— — — — — —
"..."
Dimitrie Vatler stood frozen in stunned silence.
Where… where the hell did his sea of serpents go?
All those beasts—gone?
Vatler silently tried to re-establish a connection with his familiars.
But... Nothing.
Not a single one left.
He was completely alone.
He stood there, dumbfounded, struggling to accept what just happened.
What the hell?
Everything was going so well. He had the upper hand. Victory was basically guaranteed.
So how the hell?
How did he end up all alone like this?
Vatler's gaze shifted to Yukina.
Just then, a blurry image of Lynn appeared in his sight.
What caught his attention most was the weapon in Lynn's hand.
It was the same weapon that Yukina used, but something was different.
Very different.
His eyes were glued to the rainbow-hued aura radiating from the Snowdrift Wolf.
For some reason, it made his heart tighten with unease.
His gut told him that this man—this random guy who just popped up—and the now-transformed spear were definitely tied to the disappearance of his entire serpent army.
Not to mention, that man looked vaguely familiar.
Had he seen him somewhere before?
With suspicion growing, Vatler narrowed his eyes at Lynn and said in a low voice, "You… did something, didn't you?"
Lynn didn't respond.
He just gently patted the barrel of the Snowdrift Wolf.
That was all the signal it needed.
With a sharp whistle, the spear instantly shot forward, heading straight for Vatler.
"??!"
No time to think—Vatler's body shifted on instinct.
Crack!
His white suit split apart as his body morphed into a massive serpent, wrapping and weaving to engage the Snowdrift Wolf head-on!
---
At the same time—
Shirona Kuraki and Koyomi Shizuka, who had just rushed over from the conference room, arrived just in time to witness the scene unfold.
They both had strange looks in their eyes.
Snowdrift Wolf! Can it even be used like that?
Wait a second.. Wasn't Snowdrift Wolf supposed to be a weapon exclusive to the Lion King Organization? How the hell did a devil manage to use it so flawlessly?
Their feelings were complicated, but they didn't let it show. They quickly hurried toward Yukina.
"Senpais?"
Yukina blinked in surprise when she saw them.
Even though Shirona's face was hidden behind a veil, her distinct hair and eyes gave her away instantly.
What the...?
Why are my old classmates suddenly showing up as high-ranking members of the Lion King Organization?
Endou gave them a deadpan look. "So you two finally decided to show yourselves, huh?"
Crossing her arms with an annoyed tone, she snapped, "You, 'Saints'—just sitting back while my disciple and I had to fight off a powerful enemy by ourselves."
Shameless!
She mocked them but kept that part to herself.
It's not like she was scared of that sly scheming woman, Shirona, holding a grudge or anything. Nope. Not at all.
"Eh?"
Hearing her teacher refer to the two as "Saints," Yukina completely froze up.
Then she stammered, "T-T-Three Saints?!"
"Yep~" Endou answered on their behalf. "These two are the legendary 'Three Saints' of the Lion King Organization."
At this point, since Shirona and Koyomi had already shown their faces, there wasn't any point hiding it from Yukina.
Besides, with Lynn around, there was no way to keep it under wraps anyway.
After her teacher confirmed it, Yukina's brain went blank.
The Three Saints—the elusive, near-mythical figures from the Lion King Organization—were actually her elementary school seniors?!
She felt like her head was spinning.
She tried to put on a serious, respectful face.
But the moment she remembered they used to be upperclassmen from her childhood, her expression got weird.
She just couldn't keep the respectful facade going. Her face twisted slightly as her thoughts spiraled.
Shirona noticed her look.
Yeah... this was awkward.
Yukina accidentally seeing through their identities wasn't ideal. But what could she do now?
Shirona pretended not to notice Yukina and turned to face Lynn instead. She lowered her head slightly and said in a respectful, polite tone:
"Lord Lynn, I truly apologize for not welcoming you properly. I am deeply ashamed and regretful."
"Regretful?" Lynn raised an eyebrow with a faint smirk. "You sent people to infiltrate my territory, and then planted Himeragi Yukina into my Familia—and you call that regret?"
Shirona froze.
She wasn't surprised. She'd already figured Lynn would bring those two things up.
But she was prepared.
Lifting her eyes, she spoke sincerely, "The issue with Sayaka was indeed our mistake. We didn't know that facility belonged to you, Lord Lynn."
Though even if we did... we wouldn't have guessed you're someone far beyond even a Devil King.
Still, Shirona didn't lie or twist the truth—she simply stated the Lion King Organization's internal logic and motives.
After all, there was no way she could fool someone like Lynn. It was better to be honest and admit fault.
She continued, "When we realized our mistake, I immediately sought to fix it. That's why—"
She glanced toward Yukina.
Lynn narrowed his eyes. "So you decided to offer Yukina as compensation?"
Shirona nodded. "We heard that Lord Lynn's Familia is full of exceptionally talented people. Himeragi Yukina is the top talent of our current generation."
"I believed she was worthy of your attention."
Yukina: "???"
She blinked in confusion, then hurriedly said, "Wait, wasn't I supposed to be sent to rescue Sayaka?!"
Shirona gave her an apologetic smile—not that Yukina could see it behind the veil.
Yukina turned to her teacher, hoping for some clarity—but all she saw was Endou gazing up at the sky, mumbling with a sigh, "The moon's really big and round tonight..."
Yukina: "..."
"Teacher, the moon is a crescent tonight. (🌙)"
"Ah?" Endou waved it off with a laugh. "R-Right, right…"
Seeing that fake reaction, Yukina immediately understood.
So even her teacher was in on this!
Which meant—She hadn't been sent to rescue Sayaka at all.
She'd been planned from the start to be offered to Lynn as one of his Familia?!
"Ugh..."
Yukina puffed up her cheeks, clearly upset.
Sure, joining Lynn's Familia had brought a lot of benefits but being tricked into it still left a bad taste in her mouth.
Endou scratched her head awkwardly. "Sorry, Yukina…"
On the other side—
Shirona went on. "As for Kirasaka Sayaka..."
"If Lord Lynn wishes, she can also be given to you."
Lynn's voice was calm. "You're really willing to give them up that easily, huh?"
If he remembered correctly, Yukina and Sayaka were the most promising trainees in the whole Lion King Organization.
Not that he cared all that much.
Even if Shirona wanted to take them back, it wasn't like Lynn would let them go.
More importantly, Lynn's interest wasn't on Yukina or Sayaka right now.
It was on the so-called Three Saints.
He rubbed his chin, eyes scanning over the veiled Shirona. Then, without hesitation, he reached out and lifted her chin.
Shirona's whole body tensed with shock—but she didn't move.
She stood frozen, letting Lynn do whatever he pleased.
Nearby, Koyomi saw the whole thing and, while her mind was racing, her face remained calm. She didn't say a word to stop it.
Endou, meanwhile, was busy calming Yukina down, but she snuck a glance at the stunned Shirona—and couldn't help but feel a little smug.
Serves her right!
That's karma for everything she put us through!
As Lynn gently tilted her chin up, he stared at her veil for a moment—then simply pulled it off.
The next second, a stunningly beautiful face was revealed beneath it.
Lynn nodded in satisfaction.
"Not bad. You'd make a Great Familia Member."
"..."
.
.
.