The barrier shattered on impact!
As expected, the earth split open.
Centered on Sairaorg, the ground twisted and collapsed in concentric waves, breaking apart like tofu crushed by a shovel.
Dirt and rubble crumbled, and waves of destructive shock rippled outward like crashing tides.
Thankfully, Grayffia reacted in time. Just as Serzechs' face turned grim, she had already cast a defensive barrier to protect the viewing platform.
Otherwise, any devil on the platform below High-class level would have been knocked unconscious by the force of the shockwave.
As for Sairaorg, standing at the very center of the explosion—
Sairaorg's face turned deathly pale, then flushed with a strange redness. Along with the scalding, burning blood he vomited came steaming fragments of internal organs.
Likewise!
Although Vitan was quite far from the center of the explosion, he was now in a completely different state from his previously tidy and relaxed appearance.
Whether it was his hair or the clothes formed by magic, both were now disheveled and tattered due to the storm and flying sand that had been stirred up moments ago.
He looked just like a disaster victim from Africa.
"—Cough! Cough!"
Another fit of coughing echoed out. Sairaorg clutched his chest, blood streaming from the corner of his mouth.
"I didn't expect to be this injured before even forcing you to use your inherited special ability."
Sairaorg straightened his previously hunched back. Though he looked miserable, the fierce fighting spirit burning within him hadn't weakened in the slightest.
"—Reconnecting to the Library of Sloth, executing theme."
Vitan didn't immediately respond to Sairaorg's remark. Instead, he focused on channeling the magic within his body, reactivating his mage mode.
When it comes to battle, he had no particular comment on his current state.
However, since the fight was already over, he absolutely couldn't tolerate looking dirty and messy—especially with his slight obsession with cleanliness.
"There's no point in saying all that. I didn't use my special ability, but neither did you fight with your full strength."
Glancing at Sairaorg, who was still radiating intense fighting aura, Vitan shrugged as he spoke.
His words were clearly suggestive, causing Sairaorg to freeze. Then he retracted his stance, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"How did you know I still had a hidden trump card? I've never shown it in public."
Why else? Of course, because I saw it in the anime…
Vitan mocked in his heart.
Naturally, that was something he would never say out loud. His silence made Sairaorg drop the matter as well.
Sairaorg didn't really care how Vitan knew about his hidden technique. At that moment, he merely felt a tinge of regret in his heart.
It was as if Vitan saw through Sairaorg's thoughts. He stepped forward and spoke again:
"No need to feel regret. Next time we meet, bring your peerage. I'll also show you my Devouring Flames."
"Hahaha! Then I'll train hard and look forward to the next time we meet."
Sairaorg didn't seem interested in greeting his cousin, nor in treating his injuries right away.
He simply held his chest and, laughing loudly, left the training ground from the other side.
At the same time, a teleportation magic circle lit up beneath Vitan's feet. It was the teleportation circle of the Gremory household.
Since it was from the Gremorys, Vitan didn't resist. He dropped his guard and allowed the deep, enveloping magic to transport him.
"Welcome back, Vitan-kun. That was a truly spectacular battle."
Even before he opened his eyes, the sound of applause rang in his ears.
His gaze first landed on Grayfia. Her icy, frosty expression now bore a satisfied smile.
"Well done, but you still need to continue working hard."
Grayfia wasn't stingy with her praise when satisfied, but she also pushed him to not become complacent—that was her style of teaching.
"I know!" After speaking with Grayfia, Vitan turned his gaze toward Sirzechs. "Thanks for the compliment, but I didn't really win. At most, it was a draw."
Despite Sairaorg looking badly injured, internal organ damage was hardly serious for a devil.
Besides, Sairaorg had been using his energy and muscles to hold his damaged organs in place—he could still fight if necessary.
"That alone is already amazing!"
Sirzechs blinked, then leaned in slightly and said in a voice only the three of them could hear:
"Besides, you both still have your trump cards, don't you?"
This Maou had secretly placed an eavesdropping spell…
Vitan was speechless, but he still nodded lightly, acknowledging that Sirzechs was right.
However, what Sirzechs didn't know was that the nature of his and Sairaorg's hidden trump cards were vastly different.
What he was hiding was merely a special ability imprinted in his devil bloodline. While it naturally improved his strength, it wouldn't cause a qualitative leap.
But what Sairaorg was hiding—now that was something that could make his magical and physical power skyrocket like a rocket.
"Speaking of which, Vitan-kun, now that you're already this strong, don't you plan to officially debut in the Rating Games?"
Sirzechs asked with some curiosity.
If Vitan were lacking in strength, he could understand why Vitan wouldn't want to embarrass himself in front of the entire Underworld.
But in his eyes, Vitan's strength was equal to or even greater than the Underworld's strongest of the new generation—Sairaorg.
"I'm not really interested in that kind of thing. Besides, lately I've been thinking about spending some time in the human world."
Sirzechs immediately showed a knowing expression.
"Ah, Vitan-kun wants to go to the human world to recruit devil retainers."
That was a common idea, since most reincarnated devil retainers were originally human. Having retainers of other races was quite rare.
Although that wasn't his true goal, Vitan still nodded in agreement with Sirzechs' assumption.
"So, where are you planning to go first? The territory corresponding to House Asmodeus in the human world doesn't seem very suitable for you to find peerage members there."
It's not just unsuitable!
As the commander of the army, the Asmodeus family's human-world territory happened to be the famous Vatican.
If he were to show up in Vatican City and start gathering peerage members there, angels would come knocking the very next day.
"Exactly. So I would like to ask for permission from the Gremory family to operate in Japan."