67: Chapter 67

For so many years, he had been living in guilt.

If he had arrived one step earlier back then, his wife wouldn't have died, and his daughter wouldn't have considered herself a jinx.

Akeno always felt that it was the filthy Fallen One blood in her that had killed her mother.

To break free from these shackles, she would rather have Rias Gremory reincarnate her as a Devil.

"Shuri, our daughter has grown up."

Baraqiel's voice was very soft, as if he were afraid of disturbing the person sleeping, "She looks exactly like you now."

"That child, Luo Yu, has been protecting her in secret, so you can rest easy."

He stood there for quite a while, telling his wife everything he had accumulated over the years, sentence by sentence.

After he finished speaking, he turned around to look at Luo Yu.

"Luo Yu, you took down Hades, God of the Underworld. The Governor asked me to pass a message to you—Grigori owes you a favor."

Luo Yu waved his hand.

"Azazel?"

He smiled, "There is no need to mention favors. If it weren't for him and Michael holding back the Nordic side, Vali and I wouldn't have had the chance to ambush Hades."

This account, in truth, could not be clearly settled.

The Underworld, Grigori, Heaven, and the northern Mount Sumeru—none of the various factions wanted Hades to continue living.

Azazel and Michael blocking the Nordic side, and Luo Yu and his group handling the direct strike, were all mutually beneficial matters.

Strictly speaking, no one owed anyone anything.

Baraqiel had long anticipated that Luo Yu would reply this way.

"The Governor said that these two matters should be calculated separately and cannot be mixed together."

Luo Yu remained silent for a moment.

He suddenly realized that there was indeed something he needed Azazel's help with.

"Uncle Baraqiel, if the Governor really wants to express something, have him come to Kuoh Town in person."

"Bring three Sacred Gears—the Black Flame of the Evil Dragon, the Pitch-Black Territory, and the Dragon Prison."

In the Three Realms, the one who understands Sacred Gears the most thoroughly, aside from the gods who created them, is Azazel, who developed artificial Sacred Gears.

With his help, the Boosted Gear could be strengthened another round.

"Black Flame of the Evil Dragon, Pitch-Black Territory, Dragon Prison."

Baraqiel repeated them, "I have noted them down."

The two chatted for a few more sentences.

Luo Yu gave a greeting toward the gravestone, considering it a farewell to Aunt Shuri.

Outside, Akeno was still waiting for him.

Baraqiel watched the direction in which Luo Yu left, his gaze somewhat complex.

"Luo Yu, Red Dragon Emperor..."

He muttered in a low voice, the corners of his mouth slowly curling into a smile.

"With you by Akeno's side, I can finally be at ease."

The rain was still falling.

Luo Yu took one last look at his wife's gravestone. His black wings unfurled abruptly behind him, the five pairs of wings stirring up a gust of air, and he vanished directly into the torrential rain.

Not long after leaving the mountain behind, he saw Akeno Himejima holding that oil-paper umbrella, standing quietly by the roadside waiting for him.

Luo Yu walked over and took the umbrella from her hands.

"I'll see you back."

Just as he turned to take a step, the corner of his clothes was pulled.

"What's wrong?"

"Ah Yu, I borrowed you from President Sona for the whole day, and that includes the night."

Akeno Himejima's tone was plain, yet there was a smile on her face.

Luo Yu was stunned, immediately understanding the meaning behind her words.

"Akeno, I..."

Before he could finish, Akeno extended a finger to block his lips.

"President Sona took advantage of the situation and was the first, but I don't want to be the third wheel."

"Besides, Ah Yu, didn't you promise in front of Mom that you would be my child-husband?"

She wore a mysterious smile, her words half-truth and half-joke.

Child-husband...

Luo Yu felt a wave of helplessness upon hearing these three words.

It was just a joke back then; who knew Akeno Himejima would remember it until now.

Akeno Himejima didn't give him a chance to speak at all, dragging him directly into a love hotel.

Judging by how familiar she was with the place, it was clear she had planned this long ago.

With this setup, he was afraid he couldn't escape tonight.

The sky was gloomy, and the room was filled with an ambiguous atmosphere, where tenderness and emotions were thoroughly blended together.

The affair between Luo Yu and Akeno Himejima naturally couldn't be hidden from the several women in the villa.

These past few days, the looks Tsubaki Shinra and Reya Kusaka gave him were more resentful than the last.

Sona was even keeping a cold face the whole time.

Although she had anticipated this would happen when Akeno Himejima asked to borrow him earlier, when it truly happened, she still felt a sense of emptiness in her heart, as if something that originally belonged to her had been carved away by someone else.

Moreover, this situation of being divided by others would surely happen again in the future, and more than once.

The more she thought about it, the more irritable she became; Sona hadn't slept well for several consecutive days.

"Senior Luo Yu, it seems someone is looking for you outside."

The one speaking was Ruruko Nimura, wearing twin tails, small in stature, her cheeks slightly flushed, looking a bit shy.

Luo Yu looked down at her.

This girl was about the same age as Koneko.

After Sona advanced to her second year, she had recruited three more servants.

The girl before him named Ruruko Nimura was one of them, and her rank was Pawn.

She was about the same age as Koneko and had not yet officially enrolled in Kuoh Academy.

Of the remaining two, one was named Momo Hanakai, whose rank was Bishop, and the other was named Tsubasa Yura, whose rank was Rook.

"This girl arrived quite quickly."

Luo Yu expanded his perception and instantly recognized who had come.

He smiled at Ruruko Nimura and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Ruruko."

"It... it's nothing."

Ruruko Nimura muttered softly, swept a quick glance at Luo Yu, then turned and trotted away.

Luo Yu couldn't help but rub his nose, smiling bitterly, "Am I that scary?"

This new servant Sona had recruited was like a frightened little rabbit every time she saw him; just making eye contact would make her run away in a panic.

"Azazel, you move quite quickly."

Luo Yu walked to the first-floor hall and saw a middle-aged man dressed casually sitting on the sofa, his back straight.

This person was none other than the Governor of Grigori, Azazel.

He hadn't expected the other party to arrive so quickly.

He had told Baraqiel about the matter, and only a few days had passed, which had to account for the time it took for Baraqiel to pass on the message, plus the time it took for Azazel to travel from the Underworld to the Human World.

It looked like this guy had set off immediately upon receiving the news from Baraqiel.

In the hall, Sona, Tsubaki Shinra, and Reya Kusaka were all there, and even the three newly recruited servants, including Momo Hanakai, were present.

Sona was vigilantly staring at Azazel.

After all, he was the leader of the Fallen Angels and an adversary to them, the Devils.

Kuroka didn't seem to be there; she was likely still sleeping soundly in her room.

Serafall wasn't there either; she had rushed back to the Underworld yesterday to handle official business.

"Hey, hey... Red Dragon Emperor, you have too many monsters in your house."

Azazel hurriedly stood up and leaned into Luo Yu's ear to mutter, his eyes glancing at Infinite Dragon God Ophis, who was playing checkers with Koneko on the sofa.

Good heavens.

That was the Infinite Dragon God Ophis.

And Fenrir, the man-eating wolf.

Heaven knows how shocked he was when he walked in just now.

He almost lost face in front of a bunch of juniors.

What he couldn't figure out most was how the Infinite Dragon God Ophis could appear here.

"Didn't Vali tell you?"

Luo Yu was a bit puzzled.

"That brat hasn't shown his face for several months. Who knows if he went off into seclusion somewhere after personally taking down Rizevim Livan Lucifer and resolving his inner conflict."

Azazel spread his hands, looking helpless.

Although he was Vali's foster father, the number of times that brat had listened to him from childhood to adulthood could be counted on one hand.

Disappearing without a trace like he did now had long become a common occurrence.

"I want to take away three things: the Black Flame of the Evil Dragon, the Pitch-Black Territory, and the Dragon Prison. You should have them in your possession."

Azazel narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know where you heard the news, but the Black Flame of the Evil Dragon and the Pitch-Black Territory are indeed in my hands."

He reached out and pulled two Sacred Gears wrapped in black aura directly from his robes.

"But the Dragon Prison is not with me."

Luo Yu's brow tightened.

"Not with you?"

Could it be that Grigori hadn't collected that item yet?

"I also just got my hands on the Black Flame of the Evil Dragon and the Pitch-Black Territory."

"Forget it, two will do; we'll deal with the rest later."

Luo Yu waved his hand, looking indifferent.

"Azazel, do me a favor."

"You want to fuse these two Sacred Gears into the Boosted Gear to raise its rank to High-tier."

"You see things quite clearly."

Luo Yu was not at all surprised that this old guy could see through his intentions; after all, he had made it quite obvious.

"Of course."

Azazel proudly lifted his chin.

"Whether it's Vali or you, your future achievements will certainly not stop at the Devil King level."

"Once you break through to the Super Devil level, the boost provided by the Sacred Gear will be limited. Strengthening the Sacred Gear is a matter of time, unless you plan to discard it..."

Halfway through his sentence, Azazel suddenly froze.

He suddenly realized that the Red Dragon Emperor before him had actually broken through the Devil King level and reached the Super Devil level—and not just barely crossing the threshold, but standing firmly at the peak of the mid-stage of the Super Devil level.

How long had it been?

A year ago, when this bastard ambushed that old bag of bones Hades, he had clearly just broken through to the Devil King level not long before.

How could he improve so quickly? It was completely unreasonable.

Azazel's heart was churning, too shocked to speak.

"A word of advice."

Luo Yu raised his hand, and the Boosted Gear appeared on his palm.

"The Boosted Gear has long since upgraded from an Elite Sacred Gear to a High-tier Sacred Gear. This time, I asked you to come not just to simply strengthen the gauntlet."

Azazel's pupils constricted.

He stared at the armor before him, which had changed drastically; indeed, it was no longer its original appearance.

This aura, this halo—it had clearly reached the same level as the True Longinus and the Dimension Lost.

The Boosted Gear on Luo Yu's left hand looked completely different from before.

Azazel stared at it for a long time, always feeling that there was a familiar aura on it.

It was Samael.

That guy's stench.

"Last time, when you severed the Dragon-kind shackles..."

Luo Yu didn't hide anything and said directly, "The hilt of the First Holy Sword, combined with Samael, was what pushed the Boosted Gear to the High-tier."

Azazel clicked his tongue.

"I almost forgot, you still have the blood of a Fallen One flowing in you."

Sona looked at the gauntlet, her gaze falling on those black and gold patterns.

Those patterns were identical to the contract chains on her and her sister.

She breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.

Fortunately, her sister had returned to the Underworld today.

If she were to see this scene, especially hearing that Luo Yu still wanted to strengthen the gauntlet, she would definitely explode again.

And it would cause a bunch of trouble again.

As for whether strengthening it would make the contract stronger, Sona was not worried.

She had already said it before.

The contract had already been stretched to its limit and could not be added to further.

Because this time it was strengthening, not mutation.

Even if there were any changes, at most, the backlash when violating the contract would become heavier.

There would be no difference from now.

Azazel was silent for a while.

"Red Dragon Emperor."

He looked at Luo Yu's left hand, "You want to advance the gauntlet to a King-Class Longinus?"

King-Class Longinus?