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Li Ancheng casually weighed the Red Dragon Emperor’s gauntlet in his hand, glanced at Asia beside him, and without a moment’s hesitation, tossed it over.
“Asia, catch.” “Since you’ve already got a Sacred Gear, take this shabby little glove and use it as a decoration.” Beside them, Himejima Akeno’s brain completely crashed the instant she heard the word “Longinus.” The ancient texts of the Underworld.
The legends of the Three Realms she had been steeped in since childhood.
All of them, countless times, in the most fear-soaked language imaginable, had hammered home the god-slaying power and forbidden catastrophe those three words represented.
But right now…
This ultimate weapon of mass destruction, something the three factions would shed blood over, something that could ignite a full-scale war, Not only had it been forcibly extracted from its host…
He was treating it like a worthless piece of broken jewelry…
And just casually tossing it to a little nun?!
“Eh?!” Asia fumbled to catch the gauntlet, completely dumbfounded.
“Mr.
Ancheng…
I-I have a Sacred Gear inside me too?” “S-so Father Freed lied to me…
because of the Sacred Gear in my body?” “That’s right.” Li Ancheng extended a finger and made a faint pointing gesture toward her.
WENG!
A soft green light flashed.
Between Asia’s fingers, a pair of delicate rings suddenly materialized.
“This is your Sacred Gear.
It’s called Twilight Healing — the true source of your Healing Power.” “You’ve just never drawn on its stronger abilities, so it’s always been lying dormant.” Asia stared blankly at the rings on her fingers, utterly stunned.
“I-I always thought…
this was a miracle granted by the Lord in answer to my devout prayers…” “Ancheng-kouhai!” Rias finally snapped back from her stupor.
She fixed her eyes on the gauntlet in Asia’s arms, her breathing ragged.
“That Longinus!
Can you let me handle it?!
In exchange…” “I’ll agree to any condition you name!” Li Ancheng turned to look at her.
Her face was all urgent desperation.
He was genuinely puzzled.
“What do you even want it for?” “The soul of the dragon inside it — I already ate it.” “What use is an empty shell to you?” “Ate…
you really, actually ate it?!” Rias went rigid, frozen solid where she stood.
Himejima Akeno’s mouth fell slightly open, her deep violet eyes flooded with pure, undisguised horror.
So…
They hadn’t been hallucinating earlier?!
One of the infamous Two Heavenly Dragons of legend.
The Red Dragon Emperor, Ddraig.
He had actually treated it like a little snack and swallowed it whole?!
“Yeah, the taste was pretty good.” Li Ancheng said it like he was talking about lunch.
He turned his head toward Alpha, who was descending the staircase with unhurried, elegant steps.
“Alpha, since Rias-senpai wants it so badly, cut that gauntlet in half and give her a piece.” “Understood, Onii-sama.” Alpha smiled softly and nodded.
She walked over to Asia, who still hadn’t recovered, and took the gauntlet from her.
The next second.
She raised one slender hand, fair as white jade, and grasped at empty air.
ZHENG!
A pitch-black sword wreathed in dark energy condensed into solid form, appearing from nothing.
Without the slightest hesitation, the blade rose and fell.
“Wait!
Don’t!” Rias’s cry of alarm rang through the living room at the exact same moment as a crisp, clean CLACK.
Alpha gracefully bent down and picked up the gauntlet from the floor, split neatly in two.
She walked over to Rias, who stood frozen like a statue, and held out one half.
Her smile was gentle.
“Sorry.
You spoke too late.” “Here.
This half is yours.” Rias mechanically extended her trembling hands and accepted the remains of the Longinus.
She swallowed hard.
Her gaze stayed locked on the black longsword slowly dissolving in Alpha’s hand.
Her mind had gone completely blank, all capacity for thought simply gone.
Cut…
she cut it?!
One of the legendary Longinus…
Cleaved in half like someone splitting a watermelon in the kitchen?!
Nearby, Hyoudou Issei watched the whole thing and couldn’t help but pout.
What kind of pathetic Longinus is that?!
It’s flimsier than a sheet of paper!
That sword the elf-sister is holding, now that deserves to be called a Longinus!
Rias pulled in several long, slow breaths before she barely managed to find her voice.
“That weapon of yours…
what level is it?!” Akeno was staring hard at the fading afterimage of the blade, her own breathing strained.
Alpha didn’t answer directly.
She looked toward Li Ancheng, her posture respectful.
“Onii-sama?” “Sword of Law.” Li Ancheng had half a mind to explain further, but decided it was too much trouble and let it go.
“Anyway, it’s stronger than all those so-called Sacred Gears you know of.
That’s enough.” At that very moment, Beta was perched on the staircase steps, eyes gleaming, scribbling furiously in her notebook.
[Ancheng-sama has issued the highest directive: he wants to destroy every Longinus in this world!] …
Half an hour later.
Kuoh University.
Old School Building.
Occult Research Club.
The atmosphere was suffocating.
Rias sat behind the wide office desk, eyes hollow, staring at the gauntlet’s remains on the table, severed in two by a single sword stroke.
Even now.
Her heart wouldn’t stop slamming in her chest.
Just what kind of terrifying, forbidden existence…
Had she actually been sitting across from today?!
Someone who could casually send out a single subordinate to chop a Longinus like kindling.
Standing in front of him, she was nothing but a joke.
“Buchou.” Himejima Akeno gently set a cup of black tea in front of her, unable to hold back a bitter smile.
“Stop staring at it.” “Even if you stare until flowers bloom from it, it won’t put itself back together.” Toujou Koneko sat quietly on the sofa nearby, crunching through a piece of chocolate like a small, unhurried hamster.
Her slender legs swung lazily in the air.
Those calm, untroubled golden eyes didn’t spare the Longinus a single glance.
She looked utterly unbothered.
Kiba Yuuto, on the other hand, had his hand wrapped unconsciously around the hilt of the demonic sword at his waist.
Cold sweat had soaked through his shirt.
He swallowed.
“Buchou…
you’re saying that Ancheng-kouhai — no, a subordinate of Ancheng-kouhai!” “Cut the Longinus into this state with a single sword?!” “And on top of that…
Ancheng-kouhai ate one of the legendary Two Heavenly Dragons right in front of you?!” Rias finally pulled herself together.
She nodded, a heavy, deliberate dip of her head, and swept a grave look across her peerage.
“That’s right.
Akeno and I saw it with our own eyes.” “So I’m warning all of you.” “From now on, if you run into him on campus, drop the arrogance.
Watch your conduct.
Do not, under any circumstances, provoke him.” Toujou Koneko gave an expressionless nod.
She wasn’t in the Literature Department anyway and had no reason to ever encounter Li Ancheng.
It was none of her concern.
Kiba Yuuto, however, had gone still.
His thoughts had drifted somewhere else entirely.
He was back in the Church.
Back to the Holy Sword Project, that merciless, inhumane program.
He thought of the comrades who couldn’t adapt to the holy swords and were discarded like refuse.
They had paid with their lives just to reach something sacred.
Just to touch power that stayed forever out of reach.
And now…
Someone had used a single sword to cut down a Longinus, infinitely more terrifying than any holy sword, like it was trash to be thrown away.
Yuuto drew back from those bitter memories and spoke quietly, unease threading through his voice.
“Buchou, I was somewhat rude to Ancheng-kouhai today…
do you think he’ll hold it against me?
Maybe I should go and formally apologize tomorrow?” “No need.” Rias pressed her fingers to her brow, exhausted.
“You’re overthinking it.
An existence on his level never even registered that you were there.” “Ara ara…
Buchou, that’s not quite right~” Himejima Akeno raised the back of her hand to her lips and let out a low, honeyed laugh.
“Ancheng-kouhai may not think much of Yuuto.” “But…
he did make it very clear that he’s quite interested in you, Buchou~” Rias rolled her eyes and fired back without mercy.
“Oh, spare me.
He’s just as greedy for you, Himejima Akeno!” She propped her chin on one hand and irritably turned the half-gauntlet over in her fingers.
“Akeno…
is there any way we can actually get him to be friends with us?” Akeno set aside her smile and thought about it seriously for a moment.
Then she shook her head.
“I can’t see through him.
I genuinely cannot read Ancheng-kouhai at all.” “From what little contact we had today, he seems completely indifferent to power, status, even wealth.” “What he actually cares about…
it might really only be the people around him.” “Buchou.” Yuuto, as if something had just occurred to him, offered quietly, “I’ve heard Ancheng-kouhai is very popular with the girls in his class.
What if…” He let his gaze drift toward Koneko, still steadily working through her chocolate.
“We had Koneko transfer into his class?
She could look into his preferences at the same time.” Koneko paused mid-bite.
She looked at him without expression and said three flat words: “Why not you?” Yuuto pointed at himself with a pained smile.
“I’m a sophomore.
You can’t seriously expect me, a guy, to voluntarily hold myself back a year just to get close to him.” “And besides…
the way Ancheng-kouhai looks at me is like looking straight through a ghost.
He clearly has no interest in me whatsoever.” “No need to guess.
He finds you repulsive.” Akeno delivered the killing blow without flinching, then shook her head with a soft laugh and dismissed the idea.
“Koneko, don’t bother going.” “When we left the villa today, he specifically said that at school, he just wants to be a normal, unremarkable student.” “If we send someone with a hidden agenda to approach him and he catches on, the backlash would be far worse than doing nothing at all.” “Normal student…” Rias let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
“He obviously just wants to spend time with those three girls in his class.” “Akeno, I’m telling you — if Souna had been the one to visit him today, he would have said he wanted her too, without a second’s hesitation.” Hearing that.
Li Ancheng’s face surfaced in Akeno’s mind, clear and unbidden.
A faint blush crept across her cheeks.
She spoke up, her voice carrying just the hint of something decided.
“Buchou…
I think I could give it a try, actually.” “You?” Rias looked up, genuinely surprised.
Akeno blinked those mesmerizing, soul-catching eyes.
A slow, confident smile curved at the corner of her lips.
“After all…
I don’t have a troublesome engagement weighing me down like you do, Buchou~” “If you’re willing, I’d like to try this myself.
My own approach, on my own terms.” She straightened, and the motion made her already striking figure impossible to overlook.
“At the very least…
there is absolutely no way I’m losing to three little freshmen girls.” Rias raised an eyebrow, her expression caught somewhere between amused and skeptical.
“And what exactly are you planning?
Don’t tell me you’re going to voluntarily drop down to first year.” “Ara ara~ It’s not really dropping down.” Akeno laughed softly and shook her head without the slightest embarrassment.
“Think of it as experiencing the Literature Department’s atmosphere.” “University coursework is trivial entertainment for us at this point, anyway.
Isn’t it?” Rias looked at her most capable servant for a long moment.
Then she nodded.
“Fine.
If you’re volunteering, I won’t stop you.
You’ve always known when to push and when to hold back.
I trust your judgment.” Her expression shifted.
Eyes sharpening, she looked around at every person in the room and dropped the gag order.
“I’m saying this one last time.” “The fact that Li Ancheng is the Master of the Demon Court stays buried.
Not a single word.
To anyone.” “Especially — do not let that glasses-wearing Souna find out.
I am not letting her try to poach him from me.” “I will be reminding you of this.
Every.
Single.
Day.” Meanwhile.
Demon Court Villa.
The bedroom.
Li Ancheng stepped out of the bathroom freshly showered, bathrobe wrapped loosely around him, and stopped.
Because the person currently lounging on his large, soft bed…
Was neither Rurikawa Tsubaki nor Karen.
It was Beta.
“Ancheng-sama~ Done with your bath?” Beta was stretched out comfortably, half-reclined against the pillows.
Her long legs were bent at the knee, propped up in front of her like a reading stand, her ever-present notebook balanced perfectly on her thighs.
“What are you doing on my bed in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?” Li Ancheng walked over, a smile threatening at the corner of his mouth.
“Working, of course!” Beta brandished the small fountain pen in her hand with complete moral conviction, eyes bright and shining.
“Ancheng-sama, go ahead and sleep!
Don’t mind me~” “I want to find out if you talk in your sleep!” She tilted her head.
Something a little fervent flickered through her smile.
“Because no matter what Ancheng-sama says in his dreams…” “I, Beta, will record every single word faithfully~” “Hee hee~” ➤ Next: Alpha’s Violent Rescue — The Third Elf Appears!