The formalities were over, and they headed to a room with a tempered glass window facing the pool, the curtains open, allowing the sunlight to reflect off the glass.
This was the leisure area, where there was a Table Tennis and Ping-Pong table, a Pool table, a refrigerator, light brown sofas facing each other, another one positioned like a bridge between them facing a large television, and a barbecue area.
Now, seeing Tia's Angel wings... The surprise was written all over their faces.
Grayfia was one of them.
"This..." Grayfia was the one left most speechless in the face of this scene.
And it intensified when Asia made a pair of white wings appear on her back.
"Wait, even Asia-chan has Angel Wings!?" Rias raised her voice, bringing her hands to her mouth.
And then, Zaydas did the same, but his wings were even more arrogant and gigantic, and to create a divine effect, he used Sacred Light to surround the wings with white feathers.
"..."
His expression was something like, "Can I curse now?" while they all stood there, mouths wide open.
"What in the world..."
"This... This..."
No matter how hard they tried, it was difficult even to formulate a sentence, and the sacred light that Zaydas emitted, even if just a little, affected them, so he retracted it.
'By the way, am I resistant to sacred light?' Although he didn't have any passive skill stating so, at the very least, the sacred light created by him didn't affect him in any way. In fact, he felt good being exposed to the sacred light he created.
There were so many surprises that they had to drink tea to calm down.
Seconds later, Akeno broke the silence that had formed.
"How should I put this... Now, I can actually see Zaydas-sama as a 'God' ~" Akeno joked, but there seemed to be a touch of truth in her words.
"Right?" Asia looked at her with sparkling eyes.
Shuna, on the other hand, looked at Akeno with a calm and serene gaze while smiling slightly. Her entire aura radiated the kindness of a genuine Miko.
"I don't even know what surprised me the most today." Rias sighed.
"What a coincidence, Rias-Buchou, me too." Kiba said with his usual gentle smile.
"Zaydas-senpai is full of surprises." Koneko added.
"Huh? Am I the only one who thinks Zay-nii is incredibly cool?" Gasper asked, looking confused by their reactions.
Hugging him, Rias said with a small smile, "No, Gasper, you're not the only one."
The scene itself looked like that of an older sister hugging her little sister. After all, at this moment, Gasper was still dressed in a female school uniform, and his feminine appearance didn't help in saying otherwise.
"Incredible..." Ria said, "Forgive my rudeness, but are you really a boy?"
"Boku (I) am a boy!" He exclaimed loudly, closing his eyes with his hands at his sides.
""""Hahaha!""""
Gasper's sudden action drew good laughter from everyone.
Even Grayfia laughed a little.
The topic of conversation changed minutes later.
Meanwhile, Shuna and Grayfia served strawberry cake to everyone.
Meanwhile, Shion seemed shaken. Perhaps she had been rejected when she wanted to go 'help' them?
Well, it was very likely that Shuna was the one who stopped her.
As for that, there was nothing to be done. However, he still said: "Shion, later, I'll teach you how to make onigiri, okay?"
"Really?" She asked excitedly.
"Yes, really." Zaydas smiled.
"That's not fair..." Asia murmured.
However, this time, Zaydas said nothing. Even though he liked her company, this time he wanted to prioritize some of his time for Shion.
It wasn't a matter of favoritism—he intended to spend time alone with Asia as well. However, she didn't seem to understand that, and even if she did, it was hard to say whether she would let go of the jealousy she felt toward Shion or not.
Even Shuna was puffing out her cheeks, and even though she smiled whenever Zaydas looked at her, the moment he looked away, she went back to puffing her cheeks, looking upset.
Seriously, does she not know that even without looking directly, he can still see that thanks to [Mana Perception]?
Pretending not to notice, though he had to admit he found her action cute...
"Zay-kun," Rias asked, "didn't you say that Asia-chan had a surprise to show regarding her familiar?"
"Oh, right, there was that!" Asia, upon hearing this, clasped her hands together. "Luna, come out."
As soon as her words fell, Luna emerged from Asia's shadow.
When Luna appeared, at first, they felt intimidated by her aura, but then, they saw her beautiful and majestic appearance, with predominantly white fur with gold accents and a horn on her head... and they were mesmerized.
"So beautiful..." Koneko murmured.
"Yes, she's very pretty." Gasper agreed.
"Asia-chan, you did great!" Rias said, approaching Luna without fear.
When she tried to pet Luna, at first, Luna was cautious.
"It's okay, Luna, everyone here is a friend," Asia said sweetly, and Luna relaxed.
"Wow! Her fur is incredibly pleasant to the touch. So cute~" Rias said.
Soon, everyone surrounded Luna.
...
Later, Rias asked, "Zay-kun, what kind of wolf is that? It looks really powerful."
"Do you like it?" Zaydas asked, and she nodded.
Zaydas made the wolves emerge from his shadow.
As for Jade, she jumped off Shuna's shoulder and grew to a more presentable size of 40 cm, with angel wings.
"This is..."
"Oh, this is my familiar, Jade." Zaydas said, embarrassed, as he picked Jade up in his hand. "She went through a situation similar to Asia's and gained white-feathered wings just like an angel's."
"..."
What to say? Even spiders have angel wings now?
Next, what's it going to be... Saying that one of the wolves he summoned has the same thing too?
"By the way, these wolves are more intimidating... I'm afraid to even get close to them." The one who said that was Kiba.
It was no surprise—the power of the Infernal Wolves was close to that of a High-Class Devil.
And together, they could easily handle a High-Class Devil.
"These are my Demonic Infernal Wolves," Zaydas said. "Rias-nee, if one of them wants to follow you, I won't mind. Want to try?"
Excluding Shadow and Ruby, who had formed familiar contracts with him, there were still Hades, Bella, and Ivy. If any of them wished to follow her, he would be fine with it.
"Really?" Rias's eyes sparkled.
Obviously, it was too tempting of an offer to refuse.
"""Pleasure to meet you."""
The wolves greeted them telepathically.
"Ohh, they can also use telepathy... How smart!" Rias became more and more interested in them.
"In terms of intelligence, they might even be smarter than many humans," Zaydas said.
"I see..." Rias said. "But that makes sense. They all look proud, and their eyes convey intelligence."
Not just Rias, the others also tried to approach them, but although they were gentle, none of them showed any desire to follow them.
Until Ivy stopped in front of Shizue and bowed before her: "Shizue-sama, please accept me as your familiar."
This scene made some of them envious, but then they saw the same thing happen when Hades stood before Gasper.
"...Fuah?! Buchou, what do I do?" he asked.
Zaydas said, "It looks like he likes you, Gasper-kun. If you wish, you can form a master-familiar contract with him."
"Gasper." Rias said with a bright smile, "This is an incredible opportunity. If you're not against it, you can accept."
In an instant, Gasper and Shizue formed contracts with them.
Meanwhile, Bella, Shadow, and Ruby returned to Zaydas's shadow.
"But seriously, Asia-chan, you're amazing for being able to form a contract with Luna." Rurushi was the one who said this.
"Oh my... you're making me blush." Asia turned red as she placed her hand on her cheek.
Meanwhile, Akeno stood behind Zaydas and began massaging his shoulders.
"What's wrong?"
"Ara? Nothing, I just wanted to help you relax a little."
Rub, rub. Rub, rub... She was very skilled in her massage, and the way she varied the pressure from strong to gentle at times was so good that if he wasn't careful, he might let out some strange noises.
"Ahh... This feels so good." Zaydas let those words slip out.
"Fufu. You seem to be in terrible shape here, sir." With a hint of mischief, Akeno continued to massage his shoulders.
"She is..." Shuna looked at Akeno differently.
Not just her—Shion and the rest as well.
Until then, they had their suspicions, but now, they seemed certain of something.
"Ara? How scary..." Akeno, feeling their gaze, hugged Zaydas from behind, making the back of his head sink between her large breasts. "Zaydas-sama, protect me~"
"Akeno!" Rias called out to her, but to no avail.
"Akeno, step back a little. I need to use the bathroom."
Hearing this, Akeno thought for a moment before stepping away.
When Zaydas left, she also excused herself.
...
As soon as Zaydas came out of the bathroom, he saw Akeno waiting for him.
"Zaydas~" Normally, she didn't call him just by his name. When she did, she was incredibly charming and flirtatious.
Approaching her, he wrapped his arms around her, and she didn't resist.
Her eyes were moist, and her cheeks were flushed; every inch of her body was filled to the brim with anticipation for him. With her in his embrace, he brought his face to her neck and inhaled her perfume.
"Akeno, you smell so good." He said, pressing her against the bathroom wall.
"Really? That makes me happy~!" She smiled beautifully, leaning coquettishly against him.
And in turn, Zaydas stole her soft, plump, and delicious lips. Akeno didn't try to avoid him or push him away; she simply accepted him.
"...Ah."
Akeno sounded sad when Zaydas's lips parted from hers.
"Someone's coming," he murmured in her ear, causing obvious shivers.
She nodded and reluctantly distanced herself from him, even though it seemed like the idea of getting caught by someone excited her.
...
Instead of leaving, Rias and the others were going to spend the night. And after dinner, they did their activities right there.
Shizue and the others seemed interested and listened about contracts with humans.
When Zaydas was asked, he responded, "No? Why would I do something like that?"
"..."
"Zaydas-sama, it is important for a Devil to form contracts with humans. There are many advantages to doing so," Grayfia told him.
"Be honest, do you believe I need something like that?" he asked in response.
"..."
His question was met with her silence.
She should know his strength, just as she knew how strong the members of his Peerage were. If he participated in the Rating Games, he would easily gain much more prestige than by making contracts with humans.
Although contracts with humans were important, they were generally made by young Devils like Rias, Sona, and others.
"Zay-kun?" Rias, on the other hand, didn't seem to understand this.
"Rias-nee. I have no reason to hide this, so I'll say it," Zaydas spoke. "Currently, in terms of demonic power alone, I have more than Grayfia-nee."
Shocked and confused, she looked at Grayfia, only to see her sigh and nod: "Zaydas-sama is right. He is already on a level above mine."
A shocking revelation.
Everyone who knew Grayfia's true strength couldn't help but be surprised by this.
───────────
Almost eleven at night, Zaydas was sitting on the edge of his bed.
'Great Sage, has the control that was over her disappeared?'
[Affirmative. Shizue is no longer being influenced by any ability since the moment she was reincarnated as a Devil by the master!]
'I see. Then, is there a chance that the reason she doesn't want to return to TSSDK is due to fear of falling under the control of that ability again?'
[Analyzing...]
[Answering. Based on my analysis, the chances are high.]
'I see...'
It's not strange. After all, who would want to be controlled without even realizing they were under someone's influence, especially by someone she trusted and treated as a dear student?
'Honestly, I want to steal all his abilities and turn him into an ordinary person...'
Yuuki was someone he despised for deceiving Shizue, using her, and even controlling her to some extent. And, according to Great Sage's analysis, the one who induced Shizue's instability, making her reject Ifrit even more and nearly leading to her death, was Yuuki.
Until now, he had been analyzing the situation and comparing the storylines. He was also conducting a more in-depth analysis of Shizue, through which he confirmed that the plot was similar to that of TSSDK WN.
Well, he already suspected it. But now, he was certain.
'I shouldn't tell Shizue about this, and since he pretended to be an ordinary person... I'll make that a reality!'
He was determined to do so. To the point that he would do everything to increase the chances of making it happen.
It was precisely for this reason that he planned to start spending AP to acquire useful abilities and evolve others. And among the abilities he wanted was the Extra Skill: [Sage (Rank B+)]. He spent 5,000 to replicate this skill.
Acquiring this skill was suggested by Great Sage himself. Although it possessed similar functions, most of the time, it required AP. If he could evolve this skill into something equivalent to Rimuru's Great Sage, it could prove useful.
He didn't stop there—he also analyzed the unique abilities of Tia, Rusushi, and Ria. He used them as a basis to create a unique ability of his own.