As the leaders of the three factions began seriously discussing the peace accord and everyone else was still reeling from the sudden turn of events, Leo felt every nerve in his body slowly tighten.
Just as he'd said before, the three factions sitting down to talk peacefully was a development that certain people would never allow.
They would inevitably jump out to cause trouble at a time like this.
And now that peace negotiations had actually begun, Leo refused to believe that those lurking in the shadows could sit still any longer.
Sure enough, something went wrong almost immediately.
"Hmmmmm..."
A wave of fog appeared in Kuoh Academy without any warning, spreading through the entire campus like a tidal surge at terrifying speed, swallowing everything in its path in an instant.
The fog invaded the buildings, flooded the school corridors, and seeped into every room, filling them one by one.
"What is this...?!"
The summit conference room was engulfed just as quickly, and everyone shot to their feet.
"Watch out!"
Azazel was the first to shout.
"This fog was created by Dimension Lost!"
Everyone present who knew what Dimension Lost was felt their hearts lurch.
Leo had already moved the instant the fog appeared, reaching out and grabbing the two peerage members closest to him. Both girls let out startled yelps.
A moment later, the fog swallowed the entire room, and everyone vanished within it.
BOOM!
A shockwave of purple demonic energy erupted skyward, blasting the dense fog away and revealing Leo's figure.
"Leo-sama!"
The two girls in his grasp finally found their voices, shock and confusion clear in their tones.
Leo looked down and only then realized who he'd actually grabbed.
One was Ravel, golden ringlets framing a petite frame with curves that defied her small stature.
The other was Rem, blue hair cropped short, similar in height and build to Ravel, wearing her provocative maid outfit.
Leo was mildly surprised. Of all the members of Peerage Eligos, his blind grab had somehow caught the two girls with the most extreme gap between their baby faces and their... generous proportions.
As for everyone else...
"Gone, huh?"
Leo scanned the surroundings, his heart sinking.
He and the two girls had appeared inside a building, standing in a hallway. Residual fog drifted along the floor. The scenery was completely different from the conference room. Only a shaken Ravel and Rem stood beside him. Everyone else had vanished without a trace.
"Where are we?"
Rem forced herself to calm down. Her hand was already gripping the chain connected to her morning star.
"Some kind of pocket dimension." Ravel regained her composure just as quickly and assessed the situation, teeth clenched. "Dimension Lost forcibly transported us into an unknown alternate space."
Dimension Lost, one of the four top-tier Longinus, ranked fourth among the thirteen. The strongest barrier-type Sacred Gear, it could teleport anything enveloped by its fog to another location, including pocket dimensions and alternate realms.
Last time, Leo had fallen for this exact Longinus. Its wielder had forcibly transported him into a pocket dimension where Cao Cao had been waiting, and the two fought a brutal battle.
Now he'd been caught by the same trick again. He'd only managed to grab two of his peerage members before the fog took everyone else. The rest had been scattered to who knows where.
And that meant...
"So the Hero Faction really did get involved after all."
This hadn't happened in the original story.
But Leo had considered the possibility. He'd figured that Cao Cao would make a move soon, if only to prevent Leo's intelligence from going stale.
So...
"Just like last time with Lafei Trix. You claim you're not on the same side, yet here you are cooperating again."
Leo's words, surprisingly calm, carried down the hallway ahead.
Several figures were approaching from that direction, gradually entering their line of sight.
But what surprised Leo was that the figures walking toward them weren't the Hero Faction members he'd expected. They were monsters.
Bipedal creatures, pitch-black from head to toe, stocky and muscular, with razor-sharp claws, feral eyes, and fangs bared in snarling grimaces.
"SCREEE!"
"GRAAAH!"
"ROAR!"
The monsters let out inhuman shrieks, making both Ravel and Rem shudder.
"Wh-what are those things?! Magical beasts?!"
Ravel cried out in alarm.
"They smell disgusting..."
Rem made no effort to hide her revulsion.
Both girls could feel an intensely repulsive aura emanating from the creatures, like encountering a natural enemy that triggered instinctive, visceral rejection.
The feeling was familiar. Asuna's holy swords created through her Sacred Gear, Mahiru's Incinerate Anthem... both produced this same instinctive revulsion in devils. These monsters weren't quite at the level of holy swords or sacred relics, but Ravel and Rem still felt like they were facing their natural predators.
And their instincts were right.
CLANG
The black monsters roared and opened their maws, suddenly firing blinding beams of light at Leo and the two girls.
BOOM!
The beams struck the hallway floor, blasting it apart and sending debris flying.
Leo, Ravel, and Rem had already leapt clear before impact, dodging the searing light.
"That's the power of light!"
Ravel spread her flame wings and hovered midair, shouting.
"Those monsters can use the power of light!"
The power of light, something only angels and fallen angels could wield, was now coming from a pack of monsters. The revelation left Ravel and Rem stunned.
Only Leo understood what was going on.
"I see. Annihilation Maker's creations."
Annihilation Maker, one of the four top-tier Longinus, ranked third among the thirteen, just behind Leo's Zenith Tempest. Its ability allowed its wielder to create all manner of magical beasts through imagination alone. The stronger the imagination, the more diverse the creatures.
This Longinus had shown a glimpse of its power during the Old Satan Faction's attack. In that labyrinth dimension, after Sirzechs personally investigated, they'd confirmed that every monster inside had been artificially created by Annihilation Maker.
Like Dimension Lost, Annihilation Maker was held by a member of the Hero Faction, further confirming their involvement.
These black monsters... Leo vaguely recalled that they'd appeared in the original story too. Annihilation Maker's wielder had specifically designed them as anti-devil weapons. Every single one could use the power of light, a devil's greatest weakness.
BOOM!
Blinding beams fired from the monsters' mouths again, blasting through the hallway walls and sending dust billowing from the breaches.
The three of them burst out of the building and onto a deserted street, only to face an even fiercer assault.
"SCREEE!"
"GRAAAH!"
"ROAR!"
Black monsters crawled out from every corner and dark crevice of the surrounding buildings, emerging as if spawned from the shadows themselves, howling as they fired a barrage of light beams at Leo's group in the air.
WHOOSH!
Leo had already unfurled all ten of his devil wings, his form blurring like an afterimage as he weaved through the incoming beams. One hand still gripped Rem's shoulder, carrying her along as he dodged the dense barrage.
As for Ravel, she didn't retreat at all. She charged straight into the storm of light.
Thwp thwp thwp thwp thwp...!
Beam after beam punched through Ravel's body, but none actually hurt her. Where the beams pierced, flames erupted instead of blood, and her entire form transformed into a blazing phoenix that hurtled toward the nearest cluster of monsters.
BOOM!!!
The burning phoenix slammed into the monsters' position, unleashing a violent firestorm that incinerated everything in its path.
The temperature skyrocketed. The deserted street became a crimson inferno as flames spread outward, engulfing the black monsters one after another. They didn't even manage a death cry before being reduced to ash.
"Leo-sama! Throw Rem over there!"
Rem, still dangling from Leo's grip, called out the moment she saw Ravel's display. She wasn't about to let her fellow peerage member steal all the glory, and she refused to be dead weight that her master had to protect.
Leo didn't waste words. He hurled Rem into the middle of a group of monsters. She crashed down like a cannonball, shattering the ground beneath her feet.
WHAM!
The nearest black monster barely managed to turn around and open its mouth, light gathering between its jaws, but before the beam could fire, the morning star came screaming through the air and smashed into its face, caving in its skull.
"HAAAAAAAAAH!"
As if she'd entered her Oni state, Rem let out a roar and whirled her morning star like a windmill, the spiked ball smashing into the black monsters at terrifying speed, crushing and flattening everything around her.
Watching both girls tear through the monsters, Leo cracked a smile. He spread his ten wings wide, wrapping them around himself.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG...!
Beams of light pelted him from every direction, striking his wings and bursting into sparks, but none touched Leo himself.
Any other devil's wings would have been shredded on contact. But as a Perfect Devil, Leo no longer had that weakness. Anti-devil monsters were useless against him.
Leo casually deflected every beam and conjured magic circles around himself. The circles spun into existence like cannon muzzles, firing volleys of demonic energy blasts that tore through the black monsters one by one.
The three of them cleared out the swarm with brutal efficiency, hardly looking like devils who were supposed to be weak to light. Ravel ignored the beams entirely, her flame-wreathed body incinerating monsters to ash. Rem savagely bludgeoned them to death one after another with her morning star. Compared to the two girls, Leo's method of blasting them with demonic energy was actually the most merciful, at least granting them a painless death.
How long this went on, none of them could say, but eventually the onslaught subsided.
"Are they all dead?"
Rem gripped the morning star's handle, eyes still wary.
"I don't see any more in the area."
Ravel folded her flame wings and descended, landing beside Rem.
Leo touched down as well, folding those conspicuous ten wings behind him.
"Looks like we cleared the first wave without too much trouble." He surveyed the wrecked street, brow furrowed slightly. "No idea how the others are doing, though."
If the others had faced the same anti-devil monsters, the situation was grim.
Sirzechs and Serafall would be fine. At their level, forget the power of light, even the highest-grade holy relics posed little threat. But the other devils were a different story.
The Gremory and Sitri peerages would be in serious danger against a swarm like this. Even the rest of the Eligos peerage might not make it through unscathed.
Even Azazel and Michael weren't necessarily safe. Annihilation Maker's wielder might have prepared natural predators tailored specifically for them too.
"What a pain..."
Leo couldn't help feeling uneasy. The Hero Faction's involvement had completely derailed how the summit was supposed to play out in the original story.
"Leo-sama."
"Leo-sama."
Ravel and Rem both turned to him, waiting for his call.
Leo narrowed his eyes. He didn't hesitate long.
"Let's move. We find the others and regroup."
"Yes!"