10: Chapter 10

Just like Heavenly Dragons such as Ddraig, they possess an origin dragon soul that even God cannot destroy, only seal within a Sacred Gear.

The dragon soul of the Evil Dragon King Vritra was even sliced into several parts and sealed within different Sacred Gears, yet it remained completely unharmed.

Of course, dragon species possessing an origin dragon soul are miserably few in this world, all of them being famous names—the former Two Heavenly Dragons, the Five Great Dragon Kings, and the notoriously evil high-class Evil Dragons...

The second step of the Dragon Reincarnation he designed was to convert the origin dragon soul.

The prerequisite was to obtain a part, or even an entire origin dragon soul.

His original plan was to find a way to acquire the four Sacred Gears: Black Dragon Pulse, Black Flame of the Evil Dragon, Pitch-Black Territory, and Dragon Prison, and extract the origin dragon soul of the Evil Dragon King Vritra sealed within them.

To his surprise, Ddraig gave him an unexpected pleasant surprise.

There were very few who could be called an "old friend" by Ddraig, and Luo Yu could guess the general situation of this "old friend."

Using it for the second step of the Dragon Reincarnation would definitely be much stronger than using the origin dragon soul of the Evil Dragon King Vritra.

Besides, those three Sacred Gears—the Black Flame of the Evil Dragon, Pitch-Black Territory, and Dragon Prison—should all be in Azazel's hands. Snatching Sacred Gears from that guy was no easy task.

...

"That cold, gloomy aura—there is absolutely no way I could have misfelt it."

Ddraig's tone turned serious. "It should currently be in a sealed state, trapped deep within the Mirror Lake of Light. For you, it is far more suitable than the Evil Dragon King Vritra."

Luo Yu's expression grew serious, and he nodded firmly.

This matter concerned his future path; he couldn't afford any carelessness, and delaying even for a second would be a waste.

If this opportunity slipped away, trying to find another breakthrough like this would be harder than finding a needle in a haystack.

Inside the villa, the first-floor lobby was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard. "You said the contract... has changed?"

Rias Gremory sat on the sofa, staring at Sona across from her with a face full of shock.

Sona's brow was tightly furrowed, and the dark gold contract chain on her forehead was even more striking than before.

Rias Gremory remembered clearly that when she saw it last time in the Underworld, the color and patterns were not like this. Although there were still some common nodes that matched, the overall design was completely different.

She never expected that right after arriving in the Human World and settling her people down, she would hear such news.

The contract had changed.

On the contrary, its binding force had become even stronger.

All the methods they had previously thought of—using loopholes in the agreement to bypass the contract—were now completely useless.

There was simply no way to use the old tricks to secretly nullify the contract.

No wonder Sona had such an expression.

This was practically kicking them from heaven straight into hell.

That contract was like a birdcage, locking Sona tightly inside.

Rias Gremory understood this kind of situation all too well.

Just like Sona, she carried the shackles of an arranged marriage and was desperately struggling to break free.

Previously, she had been happy for Sona, thinking her friend was finally going to shake off this burden.

Yet after just a few short days, Sona had not only failed to untie herself but was instead being strangled by it. "Is there... really no way to break it?"

Sona shook her head weakly. "If there were really a way, would I have waited until now?"

Rias Gremory sighed.

Suddenly, she thought of something. "Lady Serafall..."

"My sister already tried a long time ago."

Sona said, "She even brought my brother and the other Satans to try, but not a single one of them could undo it."

"No..."

Rias Gremory interrupted Sona. "When I came to the Human World today, I came together with Lady Serafall. It's just..."

Her expression became strange. "Her expression was very off."

Rias Gremory recounted Serafall's unusual behavior in detail.

She glanced at the dark gold contract mark on Sona's forehead and lowered her voice. "Sona, that chain of yours looks off. It seems like only half of it is left, and the other half seems to be connected to someone else."

Sona's face turned instantly pale.

She understood the implication in Rias Gremory's words.

At first, she hadn't thought in that direction at all. But now, connecting her sister's anomaly and adding the fact that she could faintly sense the existence of another person through the contract...

How could that be?!

Sona froze in place, as if struck by lightning.

That contract chain was on her sister as well.

Her sister was one of the Four Great Satans of the Underworld.

Her eyes were filled with disbelief, and she kept murmuring, "Impossible."

But a voice in her heart told her—this was the truth.

Both she and her sister were bound by this contract.

Could it be that she had stumbled into something and triggered a contingency plan left by someone, thereby dragging her sister into it as well?

Sona didn't know the truth, and her heart was flooded with guilt and self-blame. "Sona..."

Rias Gremory looked at her worriedly, seeing that she was completely dazed. "I'm fine, just a bit of a headache."

Sona supported her forehead with her hand, her mind in complete disarray.

She really didn't know what to do anymore.

With even her sister bound by this contract, was the next head of House Sitri and a Satan of the Underworld really going to marry an ordinary human together?

That was absolutely impossible.

House Sitri couldn't afford to lose face like this, and neither could the Underworld.

At this moment, Sona and her sister Serafall shared the exact same thought. "Rias, about today's matter..."

Before Sona could finish, Rias Gremory interrupted her. "Don't worry, I won't speak a word of this. I swear on the honor of the Gremory Clan."

"Thank you."

...

Looking at the exhausted Sona, Rias Gremory instead became more interested in the other protagonist behind this matter.

Luo Yu.

A guy with superb chess skills and perhaps some mysterious methods, but who was ultimately still just an ordinary human.

Sona's fiancé.

And now, Lady Serafall, one of the Four Great Satans of the Underworld, had to be added to the list.

Although it wasn't fully confirmed yet, it was practically a certainty.

It was hard to imagine what kind of uproar this news would cause if it spread to the Underworld.

Furthermore, he was also Akeno's childhood playmate.

Judging by Akeno's reaction that day, her feelings for Luo Yu were anything but ordinary. "Luo Yu, what kind of person are you exactly?"

"As for the contract on Sona, do you actually know about it or not?"

This was the first person Rias Gremory had ever developed such a strong interest in without even meeting them.

Unfortunately, he wasn't at the villa today.

Otherwise, she would have to see with her own eyes if he really had three heads and six arms.

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Day and night, Luo Yu was busy opening a new spatial pathway to Heaven. In the villa where he lived, he had set up illusionary Arcane Magic whenever he was away to fool the eyes of others. Coupled with the fact that he was already a homebody who huddled in his room all day without going out, no one found it unusual.

After all, the others in the villa—including Sona—had always thought he was an otaku, a standard shut-in.

Moreover, during the times he occasionally stayed at the villa, he noticed that Sona seemed to be deliberately avoiding him. Previously, she would invite him to play chess, but lately, they barely ran into each other, and even when they did by chance, she would just lower her head and hurry away.

Luo Yu felt a bit puzzled, but now was not the time to ponder such trivial matters. The most important thing at hand was to open the path to Heaven as quickly as possible.

There was a small park on the outskirts of Kuoh Town that Luo Yu used to visit often when he was a child.

Now, this park had long been abandoned, as desolate as a ghost town, with not a single household nearby. This kind of gloomy, deserted place was usually where only Stray Devils liked to nest.

The spatial pathway Luo Yu newly opened was located right here, and it had been completely cleared. "The Stray Devils nearby have all been cleaned out, but just to be safe, I should set up some protection."

He casually set up a barrier, covering the three-meter-high spatial pathway that looked like a transparent vortex to prevent anyone from wandering in by mistake. The remaining security measures could wait until later.

Luo Yu plunged headfirst into the spatial pathway.

As soon as he entered, violent spatial forces rushed at him. This newly opened pathway was not a bit more stable than the previous one, but he had no time to slowly reinforce and stabilize it now. "If I only had the strength of an Ultimate-Class Devil right now, I'm afraid these violent spatial turbulences would tear me to shreds. Even if I am of the dragon race and my body is strong enough, I wouldn't be able to withstand it."

Luo Yu transformed directly, turning into a Holy Light Dragon over thirty zhang long. As he exhaled a breath of holy and pure dragon breath, a large portion of the oncoming spatial force was wiped out.

In the gaps of the turbulence, Luo Yu's massive body continuously shuttled forward.

Time and again, his dragon breath blasted out fiercely, clearing away the obstacles ahead.

The edge of the 7th Layer of Heaven was covered by a vast forest.

The elemental concentration here was much thinner than inside the 7th Layer of Heaven, and those living here were mostly weaker divine beasts and sacred beasts.

Yet in this originally peaceful forest, the painful roars of a young beast could be faintly heard.

A young, white-haired priest stood in front of a tree, his eyes gleaming with madness and bloodlust. Holding a blade in his hand, he scraped and slashed at a Unicorn calf pinned to the tree trunk.

The little Unicorn was covered in blood, its originally snow-white fur stained bright red, and weak wails escaped its mouth. "Father Freed, stop... It's already injured."

A blonde, blue-eyed sister stepped forward, blocking the front of the Unicorn calf.

She was not tall, with a delicate and fragile appearance, but her eyes held an unyielding stubbornness as she stared straight at Freed's twisted face.

The ring on her finger was a Sacred Gear called "Twilight Healing". A pale golden light spread from her fingertips, gradually repairing the wounds on the little Unicorn. "Tsk, Holy Maiden, it's just a beast. There are plenty of these things in Heaven; killing one or two won't hurt anyone."

Freed didn't take it seriously at all.

He paused, his lips curling into an uncomfortable smile. "Or, how about you take a slash for it? I've never tried what it feels like for a blade to slice through a Holy Maiden's skin... That sensation must be absolutely wonderful."

After saying that, he stuck out his tongue and licked the residual blood on the blade.

Asia Argento took a step back in fear.

Yet she still fiercely shielded the Unicorn calf, refusing to budge. "How disgusting."

Asia Argento's desperate attempt to protect the calf was an eyesore to Freed. He wished he could carve her up piece by piece right now.

But not now.

Just as Freed was growing increasingly impatient and planned to bypass Asia Argento to strike the Unicorn directly—

A transparent spatial rift suddenly tore open in the air.

Violent spatial forces rushed over. "An intruder! Damn it..."

Without a second thought, Freed grabbed Asia Argento and threw her toward the spatial pathway, turning around and sprinting into the distance.

Although he was crazy, he knew very well—none of those who could tear open a spatial pathway to break into Heaven were weak. The first thing such a person would do is eliminate any witnesses, and he didn't want to die such a senseless death. "For trash like you, death is the best outcome."

A massive white dragon claw reached out from the rift.

Exuding sharp brilliance, its killing intent was piercingly cold.