On the other side of Kuoh City, Jun returned to his usual routine.
He could feel it—Akeno must have held Rias back, diverting the red-haired girl's curiosity away from him. As long as that secret remained sealed, Jun could still move freely, blending into the city like a passing shadow without a trace.
'It's been long enough,' he thought.
He returned to the meditation garden, to the same place beneath the plum tree. Its leaves swayed gently, the remaining blossoms fell one by one, and the afternoon air carried a calming scent of earth.
Jun sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.
The qi within his body circulated slowly, stable, orderly. His breathing merged with nature, his mind sinking into a deep silence.
Without him realizing it, a white cat approached.
Its steps were light, almost soundless.
The cat leapt onto his lap, curled its body with confidence, then stayed still—as if that place had belonged to it from the very beginning.
Jun did not open his eyes. He only smiled faintly.
He let the cat remain there, not disturbed in the slightest. His concentration did not waver. If anything, his qi flowed even more smoothly, as if that small presence became a calming anchor.
Time passed.
When he finally opened his eyes, the sun had already tilted toward the west.
Jun took out a small bag of cat food from his bag and poured it slowly onto the ground.
"Have you been waiting long?" he murmured softly.
The white cat immediately jumped down from his lap and began eating eagerly, its tail swaying gently.
Jun watched it for a moment, then stood up and stretched his body.
He did not know who the cat really was. Or rather, he had already known when he ascended to this realm—there was a different feeling compared to an ordinary cat, and Jun's guess was correct.
'Koneko, huh… Who would have thought that one by one the main heroines would approach me like this? Do I really have a charm that attracts all women?'
Unfortunately, he did.
He merely suppressed the aura of his existence so as not to attract attention from those who were not focused. Ordinary people would not notice his charm, but for Rias and Akeno—or others like them—they were aware of Jun's allure.
He did not know who the cat really was.
Or more precisely—he already knew, but chose not to make it explicit.
Since ascending to this realm, his sensitivity to life had long surpassed human limits. The aura flowing from living beings, even those perfectly concealed, could not completely escape his senses. And the white cat before him… was clearly different.
Not merely an animal.
There was a subtle rhythm in the flow of its energy. Gentle, yet dense. Tame, yet containing a calm core of power.
'Koneko… huh,' Jun thought to himself.
He did not lift that mask. Did not call her name. Did not bring anything up. There were things that were safer when left to unfold naturally.
The afternoon breeze blew softly, shaking the branches of the plum tree. Koneko—in her cat form—continued eating calmly, as if no secret was being read behind that pair of human eyes.
Jun let out a soft breath.
'Who would have thought the main heroines would approach me one by one like this,' he mused. 'Do I really possess a charm that attracts all women?'
The question surfaced, then was immediately followed by an answer he did not want to fully admit.
Unfortunately… yes.
Not because of looks alone. Nor because of sweet words. But because of existence itself. A soul that had passed through destruction, risen again, and now stood at the crossroads between humanity and something higher—that was what emitted an attraction impossible to explain with ordinary logic.
And Jun knew very well the danger of that.
That was why he continued to suppress the aura of his presence.
He sealed layer after layer of qi, dampening the pulse of his existence until it was almost indistinguishable from the bustle of the city. To ordinary people, he was merely a young man with a bit of charisma—someone easily remembered for a moment, then forgotten as he passed by.
But to those who were sensitive, the impression was different.
It was tranquility.
Like standing near a silent mountain—motionless, not displaying its power, yet making anyone nearby feel safe for no clear reason.
Jun picked up his small bag, then stood from beneath the plum tree. He lightly brushed the dust from his pants and looked at the white cat before him, now sitting neatly with its tail curled beside its body.
"Yossh… looks like I have to go for now," he said casually.
The cat looked up, gazing at him with clear golden eyes.
"Miaw~"
Jun chuckled softly, then bent down and stroked its head once—gently, without qi, without any intent beyond a simple habit.
"Hehehe… yeah, I'll come back again."
The cat did not chase after him. Nor did it move. It only watched Jun's back as he slowly walked away, as if holding something within its silence.
Jun walked off, blending back into the flow of people in Kuoh City.
Without knowing—or perhaps choosing not to make explicit—that behind the gaze of that white cat, there was a pair of eyes slowly realizing one simple thing.
That tranquility… was something it wanted to feel again.
…
That day finally arrived.
Night draped Kuoh City in calm silence—too calm for an event that would rewrite the history of the supernatural world. Kuoh Academy—which to humans was merely an ordinary school—tonight transformed into the stage of a conference between three races. Not between nations, but between existences that for thousands of years had hated, killed, and shed each other's blood.
Devils.
Fallen Angels.
Angels.
Worlds overlapping with the human world finally sat at the same table.
Their history was long and cruel. War after war. Hatred passed down across generations. Cities erased before even being recorded in human history. Yet tonight, for the first time in a long while, they attempted something almost impossible.
A handshake.
It was time for the three to make peace for the future of the world.
On the other side of the city, far from the bustle of conference preparations, Jun had just finished his simple dinner. There was no celebration. No excessive premonition. Just a calm habit before nightfall.
He cleaned the eating utensils, then slowly stretched his shoulders.
And at that moment—
a cold sensation spread through his mind.
The system screen appeared without sound, without warning.
[Quest - Stop Vali Lucifer from killing Issei Hyoudou]
Jun fell silent.
His expression did not change, yet the air around him trembled slightly—just for a moment, enough to make Maw, who was sleeping, stir faintly.
"…I see," Jun murmured softly.
He was not surprised. Nor confused.
From the wording of the quest alone, he already understood many things.
Vali Lucifer—the owner of the Vanishing Dragon, a descendant of Lucifer, and an anomaly that should never have existed—was no longer bound by the path that should have been. In the original story, Issei was the center. The opponent. The rival. The stepping stone.
But now, that center of attention had shifted.
Jun's existence was more intriguing to him.