Just after returning to the shop, Ren looked around at the chaotic scene and immediately fell into thought.
At this moment, the shop was in utter disarray. Lucemon and Fou were both lying motionless on the ground. Raynare and the others trembled at the sight, while Asia rushed around, busily helping tidy up.
On seeing how hard Asia was working alone, Mittelt and Kalawarna—who had just patched things up with her—hastily came over to help. It's worth noting that although Mittelt and Kalawarna had abrasive personalities, under Raynare's constant intense pressure, experiencing Asia's kindness and forgiveness made the contrast clear.
Following Ren, Kuroka observed the mess in the shop with quiet schadenfreude.
No matter who caused it, the two sprawled on the floor definitely participated.
Kuroka didn't dislike Lucemon or Fou—they were teammates she'd be spending time with later—but that didn't stop her from quietly thinking they deserved to suffer a bit.
Just like now!
When Ren walked in, Asia immediately panicked.
It was obvious she wasn't the one who made the mess, yet she looked the most flustered.
If someone didn't know Asia's personality, they might have assumed she was at fault.
"Ah—sorry, Mr. Ren, I haven't finished cleaning up these things yet… um, if possible… whaaa—"
Before she could finish, Asia stood up and slipped on something, tumbling down with a thud.
"Asia! Be careful!"
"My goodness, you're really quite absent‑minded, aren't you?"
Unusually, Mittelt and Kalawarna quickly helped her up.
Seeing that, Ren gave a faint smile, a glimmer of warmth in his eyes.
Although at first he formed contracts with them partly out of curiosity or dark humor, in reality who wouldn't hope those under one's contract would care for each other? It's better when relationships are good—after all, they interact often.
Even though Raynare's personality was warped by the Fallen Angel's Heart and was now quite ruthless, she could still talk things through thanks to Ren's presence, and there was no risk of her doing anything untoward.
After Mittelt and Kalawarna joined, their dynamic rapidly shifted—from being oppressed victims under Raynare to being uplifted through Asia's "influence." Their relationships were clearly improving.
Watching all this, Ren felt genuinely pleased.
"Master, the place really is a mess, isn't it?"
Suddenly, Kuroka leaned close to Ren's ear and softly said.
Although no one spoke it aloud, her meaning was clear.
Ren rolled his eyes in response.
"Don't instigate trouble here!"
"Oh no, I wasn't instigating! Just making a little comment."
Kuroka immediately put on a wronged expression. But Ren's next words made her expression stiffen.
"I think if you keep this up, either Fou or Lucemon will privately challenge you to a solo match. Even though I took Lucemom with me, are you sure you can handle a match with Fou?"
Kuroka's mind locked into overdrive. She turned her head stiffly to look toward Fou.
And sure enough, Fou's two eyes were fixed on her. Cold light glinted in them—and that said everything.
Although Kuroka's voice just now was very quiet, Fou heard everything.
She swallowed nervously and silently put a mental gag on herself.
Forget it. She had already suffered enough for her loose mouth. Better to stay quiet now.
Even though she didn't know how strong Fou was, she knew that her own rank in Ren's system was purple, while Fou's was orange. Orange ranked creatures were on the level of Lucemon and Examon...
At this point, Kuroka understood the gap between her and Fou.
And that was when she had just been summoned.
"Come on, tell me. What happened? Why is the house like this? Or do you all think we're going to another world for a long time, so you're throwing a party before leaving?"
"Ahem…"
Lucemon coughed awkwardly and couldn't help glancing at Fou.
Fou tilted her head up proudly and leapt into Ren's arms like a mascot.
With that smug and confident look on its face, it didn't seem like the one who caused trouble.
Ren instinctively glanced at Ophis—who had watched the whole thing without interfering or getting involved. She was calmly munching on a dragon-attribute crystal, just enjoying the show.
"Ophis?"
"Mm? It was Lucemon who asked to fight Fou…"
Ophis, who never lied, replied calmly.
Lucemon's outstretched hand dropped immediately.
Right. Expecting Ophis to lie was impossible!
After a brief inquiry, Ren quickly understood the situation.
Last time, after Ophis ate Fou's Jealousy Crystal, her Infinite Power reacted strangely with it and created a new ability. Now the Infinite Dragon God had a comparative power similar to Fou's.
But unlike Fou—who is always stronger than her opponent—Ophis's power allows her to replicate and enhance the same type of energy from her opponent, sometimes even surpassing it.
"But maybe because the amount was too small, the ability wasn't complete last time, which is why I got flattened by your 'Grand Cross'…"
Lucemon took over and explained.
Ren could see where Lucemon was coming from and chuckled.
"So you wanted to try Fou's, to see if different types of food would give you more abilities, right?"
Ren had thought about this principle too, but hadn't confirmed if there were any side effects.
The system just handed over the food. It gave brief explanations, but didn't clarify whether it was safe for others to use. He had to test everything himself.
For example, the Fallen Angel Heart and Light Magic Crystal last time were both tests.
He had given them to Raynare to see if there would be any problems. At that time, Ren really just treated Raynare as a disposable tool.
She had a terrible attitude, and he had no reason to cater to her. Using someone like that as a test subject was reasonable. It was only after her attitude shifted a little that Ren began to acknowledge her properly.
"That's right. I knew your stock was limited, so I just took a little to try. Who knew…" she trailed off, face full of grievance, instinctively covering her arm.
She lost. Completely and utterly!
With the Crown of Envy enhancing her, Fou became a total cheat—just like Ren. She shattered the 'Grand Cross' with a single slap. If Lucemon hadn't dodged fast enough, the second slap would've landed right on her face.
By the way, Ophis didn't just sit back. At Asia's request, she protected the surrounding people and the shop, so the place just looked messy rather than being wiped off the map.
Huh? Why did Fou also lie down?
Well, that was because it realized the situation got out of hand, so it lay down in submission and waited for Ren to scold it. Look how self-aware it was!
"Asia and Ophis did great…"
Ren gently patted Asia and Ophis on their heads as he said this.
Asia's cheeks turned slightly red as she stood by Ren's side.
Ophis, feeling the warmth on her head, looked up for a moment before returning her attention to the food in her hands.
"Fou was traumatized by Ophis. Of course it won't give you anything if you ask."
"Tch! So stingy! I'll just wait for you to finish preparing more food, then try other options."
"I've got plenty of other blue-grade foods. Why don't you try those?"
"Abilities from that level don't match my status!"
"You really do care a lot about appearances."
Ren shook his head helplessly. But Lucemon argued seriously.
"Let me give an example. If you had to choose between a divine weapon and a green onion, but the situation only allowed you to pick the onion, wouldn't you feel embarrassed showing up on the battlefield with that?"
"Sure, it's embarrassing… But don't you think the people I beat up with that onion would be even more embarrassed?"
It's like if Belial charged into the Land of Light not with a proper battle device, but with an onion-themed one and still wrecked Ultramen.
Even if Belial looked ridiculous with the onion, wouldn't the Ultramen who got smacked around by it be even more humiliated?
That's like a live broadcast of social death.
Lucemon: "…"
That actually makes so much sense!
---
Meanwhile, Serafall was chatting with Sirzechs.
"So Ren is planning to leave Kuoh Town? That's really a pity."
Sirzechs genuinely looked regretful.
He had already calculated everything. When his sister's engagement neared, regardless of whether she tried to use Ren as a shield or not, they'd definitely need his help. Rias's team couldn't win against Riser.
That would've been the perfect time to visit Ren.
After all, if someone helps your sister, it's only right to meet them.
But now, just as the situation was about to escalate, Ren was planning to leave.
It caught Sirzechs off guard, though he didn't say anything more.
Just like Serafall wasn't worried about Ren causing trouble, Sirzechs wasn't either.
Sometimes, when someone you want to recruit is too powerful, you stop worrying about them doing bad things—because even if they did, you wouldn't be able to stop them anyway.
He didn't know Ren's exact strength, but the fact that he was completely overwhelmed by Lucemon said a lot. If Lucemon was beyond the realm of normal power levels, then Ren, who could command her, was on another level entirely.
And then there was Ophis, a heavyweight among heavyweights.
"Sirzechs-chan, are you worried about Rias-chan? Don't worry. Ren left people behind and said if help was needed, just go to the shop. I don't know about Fou, but Kuroka definitely wouldn't sit back and let Koneko's situation go unresolved."
"Koneko's sister, huh… Yeah, that's really an Underworld issue."
Mentioning it made Sirzechs frown.
The Naberius family, who had adopted Kuroka and Koneko, had been researching artificial Super Devils. Worst of all, the research data had been taken. When the devil army arrived, almost all the traces of the experiments were wiped clean.
Kuroka, who had killed her master and fled, became an extremely high-risk figure in the eyes of the devil high command.
She fled. Sirzechs could only protect Koneko, who later became Rias's servant.
After a bit more small talk, Serafall ended the communication.
Then—
With a hopeful giggle, she pulled out a manga Ren had given her.
"Sona-chan, want to read this manga with your big sis?"
"No way, I don't want to at all———!"
Sona shook her head without hesitation.
Serafall immediately looked disappointed and walked toward her room.
After she went in, a strange glint flashed in Sona's eyes.
"If Serafall reads that manga today, you might overhear something... She might cry her eyes out. Then again, she might end up traumatized by magical girls. If you're going to eavesdrop, could you record it for me? I'm curious how your sister sounds when she cries."
Recalling Ren's words, Sona tilted her head, puzzled.
What kind of manga could Ren have given her sister?
Could magical girls really make her cry?
Sona had never seen that happen before.
Driven by curiosity, she quietly walked to her sister's door.
And so, the world gained another broken child.
According to her servants, both their Student Council President and the Maou Leviathan appeared the next day with red, swollen eyes.