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When Hohenheim asked his question, Akio clicked his tongue, ruffling his hair with a restless hand.
"In my eyes, Rizevim's strength isn't worth mentioning. Beating him wouldn't be a problem. The real issue is that he's always hiding in the shadows, never revealing his position."
"That's the troublesome part.
"After all, there's a saying: you can be a thief every day, but no one can stay on guard every day.
"I can't spend all 365 days of the year chasing after Rizevim's whereabouts."
That was what truly gave Akio a headache.
Sirzechs and Serafall exchanged a look.
Even they dared not underestimate Rizevim. Whether they could defeat him was still uncertain—he was, after all, the son of Lord Lucifer himself.
Yet to Akio, this infamous devil seemed like nothing more than a pushover.
Was he that confident… or just reckless?
At that moment, Sirzechs spoke. "Leave tracking down Rizevim to us."
Serafall nodded. "We came to the human world under Lord Lucifer's orders to locate Rizevim and bring him back to the Underworld. Compared to humans, devils know their own kind far better."
Sirzechs added, "If Rizevim really is the one backing Umbrella, then we will find him."
Akio's lips curled into a faint smile—that was exactly what he wanted to hear.
Humans trying to find a devil? No way. Devils hunting devils? That was where the real expertise lay.
That was why Akio had sought out Rias and Sona in the first place—to use their connections, force the higher-ups of the devil faction to move, and have them dig up Umbrella's mastermind.
Now the plan had worked. Time for him to fade into the background and let the devils fight among themselves.
"Excellent. Then I'll be counting on you, Sirzechs, Serafall."
Akio stood and shook hands with them both. "If you need anything, just let me know. I'll cooperate however I can."
"One more thing—if you do find Rizevim, could you tell me? I'm… curious about this so-called devil who wants to wipe out humanity."
Sirzechs replied smoothly, "We can."
After thanking them once more, Akio left with Medea and Hohenheim.
His goal was achieved. There was no reason to linger.
It was time to go.
On the other side, once Sirzechs and Serafall saw Akio's group off, the smiles faded from their faces.
"This guy is something else," Serafall muttered. "I couldn't get a read on his power at all."
Sirzechs nodded. "Yeah. Bottomless."
When they had shaken Akio's hand, both had quietly probed his strength.
And both had come up empty.
To their eyes, Akio was simply unfathomable.
Rias and Sona, standing nearby, were stunned.
Rias couldn't help but ask, "Brother, Lady Serafall… is that human really that strong?"
Sirzechs said, "When I saw him, it felt just like standing before Lord Lucifer himself. Since when did the human side produce a monster that powerful? This has to be reported to His Majesty."
Serafall agreed. "Yes. But…"
Sona tilted her head. "But what, Sister?"
Serafall's eyes narrowed. "But is someone that powerful… really human?"
Meanwhile, after leaving Kuoh Academy, Medea walked beside Akio and asked curiously, "Boss, when you shook their hands just now, you were trying to test their strength, weren't you?"
Akio didn't bother to deny it. "That was part of it."
"So did you figure it out? How strong are they?"
"Very strong," Akio said, his gaze flickering. "If I had to put numbers to it… Serafall's combat power is in the hundreds of thousands. Sirzechs—about a million."
To put that in perspective, Nurarihyon's power was only about ten thousand.
Even when he absorbed his comrades' strength and unleashed everything with Demon Binding, he barely hit a hundred thousand.
Serafall could crush him without even trying.
And Sirzechs was stronger still. No wonder they were the two Demon Kings of the original story. Their strength was the real deal.
It was the first time Medea had heard such comparisons. She asked, "Then what about me, Boss? In your eyes, what's my combat power?"
Akio thought for a moment. "When you first descended, maybe ten to twenty thousand. After forming a contract with me, around fifty or sixty thousand."
Medea pointed at Hohenheim. "And him?"
"I've strengthened him. Roughly a hundred thousand," Akio said casually.
"And you, Boss?"
Akio didn't answer—he just held up a single finger.
"A million?" Medea guessed.
Akio rolled his eyes. "Ten billion. Ten. Billion. Do you really think so little of me?"
Medea chuckled softly. "Of course not, Boss."
Still, the number staggered her imagination.
If Sirzechs truly had Demon King-level strength, like Akio said, then he wouldn't be weaker than her teacher, the Goddess of Magic, Hecate. That would put Hecate's strength at roughly a million, maybe a little more, but probably under two million.
And Akio claimed ten billion.
That meant her boss could crush her teacher like nothing.
What about Zeus then? Could he crush him just as easily?
Wasn't that going too far?
Medea's mind spun with disbelief. Was her boss really this overpowered?
Could he even be called human anymore?
Was his true identity… the legendary Great Red?
Maybe only the True Red Dragon God Emperor, the being even gods whispered about as unbeatable, could possess such power.
But no matter how she looked at Akio, he didn't seem like a dragon at all.
The more she thought about it, the less sense it made. A being this absurdly strong—how had he suddenly appeared out of nowhere? She had never heard a word about him before.
In truth, Medea wasn't the only one thinking that way. Hohenheim shared the same doubts.
Akio, however, had no intention of explaining.
What was he supposed to say? That he wasn't even from this world, just some transmigrator with cheat powers?
Even if he said it, would they believe him?
And more importantly—Akio wasn't about to reveal his golden finger to anyone.
"...."
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