The evolution of Meili Strauss' ability from Demon Claws to Devil's Hands marks her entry into Wellston Private High School's elite circle. This transition begins when she saves her classmate Ventus from a brutal three-on-one ambush led by a second-year student named Kralik. By stretching her claws twenty feet out of her second-story dormitory window, she hooks Ventus' collar and pulls him to safety, triggering a permanent evolution in her aura channels. During the Freshman Tournament, she faces Holden, a spiky-haired mid-tier who manifests massive bronze gauntlets. Instead of fighting up close as everyone expects, Meili shocks the spectating crowd by extending her claws into twelve-foot spears. She keeps Holden at a distance, bleeding him out through a meticulous hit-and-run strategy, slicing his legs and ankles. When Holden pulls a lamppost out of the pavement to use as a club, she catches it with her claw hands and swings it back, slamming him into the school wall to cause a concussion. She repeats this tactical dominance against Zeke, pinning him to a wall and downing him with a nasty stab to the stomach. Though she ultimately loses her final match to Arlo's impenetrable golden barrier, her second-place finish secures her rank as the number-two female freshman. This rapid rise attracts the attention of the school's royals and exposes her to the intense social pressures of the hierarchy, setting the stage for her first major conflict with the school's established bullies. After the tournament, Meili finds herself navigating a crowded lunch table where other freshmen fall over themselves to curry favor with her and Arlo. She realizes that her sudden jump from a level 3.0 to a 3.7 has completely transformed her social status, making her an object of intense interest. Even Zeke, who rants about getting back at her for his humiliation, is forced to respect her higher rank. Meili begins to understand that in this world, people's levels and families dictate their entire lives, leaving her with a sense of dread about the violent conflicts to come.

When Zeke brutally beats a freshman named Melissa Hoffman over an algebra correction, leaving her with broken ribs and a concussion, King Rei finds himself unable to act directly due to his reputation as a soft leader. He secretly asks Meili to deliver a mirrored punishment to Zeke. Meili corners Zeke in the crowded cafeteria, piercing his right palm with a twenty-foot claw blade before dragging him through a broken window into the muddy courtyard. In front of hundreds of watching students, she systematically breaks his legs and elbow, forcing him to crawl like a worm in the mud. This brutal face-slapping moment solidifies Meili's reputation as a ruthless enforcer of justice, while the intense aggression of the fight boosts her level to 4.1. The success of this mirrored punishment strategy convinces her that she can use systematic violence to accelerate her own growth while protecting the weak. However, this path of mirrored violence begins to take a heavy emotional toll on her, causing her to break down in tears of self-loathing in front of Rei. She realizes that she is becoming the very monster she despises, copying the cruelties of the school's worst sadists just to stimulate her own ability progression. Despite her guilt, she resolves to keep pushing forward, determined to build a school where the words of surrender can actually stop a fight. This emotional conflict drives her to seek a more permanent solution to the world's injustices, leading her to partner with Dr. Darren to study the science of ability growth. They decide to compile her daily combat data to present at the upcoming Ability Research Summit, hoping to use the findings to escape the school's brutal environment and secure a career in the private sector.

Meili uses her rapid growth data to present a case study at the Ability Research Summit with Dr. Darren, earning a prestigious summer internship at NXGen in New Boston. To run her own intelligence operation, she brings along her low-tier friend Alicia, whose Vision Sharing ability is weaponized using stolen god-tier hairs. By having Alicia touch hairs taken from Valerie Lingard and Linette Lingard, they spy on the private emails and meetings of the sector's elite. They discover a massive ideological split within the Lingard clan regarding cooperation with the Central Authorities, as well as the existence of a classified project centered around a captive god-tier named Jane. This espionage exposes the terrifying scale of the Authorities' control over the continent's network providers, shifting Meili's focus from simple schoolyard survival to a high-stakes conspiracy. To prepare Arlo for the arrival of the volatile late-bloomer John Doe, Meili manipulates him into watching a banned movie called David's Blooming. The film depicts the tragic isolation of a late-bloomer who lost all his friends after a rapid level jump, helping Arlo understand the unique psychological struggles of those who gain power late in life. This subtle manipulation is designed to prevent the brutal conflicts that occurred in the original timeline, showing Meili's ability to use her knowledge of the future to rewrite destiny. However, her plans are threatened when she encounters Valerie Lingard in the mansion's living room, forcing her to deliver a highly rehearsed, deferential performance to avoid being caught with the illegal movie guide. She realizes that Valerie is the City Authorities' Chief of Law Enforcement, a ruthless god-tier who has no qualms about murdering teenagers to maintain the status quo.

To secure her freedom from her grandfather, Eduard Strauss, who wants to force her back to the West Coast clan compound, Meili orchestrates a dangerous confrontation in a public cafe. She forces him to apologize to her mother via a video call, then goads him by telling him the clan is dying and she will never serve them. Enraged, Eduard activates his ability, shattering every window in the cafe. He brutally stabs her with his claws, leaving a hole in her stomach. Meili survives the attack, having planned it to secure her freedom. The public nature of the assault forces the Authorities to intervene, and Meili uses the incident to secure a C-3 security clearance at NXGen. This new clearance level grants her direct access to the classified basement facility where John's mother, Jane, is held as a research subject. This sacrifice puts Meili on the cusp of acquiring the ability-modifying data she needs to challenge the Central Authorities, while John prepares to transfer to Wellston. In the meantime, she uses her position to help a pregnant god-tier named Kyoko Albright escape NXGen's pressure to abort her low-tier child. By suggesting a fake adoption scheme and a transfer to a safer clinic, Meili earns immense favor with the company higher-ups, cementing her access to the classified research vaults. She also continues to train John in Citrona Park, helping him copy her Devil's Hands and teaching him to manipulate his aura to combine multiple abilities. This dual strategy of helping the weak and cultivating the strongest late-bloomer prepares her for the upcoming storm at Wellston. She knows that John's transfer is the key to disrupting the Authorities' plans, and she must ensure he is strong enough to survive when the truth of his mother's captivity is revealed.