Chapter 153: Force Cangna's [Queen] to be the 53rd Pillar...
Has he become Malbus among the seventy-two demon gods?
Aisha was also very nervous inside, and couldn't help but touch her face, paying attention to her figure to see if there were any strange changes.
For example, the hair grows fluffy, but the skin is smooth and soft to the touch.
No canine fangs grew from its mouth, and its hands did not turn into claws.
She still looks like a human.
If you sense your body carefully, you will indeed find changes. Compared with before, it feels like the magic power is much different.
The magic power she now felt allowed her to treat patients for a whole day without feeling tired.
Chapter 154: The Queen Falls—And the King Does Not Yield
For a moment, Asia's body shimmered with light.
She had merely activated her magic instinctively—but the consequence was breathtaking. Her feet lifted from the ground, her body drifting upward in a sudden surge of weightlessness.
A startled gasp escaped her lips. "Eh—!"
Behind her, a pair of magnificent wings unfurled. Not the leathery, bat-like appendages common to lower demons, but radiant constructs of light. Their hue was a deep, haunting azure, glowing like sacred flame in the gloom. The wings wrapped around her form with a whispering rustle, ethereal and imposing.
Her robes shifted next—where once they were white and meek, befitting a nun's vow, now they darkened into midnight black. Their new shape suggested a sorceress or fallen priestess, woven with arcane patterning. Along the hem and sleeves ran lion insignias, snarling and golden, proclaiming her rebirth with unmistakable menace.
Asia looked down at herself.
Had she become… a demon?
Would the Lord forgive her?
The man before her—no longer merely a man, but King Solomon reborn—stood with divine gravity. God had long since vanished from the heavens. Perhaps Solomon's resurrection was not a betrayal, but part of Heaven's final design.
Now Solomon's gaze turned to Sona Shidoku, the president of the student council.
And in that instant, Sona faltered.
It felt like unseen hands pressed upon her shoulders, forcing her to kneel. She gritted her teeth and resisted, muscles shaking, knees buckling beneath weightless pressure. She steadied herself, inch by inch, standing upright once more.
Beside her, Tsubaki Shinra—the vice president—fared worse. She was crushed, face down on the floor, utterly unable to rise.
Asia bit her lip, wanting to speak… but no words came.
She sensed it too—Solomon would not kill them. He wasn't that sort of tyrant. But punishment might still come. As it had come to Akeno earlier—her lightning reflected, her pride broken.
"Ah—speak of the devil," Asia muttered, eyes widening.
Akeno had arrived.
She stepped inside, breath catching as the scene unfolded before her. The dark aura she'd sensed from outside had confirmed her fears. Sona had crossed the line.
Akeno hoped to defuse things before bloodshed occurred. But what she saw was far worse than she'd imagined.
"Asia…? What—what is this?"
The girl who once knelt in prayer now hovered as a demon—no, an elite demon. The pulse of her magic was unmistakably strong. And not just that—it felt superior. As if Asia's bloodline was higher. Purer.
Like that of a true demon aristocrat.
And Akeno, for all her prowess, was mixed-blood.
"Lord Solomon, please—"
Her voice was drowned beneath a tide of magic.
Solomon's mere presence was oppressive, nearly suffocating. It wasn't just royal—it was beyond comprehension. The power of a being far above Demon Kings. Above commandments. Above fear.
Akeno's plea died in her throat.
And then, Solomon began to walk—not toward Sona.
But toward Tsubaki.
"No—don't touch her!" Sona shouted—
—or rather, she tried to.
The magic bore down on her again, stealing her breath like a vice to the lungs. If she forced herself to speak, she'd collapse.
All she could do was glare, bloodshot and fierce.
It worked. Solomon stopped advancing.
But the magic around him solidified, forming a spectral hand of power. It gripped Tsubaki with unyielding force, pulling her into the air toward Asia's position.
Asia panicked and scrambled aside, but Tsubaki was gently deposited in her place.
A card floated upward from Solomon's palm.
A circle of runes lit the floor, glowing crimson and gold.
Another summoning.
Sona's heart pounded—was he about to transform Tsubaki too?
She had a chilling thought.
Solomon's seventy-two demon cards—like the Devil's Game pieces—bound humans into servitude. And now, he was about to claim Tsubaki as his servant.
The card expanded, shining brilliantly.
Its image depicted a strange creature—a bird with the head of a goose and a figure clutching a sword.
This was the mark of Gaim.
"I hereby name you—Shinra Tsubaki Gaim. From this moment, you are one of the Seventy-Two Demon Pillars."
His voice rang out with no trace of gentleness. Asia's naming had felt like a blessing. Tsubaki's was a command.
There would be no refusal.
"No…" Tsubaki whispered, struggling. Her soul rejected it.
But the card ignited—disintegrating into motes of light that poured into her chest.
She gasped, and her posture stiffened.
And then she spoke—not with freedom, but with resignation.
"From this moment, I am one of the Seventy-Two Demon Pillars—Shinra Tsubaki Gaim."
Power erupted around her.
She had once been a mid-tier demon, potent but still shy of true nobility. Now her aura billowed outward—rivaling elite demons, perhaps exceeding them.
Akeno staggered back.
She had once considered Tsubaki a rival. Now the difference was clear—this was power she couldn't face alone.
Even with Koneko, Yuuto, Rias herself—perhaps, maybe—they could form a balanced fight.
But victory?
Unlikely.
If Solomon could do this to Tsubaki… what if he claimed Rias next?
Could she rise to Demon King class?
Could the entire Gremory household be reshaped with a snap of his fingers?
What was his goal?
And now… what punishment was this?
Was this twisted transformation a lesson for Sona's arrogance?
"—Tsubaki!"
Sona called, trembling.
She wasn't just mourning a lost lieutenant.
Tsubaki was her closest friend, second only to Rias.
And now, that friend had been claimed.
Tsubaki looked at her and smiled—a bitter, painful smile.
She wasn't gone.
Not completely.
"I'm sorry… President."
Her voice was soft.
She hadn't been mind-controlled like a puppet. No—her mind was intact. Her allegiance, however, had shifted.
She still remembered her station. She still called Sona her master.
But Solomon's will now eclipsed all others.
If his orders conflicted with Sona's… she would obey him.
What if he told her to strike Sona?
Would she do it?
And even now, as a newly ascended demon, she felt it—his strength was bottomless. In her mid-tier state, she'd sensed his power. As an upper-tier demon, she sensed it again—and it was even deeper.
This wasn't Demon King level.
This was beyond.
"Sona," she warned gently. "If you continue resisting him… I might have to act."
Solomon had finally released his hold.
Sona's magic exploded in fury.
Water surged out—a tide of rage bursting across the room. Her clothing tore from the sheer pressure of her own mana flare. Creatures formed from the deluge—serpents, lions, wolves, dragons—all thundering forward.
The hall cracked from the force, walls trembling.
"Tsubaki!"
Sona's voice quivered.
But Tsubaki stepped into her path.
"President… please stop. I'm not under control. What I'm doing now—it's my choice. If you truly intend to defy Lord Solomon… I'll have to stop you myself."
She drew her blade.
Better she deal the blow than he.
Solomon… might not show mercy.
But then, a voice intervened.
"Now, now," Solomon murmured lightly. "If Sona wants Tsubaki back so badly… let her have her."
He sounded almost amused.
As if this whole war had been a domestic squabble.
As if he hadn't just rewritten fate.
As if he wasn't quietly assembling a pantheon.
And so the Queen returned.
But everything had already changed