"Holy Swords? Those are the Holy Swords those two Church warriors had just now!?"
"Takumi-nii, how did you do that!?"
Amid Rias and Maria's shocked cries, Takumi calmly used the Boosted Gear to devour both Holy Swords.
The powers of mimicry and destruction both flowed into the gauntlet.
Still, Holy Swords were a tier below true Sacred Gears, and strictly speaking, neither of these two abilities was all that impressive.
So the boost they gave his gauntlet was almost negligible.
"The mimicry got a little stronger."
With a thought, the gauntlet in Takumi's hand transformed into a golden bracelet set with a blue gem and wrapped itself around his wrist.
Only after that did he casually explain, "I can forge Sacred Gears. As long as I've seen one, I can make it."
"..."
Rias and Maria both fell silent at that answer.
After a long pause, Rias finally spoke in a low voice.
"Takumi… that thing you said before about being a god—that wasn't actually true, was it? You're not the Biblical God, are you?"
"Of course not. But my standing isn't far below His."
Takumi shook his head, but what he said still made everyone there suck in a cold breath.
Asia—devout as ever—stared at him with wide eyes.
"Takumi-san, are you really a god too? Do you know God? Are you friends with Him?"
"Not at the moment… It's too complicated. Don't ask."
Takumi had a feeling that if he really started explaining, it would never end.
After shutting that topic down, he turned to Rias.
"Keep an eye on the Holy Sword situation too, Rias. Mention it to Sona as well. And what about Mio? How are you planning to handle her?"
As he spoke, he brought up Mio.
Rias nodded and answered seriously, "I'm planning to take Mio back to meet Mother. I've already told her that the two of us will jointly manage House Gremory. If everything goes smoothly, Mio should be able to take over the branch-family faction of the Gremory clan."
Rias genuinely didn't care anymore about giving away part of her authority.
After fusing with a Servant Piece last night, her strength had shot all the way up to Ultimate-class Devil.
As long as she kept moving steadily, becoming Maou-class was only a matter of time.
Compared to real power, so-called family authority was nothing but worthless scraps of paper.
After hearing Rias's arrangements, Takumi nodded in satisfaction.
Rias and Mio should have much better chemistry now too after what happened last night.
If they could work together and help him jointly control House Gremory, that was naturally the best outcome.
The only thing he had to watch out for was how quickly his side was expanding. That kind of growth would almost certainly provoke a counterattack from the war faction.
There was no way they'd just sit back and watch the Sitri clan and his side keep growing stronger.
I'll deal with it when it comes. Hopefully they'll at least make things interesting.
Takumi thought that to himself without the slightest trace of tension on his face.
If he went all out now, then even if that Lucifer Maou really was at Chief God level, the best he could do was barely force Takumi into a draw.
Now that he had enough power to truly stand against someone like that, of course his style would get a little more arrogant.
If your fists were already this big and you still didn't throw your weight around, that would just be a waste.
"Asia, keep an eye on the office phone. If anything comes up, call me. I'm heading out."
After giving Asia a few instructions, Takumi left the house again.
Asia remained where she was, confidence surging, and stared at the phone in her hands with complete seriousness.
"I'll definitely do a good job with the work Takumi-san gave me!!"
Rias didn't stay home either. She immediately headed for the school.
She needed to mobilize her peerage and handle the situation about to unfold in Kuoh.
By the time Takumi reached the sky above the town, he smoothly activated Blue.
Space compressed in an instant, and his figure vanished on the spot.
Whoooosh!!!
A brutal wind roared past him, and a vast mountain range buried under endless snow filled his view.
The freezing air slammed into him hard, yet to Takumi it felt almost pleasant.
The Snow Woman bloodline he had fully absorbed gave him extraordinary resistance to the cold, so this environment suited him perfectly.
When he looked out across the white, endless mountains, he instantly picked up two human figures.
"Oh?"
The moment Takumi saw the two men, a memory flashed through his mind.
"One of them is the guy who was supposed to meet the Snow Woman."
"Main Character Halo (Purple) really is useful. This should've been something from over ten years ago."
He immediately realized it had to be his trait at work. Otherwise, that man would definitely have formed a connection with the Snow Woman.
In Takumi's sight, one of the men shoved the other straight off the cliff.
If he remembered right, it was some rotten little jealousy murder—the guy's white moonlight was in love with someone else, so he killed him over it.
"What a messy pile of bullshit. Since I'm already here, I might as well help you get your revenge."
"Authority of Fire."
Takumi clenched his hand in the air, and the two tiny black dots on the mountain ignited instantly.
Then a freezing gust swept across the peaks, and both the man standing on the cliff and the one falling into the abyss turned to ash in a single instant.
[Ding! Randomly obtained trait: Fortune's Favored One (Green)]
"Don't need it. Useless trash."
Takumi gave the trait a glance and dismissed it on the spot.
It was basically a side-character halo, and a green-quality one at that. Complete garbage. He had no use for it at all.
Only after dealing with that did Takumi slowly descend from the sky.
His feet sank into the soft snow as he spread out his senses and began searching for signs of the Snow Woman clan.
But the moment his senses expanded, he noticed a figure walking toward him.
When he looked over, he saw a black-haired woman in a white kimono, head covered with a cloth, moving through the shrieking wind.
Her long black hair spilled down like a dark waterfall—smooth, glossy, and striking against the endless white of the mountains.
And that face… that clear, unearthly beauty outshone the snowbound scenery around her.
Her skin was finer and fairer than the snow itself, while her features were soft and exquisitely shaped. The faint upward curve of her lips carried a subtle, sensual smile that gave her an extra touch of allure.
She wore a pure white kimono, yet even under all that fabric, her lush body was impossible to miss.
Her waist flowed into full hips in one rich, rounded line—an hourglass so ripe and womanly it practically burned against the cold.
The wide sleeves and delicate sash made her look elegant and noble, but there was still something deeply seductive about her.
On her feet were white embroidered wooden sandals, adding a classical refinement to her beauty.
Standing there in the freezing wind, she looked like some transcendent spirit—untouchable and ethereal, yet so gorgeous it still sparked heat deep in the gut.
When Takumi saw the woman, she saw him too.
Their eyes met.
And somehow, in that bitterly cold air, a trace of warmth appeared.
"Haa~~"
The Snow Woman parted her lips, revealing a pair of sharp little fangs.
A blush spread across that delicate, snow-pale face of hers, and the sight only made her more enticing.