A full thirty seconds later, only then did a faint fla kindle on Ruval's body and pull him back from the brink.
Revived, Ruval looked at Akuto with lingering fear.
Alright—he had underestimated him.
If he'd been at the very center of that blast, even as a Phoenix at quasi-Maou level he would have gone straight to near-death!
Akuto really hadn't wanted to hurt him, which was why he stopped instead of pursuing.
"Akuto, if it's you, I believe you can lead the Underworld toward a stronger future."
Forcing himself upright to make one more political statent, Ruval's remaining strength ran out and he collapsed at once.
At the sa ti, the chi rang in Akuto's mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the Host on completing the Story Quest — Ruval's Test.]
[Quest Requirent: Defeat Ruval Phoenix and gain his recognition.]
[Quest Rank: Purple.]
[Reward: — The Holy Sword that Slays Maou (Fragnt)]
[The highest-order Creation Spirit, full na "Guardian Deity—Terminus-Est."
This is not her pri body, but a power avatar bearing the main body's consciousness.
As the majority of her power is sealed in the Spirit Realm, only one-tenth of her true strength can be exerted.]
[Note: The original Est nominally has curse-dispelling power, but in essence she stores within the sword the curses—i.e., the grudge and wrath—of Spirits annihilated by holy blades.
Once the storage exceeds its limit, the backlash assaults the contractor's body.
The system-summoned Holy Sword removes this drawback; the wielder may discharge stored curses at will.]
[Ding!]
[Holy Sword Prototype has fused with Holy Sword that Slays Maou (Fragnt)!]
[Your Holy Sword Prototype quality has risen to Aureate-Purple.]
[Because "Est" is the first self-aware holy sword to fuse with the Prototype, "Est" will henceforth serve as the Prototype's primary consciousness.]
"The Holy Sword that slays Maou, huh? Nice expansion for my armory."
Akuto weighed it. Considering the enemies he'd face in the future, a blue-tier weapon might be useless at tis against super-Maou and above. By system trics, blue worked at most on Maou-class; beyond that, it struggled.
Overall, Akuto was quite satisfied—besides its power, what impressed him most was the bonus: a cute silver-haired loli, Est.
If it weren't inconvenient here, he truly wanted to summon Est on the spot and run a little experint—like how shy she'd get if he touched her feet.
—Elsewhere.
Riser had just woken when he personally witnessed Akuto's Explosion.
Seeing his own brother nearly enter a near-death state, Riser snapped his gaze to Grayfia.
"Grayfia-sama! I choose to surrender!"
He didn't hesitate in the slightest.
From how things stood, who knew how much Akuto had held back when fighting him, and how much face he'd saved for him?
At this point, all Riser felt toward Akuto was gratitude, not resentnt.
Devils respect the strong—simple as that.
[Riser concedes. The victor is Akuto!] Grayfia announced—face dark.
Dark because—though there was no proof—she felt Akuto had aid that blast sowhat deliberately.
Even if he wanted to control the range so Ruval wouldn't be hurt too badly, did he have to detonate toward her coordinates?
There were so many directions with Ruval at the center—yet he just had to pick hers?
Grayfia had long considered herself mature enough not to get angry over a junior's teasing.
She hadn't expected to nearly lose composure today… because of this junior nad Akuto.
She didn't dig into the reasons—she simply thought he was teasing her.
Perhaps even she hadn't realized that after witnessing Akuto's battle with Rias, her attention to him had surpassed the normal—
Beyond interest in strength… there was even a faint, very faint, man-and-woman kind of curiosity.
A purple-tier succubus bloodline wouldn't make soone at super-Maou level fall for Akuto outright.
But to nudge Grayfia's gaze, to spark a sliver of curiosity—
…that much wasn't impossible.
At this very mont, Grayfia found herself wondering sothing deeper:
[If Akuto had the mind to tease in battle… then that day at Rias's place, could it also have been on purpose?]
The thought that he might have gotten more excited because she was present—
The mory of Rias's eyes rolling back again and again—
Grayfia's mood… turned complicated.
—anwhile, far away.
In a deluxe ward, Ruval opened his eyes with a frown.
Propping himself up, he saw Riser lying in a neighboring bed as well.
Riser hadn't collapsed like Ruval, but he'd also suffered extre damage and needed real rest.
Seeing Ruval awake, Riser turned, surprised.
"Ruval-nii, your timing's perfect—you didn't miss Ravel's big mont."
"Ravel's… most important mont?"
Ruval suddenly realized, and whipped his head toward the television.
On the huge screen—
Rias and Ravel, two pure-blood Devil beauties, were wearing pure white wedding dresses, tears in their eyes as they gazed at the boy walking toward them.
By the rules of the Seizure Duel, the victor performs the betrothal ceremony on the spot after the fighting ends.
So Rias had put her wedding dress on in her "onii-sama's" room early and waited.
But unlike previous seizures… there were two brides this ti.
Rias and Ravel stood at the end of the red carpet, their gowns representing the houses of Gremory and Phoenix.
At the other end, Akuto wore the formal "Quasi-Maou" attire tailored by the Underworld for the Leviathan Heir, and advanced toward his two brides.
"Quasi-Maou" here did not refer to strength.
It referred to the status of Leviathan's heir—treated within the Underworld as equivalent to a quasi-Maou.
After the Reform Faction unified the Underworld, they hadn't exterminated the Old Maou bloodlines; they granted them the "quasi-Maou" rank.
Of course, those used to "Maou treatnt" were unwilling to accept a lower status and soon left the stage.
Akuto had no such hang-ups.
To him, this was a free "quasi-Maou" status—
Not as grand as "Maou," but far better than a reincarnated Devil or a random pure-blood.
Besides, he had already shown enough unifying value.
A newly awakened youngster who could reach Maou-class in short order—both the Reform Faction and the Old Devils would compete to win him over.
For Akuto, "Leviathan Heir" was a springboard—a convenient identity to quickly climb beyond ordinary Devils.
He aid for the highest seat anyway; so long as he could face any Old Maou assassination attempts, "quasi-Maou" brought only benefits.
Like now…
He could feel many Devil won watching him with burning eyes.
If he were just a common reincarnated Devil, he'd never receive such treatnt.
Walking up to Rias and Ravel, Akuto went down on one knee and took out two rings engraved with the Leviathan sigil.
Before him, the two girls—each in a gorgeous gown of different style—stepped forward and offered their gloved hands.
Slowly and steadily, Akuto slid the betrothal rings onto their slender, fair fingers.
Rising, he glanced over the two girls—already moved to the point of losing composure—and spoke quietly:
"Ravel, your brother Ruval and I made a bet—if I lost, I'd confess to you publicly before the entire Underworld."
"In my view, that bet was unnecessary."
"Because confessing to the one I like is sothing I should do regardless."
"Akuto-sama…"
Ravel covered her rosy lips, eyes brimming.
"Rias—and Ravel."
"I like you both. Perhaps I've liked you longer than you imagine."
"I've never been a man of single-minded love. I just stubbornly pursue what I want."
"Thank you for understanding and accepting soone like ."
He said this because, before the ceremony, Sirzechs had announced a major decision:
With the approval of current head Venelana Gremory and First-Generation Gremory, Rias Gremory would be temporarily stripped of heirship. The next headship would pass to the first child born of Akuto and Rias.
Normally, an heir cannot marry out; they only accept spouses into their house.
For example, even had Riser married Rias, their offspring could not take Phoenix as a surna—only Gremory.
This decision gave Akuto trendous face.
On one hand, removing heir status freed up Rias's constraints.
On the other, by specifying only the first child as successor, the Gremorys implicitly acknowledged that Akuto's other children could follow his surna.
Hearing this, Rias smiled helplessly and wiped her tears.
"It's alright. I've long known Akuto-kun is a lecherous (really lecherous) boy."
"That's right," Ravel giggled through tears. "If Akuto-sama weren't lecherous, then why did he… well… push my head the very first ti we t?"
Listening to the two girls' "evaluation," Akuto gave a wry smile and continued:
"In any case, you are both dear to . I'm truly happy to marry you together."
"Yes, Akuto-sama. From today on, please take care of ," Ravel said, letting happy tears fall.
"Mhm. I am willing to marry you too, Akuto-kun," Rias added, the main wife reminding him softly. "But if possible, don't be too fickle. I can accept you having multiple wives, but not just anyone."
"Brides, please kiss the groom you both acknowledge," Grayfia prompted from the side.
Her mood was quite complicated.
Though the Underworld had rituals for one man marrying multiple brides, following them personally as the officiant was… a different feeling altogether.
At her words, Rias and Ravel exchanged a glance—and then both leapt into Akuto's arms.
Red and gold—two beauties offered up their soft, lovely lips together.
It didn't last long, rely ceremonial—
But the oath-sealing kiss etched itself deep into Akuto's mory.
(End of Chapter)
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