In the afternoon, after school, Leon returned to his family estate with the two young girls who wanted to observe the Occult Research Club's activities.
This time, he had his familiar driver bring the family's private luxury car. He led a large, bustling group of beautiful girls—five "inaccessible flowers" of the school in total—and they boarded the vehicle under the stunned gazes of the faculty and students, heading straight for the manor.
"…Did I see that right? Were those Shiina from the first year and Sawamura from the Art Club just now?"
"H-how did they end up getting into the same car as Eligos-senpai?"
"The three members of the Occult Research Club—Yukinoshita Yukino, Yuuki Asuna, and Kasumigaoka Utaha—were all there too..."
"This, this, this... Isn't that all five of the school's 'Inaccessible Flowers' gathered together?"
"What are they trying to do? Where are they going?"
Once Leon's private car had vanished into the distance and the students finally processed what had happened, the campus immediately erupted into an uproar.
However, they had no way of knowing what Leon intended to do with Shiina Mahiru and Eriri.
A question: What exactly are the club activities of the Occult Research Club?
Quite simply, it was their daily demonic activities.
If it were nighttime, it would be exactly what Kasumigaoka Utaha had experienced: accepting summons, forging contracts, granting wishes, and collecting payments—a clear and concise process without any delay.
But if it were daytime, it was the time for the members of Eligos's peerage to improve themselves.
During these hours, the girls would either go to the study to read, supplement their knowledge, and learn occult methods, or they would go to the basement to train, gaining practical and even combat experience.
And today, at Leon's deliberate request, everyone gathered in the basement for a combat exercise between peerage members.
Thus, Shiina Mahiru and Eriri witnessed a scene that utterly shattered their worldview.
"Whoosh—"
In the center of the hall, Yukinoshita Yukino suddenly unfurled a pair of bat-like demon wings. She ascended into mid-air in an instant, and a chilling frost surged around her, transforming into a blizzard that whistled toward Yuuki Asuna below.
Facing the incoming snowstorm alone, Yuuki Asuna appeared delicate and small, yet her expression was unexpectedly resolute and calm. Instead of retreating, she charged forward. With a flick of her palm, a holy ripple immediately gathered in her hand, transforming in the blink of an eye into an exquisite rapier, which she gripped tightly.
"Bang!"
As she neared the blizzard, Yuuki Asuna swung her sword with all her might. The rapier in her hand actually unleashed a wave of scorching flames to meet the frost.
Clearly, Yuuki Asuna had created a holy sword of the fire attribute, letting the Crimson Lotus Flames that could purify evil strike back against the incoming blizzard.
"Boom!"
Frost and flame collided. The conflict between the two produced an instantaneous explosion of air, sending cold mist and hot wind surging wildly in all directions, creating a landscape of ice and fire.
Seeing this from mid-air, Yukinoshita Yukino immediately channeled her surrounding chill again, condensing waves of raging snow to bombard Yuuki Asuna from every angle.
In an instant, the basement was filled with savage blizzards and rolling waves of flame.
Yukinoshita Yukino had transformed into the Lord of the Frozen Sky, mercilessly raining down storms of frost upon the earth. Meanwhile, Yuuki Asuna had become a holy swordswoman challenging a natural disaster; her flaming holy sword swung again and again as she moved, slashing out waves of heat to negate the incoming snow while vying for control over the battlefield's temperature.
The two engaged in a fierce battle right before Shiina Mahiru and Eriri, leaving them wide-eyed and shocked beyond measure.
"Th-this, this, this..."
Eriri was completely stunned by the unrealistic sight before her. Her face was full of bewilderment, and her feet moved backward involuntarily. As if struck by an invisible mental blow, her facade of a refined young lady had long since crumbled, causing her to cry out regardless of her image.
"What on earth is this...?!"
She could not comprehend the situation unfolding before her, nor could she understand exactly what it was she was seeing.
Shiina Mahiru was in a similar state.
Mahiru's eyes had widened the moment Yukinoshita Yukino unfurled her demon wings, and she stood frozen in place. By the time Yukino and Asuna exchanged blows, revealing power beyond imagination, her reaction was no better than Eriri's.
It wasn't that she hadn't prepared herself to see something incredible on this trip. After all, unlike Eriri, she had seen Leon unfurl his demon wings before she fainted the previous day; she just hadn't been certain if it was reality.
But she never expected that coming here would mean seeing not just demon wings, but this breathtaking scene that was impossible to believe was real.
What was that?
Supernatural power?
The power of a demon?
It turned out that these upperclassmen who joined the Occult Research Club were really just like Eligos-senpai—they were all demons!
As he watched the two beautiful girls frozen in place, their pupils shaking uncontrollably and their faces full of horror, Kasumigaoka Utaha felt a mix of schadenfreude and helplessness.
"You're just going to expose our secret to them like this?"
Utaha looked at Leon, who sat beside her looking as innocent as if he had done nothing, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes.
This man was far too wicked; he had absolutely done this on purpose, wanting to see these last two "inaccessible flowers" lose their composure.
Truly... such wicked taste.
"I can't help it. They came to observe the club, so of course we have to show off the capabilities of the Occult Research Club," Leon replied, still looking innocent, making Utaha want to slap him.
While the existence of demons wasn't exactly a top-secret—after all, so many people summoned demons every day to forge contracts and have wishes granted—if they couldn't reveal anything, how would they do business?
However, the industry had its rules. Exposing the existence of the hidden world for no reason was certainly forbidden. Otherwise, human society would explode in minutes. If social order collapsed, the various factions and mythological powers that relied on humanity to survive would likely suffer as well.
Therefore, prominent families like the Yukinoshita and Yuuki families did not know of the existence of demons. Only massive financial conglomerates with deep roots in national status, like the Shinomiya family, had ties to the hidden world and knew these secrets. This was the result of a tacit agreement between all parties to maintain secrecy to a certain extent.
If Leon were to casually manifest his power before others, once or twice might be fine, but if too many people knew, he would definitely be in trouble.
Utaha had specifically looked into this. Since she had family and friends, she had to be clear on what could be revealed and what couldn't.
The result was acceptable. Although there was an obligation to keep secrets, the level of secrecy wasn't absolute; blood relatives could be informed. This was why Leon had forcefully revealed his identity to the Yukinoshita and Yuuki families.
But revealing it to completely unrelated people was a bit like crossing a red line. If everyone did this, what would be the point of the secret?
"It's fine, you don't need to take it so seriously," Leon said, knowing what Utaha was worried about and dropping his playful act. "Whether it's Shiina Mahiru or Eriri Spencer Sawamura, they were both targets I've been watching. They have the potential to become my peerage members."
"Is there a problem with me manifesting my power before future members to recruit them?"
"There is no problem."
"Even if it doesn't work out in the end, it's just a failed recruitment; it hasn't reached the point of breaking the rules."
This matter could be as big or small as one made it. As long as one didn't manifest power recklessly on a societal level, there was always a reason to explain it away.
Not to mention, Yukinoshita Yukino even had a client who was a student at Sobu High. That student had always known about Yukino's demonic identity. Rumor had it that their private relationship was getting better and better; if it weren't for their wariness of the other Occult Research Club members, that person might have already come to the clubroom to chat and drink tea with her.
As long as it wasn't exposed on a large scale, everything was fine, and no one would come looking for trouble.
Even if it were exposed on a large scale, at most they would find a way to clean up the mess and settle it themselves, like the time Yukino's beginner artifact nearly went out of control.
At that time, an entire street was almost frozen solid, and many people suffered from severe colds or frostbite. Yet, the situation was resolved with a news report about "extreme weather." Did anyone really think there wasn't someone pulling strings behind the scenes?
Leon hadn't had time to act then because the Church had already taken care of it. But if they hadn't, he certainly would have. He would either take a gentle approach, like the Church by bribing news outlets, or a more forceful one by directly restoring the scene and erasing the witnesses' memories. That would be the end of it.
"Now, let's focus on our two club observers," Leon said, turning toward the two girls with a smile.
Hearing his voice, the two girls finally snapped out of their daze.
"Who... who exactly are you people?" Eriri had the strongest reaction. Looking terrified, she backed away repeatedly, pointing at Utaha while speaking incoherently. "Utaha-fatty! Say something! What is going on?"
Shiina Mahiru, on the other hand, calmed down quickly. She glanced at Yukino and Asuna, whose battle was growing increasingly intense, and then looked at Leon with a complicated expression.
"Well then, next is time for an explanation."
Leon skillfully raised his hand, a magic circle spinning in his palm.
"But don't say I didn't warn you. Once you know everything, it will be very hard to walk away unscathed."
With that, without waiting for the two girls to respond, Leon activated the magic circle.
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