— — — — — —
Shuchiin Academy—
A heavy, eerie silence covered the air.
Just now... What the hell happened?
The Old Satan Faction still hadn't wrapped their heads around the situation.
But for Natsuki, the pressure that had been suffocating her suddenly vanished.
The raging magical flood that had surged from the sky had… disappeared without a trace.
Natsuki quickly looked down toward the figure on the ground.
Messy black hair. Deep red eyes.
There was no doubt. That was Lynn.
And he really just pushed back a Maou that easily!?
Hiss—
Natsuki sucked in a sharp breath.
Was that... for real?
Since when…Since when did Lynn get that strong?
She was having a full-on crisis.
Sure, she'd guessed his power might've jumped recently, but even in her wildest guesses, she'd only imagined he might've reached High-Class Devil level at most.
And now he just smacked a Maou-level woman into the dirt?
She was stunned midair, struggling to wrap her head around it.
Down on the ground, Kitagawa Marin stared blankly at Lynn's back.
In that moment, it felt like just seeing him filled her chest to the brim.
He…He saved me...
The rest of the students at Shuchiin were in a similar daze, their eyes fixed on Lynn.
Once they spotted the Shuchiin uniform he was wearing, their jaws dropped even further.
Hold on.
Shuchiin has that kind of monster enrolled?
First there was Natsuki-sensei, and now this guy too?
"Ah!"
"I know who that is!!"
Someone shouted, "He's the president of the Supernatural Research Club!"
"???"
"..."
"Y-Yeah, that's right!"
Everyone at Shuchiin froze for a moment.
Wait, are you serious?
That's not just the rumored harem club!?
"...The Supernatural Research Club?"
Something clicked inside Marin. She etched that name into her heart.
...
As whispers and chatter buzzed through the crowd—
BOOM!!
A burst of overwhelming magical energy exploded from the ruins of the collapsed skyscraper!
Chunks of broken buildings went flying in every direction!
Katerea Leviathan staggered out of the rubble, clutching her abdomen.
Her long brown hair was a tangled mess, and her red-rimmed glasses were nowhere in sight.
She looked wrecked.
"Damn it!!"
Pain still throbbed from her stomach.
That red-eyed bastard...
He compressed her spell—all of it—into a tiny bead of water!
All the energy she'd poured into that spell was still there, fully intact…No, it was even stronger when it exploded thanks to the compression!
No wonder it hit her hard!
'Damn it! That kind of precise control—how the hell did he do that!?'
"Pah!"
She spat out blood, shaking the thoughts away.
With a roar, she shot back into the sky, returning to her original position.
"Boss lady…"
"Get out of my way!"
Katerea's expression turned ice-cold, her aura roaring back into dominance.
Yeah, that compressed water bead caught her off guard, she'd admit it.
But a big part of that was her own carelessness.
Now the real fight begins.
Natsuki snapped out of it too—No time to keep gawking at Lynn's power.
She narrowed her eyes and focused on Katerea Leviathan.
This wasn't over. Not just for Shuchiin, but for all of Tokyo.
But Katerea didn't even spare Natsuki a glance. She squinted at Lynn and said in a low voice, "Kid, I'll let you leave your name behind."
"...Huh?"
Lynn's expression turned weird.
Is this woman serious? She came here to kill me without even knowing what I look like?
He chuckled softly. "You came all this way for me, and you don't even know who I am?"
As he said that, he pressed lightly with his foot.
Crack—
Crack crack—
The massive magic array covering Tokyo started fracturing!
And in the next second—
BOOM!!
The entire spell shattered into glowing fragments and vanished into thin air!
All across Tokyo—The magical floodwaters faded instantly.
People looked around in a daze. "W-We're safe…?"
— — —
At the Lion King Organization—
Yukari Endou's eyes widened slightly in shock.
"It's over…?"
No.
She looked up sharply.
The magical energy around Shuchiin was still raging.
"Was that Natsuki's doing?"
She frowned and shook her head. Natsuki didn't have that kind of power.
Still—Whoever it was, they just saved Tokyo. At least for now.
What happens next… depends on what goes down at the main battlefield.
— — —
Back at Shuchiin—
Katerea Leviathan looked genuinely shaken.
That guy just erased her city-wide spell... that easily?
Her eyes narrowed in seriousness.
This kid wasn't just anyone.
But still—
She had the power of the "Snake." She wasn't backing down.
Even if they were both on Maou-level, with the Snake's power, she still had the upper hand.
Wait...
She tilted her head, snatched a file out of Bedeze Abaddon's hands, and compared the contents to Lynn.
"…So that's it."
A flash of realization passed through her eyes. She looked at Lynn with interest. "Didn't expect you to be thatValifer."
With that kind of power, it made sense why Kokabiel got one-shot.
But still... She wasn't like Kokabiel.
"Hmph. You knew we were coming for you, and you still dared to walk right up to me?"
Katerea sneered. "You've got a death wish, don't you?"
Natsuki: "…"
Why does it sound like you aren't the one who got slapped into a building just now…?
Lynn didn't say anything at first. He calmly raised his hand, stuck his pinky in his ear, and muttered, "You talk too much."
And just like that—
A ripple spread from under his feet.
[Gravity Devil]
Katerea Leviathan: "?!"
She blinked in confusion—Then her body suddenly slammed downward!
"Urgh!"
Invisible, crushing force surged in from all directions!
Boom boom boom!!
Behind her, the Devils under her command groaned as they were yanked to the ground.
Bedeze Abaddon gritted his teeth, trying to withstand the pressure.
But—
BAM!
A few seconds later, he also slammed into the ground.
At least he fared better than the others.
His legs were buried in the dirt, but he wasn't totally wrecked.
Natsuki's eyes widened.
What the hell!?
She had no idea what just happened.
But one thing was certain—Lynn did something.
And it even worked on another Maou-level opponent?
She looked at the struggling Bedeze Abaddon and started seeing Lynn's power in a whole new light.
On the other side—
Katerea Leviathan was breathing hard, looking just as beat up.
Gravity, huh?
She'd seen enough battles to recognize it right away.
But knowing what it is doesn't help you fight it.
"Damn it!!"
She roared—
Magic flared from her body, forming a wide-area spell circle!
If it's gravity—
Then she'd use thatforce to slam her magic back at him!
Crack crack—
Frosty air flowed out from the array.
Everything was quickly coated in a layer of ice and snow.
As a Leviathan, she didn't just specialize in water magic.
Ice was also one of her specialties!
With her magic pouring into the circle, a glacier slowly began to take shape, emerging from the summoning array.
Seeing this, Natsuki's eye twitched slightly.
She wasn't planning to sit back and do nothing, nor was she going to rely solely on Lynn.
Chains of golden light burst forth, shooting straight at Katerea Leviathan like arrows.
Shackles of Holy Steel!
"A Sacred Gear?"
Katerea Leviathan scoffed with a smirk of disdain.
As long as it's not a Longinus, everything else is just trash to her.
…Or at least, that was usually the case.
Right now… Katerea's gaze shifted to Lynn, her eyes narrowing.
With him around, even that little bug of a girl suddenly became a lot more annoying.
She glanced at her subordinates, seeing them completely immobilized, and cursed under her breath—useless trash!
Clank!
The golden chains came flying in fast!
Frowning, Katerea had no choice but to divert some of her focus. She raised one hand and summoned a magic circle for defense.
Clang!
A sharp, metallic sound rang out!
The Chains failed to break through her magical shield—at least for now.
But… the other magic circle in her opposite hand was visibly weaker!
Natsuki noticed this and immediately doubled down on the chain assault.
She knew it might not hurt a Maou-level opponent, but at the very least, it was disrupting her ability to cast the glacier spell.
However…
Lynn had no intention of playing a drawn-out game. With a flick of his hand, he unleashed a slashing wave of magic!
I'm going to die!" Katerea's instincts screamed.
Without the slightest hesitation, she acted purely on instinct—abandoning her spell, she vanished in a blink, narrowly avoiding Lynn's slash.
But before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, Natsuki's chains clung to her again like some kind of cursed glue.
"Tch."
Katerea clicked her tongue in annoyance. This time, she didn't bother dodging.
With a snap, she grabbed the chain barehanded.
"I don't have time for this. You seriously think you're important enough to slow me down?"
With a sneer, she yanked hard.
Natsuki suddenly felt an overwhelming force pull through the chain—then—
Whoosh!
She was flung straight through the air—her trajectory aimed right at Lynn!
Raising a brow, Lynn casually caught her mid-air and pulled her into his arms.
"Huh. Not bad," he muttered, shooting a strange look at Katerea.
At this point, he was starting to wonder if she was really the enemy.
"…Next time you wanna fly into my arms, at least come in your original body, Natsuki-chan."
Natsuki rolled her eyes at him, then said with a serious expression, "Enough jokes. This enemy's the real deal."
"Oh yeah?"
Lynn shrugged, clearly unfazed. Then, turning his eyes to Katerea, he cracked a crooked grin.
And in the next instant—
Boom!
A fiery burst of magic exploded—Lynn vanished in a flash of sparks!
Katerea's eyes widened in shock as she frantically scanned the battlefield.
Where?!
Where is he?!
Suddenly, she felt a hot breath rush up from behind!
She tried to turn—but too late.
BAM!
A brutal strike smashed into her lower back!
CRASH!!
Katerea was sent flying—smashed into the ground with a thunderous impact!
BOOM—
The ground quaked violently from the crash.
A spiderweb of cracks spread from where she landed, the shockwave rippling through the ground.
"Urgh…!"
Katerea groaned, trying to push herself up from the crater—
BAM!
Her head was stomped back down into the dirt.
With Natsuki still in his arms, Lynn looked down at her with a cold expression and muttered: "You know… I really hate talking while looking up at people."
Natsuki stared in shock, still trying to process what had just happened.
That speed!
Way too fast!
Not just Katerea—even she, who had been right there, didn't catch what Lynn just did!
Such power!
...
Katerea's face was crushed into the dirt, the humiliation boiling in her chest.
A descendant of Leviathan—reduced to being stomped into the ground like this?
"You bastard!!"
She clenched her fists, digging into the dirt—then suddenly, a wide-area magic circle spread out beneath her.
WHOOSH!
Water surged upward like a boiling hot spring, ready to launch Shuchiin Academy into the sky!
"Watch out!" Natsuki warned in a sharp voice.
But Lynn remained calm. A jet-black magic circle unfurled beneath his feet.
BOOOOM!!
The water pillar slammed into the black shield with explosive force!
But no matter how violently it raged, the barrier stood firm like an unbreakable wall.
Katerea stared in disbelief as her attack was completely blocked. Her pupils shrank.
Who… the hell is this guy?!
There's no way he's just a normal Maou!
That damn Shalba—he totally lied about this guy's strength!
Damn it!
A glint of madness flashed in Katerea's eyes.
Like this, she couldn't win.
If she wanted a chance—She had to use that power.
"Snake!!"
.
.
.