Chapter 213: Seeking Contracts and the Naruse Sisters
Rias unfastened Haruto's outer coat, her slender jade-like fingers wrapped in pale red magical power as she began tracing an intricate and magnificent contract magic circle on his firm chest.
Half a quarter-hour later, the contract magic circle was completed. As magical power was input, it emitted a dazzling radiance.
Simultaneously, Haruto felt an intangible connection forming with Rias. Just when he thought they had finally succeeded, the deep blue magical power within him began flowing uncontrollably.
"Crack--"
A sound like shattering glass echoed in both Rias and Haruto's consciousness, after which that faint connection completely vanished without a trace.
Haruto looked down to see that the contract magic circle engraved on his chest had somehow become completely fragmented.
Rias smiled wryly, "It seems you simply can't form a contract, Haruto."
Both could clearly sense the magical energy flowing within Haruto's body. Just as success seemed imminent, it automatically resisted.
This was a soul's instinct, much like an ordinary human's knee-jerk reflex - something he couldn't control.
However, in that instant, Haruto instinctively grasped a talent he had long overlooked.
The Soul Contract talent - he had always thought it was merely a summoner's ability to contract familiars. But just moments ago, this very talent effortlessly helped him dissolve the nearly successful contract.
Otherwise, relying solely on the soul's instinctual magical surge couldn't have so easily broken the contract formation.
After carefully recalling the earlier sensation, Haruto roughly understood the true function of the Soul Contract talent.
This talent allows one to easily master contracts - not just contracts for summoning familiars, but any contract acting upon oneself can be brought under one's control.
Conversely, contracts where control doesn't belong to Haruto cannot be formed.
Unless the other party's soul consciousness and power completely overwhelm him, forcing a contract.
To give a simple example: if Rias and Haruto form a master-servant contract with Rias as master and Haruto as servant - impossible.
But if Haruto is master and Rias is servant - that would be acceptable.
Understanding was one thing, but Haruto didn't know how to broach this with Rias, nor did he know whether the Underworld would recognize a contract where he held dominance.
After some thought, Haruto decided to speak up anyway.
If the Underworld could recognize it, they could always dissolve the contract after the Rating Game.
After hearing Haruto's explanation, Rias shook her head, "No, you must be my Servant."
The rules established by the Devil Kings for the Rating Game were quite explicit.
When a servant is promoted to become a King and acquires their own servants, as long as they haven't resigned from their position as a servant, they are obligated to continue participating in the Rating Game on behalf of their own King.
However, a King cannot intervene in the Rating Game of their servants who have already become Kings themselves.
This explanation might sound a bit convoluted, but the general idea is that the contract is primarily centered around Haruto—Haruto is Rias's King.
Rias can only use her own servants in her Rating Game; Haruto, as the King, cannot intervene.
"As expected, it's not possible..."
Haruto wasn't particularly surprised. Borrowing servants was one thing, but if the affiliated King could also step onto the battlefield, it would simply become a contest of "who has the better connections."
Rias's eyes lit up as she thoughtfully said, "Since you can form contracts, why don't we just create a master-servant contract that no one has ever seen before?"
Haruto instantly understood Rias's meaning. If no one had ever seen it, who held the dominant role in the contract would be entirely up to them.
"Will that be enough to deceive Riser?"
"Yes, absolutely. As long as the contract we form hasn't appeared before."
Rias affirmed, "It doesn't even need to be completely unseen—just obscure enough will do."
Creating an entirely new contract from scratch was too high a hurdle, and it couldn't be one with negligible effects either. If Riser had someone test the contract and discovered it wasn't a master-servant contract, it would spell trouble.
"Right, let's do it that way."
The more Rias thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Moreover, forming a contract with Haruto had been a lingering desire of hers.
Regardless of who held dominance, having a contract would allow them to sense each other's presence at all times, bringing a sense of security.
"We still have one week left. I'll search more carefully..."
With that, Rias activated the teleportation array back to the Underworld.
Before leaving, she instructed Haruto to notify Akeno Himejima to handle the accumulated affairs over the past few days.
After exchanging glances with the white-haired loli for a moment, Haruto decided to head to the villa first to inform the others.
...
...
Elsewhere in Japan, a leath-clad succubus loli was dragging a bewildered, buxom high school beauty with red hair through a frantic game of hide-and-seek.
After much twisting and turning, they finally managed to shake off their pursuers temporarily, giving Naruse Maria a chance to explain things to Naruse Mio.
But no matter how long she spoke, Mio—who had been raised in the human world since birth by subordinates sent by Wilbert—simply refused to believe her.
Even after witnessing the little girl's abilities firsthand and the magic used by their pursuers.
"Little girl, I need to go home now. You should head back too, and don't make your parents worry."
Mio gently patted Maria's head and curiously tapped the small, adorable ram horns with her index finger.
The craftsmanship is impressive—they look so real. I wonder where she bought them...
After silently marveling, she ignored Maria's protests and prepared to leave their hiding spot.
The succubus loli stamped her feet in frustration. If she didn't know that this well-endowed but airheaded woman was her half-sister, she would have given up already.
Due to the butterfly effect, Sheila had dispatched Maria early, barely managing to reach Mio before the pursuers.
As a result, Mio hadn't experienced the loss of her parents and completely dismissed everything Maria told her.
"If you won't listen to reason, then I have no choice but to resort to force."
As soon as the words fell, before Mio could fully grasp their meaning, her entire body went limp. Her overly voluptuous youthful frame slowly collapsed to the ground.
Maria withdrew her hand blade, cast a simple illusion spell on herself and Mio, then hoisted Mio over her shoulder and hurried toward Tokyo.
The Underworld pursuers had already discovered the Naruse family's location in the human world - returning would be like walking right into a trap.
The loli succubus couldn't stand by and watch Mio fall into danger. As for the demon couple who had raised Mio for over a decade...
There might still be a slim chance of survival if Mio didn't return, as the pursuers might want to use them as hostages to lure Mio out.
Whether they could actually survive would depend on luck - she could barely protect herself, let alone have the ability to rescue them.
"Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy..."
After spending half a day finally reaching Tokyo Station safely, Maria immediately began heading toward her new destination without rest.
Her mother Sheila had told her that after finding the person, she could either look for a man named Toujou Jin or go to Kuoh Academy to find the young lady of the Gremory family.
Either one would be sufficient to protect both her and Mio's safety.
Compared to the Brave clan, Maria trusted the Gremory family more, since they were fellow demons.
Moreover, even if she wanted to find Toujou Jin, with just a name to go by, she had no way of locating him.
In comparison, the Gremory family's base in the human world was much easier to find.
Such a large academy with considerable reputation - she could easily find the place with some simple inquiries.
Along the way, Mio woke up several times, but before she could say a word, she was knocked unconscious again.
At 10 AM, Maria, who hadn't rested all night, finally saw the impressive gates of Kuoh Academy.
Staring at the six large golden-edged characters "Private Kuoh Academy" beside the gate, the loli succubus felt all her strength drain away, nearly collapsing right there by the roadside.
No, not yet - she hadn't met the young lady of the Gremory family...
Maria rallied her spirits, hoisted the unconscious Mio, and directly scaled the wall to enter the academy.
She found an empty classroom to settle Mio in, then changed back to ordinary attire and began inquiring around the academy about Gremory Rias.
Such a cute young loli appearing at Kuoh Academy quickly caused quite a stir, especially since Maria kept asking about Rias.
Before the loli succubus could find Rias, the student council had already received reports.
Sona immediately sent people to keep an eye on Maria while notifying Haruto and the rest of Rias's servants about the situation.