Blood sprayed everywhere, some of it even splashing onto Koneko Toujou's face as she remained entangled in the spider's web.
A golden chain with a razor-sharp tip had pierced clean through the spider monster's wrist.
And that chain… had come from the entrance—from behind Akira.
Behind him, a golden magic circle spun slowly in midair, and from within it, radiant chains slithered out like living serpents.
Even though Akira had only unlocked 10% of the [Enkidu Template], he was still able to summon the Chain of Heaven.
After all, Enkidu is the Chain of Heaven itself—his greatest strength lies in his existence as a Divine Construct, a living weapon forged by the gods to bind those under heavenly contracts.
However, he hadn't yet unlocked the weapon's true name—to do that, he would need to increase the Template synchronization rate.
Koneko's eyes widened in surprise as she stared at Akira. She hadn't expected it—the new transfer student she felt drawn to… was a Sacred Gear wielder.
"You want to stop me too, human?! THEN DIE!!"
With a sharp motion, the spider monster ripped the chain binding her wrist and hurled a massive web toward Akira.
But before the web could even reach him, golden magic circles appeared in the air, one after another. Chains shot out from them and shredded the web midair, turning it into glittering dust.
The reason he stopped the attack?
Simple: This was the only school uniform he had.
He was still wearing his Kuoh Academy uniform—and since he had zero money to buy new clothes, the last thing he wanted was to get this one dirty or torn.
The spider monster lunged forward. With eight powerful legs, she moved like a blur.
Her upper half, once vaguely feminine, now twisted into something utterly feral. Her face contorted into a mask of hatred—no trace of humanity left.
Just before she could strike, another golden chain shot out from the side and impaled her abdomen!
More chains erupted from the air, firing from different directions, slicing through her body with brutal precision until almost nothing was left.
In her final moment, the spider monster looked at the green-haired figure before her—Shin Akira—and spoke her last words.
To her, death was freedom.
Ever since she had killed her master and broken the infernal contract, her body and mind had been ravaged by its curse. Her form became twisted, her sanity shattered. Only pain and rage remained.
What survived was no longer a person—but a beast, consumed by madness and vengeance.
Now, at the edge of death, her consciousness returned for just a moment.
And she understood—this was the end of her torment.
Her monstrous form collapsed, half-woman, half-spider—lifeless, but strangely... peaceful.
Not from agony, but from relief.
[Heritage Template has increased by 0.1%!]
Akira blinked in shock as the system notification echoed in his mind.
So... defeating monsters increases my Enkidu Template sync rate?!
But… if a single Stray Devil only gave 0.1%, he'd need to take down 100 of them just to reach 20%.
And where the hell was he supposed to find 100 Stray Devils in Kuoh City?!
On the other side of the room, Koneko finally broke free from the web. She looked at Akira with visible surprise still lingering in her golden eyes.
Among humans, Sacred Gear Users were rare—but one this powerful?
Even though the battle had been brief, Akira's performance against a Stray Devil proved his strength was nothing to scoff at.
"Senpai, thank you for saving me." (Koneko)
"It's nothing, really."
Akira scratched his cheek awkwardly.
Honestly… looking at this tiny silver-haired girl who was being this polite and cute, he really wanted to pat her head.
Suddenly, his eyes caught something on the floor.
He walked over, picked up the black object, and brushed off the dust.
His face instantly lit up.
And inside… a wad of cash!
Japanese yen might look like a lot at a glance due to inflation and denomination sizes, but even after rough estimation—this was around 160,000 yen!
For Akira, who had been starving and completely broke—it was a treasure chest. At the very least, he wouldn't go hungry for the next few days.
Watching Akira's ridiculously joyful reaction, Koneko tilted her head slightly in confusion.
He's that happy over just this...? she thought.
As a servant of the Gremory noble family, Koneko had never experienced money troubles.
In fact, she owned a small piece of land in the Underworld under her name—managed entirely by the Gremory family's staff.
She just had to sit there, and money would roll in.
Not to mention, Rias Gremory was incredibly generous.
She had all sorts of games—from rare to mainstream—things any otaku would cry in jealousy over.
In Japan, otaku and gaming culture was strong, and those things weren't cheap.
"Ahem... um, Toujou-san… don't get the wrong idea. I'm not—" (Akira)
"It's okay, Senpai. I'll keep your secret." (Koneko)
Her expressionless face spoke with quiet sincerity.
Akira nearly teared up.
What do you do when you're mistaken for a penniless loser by a cute silver-haired kouhai loli?
Urgent! Need solutions fast!
"Well then… I'll get going now, Toujou-san." (Akira)
"Wait, Senpai." (Koneko)
"Hm? What is it?" (Akira)
"Could you... keep my secret too?" (Koneko)
"Eh... Oh. Got it. Your secret's safe with me." (Akira)
"Thank you, Senpai." (Koneko)
Koneko bowed politely.
Among Devils, keeping one's identity hidden was a matter of survival—especially when it came to their supernatural abilities.
If an ordinary human had witnessed what happened just now, their memories would've been wiped without question.
That's how the supernatural world had stayed hidden from modern society.
And this wasn't just a rule among Devils—it was a common law shared across all factions of the unseen world.
Because to normal people, knowing too much about this world... was a burden no one should carry.
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