In a normal Kama Saint Graph, the balance between Kama and Mara was about 6:4. But when that ratio flipped, that's when the Beast awakened.
Throughout the past year, Matou Sakura had been under the influence of Beast VI, causing the Saint Graph of Kama inside her to gradually shift more toward Mara.
The girl who was born in the Tohsaka mansion was now similar to Ryuuto—she was basically a young version of the Beast. Her Saint Graph was split right down the middle: 50% Mara and 50% Kama. To put it simply, she was Kama who considered herself to be Mara.
Ryuuto had barely settled into the sofa when Kama smoothly slid up against him.
"All those annoying bugs are gone now, Senpai~" she purred. "Let's have some fun—I want to give you a proper reward."
The young Demon King perched herself on his legs, her hands gripping his shoulders as she looked directly into his eyes.
"Just relax," she murmured. "You can completely trust me with your body and mind."
Those hypnotic red eyes of hers seemed like they could drain every bit of life force right out of him through his gaze.
Ryuuto shook his head with a sigh. "Mara... I swear."
The Demon King of temptation leaned in close to his ear, her warm breath tickling his skin as she whispered, "Mmm, that's right. For you, Senpai, maybe this would be more to your liking."
She moved even closer, and he felt the air around them getting warmer. The purple gauze clinging to her skin began to shift as Kama, who had looked like a young girl just moments before, started to rapidly mature. In seconds, her innocent, cute girlish body transformed into that of a bewitching, seductive demonic beauty.
"Let's be happy together..." she cooed. "Whether it's killing, lying, or just indulging ourselves. I'll love everything about you, Senpai. I'll accept all of you. Mmm, I'll take your precious..."
"That's enough." Struggling to breathe normally, he clicked his tongue and firmly pushed her face away with his hand.
"You think I'm that stupid? If I did anything like that with you, I'd just end up as your food," he said. "Mara, your love is way too intense—I can't handle it."
Thankfully, he'd already been with Elza that morning and sent her to heaven three times. Otherwise, he honestly wouldn't have had the willpower to resist Mara now.
"Oh, come on~~" she whined. "You're the one who made me take this form! You summoned me to the mortal world, and now you say you don't want my love? Senpai, you're such a jerk—a huge jerk! You're the disgrace of the demon world!" she puffed out her cheeks, glaring up at the young man pinned beneath her with resentful eyes.
"Anyway, your goal is to consume my Core to get your full power back, right?" He grabbed Kama's wandering hands and said, "Sorry, but I have my own reasons why I can't disappear just yet."
"I was only trying to pay you back for waking me up, Senpai~" she protested. "I wouldn't actually eat you."
"That's funny. It's exactly what I tell girls when I take them to love hotels," he quipped.
"That's completely different!" Kama slid off his legs with a huff and plopped down on the sofa beside him. She crossed her legs, folded her arms across her chest, and started making little "hmph" sounds as she sulked.
Of course, Kama's desire to seduce Ryuuto into falling wasn't about gratitude at all. If she had any special motivation, it was simply that she wanted to prove herself a better seducer than him.
According to legend, Satan had once transformed into a serpent to tempt the first humans into eating fruit from the tree of knowledge. This act stripped humans of their divinity and gave them both the ability to reproduce and the concept of death. That's why the church viewed Satan as the ultimate tempter and liar.
On the other hand, Mara was a beast who ruled over depravity and corruption, devoted to making all of humanity fall victim to her love and desire. From her perspective, she and Ryuuto had an obvious conflict of interest. How could she possibly conquer the world if she couldn't even conquer her own household? Before making all of humanity ascend to heaven, she needed to figure out how to bring this boy to fall at her feet!
"So Mara, what's your plan now?" he asked casually, flipping through last week's issue of YuYu Hakusho. "Hanging around East Asia too long might attract Shiva's attention. And Japan is basically half Buddhist territory. With your current Saint Graph, you could get accidentally exorcised by some random monk just walking down the street."
Since Sakura's situation was already complicated enough, and he didn't trust Mara one bit, he had zero intention of letting her get involved in the Fourth Holy Grail War. He simply wanted to ship this troublemaker off somewhere else as soon as possible.
"I was going leave anyway without you telling me," Mara huffed. "Honestly, if I wasn't set on making senpai fall for me, I wouldn't stick around this place for even a second. As for where I'm heading... hmm, let me think." She paused dramatically. "I know! I'll go to Western Europe, somewhere senpai wouldn't be caught dead visiting."
"Whatever works for you," he shrugged. "Just don't forget to check out that thing I mentioned."
"You mean whoever pushed senpai into that black mud three years ago?" She smirked. "Even if you figured out who did it, what could you possibly do about it?"
"..."
He fell silent. Sensing the tension, she quickly changed the subject.
"So Western Europe it is then... That works out well, actually. I can stay out of Shiva's radar there while accumulating my power."
When she mentioned accumulating power, he rolled his eyes. "Look, just don't do anything weird with that body, alright?"
"Huh?" she blinked in surprise. "You're actually being protective of her. Have I completely misread you this whole time? Don't tell me you're actually a..."
"Mara," he said with a smile that was somehow both pleasant and terrifying. "Say one more weird thing and I'll make sure you end up just like those worms in the pit."
"...Point taken!" she pouted. "Not that I could do much with her body anyway. This kid's spirit is surprisingly strong—her resilience is honestly impressive. If I push her too far, I might lose my grip on the surface. I'd rather avoid that since I finally managed to get this vessel."
"...Glad we understand each other," he said flatly.
"Mmmmm." she made a sweet, almost purring sound as she stretched lazily, shrinking her XL-sized body down to a more manageable L-size to conserve energy.
She got up from the sofa. "Okay, I should probably head out now. I won't stick around to mess up your summoning. Hey senpai, try not to die, alright? Your core is my important backup vessel after all."
"Right back at you. Try not to get exorcised by the Church, my backup snack," he replied. "By the way, if you can't actually use Sakura's body for... you know... then why were you trying so hard to seduce me earlier?"
"...Do you really need a girl to spell it out for you?" Kama, who had been about to leave, suddenly turned back and moved to his side. The corner of her crimson lips curved into a seductive smile as she used her index finger to tilt his chin upward. "Obviously, it's because Sakura herself was perfectly fine with me doing that."