"Have you three figured out what kind of familiar you want?"
Walking through the dim forest, Leo led his three servant girls forward, asking without looking back.
They followed close behind. After thinking for a moment, each gave her own answer.
"I want a stronger familiar—something that can help me in battle."
Yukino still hadn't gotten over losing to Sharon last time. The frustration lingered, so that was naturally her request.
"I want a familiar that can help me with devil work. Combat ability isn't a priority."
Asuna's answer was the exact opposite of Yukino's, very similar to Leo's own needs back when he first chose a familiar. She didn't care much about raw power; she just wanted to do her job properly.
"Is there one that can help me write?"
Utaha's request was… unique, but understandable.
Her pride and joy, Love Metronome Volume 2, was still stuck in development hell. She'd pushed the problem aside while dealing with the whole reincarnated devil thing, but recently her editor had pushed her for progress again. Now the problem was back to torment her.
Even after becoming a devil—stronger, living in a different world—devils still survived by relying on human society. Leo had no intention of dragging them away from the human world, so Utaha didn't want to give up writing.
If there was a familiar that could help her write, that'd be perfect… or so she hoped.
But her request left Leo speechless.
"I don't know if anything like that exists. I've definitely never seen or heard of it." Leo sighed. "There are some magically intelligent creatures, but whether they could help with writing? I'm not sure. I'll take a look later."
"Asuna's request is easy enough. I know where to find some familiars that are good for support work. I'll take you there."
"As for Yukino…"
Leo thought for a moment, then spoke to her.
"There are plenty of strong monsters here. But to make a powerful one your familiar, you usually have to defeat it first."
"I can recommend a few types you're strong enough to handle. But anything you can beat probably isn't strong enough to help you much in a real fight. And you're improving so quickly that even if you tame something powerful now, you'll outgrow it fast. It'll end up useless to you."
"So I suggest you look for something still weak now but with great potential—something that will grow stronger with time. But those types are rare. There's no guarantee we'll find one."
As he spoke, Leo led the girls through several twists and turns.
He'd once studied this forest extensively just to capture his own familiar, learning where all kinds of monsters tended to live.
Now he was leading them toward a territory where strong familiars resided, hoping Yukino might find something she liked.
But while passing an area of barren sand, Leo suddenly stopped.
"President?"
"What's wrong?"
Asuna and Utaha both voiced their confusion.
Yukino was about to speak too, but she sensed something. Her eyes sharpened.
"Something's coming."
The moment Leo entered the Familiar Forest, he had activated Magic Detection, turning the space around him into his own radar.
He looked toward a direction and spoke quietly.
"A group of disgusting things. Get ready."
His words had barely left his mouth when shadows surged across the sand from afar—small at first, then rapidly growing larger.
"Rgh…"
"Rgh…"
Wet, sticky growls—like drool sliding down a throat—echoed as the shadows revealed themselves.
The girls finally saw them clearly and all froze in shock.
"What are those?!"
Asuna gasped.
Humanoid monsters sprinted toward them in a pack.
Their muscles bulged and writhed, exposed like they had no skin. Each stood over two meters tall. They ran on all fours like beasts, long tongues whipping from their twisted mouths. Their facial features were squashed together into something grotesque.
"Those are ghouls," Leo said calmly. "They feed on corpses. They dig up graves, eat the flesh of the dead—or children. Sometimes they lure travelers into wastelands to kill and devour them. Filthy, ugly things."
He glanced around at the encroaching mass.
"They usually live in sand or desert regions and migrate often. Judging by this area… this used to be sand worm territory. Looks like the worms got wiped out when these ghouls moved in."
By now, the ghouls had completely surrounded them. Some even leapt high, pouncing toward the girls. A wave of blood and rot hit them first.
"Stay away!"
Utaha was the first to snap. Before anyone else reacted, she moved.
"Vmmm—"
Air trembled as she spread her hands. A transparent barrier formed out of thin air, surrounding the group.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!—"
The ghouls slammed into the barrier like they'd hit a steel wall and were flung backward.
Utaha had deployed a barrier—an immovable wall that stopped the entire first wave.
"Boom!"
Only then did Yukino join in. Frost swirled around her and burst outward, whipping into a sudden blizzard that engulfed the ghouls.
Where the storm passed, ice formed in the air and across the ground. Ghouls were flung away frozen solid or turned instantly into ice sculptures, their monstrous faces still twisted mid-snarl.
"Asuna!"
Yukino called out.
Realizing both friends were fighting, Asuna inhaled sharply and suddenly darted out through the barrier.
Her speed was incredible—almost ghostlike in the darkness—closing the distance in a heartbeat.
In her hand, a weapon had already formed, radiating holy power.
A slender rapier, sharp enough to make anyone's heart skip.
"Haah!"
Asuna lunged forward. Blinding sword thrusts flashed again and again, each stab piercing a ghoul.
"Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!—"
The sound of steel ripping through flesh echoed like drumbeats. Blood scattered.
"Rghhh!"
"Rghhh!"
Ghouls screamed, the areas struck by the rapier burning with holy light. Their flesh melted, black smoke rising as if an invisible fire consumed them. Within seconds, they turned to dust and vanished.
Ghouls were unquestionably demonic creatures.
And demonic creatures, like devils, feared holy power.
Asuna's sword was a pure Holy Sword. Even with a single attribute, it was a natural enemy of creatures like these. A single strike meant either severe injury or instant death.
"So… this is real combat? The feeling of killing…?"
Running through the ghoul pack, Asuna's sword hand trembled. Her expression twisted—she was overwhelmed.
It was her first real fight. Her first time killing something alive.
For someone who used to avoid stepping on insects, killing living beings was far from pleasant.
Before, she never would've been able to do it—even with the strongest swordmaster in history, Miyamoto Musashi, as her teacher.
But it was night. And she was no longer human. As a devil, her instincts in the darkness drowned out most of her hesitation, letting her keep swinging her blade.
Seeing this, Yukino and Utaha exchanged a look—and neither wanted to be outdone.
Yukino didn't summon Ice Princess. She simply used pure demonic power, summoning countless ice blades, axes, spears, and pillars to skewer and tear apart the ghouls.
Utaha expanded her barrier outward, trapping a huge portion of the monsters inside. Flame, lightning, and storms erupted within, blasting the ghouls apart in seconds.
Three beautiful young girls tore through the ghoul pack with overwhelming force—fewer in number, but utterly dominating the enemy, crushing them without mercy.
"Not bad."
Leo remained motionless the entire time, quietly watching his servants fight. A smile touched his lips.
Clearly, their performance pleased him.
Especially Asuna and Utaha—their growth genuinely surprised him.
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Extra chapter!
50 p.s more for another one!