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Ten minutes later, Bokue and the others—who had just returned from the Demon Realm after rescuing Sheila—were now comfortably seated back in their familiar hotel suite.
In the living room, Bokue and Mio sat side by side on the same large sofa, while Maria and Sheila were on another sofa facing them across a coffee table.
The four sat in this somewhat awkward face-to-face position. Zest, who had earlier been accepted by Sheila, seemed to have quietly slipped away for the moment—likely recognizing herself as the lowest on the social totem pole, she'd probably gone to make tea.
They had already called room service; undoubtedly, the hotel staff—controlled by Maria's subtle hypnosis over the phone—would soon arrive with delicious meals. All they needed to do was wait patiently.
Using this short interval, Maria decided to ask the questions she hadn't gotten around to back in the Underworld.
"Mom, how have you been doing during your time in the Demon Realm? Zolgear didn't...do anything inappropriate to you, did he?"
"Don't worry, nothing of that sort happened."
Upon hearing her daughter's concern, Sheila smiled reassuringly, gently reaching over to stroke her daughter's head with maternal affection.
"I imagine Zolgear probably had plans to harshly interrogate me, but thankfully, Maria, you cleverly restrained him through your negotiation tactics. You made sure he was simultaneously using me to threaten you and being threatened by you. Plus, Zest was surprisingly considerate and took good care of me during that time. So, aside from not being able to leave—and occasionally feeling bored—I really didn't have anything major to complain about."
Sheila's tone was extremely casual, almost carefree, as if rather than being held hostage, she'd merely been on vacation.
Yet, from the faint exhaustion hidden in the corners of her eyes, it was clear that things weren't nearly as relaxed as she described. After all, having a lethal device constantly hanging over her head—one that could slice her into thousands of pieces at a moment's notice—created immense psychological pressure. A less resilient person might have broken long before any rescue could arrive.
"Alright, enough of that. It's already over anyway."
Sheila affectionately rubbed Maria's head once more, then turned her gaze meaningfully toward the young man seated across from her.
"Instead of talking about the past, Maria, why don't you introduce me to this handsome young gentleman? Or wait—let me guess first. Could this be our Maria's special someone?"
Toward the end of her sentence, Sheila raised a teasing eyebrow, her voice dripping with playful innuendo.
"Eh?"
Maria blinked blankly, then quickly waved her hands dismissively.
"Ahaha, actually no, that's not it at all! You see, Bokue-san is actually…"
Although it was somewhat complicated, Maria managed to quickly organize her thoughts, carefully and succinctly explaining their situation, how the three of them met, and the complex relationship between Bokue and Mio to her mother.
As she listened, Sheila's expression shifted from initial mild disappointment to curiosity, eventually settling into astonishment.
"Oh, I see. So you're an Onmyōji family's child…and even became the fiancé of one of the Underworld's 72 Pillars, the Gremory family's daughter. Wait, wait, let me take a closer look~"
Before she finished speaking, Sheila, who moments before had sat quietly opposite them, suddenly vanished from her seat. In the blink of an eye, she appeared directly beside Bokue, perching gracefully on the sofa's armrest. She tilted her head, reached out, and gently pinched his cheek.
"Hmm…Just looking like this, I can't really tell. Bokue-kun, could you kindly ignite your spiritual power and show me for a moment?"
"Like this?"
Although uncertain of the curious dream demoness' intentions, Bokue obliged, raising his index finger. In an instant, shimmering golden spiritual flames erupted at his fingertip.
"Oh~!"
As if witnessing an extremely rare treasure, Sheila's eyes instantly widened upon seeing the golden light reflected in her eyes.
"Just as I thought. I wasn't mistaken earlier. This concentration of spiritual power completely surpasses what a normal human should possess. It's reached a level that could probably be considered…yes, a Transcendent."
"Transcendent?"
Bokue raised an eyebrow slightly.
Unlike Mio and Maria, who were hearing this term for the first time and appeared visibly confused, Bokue had previously heard the concept from Kuroka. After all, both Kuroka and Koneko had once served as test subjects for the Naberius branch family's so-called "Artificial Transcendent Project."
Yet, Bokue himself wasn't entirely clear on the details either.
"Well, I myself only know a general outline," Sheila cleared her throat lightly, beginning to explain.
"In simple terms, a 'Transcendent' refers to someone who has broken through their own race's natural limits. Among those in the Underworld, the only confirmed Transcendent I know of is the current Demon Lord Lucifer—Sirzechs."
"Sirzechs, huh…"
Bokue nodded slightly, unsurprised by this explanation.
From an objective standpoint, he had indeed far exceeded the limits of a human being—surpassing them to a ridiculous extent.
Then again, by this same logic, hadn't Kuroka similarly exceeded her own species' limitations, becoming a Transcendent herself?
In other words, hadn't Bokue himself…essentially created a Transcendent?
Carrying this logic further, if Bokue continued with similar efforts, would there soon be one, two, three—an endless number of Transcendents appearing because of him?
Holy crap. Wouldn't that actually make him the real "Artificial Transcendent Project"?
Just as Bokue's thoughts were rapidly spinning out of control, a soft, warm, slightly moist sensation suddenly enveloped his fingertip.
Huh?
Surprised, he glanced downward, only to find that Sheila—who had just been earnestly explaining the Transcendent concept—had leaned forward, now gently holding Bokue's flame-wreathed finger between her soft, cherry-pink lips. Her eyes closed in deep contentment, and she delicately sucked on his fingertip as if savoring some rare delicacy, her expression utterly blissful and absorbed.
Across from them, Maria's expression instantly exploded into stunned disbelief, while Mio—seated right next to Bokue—stared wide-eyed, equally incredulous.
"M-mom?! What on earth are you doing?!"
"Hmm?"
Only at hearing her daughter's shocked outburst did Sheila reluctantly withdraw her mouth, raising her head with a pout.
"High-purity spiritual energy like this is incredibly nourishing for us dream demons, you know. Bokue-kun already conjured it. Wouldn't it be wasteful if I didn't taste it properly?"
"Really, Maria, with such a timid mindset, you're still a long way from becoming a fully mature dream demon… Mm~, so delicious…"
Her words trailed off into a soft sigh, her eyes narrowing slightly in obvious delight.
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