Due to the ancient Great war and the civil war among devils, the number of pure-blood devils drastically declined.
To ensure the continuation of their race, the Satans decided to adopt an elite system based on a few individuals, and the core of this system was the Evil Pieces.
A complete set of Evil Pieces consists of fifteen pieces: eight Pawns, two Rooks, two Bishops, two Knights, and one Queen.
As the most numerous pieces, the Pawn pieces have the weakest enhancement effect among the fifteen pieces and require specific conditions to exert sufficiently powerful strength.
Even so, Pawn pieces are still extremely precious, and every use requires careful consideration.
After becoming a High-Class Devil, Rias received a complete set of Evil Pieces and subsequently used the Queen, Rook, Knight, and Bishop pieces, gaining four Servants.
And just today, she used up another piece.
Of course, saying 'used up' isn't entirely accurate.
The real way to put it is that one of her pieces was eaten.
"Lynn, aren't you going to explain?"
In the corner of the classroom, Rias looked at the black-haired youth sitting next to her, her feelings somewhat complicated.
Just a few seconds ago, Lynn took a Evil Piece from her hand, said he was going to eat it to test the effect, and summoned a cloud of smoke to cover the Evil Piece.
When the Mist dispersed again, the Evil Piece representing a Pawn was gone, completely lost.
Facing Rias's inquiry, Lynn raised his hand and patted the Boosted Gear: "This is my new ability; it allows me to devour Evil Pieces to strengthen myself."
Rias's eye twitched: "What kind of nonsensical ability is that? And if you eat an Evil Piece, doesn't that mean I'm permanently missing a Pawn piece?"
"It's not a big problem. Although you no longer have the Evil Piece, you still have me." Lynn moved his thoughts, and a new aura emanated from him.
Sensing this aura, Rias paused, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes: "This is... the aura of a devil! Did you fuse with that Evil Piece?"
Lynn shook his head: "Not exactly fusion, just a byproduct after digesting the Evil Piece."
After being enhanced at Mist Plaza, the Boosted Gear awakened a new ability.
Originally, Lynn thought the effect of this ability was to devour Sacred Gears to strengthen himself.
But later, when he went to the student council to test the new ability's effect with Sona Sitri, Ddraig suddenly commented that he could smell a fragrance from Sona and the other members of the student council as well.
Clearly, the student council didn't have that many Sacred Gears; only Tsubaki possessed one.
Furthermore, according to Ddraig, the fragrance on the others wasn't as strong as on Sona Sitri and Genshirou Saji, which meant there were other sources for the fragrance.
Thus, while testing the new ability, Lynn considered the characteristics of these people.
He finally concluded that the people Ddraig pointed out were all Servants who had fused with Evil Pieces.
In other words, the ingredients Ddraig could enhance after strengthening included not only Sacred Gears but also special items like Evil Pieces.
This point was proven again when he came to the classroom to meet Rias; a similar fragrance emanated from Rias and Akeno.
As the saying goes, once, twice, but not a third time. Evil Pieces weren't as important as Sacred Gears, so Lynn decided to take the initiative.
He asked Rias for an Evil Piece, activated the Boosted Gear, and swallowed it.
After that, as if a long-starved person had consumed nourishment, the Boosted Gear, after digesting the Evil Piece, expelled two clusters of special energy.
Under the enhancement of the first cluster of energy, Lynn's physical fitness improved, and his total magical power also expanded.
Although the degree of improvement wasn't very large, this reinforcement was undoubtedly real.
As for the second cluster of energy, Lynn investigated and found it was the power of the Devil Bloodline.
As long as he activated this bloodline power and integrated it into his body, his body would emit a devil aura, and his constitution would be strengthened.
Additionally, Lynn discovered one more thing.
The first cluster of reinforcement energy permanently integrated into his body, but the second cluster of bloodline power did not.
As long as he wished to stop, he could extract this devil-derived bloodline power at any time, and the changes in his body would disappear.
Just like at this moment, after recalling the Devil Bloodline power, the devil aura on Lynn's body vanished, and he once again appeared as a 'human' in Rias's eyes.
"This is too astonishing." Rias's eyes seemed glued, staring intently at Lynn.
In all her life, it was the first time she had heard of someone being able to switch their race at will.
On the other side, after finishing digesting the gains from the Evil Piece, Lynn looked at Rias.
"Give me another Evil Piece, okay?"
"?????"
Rias had a row of question marks floating above her head.
Did he even listen to himself?
If he took another Evil Piece, wouldn't she be missing another one?
"I want to test if eating more Evil Pieces can further increase the total amount of bloodline power."
Lynn's voice sounded again: "Just consider it as me owing you a favor. If you run into any trouble in the future, you can come find me."
"Fine." Rias hesitated for a moment and actually took out a new Evil Piece to hand to Lynn.
Lynn's favor was quite valuable.
Moreover, doing this was also a way to build a good relationship with Lynn, and she could ask her older brother to reimburse her later.
"Thanks." Lynn activated the Boosted Gear and swallowed the newly acquired Evil Piece.
A few seconds later, two new clusters of energy were spat out by the Mist. One cluster of reinforcement energy integrated into Lynn's body, while the other cluster of bloodline power merged with the first cluster, increasing its overall volume slightly.
"It really seems to work." Lynn activated the bloodline power once more and discovered that the degree of enhancement this time was slightly stronger than before.
Realizing what this implied, the look Lynn directed at Rias instantly became fiery.
"Don't even think about it!" Rias realized what he was planning and immediately covered her pockets.
The number of Evil Pieces was limited.
Losing one or two could be reimbursed, but losing too many would be a different matter.
...
Lynn ultimately failed to persuade Rias.
Faced with a verbal promise like a favor, Rias wouldn't accept it again after being fooled once.
The entire afternoon passed quickly.
Compared to the China, the school dismissal time in Neon was very early, with the bell ringing at only three o'clock.
The third-year high school students, who had been looking forward to leaving school, grabbed their school bags and walked out of the classroom in droves.
"Lynn, do you want to come visit our club?" Rias, who had refused Lynn all afternoon, now took the initiative to extend an invitation.
As if remembering something, Rias added: "One of my Servants can forge Demonic Swords. You can try eating one."
"Eat a Demonic Sword?" Lynn thought carefully and found Rias's suggestion was actually feasible.
Whether it was a Sacred Gear or a Evil Piece, both were special items possessing power.
Demonic Swords were the same; they were long swords with special power, perhaps also on the menu.
Accepting Rias's invitation, Lynn followed Rias and Akeno out of the teaching building, heading towards the small woods behind.
"We're here, it's this place."
A moment later, Rias stopped and looked at the slightly dilapidated building ahead.
"This is Kuoh Academy's old teaching building. My Servants and I usually gather here after school. Lynn, if you need to find me for anything, you can come over anytime."
"Can you give me a Evil Piece?"
"I regret to say, no."
Rejecting Lynn's request once more, Rias led him into the old teaching building.
The club room for the Occult Research Club was on the second floor of the old teaching building. The room contained some candles, and there was a Magic Array on the floor.
When Lynn and the others pushed the door open, a white-haired loli was already sitting in the club room, holding a newly opened bag of snacks.
"This is my Servant, Koneko Toujou."
"Koneko, this is the Red Dragon Emperor, Lynn, whom I mentioned yesterday."
Rias took the initiative to introduce their identities to each other.
"Hello." Koneko stared curiously at Lynn for a couple of glances, then looked towards Rias.
"President, Kiba Senpai is absent today. He said he has something to take care of."
"Absent?" Rias was stunned, clearly not having received this news beforehand.
But this made the situation a bit awkward; without Kiba present, she couldn't get a Demonic Sword for Lynn to eat.
"I'm sorry, Lynn." Rias showed an apologetic look on her face: "I might have made you come here for nothing."
"It's fine, coming tomorrow is the same."
Lynn didn't really mind. After a brief chat, he looked towards Koneko on the sofa.
"Is your Servant a Nekomata?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"I have an acquaintance who is also a Nekomata. After knowing her for a long time, I mastered the skill to distinguish Nekomata."
"I see."
Rias suddenly understood.
Because Lynn had demonstrated once when he came to class in the afternoon, she knew he possessed Senjutsu.
Senjutsu was the power to control the Qi of all things, making one extremely sensitive to fluctuations in aura.
If an acquaintance was a Nekomata, then he could indeed distinguish whether someone was a Nekomata through their aura.
"Speaking of which, her aura seems a bit strange."
Just then, Lynn's voice sounded again. He feigned confusion and looked at Koneko.
"Are you suppressing your own bloodline?"
"...Mm." Koneko hesitated before nodding in response, not expecting Lynn to notice even this.
"Some things happened in the past, and Koneko doesn't really like using her Nekomata power," Rias explained to help.
After hearing this, Lynn instead showed a curious expression: "Can you tell me the specific reason?"
Rias hesitated for a moment. "That depends on Koneko's own wishes. I can't say if she's unwilling."
As her words fell, Koneko on the sofa decisively shook her head, indicating her stance.
Seeing this, Lynn didn't give up. Instead, he walked over and sat down next to Koneko, a faint smile on his face.
"Don't be so quick to refuse. Although I don't know what you went through, I think it's better to talk about it."
"Constantly suppressing your own power might eventually lead to a backlash, affecting the people around you."
"Backlash?" Koneko finally showed a reaction, a look of confusion on her cute little face.
"Lynn, what do you mean?" Rias also took it seriously, walking over to ask: "Will suppressing her bloodline all the time cause anything bad to happen to Koneko?"
"Yes, my Nekomata friend told me this. A Nekomata's growth is phased."
"When they are in the growth period, the Nekomata's bloodline will continuously grow, bringing stronger power to the Nekomata."
"If you suppress your bloodline continuously, it might rebound violently someday in the future, leading to a power rampage, and in severe cases, it could even result in death."
"Death?" Akeno frowned.
She, who was also suppressing her own bloodline, heard this claim for the first time.
Rias's expression turned serious: "Lynn, are you sure this is true?"
"I have no reason to lie to you about something like this."
Lynn replied without changing his expression, "All of this was told to me by that friend of mine who is also a cat."
Rias fell silent: "..."
Although she didn't know who Lynn's cat friend was, it was clear that Lynn had complete trust in her.
Considering her limited understanding of cats, it was better to choose to believe for now; caution was always wise.
Thinking this, Rias asked, "Lynn, does your cat friend have a solution?"
"Of course, there is." Lynn looked towards Shirone.
"The nature of power going berserk is an incomplete grasp of one's own strength. Conversely, as long as she masters the power of the Nekomata, this situation of power going berserk will not occur."
Shirone silently lowered her head: "..."
She certainly didn't want her power to go berserk.
But likewise, she didn't like using her Nekomata's power.
Faced with this internal conflict, Shirone didn't know how to make a choice for a moment.
"Lynn, are there any other solutions?" Akeno noticed Shirone's thoughts and helped ask.
"I regret to say this is the only method." Lynn spread his hands, "All I can do is offer guidance to help her take fewer detours and master the Nekomata's power sooner."
Saying this, Lynn looked at Shirone again, "Although I don't know what you experienced before, I don't think there's any need to resist your own power too much."
"Power itself isn't right or wrong; what truly matters is the person mastering the power and the method of using it. Don't regret not trying hard only after you've lost something."
"...I will consider it." Shirone pondered for a moment, then nodded her small head in response.
"When you've thought it over, you can come find me." Lynn raised his hand and patted Shirone's shoulder, a massive surge of life force flowed into Shirone's body through the contact point, making her feel a wave of warmth.
"This is?" Shirone looked confused.
Lynn withdrew his hand and explained, "I used Sage Art to help you dredge the power within your body. This way, the situation of power going berserk won't happen in the short term."
Hearing this, Rias breathed a sigh of relief, "Lynn, thank you. If you hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have known Shirone's condition was so bad. I, as her master, am truly incompetent."
"No need to thank me; after all, I owe you a favor." Lynn waved his hand, a slight smile on his face, showing no sign that everything he just said was made up on the spot.
...