Serafall's face instantly fell, like she'd just seen the apocalypse heading her way.
"Why is he here?!"
"Lord Leviathan, Fallen Angel executive Kokabiel was defeated by Hikaru. If he hadn't intervened, we'd all be dead," Sona Sitri said, her voice trembling at the memory of his terrifying power.
"What? Seriously? He took down Kokabiel? I thought his only big move was going into Balance Breaker mode?"
Serafall looked stunned.
"I know Kokabiel—he's crazy arrogant, but at the end of the day, he's still an executive. His power level's nearly on par with the Old Satan faction.
How exactly did it go down? Tell me everything," Serafall demanded, linking arms with Sona.
The problem was that Sona didn't really know how to explain. She herself only had a vague understanding of Hikaru's abilities—just when she thought she had them figured out, he'd blow her mind again.
"How do you not know? Aren't you two super close?" Serafall asked, looking confused.
"We're just classmates," Sona said helplessly.
Truth be told, Serafall doted on her so much it was almost smothering. Sure, she appreciated the family love, but it could be a bit much at times.
Apparently, Serafall had assumed her relationship with Hikaru was way deeper than it really was. Sona did wish she could be closer to him, but she'd never had the chance.
"Wait, so you're the one chasing after him?" Serafall's mind, of course, went straight to the wrong conclusion.
"That's not it at all…!" Sona's cheeks went bright red in a flash. Even as her sister, Serafall's thought process was a total mystery.
"Wahh, my precious Sona's grown up! She's leaving me behind!" Serafall clung to Sona and started fake-crying loudly.
A lot of people around them started staring at the Leviathan's public meltdown, and Sona wished she could just vanish on the spot—especially when Hikaru glanced over, making her want to crawl into a hole somewhere.
After a while, Serafall finally calmed down and walked up to Hikaru.
At first, Hikaru thought she was coming over to stir up trouble. But before he could do anything, she grabbed his hand.
"This time, I seriously owe you. If you hadn't beaten Kokabiel, I'd never have gotten to see my dear Sona again," Serafall said. "Is there anything you want as a reward? As long as I can grant it, I'll make it happen!"
"How about that 'dear Sona' of yours?" Hikaru replied offhandedly.
Everyone froze, thinking they must've misheard. Realizing what he'd just said, Sona's face went tomato-red in seconds.
"I'm kidding," Hikaru said with a light laugh.
"A-almost anything you want… but not Sona," Serafall mumbled weakly.
She looked so flustered that Hikaru was tempted to tease her more, but he decided against it.
"What kind of reward are we talking about here?" he asked.
"Anything within my authority as Leviathan. As long as it's nothing harmful to the Underworld, I can grant it. If a mid- or lower-ranked devil had accomplished something this big, it wouldn't be crazy for them to demand immediate promotion to high-class. I mean, if Kokabiel's plan had succeeded, I would've mobilized the army to attack the Grigori HQ out of rage, and that would've sparked an all-out war among the three factions. So in other words, your achievement basically prevented a huge war."
And she wasn't wrong about that.
Hikaru thought for a moment. "Alright, I'd like two things. One is the magic tome you use for your ice spells. The second is for you to exercise your highest authority as Leviathan on my behalf just once, whenever I need it."
"You want me to promise to do something for you at a later date?" Serafall pondered for a moment. "Okay, as long as it isn't harmful to the Underworld and it's not about massacring innocents, I'll do it."
"But are you sure you want to learn my ice magic? I heard from Sona that you can already use the Holy Light, among other things. You might be stretching yourself too thin," Serafall said seriously.
"No worries. Normally, it wouldn't help me much. But in this world, there's nothing I can't learn," Hikaru replied calmly.
Seeing how confident he was, Serafall gave in. "Alright, if that's how you feel, I'll pass the tome along to you through Sona."
She let the subject drop. Everyone had their own path, and Hikaru clearly had talent to spare.
"Ugh, after what Kokabiel pulled, we're gonna have a ton of headaches going forward," Serafall muttered to herself, sighing. Hikaru didn't chime in—it wasn't his concern.
He turned to the girls. "It's getting late. I'm heading home."
They all bid him farewell.
"We owe him one again," Rias said with a sigh.
"Once you're knee-deep in debt, another favor doesn't really matter," Akeno teased. "Besides, you're his fiancée now, so why worry about 'owing' anything? If anything, I'm the one on the hook. If I don't sell myself to pay off this debt, there's no way I can repay everything Hikaru's done for us." Her eyes sparkled mischievously.
"Akeno, you— oh, never mind. Just go look after those two from the church," Rias said, throwing in the towel. She understood Akeno's feelings but couldn't figure out the right words to respond. Changing the subject seemed easiest.
~~~
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