Although Kelly was eager to return and help her teammates, there was no doubt that she also didn't want Leo to die for no reason in this world.
If both she and Lux left, what would Leo do then?
What if that devil woman killed Leo? What if something else went wrong during the Blood Moon?
Kelly wanted to account for all of it.
Even though, considering the power Rias had displayed, worrying about these things was probably useless—but still.
They had to be considered.
Kelly didn't want Leo to suddenly drop dead after she left.
"My safety isn't something you need to worry about," Leo said.
Kelly didn't know that Leo could travel between worlds. If the energy cost for world-hopping wasn't too high, then he could leave easily instead of continuing to wait here for the Blood Moon.
"You make it sound easy. I don't want you turning into something weird," Kelly sighed.
Lux, standing to the side, unconsciously tightened her grip on her staff. She understood what Kelly meant—Kelly wanted her to stay behind for a while.
To Lux, this was a classic trolley problem. No matter which choice she made, it felt wrong.
But Leo didn't let her continue tormenting herself.
"Besides, it doesn't look like there's much choice anyway. The fifth day is the Blood Moon. By then, whether you can even leave is questionable, so stop saying silly things."
Leo stood up.
"Miss Lux, Miss Rias—if I remember correctly, you should both be level fifty by now, right?"
He looked at the two women, and they nodded.
After killing so many zombie birds, reaching level fifty was only natural. Rias even stated her current level outright.
"I'm level seventy-eight now. Does that level have any special meaning? And do skill points really increase our power?"
She was genuinely curious.
"They do increase it," Leo replied. "I currently have stamina and recovery speed about ten times that of a normal person. But this kind of strength feels more like a percentage-based amplification rather than directly adding raw power."
Leo was very aware of this—largely because of how weak he himself was.
"I see. Let me try."
Rias tapped something in the air. In the next instant, the red-haired beauty's expression changed.
"It really does increase strength… but just as you said, it doesn't act directly on the body. It's more like a conceptual enhancement."
Rias sensed her body carefully. She understood power better than Leo did, so she grasped the situation more quickly.
Now, when she exerted one unit of effort, the power delivered felt like only half—but the sensation told her she had already used her full strength.
It was a very strange feeling.
The power didn't seem to come from her body at all, but from the world itself.
Rias then added a point into stamina.
Instantly, she felt her magic recovery, physical stamina recovery, and even her body's self-healing ability double.
"Interesting."
She raised a finger and ignited a fireball. She used only half the usual amount of magic, yet the fireball manifested in its complete form.
Under everyone's gaze, Rias threw the fireball.
In the next moment, she witnessed the explosion.
"The power doubled… and the source of that power also seems to appear from nowhere. It's as if I'm the master of this world…"
She sighed in amazement and looked at Leo.
"These skill points are absurdly powerful. But facing a world like this, such power also feels… appropriate."
Leo looked at the massive destruction and nodded unconsciously. He had guessed what Rias did, but it was obvious that even though he had also invested skill points, the effect was nowhere near as dramatic.
"I kind of like this world," Rias said with a light laugh.
She poured all her remaining points into power. In the next instant, she casually formed another enormous fireball and hurled it into the distance.
The result—
A fireball cast with her usual amount of magic erupted with twenty times its former power.
A violent shockwave exploded outward—
Not only that, but her magic and stamina were also recovering at twice the previous speed!
This was completely different from Leo.
Even though Leo had invested in stamina and could now swing tools with half the effort, his raw strength was still capped where it was.
But for someone who wielded special energy, it was another story entirely.
Halved energy consumption meant doubled output and endurance.
Add in a point of power—doubling destructive force and output—
With just two points invested, Rias's combat power had increased fourfold on paper!
"This world is fascinating. That means if I max out both power and stamina, then if one of my spells normally has a power of 10, the final output would be 10 × 11 × 11—1,210 times stronger! Such an enormous amplification!"
At that point, even a basic fireball would be enough to blow this land to pieces.
With her power of destruction, leveling a continent wouldn't be impossible!
This level of amplification could push her straight to the level of her brother—and it looked shockingly easy. Just keep killing zombies and completing simple tasks!
"Ah?"
Leo had no idea just how insane the addition of a magic-energy variable made Rias's growth. He was still just an unlucky guy with roughly eleven times the strength of an ordinary office worker.
He had even been under the impression that he only had ten times normal strength…
After all, that last point barely felt noticeable.
To be honest, Rias was completely overpowered in this world.
"But…"
Rias clenched her hand, and the joy on her face faded.
"There is a price to this power."
She stared at her palm. Because she was familiar with contracts, she had immediately sensed one settle onto her the moment she invested her points.
"The more I use this world's power, the more my original world's imprint fades. If the imprint of my homeland disappears completely, I'll become a being of this world and never be able to return. And…"
She closed her eyes, sensing things Leo could not.
As a devil well-versed in contracts, she clearly perceived the terms.
"This world is damaged. That's why it's become so twisted. It's begging for help—begging for a new leader to restore it. But unfortunately, this world is already finished. Endless malice fills it. The power it once used to help humanity survive has been lost along with that damage. What we're using now is just the remnants of that power…"
"And worse—this power is useless once you leave this world. What a letdown."
After Rias finished speaking, Leo and Kelly exchanged looks.
Neither of them had felt anything like that.
Leo thought it might be because Rias had become the current strongest candidate for the dimension's ruler—but when he thought carefully, he realized that even when he himself had become a dimension ruler, he hadn't felt anything like this.
"Is it because of her level?" Leo wondered.
He wasn't sure, but he suspected it had something to do with Rias being the strongest individual at the moment.
"That's why I'm no longer interested in skill points," Rias said with a smile. "If I fully accept this world's power, I'll be trapped here forever. But I'm happy to do missions with you all—better safe than sorry."
Not wanting to think about such troublesome matters, Leo also dropped the topic. He led the group to the trader, accepted missions, and shared them.
The missions were laughably simple—so simple that Leo didn't even need to act. The zombies were wiped out by the highly motivated Rias and Kelly, while he looted buildings together with Lux.
And then—
"Hahahaha! Three black guys!!"
Kelly burst into laughter, clutching her rocket launcher and pointing at three figures—one holding duct tape, one holding a magazine, and one holding a medkit—laughing without restraint.