"Zheng—"
Flashes of red light, like a barrier, rose from the magic circle carved into the ground, enveloping Leon and Yukinoshita Yukino who were standing within it.
Yukinoshita Yukino felt her vision gradually being covered by the red light, but the light quickly dimmed again, allowing her vision to return.
When her sight was restored, Leon and Yukinoshita Yukino were no longer in the Soubu High School Service Club room, but had arrived in an incredibly spacious underground training room.
It was the training room located in the basement of Leon's manor.
"We really were transferred over instantly..."
Yukinoshita Yukino looked at the identical magic circle on the floor as the one in the Service Club room and quietly murmured.
"There's still some time before class. Before that, let me first familiarize you with your own power and condition," Leon was already accustomed to this phenomenon. He snapped his fingers, drawing Yukinoshita Yukino's attention. He then said, "Do you remember the knowledge I shared with you about stray devils on the way to school?"
"Of course." As an honor student ranked first in her grade, Yukinoshita Yukino naturally had a good memory, especially concerning a situation so closely related to herself. Her brain was fully active. She answered seriously, "Including me, all devils reincarnated as members of a peerage are transformed using an item similar to a piece from a Western chess set, correct?"
"Yes, that's called an Evil Piece. It's a reincarnation tool created by the current Devil King, Beelzebub, to save the dwindling devil population, and only Upper-Class Devils with a noble title are granted them." Leon nodded and said, "According to the chess piece classification, I am the King. After registering on a monument found only in the noble cities within the various territories of the Underworld or in the Devil King's Castle, I acquired a total of fifteen Evil Pieces."
"These fifteen pieces are: one Queen, two Rooks, two Bishops, two Knights, and eight Pawns."
"When these fifteen pieces are granted to others, reincarnating them as devils, the resulting devil peerage member gains different characteristics depending on the piece received."
Leon stretched out his hand, and a magic circle unfolded on his palm. One by one, bright red pieces flew out of the magic circle and arranged themselves in front of Yukinoshita Yukino.
"The Rook's characteristic is astonishing offense and tenacious defense. They can use an ability called Castling and are worth the equivalent of five Pawns."
"The Bishop's characteristic is magical power. They are suited for peerage members skilled in the use of magic and are worth the equivalent of three Pawns."
"The Knight's characteristic is speed. They are suited for peerage members skilled in high-speed combat and are also worth the equivalent of three Pawns."
"And the Queen piece holds the highest value, equivalent to nine Pawns. It possesses the power of all the pieces above. Whether it's offense, defense, magical power, or speed, it is the strongest of all peerage members."
As Leon introduced them one by one, the mentioned pieces flew toward Yukinoshita Yukino in succession. Finally, eight pieces flew over together. The appearance of these pieces was completely identical.
"This is the final Pawn piece. Although its value is the lowest, it is the most numerous. Its characteristic is the ability to Promote. It can be promoted to any of the above pieces on a field that the King recognizes as enemy territory, gaining the corresponding piece's abilities, and can change freely. It is a variable whose presence may be low but must never be ignored."
After Leon finished introducing all the Evil Pieces, Yukinoshita Yukino immediately understood.
"So... I am your Bishop, right?"
Yukinoshita Yukino noticed that of the Evil Pieces Leon had displayed, only one type was currently incomplete, and that was the Bishop.
The single Queen piece was still present, and all eight Pawns were accounted for. Even the Rooks and Knights, each with two pieces, were intact. Only the Bishop was left with one piece, making its implication clear at a glance.
"That's exactly right." Leon collected all the Evil Pieces, smiling, "You are one of my Bishops. Your characteristic is magical power. After reincarnating as a devil, your magical power has greatly increased, far surpassing ordinary Low-Class Devils."
Speaking of this, the look in Leon's eyes towards Yukinoshita Yukino showed a hint of satisfaction.
After reincarnation using an Evil Piece, the quality of the peerage member is not fixed but determined by the individual's potential.
For example, magical power. All devils possess magical power, even reincarnated peerage members. However, some peerage members gain strong magical power after reincarnation, while others gain very weak magical power. This primarily depends on whether the reincarnated person possesses talent in this area after becoming a devil.
The famous Red Dragon Emperor, one of the future Two Heavenly Dragons, had pitifully little magical power when he reincarnated as a devil. He couldn't even manage a jump via a magic circle, forcing him to ride his bicycle every night to reach the human who triggered the fliers—a truly undignified state.
Yukinoshita Yukino, upon reincarnation, awakened a considerable level of magical power, already nearing Leon's level when he was ten years old.
One must know that his magical power at the age of three was already an outstanding level among Mid-Class Devils, and after seven years of training, it had grown much stronger, almost touching the limit of a Mid-Class Devil.
Yukinoshita Yukino possessed such strong magical power right from the start. Although the Bishop piece's characteristic played a factor in the enhancement, her own talent for magical power was definitely not low, in no way inferior to some pure-blooded devils. She was truly a promising talent.
She was indeed worthy of being the main female protagonist in her original world. Whether as a human or a devil, she was absolutely an honor student.
With some proper guidance, Yukinoshita Yukino could quickly become a qualified Mid-Class Devil combatant, and one of the best among Mid-Class Devils at that.
This was only considering her qualities as a devil.
Compared to the power truly slumbering within Yukinoshita Yukino, her devil power was practically insignificant.
"Now, close your eyes and imagine the strongest thing you can think of in your mind."
Leon's goal this time was to guide Yukinoshita Yukino to awaken the power sleeping within her.
Yukinoshita Yukino subconsciously complied with her "master's" order and closed her eyes.
"The strongest thing... huh?"
Yukinoshita Yukino immediately thought of a person—Yukinoshita Haruno.
That was her older sister, and the person she had always viewed as a goal, the person she constantly wanted to surpass.
She was excellent; Yukinoshita Yukino had that confidence, but it depended on whom she was comparing herself to.
Compared to her older sister, who was hailed as a perfect superhuman, she lagged far behind.
For many years, Yukinoshita Yukino had always lived in the shadow of her excellent older sister, so her life had not been pleasant.
At home, she had experiences similar to being isolated at school. Because she was neither favored like her sister nor able to meet everyone's expectations, although she was viewed as a well-behaved and sensible child by those around her, that also meant she was seen as cold and unappealing, causing Yukinoshita Yukino to be constantly constrained.
Therefore, while confident, Yukinoshita Yukino was also insecure, believing she was merely a substitute for her sister, like a puppet without a self. She yearned for change but felt lost about the future.
Under these circumstances, even though Yukinoshita Yukino clearly knew that, in a practical sense, Leon and the fallen angel from yesterday were stronger than Yukinoshita Haruno, when asked about the strongest thing, she still inevitably thought of her sister.
This was the result of a deeply ingrained subconscious mind, regardless of the facts.
And at this very instant, Yukinoshita Yukino's emotions underwent an uncontrollable fluctuation, causing the deeply hidden power within her to stir.
"Now, draw out that power."
At the sound of Leon's sudden voice, Yukinoshita Yukino's breath almost caught, and she instinctively obeyed.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a roar resonated in the air.
The temperature in the training room plummeted, allowing icy, freezing winds to rage and stir up snowy waves.
Yukinoshita Yukino's clothes violently rippled. Her eyes were tightly shut, but a figure appeared out of thin air behind her.
It was a humanoid monster, about three meters tall, entirely composed of ice. It looked like it was wearing a gown, had four slender arms, a face without a mouth or nose, six eyes on its left cheek, and something that looked like thorns protruding forward from its right cheek.
"W-what is this?"
Yukinoshita Yukino opened her eyes and was startled by the Ice Princess standing behind her.
Leon's voice came over just right, reaching her ears.
"This is the true form of the Sacred Gear residing within you."
Leon approached Yukinoshita Yukino, gazing at the three-meter-tall Ice Princess, a slow smile spreading across his lips.
"Sacred Gears vary in power. The strong ones are enough for the host to exert power comparable to Gods and Devil Kings, while the weak ones can only cause minor effects on daily life."
"The function of most Sacred Gears falls into the latter category. At most, they can only affect human society and cannot influence supernatural beings like us."
"However, there is a small portion of Sacred Gears that can threaten existences like us, and an extremely rare few possess the power to destroy Gods and Devil Kings."
The look in Leon's eyes towards the Ice Princess was brilliant.
"Those are the highest-grade Sacred Gears, terrible powers that are closely tracked by Heaven and the surveillance of God's Son due to their immense power and danger."
"Currently, there are only thirteen such terrible powers, and each one has the potential to disrupt the balance between factions."
"We call them—Longinus."
The Sacred Gear Yukinoshita Yukino possessed was, just like Balance Breaker, something revered as a Longinus.
"Absolute Demise—the eleventh-ranked Longinus. It is a legendary independent manifested type of Sacred Gear that can freeze everything and create a world of ice crystals."
In the original work, this Longinus was owned by a magician named Lavinia Reni.
But in this world, Yukinoshita Yukino had become its master.
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