Despite its lack of intellect, it did have instincts. The immense power radiating from Rei Ao triggered its fear response. It tried to shrink back into hiding, but he'd already discovered it.
"Grr"
Its draconic head bowed low, pressing against the floor in a gesture of submission.
"Oh? Surrender?" Rei Ao gave it a sidelong glance. "Alright, I'll let you off easy since you seem to know your place. Scram."
With a casual wave, he severed the magical link binding the dragon to Yui's seal, effectively freeing it. Though it couldn't understand words, the Dragon-Form Phantom Beast sensed it had been released.
"Grr"
It rumbled once, then slipped back into the wall and was gone. No more obstacles remained.
Rei Ao approached the slumbering girl, and for a second he was reminded of the Sleeping Beauty storywhere the prince's kiss wakes the princess from her enchanted sleep. But Kurata Yui's situation couldn't be fixed with just a kiss.
He lightly touched a fingertip to her forehead and, with a single thought, suppressed the violent magic raging around her. It immediately receded, flowing swiftly back into her body. As it withdrew, it revealed her petite form dressed only in pink-and-white, cutesy underwear.
"Mmh~"
Kurata Yui let out a soft moan, her eyelashes fluttering. Slowly, she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Rei Ao's face, very close, wearing a gentle smile.
"Congratulations. You've turned into a boy," he said.
"???"
At those words, she snapped fully awake and bolted upright. Out of reflex, she glanced down at her own bodyactually lifting up her underwear to check. Andthere was nothing there. She realized she'd been tricked.
That's when she also noticed she was essentially exposed in front of Rei Ao. Mortification washed over her; her entire body flushed a deep, vivid red.
"Eeeeek!!!"
Kurata Yui's first words after waking were a shrill scream.
The scream cut right through the stone door.
"???"
Everyone outside exchanged looks.
Fudou Akio's eyes lit up.
"Oh my, Rei Ao must be taking some bold liberties with our sleeping beauty, huh?"
"Huh?"
"That's definitely not okay!"
Asami Lilith, picturing something indecent, immediately whipped out her sniper rifle. She took aim at the door and pulled the trigger in one fluid motionBang! A laser blast shot out and blew the stone door apart with a deafening boom. Dust and debris flew everywhere.
Once the door was destroyed, Lilith charged in, shouting:
"Let her go!!!"
""
As the dust cleared, Rei Ao stood calmly beside the bed, staring at her. Kurata Yui, in the process of getting dressed, stared blankly back at Lilith.
"Uh"
Lilith realized that her imagined scenario hadn't happened at all. Clearly, she had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
"What's going on? Let me see!"
Akio and the others rushed in, either curious or covering their eyes.
""
Kurata Yui felt tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. She'd exposed herself againand this time in front of everyone!
"Eeeeeek!!!"
She let out a second, even louder scream.
A magical veil of darkness now covered the ruined stone door. Kurata Yui, blushing furiously, had kicked everyone out.
Asami Lilith stood there awkwardly, her head hanging. She felt guilty that her rash actions had created such an embarrassing situation for Kurata Yui.
But
"Hey," Lilith growled at Rei Ao, "what did you do to her? Why'd she scream like that?"
"If it weren't for that scream, I wouldn't have barged in."
Rei Ao shrugged.
"I didn't do anything. I just played a little prank on her."
"A prank?"
"Y'know, gently telling her, 'You turned into a boy,' as she woke up."
"Huh?"
Everyone else, who had been eavesdropping, couldn't help imagining that scenario themselves.
"Eugh!"
Even aside from Yui, most of them would've freaked out if someone told them that upon waking.
"Rei Ao, you've got a weird sense of humor," said Akio, giving him a thumbs-up. "But I like it."
"What are you talking about?! This guy's awful!" Yamana Mira huffed, crossing her arms. It felt like nothing but chaos since she'd met him.
"Hahaha, oh, you just don't understand." Akio slung an arm around Mira's shoulder, still laughing. "A man with a twisted sense of humor, good looks, and crazy strength is in high demand."
"What twisted humorhe's just a plain creep!" Lilith spat.
Rei Ao merely spread his hands, not denying it. After all, his little prank had let him see something very nice. Kurata Yui waswell, quite cute.
Swish!
The magical veil lifted, revealing Kurata Yui stepping timidly out of the room. Now dressed in a small cocktail dress and black stockings, her outfit only served to highlight her sweet, youthful charm.
"I'm sorry, everyone. I've caused you a lot of trouble," she said with a deep bow.
"Yeah, it was a pretty big hassle."
Kazama Levi, leaning coolly against the stone wall, spoke bluntly. "But at least nobody got hurt in the end. We should be grateful it ended so well."
"Well, we mostly have my darling to thank for that," Kannazuki Arin chimed in. "Without him, we wouldn't have even made it close to you."
Her comment caught Yui's attention. Yui tilted her head curiously and asked Arin, "Yourdarling?"
"Mhm." Arin nodded, then took two steps closer to Rei Ao. She hugged him from the front, rubbing her cheek against his chest. "Rei Ao is my husbandmy darling."
"Eh???"
Yui's mind went blank, and she let out her third scream of the day!
~~~
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Chapter 575: Trinity Abyss! Demon King from Another World!!!
Kurata Yui's magic, now under Rei Ao's restraints, was finally something she could control. As a result, the Collapse incident came to a halt.
"Are you going to stay here any longer?"
Asami Lilith asked Kurata Yui.
"Hmm"
Yui looked back at her "home," then shook her head.
"No. Now that I can handle my magic, I'd like to see the outside world."
"Sounds good. Let's head back up, then."
Lilith said this, but the moment she spoke, she suddenly froze in place.
(Lilith come to me)
A hazy voice echoed in her mind, and Asami Lilith's consciousness fell into confusion.
"Huh? Why'd you stop moving?"
Kazama Levi asked in surprise.
"Get away from her."
Rei Ao commanded. With a wave of his hand, everyoneincluding Kurata Yuiwas pulled behind him by an invisible force.
"What's going on?"
The abrupt movement startled everyone, but then they noticed something strange about Lilith.
Black magical energy began leaking from Lilith's body.
"Lilith's magic is running wild, too?"
Yamana Mira immediately compared her condition to Kurata Yui's. But the truth was different.
Lieselotte narrowed her eyes.
"No, no that's a power only a Demon King would possess."
"She carries the Demon King Factor."
"Demon King Factor?!"
All eyes turned toward Rei Ao. In this world, there was only one Demon Kinghimand only he could grant that power.
"It's not from me."
Rei Ao watched with interest.
"It's coming from her father's power. Looks like he chose quite the moment."
Probably Kurata Yui's massive outburst of magicand the power Rei Ao usedcaught his attention, prompting him to take action now.
"Huh?"
Those who were close to Lilith wore looks of shock.
Fudou Akio: "Lilith's father is a Demon King? I never knew that!"
"Have you ever even met her father?"
Kazama Levi shot her a glance.
"Uh nope."
None of them had actually seen Lilith's father, and Lilith herself had never mentioned him.
"This isn't the time for that," Yamana Mira said urgently. "What's going on with Lilith? Is the Demon King Factor out of control, or is it awakening?"
She eyed Rei Ao, the only one who could possibly know Lilith's true condition.
"Looks like you care about Lilith."
Rei Ao said with a playful smile.
"C-care about her? N-no, I don't!"
A faint blush crept across Mira's cheeks.
"I-I'm just worried she'll cause another Collapse like Kurata Yui did!"
"S-sorry"
Kurata Yui apologized again.
"I'm not blaming you!"
Realizing her words might have unintentionally singled out Yui again, Mira hurriedly explained.
At that moment, Lilith's body changed. Black magic wrapped around her, and in the blink of an eye, her outfit transformed into a black cloak and over-the-knee black boots.
Compared to before, her aura had turned dark and chilling. With crimson eyes brimming with killing intent, she glared at Rei Ao and the others.
"Uh is Lilith hostile toward us now?"
Fudou Akio asked uneasily.
"I'm sensing it, too. Something's off."
Kazama Levi drew her sword. "Everyone, be careful."
In the next second, Lilith lifted a finger and pointed it at them. A black sphere of magic formed at her fingertip.
Whoosh!
A beam charged with annihilating force shot straight out.
"Look out!!!"
Several of the others simultaneously attempted to conjure magic to stop the sudden attack.
"No need."
Rei Ao casually waved his hand, and the deadly ray disintegrated mid-flight.
""
Everyone stared at Lilith in disbelief. She was actually attacking them?!
"Does the Demon King Factor turn someone into a different person?"
Selena asked, baffled.
"It doesn't," replied Rei Ao.
"But if the Demon King who bestowed it intends to, he can manipulate the person's actions through that power."
He gave a meaningful smile.
"Isn't that right, Lilith's fatherTrinity Abyss?"
""
No sooner had he spoken than space behind Lilith began to ripple. A blood-red tear opened in midair.
"Hahahahaha!"
From within that crimson rift came a burst of unrestrained laughter. Then a tall man in a black robe stepped through.
"What incredible luck," the man said as he pushed back his hood to reveal a youthful face framed by white hair. His red eyes swept across Rei Ao and the others, shining with greed.
"A bunch of magic-users plus a newly ascended Demon King. If I devour all your powers, I'll be unstoppable!"
His face was overtaken by raw avarice.
"A Demon King!!!"
Fudou Akio and the rest tensed up immediately. The suffocating pressure radiating from Trinity Abyss confirmed ithe was definitely a Demon King.
Kannazuki Arin gripped Rei Ao's hand. To her, he was the only Demon King she recognized. Rei Ao sensed her distress, reassuring her by interlacing his fingers with hers. Then he spoke up, revealing the newcomer's identity:
"Trinity Abyss. As a Demon King from another world, why force your way here and use your own daughter like a chess piece?"
Another world?
The others picked up on the key words: Trinity Abyss was not this world's Demon King.
"Heh," the white-haired man snorted. "You, the new Demon King, know nothing."
"Have you heard of World Reincarnation?" he asked. Even a Demon King couldn't stop the cycle of reincarnation from happening. When a world died, its life died, and so did its Demon King. Yet the cycle of reincarnation would restart everythingworld, life, Demon King included.
But if he was reborn, would he still be himself? Searching for his pre-rebirth memories proved fruitless. Eventually, Trinity Abyss concluded that once reborn, he would cease to be the same entityand thus, he would die. That realization led to raw terror of reincarnation.
"I don't want to die. I can't die. I must escape reincarnation!"
"In the end, just as my own world was about to reincarnate, I found a method."
His eyes gleamed with excitement as he spread his arms wide.
"All I have to do is travel to other worlds and replace their Demon King. That way, I'll never die!"
~~~
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Chapter 576: Stripping down his Power...
Trinity Abyss, a Demon King from another world, sought to escape his world's cycle of reincarnation.
He transferred the Demon King Factor to his daughter Lilith by fathering herthen waited for a chance to once again obtain demonic power and destroy his old world. That was how he planned to restore himself to Demon Kinglevel strength.
"That's my plan, Newly Awakened Demon King. How do you like it?"
Trinity Abyss fearlessly laid out his entire scheme.
"You have no right to call yourself Lilith's father!"
Kasuga Hijiri fixed him with a hostile glare. Her very first friend at this academy had been Lilith, so she was furious.
"Hmph, Demon King? More like a spineless coward!"
Snap, snap!
Selena pulled out her camera and snapped a few shots of Trinity Abyss.
"I'm gonna post these all over campus. The title will be: 'History's Most Cowardly, Most Despicable Demon King!'"
"" Ai Hayasaka stood to the side, her mouth twitching. Isn't provoking the enemy like that kind of risky? As an ordinary human, she alone truly understood how terrifying a Demon King could be.
The aura alone that Trinity Abyss radiated upon appearing had nearly stopped her heartif not for some sort of barrier protecting her (obviously Rei Ao's doing).
Ai deeply regretted coming here. She felt completely useless, and this place was insanely dangerous. The first time she visits another world, she immediately encounters a Demon Kinglevel threat? Talk about high-stakes!
"Coward? You're calling me a coward?!"
That word seemed to strike a nerve in Trinity Abyss. His eyes went bloodshot, and crimson light burst from his body. Glaring murderously at Selena for a moment, he then turned his gaze on Rei Ao.
"New Demon King, you should already know what reincarnation means. Don't tell me you aren't angry about it, that you aren't scared?"
He wanted to see fear on Rei Ao's face to soothe his own humiliation. But in the end, he was disappointed. Rei Ao's expression remained perfectly calm, completely devoid of any emotional reactionlike a lofty deity looking down from on high.
"Rei Ao, can I cut him down?"
Hearing Trinity Abyss insult Rei Ao made Yatogami Tohka bristle. Her greatsword, Sandalphon, was itching for a fight.
"Lilith is still under his control. Leave it to me,"
Rei Ao said, turning his gaze on Trinity Abyss.
"You're asking if I fear reincarnation? Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not worried about that at allbecause, like you, I'm also from another world."
"Hm?"
Trinity Abyss froze for a moment, then let out a wild laugh.
