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Time Passed—
And during this stretch, everyone seemed to be especially busy.
Shiyu and Asia were reporting to the Occult Research Club every day for hands-on training.
Rias was hard at work behind the scenes, pushing to lock in the Rating Game.
Only Minato stayed mostly at home.
But even then, his power was changing dramatically with every passing second.
[Minato]Class: Origin MageMagic: Origin Lightning Magic – Level 10 (+)Origin Points: 13
"Rias's magic books really helped me level up fast."
Looking at the glowing text on his virtual panel, Minato muttered to himself, "But now I need to figure out how to get more Origin Points."
He'd pretty much finished reading through all the Gremory family's hidden collections.
But thankfully—
In this chaotic, mash-up world, as long as you tried hard enough, it wasn't that hard to find all kinds of extraordinary knowledge.
"Hm?"
Just then, Minato suddenly felt something—faint but familiar. A soft "huh" slipped from his lips.
It was like a strange, distant summoning was resonating with his soul.
"Did it work?"
His eyes sparkled.
This wasn't your typical summoning.
It was based on that otherworld demon summoning technique he'd discovered a few days ago—the one he used to craft a brand-new summoning contract.
Back then, he was just experimenting.
But now it looked like his Origin Magic really could cut through the gap between worlds.
And honestly, his luck wasn't bad at all.
"I wonder what kind of world it is this time?"
Somewhere in a Primal Forest
Dry twigs snapped loudly underfoot.
Akame and Leone walked side by side through the woods.
Suddenly—
Akame's eyes sharpened, sensing something. She stepped to the side—and in a flash, her blade was out.
Slash!
A gleam of steel cut through the air, followed by a spray of foul-smelling blood.
Both women took a quick step back to dodge the flying gore.
Thud!
A beast that looked like a monstrous wild boar collapsed to the ground.
"That should be enough to feed everyone," Akame said, lifting the massive boar as her eyes glinted.
Such good meat—how should she cook it?
"Well, now that we've got food, let's head back. Gulp gulp gulp…"
Leone took a swig from her flask, her cheeks turning slightly red.
"Mm-hmm!" Akame nodded in satisfaction, slinging the giant boar over her shoulder as the two of them dashed through the trees.
Before long—
They were back at the base.
Smoke rose from the kitchen, and a mouthwatering aroma spread through the dining hall.
"Smells amazing!"
Najenda walked in. "Akame, your cooking just keeps getting better."
"BOSS!"
Akame greeted her with a nod and dropped a massive plate of food on the table with a thud.
"Time to dig in!"
Leone chugged down another drink and started wolfing down her food.
"Go easy on the booze," Najenda said with a sigh. "You never know when we'll get another mission."
"Boss, is it really okay for Night Raid to have only three active members right now?" Leone grumbled, "At this rate, we're gonna work ourselves to death."
"Not much we can do," Najenda said. "Teigu users are just too rare."
Najenda nodded as she sipped her drink and replied, "I've already managed to recruit two people. They should be here soon."
Akame suddenly spoke up, "Do you really think what we're doing can change this country?"
There was a hint of doubt in her voice.
What they were doing now…
It didn't feel that different from back when they were part of the Empire's assassination squad.
Was this really the right path?
Najenda responded firmly, "Don't lose faith, Akame. If we just sit around doing nothing, then how are we supposed to move forward?"
"Hehe, I actually might have a way."
Leone let out a drunken hiccup, fumbled around in her clothes, and pulled out a weird-looking flyer made of some unknown material.
"This was something I picked up on a mission. Rumor has it you can use it to summon a demon."
With a tipsy grin, she looked at the other two. "Maybe a demon could give us an answer."
"..." Akame.
"..." Najenda.
Yep. She was clearly drunk and talking nonsense again.
Demons? As if those even exist.
"What? You guys don't believe me?"
Leone got defensive. "I'm telling you, this thing isn't normal! Even I couldn't rip it apart with my strength!"
Hearing that, both Najenda and Akame froze.
They knew exactly how strong Leone was.
If even she couldn't tear it, then maybe… there really was something strange about it.
Could it be… some kind of Imperial Arms?
Out of curiosity, Akame took the flyer from her.
It had a detailed magical circle drawn on it, with a ring of mysterious symbols carefully highlighted.
She didn't recognize the language, yet somehow, Akame understood what it said.
"Grant... my wish?"
She muttered under her breath, then instinctively said, "Alright then—make it happen."
The moment the words left her mouth, the flyer started to glow, and a mysterious magic circle burst into life.
What the—!?
All three of them snapped to attention, immediately ready for combat.
A calm voice echoed out, "So... you're the one who made the contract?"
Under their stunned gazes, a graceful figure stepped out of the glowing magic circle—Minato.
"Who the hell are you?" Najenda narrowed her eyes at him. "Cut the theatrics."
As the leader, her first instinct was always to suspect a setup.
"Hey now, no need to be so hostile. You're the ones who summoned me, remember?"
Minato shook his head as two massive wings unfurled from his back.
"A real demon…?" Leone's eyes widened in shock.
A cold sweat trickled down her back—her buzz was nearly gone in an instant.
She might've seriously screwed up here.
"Um… Hello, Mister Demon!"
Akame, on the other hand, politely greeted him.
"Hello there," Minato smiled, though there was a flicker of something sharp in his eyes.
The moment he saw them, he already knew which world he'd arrived in.
This world wasn't particularly dangerous for him.
In fact, it had plenty of good stuff.
Besides all the supernatural knowledge floating around, those Imperial Arms were pretty interesting too.
Might be worth studying. Who knows—he might even be able to use them to quickly power up his two followers.
And maybe… recruit a few new ones while he was here.
"Akame," Minato said, turning to her. "Tell me your wish."
Akame tilted her head slightly. "You know my name?"
"I am a demon. I know lots of things."
Najenda, who had been quietly observing, was starting to come to terms with the situation.
It seemed like demons really did exist in this world.
Watching the conversation between Minato and Akame, Najenda's mouth twitched.
Should she be surprised?
This was so like Akame…
Even when face-to-face with a demon, she could still talk like it was no big deal.
"....."