Sobu High — school hallway.
Leo and Yukino walked side by side, one just a step ahead of the other, heading toward the Service Club's clubroom.
It was easy to tell Leo was in a good mood—he was even humming a little tune, looking completely carefree. Yukino, on the other hand, looked the exact opposite: gloomy and utterly disheartened, as if questioning her very existence.
"How did I end up becoming a devil?"
That question had been circling Yukino's mind the entire way, only making her feel worse the more she thought about it.
Not only had she barely escaped death, but when she woke up the next day, she was no longer even human—stripped of her humanity and turned into someone else's servant. If she hadn't seen it all with her own eyes, Yukino would have sworn she was still trapped in some horrible nightmare she couldn't wake from.
The students of Sobu High, however, had no idea how depressed Yukino was at the moment. They only watched in surprise as the two of them walked together, whispering among themselves.
"Hey, isn't that Eligos-senpai from Class 3 and Yukino from Class 2?"
"Why are those two walking together?"
"Don't tell me... are they dating?"
"No way, right?"
The murmurs weren't exactly loud, but Yukino still heard them—and that only made her mood sink further.
"Ugh..."
To make matters worse, sunlight poured in through the windows, landing squarely on her, making her feel even more uncomfortable.
"...Did I really turn into a devil and not a vampire?" she muttered under her breath.
"Who said vampires are the only ones who hate sunlight?" Leo replied casually without looking back. "Devils are creatures of the night. Our power works best after dark. You'll feel it tonight—your body will start to surge with energy. That's your demonic power."
"Then what about you?" Yukino asked, watching him walk effortlessly in the sunlight. "You don't look like you're suffering at all."
"Because I'm used to it." Leo still didn't turn around. "You're only struggling because you've just been reincarnated as a devil. Give it some time—you'll adjust soon enough. Once you do, daylight won't bother you anymore."
He paused, then added, "Still, devils are naturally creatures that dislike light. The stronger the light power, the worse it is for us."
"Light is poison—to us, at least. Angels and fallen angels use it as their weapon. They're our natural enemies. If you ever run into one, don't fight them head-on, got it?"
Leo's words brought back yesterday's memory for Yukino—the fallen angel who had conjured that dim, deadly light and shaped it into a spear that pierced straight through her.
"So angels and fallen angels can both control light?" she asked, piecing things together.
"That's right," Leo replied smoothly. "Devils use demonic power, while angels and fallen angels use light power. We manifest supernatural phenomena through magic; they shape their light power into weapons for battle."
"Oh, and by the way," he continued, "the Church's exorcists also use light-based weapons. They fight under divine blessing, combining the angels' light with years of physical training to destroy devils. So yes—they're our enemies too."
Yukino couldn't help but frown. "So basically everyone's our enemy? Devils have this many weaknesses?"
Devils, angels, fallen angels—those were the only supernatural beings Yukino knew of so far. And yet, both of the other sides had powers that countered devils. Even the Church, the human organization under the angels, was their enemy.
So what, she thought bitterly, surrounded on all sides? Or just full of weaknesses?
She, Yukino, had founded the Service Club to "change people's weaknesses and thereby change the world." Now she was being told she'd turned into a being full of weaknesses herself. How was she supposed to accept that?
Leo gave a small, amused sigh.
"That's one way to look at it, but come on—devils aren't weaker than humans. Think about it. Humans die if they're stabbed in a vital spot, shot in the right place, or even just get unlucky and fall ill."
"Devils, on the other hand, live long, get sick rarely, and are physically stronger. Most human weapons can't even kill us. And, like me, a devil can even save a dying person by reincarnating them into one of our own."
"Compared to humans, our only real weakness is light—and only high-level light power from angels or fallen angels, at that. Doesn't sound that bad, does it?"
Yukino was speechless, though still a bit unconvinced.
"That's comparing us to humans. What about angels and fallen angels?" she countered.
Leo chuckled. "You think they don't have weaknesses? Angels can't harbor personal desires—if they do, they fall. They lose everything they once had. It takes unshakable faith to stay pure."
"As for fallen angels, they don't have obvious weaknesses, but their numbers are the smallest of the three factions. They can only grow by turning angels into fallen ones, and they reproduce slowly. They're actually the first faction on the brink of extinction."
"Nowadays, all three sides rely on humans just to keep existing, so no one's really in a position to laugh at anyone else."
He reached out and flicked Yukino's forehead lightly.
"Anyway, even if light is a devil's weakness, just don't get hit by it. If you want to overcome it, train harder—instead of whining about it."
By the time he finished speaking, they had arrived at the Service Club's clubroom. Leo pushed the door open, and they stepped inside.
Rubbing her forehead, Yukino looked around the familiar room. For some reason, a strange mix of emotions welled up inside her.
Did this club... even have a purpose anymore?
Once, she'd created the Service Club to change people and, through that, change the world. But after seeing the truth of the supernatural world, she couldn't hold on to that same ideal anymore.
She wasn't even human now—so what was the point of helping humans with their little school problems?
While Yukino was lost in thought, Leo began wandering around the room like a lord inspecting his territory. He nodded approvingly.
"Not bad. It's smaller than Sona's Student Council office, but it'll do fine as our base here at Sobu High."
Then he crouched down, pressing his fingers together as demonic power gathered at his fingertips. He started drawing something on the floor—strange, glowing symbols and lines that formed a complex red pattern.
"What are you doing?" Yukino asked, finally snapping out of her daze.
"Carving a magic circle," Leo said without looking up. "Once I mark it with the Eligos House's insignia, we'll be able to teleport between this spot and any other magic circle by using our demonic power."
"There's one in my manor already. And that parchment I gave you—the one that looked like a flyer—that's the same kind of circle."
"I've been meaning to set one up here for a while, but without a proper base, there wasn't really a place for it."
Yukino blinked. "Wait—that parchment was a flyer?"
Leo shot her a look. "Of course it was. Devils living in the human world aren't idle, you know. We all have our jobs."
"Just like in the old legends, devils are summoned by people with desires. We make contracts, grant their wishes, and take payment—sometimes money, sometimes an item... occasionally even their life."
"That's what devils do in the human world. It's not that different from what your Service Club did—helping people—just on a much larger scale. Once you've adjusted to being a devil, you'll start working too, as a servant of the Eligos House."
That was the whole purpose of the magic circles.
In modern times, hardly anyone still believed in devils or knew how to draw summoning circles. So devils adapted, printing their magic circles on portable parchment—flyers—to hand out.
When a human with a strong enough desire came into contact with one, the magic circle would automatically activate, summoning the devil bound to it.
Leo and Yukino could then teleport directly to that person using the circles here or in his manor.
"And," Leo added, still focused on his work, "if we make this circle public, other devils can teleport here from their own. In fact, in a few days, another High-Class Devil who oversees my operations in the Underworld will be coming to visit."
"I was just promoted to High-Class Devil, and since I've now taken on my first servant, they'll definitely stop by. Be ready for that."
As he finished speaking, Leo stood and clapped his hands together. The magic circle on the floor was complete—a bright red, intricate pattern nearly seven meters across, taking up most of the clubroom's floor.
"By the way," he said with a grin, "do you want to keep the name 'Service Club,' or change it to something new?"
"From now on, this will be the headquarters of the entire Eligos Household."