In the dark gothic style castle, somewhere in the underworld, a pale-skinned and long-pointy-eared man with violet eyes and long black hair tied in a ponytail who dressed in a black robe with red trim, a red belt, and a dull black cape slammed his fist onto the small round table near the throne that he is currently sitting on in anger and smashed it into pieces.
"Where is she?!"
Creuserey Asmodeus, one of the leaders of the old Satan faction, shouted angrily. He was very worried about his lover, Katerea, who disappeared without a trace after the attack on the peace conference. The spies he has in the devil's government have already discovered that she had escaped with her life, but somehow she was not coming back, even until now.
The devil servants kneeling in front of Creuserey are trembling with fear, as they have no words and can only lower their heads to him. Ketarea Leviathan's whereabouts are a mystery to everyone, and they have no clue how to find her.
"Useless trashs! Go to Kuoh and find her from there; if you do not find anything actually useful, then don't you dare come back!"
Creuserey yelled at them with a murderous look. He was about to vent his anger at all of them with a magic blast, but he managed to stop himself since he still needed them to search for Katerea. With a sneer, he just picked up and threw a piece of table at one of them in the head to vent his anger.
"Get out of my sight!"
The servants fearfully got up and bowed their heads before they turned around and quickly went out of the throne room, leaving the fuming Creuserey, who was still glaring at their backs, alone in the room.
"Katerea, where are you...?"
After the servants gone, Creuserey leaned back on the throne, dejected, as he mumbled to himself.
÷×÷×÷
In the student council room of Kuoh Academy, Sona could be seen talking with Serafall through the communication magic as she looked at the floating screen with her big sister's face displayed on it. Her big sister was once again trying to persuade her to come back to their home as Kokabiel was still on the loose.
"So-tan, you should really come back to the underworld, you know~?"
Serafall spoke to Sona with a troubling expression. Her little sister was, frankly, being quite stupid right now. Kokabiel lurks in Kuoh like a cockroach, waiting for a chance to strike, and here her little sister still wants to be a student council president and continue to stay in Kuoh like a dumbass. Rias is also refusing to come back to the underworld, just like Sona, probably because she is paranoid that her engagement with Riser will somehow move forward.
"No, I will not come back to the underworld; you knew that if I went back, I would not have any chance to come back for a long time."
Sona shook her head and refused to even consider it. Her dream is at stake here since this might be the only chance she has to study the school system in the human world. She refused to give up so easily just because she might be in danger, especially when she has a reliable protector.
"And besides, as long as Zavior-san is still guarding the town, Kokabiel will not be able to act with impunity."
Yes, this is her source of confidence. Serafall sighed tiredly at her little sister's willfulness. Thanks to her mysterious mercenary existence, Sona was able to continue to stay in Kuoh without Serafall and her parents being able to forcefully bring Sona back. Serafall doesn't want to make her little sister hate her after all.
"You know, So-tan, you can't keep him here forever; he's a mercenary after all."
Serafall decided to give up for now and reminded Sona of Zeno's occupation, which caused the girl to frown. Sona gripped her skirt tightly as Serafall hit her sore spot. She is still not making any progress with Zeno, even a little bit, as she doesn't have any opportunity to.
"I know that, but it's no problem as long as he's still here, right?"
Sona locks eyes with Serafall as she displays a stubborn look. Serafall made an exasperated expression and then sighed exaggeratedly. It seems like she will not be able to coax her sister to return while Zeno is still guarding Kuoh Town.
÷×÷×÷
Inside the time chamber, a group of Geborgs is lined up in a single column as they sit with their legs crossed on the floor. Zeno, who only wears black Spandex pants, is walking along the line of Geborgs as he observes them one by one. Zeno is currently teaching them how to awaken their Touki. He was testing to see if they have a soul and can cultivate Touki or not.
He speculates that they should have a soul since they are organisms, even if they are 60% machines. Their souls might just have been born recently and are less than even a newborn infant. And if they have a soul, like he thought, then they should be able to cultivate the Superior Touki like his girls did.
Zeno can't help but smirk evilly as he imagines an army of Geborgs cultivating inside the time chamber for ten years. He wonders how powerful they will become.
When he walked past one of the Geborgs, he noticed a faint white aura starting to emit from its body. It was so faint that he had to look closely to confirm if it was a Touki aura.
"Awesome!"
Zeno grins excitedly as he turns to observe the other Geborgs in the line. Some of them are starting to emit a white aura of Touki. Zeno was very pleased with this development. His Geborgs will be able to get stronger as more time passes in the time chamber.
After a while, all of the Geborgs had awakened their Touki, and Zeno instructed them to spend their time cultivating their Touki after they changed shifts guarding the base with other Geborgs.
"Yes, Sir!"
The Geborgs are shouting in unison as they salute him. Then they disperse to go about their duties, while some sit down and continue cultivating diligently.
Zeno nodded his head with satisfaction and walked to the huge gate with a height of ten meters and a width of eight meters. The entrance of the time chamber has been upgraded by Godblood to become bigger to accommodate large vehicles and objects that will pass through here in the future.
Zeno was walking past the gate with two Geborgs stationed there as the gatekeepers, one inside the time chamber and one outside. The Geborgs saluted him as he went out, then they closed the gate behind him.
Tomorrow, he will come to check on their progress in one-year Touki cultivation and teach them about the Universal Magic Circle.
÷×÷×÷
Zeno arrived at his apartment from the teleport point and came out of the room with a plain white t-shirt and gray short pants. He walks to the living room as he thinks about what direction he should focus on building his faction before being stunned by the sight before him inside the living room.
"Ah...! Master..."
Ezrah saw Zeno arrive and exclaimed, which alerted the others in the room. All of the girls were gathered here in the living room as they turned their faces toward him. Surprisingly, their faces are adorned in gorgeous makeup. Their lips were painted in pretty colors, some red and some pink, and appealing eyeshadow was applied to their eyelids.
"Master/Zeno-san."
They called out to him with a shy demeanor. Today, Zestia was teaching everyone how to change a specific area of their skin color with Touki magic after she invented a makeup spell that she had been secretly researching for a while now.
"Woah, what's going on here? How come you girls suddenly put on makeup?"
Zeno managed to regain his senses as he asked the girls with curiosity why they suddenly put on makeup; he has never seen them put on makeup or anything before since they really don't need it with how beautiful they are after all.
"Well, Zestia was able to create a spell to change the color of a specific area of our skin, so we are currently trying it out. What do you think, Master?"
Leila answered him as she stood up from the couch, striking a supermodel-like pose and giving him a sultry look that was enhanced by the red lips and gorgeous eyeshadow.
Not wanting to be outdone by their oldest sister, the girls also strike a sexy pose and look at him sultrily. Asia, Ezrah, and Zestia's sexy poses look a bit awkward, though, as they try to copy the other poses.
Zeno smiled wryly, seeing their silly antics. Girls really love their makeup, he thought.
÷×÷×÷
In the moonless night, somewhere in the dark alley of Kuoh Town, a group of people in a black cloak just teleported in as the lights of their magic circles illuminated the alleyway. There are twenty people in the group whose appearance is concealed by the cloak and hood that only expose the lower half of their faces. The group is looking around their surroundings with caution for a couple of seconds before one man in the group steps out and speaks to the other.
"Spread out and look for any information or any clue you can find!"
He commands them as they nod their heads in unison before they quickly separate from each other and go out of the dark alley. No one in the group noticed that they had all been tagged with tracking spells, as tiny spell circles materialized on the soles of their shoes.
Their supposed "infiltration" has unfortunately alerted the scary guardian of Kuoh to their existence at the moment they teleported inside the town illegally.
Zeno, who was sleeping on the bed with his girls after the night's activities, opened his icy blue eyes as he frowned in annoyance. One of the detection magic circles that was spreading around Kuoh Town just alerted him to the intruders, and the timing of their only fueled his bloodlust even further.
"I will eat them alive..."
He muttered with a low growl as he got up from the soft warmth of the naked bodies that were surrounding him with an annoyed expression.
For ruining his pleasant sleep, they will suffer greatly for this.