Chapter 1026: Baiyin

Looking at Tachiro Shirone in this state, Rias Gremory's eyes were filled with complete astonishment.

Although she had long known Tachiro Shirone's true identity as a Nekomata, the most powerful race among cat-folk, she had never imagined that such immense power was hidden within Tachiro Shirone's body.

When Kokabiel appeared earlier, it was Tachiro Shirone who first discovered the other's presence. When Kokabiel launched an attack at her, Tachiro Shirone suddenly revealed her true form and released a powerful force, directly neutralizing Kokabiel's attack and even counterattacking him once; the feathers currently drifting down from the sky were evidence of Tachiro Shirone's attack just now.

However, this situation was truly too shocking. One had to know that Kokabiel was a Fallen Angel Cadre, and for Tachiro Shirone's strike to be able to knock down Kokabiel's feathers was something completely unbelievable to Rias Gremory.

And after making such an attack, Tachiro Shirone just stood there firmly in front of Rias Gremory, her eyes fixed intently on Kokabiel in mid-air, as if there were a possibility of her launching another attack.

"Koneko..." Rias Gremory felt her voice trembling now.

She found it hard to believe that an attack of that magnitude could be released by Tachiro Shirone. What terrified her most in her heart right now was that power could not be generated out of thin air; what kind of price had Tachiro Shirone paid to release an attack of this level?

"Heh, so you were borrowing external power?" Kokabiel stared at Tachiro Shirone for a while before seeing through her reality. "It cannot be denied that the power you are borrowing now is very strong, but how many times can you borrow this kind of power?"

As Kokabiel spoke, he lifted his right hand slightly, and a light spear containing terrifying power slowly emerged from his hand. The moment this light spear appeared, Tachiro Shirone's golden cat pupils contracted sharply, and afterward, it felt as if something was about to surge out from within her body.

Just at this moment, a stream of light suddenly shot over from afar. Before Kokabiel could react, the stream of light had already pierced through the light spear in his hand, turning it into scattering light particles.

"Who is it?" Kokabiel's pupils could not help but shrink as he looked toward the direction from which the stream of light had shot.

"A dignified Fallen Angel Cadre, actually bullying a few young girls here! To do such a thing, you really are shameless!" The figure of Tokisaki Kurumi slowly emerged from a patch of shadow.

"Miss Kurumi?" Seeing the suddenly appearing Tokisaki Kurumi, Rias Gremory could not help but exclaim.

"It's alright, Baiyin, leave the rest to us!" Lingyun's figure quietly appeared beside Tachiro Shirone and reached out to grasp her arm.

"Lingyun, what did you just call me?" Tachiro Shirone suddenly turned her head and looked in Lingyun's direction.

"Baiyin!" Lingyun said with a smile.

Hearing this name, Tachiro Shirone suddenly felt a slight wave of dizziness, and in an instant, it seemed as if countless fragmented images surged from her mind.

And along with these fragmented images, there also surged an irresistible sense of exhaustion. Tachiro Shirone felt her vision blur, and then her vision blurred again, after which she tipped forward and fell.

Lingyun reached out in time and caught Tachiro Shirone in his arms.

"Sigh, what a little one who loves to push herself!" Lingyun sighed softly, and then a faint light rose from his body, enveloping Tachiro Shirone within it.

"This feeling, could it be that you are Koneko's protector?" Feeling the familiar aura on Lingyun's body, a trace of shock appeared in Rias Gremory's eyes.

"Baiyin's protector?" Hearing Rias Gremory's words, Lingyun could not help but be slightly stunned.

"It seems you don't know! When I first came into contact with Koneko, it was when Koneko's sister went berserk, killed her master, and annihilated all the Devils pursuing her. At that time, to avoid senseless sacrifice, the Devil high command decided to give up pursuing Koneko's sister, and at the same time, to turn to hold the remaining younger sister accountable and impose the death penalty. As a result, when everyone wanted to impose the death penalty on Koneko, a soft light erupted from Koneko's body..." When she said this, Rias Gremory's body could not help but tremble.

"After that burst of light, with Koneko as the center, a large area of existences turned into nothingness, even including several powerful high-ranking Devils. Later, we discovered that as long as an existence with murderous intent toward Koneko approached her, light would be released from Koneko's body, completely erasing the danger approaching her."

"Purification Light?" Lingyun said softly.

"Purification Light?" Hearing Lingyun's words, Rias Gremory knew that Tachiro Shirone's state back then must have been inseparable from Lingyun.

"According to the research of the Devil King Beelzebub, there should be a powerful protector behind Baiyin, and that power was left behind by Baiyin's protector. Under my brother's guarantee, we exempted Koneko from her crimes and handed Koneko over to me for supervision. And after that incident, that kind of light never appeared again, and this matter was gradually forgotten by people," Rias Gremory said.

"Exempted Baiyin from her crimes—that phrasing sounds quite nice, but it was mainly because they were afraid that if something happened to Baiyin, her protector would come out to settle scores later!" Lingyun rolled his eyes at Rias Gremory.

Hearing Lingyun's words, Rias Gremory could only smile awkwardly; after all, she herself was not very clear about what was hidden behind such matters.

"Actually, you should be glad; the power I left inside Baiyin has the ability to repel external power from entering her body," Lingyun said. "Otherwise, if Tachiro Shirone had really integrated your Evil Piece into her body, it would have been a huge mess."

Hearing Lingyun say this, Rias Gremory's heart could not help but jump: "What kind of mess would it be?"

"The first possibility is that your piece would be completely devoured by my power inside Baiyin; Baiyin wouldn't become your subordinate, and you would have lost an Evil Piece. The other possibility is that your Evil Piece would be completely devoured by the power I left inside Baiyin, leading to a powerful backlash. As for what kind of consequences such a backlash would cause, you can guess for yourself!" Lingyun said with a smile.

Hearing Lingyun say this, Rias Gremory's complexion instantly turned pale, and cold sweat could not help but break out on her temples. If it were a backlash, the greatest possibility would be that her and Tachiro Shirone's identities would be reversed.

If the next head of the Gremory Clan became Baiyin's subordinate, if such a thing really happened, her family would probably go crazy!

"So I'm saying, you should be glad!" Lingyun patted Rias Gremory's shoulder lightly.