9: Chapter 9

She couldn't believe it, and raised her hand again to touch her forehead. The skin was smooth, with nothing there.

The thing that had weighed on her since birth was just gone like that?

There was no backlash, no excruciating pain, completely clean.

A sense of relief she had never experienced before welled up from the depths of her soul, as if a boulder that had pressed down on her for over a decade had been suddenly lifted. She took a deep breath, her chest filling with an unprecedented feeling of comfort.

This time, it was truly broken.

It wasn't their House Sitri unilaterally tearing up the contract; the other party had let go voluntarily.

But before she could even celebrate.

Her forehead burned once again.

A speck of ink spread between her brows and immediately condensed.

Sona's pupils shrank violently.

A new dark-gold chain instantly formed on her forehead. It was thicker, denser, and had deeper patterns than the previous one. The end of the chain extended outward and disappeared into the void, as if connected to another person's soul. "A new contract... How is that possible?!"

A massive flood of information suddenly rushed into her mind.

The nature, terms, and binding power of this chain were all engraved in her consciousness.

It was still the engagement with Luo Yu.

But this time, the binding power was more than ten times stronger than before. In the past, she could still exploit loopholes like "cohabiting for three years to avoid fulfilling obligations" to dodge it, but now, all loopholes were completely sealed.

Certain obligations that a fiancée must fulfill, she had to complete unilaterally.

If she failed to do so, she would suffer the backlash of the contract.

What made her scalp tingle the most was—

Offspring.

Although the previous contract had mentioned it, it wasn't mandatory; she could delay and avoid it.

But this new chain wrote it clearly: she must bear offspring for Luo Yu. This was an ironclad rule with no room for negotiation. "Did Luo Yu do something... or did that person leave a backup plan back then?"

Sona clenched her teeth, forcing herself to calm down.

But her body was trembling.

Her shoulders shook, her fingers clenched until they turned white, and even her breathing fell out of rhythm.

The sudden change in the contract must have been triggered by something.

Even if Luo Yu did have some special abilities, it was absolutely impossible for him to affect the binding power of the contract itself.

If it were really that easy to alter, the Sitri Clan wouldn't have waited until today to obediently send their new head over to fulfill the contract.

It wouldn't be surprising for someone who could fight against God to leave a backup plan.

It was probably to prevent someone like her, who wanted to exploit contract loopholes and bypass the restrictions to break the agreement in one go. "Could it be... that I, Sona Sitri, can only live my life with my neck chained, without even the room to resist?"

Sona held her forehead, her voice laced with an unspeakable despair.

The spatial rift connecting the Underworld to the Human World was a chaotic mess of colors, with violent spatial turbulence surging everywhere.

The spacious and stable passage was precisely the main route opened by the Underworld.

It was on a completely different level compared to the crude little path Luo Yu had sneakily put together.

At this moment, a deep and long train whistle echoed from the depths of the spatial passage.

A train bearing the crest of the Gremory Clan was speeding along, heading straight for the Human World.

In the luxurious carriage, Rias Gremory and her three peerage members were present—the Queen, Akeno Himejima; the Rook, Koneko Toujou; and the Knight, Kiba Yuuto.

Standing nearby were several devil maids of the Gremory Clan, responsible for serving them.

However, these maids were all shaking so hard that they couldn't even hold the black tea steady, as if they were being heavily suppressed by something.

The scalding hot tea had just been poured into the cups when it instantly turned into ice water emitting white vapor. "Lord Serafall..."

Rias Gremory had a helpless expression as she looked at the twin-tailed woman not far away, who was radiating a freezing chill.

This woman was dressed like a magical girl, yet cold air was pouring out of her entire body, making her the source of all this.

One of the current Four Great Satans of the Underworld, Serafall Leviathan.

Anyone with eyes could see that this Maou was currently in an extremely terrible mood.

Raging fire burned in her eyes, ready to explode at anyone who touched her. "You all may leave first."

As soon as Rias Gremory spoke, the maids who were being tormented to death by Serafall's aura felt like they had been granted a second life, and quickly retreated from this terrifying carriage. "Sorry, little Rias..."

Once the maids left, Serafall also realized she had lost her composure just now and calmed her emotions slightly.

Seeing that the icy and tense atmosphere had finally eased a bit, Akeno Himejima and the other two also breathed a sigh of relief. "It's nothing... Lord Serafall, what on earth happened?"

Rias Gremory asked cautiously, her tone carrying a hint of worry.

Rias Gremory wasn't worried about the Maou; what she couldn't let go of was her best friend, Sona.

Last night, through the magic projection, she saw that Sona's eyes had completely lost their light, without even a shred of energy left.

She had asked, but Sona didn't say anything.

On the train to the Human World today, Sona's older sister, Serafall, also had a visibly off expression.

The younger sister looked like she had lost her soul, filled with resentment.

As for the older sister, she was suppressing a stomach full of rage.

Now, Serafall was just short of a target to let her explode on.

Rias Gremory and the others knew very well that as soon as this target showed up, this Maou would definitely unleash her full power and blast them into ashes. "It's nothing, just some diplomatic nonsense."

Serafall brushed it off casually.

She couldn't even sort out the mess in her head right now, and besides, this kind of secret was really not convenient to share.

Seeing that the other party didn't want to talk about it, Rias Gremory tactfully dropped the subject.

The train arrived in the Human World, but it stopped before reaching Kuoh Town.

Serafall glanced in the direction of Kuoh Town, her tone stifled with resentment: "Little Rias, I'll get off first. Tell Sona for me that I'll visit her in a few days."

In the Far East, Yasaka, the Commander-in-Chief of the Kyoto Yokai, was a diplomatic target that the Underworld had been actively trying to win over.

Serafall really wanted to rush to Kuoh Town right now and crush that person to powder.

But the affairs of the Underworld were more important than her personal grudges.

As one of the Four Great Satans, she still had this level of awareness. "It was clearly a contract signed on Sona, so how did it end up on me?"

Serafall went more and more furious the more she thought about it.

A black-gold contract chain emerged on her fair forehead.

It fit perfectly with the one on Sona's forehead.

The two chains could connect flawlessly. "That guy couldn't have set up this kind of trick; he doesn't have the ability."

Serafall and Sona stood at different heights, so they naturally saw things differently.

During The Great War, she was already not weak.

That man was indeed stronger than her, but only by a limited margin.

To quietly set up a backup plan in the contract that could affect her was simply impossible.

Not to mention her current strength had reached the peak of the Super Devil King Class, not a single bit inferior to that man. "Rather, it's because this marriage contract suddenly became more than ten times stronger, causing the contract on Sona to extend to me. And even with my strength, I can't break it."

"Something must have happened on that fiancé's side. It must be."

Serafall clenched her teeth tightly.

She had already made her calculations in her mind.

Once she settled the matters in Kyoto, she would head straight to Kuoh Town to grind that so-called fiancé's bones to ashes.

She refused to believe that one of the Four Great Satans of the Underworld could actually be bound hand and foot by a mere marriage contract.

To have her, a dignified Maou, marry a normal human?

If word of this got out, the Sitri Clan losing face would be a minor issue; the entire Underworld would become a laughingstock.

In the suburban forest of Kuoh Town.

Several massive trees, too wide for three people to hug, were cleanly snapped in half. The cuts were smooth, and crimson-gold flames swept up the trunks, swallowing the remains entirely in the blink of an eye.

A few dark shadows lay on the ground, completely burned to ashes. "For this thing, while the input of holy power remains the same, the length of the blade will multiply along with the Boosted Gear."

Luo Yu held the sword in his hand, weighed it, and continued, "Moreover, the Crimson Holy Flames produced by this holy sword suppress devils to a degree that is more than a level above other holy swords."

He paused for a moment. "Normal devils will die the moment they touch it, without even a chance to struggle. It's not as harsh on other races, just acting as ordinary holy flames."

Luo Yu looked down, examining the sword in his hand.

Indeed, this was a holy sword.

Yesterday, Ddraig directly fused the hilt of the First Holy Sword into the Boosted Gear, making this sword a part of the gauntlet.

The hilt was a roaring red dragon with its mouth open, its body extending to form the grip, its wings spread out to form the guard, and its head facing upward to firmly support the blade's position.

There was no physical blade; instead, a blade condensed from golden light was wrapped in a layer of fire—the Crimson Holy Flames he had just mentioned.

The other abilities of this sword weren't particularly outstanding; its greatest advantage was this flame, which specifically countered devils.

But for Luo Yu, it was enough.

At least it made up for his shortcoming in weaponry. "Let's call it the Crimson Dragon Holy Sword; its appearance certainly fits the name."

Luo Yu casually twirled the sword a few times and summoned the Boosted Gear.

He stared at the gauntlet for a moment; it looked visibly different from its previous dark-red appearance. "Ddraig was right. The compatibility between this gauntlet and the holy power inside me is extremely high. It's almost as if it has run through my body countless times, operating without the slightest obstacle."

"This way, the path to developing the Aurora Juggernaut Drive form will be much smoother."

The Boosted Gear had completely adapted to the holy power within his body.

If anything were to happen to him now, the next successor wouldn't receive a gauntlet with such perfect compatibility.

Without holy power as an energy source, the mere resistance carried by the gauntlet itself would be enough to prevent the other party from even achieving a Balance Breaker.

Of course, this had nothing to do with him anymore. "Partner, if it's convenient for you, it's best to open the path to Heaven as soon as possible."

Just as Luo Yu was about to leave, Ddraig's voice suddenly rang in his ears. "Ddraig, you're awake?"

He had only been unconscious for less than a day. Given the sleep-loving nature of dragons, Luo Yu had originally thought he would have to wait at least several months. "It was just embedding the materials currently on hand into the Boosted Gear; this minor modification didn't take much effort."

"I see..."

Luo Yu really didn't understand much about this kind of thing. "By the way, Ddraig, isn't it a bit rushed for you to tell me to hurry up and open the passage to Heaven? Heaven is probably turning the world upside down looking for someone right now."

Luo Yu had originally planned to wait a few months until things quieted down in Heaven before quietly using the spatial coordinates in his possession to sneakily forge a path to Heaven. "When you broke through to the Maou-Class, I sensed a trace of an 'old friend's' aura in the depths of the Mirror Lake of Light. If it really is him, the second step of your Dragon Reincarnation will be completed very soon."

"Really?"

Luo Yu's face instantly lit up.

His Dragon Reincarnation using dragon essence blood was only the first step of transforming into a dragon; the change in his bloodline was complete.

But in this world, some dragons have a special characteristic, and that is the dragon soul—the origin dragon soul carrying the trait of immortality.