Chapter 216: Threat
Since her birth, Maria had lived in the most remote part of the Underworld. Despite being an adult, she had never even engaged in the succubus practice of absorbing life energy.
She had no exposure to matters concerning Evil Pieces and servants. Sheila likely thought the same, as she never mentioned such topics to Maria.
After giving Mio and Maria some time to process the information, Haruto proactively brought up the matter of the sisters being hunted.
"Maria, didn't your mother tell you how to resolve this? You can't keep hiding forever."
"Well... Mom said to hide until the Tri-Faction Summit concludes a month from now, and then seek the Gremory family's protection..." The loli succubus glanced around, somewhat embarrassed.
Haruto nodded in understanding. It seemed the two families had indeed maintained contact, and Sheila was aware of the Gremory family's situation.
Though their circumstances were somewhat dire, they still had a Devil King among them and retained their status as one of the Four Great Satans.
Once the peace treaty was finalized, no one would dare cause trouble. Protecting three "weak" women would naturally be effortless.
"No, I need to go home... Mom and Dad..."
Faced with the facts, Mio no longer doubted the loli succubus's words. However, years of affection couldn't be discarded so easily.
After a moment of internal conflict, she declared firmly, "Mom and Dad are in danger. Even if we have to hide, I must bring them with me."
"Agreed."
Haruto nodded. If Mio's adoptive parents were still alive, the Gremory family had the means to protect them.
If not for being preoccupied with the Phenex family's affairs, he would have considered going to the Underworld to eliminate Zokiel outright and settle the matter.
Based on Haruto's memory, unless significant changes had occurred, Zolgear's strength was at most at the Ultimate-Class Devil level.
Zolgear was addressed as a Devil Duke by his subordinates, meaning he held the rank of a duke—and a duke from a remote region at that, with his lifespan nearing its end.
Haruto wasn't well-versed in the devil nobility system, but he knew the Four Great Satans all held the rank of duke.
The family heads held the title of duke, possessing the strength of High-Class or Ultimate-Class Devils.
Of course, this didn't mean the Four Great Satans' top combatants were limited to this level. Those stronger had long moved on to other pursuits and wouldn't remain as mere dukes.
For instance, Rias's brother, Sirzechs, was so powerful he directly became a Devil King.
The same applied to Sona's sister.
"Then let's go now..."
Mio retracted her wings and checked her pink flip phone. A sense of foreboding made her increasingly anxious.
This feeling had emerged ever since she confirmed the loli succubus's story was true.
Nearly twenty hours had passed since she encountered Maria after school, yet there were no messages or missed calls from her parents on her phone...
Considering the demons and magical beasts hunting her, Mio doubted her parents could fend them off.
When Wilbert chose Mio's adoptive parents from among his loyal subordinates, it wasn't just because they were kind-hearted. More importantly, they were sufficiently ordinary—their sudden disappearance wouldn't attract attention.
Coupled with over a decade of peaceful life in the human realm without using magic or engaging in combat, her combat capabilities had likely diminished significantly.
Haruto understood what Mio was worried about and wasted no time, immediately instructing Akeno to prepare a teleportation magic circle.
"Naruse-san, your home is located at..."
Just as Akeno was asking for the address to lock onto the location, Mio's phone suddenly rang.
"It's Mom calling!"
Mio answered the call excitedly, but the voice that came through instantly plunged her into an icy abyss.
"You have one day. If you're not at your home by then, you can prepare to collect your parents' corpses..."
The low, hoarse voice hung up after delivering this message, followed by a photo sent to Mio's phone showing a middle-aged couple lying in a pool of blood on the floor.
"Dad! Mom!"
Staring at her adoptive parents whose condition was unknown, Mio frantically redialed the number in a mix of panic and fury, but only received busy signals. The other party clearly had no intention of negotiating.
"Mio-sama..."
Maria looked at Mio with concern, "This is obviously a trap. The fact that they haven't contacted you until now must mean they don't want you to return..."
The loli succubus was right. Over ten hours earlier, after losing track of Mio, the pursuers had found her adoptive parents and tried to force them to call her back.
But the couple would rather die than comply. Left with no choice, the pursuers had to make the call themselves.
Being unfamiliar with the human world, it took them considerable time to master using a mobile phone, which explained the delay.
"No, I have to go back! I have to save Mom and Dad!"
Mio knew it was a trap, but even knowing that, she had no choice but to walk into it.
After living together for over a decade, they were as dear to her as biological parents.
Maria cast a pleading look at Haruto, hoping he would help persuade Mio.
Haruto ignored her gaze and instead said, "It seems these people have already kidnapped your parents and are most likely at your home... In that case, we need to change the teleportation location."
Mio gave Haruto a grateful look, struggling to contain her anxiety as she said, "My home is at 5-chome, Maple Town, Ehime Prefecture. Can we teleport there?"
"No problem."
The teleportation magic could travel between the three realms, let alone cover half the distance across Japan.
"Akeno-senpai, set the location at the outskirts of Ehime Prefecture to avoid alerting them with the teleportation energy fluctuations.""
"Mm."
Akeno closed her eyes briefly to lock onto the position, and the teleportation circle in the center of the activity room began glowing with dazzling light.
"Ready."
Before Akeno finished speaking, Mio had already hurried onto the circle, with Maria quickly following suit.
"Akeno-senpai, I'll be back soon. Please reactivate the teleportation circle in three hours."
After giving these instructions, Haruto stepped onto the circle as well.
The Naruse sisters would be lucky to protect themselves, let alone rescue hostages. The reason he agreed so readily was because he planned to handle it personally.
"Just the three of us?"
Maria glanced discreetly at Akeno and the others. When she briefly revealed her demon form earlier, she clearly sensed that almost everyone present except Asia was stronger than her.
If more people could go, regardless of whether they could rescue the hostages, at least Mio's safety would be better guaranteed.
Haruto didn't expose her little scheme, merely stating calmly, "It's not the three of us, but me alone. You two just need to lead the way."
If even a succubus loli could safely escape pursuit, the enemy's strength was clearly not impressive. He alone was more than sufficient—having more people would only cause confusion.
Maria knew Haruto was very strong, but she didn't know exactly how strong. Still, she had no choice but to obediently comply.
Because the teleportation array had already activated.
After the three disappeared, Asia worriedly asked, "Akeno-senpai, will Haruto-san be alright going alone? Why didn't everyone go together?"
"No need to worry."
Akeno narrowed her beautiful eyes and said, "Haruto's strength is completely adequate. As for why we didn't all go together—at this critical juncture, it's better to avoid giving others any excuses."
She didn't know where Zolgear was some rural demon noble from, but if their entire group had mobilized, it would clearly signal intentions of starting a war.
Due to the pureblood demon lineage maintenance, the marriage arrangement issue between the Gremory family and the Phenex family remained unresolved.
If they started internal conflicts with other demon nobles now, it would put the Gremory family in an even worse position regarding public opinion.
They might even be labeled with the big hat of 'demon traitors'.
Besides this issue, their confidence in Haruto's strength was the key factor.
Not to exaggerate, but aside from Satan-Class figures personally taking action, basically no one could pose a threat to Haruto anymore.
If he fought without holding back, even Satan-Class opponents would suffer greatly.
Not much time had passed since the Azazel incident, so presumably no Satan-Class powerhouse would seek trouble at this time.
As for that rural duke the succubus loli mentioned, he clearly didn't possess Satan-Class strength—otherwise he wouldn't have waited until now to make a move against Mio.
If the mastermind behind the scenes didn't even have Satan-Class power, how strong could his dispatched subordinates be?
Akeno estimated they would be High-Class Devil level at most—otherwise someone of Maria's caliber couldn't have escaped all the way from Ehime Prefecture in Shikoku to Tokyo.
Meanwhile, in a dark alleyway, a red light flashed as Haruto and the two others appeared in the outermost city of Ehime Prefecture.