Chapter 432: Xenovia’s Choice

The moment Rias said that, Irina immediately looked furious.

“Even if the Lord is gone, I will never turn to a demon like you!”

But after speaking, Irina suddenly noticed the hesitation on Xenovia’s face beside her.

Her eyes widened as she clenched her fists.

“Xenovia, what is that supposed to mean?!”

“I thought about it all night. The Lord is gone now, and I want to live for myself.”

“Whatever choice I make from now on should depend on what I want.”

Xenovia’s answer left Irina silent.

She wanted to argue, but knowing that God was truly gone, she had no idea how to refute her.

Seeing their reactions, Rias immediately knew that coming here had been the right choice.

She wasn’t expecting to recruit both of them. Getting even one would already make her extremely happy.

Besides, they didn’t necessarily have to become her servants directly. As long as they fused with one of Takumi’s Divine Envoy pieces and were nominally placed under her command, that would be enough.

Rias herself had already fused with a Divine Envoy piece and had long since become one of Takumi’s dependents.

There was no need to draw such strict distinctions over something this minor. She could just ask Takumi about it later.

As for why she was in such a hurry to expand her demon peerage, one major reason was that she wanted to compete with Sona.

Sona’s peerage already far outnumbered hers.

Once Takumi started giving Divine Envoy pieces to Sona’s servants one after another, their strength would skyrocket.

Meanwhile, Rias barely had a handful of people on her side.

How am I supposed to compete with her like that?!

The issue had been driving Rias crazy.

The other reason was that the Rating Games for the younger generation of demons would begin before long.

Rias intended to distinguish herself in the Rating Games and earn some prestige.

With that in mind, her attitude toward Takumi, Xenovia, and Irina became even more attentive.

Takumi could tell exactly what Rias was thinking, but chose not to expose her.

He looked toward the hesitant Xenovia and Irina, accepted the coffee brought over by the server, and took a light sip.

“Whew~~ Since you’ve both accepted that God is gone, what are you planning to do now?”

“…”

Xenovia and Irina silently exchanged glances.

Truthfully, after the faith at the core of their hearts collapsed, what followed was an indescribable emptiness.

Their entire lives had revolved around serving and believing in God.

Now that purpose was simply gone.

After spending the whole night thinking about it, Irina still hadn’t reached an answer.

Xenovia, however, had already formed a rough idea of what she wanted to do.

She pressed her lips together and looked firmly at Takumi.

“Irina and I contacted the Church today.”

“I told them that Excalibur is in your possession, and we only sent back the two Holy Swords that Irina and I were carrying.”

“We also told the Church that we learned God is gone.”

“Our mission this time… was a complete failure.”

“The Church didn’t say much else to us. Once they knew that we knew the truth about God, Irina and I had already become outsiders in their eyes.”

“The Church despises outsiders and heretics. Even though I’m a swordswoman chosen by Durandal, they would still cast me aside.”

“Just like they did to Asia back then.”

At the end, Xenovia mentioned Asia.

Only now did she truly understand what Asia’s situation must have felt like at the time.

If anything, Xenovia’s own beliefs had collapsed even more completely.

Asia had still possessed her faith in God to rely on.

Xenovia and Irina no longer even had that.

As warriors of the Church, it meant they had lost the very purpose they had been living for.

After saying all this, Xenovia spoke in a low, serious voice.

“Takumi, I want to join you.”

Her words suddenly shifted the direction of the conversation.

Beside her, Irina’s eyes flickered as she watched, clearly hesitating as well.

Hearing Xenovia’s request, Takumi raised his head slightly.

“Oh~ You want to come under my command? Do you intend to convert and believe in me?”

“No. It’s more that I think you’re… special.”

“And my instincts tell me that following you would at least let me feel at ease.”

Xenovia slowly exhaled, laying bare everything she truly felt.

Right now, she was acting mostly on instinct.

Perhaps that was the only way she could finally settle the turmoil inside her.

And the Takumi sitting before her was precisely the sense of security she had been searching for.

Seeing Xenovia speak so openly, Takumi naturally had no reason to refuse.

“As you wish. I’m willing to accept you.”

Snap!

Takumi snapped his fingers, and a Divine Envoy piece materialized from thin air.

Seeing it, Xenovia no longer hesitated.

She reached out and grabbed it.

The moment the piece fused into her body, an incomparable surge of power erupted within her.

Xenovia’s aura skyrocketed, reaching Demon Lord-class in an instant!

At the same time, seemingly due to a chain reaction, the Divine Envoy piece inside Rias underwent an update as well.

The power Takumi had accumulated in the world of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime surged into her in a single wave.

Her aura began rising rapidly too, causing the surrounding space itself to tremble.

Takumi immediately intervened and stabilized the space.

Then he turned toward Xenovia, who was gradually adapting to her new power, and checked her status.

[Name: Xenovia Quarta]

[Rank: Divine Envoy Holy Swordswoman]

[Level: Demon Lord-class]

[Traits: Divine Envoy (Gold)… Sword Saint (Purple), Natural-Born Holy Swordswoman (Purple)…]

Xenovia’s strength and talent were both centered around the sword. However, the path she followed was clearly different from Kureha’s.

Kureha specialized in technique.

Xenovia, on the other hand, followed the path of the heavy sword.

She fought through overwhelming, straightforward power.

By now, Xenovia had finally recovered from the shock of fusing with the Divine Envoy piece.

“Th-This… What is this unbelievable power?!”

“And this sacred power—it’s definitely not demonic, but it isn’t angelic either.”

“God… Are you truly God reincarnated?!”

Feeling herself become hundreds or even thousands of times stronger, Xenovia looked at Takumi with incomparable devotion.

In her heart, Takumi might truly be the God who had disappeared.

“I’ll tell you the same thing as before. I’m not.”

“But I can be considered a newly born god, and my strength isn’t inferior to the God of the Bible.”

“As one of my dependents, your status will be equal to Michael and the others.”

“This is the Sacred Gear [Holy Sword Creation]. It’s an artifact I created.”

“And by the way, I can generally replicate any Sacred Gear I’ve seen or touched, so don’t be too surprised.”

“This is Excalibur, forged by combining five Holy Swords. Take it too. It suits you perfectly.”

Takumi dumped one reward after another in front of her, leaving Xenovia completely dumbfounded.

“Wait… The benefits are this good? I want some too~~~”

Rias’s eyes turned red with envy.

Unable to stop herself, she wrapped both arms around Takumi’s arm and began acting spoiled.

She had already given him her body, yet even she hadn’t received this many rewards before…