While Esdeath and the others were out conquering the world, Night Raid wasn't idle either.
Using the Enhanced Slime Symbiote, which had evolved from blue to gold quality, Akuto set about modifying the empire's Teigu.
According to the System, the gold-grade Enhanced Slime Symbiote—as an alchemical and forging material—far surpasses Orichalcum in quality.
In other words, Teigu reinforced with the Symbiote would be far stronger than their originals.
Drawing on the knowledge in his mind from "Nameless Grimoire" and the "Complete Compendium of Teigu", Akuto repaired and strengthened every Teigu, including the Supreme Teigu itself.
On the very day he finished repairing and fortifying them all, the System chimed again.
[Ding!~]
[Congrats to the Host for completing Main Quest II: Within two years, collect as many Teigu and Ministerial Tools as possible.]
[Completion Stage: Collected, repaired, and strengthened all Teigu.]
[Reward Granted: Teigu Evolution (Gold).]
[Teigu Evolution (Gold): All Teigu, including the Supreme Teigu, immediately undergo evolution, gaining potential and possibilities beyond their former specs.
The evolution method is akin to DxD-world Sacred Gears, shifting along different paths via the wielder's heart.]
…
With Teigu evolution obtained, Akuto studied the newly strengthened Supreme Teigu while continuing to develop the Akame world.
On one hand, he needed the dragon vein and national fate of the Akame world to drive the Supreme Teigu; since it runs on national fortune and dragon qi, the stronger the nation, the better.
On the other hand, this was also his promise to the refugees of the Akame world.
"I still have a lot of DxD sorceries on hand. If I roll them out gradually into the Akame world, we should be able to maintain prosperity for a long while.
To avoid future rebellions bleeding our national luck, I need to overhaul social mobility and the distribution of interests.
Human nature pursues profit… but if the empire's strongest coercive force—that's me—can live forever and pursue only national interests, not personal ones, the empire can enjoy a very long upward cycle."
Personal interests?
Money? Power? Armies?
None of that meant anything to Akuto.
Thus, with an influx of cutting-edge magitek and a new governance philosophy, the Akame world erupted into unprecedented prosperity.
…
DxD world — nearly two months had passed since Akuto's engagement incident.
That day, while Akuto was still sharing a grand bed in the Akame world, he received a call from Rias.
"Hm? Holy Sword users from the Church showed up? Got it—I'll head back right away."
"So… they finally came."
After quickly arranging affairs in the Akame world, Akuto teleported back to the DxD world in an instant.
The moment he arrived at Kuoh Academy, the System chimed in his head.
[Ding!]
[Main Story Quest Triggered — The Church's Holy Sword Maidens.]
[Quest Rank: Purple]
[Description: Because the Church's Holy Swords were stolen by the Fallen Angel Kokabiel, the Church dispatched the remaining three Holy Sword users to reclaim them.
At present, one of them has died; only Irina and Xenovia from the original plot remain.
Since Kuoh Town is regarded as the Host's turf, the Host cannot ignore lunatics trying to start a war on his own territory.]
[Objective: Retain the Church's two Holy Sword Maidens and repel Fallen Angel Kokabiel.]
…
"So it really is Kokabiel?"
Akuto didn't care much about Kokabiel—just a roadside thug who gets punted by Vali.
Compared to Kokabiel, Akuto was far more interested in the Church's two Holy Sword maidens.
"If I'm remembering right, under those white Church robes they wear black, tight combat suits. Pair that with their bombshell figures and… yeah, hard to forget."
Stepping forward, Akuto went from home straight to the old school building.
Bang!
The door had barely swung open when an orange-haired beauty tackled him to the floor.
"Akuto-kun! I missed you so much!"
As she breathed in his scent, the orange-haired girl realized Akuto smelled even better than before.
Her name was Irina, Akuto's childhood friend.
Back then Irina was a bit tomboyish; now, having entered adolescence, she'd grown into a poised, stunning maiden.
Irina's long, waterfall-like orange twin-tails shimmered with a honeyed gloss under the light. Her emerald eyes were dewy and bright; beyond the joy of reuniting with an old friend, there was a faint, shy warmth hidden in her gaze.
Of course, what most caught Akuto's attention was the black close-combat suit hugging Irina's curves.
The glossy black fabric traced her exquisitely balanced figure: a plump, rounded bust straining against a metal breastplate; a palm-span wasp waist leading into breathtaking hip-to-leg lines.
The suit used a high-elastic, leotard-stocking-like weave. Cutouts at the upper thighs revealed a sliver of "absolute territory"—skin smooth and pale as first snow, the matte stocking edge making the contrast even crisper; with each step, the supple legline hinted at warm, living resilience beneath.
Gold vine motifs coiled around her waist, accentuating the fullness of her chest and the slenderness of her midriff.
…
As Akuto admired how Irina had grown, a blue-haired figure entered his view.
With green streaks accenting her blue hair, the girl's eyes were razor-sharp and her bearing brisk, naturally cool.
The same combat suit radiated a completely different pressure on her: narrow but powerful shoulders and round, perky hips formed a severe hourglass; her full chest pressed a proud ravine from a deep-V line.
Side cutouts exposed taut abdominal lines; the strong waist cinched into a crisp, athletic curve.
A ripped slit along the outer thigh made that absolute territory more aggressive; on snow-pale skin framed by black elastic, the tightened quads flared with each stride—like a pantheress ready to pounce.
But Akuto knew better: despite first impressions of a cool goddess, Xenovia… was actually kind of a dummy.
"Alright! That's enough!"
"Irina! We're here to discuss business—don't forget your position!" Xenovia decisively pried clinging Irina off of Akuto.
"Huh? Discuss business? Weren't we here to mooch dinner?" Irina tilted her head.
"Mooch… dinner?"
Rias's lips twitched. So that's why they insisted on waiting for Akuto—to speak with the actual decision-maker… and, apparently, to leverage childhood-friend privilege to score a meal.
"A-ahem… mooching dinner is also for business. I mean, without a full stomach, how do we carry out our mission?" Xenovia made a tactical cough and used her hand to hide the blush rising on her cheeks.
Truth be told, they were broke. Even if they ate here, they'd probably be sleeping on the streets tonight.
…So be it! As long as they could snag the meal!
…
"Mooching dinner, huh~"
Akuto smiled subtly and glanced at Xenovia's midriff.
Those curves were explosive—hard to tell if they were naturally that impressive or flattened by hunger.
To avoid this "milk-cow" figure shrinking and ruining his future "experience," Akuto decided he should do something.
"Akeno, could I trouble you to prepare some dishes?" Akuto turned to Akeno, standing by in service.
As Rias's partner, he naturally had the right to ask Akeno for help.
Akeno blinked, then offered a gentle smile.
"Understood. You two—do you have any favorite types of cuisine?"
…
Lately, whenever Akeno thought about Akuto, she felt oddly absent-minded.
It was because Rias had asked her some very strange questions:
Rias: Akeno, do you… actually like Akuto-kun? Otherwise you wouldn't have staged that "test his feelings for me" stunt in front of me.
If you like him, I can accept you. As for your belief that your bloodline is "impure," I'm sure Akuto-kun wouldn't mind.
After all, he's a hopeless lecher who doesn't care as long as the girl is pretty!!
Akeno remembered clearly—Rias used to mind Akeno getting close to Akuto.
So why was she fine with it after the engagement?
Because… she'd already accepted Ravel, so what's one more?
Akeno had never dated; she had no idea why Rias had changed.
The only thing Akeno knew was that she cared—very much—about Rias and Akuto's situation.
Even now, she could not help recalling the scene of Rias and Ravel's peerage sprawled on Akuto's big bed during that party.
Every time the image surfaced, a heat would rise through Akeno's whole body.
Thinking of Akuto, Akeno walked over with her planner to Irina and Xenovia.
…
"Eh? We can actually order?"
"Of course," Akuto said, smiling. "Irina, we're childhood friends, aren't we? Besides, with a figure like yours, if you starved it skinny, wouldn't that be such a waste?"
He found teasing ditzy girls like Irina and Xenovia unexpectedly fun.
"…"
It took Irina a few seconds to process what Akuto meant, and her face gradually turned pink.
"Honestly, Akuto-kun, you're a devil now, and I'm a Holy Sword user of the Church~
Even if we promised as kids we'd marry when we grew up, that was childhood talk. Now we have to keep our distance."
Guuuu—
Right after saying this, Irina's stomach let out a very audible growl, turning her rosy cheeks bright red all the way to her ears.
Fine, she admitted it—she still liked and relied on Akuto. Otherwise, she wouldn't have thought of asking him for help the moment she went hungry.
…
(End of Chapter)
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