DxD: I'm Surrounded by Big Sister Devils!

"According to family records, a thousand years ago, during the peak of jujutsu's development, there was a curse user with four arms and two faces named Ryomen Sukuna. He was extraordinarily powerful, bloodthirsty, and unmatched in strength in his era. However, Sukuna wasn't aligned with either the human faction or the curse spirit faction, instead acting entirely on his whims and desires."

"Later, the Fujiwara Clan dispatched their elite task force, the 'Sun, Moon, and Star Vanguard,' alongside the 'Five Void Generals,' to exorcise Sukuna. However, they were utterly annihilated. Left with no choice, the shogunate enshrined Sukuna as a new protector of the Heian Palace."

"Before his death, Ryomen Sukuna split his soul into twenty pieces and sealed them into his fingers—what Fubuki-kun has here should be one of those twenty fingers."

Akeno's explanation was concise and clear, allowing everyone to understand at once.

However, Fukuki leaned back and stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. After a long pause, he muttered,

"Sounds pretty impressive, but I feel like there's some embellishment in there…"

"Embellishment?" Akeno tilted her head in confusion.

"Well, this involves some history of onmyōji,"

Fukuki said, his face thoughtful.

"I've read some records in my family archives. A thousand years ago was indeed a period of rapid development for jujutsu and onmyōdo. At that time, the pinnacle of the onmyōji lineage wasn't the Keikain Clan but the Mikado Clan. The head of the Mikado Clan was none other than the most renowned onmyōji—Abe no Seimei, who was originally meant to be enshrined in the Heian Palace."

"It's said Abe no Seimei's mother was a fox spirit, and his initial aspiration as head of the Mikado Clan was for humans and yokai to coexist peacefully—"

Fukuki spread his hands,

"But one day, someone killed his mother and tried to turn her into fur to gift him…"

"And then Abe no Seimei snapped. He abandoned the Heian Palace entirely, siding with the yokai and becoming the ruler of a thousand years ago's realm of specters and apparitions."

"So, it's likely that after Abe no Seimei left, Ryomen Sukuna took his place in the Heian Palace."

After finishing that lengthy explanation, the boy paused briefly, then smirked.

"As for the Fujiwara Clan, to be honest, while they were indeed nobles in ancient Japan, they were just nobles. Compared to legitimate Onmyōji families, they couldn't even come close. At most, they spent a fortune each year hiring some ordinary Onmyōji from the Keikain and Mikado families to act as guards."

He shrugged. "A team made up of average Onmyōji losing to the pinnacle of the Cursed Arts world seems... expected. Plus, with Abe no Seimei defecting to the yokai side and targeting humans, it's no wonder the shogunate got desperate and brought someone like Sukuna into the palace."

Hmm... Thinking back on it, the lore surrounding Sukuna does feel a bit exaggerated.

Fukuki tilted his head thoughtfully before glancing at the cursed finger in Akeno's hand.

"So, if the Jujutsu sorcerers decided to seal these fingers, didn't they ever think of just destroying them outright?"

"Well... I can't say for certain since this is my first time seeing one in person," Akeno responded, gently shaking her head. "But based on records, it seems that many did try to destroy these fingers. All attempts failed. In the end, sealing them was the only option left."

"...Huh?"

Fukuki blinked in surprise.

Come on. Failed? What kind of joke is that? It's just a finger! Losing to the guy while he was alive is one thing, but even when it's just his severed finger? Really?

"Is it that hard? Let me give it a shot."

With that, he stood up, casually taking the cursed finger from Akeno's hand. His body immediately flared with a terrifying golden spiritual energy, whipping the curtains wildly like a typhoon had burst into the room.

Of course, the gusts weren't kind to the skirts in the room, either.

"Hey... Wait, Fukuki! You're not seriously planning to go all out here, are you?"

On the nearby sofa, Rias hurriedly pressed down on her skirt, her voice tinged with panic.

Though they hadn't known each other long, they'd worked together enough times for her to understand one thing: if this guy decided to unleash his spiritual energy here, it wouldn't just be the old school building that was blown apart — the entirety of Kuoh Academy might go with it.

"Ara, ara. It seems Fukuki-kun is serious~"

Meanwhile, Akeno remained her usual elegant self, hands folded gracefully over her lap, a gentle smile on her face.

Even the petite, white-haired Koneko, who had been quietly enjoying her cake, had to press down on her skirt, squinting slightly at the chaos.

"Fukuki-senpai always seems to get fired up whenever anything related to Jujutsu sorcerers comes up," she muttered softly.

"Perhaps it's an Onmyōji's pride?" Akeno added, her tone light as she played along with Koneko's remark.

Unperturbed by their banter, Fukuki stood motionless, hands forming a sphere around the cursed finger as golden light radiated from his palms. The energy around him crackled ominously, as if he were forging a miniature sun.

Gradually, as his spiritual energy intensified, a cracking sound echoed through the room — a sharp, brittle noise like snapping ice pops. A golden fissure appeared on the supposedly "indestructible" cursed finger.

Fukuki didn't stop there.

A second crack. A third. A fourth...

Moments later, as the golden spiritual energy around him subsided, he opened his hands. The once-pristine cursed finger crumbled into blackened fragments, falling onto the coffee table in a pile of dust.

"That wasn't so hard."

He brushed off his hands casually, as if his feat had been no big deal.

"Impressive..."

The white-haired Koneko swallowed her last bite of cake and, after a moment's pause, raised a critical question.

"So now that the finger's destroyed, what happens if the Jujutsu sorcerers come looking for it and ask for compensation?"

"Oh, right. It was technically their property," Akeno chimed in, her voice tinged with amusement. "They might demand some sort of reimbursement."

"..."

Fukuki froze, his previous satisfaction giving way to a stony expression.

Compensation? That shouldn't be necessary, right? If anything, they ought to be thanking him for dealing with something they couldn't destroy themselves! Or so it should go... shouldn't it?

However

Considering the tense relationship between onmyōji and jujutsu sorcerers, combined with the questionable character of the upper echelons of the jujutsu world, it wouldn't be surprising if they really tried to pin something on him.

The question now was, what would he do if the Jujutsu Society came knocking to settle accounts? He didn't have the money to compensate those nouveau riche sorcerers. And if the Kyoto Jujutsu Sorcerers intervened, things would undoubtedly become far more complicated.

Tch... How would he deal with that?

Just as this thought crossed his mind, the telephone in the reception room suddenly started ringing.

Ring-ring-ring!

"Oh, a call..."

As the vice president of the Occult Research Club, Akeno Himejima instinctively got up to answer the phone.

However, Rias Gremory, being closer, managed to answer it first. She gestured to Akeno with a wave, indicating that she'd handle it.

"Hello? This is the Kuoh Academy Occult Research Club... Oh, I see. Alright... Understood. I'll pass on the message."

After a brief exchange, Rias hung up the phone and turned toward Fukuki, who was sitting nearby with a curious expression.

"The call was from the school's security desk. There's a female high school student from another school at the front gate who's specifically asking to meet you. Her name seems to be Saeko Busujima. Do you know her?"

"..."

Man!