Taking advantage of the remaining duration of Endless Twilight Citadel, Ryuya swung the King's Sword and slashed toward what used to be the academy's training field.
The area had already been reduced to ruins after the previous battles. With a single sweep of the King's Sword, the ground collapsed completely, revealing a hollow beneath.
Inside the hollow, the core formation of the magic circle shone brightly. A massive amount of energy was brewing within it, already on the verge of eruption.
This energy wasn't on the level of Kokabiel's divine power, but if it fully exploded, the city would still be half-destroyed, especially now that there was no barrier left to defend it.
Ryuya moved immediately.
Locking onto the core of the magic circle, he brought the King's Sword down in a decisive strike!
The already unstable energy instantly became even more violent, as if ignited.
Raising his left hand, Ryuya caused the ancient city in the sky to descend!
As the colossal structure pressed downward, now much closer to the ground, the terrifying pressure it carried became even more intense, its vast and ancient aura shaking the very soul.
Ryuya looked up at the black, ancient city, a flicker of hope flashing in his eyes.
Through relentless training day and night, combined with various methods of strengthening himself, he could finally exert a small degree of control over this ancient city.
He didn't know exactly what its full capabilities were.
But he was certain of one thing—
It could definitely withstand the explosion of this magic circle!
And at that very moment, the magic circle detonated!
A massive surge of energy erupted outward, the shockwave overturning the already ruined terrain.
In an instant, the explosive force spread in all directions—
But under Ryuya's control, the ancient Twilight CItadel finally changed!
Golden veins lit up across the city walls, spreading rapidly throughout its structure. In that moment, the ancient city seemed to awaken!
The Divine Shield before Ryuya flew out on its own, hovering in the air and radiating brilliant silver light. The remaining demonic power within Ryuya's body began to drain rapidly!
The rate of consumption exceeded his expectations.
Gritting his teeth, he endured, but in the end, he had no choice but to burn his own life force, using its energy to barely sustain the Divine Shield.
Even space itself seemed to tremble.
A golden light suddenly burst forth from the city, enveloping everything below!
Then Ryuya saw—
After the explosive force swept through, it had absolutely no effect!
This ability…
Wasn't this [Stasis]?!
But…
It wasn't just himself this time.
Everything within the area covered by the golden light had been frozen in [Stasis]!
When the explosive energy dissipated, everything remained exactly as it had been—
Nothing had been destroyed.
A realization slowly formed in Ryuya's mind.
This was the innate ability of the Divine Shield.
If the King's Sword possessed the overwhelming offensive skill [Judgment of the King], then the Divine Shield's ability was the large-scale defensive divine technique—
[Benevolence of the King]!
Both abilities could only be used while Endless Twilight Citadel was active. That prerequisite alone was already absurd.
This paired Sacred Gear of the King's Sword and Shield…
Was ridiculously powerful.
After just two or three seconds, the aftermath of the explosion completely faded.
But in those brief seconds, Ryuya had paid a heavy price. His life force and demonic power had been significantly depleted.
Fortunately, both could be replenished.
But the overwhelming sense of weakness was unbearable.
Unable to maintain Endless Twilight Citadel any longer, the ancient city vanished from the sky.
Ryuya's body went limp, and he fell uncontrollably from the air.
Rias and the others immediately flew up, catching the falling boy. Seeing his pale face, their hearts ached.
"Ryuya… I'm so sorry… we made you suffer like this…"
Rias gently caressed his face, her eyes filled with pain and tenderness.
Asia, tears streaming down her face, forced herself to stay conscious despite her exhaustion and began using Twilight Healing to restore his life force.
Ryuya said nothing.
He simply didn't have the strength anymore.
As the tension in his mind finally loosened, a wave of dizziness overwhelmed him.
The world spun—
And he lost consciousness.
Seeing him faint, Rias and the others panicked.
"Let's take Ryuya back first. We need to restore his life force and demonic power as soon as possible."
As she spoke, Rias and Akeno supported the boy, lifting him up. Then Rias turned to Koneko.
"Koneko, go inform Sona. We'll deal with the rest later."
"Got it."
Koneko nodded, casting a worried glance at Ryuya before quickly leaving.
…
Ryuya had been completely drained this time. After an unknown period, his consciousness gradually returned.
Slowly opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was a few strands of golden hair.
With some effort, he lifted his head slightly, his mind still throbbing with pain—
And then he saw Asia's adorable sleeping face.
Besides her, there was another steady breathing sound.
Turning his head again, he found Rias's beautiful sleeping face.
It seemed the two of them had once again spent a long time restoring his energy and life force.
Ryuya's gaze softened.
Feeling the warmth of their bodies against his, he closed his eyes again and began sensing his own condition.
Now that he was awake, he naturally had to start meditate his demonic power to recover faster.
Enduring the heavy exhaustion in his mind, he focused on his meditation.
Only after his body had mostly recovered did he finally relax again.
Letting out a long breath, he turned and pulled Asia's soft body into his arms.
This time, he finally fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.
In his dream, he suddenly felt a strange heat spreading through his body.
Then—
He began to dream.
In the dream, it felt as though he had been captured by a succubus and toyed with for a long time. Yet he couldn't muster any strength to resist.
As his life force was continuously drained, he felt himself growing weaker and weaker, nearly losing consciousness altogether—
Until he suddenly jolted awake.
That sensation of his life force being drained was far too intense.
There was no way he wouldn't wake up.
…What a strange dream.
Only then did Ryuya notice movement beneath his blanket.
Looking over, he saw the covers slowly lifting—
And Akeno Himejima emerging from underneath.
"…"
The two stared at each other.
Ryuya was momentarily speechless.
Glancing to either side, Asia and Rias were still sleeping soundly…
Why was Akeno in his bed too?!
Looking at her, just as unguarded as the others, Ryuya didn't know what to say.
"You… what are you doing?"
"Hehe, I knew you'd already recovered. Seeing you so full of energy… I just couldn't help but take care of you a little."
Akeno lay on top of him, her warm body pressed fully against his, the soft and overwhelming sensation leaving no room to escape.
Compared to Rias, the feeling wasn't any less overwhelming.
Hearing Akeno's words, Ryuya was completely speechless.
So that experience in his dream… was actually all caused by Akeno messing with him in reality?
"Akeno… you've really been taking advantage of me…"
Ryuya gently wrapped his arm around her slender, enticing waist, freely enjoying the softness of her mature body.
"Hehe… I just couldn't help myself. These past few days, Rias and Asia have been monopolizing you. I was so jealous."
Akeno lightly caressed Ryuya's face, her expression filled with gentle amusement.
"I came to check on you yesterday and saw you training, so I knew you were almost recovered. That's why I came early today to give you a little surprise~ hehe, do you like it?"
Looking at her soft, rosy lips so close to him, Ryuya couldn't help recalling that strange sensation from his dream…
Mm… he hadn't expected Akeno's technique to be even more skillful than Rias's. She was incredibly flexible. This alluring onee-san truly was gifted…
"I like it quite a bit."
Ryuya smiled and softly asked, "How long was I out?"
"Three days and two nights. And your body seemed to be in some kind of self-protection mode. During that time, all four of us came to replenish your demonic power. You drained us quite thoroughly, you know."
"Hm? You and Koneko too…?"
"Hehe, yes. Too bad you didn't see Koneko's adorable expression~"
Akeno teased with a smile, while Ryuya coughed lightly.
"Then I'll have to properly thank all of you later…"
"As long as you've recovered, that's what matters," Akeno said with a smile.
At that moment, she seemed to sense something and turned her head with a grin.
Rias was glaring at her with clear irritation.
"Akeno, what exactly are you doing?"
"Hehe, just giving our cute junior a little affection. Is that not allowed?"
"Taking care of him is my job alone," Rias said coldly.
Ignoring her, Akeno smiled sweetly.
"How selfish. Are you trying to keep him all to yourself?"
Rias finally lost her patience and unleashed her demonic power, sending Akeno flying off Ryuya.
Akeno spread her devil wings and stabilized herself midair, completely unconcerned that her alluring body was fully exposed to Ryuya's view. She smiled mischievously.
"You're the sly one, hogging him every day. This was a rare chance I finally got."
"I'm not giving him to you!"
Jealousy flaring, Rias grabbed a pillow, infused it with demonic power, and hurled it at Akeno.
Rip!!
Golden lightning crackled at Akeno's fingertips as she casually blasted the pillow apart, filling the entire room with drifting white feathers.
"Uh… what's going on?"
Asia's slightly confused voice sounded as she opened her eyes, staring blankly at the feathers floating everywhere.
"It's nothing. Go back to sleep."
Ryuya smiled gently and pulled Asia into his arms.
Held like that, Asia immediately felt a wave of happiness. Completely ignoring the ongoing clash between Rias and Akeno, she nestled into Ryuya's embrace with a blissful expression and closed her eyes, actually falling back asleep.
Holding the soft body of the little nun, idly playing with her, Ryuya watched the "battle" between Rias and Akeno with a faint smile.
Waking up to such a lively scene first thing in the morning…
Even heaven probably couldn't compare to this kind of life.
He wasn't bothered at all by this so-called "battlefield."
At this level, it couldn't even be called a battlefield, right?
It was still pretty harmonious…
Meanwhile, Rias and Akeno nearly tore the entire room apart.
In the end, when they noticed that Asia had ended up monopolizing Ryuya without even trying, they both stopped reluctantly, realizing their pointless struggle had only benefited the quiet little nun.
"So, what happened afterward?"
After watching the two girls' rather intense "fight," Ryuya got up, put on his clothes, and asked with a smile,
"Nothing else happened while I was unconscious, right?"
"Nope."
Rias flicked her crimson hair and shot Akeno a glare before continuing to dress herself.
"Because the school was destroyed, classes have been suspended these past few days."
"…Ah… what now? We can't just keep it closed forever…"
Ryuya felt a bit awkward. After all, when it came to destruction, his own attack had been the most excessive…
"Don't worry. I've already arranged for people to repair it. With magic, everything should be fully restored within a week, exactly as it was before."
Akeno, also getting dressed, added with a smile,
"As for the students, President Sona has already used memory manipulation to calm them down. There won't be any issues."
"…That's good."
Ryuya fell silent for a moment.
After being unconscious for three whole days, Sakurajima Mai and the Nakano sisters must have been trying to contact him…
"Thinking about your human girlfriend?"
Rias spoke, a hint of jealousy slipping into her tone. She found herself wanting to monopolize Ryuya more and more, though she knew it wasn't possible…
Ryuya smiled.
"I'll go spend some time with her for the next few days. I probably won't be coming back at night."
"Eh? You're not coming back at night?!"
"Ara ara… I'll get lonely, you know…"
Seeing their reactions, Ryuya couldn't help but rub his forehead.
These two clearly had some mischievous plans for the nights…
Especially Akeno, who had already taken advantage of him while he couldn't resist and "helped herself" quite a bit. And now she still wasn't satisfied…
"Spending time with my girlfriend is only natural, right?"
As he spoke, Ryuya stepped forward, leaned in, and kissed both girls on the cheek.
Waving casually, he left the bedroom.
Then, in the living room, he saw Koneko sitting neatly on the sofa in a very proper posture, quietly watching TV while holding a half-eaten strawberry daifuku in her hands.
…
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