In his apartment, Genichi sat cross-legged on the bed, eyes closed, feeling the surge of magic power flowing through his body.
He had given Haruno power because he genuinely had a favorable impression of her.
That, he did not deny.
That woman might be shrewd. She might be scheming. But she had truly supported him for years.
The living expenses that arrived on time every month, her monthly visits, those seemingly casual yet actually careful gestures of concern—he remembered all of it.
So when Haruno said she wanted power, he had not refused her.
Of course, there was still a price to pay.
That was a matter of principle.
As for why he had refused to stay overnight at the Yukinoshita estate—
It was not because he failed to appreciate the invitation, nor because he wanted to keep his distance.
It was because he could feel that he was about to advance.
From a Low-Class Devil to a Mid-Class Devil.
The sensation was like a taut string, ready to snap at any moment.
He had to return.
He had to complete this advancement alone, in a quiet place.
And now, the moment had finally arrived.
Genichi closed his eyes and felt the endless stream of magic power flowing to him from his shadows.
Those shadows wandered the city day and night without rest, hunting down every vengeful spirit they encountered.
Every time they devoured one, a thread of magic power would be transmitted back to him through the shadows.
That magic power flowed like trickling streams, slowly gathering into a river.
Drop by drop.
Grain by grain.
Until finally—
Boom!
Genichi felt as if an invisible barrier inside his body had been smashed apart by that power.
The next second, the magic power within him began to grow wildly.
It felt like a long-dried riverbed suddenly receiving a raging flood.
Magic power surged in like a tide, roaring through his channels and stirring violently within his soul.
Once.
Twice.
Ten times.
A hundred times.
His magic power increased at a visible pace, soon reaching more than a hundred times its original amount.
Genichi opened his eyes and raised his hand. A mass of pitch-black magic power appeared in his palm.
The magic was so dense it almost seemed to have taken physical form, radiating a suffocating pressure.
If it were evaluated using Orario's level system, the strength of this magic power would at least reach Level 7—perhaps even Level 8.
"The gap between a Mid-Class Devil and a Low-Class Devil really is absurdly huge."
Genichi murmured, a trace of amazement flashing through his eyes.
To put it in simple terms—
If the limit of a Low-Class Devil's magic power was 10,
Then after advancing to Mid-Class Devil, that magic power became 1,000.
And this was only immediately after advancement, before any stabilization or further improvement.
Genichi clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within him, the corners of his mouth curving slightly.
The feeling of getting stronger was truly satisfying.
However, after that brief surge of excitement, he quickly calmed down again.
Because he knew this was only the beginning.
Above Mid-Class Devil, there was High-Class Devil.
Above High-Class Devil, there was Ultimate-Class Devil.
Above Ultimate-Class Devil, there was Satan-Class.
Above Satan-Class, there was Super Devil.
Above Super Devil, there were Transcendents.
Above Transcendents, there was the Dragon God level.
And above the Dragon God level, there was the Evil God level.
The gap between every rank was like heaven and earth.
If he wanted to truly stand at the summit, he still had a very long road ahead.
Genichi closed his eyes and began to calculate.
With the strength of the vengeful spirits in this world, how many would he need to devour before he could advance to High-Class Devil?
He roughly recalled the number of vengeful spirits his shadows had devoured.
About ten thousand?
Maybe more?
Even after devouring that many vengeful spirits, he had only barely advanced to Mid-Class Devil. And that was after previously devouring the dragon soul of Ddraig, the Red Dragon Emperor. Without Ddraig's dragon soul, he would have needed to devour even more vengeful spirits.
The main reason was that the strength of those vengeful spirits varied too much. Some were stronger, some were weaker.
On average, the magic power provided by one vengeful spirit was roughly equivalent to one ten-thousandth of his magic power back when he was still a Low-Class Devil.
The further he advanced, the more magic power he would require. To break through to High-Class Devil, the number of vengeful spirits he needed to devour might reach the million mark.
And that was only the most ideal calculation.
In reality, as his strength increased, the magic power provided by low-level vengeful spirits would become less and less useful to him.
Just like now. The magic power provided by an ordinary vengeful spirit was already almost negligible.
If he wanted to rely on devouring those low-level vengeful spirits to advance to High-Class Devil, the number required would likely be astronomical.
Genichi opened his eyes, a flash of understanding passing through them.
"So if I want to grow stronger quickly, the fastest method is still to devour the souls of the powerful."
Those powerful vengeful spirits, those evil spirits, those entities close to physical manifestation—the magic power they provided far surpassed ordinary vengeful spirits.
For example, the vengeful spirit that had nearly killed Haruno before. The magic power it provided was worth at least ten thousand ordinary vengeful spirits.
Devouring one of that caliber was equivalent to devouring thousands upon thousands of ordinary ones.
Unfortunately, while this world had plenty of vengeful spirits, truly powerful ones were rare. He had only encountered one like that so far.
Genichi stood up and walked to the window, gazing out at the night.
The city lights were still dazzling. Neon signs flickered, and traffic flowed endlessly.
In the corners where those lights did not reach, in the dark alleys, atop abandoned buildings, countless vengeful spirits wandered.
They were searching for prey.
And they were also waiting to be hunted.
The corners of Genichi's mouth curved into a cold smile.
"Just wait."
He said softly.
"Once I finish dealing with matters on the DxD side, I'll come back and continue the harvest."
And now, it was time to return to the DxD world.
The killing intent and brutality produced by that female-oriented world had gradually settled down.
If he returned to the DxD world now, he no longer had to worry that Rias would notice anything unusual.
The only question was what kind of expression Rias would show after discovering that he had advanced to Mid-Class Devil.
That red-haired devil princess probably never expected him to grow this fast.
If he told her he had already advanced to Mid-Class Devil, how would she react?
Surprise?
Relief?
Or suspicion?
It should be quite interesting, that red-haired Ruin Princess.
As Genichi thought about it, the corners of his mouth could not help curving into a smile.
Forget it.
There was no point thinking about it now.
He would know once he returned.
Standing by the window, he took one last look at the city's nightscape.
The next moment—
Light flashed, and his figure vanished from the apartment.
Only one sentence remained, echoing in the air.
"DxD, I'm back."
(End of Chapter)
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