"A Stray has appeared in Tokyo," he said calmly
Xenovia and Mary immediately frowned while Mahiru and Saeko looked confused.
"What's a Stray?" Saeko asked.
"A Stray Devil is a servant devil who betrays or murders their master, leaves their side, and starts running wild," Celia explained as she began preparing to leave. "When they're found, their former master is usually called to eliminate them. Sometimes, other devils are sent instead."
She glanced at Mahiru and Saeko. "It's one of the laws devils live by."
"Adrien, be careful…" Celestine said, watching everyone prepare to leave with worry in her eyes. Even though she knew how powerful her son was, a mother's heart would always worry.
"It's Middle-class at most," Adrien said lazily. "I could kill it with spit."
Then he glanced at Mahiru, Saeko, and Celia.
"But you three are handling this one alone. Me, Xenovia, and Mary will just watch. So prepare yourselves."
The three girls Adrien named looked at one another.
Saeko's eyes sharpened with excitement. She had been waiting for a chance to test herself. Celia stayed calm, but her clenched fists showed her nerves. Mahiru took a quiet breath, trying to steady herself.
They all wanted to become stronger, strong enough to stand beside Adrien and help him when it mattered.
Everyone finished getting ready and looked at Adrien, expecting him to teleport them.
"Nope, we're not teleporting there," Adrien said. "You're going to find it yourselves. Use your senses to track it down, then fly toward it. And fly as high as you can so humans don't notice you. Xenovia and Mary, you're part of phase one too. When you find the Stray, you do not attack it. Leave it to the other three. Understood?"
All of them looked a little shaken, but they nodded. Adrien had already trained them to fly and sense demonic energy, but this would be the first time they handled a mission like this on their own.
Adrien sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV. Then he glanced at his Familia.
"What are you all standing there for? Get moving."
The five girls looked at each other, then headed for the balcony and shot into the night sky. Unbeknownst to the people of Tokyo, five devils were flying high above the city that night, searching for their prey.
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"Aren't you going with them, Andy?" Celestine asked her son, who was watching TV while his Familia hunted a Stray Devil.
"I'll go when they find it," Adrien replied.
"Are you sure those three girls can handle it on their own?"
"Yeah, they're strong enough," Adrien said without looking away from the screen. "Mahiru has Sanctum Veil. She can boost herself and the other two to Middle-class easily. And if something goes wrong, Xenovia and Mary are with them. Either one of those two could fight a High-class devil if she had to."
Celestine went silent for a moment, then sighed softly.
"Take good care of them, Andy. Girls can be sensitive, so pay attention to them. Not just what they say, but how they feel too." She looked at him knowingly. "You understand what I mean, don't you? You seem closer to Celia, Xenovia, and Mary than you are to Saeko and Mahiru."
Adrien finally glanced at her.
"It's not like that. I just don't want to force them to—"
"Some people aren't as bold as others," Celestine said gently, cutting him off with a smile. "But that doesn't mean their feelings are any weaker."
"Wow," Adrien said, raising an eyebrow. "You're not scolding your son for sleeping with multiple girls? Instead, you're telling him to sleep with more? What a great example of a mother."
Celestine smiled without a trace of shame.
"You think I don't know how much you like women? I always knew you would have a harem one day."
Adrien stared at her.
Celestine continued calmly. "Besides, devils don't have children easily. Your father and I having you and Seekvaira only a year and a half apart was a miracle that almost never happens. The average age gap between devil siblings is usually measured in hundreds of years. So even if you sleep around, you won't suddenly have children everywhere."
"Mom…"
"I'm only being realistic, Andy. And don't forget, at some point, you'll have to choose a girl from an important clan to marry."
"Yeah…" Adrien said flatly. "No."
"It isn't negotiable, Adrien. If you don't choose someone yourself, then your father and I will choose your future wife for you. And if you try anything funny," she added, her smile turning fearless, "you'll have to deal with me."
Adrien gulped, as said before even Adrien Agares feared his mother's wrath.
A letter appeared in her hand through a swirling vortex. The space storage technique was originally something Celestine had created before passing the formula down to both of her children. Adrien's impressive mind had not come from nowhere. He had inherited it from his mother.
"This is the invitation letter for the upcoming Demon Youth Social," Celestine said.
The Demon Youth Social was a gathering where young High-class devils around Seekvaira's age were expected to meet one another before making their formal debut in the Rating Games.
Adrien nodded and took the letter from his mother's hand. He had already planned to attend the gathering. Even though he was not eligible to participate in Rating Games yet, his sister was. Rias and Sona would be there as well.
Adrien rarely attended social gatherings like this. He only went when he thought they would be entertaining, or when his family was involved.
"They found it," Adrien said as he stood. "See you later, Mom."
Then he vanished from the room.
Celestine looked slightly shocked, but there was curiosity in her eyes. The technique her son had just used was not normal teleportation.
"So, you created something like that, huh…" she said with a proud smile. "You really are my son."
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The five girls stood outside an old warehouse by the sea, the sound of waves crashing against the shore echoing through the night.
"It's definitely in there," Xenovia said, staring at the old building.
A heavy sense of danger hung in the air as the girls approached the warehouse. Saeko walked at the front, with Celia right behind her and Mahiru after that. Xenovia and Mary stayed back, only observing, just as Adrien had instructed.
"Mahiru, use your Sacred Gear and expanded over the whole building," Celia said. "You've been training to sense energy inside it, right?"
"Yes," Mahiru replied simply.
The bracelet on Mahiru's wrist began to shine, and a pink domain spread across the entire building. Mahiru still could not control the domain precisely enough to exclude certain areas, so because she stood at the center, even Xenovia and Mary, who were far behind her, were caught inside it.
Everyone immediately felt their strength multiply, while a refreshing warmth spread through their bodies.
"It's coming toward us—!"
The moment Mahiru shouted, a creature burst through the large warehouse door from the inside and came flying straight at the girls.
Saeko instantly jumped back behind Celia, who raised a magic-circle barrier in front of them. The Stray Devil slammed into it head-on, small cracks spreading across the barrier's surface.
"What do we have here?" a man's voice echoed.
Purple energy threads shot out of the ground and wrapped themselves around Celia and Saeko's legs.
"Promotion: Queen!" both of them shouted.
The Pawn Piece gave its holder the ability to promote into any other chess piece and gain its special traits, except for the King. However, promotion only worked when the Pawn was in enemy territory, or at least in a place their master, the King, considered enemy territory.
Saeko poured demonic energy into her sword and cut the threads apart.
At the same time, Celia shifted her magic circle from a barrier into an attack spell and unleashed a beam of demonic energy.
The Stray Devil moved at the last second and dodged the attack.
"I'll tear you to pieces."
Saeko frowned as she got a clear look at the Stray Devil, while Mahiru gulped.
One side of his face looked almost human, but the other had mutated into a monstrous jaw lined with sharp teeth and a glowing red eye. His skin was gray and cracked, and his wings were uneven and torn. One still resembled a devil's wing, while the other looked more like a broken frame of bone and flesh.
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Yo if we reach 50 power stones today I'll drop another chapter.