Chapter 150: Granting Asia One of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods
In the blink of an eye, a week had passed.
Actually, it wasn't that a full week had passed—just that the previous week had ended.
Today was the start of a new week, the day school began.
Sona, who had been unable to obtain any truly useful information, decided to take a direct approach.
The reason she couldn't get useful intel was partly because it was genuinely hard to uncover, and partly due to Rias's various covert obstructions.
Additionally, as a childhood friend, Sona could sense that Rias's attitude toward this human was overly respectful and reverent?
"Who is he really, Rias?"
Once again visiting the Occult Research Club, Sona Sitri pressed Rias for answers.
"Nothing much, just an ordinary human,"
Rias replied leisurely, taking a sip of her tea.
"You..."
Suddenly, as if struck by a thought, Sona smiled.
"In that case, I'll report this to Sir Sirzechs."
The moment these words left her mouth, she saw Rias's expression change drastically, and the teacup in her hand was slammed heavily onto the table.
"Sona, I advise you not to do this. The consequences that follow will be beyond your ability to bear!"
"Then tell me who he is!"
Sona continued to press relentlessly.
For a moment, the two locked sharp gazes, and the atmosphere in the room shifted abruptly, as if a great conflict were about to erupt.
It seemed as though they had become enemies in that instant.
"Sigh, Sona, I'm begging you, just drop it, okay?"
Rias's tone softened. The previous week, she had somewhat hoped Sona would share the burden with her.
But now, she didn't want Sona to investigate further. After all, getting too close to such a figure—if anything were to happen...
She didn't want her dear friend to come to harm.
Of course, it wasn't that he would harm Sona directly, but the vortex centered around him was such that even the slightest involvement could be fatal.
Thus, after these past few days, with her emotions more stable, Rias didn't want Sona to get dragged into it.
Her earlier desire for company had stemmed from her own anxiety and psychological pressure—a misguided wish to have someone share the burden.
So, Rias had already spoken to him again, requesting that Sona not be involved.
"Alright, I understand~"
Sona sighed and agreed to Rias's request.
Rias, who almost never asked for help, especially from someone she had always been competing with—in a sense, her rival—was now making such a request. What else could she do?
Leaving the area, she headed toward the student council room.
"President, are you really giving up just like that?"
The question came from a beautiful girl with long, straight black hair styled in a hime cut—the student council vice president, Shinra Tsubaki.
"Of course not."
She had only been humoring Rias earlier.
Now, Sona was even more determined to uncover that person's identity. She couldn't allow any unstable factors to disrupt the town's peace or threaten her good friend Rias.
The fact that Rias didn't want her to investigate was clearly out of concern for her safety.
In other words, Rias had already been dragged into some unknown danger. How could Sona possibly stand by and do nothing?
Rias would undoubtedly keep a close watch on her from now on, so Sona needed to create an opportunity to deceive Rias's surveillance and confront that person directly.
Although he was now a teacher at the school, approaching him directly probably wouldn't yield any answers.
Moreover, the school was crowded. If she confronted him too suddenly or pressed him too hard, any resulting incident would be troublesome.
So, the time came in the evening.
The location: the Occult Research Club.
"That Sona is quite something!"
Rias gritted her teeth in frustration, her entire demeanor unusually agitated.
"Akeno, I'll leave it to you to keep a close watch. I'll be back quickly."
She needed to return to the Underworld—to go home briefly—because a very troublesome individual had arrived at her house. This person was from one of the surviving pure-blooded high-class devil families of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods: the Phenex family.
This guy was her fiancé, but Rias had never agreed to the arrangement—it was entirely her family's decision.
Since the Great War, over half of the Seventy-Two families had lost their bloodlines, and even those that survived were becoming increasingly impure.
To maintain the purity of high-class devils, they typically only married other pure-blooded high-class devils.
Her arranged marriage partner was the third son of the Phenex family—a detestable playboy she deeply disliked—Riser Phenex.
Sona had just informed her that Riser was on his way to her house, likely to bring up the marriage again.
But that wasn't the main issue. Whenever this guy visited her home, he often used the transfer magic connecting her house to this world to come over.
His personality was far too vile. She was genuinely afraid he might accidentally provoke that person—which would be disastrous.
So, she had to rush home now to stop him from coming over.
"Understood."
Thus, when late night arrived,
Akeno and the others were stationed near the villa, keeping watch, and the area was enveloped in a barrier.
Even if the student council president tried to force her way in, she wouldn't be able to break through immediately.
"Ara, showing up so openly?"
Akeno was quite surprised to see the student council president appear without any attempt at concealment.
She was planning a direct assault, charging straight toward the barrier.
In that case, Akeno wouldn't hold back—she immediately summoned a lightning strike without hesitation.
But then—
The lightning was reflected back, causing Akeno's expression to change drastically as she dodged.
"Tsubaki!"
It was her who had reflected the lightning, and the reflected bolt was even more powerful than the one Akeno had unleashed.
Is this the power of her position as the Queen in Sona's Evil Pieces?
"Huh? What!"
Akeno's expression immediately changed as Sona effortlessly opened a crack in the barrier and walked right through.
Tsubaki followed closely behind.
Therefore, Akeno immediately flew toward the crack as well.
Upon entering, the sight that greeted her left her stunned.
"Oh no!"
She had been tricked!
Sona hadn't actually entered the barrier—instead, she had opened another dimensional space on the barrier's surface.
So, when Akeno entered, she saw the two of them walking out through another exit, waving goodbye to her before that exit closed.
As for the entrance she had come through, it sealed shut the moment she entered.
She was trapped in this alternate dimension.
Although it wasn't impossible to escape, it would be difficult to get out anytime soon.
What a headache. She could only hope the other two could stop them, but it seemed unlikely.
...
...
The girl Asia, kneeling on the ground with her hands clasped together in prayer, was extremely nervous. She was about to cease living as a human.
She would be granted a new, special identity—one of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods...