Rias unbuttoned Ethan's jacket. Her slender fingers, enveloped in pale red magic power, began to draw the magnificent and complex contract array on his solid chest.
Half an hour later, the contract array was finished. As magic power was input, it emitted a dazzling light.
At the same time, Ethan felt that he had established some kind of connection with Rias in the ethereal realm. Just when he thought it would finally succeed this time, the deep blue magic power inside his body began to flow uncontrollably.
"Crack—"
A sound, like glass breaking, appeared in the consciousness of both Rias and Ethan. Subsequently, that faint connection vanished entirely.
Ethan looked down, and the contract array inscribed on his chest had become fragmented sometime ago.
Rias smiled helplessly, "It seems, Akira, you simply cannot sign a contract."
Both clearly sensed the flow of magic power inside Ethan. Just as success was imminent, it automatically resisted.
This was a soul's instinct, similar to a normal human's knee-jerk reflex, and he couldn't control it.
However, in that instant, Ethan instinctively grasped a talent he had overlooked for a long time.
The Spirit Contract talent. He had always thought it was merely a Summoner talent for contracting familiars. But it was this talent that easily helped him dissolve the nearly successful contract just now.
Otherwise, relying only on the magic power surge of his soul's instinct couldn't have broken the contract array so easily.
Carefully recalling the previous sensation, Ethan roughly understood the true function of the Spirit Contract talent.
This talent allowed a person to easily master contracts. This included not only contracts for summoning familiars but also any contract imposed upon the person, granting the holder the dominance.
Conversely, any contract where the dominance did not belong to Ethan could not be signed.
The only exception would be if the other party's soul, consciousness, and strength completely overpowered him to enforce a compulsory contract.
To give a simple example: Rias and Ethan signing a master-servant contract, where Rias is the master and Ethan is the servant—impossible.
But if Ethan was the master and Rias was the servant—then it was possible.
Even though he understood, Ethan wasn't sure how to explain this to Rias. Moreover, he didn't know if the Devil World would recognize a contract where he was the master.
After some thought, Ethan decided to tell her.
If the Devil World acknowledged it, they could simply dissolve the contract after the Rating Game.
Rias shook her head after listening to Ethan's explanation, "No, it can only be my servant."
The rules set by the Devil Kings for the Rating Game were very clear in this area.
A servant who is promoted to King and has their own servants is obliged to continue playing Rating Games for their King, as long as they haven't resigned as a servant.
However, a King cannot intervene in the Rating Games of their servants who have become Kings themselves.
This statement sounds a bit convoluted, but the meaning is that in a contract where Ethan is the master, Ethan becomes Rias's King.
Rias can only use her own servants for her Rating Game, and Ethan, as a King, cannot intervene.
"It really won't work..."
Ethan didn't find it particularly strange. Borrowing servants was one thing, but if the King who held the contract could also enter the field, it would simply become a 'daddy' contest.
Rias's eyes lit up, and she looked thoughtful. "Since you can sign a contract, why don't we just sign a master-servant contract that no one has ever seen before?"
Ethan instantly understood Rias's meaning. If no one had seen it, they could decide who held the dominance in the contract themselves.
"Can this fool Riser?"
"Yes, definitely, as long as the signed contract is unprecedented."
Rias affirmed, "It doesn't even need to be unprecedented, just rare enough."
Creating an entirely new contract from scratch was too difficult. Moreover, it couldn't be a contract without any real effect. If Riser had someone test the contract and found it wasn't a master-servant contract, that would be trouble.
"Yes, let's do that."
The more Rias thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Furthermore, signing a contract with Ethan was one of her long-held desires.
Regardless of who held the dominance, having a contract meant she could always sense his presence, which was very reassuring.
"We have one week. I'll search carefully again..."
Saying this, Rias opened the teleportation circle back to the Devil World.
Before leaving, she instructed Ethan to notify Akeno Himejima to handle the accumulated paperwork.
Ethan and the white-haired LOLI exchanged glances and decided to go to the villa first to inform the others.
In a certain location in Japan, a succubus LOLI in sexy leather attire was pulling a confused, red-haired, large-breasted high school girl, hiding and running.
After twists and turns, they finally temporarily shook off the pursuers behind them. Naruse Maria finally had time to explain the situation to Naruse Mio.
But after talking for a long time, Naruse Mio, who had been raised by one of Wilbert's subordinates in the human world since birth, simply refused to believe it.
Even though she had personally witnessed the little girl's power and the magic used by the pursuers.
"Little sister, I'm going home. You should go home early too. Don't worry your parents."
Naruse Mio gently stroked Naruse Maria's head, and curiously touched the pair of small, cute, perfect goat horns with her index finger.
Such good craftsmanship, they look real. Wonder where they sell these...
After silently marveling, she ignored Maria's protests and prepared to leave their hiding spot.
The succubus LOLI stomped her feet in anger. If she didn't know that this large-breasted, airheaded woman was her half-sister, she would have abandoned her.
Due to the flap of a butterfly's wings, Sheila had dispatched Maria early, allowing her to reach Naruse Mio just before the pursuers.
Consequently, Naruse Mio had not experienced the death of her foster parents yet and completely disbelieved everything Naruse Maria said.
"Since you won't listen to reason, I'll have to resort to forceful measures."
As soon as she finished speaking, before Naruse Mio could grasp the meaning, her body went limp. Her excessively curvy, youthful body slowly collapsed to the ground.
Naruse Maria withdrew the knife-hand, cast a simple illusion on herself and Naruse Mio, lifted Naruse Mio, and rushed towards Tokyo.
The Devil World's pursuers had already discovered the location of the Naruse family in the human world. Going back would be walking into a trap.
The succubus LOLI couldn't stand by and watch Naruse Mio fall into danger. As for the Devil couple who had raised Naruse Mio for over a decade...
If Naruse Mio didn't return, they might have a slight chance of survival, as the enemy might want to use them as hostages to lure Naruse Mio out.
Whether they would survive or not depended on luck. Maria herself could barely protect herself and had no ability to save them.
"Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy..."
After spending half a day, finally arriving safely at the Tokyo Station, Naruse Maria rushed non-stop towards her new destination.
Her mother, Sheila, had told her that after finding the person, she could look for a man named Jin Toujou, or go to Kuoh Academy to find the Gremory Heiress.
Either of them was sufficient to ensure her and Naruse Mio's safety.
Compared to the Hero Clan, Naruse Maria trusted the Gremory family, who were also Devils, more.
Besides, even if she wanted to find Jin Toujou, she couldn't find him with just a name.
In contrast, the Gremory family's base in the human world was much easier to locate.
Such a large and well-known academy could be found simply by asking around.
Along the way, Naruse Mio woke up several times, but before she could say a word, she was knocked unconscious again.
At ten in the morning, Naruse Maria, who hadn't slept all night, finally saw the imposing gate of Kuoh Academy.
Looking at the six gold-edged characters "Private Kuoh Academy" by the gate, the succubus LOLI felt all her strength drain away, almost collapsing by the roadside.
No, I haven't seen the Gremory Heiress yet...
Naruse Maria summoned her remaining energy, carried the unconscious Naruse Mio, and climbed over the school wall.
She found an empty classroom to settle Naruse Mio, then changed into ordinary attire and began inquiring about Rias Gremory within the academy.
Such a cute, young LOLI appearing in Kuoh Academy quickly caused a commotion, especially since Naruse Maria kept asking about Rias.
Before the succubus LOLI could find Rias, the Student Council had already received the news.
Sona Shitori immediately sent someone to monitor Naruse Maria and informed Ethan and Rias's other servants about the situation.