A single night passed in quiet transition.
The next morning arrived swiftly, dispelling the lingering chill of the night.
Today was still a holiday, so there were no signs of students coming and going at Kuoh Academy. Only a few faculty members walked across the campus, preventing the school from feeling entirely deserted.
Of course, no one knew that over a dozen people were currently staying in the Old School Building. Its location was quite remote and usually avoided by others; even with three groups of peerages moving about inside, it would not draw any outside attention.
Leon had managed to get a little sleep here, recovering his spirits and dispelling the exhaustion and drain from the previous day.
When he woke up and prepared to see how his own peerage members were doing, a familiar suddenly appeared before him. It guided him toward a room at the far end of the second-floor corridor.
A sign hung on the door of this room: "Occult Research Club."
Clearly, this was the clubroom where Rias's group operated.
The familiar vanished after leading him there; it seemed Rias had summoned him.
Leon could only step forward and knock. Rias's voice soon drifted from within.
"Come in."
At the word, Leon didn't stand on ceremony. He pushed the door open and stepped into the Occult Research Club's activity room.
It was a rather retro-styled office. Though not sprawling in size, it was thick with a mysterious atmosphere. The furniture consisted only of a few sofas and an office desk, but they were all incredibly luxurious—clearly high-end luxury goods. Even if they weren't antiques, they were definitely designer brands.
However, the most eye-catching feature wasn't the luxury furniture or the retro mysterious decor, but the cryptic symbols covering every corner of the room.
Leon recognized them at a glance; those were characters used by devils—ancient characters, no less. Once infused with demonic power, they would produce effects and take action.
As for what those effects were, Leon couldn't tell at a glance without careful deciphering.
But located at the very center of the room, occupying most of the floor space, was a particularly special and massive circular array that Leon could not possibly fail to recognize.
After all, there was one in his basement at home, one in the Occult Affairs Department room at Sobu High, and another in the Student Council office he had visited yesterday.
It was a magic circle used for spatial jumping and teleportation.
Right now, this magic circle was glowing slightly, as if someone on the other side was preparing to come through.
Rias and Sona were both gathered before the circle, with Akeno Himejima and Tsubaki Shinra standing behind them. They seemed to be welcoming an impending visitor.
"Leon."
"Leon."
Seeing Leon push the door open, Rias and Sona immediately looked at him and called his name.
"Mr. Eligos."
"Lord Leon."
Akeno Himejima and Tsubaki Shinra bowed to Leon, greeting him respectfully.
"Are you two already alright?"
Leon stepped forward and looked over Akeno and Tsubaki, speaking as he did.
"Yes, we are fine now."
"Thank you for your concern."
The two smiled at Leon in unison. One smile was gentle and poised, like a perfect Yamato Nadeshiko, while the other was fainter and carried a hint of cool elegance.
A day later, these two "Queens" truly seemed to have no lingering issues. Their previous disheveled states were entirely gone, and no visible injuries remained on the surface. They were dressed impeccably and looked beautiful and poised; one would never believe they had been covered in tattered clothes and blood just yesterday.
"Good to hear you're alright."
Seeing that they were indeed fine, Leon stopped focusing on them and turned his attention back to Rias and Sona.
"Who is coming through?"
Leon had initially thought the visitor would be a devil sent to deliver the Phoenix Tears. But on second thought, if it were just an ordinary devil delivering an item, Rias and Sona wouldn't need to bring their "Queens" here specifically to welcome them, nor would they have sent a familiar to summon him.
Thus, he boldly speculated that the person arriving might be some sort of incredible VIP to warrant such gravity from the two of them.
And he was right.
"We just received word that a Devil King is about to arrive in person."
Sona spoke from the side, but the content of her words was earth-shattering.
"A Devil King is coming?!"
Leon was shocked.
What was a Devil King?
They were the leaders and guides of the Devil world, the devils of the highest status!
Especially the four currently in power. Although they were disparaged as "Fake Devil Kings" by members of the Old Devil King Faction like Luffy, in terms of pure strength, all four were existences that surpassed the original Devil Kings. At the very least, none of the descendants of the Old Devil Kings could compare to them.
They were once the chosen geniuses of various devil houses who led the Reformist Faction to defeat the Old Devil King Faction, establishing the current political regime of the Devil world.
Without them, the current Devil world would not exist, nor would this period of peace where the three great powers maintain a fragile ceasefire.
In the centuries since defeating the Old Devil King Faction, these four had worked diligently to maintain the operations of the Devil world, serving as the four pillars of the current society.
If even one of these pillars fell, it would be a catastrophic loss for the entire Devil world.
And now, such a figure was about to arrive?
"Which one?" Leon asked, feeling a bit nervous. "It wouldn't be Lord Leviathan, would it?"
Devil Kings—it wasn't that Leon had never seen one.
Back when he was promoted to a high-class devil and received his Evil Pieces, his mutation trait had suddenly awakened, creating a connection with the pieces. At that time, Ajuka Beelzebub, the current Devil King in charge of developing the Evil Pieces, had appeared once for a brief meeting and conversation with Leon.
But aside from Ajuka Beelzebub, Leon had never seen another Devil King.
If the one coming was the current Lord Lucifer or the current Lord Asmodeus, he wouldn't be so nervous.
But as for the current Lord Leviathan... he felt a bit apprehensive.
He couldn't help it; he had heard more than once that she was very dissatisfied with the close relationship between him and Sona. Because of this, she had even played minor pranks on him, causing him some trouble.
If the one coming was her—
Leon suddenly felt a bit like running away.
"Don't be so nervous." Seeing Leon's expression as if he wanted to turn and bolt, Sona didn't know whether to be annoyed or amused. She sighed and said, "It's not my sister coming. It's Rias's brother who is arriving."
"Rias's brother?" Leon paused for a moment, then turned to Rias. "Lord Sirzechs Lucifer?"
Seeing Leon look her way, Rias didn't speak but simply nodded to him.
Leon immediately breathed a sigh of relief, which was quickly replaced by a sense of anticipation.
Sirzechs Lucifer—this was a legendary figure.
The title "Lucifer" was not something just anyone could inherit.
The original Lucifer was the first devil and the first Devil King, the strongest among the four, and the child of Lilith, the documented Mother of Devils.
After the original Lucifer died, the son he sired became a "Super Devil" but failed to hold onto the title of Devil King and fled. Then, Sirzechs Gremory—who had personally slain the son of the original Devil King Beelzebub and the son of the original Devil King Asmodeus—inherited the title, becoming the strongest Devil King of the current era.
He was also the strongest devil appearing in the original story; upon releasing his true form, even gods were intimidated. His strength was considered sufficient to rank within the top ten in the world.
Thinking that he was about to meet this legendary figure, Leon couldn't help but feel expectant.
"He's here."
Rias spoke suddenly, drawing everyone's attention to the glowing magic circle.
The next second, the light from the magic circle flared brilliantly, allowing two figures to gradually emerge.
They were two figures that were strikingly prominent in every sense of the word.
One was male and the other female. The man stood slightly ahead, clearly in the leading position, while the woman stood slightly behind like an attendant.
Yet both the man in front and the woman behind possessed extraordinary, outstanding appearances.
The former was a handsome man dressed in magnificent attire, with the same brilliant crimson hair as Rias. He was tall and possessed an ethereal aura.
The latter was dressed as a maid, yet she could not hide her noble temperament and powerful presence. She was a tall, silver-haired woman of extreme beauty.
Upon seeing these two, everyone present immediately bowed in unison.
Indeed.
The man before them was the strongest existence in the current Devil world—Sirzechs Lucifer.
Sirzechs slowly stepped out of the magic circle, followed by his maid-attendant, and looked at the group.
His eyes were not red, but a brilliant azure blue like the sky. His gaze was very gentle; he didn't look like a King of Devils at all, but rather like a friendly, noble young master.
His gaze swept over everyone present one by one. When it reached Leon, it paused slightly, a flash of brilliant red light appearing in his blue eyes before his gaze became even gentler.
"There is no need for such ceremony, everyone."
Sirzechs's voice matched the impression he gave: gentle, polite, and full of resonance.
"Greetings to our noble Devil King—Lord Lucifer!"
"There are no outsiders here, only us. Let's do away with these tedious formalities," Sirzechs said with a smile. "Just think of me as a worried brother visiting his sister, or a neighbor dropping by for a visit."
"Understood!"
No one present objected, and their postures relaxed somewhat.
After all, the person before them was indeed Rias's brother and had indeed visited their homes before. In non-public settings, everyone could be quite relaxed in his presence.
Except for one person—
"Are you Leon Eligos?"
Sirzechs looked at the only person present he had not met before, his smile widening.
"Meeting for the first time, I am Sirzechs Lucifer. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Hearing this, Leon also smiled and replied.
"The pleasure is mine, Lord Lucifer."