The morning sun was gentle and warm, chasing away the chilly air that had lingered throughout the night, yet it could not dissipate the lingering intimacy within the room.
Leon woke from his slumber, immediately feeling an unprecedented sense of comfort that made him instinctively want to stretch. But in the next second, Leon realized he couldn't do it.
His left and right arms were both being used as pillows, pinned down by two heads, leaving him completely unable to move.
"Whew—"
Asuna Yuuki lay to Leon's left, resting on his left arm. Her breathing was faint and soft, brushing against Leon's face in a way that made his skin itch and his heart flutter.
The girl was covered only by a thin blanket. Her porcelain, smooth shoulders were exposed, and her hands rested outside the covers—a sight of pure white. Anyone seeing this scene would understand exactly what state her delicate body was in beneath the blanket. Her cheeks were flushed with a healthy glow, her complexion exceptionally vibrant; one look was enough to tell she had been thoroughly cherished.
Leon gazed fixedly at Asuna for a good while before turning his head to look to his right.
There, another beautiful girl lay in the exact same state. This person was none other than Yukino Yukinoshita.
"—You're looking quite smug right now, aren't you?"
Unlike Asuna, who was still deep in sleep, Yukino seemed to have woken the very moment Leon did. Seeing him look over, she immediately shot him a cold glare.
However, those eyes that were usually filled with calm and indifference were now watery, moist, and moving. All of Yukino's usual composure had vanished, replaced by a sense of bashful reproach that was quite adorable.
And so, Leon smiled.
He smiled like a weasel that had successfully raided a chicken coop—quite a punchable look.
"Shouldn't I be smug?" Leon put his arm around the girl's silky, fragrant shoulder, saying with high spirits, "The famous 'Winter Flower' of Sobu High has now offered her chastity to a demon like me. Even if I'm smug for a while, it's allowed, right?"
"—It wasn't 'offered' to you," Yukino said with great displeasure. "You took it by force."
"Is that so?" Leon said with a half-smile. "How do I recall that a certain someone stopped struggling after I carried her to the bed last night?"
At those words, Yukino's face turned visibly red.
"Was struggling even useful?" the girl said through gritted teeth. "I could never be your match anyway."
"But if you were truly unwilling, I wouldn't have laid hands on you so forcefully." Leon gave a small huff and said, "Admit it, Yukino. You just didn't want to fall behind, you were unwilling to lose, which is why you decided to give in to me."
Yukino really wanted to punch Leon right now.
Undeniably, that was exactly what she had been thinking at the time. To the point that after Leon picked her up, she only struggled slightly before going still, letting this beast have his way with her.
But now, she regretted it. She felt she shouldn't have let this trashy master succeed so easily.
"There should be some kind of forbidden ritual or powerful artifact in this world that can turn back time, right?"
Yukino threw out this sentence, and its meaning was clear to anyone who heard it.
"Maybe there is, but at least I've never seen one, nor even heard of one." Leon was amused and said playfully, "If even I haven't heard of it, you can forget about finding it. So give up, Yukino."
"You, my dear, are already mine."
Leon started humming a tune in an extremely cheerful mood, causing Yukino to give a cold snort and stop dwelling on the topic.
Pushing aside the arm she had been using as a pillow, Yukino sat up.
She pressed her hands against her chest, trying hard not to let her bare body be exposed. But while she could cover the front, she couldn't cover the back, leaving her slender, fair back entirely exposed to Leon's eyes. The curve between her waist and hips was on full display, and Leon couldn't help but admire the view.
"Withdraw your blatant, perverted gaze. I don't want to have my entire body licked by disgusting eyes first thing in the morning."
Yukino utilized her consistent sharp-tongued skills, but it was met only with Leon's nonchalance.
"It's only natural for me to look at you. If you don't let me look, who else can you show it to?"
Leon reached out toward Yukino's fair back, but before he could touch her, he was slapped away.
"Haven't you had enough of this absurdity?" Yukino glared at Leon in annoyance, fuming, "Don't touch me. Go touch your Asuna."
"No way? You're still jealous?" Leon was stunned for a moment, then said, "Is it really just because Asuna had a lead of over an hour? You're going to hold a grudge over that?"
"Who's holding a grudge over that?" Yukino knit her brows, saying unhappily, "Forget it, it's impossible to talk sense to an abominable demon like you whose head is filled only with lust. Anyway, I have something to do right now, so don't just touch me."
"Something to do?" Leon asked, confused. "What could you possibly have to do right now?"
Yukino didn't speak again. Instead, she raised both hands, letting the blanket covering her front slide down. Leon's gaze was uncontrollably drawn over, but Yukino no longer paid him any mind.
She stared fixedly at her own hands for a moment, then suddenly spoke.
"Ice Princess."
At Yukino's call, the three-meter-tall heteromorphic princess appeared by the bedside. Her appearance was silent, causing no commotion. She was no longer accompanied by freezing ice and snow as before; she stood there quietly as if she had existed there from the very beginning.
"As I thought, the evolution of the Sacred Gear is complete."
Yukino looked at the crystal-clear Ice Princess, letting out a soft sigh as if confirming something.
"Evolution of the Sacred Gear?" Leon still looked completely bewildered. He asked blankly, "What do you mean? What happened to your Sacred Gear?"
Yukino glanced at the confused Leon, then explained to him in a flat tone.
"Not long ago, a situation arose with my Sacred Gear."
Yukino told Leon about how "Eternal Ice Princess" had encountered a crossroads, unsure whether to proceed toward enhancement or toward the Balance Breaker, resulting in a temporary shutdown of its functions.
Hearing this, Leon still looked a bit stunned, but then he said something that caught Yukino off guard.
"You encountered that too?"
This sentence made Yukino freeze.
"What do you mean?" Yukino asked in surprise. "Did someone else encounter this situation besides me?"
The answer to this question was, of course, yes.
For one, Issei Hyoudou in the original story encountered this situation right before completing his Balance Breaker, eventually succeeding in activating it—"Boosted Gear Scale Mail"—by providing himself with a powerful stimulus. It was from that moment on that Issei escaped the ranks of the weak and possessed strength enough to fight high-class or even ultimate-class demons.
Of course, the reason Leon said Yukino had "also" encountered this was not because of Issei from the original story. He was referring to his other servant.
"Utaha reached this step a week ago, touching the realm of the Balance Breaker."
Leon's straightforward words left Yukino utterly aghast.
Utaha Kasumigaoka? She had reached this step too? And... she was actually even faster than herself?
"It's not surprising." Leon saw Yukino dazed there and spoke as if he knew what she was thinking. "Although the Balance Breaker is the ultimate realm of a Sacred Gear—something ordinary people can't touch at all—given Utaha's talent, it's completely understandable that she could touch this realm so quickly."
The members of the Eligos household were all existences who held significant roles in their own stories, each possessing a field of expertise far beyond ordinary people.
Yukino Yukinoshita was extremely talented in terms of magic power. Upon reincarnation, she possessed magic power no weaker than a pure-blooded demon. Now, her magic power had completely reached the level of a high-class demon, even stronger than Leon's power when he had first promoted. Surely, her growth in magic wouldn't slow down in the future.
Asuna Yuuki was exceptionally talented in sword skills. Even Miyamoto Musashi, known as the strongest swordsman, was full of praise for her. By now, she had basically finished her apprenticeship; she was no longer the novice she once was. Even Yuuto Kiba, who had sparred with her, was amazed, claiming Asuna's ability in the way of the sword was no weaker than his own.
Mahiru Shiina, as a reincarnated demon who—like Yukino—could trigger a violent reaction from the "Bishop" piece, was also very talented in magic. She was hardly inferior to Yukino, but she focused more on training her Sacred Gear. Thus, while her magic power hadn't yet broken through to the high-class demon level, her mastery of her Sacred Gear had progressed by leaps and bounds.
Yet, among all the Sacred Gear users in the Eligos household, the most talented person regarding the Sacred Gear itself was ultimately Utaha Kasumigaoka.
Even Leon hadn't expected it. Utaha had always been low-key, but a week ago, she suddenly told him she was about to reach the realm of the Balance Breaker. At the time, Leon almost thought she was joking. But after some verification, Leon was convinced: Utaha had indeed touched the realm of the Balance Breaker. All she needed was one intense mental stimulus to step inside.
After his initial surprise, Leon slowly accepted it.
Because, although the Balance Breaker is the ultimate realm and ordinary users can't touch even a shred of it, there are always brilliant individuals in this world who can reach it at a speed unimaginable to ordinary people, quickly grasping the power others dream of.
The successive generations of the Two Heavenly Dragons are actually a prime example. They often reach the Balance Breaker state in a very short time. Even Issei Hyoudou, who was called the weakest Red Dragon Emperor and the most untalented in history, only took a few months to successfully complete his Balance Breaker in the original story. This shows just how "bugged" the Sacred Gear holders of the Two Heavenly Dragons are.
Granted, this is because the successive Heavenly Dragons are fated rivals, and the hosts are deeply influenced by the Sacred Gear themselves—to the point where they become obsessed with power and quickly choose to reach for forbidden strength. It's almost as if they are cursed into triggering this power, which allows them to reach the Balance Breaker realm, or even the Juggernaut Drive realm, with extreme speed. Yet, among hosts of other Sacred Gears, there is no shortage of true geniuses who can grow strong at a jaw-dropping pace.
Especially the holders of Longinus—those known as the breakers of the balance of power. If they couldn't grow at top speed and touch the ultimate realm of the Sacred Gear, that would be the real anomaly.
And that's not even the most ridiculous part. In this world, there are people who are natural-born Balance Breaker awakeners; they can use the Balance Breaker as soon as the Sacred Gear awakens.
"Canis Lycaon," the tenth-ranked Longinus among the thirteen. The current host of this Sacred Gear is a natural Balance Breaker awakener. He is extremely powerful and was the only human in the original story, besides Cao Cao, who could force Vali to use Juggernaut Drive. He is hailed as one of the candidates for the strongest human.
Compared to those kinds of "cheaters," Utaha Kasumigaoka's talent with the Sacred Gear could only be described as ordinary.
However, as long as one didn't compare her to those with cheat codes, Utaha's talent was at the world's top level. She was fully capable of reaching the Balance Breaker state in a very short time, just like the Heavenly Dragons.
The month of grueling special training in the Underworld, combined with her tireless efforts in the subspace recently, allowed Utaha's talent to bear fruit, officially touching the Balance Breaker realm a week ago.
"Right indi, she's also looking for a way to give herself a violent emotional fluctuation, intending to cross this final step and complete her Balance Breaker," Leon said to Yukino. "Haven't you noticed she's rarely gone to the subspace recently? It's because she's busy doing this!"
"—So, did she succeed?"
Yukino was silent for a while before she finally asked.
"No." Leon spread his hands and said, "She's probably still a bit short."
Utaha had actually found a method. That was to read the online reviews for her light novel that was almost cancelled—"Koisuru Metronome."
Online reviews for this light novel were currently polarized. Most admitted the content of the first volume was very appealing, but those same people were constantly pessimistic about the second volume, believing it would be cancelled.
Utaha used to be bothered by this. After becoming Leon's servant, she gradually let it go. Now, needing intense emotions to drive the completion of the Balance Breaker, she had started looking back to find that old feeling—
Supposedly, she even wrote the second volume and went to the editing department to find her editor-in-charge, intending to hear her evaluation.
Regarding this, Leon could only say: Good luck to this warrior.
In any case, after he read the second volume, he—just as before—criticized it harshly, making Utaha's small fists clench tight. She barely managed to restrain herself from punching Leon in the face.
Utaha claimed that at that moment, she really was just a hair's breadth away from reaching the realm of the Balance Breaker—
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