At this moment, the basement no longer resembled the icy, snow-covered state of the morning, but had returned to its original appearance.
The crimson magic circle emitted bursts of red light and gradually transformed into two figures under the watchful eyes of Leon and Yukino Yukinoshita.
Seeing these two figures, Leon showed a much more candid smile than usual, while Yukino Yukinoshita was a little nervous and curious as she sized up the two.
They were two women who could be described as striking in every sense of the word.
One stood forward, and the other stood slightly behind, much like Leon and Yukino Yukinoshita when they went to school in the morning; it was clearly a configuration of one master and one subordinate.
The dominant one was a petite and slender girl with a physique similar to Yukino Yukinoshita's. Her facial features were exceptionally delicate and refined, she wore a pair of glasses, and her shoulder-length short hair exuded a cold and serious aura.
The subordinate one was a black-haired woman who also wore glasses. Her appearance was likewise very beautiful, but her figure was much better than the former's—both tall and voluptuous, full of mature charm.
To be honest, Yukino Yukinoshita was quite surprised to see two people like this emerge from the magic circle.
Both women were of the highest caliber in both appearance and temperament. Even if they were placed in Sobu High, they would likely be popular characters of the caliber of the Four Peerless Beauties.
And both of these women were devils?
Were the female devils in the Underworld all of such high quality?
While Yukino Yukinoshita was thinking this, the two women had already stepped out of the magic circle.
"It took you long enough to come visit, Sona."
Leon also stepped forward and greeted the cold, serious girl leading the way, teasing her with a smile.
The cold, serious girl, who normally looked unsmiling, also showed a faint smile.
"I've been waiting for you to finish your business here. This doesn't count as keeping you waiting, does it?"
Sona Sitri's smile was very, very faint, almost imperceptible, but if someone familiar with her saw it, they would definitely know that this was already her way of expressing closeness.
"If anyone kept anyone waiting, it was me keeping you waiting." Leon shrugged, then turned to look at the woman behind Sona Sitri, saying: "It's been a long time since we last met, Tsubaki?"
"Yes, Lord Leon." The tall woman immediately bowed respectfully to Leon, saying: "The last time we met was when I traveled to the Underworld with the President to attend your High-Class Devil promotion ceremony."
That was actually not long ago, but compared to Sona Sitri, who contacted Leon from time to time, she and Leon could indeed be said to have not seen each other for a long time.
"Let me introduce you." Leon smiled, beginning to introduce the person standing behind him, Yukino Yukinoshita: "This is the first Servant I recruited, Yukino Yukinoshita, who holds the position of 'Bishop'."
Yukino Yukinoshita nodded towards the two women, appearing somewhat aloof, fully displaying her lack of skill in social interactions.
For a Servant, showing such indifference toward another High-Class Devil would be problematic from any perspective, making her appear rude and arrogant.
However, Sona Sitri seemed to have already learned about Yukino Yukinoshita through her own channels, so her expression remained unchanged.
"I am Sona Sitri, my true name is Sona Sitri, a third-year student at Kuoh Academy. Please take care of me, Yukinoshita-san." Sona Sitri also nodded towards Yukino Yukinoshita, then introduced her own Servant: "This is Tsubaki Shinra, who is both my 'Queen' and my first Servant. I hope you two can get along well."
Tsubaki Shinra gave a slight bow to Yukino Yukinoshita, showing politeness.
"Kuoh Academy?"
Yukino Yukinoshita looked at Leon.
"It's a private academy located in Kuoh Town. A few years ago it was an all-girls school, but it has since become co-ed. Sona and Tsubaki are both students there, and Sona is even the Student Council President."
Leon explained a few things to Yukino Yukinoshita.
"Kuoh Town, you say?"
Yukino Yukinoshita remembered the place.
It was a town located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Tokyo. It wasn't a large place, and it wasn't far from Chiba Prefecture—a place where one could make a round trip on the same day by train.
There didn't seem to be any famous noble families there; at least the Yukinoshita family hadn't paid much attention to the place. She hadn't expected a pure-blood High-Class Devil to be stationed there.
"I am not the only High-Class Devil stationed in Kuoh Town. My childhood friend also uses it as her base and attends Kuoh Academy, just like me. She was the one who attracted me to attend school there." Sona Sitri seemed to perceive some of Yukino Yukinoshita's thoughts and said, "You can come visit sometime. Rias and I will both welcome you."
There was actually another High-Class Devil stationed there?
Was Kuoh Town some extremely important location?
Yukino Yukinoshita silently wondered in her heart.
Normally, she, who liked to speak her mind, would have already asked these questions.
But now, the topic involved things she had never encountered in the seventeen years of her life, which made her slightly more cautious. She restrained her inner questions, trying not to embarrass Leon.
However, this feeling was not pleasant. At least for Yukino Yukinoshita, who was competitive and had strong self-esteem, this state of appearing somewhat ignorant was absolutely intolerable.
"I should spend more time reading later. At the very least, I need to grasp the common sense and basic knowledge."
Yukino Yukinoshita made up her mind.
She did not know that Sona Sitri was already observing her in secret, and very closely at that.
She noticed that although Yukino Yukinoshita had only recently reincarnated as a devil, the faint magical power emanating from her was absolutely formidable. It likely far exceeded the rank of a Low-Class Devil and was close to touching the realm of a High-Class Devil.
Furthermore, Sona Sitri clearly sensed an exceptionally strong Sacred Gear fluctuation coming from Yukino Yukinoshita.
This was the strongest Sacred Gear fluctuation she had ever witnessed, enough to make the usually unflappable next head of the Sitri family feel solemn.
"It seems, Yukinoshita-san is a wielder of a Longinus, just as you previously guessed."
Sona Sitri pushed up her glasses and spoke these words.
"President Shitori knows about my Sacred Gear?"
Yukino Yukinoshita finally couldn't hold back and asked.
"Of course." Sona Sitri glanced at Leon, who was watching her with a smiling face, and said: "Your Master had his eyes on you long ago. Immediately after receiving the Evil Pieces, he told me that he was going to take you as his first Servant, lest a rare Longinus wielder slip away right under his nose."
"It's not just me who knows about this. Most devils who keep an eye on your Master and know that you previously showed signs of Sacred Gear loss of control are aware of this matter."
"If it weren't for the unspoken rules among devils, which prevent us from running onto someone else's territory to snatch people, many devils, including me, would likely have been drawn to you, wanting to recruit you as a Servant."
This was the wielder of one of the only thirteen Longinus.
If developed smoothly, it was rumored to be capable of destroying gods and Demon Lords.
Who wouldn't want such a Servant with unlimited potential?
Unfortunately, Leon had the advantage of timing, location, and social connections; virtually no one could compete with him, so this massive piece of cake could only be devoured by him alone.
However...
"I thought he would give you the 'Queen' position. I didn't expect you ended up as a 'Bishop'."
Sona Sitri was indeed somewhat surprised by this.
Not just Sona Sitri, even Tsubaki Shinra was surprised.
This was a Longinus wielder. Wasn't making her a 'Bishop' too much of an underutilization of her talent?
Normally, as long as the 'Queen' position was available, giving it to Yukino Yukinoshita should have been the most logical choice, right?
Yukino Yukinoshita was also Leon's first Servant, so it was even more fitting that she should become the 'Queen', wasn't it?
The 'Queen' is not only the strongest Servant under the 'King' but also his most capable helper, usually accompanying the 'King' everywhere. Naturally, the more excellent the person, the less they should miss out on this position. Therefore, everyone who knew Leon was after a Longinus wielder assumed he would give the 'Queen' position to her.
Who would have thought that she would ultimately become a 'Bishop'?
"It's not that I was stingy and unwilling to give her the 'Queen' Evil Piece."
Seeing all the women look at him, Leon quickly spoke to explain.
"This was the pawn's own choice."
Hearing this, everyone was stunned.
"The pawn's own choice?" Sona Sitri's heart stirred slightly. She asked: "Are you saying this is one of the changes that occurred in the Evil Piece as a result of your mutated characteristic connecting with it?"
Yes, Sona Sitri knew what kind of characteristic Leon had awakened.
And it wasn't just Sona Sitri; basically, everyone who was paying attention to Leon knew about this matter.
The reason was simple: Leon never intended to conceal it.
When he received the Evil Pieces and awakened his characteristic, many people were present to witness the ceremony and saw the strange phenomenon caused by the Evil Pieces in his hand connecting with him.
At that time, the Evil Pieces in his hand caused a significant disturbance, which later attracted the attention of the current Demon Lord Beelzebub.
After inspecting Leon's Evil Pieces, the Demon Lord concluded that his Evil Pieces had undergone a subtle change unknown to outsiders.
This was why, when Sona contacted Leon yesterday, she mentioned that Leon's background and self were very special, and many people were secretly watching him.
Leon's uniqueness was no longer a secret among the high ranks of the devils.
Thanks to this, Leon did not conceal the mutation of his characteristic. Since he couldn't hide it anyway, he simply used it as leverage to deepen the impression he made on the higher-ups, gain more attention and importance, and secure more support.
The large collection of books in his study, including many extremely precious types, were smoothly delivered to Leon's hands only after this, showing that Leon had indeed leveraged it to gain quite a few benefits.
Leon knew that one of Sona Sitri's main reasons for coming was to find out exactly what changes his characteristic and the Evil Pieces had brought about.
"This is not the place to talk."
Leon winked at Sona Sitri.
"Let's chat over tea."
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