"What is that?"
Luffy's movement was seen not only by Leon, but by Rias and Sona as well.
The group's attention was instantly drawn to the small vial, and they saw clearly what was inside. Within it was something that resembled a small black snake.
The form of the little black snake was unstable, shifting and surging like a mass of gas. However, its head and tail were connected, faintly exuding a mysterious charm that was difficult to decipher.
Rias and Sona instinctively felt that this was something terrifying, or rather, something originating from a truly horrific existence—so frightening that just a glance made their bodies tremble with an urge to shudder.
But before they could see it clearly or fully comprehend the feeling, Luffy suddenly tilted his head back and swallowed the contents of the vial.
Boom!
In an instant, the space vibrated violently. A wave of startling power fluctuations swept outward, instantly diffusing throughout the Throne Room.
The aura of demonic power radiating from Luffy's body began to swell at a pace visible to the naked eye, causing him to roar involuntarily. In the blink of an eye, the demonic aura he emitted broke through his limits, reaching an entirely different level.
If he had previously been a demon of the Eight-Winged level, he was now absolutely capable of rivaling a demon of the Ten-Winged level!
"What... what is happening?!"
Rias and Sona were faces of pure shock. The composure on Leon's face vanished, replaced by a deep frown.
"Hahahaha!"
Bathed in the terrifying aura of demonic power and feeling the strength coursing through his body, Luffy could not help but burst into laughter.
"Such incredible power!"
"Is this my current strength?"
"So strong... it's truly powerful. As expected of the power bestowed by that person, hahahaha!"
Luffy was completely immersed in the sensation of his skyrocketing strength, with no trace of his previous wretched state. He looked at the frowning Leon, his eyes filled with tyrannical emotions.
"So what if you are Eight-Winged? So what if you are an Ultimate-class Devil?"
"As long as I have this power, a mere Eight-Winged Ultimate-class Devil isn't even worth a single exchange against me!"
"I want to see if you can still maintain that high-and-mighty attitude you had just now!"
Luffy's malice-filled declaration actually caused Leon's furrowed brow to relax.
"What exactly are you so proud of?" Leon said bluntly, still looking down at Luffy on the ground. "Anyone with eyes can see that this power isn't yours at all. You only possess it by relying on an external object. What is there to be proud of?"
"So what?" Luffy remained unmoved, as if he had grown accustomed to Leon's sharp tongue. He sneered, "You have no idea what the appearance of this power signifies, let alone how grand it truly is!"
"Now, I will use this power to kill you, and kill the younger sisters of those two fake Devil Kings over there. I'll let those demons who joined the Reformist faction see exactly how foolish it was to choose to rebel against us, the direct descendants of the True Devil Kings!"
"Oh, and regarding those peers of yours—we will be sure to give them a proper welcome too!"
As if just remembering it, Luffy waved his hand, unfolding several magic circles within the Throne Room. They projected images of the other rooms within this labyrinthine space.
Thus, Leon and the other two saw exactly what kind of crisis their peers were currently experiencing.
"Akeno! Koneko! Yuuto!"
"Tsubaki! And everyone else—!"
Rias and Sona's expressions changed instantly.
In those various rooms, the peers of the three were still locked in bitter struggles, and their situations were fraught with danger.
Himejima Akeno and Shinra Tsubaki were still in the first room, entangled with attacking demons from the Old Devil King faction. They were surrounded, subjected to continuous encirclement and sneak attacks. Their bodies were already covered in wounds and soaked in blood; even their clothes were tattered, revealing glimpses of skin.
Kasumigaoka Utaha, Toujou Koneko, and Yura Tsubasa were also still in the first room, staying inside a barrier and not daring to come out. They were surrounded by mages dressed in black. The mages attacked in waves; when the front line grew exhausted, the ones in the back took over, and once the back recovered, they stepped forward to cast spells again. This ceaseless assault was pushing Utaha to her limit; she was gasping for air and drenched in sweat.
Shiina Mahiru, Kusaka Reneya, and Hanakai Momo were doing better, or rather, the explosion of power from Mahiru was so unexpected that they had already reached the third room. However, the third room was also filled with black-clad mages who were not suppressed by Mahiru's Holy Cross. Having exhausted herself through her outbursts in the previous two rooms, Mahiru was now pale and collapsed on the ground, protected by Reneya and Momo.
Yuuki Asuna and Meguri Tomoe had entered the second room, but this room was filled with a sky-blotting swarm of locusts. The two girls were screaming, relying only on the holy fluctuations emitted by their holy swords to repel the swarms of insects that surged forward one after another, though they were unable to counterattack at all.
As for Kiba Yuuto and Nimura Ruruko, their situation was extremely dire. Ruruko lay unconscious on the ground, her life or death unknown. Kiba, standing in front of her, had actually lost an arm. He gripped a demon sword with his remaining hand to prop up his mangled body, his face clouded with the ashen hue of someone on the brink of death.
Room after room, scene after scene—all were images of the bloodiest and most cruel conditions. It caused Rias and Sona to lose emotional control on the spot.
Even Leon's expression shifted upon seeing these scenes, and his heart suddenly tightened. Especially when he saw the situation occurring in the final projection, his emotions nearly spiraled out of control.
There, his first peer, and also his strongest, was facing a situation more dangerous and dire than anyone else.
Drip... drip...
It was the sound of blood falling. The sound came from a corner of the room, originating from a figure leaning against the wall.
"Ha... ha..."
Yukinoshita Yukino was using every ounce of her strength just to remain standing against the wall. She gasped for air, her face pale as she clutched her abdomen. Her midsection was a mass of crimson, seemingly pierced through by a sharp weapon. If she hadn't frozen the flesh there to stop the constant flow of blood, she might have already died from blood loss.
"...I didn't expect that after several months, I'd have my stomach pierced again. History is a startlingly similar thing."
Sweat poured down Yukino's forehead, and the smile on her face was exceptionally strained and haggard, as if she were finding humor in her misery.
"I'm impressed you've held on this long."
Sharon stood not far in front of Yukino, holding two hideous blades radiating black energy. Her nun's habit was quite tattered and covered in frost, but her condition was clearly much better than Yukino's.
"I thought you would have been defeated much faster. I didn't expect you to not only hold out until now, but to still have the strength to counterattack. Even though it hasn't been long since our last encounter, you've grown stronger at a startling speed."
Sharon shook off the frost clinging to her body, her eyes filled with an astonishment toward Yukino that hadn't been there before.
"As expected, you possessors of Longinus are the most unreasonable existences. One moment of inattention and you break the balance of power, becoming more terrifying than anyone. The Church is truly incompetent, handing an existence like you over to the Devils. If I had been in Chiba at that time, I absolutely would not have let such a thing happen."
Sharon seemed genuinely regretful, her eyes full of pity as she looked at Yukino.
"...You are the last person qualified to say something like that, aren't you?" Yukino struggled to adjust her breathing, speaking sarcastically. "Haven't you also become much stronger than before? I thought I would definitely win this time."
At this point, Yukino was indeed quite frustrated. She thought she had become strong enough to defeat Sharon and avenge her previous humiliation, only to find that her opponent hadn't been standing still either. Not only had Sharon obtained new weapons, but her own strength had increased significantly—completely different from before. Her growth speed was actually not inferior to Yukino's own.
Yukino was very confused, wondering exactly what had happened to the woman to cause such a change.
"The reason is actually quite simple. It's all because of these 'Anti-Devil Exorcist Swords'."
Seeing that Yukino was at the end of her rope, Sharon didn't seem to mind revealing her secret, and she raised the hideous blades in her hands.
"Within these weapons dwell the lingering resentment, hostility, and hatred toward demons found in the souls of those who died because of them. As long as you feed them the flesh and blood of a demon, they will convert that flesh into power, strengthening the wielder."
"Didn't you notice? When it pierced your abdomen, a portion of your flesh was devoured by it."
"Thanks to that, I have become even stronger."
Black energy began to radiate from Sharon's body, making her look like a demon returned from hell, a sight that made one's skin crawl. Yukino had noticed that Sharon's power fluctuations had grown stronger, but she was still somewhat puzzled.
"Then what about before? Before devouring my flesh, you were clearly much stronger than last time."
As soon as she said those words, a thought occurred to Yukino, and she gasped.
"Could it be that you used your own flesh—?!"
Yukino didn't finish the sentence. Sharon simply gave a cold, lonely smile and spoke.
"Though I am not a demon, as you know, I have demonic factors within my body after all."
Therefore, her flesh and blood were also objects that could be devoured by the "Devil Slayer."
"You are truly... insane!" Yukino couldn't help but exclaim.
"Perhaps."
Sharon began to walk, step by step, toward Yukino.
"From the day the demonic factors were injected into my body, I have not been normal."