DxD: Wrong Way

Aoki handed the photos back to Himejima Akeno, his brow furrowed in doubt.

"Akeno-senpai, why are these photos in your possession? And why do we have to wait for Buchou to come back to settle this?"

Himejima Akeno took the photo and a dark blue flame erupted from her palm, engulfing the envelope.

Aside from a few wisps of white smoke rising into the air, there was no smell or ash left behind.

When the flames died down, both the envelope and the photographs had completely vanished from existence, leaving no trace.

Aoki watched in awe.

This magic seemed perfect for various purposes

Traveling home, eliminating enemies, setting fires, destroying evidence, and erasing traces.

It was as if Himejima Akeno could read his thoughts.

"Don't even think about it; you won't be able to learn this magic for now."

"When can I learn?" he asked eagerly.

"You need at least the strength of a mid-level magician to initially master HellFire," she replied.

"So that's what this skill is called—HellFire…" Aoki felt a pang of jealousy.

Not only was it powerful, but its name also sounded incredibly appealing.

"By the way, Akeno-senpai, does the extraction of primary magic power still have any effect on me? Am I considered a mid-level magician now?"

"Is the primary magic power in your body saturated?"

Himejima Akeno looked at him in surprise.

"You've only been practicing for less than a month, right?"

"Seventeen days to be exact."

Himejima Akeno stepped closer and reached out to touch his forehead.

Aoki instinctively tensed up at her touch but gradually relaxed as he felt the delicate softness of her small, cold hands against his skin.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly as the corners of her mouth curled into an imperceptible smile.

A moment later, when Aoki found himself staring at her lips and felt an urge to lean in closer, Himejima Akeno withdrew her hand.

"Well, your magic power is indeed saturated; we can move on to the next stage of practice."

She marveled at his progress.

"Even for me, it took more than twenty days to reach this stage."

Having inherited the blood of a fallen angel, she had possessed magical powers since birth.

By six or seven years old, she could read and write and began practicing magic herself.

It had taken her over twenty days to successfully complete the primary extraction of magic power.

"Clearly your mastery of magic isn't very strong; not all your magical talents are focused on cultivation," she observed.

Aoki shrugged helplessly.

He didn't know either

Compared to his previous reincarnations where everything came easily, this phenomenon felt entirely different.

Himejima Akeno found it amusing and made a lighthearted joke about it.

Although she noticed traces of demonic blood within Aoki's body, like Shinra Tsubaki before her, she mistakenly attributed it to him being reincarnated as a demon chess piece.

The demonic aura surrounding him didn't resemble that of the Gremory bloodline too closely, so she didn't dwell on it further.

"The books detailing intermediate magic power extraction are in the student union," she informed him.

"If you're in a hurry, I can dictate them to you now. With your grades, you should be able to grasp it quickly. Ot won't take much time."

"Don't bother with that right now, Akeno-senpai," Aoki replied with a smile.

"Let's discuss what we were just talking about first."

There was no way he would let Himejima Akeno teach him on the spot; he planned to obtain intermediate magic power extraction skills from others instead.

The title of 'magic genius' still held value

Even if he could only cultivate magic power.

"Alright then," Himejima Akeno said with a playful glint in her eye as she lightly tapped his forehead with her slender index finger.

"Let's talk about your little murder escapade first. Oh my! I really didn't expect you to be so bold just now! You look like such a quiet and delicate little boy…"

Without waiting for Aoki's reply, Himejima Akeno continued, "You should have thought about this when you boldly took advantage of me earlier.

I wish I had made the rules clearer to you from the start."

Aoki secretly pursed his lips.

If he had acted in a way that fit her description, the grass on his grave would probably be taller than a human being by now.

Since reaching level B in strength, Aoki rarely pretended to be an honest person who could easily be bullied

Unless it was to enforce the law against fishing violations.

He wasn't the timid and innocent type.

Moreover, he didn't want to cause any more trouble; naturally, he aimed to become as strong as possible so that those with bad intentions would think twice before approaching him.

This strategy worked most of the time; at least he wouldn't be randomly targeted by troublemakers or bothered by meddling elders.

However, whenever a beautiful girl was nearby, it was as if yellow-haired thugs and Minotaurs were like jackals catching the scent of prey

Their eyes would light up as they came to bother him.

Aoki kept complaining inwardly but still listened attentively to what Himejima Akeno was saying.

This information was crucial for his future plans.

After her explanation, he gained a clearer understanding of the relationship between extraordinary beings and ordinary people in this world.

He also realized why Himejima Akeno had mentioned earlier that it would have been less troublesome if she had informed him sooner.

First and foremost, there were no strange rules prohibiting extraordinary beings from harming ordinary people.

If provoked or injured by an ordinary person, extraordinary beings had the right to retaliate lethally. However, there would be some penalties involved.

If an investigation later revealed that the extraordinary being had intended to kill their opponent from the outset, they could face execution or imprisonment.

Ordinary people often developed different motivations after awakening their superpowers

Some driven by greed, others by revenge. In cases of natural awakenings

Those who were wild and unaware of the rules

The punishment would depend on the severity of their actions.

For students at Kuoh Academy or extraordinary individuals from certain families, they were not subject to ordinary human jurisdiction

Instead, their punishment would be determined by their family's rules.

As a student of Kuoh Academy, Aoki knew this matter would eventually reach Rias' attention.

However, since Rias was currently in the Demon World and hadn't returned yet, Himejima Akeno, acting as Buchou was left to handle it.

Why hadn't there been problems if Aoki had spoken up earlier?

The answer lay on a broader scale: it involved what could be termed as leftover questions from history.

There were three main kingdoms in this world that worked together to maintain stability. Outside these three kingdoms existed other powerful forces and life forms.

All beings within these realms primarily resided within them; once destruction occurred, even the mightiest individuals would struggle against extinction.

As for any transcendent beings existing beyond this world across countless stars and universes

They had yet to appear.

Thus far, internal struggles among the three realms remained just that

internal struggles

but there were boundaries in place.

Otherwise, gods and demons wouldn't have been defeated so easily; peace wouldn't have been maintained without effort.

Weak individuals like humans possessed their own world where demons and gods could intervene but couldn't massacre or enslave humanity on a large scale.

The reason why it was called the human world was that humans held dominion over it.

If humans were replaced or eradicated, stability across all three realms would be jeopardized.

The primary fighting force among humans was known as the Hero Clan

its strongest members possessed abilities capable of defeating both demons and gods

But overall combat power remained vastly inferior.

Currently, the Hero Clan consisted only of a small village-sized group

Humanity had never entered an era of great cultivation due to various restrictions imposed upon them.

Although Himejima Akeno didn't explicitly state it, Aoki surmised that gods and demons collaborated to limit human development because humanity held immense potential with a population base far exceeding that of either faction.

While humans might have shorter lifespans compared to gods and demons who practiced for centuries, they grew stronger rapidly during their limited time alive.

Once they became powerful enough, they sought ways to extend their lives further.

However, despite their potential advantages in numbers and growth rate, humans remained relatively weak overall

Areality that sometimes necessitated compromises.

Kuoh Academy and Kuoh Village fell under Gremory family jurisdiction as part of such compromises.

In territories under their control, all talented humans were managed closely by devils and gods alike

Especially those reincarnated as devils or angels

Who retained no rights regardless of any crimes committed against them.

Of course, privileges came with responsibilities:

The Gremory family bore responsibility for any rogue demons or supernatural incidents occurring within Kuoh Town.