"Also, Ice Empress, Justeaze, Seitenshi, Darkness..."
Among the otherworldly subordinates, the most suitable for awakening was Justeaze.
Her abilities were special.
Even before becoming a True Demon Lord, she already possessed the power to purify souls.
Once she completed her awakening, that power would definitely evolve, bringing new benefits to Rin.
Furthermore, Justeaze had refined so many souls, which was a significant contribution.
"Giving her this awakening opportunity, I don't think anyone will object."
Rin made his decision internally and, without delay, immediately summoned Justeaze, preparing to preside over her awakening ceremony.
"Rin?"
The white-haired woman slowly descended from the void, bowed respectfully to Rin, and asked, "Am I to undergo the awakening here?"
"Yes."
Rin ignored Sophia and Albis, who were watching from the side.
"Begin. I will personally oversee it."
He originally had the idea of killing a chicken to scare the monkeys.
Letting them witness the annihilation of the Kingdom of Falmuth Knight Order and the awakening of Justeaze were both steps to better recruit them later.
[Individual Name 'Justeaze von Einzbern', beginning awakening challenge]
As a large amount of soul energy was sacrificed by Justeaze, her awakening ceremony began.
[Unique Skill 'Purifier', beginning challenge]
[Challenge failed]
[Unique Skill 'Purifier', integrating Unique Skill 'Law of Heaven', beginning challenge]
[Challenge successful, acquired Ultimate Skill 'Lord of Hope, Sariel' (seven virtues)]
[Exclusive Skill 'All the World's Evil', beginning challenge]
[Challenge failed]
[Re-challenging]
[Challenge failed]
[...]
Unlike the awakenings of previous Demon Lord Seeds, Justeaze, after acquiring her first Ultimate Skill, entered a seemingly bug-like error loop.
Again and again, from initially displaying each failure individually, to later consolidating hundreds of error messages into one.
A thousand times, ten thousand times, a million times...
Finally, after countless challenges, the exclusive skill called 'All the World's Evil' completed its evolution.
[Challenge successful]
[Acquired Ultimate Skill 'Lord of Gluttony, Mammon' (seven deadly sins)]
Boom!!!
The Ultimate Challenge was successful. What followed was a comprehensive improvement from her race to her magicules.
Pairs of wings unfolded from behind the silver-haired girl.
What was surprising was that Justeaze's angelic wings were not simply black or white but distinctly divided along the line of her body.
The six angelic wings on her left emitted a sacred golden-white radiance.
The six wings on her right were pitch black, like the abyss itself, threatening to swallow all light.
---
[Justeaze von Einzbern]
Race: Fallen Angel → Archangel (Twelve-winged)
Magicules: 16 million EP (Calamity Domain)
General Skills: Age of Gods Magic, Konosuba Magic, Pokémon Magic, etc.
Ultimate Skills: Lord of Hope, Sariel (seven virtues), Lord of Gluttony, Mammon (seven deadly sins)
Special Skills: Magicules Solidification, Eternal Shield, Command Spells, Ten Rings of God, Heavenly Host (release ability similar to Dragon God Transformation, Spirit God Transformation)
---
"…"
To be honest, Rin had anticipated that Justeaze's strength after awakening would be considerable.
But he hadn't expected her potential to be this overwhelming.
Even the Demon Lord in the original work, after awakening and acquiring two Ultimate Skills, had only ten times her pre-awakening magicules, reaching about 4 million.
Yet Justeaze's awakening jumped past both the 1 million and 10 million thresholds directly into the Calamity Domain.
"Is it because of the continuous purification of souls?"
"Yes."
Violet answered, "Although Justeaze did not absorb those souls, the purification process itself brought her immense benefits."
That was also why Justeaze could leap two realms in one go, becoming the strongest subordinate under Rin, apart from the Dragon God.
Not only that, she had acquired two incredibly powerful Ultimate Skills.
As mentioned before, possessing vast magicules without the corresponding Ultimate Skills would still result in being beaten by her sisters. Just like Veldora.
But this time, Justeaze had both high stats and powerful mechanics.
[Lord of Hope, Sariel]
Skill Description: Governs the root of life and the cycle of reincarnation, possessing powerful abilities to manipulate, modify, and dominate souls.
[Lord of Gluttony, Mammon]
Skill Description: Can absorb others' magicules and minds, dominate others' desires, and the stronger the desire, the stronger her own abilities.
Logically, these two Ultimate Skills should have belonged to Granbell and Yuki Kagurazaka.
But the problem was, at this time, neither of them had completed their Ultimate Challenge.
So, no one else could be blamed.
They were simply a step too late compared to Justeaze.
"Simultaneously possessing seven virtues and seven deadly sins."
This made her the third subordinate Rin had encountered with such qualifications, after the Eldest Sister and Rimuru.
Additionally, Justeaze's race was very interesting.
"Light and darkness, good and evil. An Archangel who simultaneously wields both..."
This description indeed matched Justeaze perfectly.
She was the Holy Maiden of Winter, an immortal spirit born from the hopes of countless mages.
A beautiful appearance, an ethereal presence, a clear and pleasant voice.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say Justeaze possessed all the beauty in the world, the most precious gift God had bestowed upon humanity.
Yet someone like her was eventually sacrificed for the descent of the Holy Grail.
Later, she was polluted by All the World's Evil and suffered in agony for hundreds of years, until Rin appeared and rescued her from that despair.
"How do you feel, Justeaze?"
"I never realized before that one could observe the world from such a perspective."
Extreme good and extreme evil. Clearly two opposing forces.
Yet in Justeaze's hands, they neither lost control nor caused chaos. Instead, they were like obedient children, completely under her control.
However, Justeaze wouldn't directly reveal any details about her Ultimate Skills.
She communicated with Rin through encrypted messages in the soul corridor.
"My Lord of Hope can better purify souls."
Justeaze explained her understanding of the Lord of Hope.
"The power of reincarnation is neither life nor death, but the cycle of life and death."
Of course, the Lord of Hope's power wasn't just for support.
(To be continued.)