Seeing Stella hanging in the starry sky, Lynn stood quietly for a while before exiting the [Evil Piece] starfield.
He had a strange feeling.
[Evil Piece] felt like it was nurturing an entire universe.
He shook his head and set those thoughts aside for now.
The current starfield in [Evil Piece] was still over a hundred thousand miles from completion.
He had a long way to go.
One step at a time.
Closing the personal panel, Lynn walked over to Utaha and the others.
Then his gaze shifted, farther into the distance.
Far away.
The blonde Cursed Child hiding behind some ruins stiffened.
"Ah… discovered…"
Her voice was flat and mechanical, like she was reading off a script.
Even though she was far away, the hearing abilities of devils were terrifying.
Saeko and the others turned to the source of the sound.
There was a peculiar light in their eyes.
"A little bug slipped in?"
Saeko's tone remained calm.
None of them were surprised.
After Tokyo fell, they'd relinquished their control over the city.
It wasn't strange for someone to sneak in to investigate what happened.
But…
Since you've come, you're not leaving~
Tina Sprout's body froze stiffly.
So scary…
She silently stepped out from the ruins, clearly signaling that she meant no harm.
"After analyzing the current data, Tina is no match at all, so…"
"Zero-Two-Zero," Tina Sprout slowly raised her hands, her demeanor resembling someone surrendering herself for punishment.
"Tina has been captured."
Lynn: "…"
Saeko's lips twitched, her expression a little subtle.
But…
She understood the situation perfectly.
Even from afar, Tina had witnessed the total destruction of a Stage V Gastrea.
It would be impossible for her not to grasp the reality.
Originally, she'd been sent by Ayn Rand to investigate Tokyo.
To find out why it had suddenly fallen.
Now, the case was closed.
And they got another Cursed Child for free.
Hmm…
Lynn subtly shook his head and waved his hand. "Let's go. I'll go update your Blessings."
---
Busujima Saeko
Mid-Class Devil
Race: Devil
Master: Lynn Valefor
Strength: SSS1378
Agility: SS1096
Durability: SS1035
Magic: SS1028
Inherent Skills:
[Yearning for Killing] (omitted)
[Blade Devil] (omitted)
Development Ability: Swordsman I
After seeing Saeko's updated Blessings data, Lynn nodded inwardly.
Just as expected.
Then he said, "Alright, looks like that's your limit."
"But… that was fast."
Lynn sighed with a hint of admiration.
Saeko exhaled softly and smiled. She whispered, "Then I'll leave it to you, Master."
Lynn nodded behind her.
Level Up!
"Hnngnn~"
A soft, sultry moan escaped, causing Mahiru and the others to blush.
Why did Saeko make such a… provocative sound?
She must've done it on purpose!
A short while later.
Her Blessings were updated.
Busujima Saeko
High-Class Devil
Race: Devil
Master: Lynn Valefor
Strength: i0
Agility: i0
Durability: i0
Magic: i0
Inherent Skills:
[Slaughter Vision] (omitted)
[Blade Devil] (omitted)
[Black Eclipse Blade]
—Bacterial Resonance (Absorbs trace amounts of enterovirus during attacks with her weapon; converts it into physical stamina recovery)
—Blood Slaughter Awakening (During consecutive kills, her weapon becomes covered in black erosion lines; final attack range increases by 200%)
This is…
Lynn was surprised.
Seeing a skill related to the Gastrea virus in the list, he suddenly understood.
So, it was a result of killing too many Gastrea.
Lynn copied Saeko's Blessings info for records.
Saeko immediately noticed her new rank.
High-Class Devil.
Now she could be even more useful to her master.
Then she looked further down and noticed the new skill.
"Black Eclipse Blade?"
Saeko tilted her head in confusion.
"It's probably from the Gastrea you've been fighting…"
Lynn gave his guess.
Anyone who saw the mention of the virus could likely connect the dots.
After hearing his explanation, Saeko nodded in realization.
"But…"
Lynn rubbed his chin. "This skill's only useful in the Black Bullet world."
It offered stamina regeneration, after all.
But only in the presence of the Gastrea virus.
Once Saeko left this world, the skill would become half-useless.
Saeko smiled nonchalantly. "Better than nothing."
"And—"
A hint of crimson flickered in Saeko's eyes. "This just means I can kill better here… and earn more experience."
Utaha twitched her lips.
She almost said what was on everyone's mind, this woman's a total maniac!
Seeing Saeko unlock a new skill, Miko suddenly had a thought: "Does that mean we can awaken skills like that too?"
The idea got her a little excited.
Her [Spirit-Seer Devil] was basically useless!
It worked great against spirits but normal enemies?
Completely ineffective.
She could only rely on the stat boosts of a mid-class devil, but even then, she desperately wanted to learn how to use magic better.
Unless she could raise some powerful cursed spirits…
But so far, she hadn't encountered one strong enough.
And even if she did, she couldn't enslave it.
So basically.
Useless!
If awakening new skills was possible… maybe she had a chance?
Miko was hopeful.
"New skills?!"
The others perked up at her speculation.
But soon after, their excitement died down.
"Tsk."
Utaha pouted. "Only Saeko gets the good stuff…"
Miko also looked dejected.
Her hopes for a new skill were dashed.
Lynn gently patted her on the back and offered an alternative idea.
"If you can't enslave a powerful cursed spirit, why not try befriending one and signing a contract?"
"Contract?"
Miko's expression brightened slightly.
But…
Did she really have to befriend cursed spirits?
Her face stiffened again.
Even now, she still hadn't recovered from being scared half to death by cursed spirits.
Cursed spirits, every last one of them deserves to die!!
Thinking back to her past encounters, Miko felt both ashamed and frustrated. Her body heated up.
Her temperature rose, visibly red!
Lynn continued updating everyone's Blessings one by one.
The stat values of Utaha and the other mid-class devils increased significantly, though none reached the threshold for promotion.
Meanwhile, the lower-ranked devils like Yuuko and Hana advanced to mid-class rank.
But aside from the level upgrade, there weren't any major changes.
Hana's development ability advanced to [Boxer I].
It was likely due to her frequently wrapping her fists in aura and punching things head-on.
Yuuko's development ability was:
[Netherworld Resistance I]
(Immune to mental erosion caused by curse-type skills; in dark environments or areas of negative energy, total stats increase by 20%)
"That's a very solid development ability," Lynn commented.
Yuuko grinned and immediately pounced on Lynn, rubbing her forehead against him playfully.
"Master~ Master~ When will you come taste this ghost?"
Yuuko's narrow eyes curled into mischievous slits as she smiled. Lynn twitched slightly.
Lynn patted her. "Come to my room tonight."
Yuuko's eyes lit up instantly!
The sixty-year-old virgin was finally going to give up her precious first time tonight!
"Then, Master~ You better wait for me!"
With that, Yuuko practically floated away in bliss.
Though technically, she already floated to begin with…
Watching her, Utaha curled her lips and said nothing.
She was just a bit curious…
What does it feel like if it's with a ghost…?
Mahiru opened her mouth slightly, then closed it and pursed her lips with a trace of frustration.
She'd known this day would come.
Yuuko had been way too proactive with Mr. Lynn.
Always flirting at the slightest opportunity.
This was just the natural conclusion.
But…
Wasn't she here before Yuuko…?
The most frustrated one was Miko.
Another one…
She mumbled to herself.
"Hey, Miko, weren't you the first to become part of Minister Lynn's Peerage?"
Hana asked curiously, "So, did you ever get into Master's bed?"
"G-Get into bed?!"
Miko's face flushed bright red as she looked at Hana in shock.
What a bold thing to say!
Then again, considering it was Hana, maybe it wasn't too surprising.
But…
It still hurt a little, Hana…
If I cut you open, you're not secretly black-hearted, are you?
Seeing Miko's reaction, Hana's expression lit up with a smug "Ah, I see~" look.
Miko's face darkened.
Don't look at me like that!
I'm embarrassed enough about not having climbed onto his bed yet!!
Just as she was fuming internally, Hana suddenly said with serious conviction, "Don't worry, Miko! I'll help you!"
"W-What, Hana?"
Miko stuttered, completely thrown off.
W-What's she helping with?
Help her get into Master's bed?
H-How would she even help with that?
She was both embarrassed… and curious.
Definitely not because she wanted to know how!
Hana gave her a confident look and patted her shoulder like a big sister giving guidance.
"Don't worry, Miko. Once I climb into Master's bed, I'll help you too!"
"…Huh?"
Miko's eyes went wide!
I didn't expect you to be that kind of Hana!!
You say you'll help your bestie but you're the one jumping into bed first?!
Friendship over! Friendship over!!
Miko stared at her, full of regret.
Hana… you're no good!
On the other side, it was finally Kisara's turn to have her Blessings updated.
She was full of anticipation and quickly took off her top, waiting for Lynn to begin.
The next moment.
Lynn's hand pressed against her smooth back.
The Blessings data surfaced.
Tendo Kisara
Mid-Class Devil
Race: Devil
Master: Lynn Valefor
Strength: C613
Agility: C687
Durability: E437
Magic: E497
[Tendo Ryu Menkyo Kaiden] (omitted)
[Ghost Sword] (omitted)
[Revenge Devil] (omitted)
[Elegy of the Sorrowful Wish] (omitted)
…
Lynn examined the data carefully.
Her level hadn't changed, but—
"Your stats increased quite a bit."
Thanks to [Tendo Ryu Menkyo Kaiden], Kisara's strength and agility were climbing rapidly.
Plus, she'd been doing a lot of killing lately.
And.
"Just like Saeko, a new skill appeared."
(To be continued.)