embarrassed.
"Do you know how much energy a King piece contains? How many did you absorb?" Ajuka's head was beginning to ache.
The King pieces were something the old guard in the Underworld had asked him to create long ago.
Unlike the parallel pieces for high-class Devils' peerages, every King piece was top-quality and extraordinarily powerful!
Just one King piece could elevate an upper-Middle Class high-class Devil to peak Maou-class combat power!
Those stubborn old factions in the Underworld had used these pieces to create their spokespersons, sweeping through countless top players in the professional Rating Game competitions!
This was part of the so-called power struggle, because professional Rating Games held not just competitive significance, but political meaning and the right to speak!
According to the original timeline, this matter would eventually be exposed by the current number one in professional Rating Games, the Emperor, when he rebelled.
But now... I had treated them as expendable items and absorbed all the remaining King pieces myself.
While King pieces had the incredible function of elevating Devils to Maou-class, within my body they'd only helped me breakthrough to high-class Devil.
Advancing to high-class Devil gave me confidence that I could handle almost any situation without needing to rely on transcendent incarnations, so reaching this level was indeed necessary.
After hearing my words, Ajuka sighed again.
This... was truly uncomfortable. They were all gone at once.
"By the way, how many do you have left? The rest should be useless to you except for promotion purposes, right? Give them back to me~"
"None. I absorbed them all..."
I replied immediately.
Well... I'm sorry, but I did absorb them all. Though I could technically extract them, doing so would genuinely injure me.
"All of them!? You absorbed all of them!?"
Ajuka's expression kept twitching. This was the first time I'd seen him lose his composure in front of me.
Big brother... this is something that could create five Maou-class Devils! You just absorbed it like that?
To be honest, he'd also hoped that if something unexpected happened to the Underworld, the Devils could rely on King pieces to help protect the continuation of Devil bloodlines.
"I really can't extract them after absorbing them..."
I said it again.
"Ku ku ku ku!,~"
It felt like countless invisible daggers were piercing Ajuka's body.
"However, I can give you this..."
Seeing Ajuka's half-dead expression, I sighed and casually pulled something out.
"Can you see if this works?... Consider it a replacement?"
What I extracted was an arm, one that was charred black at the point where it had been severed from the body.
"What the hell!,"
Ajuka was startled by my sudden production of a severed arm.
Everyone was talking perfectly fine, and you just pull out a dead person's arm to scare him to death?!
"What is this?..."
Ajuka sensed an incredibly powerful divine aura emanating from it!
To be frank... even if he or Sirzechs cut off their own arms, they wouldn't possess such overwhelming presence!
"Vishnu's arm. I cut it off when I killed him,"
When I'd used the White Horse Kalki incarnation to burn Vishnu directly, all of Vishnu's avatars had assembled into his main body, and the body's resistance was always far stronger than scattered avatars.
Of course, the result was still instant annihilation. Before being obliterated, I'd directly burned off a section of his arm and stored it within the Sacred Heart of the Dragon, the divine treasure of my Three-Phase Blessing Sacred Gear.
That's why Jeanne had been thrown out afterward
"Vishnu's arm!? You killed Vishnu!?" Ajuka's eyes widened in shock.
This was completely beyond his expectations!
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