Author's Note: I do not own High School DxD or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Well, here we are. The part that many of you have been waiting for, and that I've been daydreaming about for the past week. The Rating Game between Deiru and Riser. Hope you all enjoy both it and members of Deiru's peerage that will be unveiled. But before we get to that, we have the reviews!

To all reviewers who don't want Deiru/Rias: Rias was and still is the most voted for character for Deiru's harem. While I already have a plan for how I want this story to go, I do still listen to my readers, and this is what the majority of them wanted. That said, if the majority opinion changes and people want no longer want Deiru/Rias, then we'll cross that bridge when it we get there. Okay? Okay.

Wacko12: Ah, I see. Well then, not I'll just have to look up A Certain Magical Index. Maybe even watch the first episode if I like the summary. And yeah, I picked Walter because he was one of my favorite Hellsing characters (him and Anderson).

Gundam 09 and AnimeMyWorld: Ask and ye shall receive.

Ghost of the Demon of Razgirz: Sirzechs will be watching the match, but that does not mean he'll instantly recognize that Deiru is his son. And as to how to vote, you just did. You simply state in your review who you want, and the vote is tallied.

Hellspam: Jeanne, huh? Not the firs time I've heard that, and it is definitely interesting.

T-B-R: Actually, you are right to have caught that, and I have made an announcement regarding that pairing in the endnotes of this chapter.

DogOfTheApocolypse: This Walter is the version from Hellsing Ultimate—the one that betrayed everyone, had a badass fight with Alucard, and then died. And now he's been brought back by Deiru. And more of the peerage will be revealed this and next chapter.

PikaMew128: Yes, that would be funny. Though Sirzechs will not learn the truth for a while yet.

FireDragonKing, deaddragon42, Guest #2: Your votes have considered and counted. Thank you.

Guest #1: By popular demand, yes.

Piermaster981: Bruce Lee is your bro ham? Well… damn. I don't have a comeback for that.

AcclaimingTR: Glad to hear it; I put that scene in specifically for comic relief, so I'm happy to hear that it worked.

King0fP0wers: Actually, it was not so much a particular character that you suggested so much as a particular anime. You'll see what I meant in this chapter. And the connection has just not been made yet.

ThatGreenDooredBookshop, Cf96: Thank you for your kind words.

Charli. : Believe it or not, I'm actually re-watching the anime episode by episode myself as I write this, so that I can follow the plot with decent accuracy. Not to say that I won't take a left turn later, but yeah.

Panzer4life: Funny that you should reference Anderson, as I came this close to having him as Deiru's Knight instead of Walter. But ultimately, I decided not, as I felt that Anderson's faith in God would outweigh his desire to live if living meant becoming a devil. And while I will not be using Kieri as his other Bishop, I did pick a deceased character with spiritual powers.

Golddust65: That is something that has always intrigued me. As beings who by their very nature, represent what we humans call 'sin' then what moral actions would they allow or condemn? And since lust is listed as a cardinal sin, would they condemn lust in speficic cases, such as family members? It's those kinds of questions that always give me food for thought.

And Celestial statos: If you're referring to the invasion during the summit and Cao Cao's agenda? No, definitely not.

And now, let the next chapter begin!

Chapter 6: The Rating Game Begins

Deiru had to keep himself from grinning at the sight of his mother's irritated expression. Normally, if one were to be standing right in front of the Infinite Dragon God while said God was in a bad mood, the smart thing would be to run away in fear. Then again, in normal cases, that person wasn't Ophis's son, and also knew that she could very well annihilate them in the blink of an eye. And while Deiru doubted he could defeat his mother if she went all-out, he knew for a fact that he was strong enough to not make it easy for her.

So, he was able to stand before Ophis in the middle of the Dimensional Gap, look into her rather perturbed gaze, and still feel a vindictive smirk try to surface.

As it was, Ophis was silent for a moment longer, before saying "When I… told you to provide me with progress on your mission, this was not what I meant." Waving an arm in the air, she said "Your orders were to meet the two heiresses, recruit them into the Khaos Brigade, and keep your status as a devil a secret until then. Or, failing that, obtain a high rank in the Underworld."

"Instead, you have deliberately blown your cover, ruined any chance of recruiting either Rias Gremory or Sona Sitri, and challenged a High-Class Devil to a Rating Game, of all things." Ophis glared at up at her son, the difference in height between them in no way detracting from the sense of danger she was exuding. "Explain yourself. Now," she demanded.

At this point, Deiru decided to bow before his mother, and then looked up. "You wish to know why I did this, Mother? The reason, actually, is very simple. I did this… for Rias," he said.

Ophis blinked. For Rias? "I… do not understand," she said.

Knowing he would get that response, Deiru replied "I am doing this to help Rias. Her marriage to Riser was never something that she had a say in, and has been forced to confront every day since the day of her birth. Like any other Gremory, Rias is emotional, volatile, and will not be subjugated to the whims of others if she can help it. That's just who she is."

"This formal and political marriage to Riser, therefore, is the exact antithesis of everything she believes in. And knowing that, but also knowing that she did not have the power to stop it, was creating her great distress. So I chose to interfere to remove that distress."

Ophis frowned. "You mean to say that you did all this… just to help her? Why? In what way do you benefit?" she asked.

Deiru nodded. "And there we arrive at my secondary reason for my actions. As much as Rias hates this marriage, if it happens, then her loyalty to the Underworld and her family will ensure that she never does anything that would inconvenience them ever again. This would be the final 'nail', as it were, in the coffin that would bury her defiant spirit for good. That would include any chance of her joining the Khaos Brigade. By stopping this marriage myself, I keep Rias from being unable to be recruited. And if she feels grateful towards me for getting her out the marriage? So much the better."

His mother's eyes widened as she realized it. "So… you're doing this because you wish to recruit her. Fail, she'll never agree to join us. Succeed, and she could still be brought it. Not only that, but she'll feel indebted to you for helping her. Is that right?" she asked.

"Exactly. And finally, I want you to picture it. A devil that nobody's seen before, belonging to a house that no one's heard of, challenging a member of the legendary Phenex family over the heiress of the House of Gremory, who also happens to a sister to the current Lucifer? If I wanted a springboard to use to launch myself upwards in devil society, I'm not going to get much better than this," Deiru said, letting his smirk rise to the surface.

Ophis was silent as she considered all this. By helping Rias, her son was keeping the girl open for recruitment, creating a sense of indebtedness to Deiru within said heiress, and launching himself into the Underworld's spotlight, all in one.

Three birds, one stone, in a single throw. Just as Deiru said.

But then Ophis frowned once more, and looked back at her son. "Your plan… is a risky one. Should the fallout from this have any kind of impact that you haven't predicted, it will be your responsibility to fix it," he warned.

"I understand, Mother. Even so, I consider the risks to be worth the rewards," Deiru stated.

Convinced, Ophis said "Very well. Then I… will allow you to continue with this plan. Be careful, son."

With that, she ripped open a portal back to the manor. Deiru stood and, after bowing one more time, leaved. As the portal closed behind him, Ophis sighed. Why did she feel like this was only the start of her headaches?

Three days later…

"You know, I'm really starting to hate all this waiting," Ryuk complained, even as he laid back on the ceiling and chewed on an apple.

He, Deiru, and the rest of his peerage were all sitting in the main room of the Old Schoolhouse, waiting for the Rating Game to begin. Everyone besides himself was also wearing the same gray robes as before, keeping their appearances hidden until the time came to reveal themselves.

"Unfortunately, Ryuk, there's nothing we can do. We are supposed to stay here until the construction for the area for the Rating Game will be in is finished," Walter told him, sitting back on one of the couches and taking a sip of his Earl Gray.

But Ryuk groaned and lowered down onto the floor, staring at the old vampire. "And sitting around is what I've been doing for the better part of eternity. Back in the Shinigami Realm, that was almost all you could do. Sit around, take a nap, or gamble. It was maddening," he said.

Mittelt, who had been listening, raised an eyebrow. "Is that why you let Deiru make you into his Rook? So you wouldn't be bored anymore?" she asked.

Ryuk nodded. "That's right. Being a part of this peerage has been the most entertainment I had since I dropped my Death Note into that one version of Japan," he said, sighing fondly as he remembered the kick he got out of watching that human, Light, try to rid the world of all criminals.

A real shame that the kid had to die. His actions were fun while they lasted.

Refocusing on the present, he asked "So, exactly what's the plan for once we get there?"

It was Deiru who replied, "We'll form our plan of attack once we've arrived. It would make no sense to start making plans when we don't even know the layout of where we'll be fighting."

With that, they all lapsed into silence, waiting for the moment when the fight would begin. However, that was interrupted when they heard the door open, and two people walked in. Those two were, to Deiru's surprise, Sona and Tsubaki.

Rising to his feet, Deiru said "Sona-san, this is certainly a surprise. A pleasant one, to be sure, but one all the same. What brings you here?"

Taking a moment to answer, Sona looked over the gathered members of his peerage. "I have to say, your peerage certainly doesn't lack when it comes to quantity," he commented, before looking at him. "Considering the importance of this match and the stakes involved with it, the entire Rating Game is being broadcasted live in the Underworld. I came here to inform you of that."

Deiru stared for a moment, before smiling widely. "So we have an even larger audience than I anticipated. This will be perfect for our debut," he said.

Sona's gaze hardened. "That's another thing. While I cannot fault you for keeping your devil hood a secret when Rias and I were doing the same thing, the fact that you were a devil and were able to remain undetected this whole time does not sit well with me," he told him.

Before he could raise any objections, however, she added "All the same, as one devil to another, I wish you and your peerage good luck in your first Rating Game." Then she turned and walked out, leaving the member of Deiru's peerage to stare at the door.

"What the hell was that all about?" Canterbury thought aloud, before Hannah answered "It was both a congratulation and a warning. She's impressed with us so far, but she also wanted to know that deceiving her like that again would not be wise."

Deiru nodded, even as he mentally thought that, if he did piss Sona off, the only way she could actually be of any harm to him was if she somehow got her sister Serafall involved. Beyond that, he was unafraid.

It was then that Grayfia appeared from a transportation circle, one that was large enough for Deiru and all members of peerage. "The time has arrived. Please step into the circle and we'll begin," she declared.

Ryuk grinned, "About time!" he called, before dropping from the ceiling and landing on his feet inside the circle. The rest of them also filed in, and waited. The circle glowed brighter and brighter, until it blinded them from their surroundings.

Once the light faded away, Deiru looked around… and saw the exact same room as before. Did is not work?

Then they heard Grayfia's voice, seemingly coming from all angles at once. "Greetings to one and all. My name is Grayfia Lucifuge, and I shall serve as the referee for this Rating Game between Riser Phenex and Deiru Ouroboros. The battlefield for this match has been made to serve as an exact replica of Kuoh Aacademy, the school which Deiru-sama and Rias Gremory both attend in the human realm. Each team has been given an area that will be designated as their base of operations, which is where enemy Pawns will become eligible for Promotion."

At that moment, there was a flash of silver and a map appeared on the table in the middle of the room. Taking a look at it, Deiru noticed that all the sections of the school were present and labeled. "Riser Phenex, your territory has been designated as the Student Council room in the Main Building. Meanwhile, the territory belonging to Deiru Ouroboros will be the Occult Research Club room in the Old Schoolhouse. Good luck to both sides and let the game begin," she said, and then went silent.

The rest of the peerage looked to Deiru. "Your orders, sir?" Walter asked.

Deiru looked over map, now on full focus. "The fact that they made the area to match that of Academy gives us the advantage of being in a familiar landscape. Likely something they did to help us 'newcomers' against someone with a pedigree as good as Riser's. Oh, well. Makes that easier for us," he said, before putting the map down to let the others see it.

"Normally, I would suggest that we attempt to capture the Gymnasium, as that place is equidistant from both here and the Main Building. However, Riser will likely try to same thing, which means that we can take advantage of that," he said, before looking at his other Rook and one of his Pawns.

"We need to do more than just win this Rating Game. If we are going to get the boost in status that we planned for out of this, we need to give the audience a show. A display that will prove that our strength is beyond anything they anticipated. That's I'm charging you two with approaching the Gym… and destroying it," he declared.

Hannah blinked. "Destroy the Gym? As you certain about that, Master?" she asked.

Deiru nodded. "Even if we did capture the Gymnasium, Riser will likely have some sort of back-up plan to fall back on in that scenario. But if we destroy the Gym along with anyone inside, that will force him to rethink his plans. An enemy that is forced to re-plan will be easier to combat than one who is not. So go," he ordered.

His Rook nodded. "You won't need to worry, Deiru Ouroboros. We will demolish the Gymnasium and do so without fail!" he declared, striking several poses that caused the muscles on his arms to flex with each movement.

His Pawn, ignoring the display, smiled darkly. "A free pass to fight anyone I see? I'll take that," she said. And with that, the two of them walked out, intent on dealing some massive damage.

Meanwhile, Deiru turned his focus to Hannah and Ryuk. "Also, I want the two of you patrolling the skies. We don't know when Riser will deploy his Queen, and I want you two to intercept her when he does," he said.

Hannah bowed. "Consider it done, my lord," she said, while Ryuk sighed.

"You know, it's too bad you decided to not use Queen-y in this match. If you did that, this could be over in less than an hour," he pointed out.

Deiru frowned and looked at up him. "You know very well why I'm not letting her loose on Riser's peerage, Ryuk," he said sternly.

The Shinigami waved a hand. "Yeah, yeah. Doesn't know how to hold back, would have gone a rampage, killed every enemy she faced faster than they could be retired. I get it, I get it," he said, before opening the window to the room and flying off. Hannah followed.

Sitting back, Deiru looked at the map. "And so, the first act has begun. Enjoy this Dance Macabre while it lasts, Riser. You won't enjoy its finale," he said.

The Rook and Pawn swiftly made their way to the outside of the gymnasium, and stopped. Looking over at his fellow subordinate, the Rook said "I can bring the entire building down by destroying the foundation beneath it, but it will take me some time. Can you keep whoever's in there occupied until then?"

Retaining her dark smile, the Pawn said "With pleasure," and ran inside.

Inside the gym, standing around and waiting for the enemy to appear, were four girls. One of them was a well-endowed young woman of Chinese origin, with black hair that was in two Chinese buns on the sides of her head, reached her shoulder in the back, and formed a V across her forehead. She was wearing a blue qipao dress with gold accents that showed off her bust, a white sash and black heels. This was Xuelan, one of Riser's Rooks.

The next two appeared to be twins, as they were both very young with turquoise hair and blues eyes, though the hair was kept back with yellow ribbons that they were on different sides. They were wearing white T-shirts with blue accents, black leggings and blue sneakers and white socks that reached their knees. Both of them carried a large bag on their backs. These two were Ile and Nel, both Pawns.

The final girl was also young, with dark blues eyes and long blonde hair that was tied into twin drill-like curls and several bangs hanging over the forehead. She was wearing a long, pink dress with white frills and a magenta bow. This was Ravel Phenex, Riser's younger sister and well as his Bishop. Of the four of them, she was the first to sense someone enter the Gym.

"Looks like we have company," she said, and had the twins flip on the lights. Standing before them was a young woman who had her features covered by a gray cloak, although they could see the golden lotus flower printed over her heart and the Pawn symbol on the opposite side of her chest.

Xuelan snorted. "Really? All four of us together and they send just a Pawn? This is going to be easier than I thought," she said arrogantly, causing the twins to laugh.

Ravel, however, wasn't so quick to judge, and asked "What's your name?"

For a moment, the woman didn't respond. Then she began reaching for her hood. "You don't deserve to know my real name…" she began, and pulled her hood off. The unknown Pawn had pale skin and long pink hair that reached the small of her back. Only one of her eyes was visible, but it was of a similar shade, though more red than pink. Lastly, poking out of her hair were two horns that looked somewhat like cat ears, depending on the angle.

The woman looked at them, showing that her eyes were rife with madness and bloodlust. "…But for the duration of this fight, you can call me Lucy."

Xuelan smirked. "Alright, then, Lucy. In the name of Riser-sama, prepare to fall!" she yelled, and shot forward. As she got closer, her feet caught fire and Xuelan tensed, ready to go into a spinning kick that would take Lucy's head off her shoulders.

Lucy didn't move or try to retaliate, simply giving her that same maddened stare. Once Xuelan was less only a few feet away, however, the busty Rook stopped. Her expression morphed into one of shock when she felt something slam into her stomach hard enough to not only stop her in her tracks, but also knock the wind out of her. Looking down, she didn't see anything touching her, but suddenly felt that same force hit her in the chin from below, snapping her head back and sending her flying onto her back.

"Xuelan!" Ile and Nel called, while Ravel frowned in concern. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Xuelan grunted and got back to her feet, looking at Lucy much more warily now. "I'm fine. Not sure what that was, but it didn't do anything permanent," she said.

The twins looked at her, then each other, and reached for the bags on their backs. "Well, we're helping!" Nel called, and Ile added "And don't even try stopping us!"

She didn't and simply charged at Lucy again. The twins each tossed away the bags and revealed what was in them: a pair of chainsaws. Grinning, the two revved their weapons to full power and ran forward as well.

Xuelan was looking around even as she kept part of her attention on Lucy herself, trying to see any attacks coming. Rather than go for a kick, this time she tried to a simple one-two jab, enhanced by fire. But she didn't even get close enough to try before being knocked back again. Whatever it was, that same force punch her in the right side of her ribcage hard enough to create a dull crack and send her stumbling back. The twins fared no better, as they also felt something slam them into each other and then towards the wall to their left hard enough to make a crater.

Ravel watched this and narrowed her eyes. This Lucy girl wasn't even moving, and she was able to fend off an assault twice in a row. How was she doing it?

She watched as Ile and Nel got up and charged again, only this time they split up and came from either side of Lucy. Only for them both to be blasted back. And when Xuelan tried to jump into air and do a falling kick from above, she too was repelled violently.

'So physical attacks won't work. How about magic?' she said, and spread out her arms. An orb of fire appeared in each hand, and she called "Take this!" before throwing them both at Lucy. Both burst into floating embers once they came close. The twins appeared before her and both tried to cleave her in half with their chainsaws, and said chainsaws were stopped midair.

Meanwhile, in the Real Old Schoolhouse…

Rias and the rest of her peerage had gathered together to watch the Rating Game on a screen set against the side wall, knowing that the fate of their President and King hung in the balance. As such, they were treated a live showing of Riser's subordinates trying and failing, over and over, to so much as hit Deiru's Pawn, Lucy.

Issei was shocked at seeing someone who had the same Evil Piece as himself take on two other Pawns and a Rook with ease while Asia was sitting next to him in similar awe. Kiba and the others, however, had already accepted it and were trying to decipher how it was that Lucy was keeping every one of her foes at bay.

'Some sort of magic? No, there's be signs of it. A magic circle, some sort of glow, something. And besides, her enemies would have sensed it already,' Akeno thought.

Kiba looked down at the sword he had in his lap, and then back at the screen. 'Is she using some sort of Sacred Gear? But she's not human, or at least that's what those horns would imply. Or is she part human, and that part of her is what enabled her to get it?' he wondered. However, the theory of a Sacred Gear didn't sound all that likely.

Then they watched the twins begin swinging over and over again in an unrelenting volley of attacks. Yet they still never even touched her. They could see and hear Nel gritted her teeth, yelling "Stop blocking us and let us kill you!" while Ile nodded in agreement. Then they were both thrown into the air hard enough to hit the ceiling, and fell back onto the ground.

They watched Xuelan make yet another assault attempt, this time a barrage of both flaming punches and kicks. Only for each and every one to be blocked once she got close.

It was at that point, seeing so many attempts in such close sequence, that Koneko noticed something. "President?" she said, catching Rias's attention.

"Yes, Koneko? What is it?" she asked.

The white-haired girl looked back at the screen. "Is it me, or is she only blocking attacks once they come within a certain distance from her?" she questioned.

Rias's eyes widened, and she quickly refocused on the fight. Xuelan had gotten close to Lucy and shot her fist forward, unleashing a straight blast of pure fire. However, once the fire was a total of two meters away from Lucy, it abruptly dispersed as if hitting an invisible wall. "You're right, Koneko," she said, now watching even more intensely than before.

Back in the Rating Game…

Ravel, who had hung back after her first attack, had come to the same conclusion that Rias did. 'So, she can only block attacks once they're within two meters of herself. And even then, she has to know where they're coming from,' she thought, trying to come up with a strategy while the other kept Lucy occupied.

But then Lucy glared at Xuelan, and muttered "Pathetic."

That was the only warning she received before she felt that unfortunately familiar force wrap itself around her arms and hoist her into the air. She struggled and put every ounce of her enhanced stretch into break free, but it accomplished nothing. "Let me go, you bitch!" she yelled.

Lucy stared up at her with her visible eye, even as she kept part of her focus on constantly pushing back Nel and Ile. "Consider yourself lucky. Though our mission is to humiliate you and Riser, Deiru told me that I'm not allowed to kill. So, I'll just have to settle for hurting you badly enough that you're forcibly retired," she said. Then, she felt Lucy unleash her own volley of blows on her torso, legs and face.

Xuelan cried out in pain, as each hit packed as much strength as her own did, and came at her with even greater speed than she had used. Seeing that, Ravel knew that she could no longer hang back and observe. This was a foe they would not be able to so easily defeat, even if they were Phenexes. And so, she willed a pair of flaming wings to burst from the back of her dress and carry her up to Xuelan.

"Release her!" she called, and threw another fireball at Lucy. It was blocked, as she expected, but the smokescreen it created did give her the chance to fly in without getting hit. Then she grabbed Xuelan by the waist and pulled with all her might. To her surprise, Lucy didn't try to stop her, and simply released Xuelan so that the blonde could catch her. The twins also stopped at the sight of this, and fell back.

Once they were a safe distance from the enemy Pawn, Ravel laid Xuelan on the ground. The busty Kung Fu fighter groaned as she could feel all the blows Lucy had inflicted throb in pain. She was positive that more than one rib had been broken, and her stomach and chest hurt with every breath she took. She wasn't injured enough to be retired, not yet, but she certainly would need a few minutes to recuperate.

Even so, she said "Ravel…" and looked up at the Bishop. "When she pulled me into air… it felt like… something grabbed me by the arms… and every hit… felt like a punch…" she managed to get out, before stopping so that she didn't have to hurt herself by talking any further.

Ravel's eyes went wide at that, she quickly went over all the data she had collected. An unseen force or object, a two-meter effective range, the ability to grab and punch someone or something…

Could it be?

She stood back up and stared at Lucy, while also channeling energy to her eyes. Being a Phenex, a devil who could manipulate fire and wind, she could theoretically sense disturbances in the air around her if she focused hard enough. And if that were the case, then maybe she could see those disturbances too…

It worked. Ravel's eyes glowed orange and she saw that, hovering around Lucy, there were four arms that were vibrating and displacing the air around them as they moved. The vibrations weren't intense enough to make them visible in normal scenarios, hence the reason why she couldn't see them before.

But now she knew what Lucy's weapon was, and smirked. "So, that's it. Two-meter long, invisible arms, huh? That's quite a weapon," she said. Ile and Nel's eyes widened, and they also began channeling energy to their eyes. Not having the power of aerokinesis, it took them much more energy, but they were also able to see the arms hovering around their enemy.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at her statement. "So, you can see my vectors, then?" she asked. When they nodded in reply, she grinned. "Good. And here I thought this was starting to get boring. But if you can see then, then that just means that I'll have to take the fight to you."

Then she ran forward, and the members of Riser's peerage did the same. Lucy sent one of her vectors at each of them and, now able to see them, they each dodged. However, even as they went past, the end of the vectors twisted around and came at them behind. Ravel saw it and ducked, but the twins didn't and were both slammed face-first into the floor.

They got back up and charged, moving with practiced synchrony as they dodged the vectors and swung at Lucy. She leaned back and let the chainsaws pass right above her face, before straightening and sending her fourth vector at Ile. The green-haired girl didn't react in time and was met with a straight blow to the face, sending her back and even knocking a tooth loose.

"Ile!" Nel called, before glaring at Lucy with renewed fury. "No one hurts my sister and gets away with it!" she roared, and swung with savage abandon. Lucy leaned to the side to avoid a blow, but that put her in the path of trio of fireballs that Ravel had sent flying at her from behind. Three of her vectors wrapped around her to create a shell, one which the fireballs slammed into and fizzled out.

Then Lucy turned to face her and sent those same three at Ravel, who flew upwards in a corkscrew to avoid them. Then she covered her entire front in fire and dive-bombed at Lucy, intent and taking them both to ground while frying the pink-haired girl in the process.

Only for Lucy to grab Nel and jump backwards while pulling her forward. The result was that the two of them effectively swapped places, and Ravel just barely canceled the flames cloaking her before she crashed into the Pawn. The two ended up a tangled mess of limbs and blonde and green hair, while Lucy focused to the prone form of Xuelan. "Goodbye," she said, and sent all four of her vectors at her.

Only for Xuelan to suddenly snap her eyes open and spin on the ground, kicking away her vectors and then jumping to her feet. Lucy blinked in surprising. "Playing possum, were you?" she asked.

Xuelan staved off the urge to wince at how much it hurt to move, and smirked. "Damn right, I was. And now that I can see where you're going to hit, you won't be able to stop me!" she declared, and rushed forward.

Lucy responded by sending her vectors at her. But now the busty Rook could see them, and sidestepped one before jumping over another. While she was in mid-air, she twisted around and dealt a harsh spinning kick right at one of the vectors, hitting it with enough force to send it away from her. The last one came up from below, but she leaned forward and dropped out of its reach, landing right in front of Lucy.

The startled look on her enemy's face was a pleasure to see, and Xuelan called "Eat this!" before executing a massive roundhouse kick with her entire leg covered in fire. With all four of her vectors overextended, she knew that Lucy would have no way to block this. The panicked expression she wore even confirmed it. Time slowed to a crawl, and Xuelan couldn't help but grin in triumph. This wasn't an easy fight, she'd admit, but she was a Rook in service to Riser Phenex! There was no way she'd fail!

Only for her leg to be stopped cold in mid-swing.

Xuelan's gleeful expression melted in one of shock. Right before her eyes, as if to defy everything, a fifth vector had sprouted from Lucy's back and grabbed her leg, holding her in place with unyielding strength. Meanwhile, Lucy's look of panic faded, replaced by a look of triumph. "Fool," she said.

"But… how?" she asked, too shocked to even think of pulling back her leg.

Lucy grinned, her eye showing all the insanity and love of violence contained in her soul. "Now, when did I say that I only had four vectors?" she said tauntingly.

At that, Xuelan realized that she was right. Not once had Lucy confirmed or denied either the number of vectors she had or their range. She had just let them assume that for themselves. And now, she knew, that was going to be their downfall.

She was proven right when her other vectors shot past her, going beyond their previous two-meter range, and blocked attacks from Ravel and the recovered twins. Then several more vectors emerged from her back. She could count ten, twelve, fifteen, twenty of them in total. One wrapped around the arms of each of them and hoisted them into the air, and she could not make them budge.

Lucy looked at all of them. "Like I said, it's a shame that I've been ordered to not kill you. It'd be as simple as moving an artery in each of your brains, and it would happen so fast that you'd die before you could be summoned away. So, be thankful," she said, before taking her remaining vectors and dealing back every hit they had tried to give her with interest.

Several minutes passed, and all that Ravel or any of the others knew was pain, as they were pummeled over and over again. Their pain also kept them from focusing energy to their eyes, so they could no longer see where each hit was coming from either. Lucy grinned at the sight and commanded her vectors to continue, glad to finally be dishing out some suffering.

Just as Ravel thought that it was never going to end, the barrage stopped. Abruptly, Lucy released them and they all dropped to the ground, landing rather painfully and aggravating their already considerable injuries.

Managing to crack one eye open, she saw Lucy holding one hand to her ear and seemed to be looking off into the distance. After a moment, she frowned and looked at them. "And here I was hoping to hurt you some more. Well, it looks like my part here is done. Farewell," she said, and walked away.

As she watched her opponent leave, Ravel could feel her pride being torn to shreds. The four of them—two Pawns, one Rook and one Bishop—had gone up against a single Pawn of their enemies, and had lost badly. And to put an icing on the cake, she'd didn't even finish them off. Just left them lying there, wallowing in their defeat and barely able to move.

Even if she could feel her injuries slowly fading due to her regenerative factor, Ravel knew that she might as well have been retired for all the good she would do now. So, when she felt the ground begin shaking and cracks begin spreading across the walls and the ceiling, she simply closed her eyes and waited.

Then the entire Gymnasium caved in, burying her and the others beneath a mountain of rubble.

The moment that Lucy walked out of the Gym, she saw the man that had come with her give a nod. She gave one back and said "Ready when you are."

The Rook smiled and crossed his arms. Rather than taking his cloak off like a regular person would, he simply flexed his muscles and the entire thing was torn to shreds, leaving him in just a set of blue pants and black boots and revealing appearance to the world. He was truly a mountain of a man, standing at over seven feet tall and possessing enough muscles to put most bodybuilders to shame.

His complexion was light and his head was bald save for a single lock of curly blond hair just above his forehead. His eyebrows also had no hair, and he sported a thick blonde handlebar mustache that accentuated his cleft chin. To go with all this were his blue eyes and unusually long eyelashes, contrasting with the rather menacing look the rest of his appearance gave him.

This man was none other than Alex Louis Armstrong, alchemist and Rook within Deiru's peerage.

Alex clapped his hands—which were covered by spiked metal gauntlets—together. "Alright, it's time to begin! Witness the alchemic power that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!" he roared, and slammed one fist into the ground.

Not a moment later, the ground burst apart and erupted in a series of spikes that formed in a line leading from him to the gymnasium. When the spikes reached the gym, the entire building began shaking and cracks began to appear along the walls. Then he punched the ground with his other fist, creating another wave of earth spikes that, once they reached the building, caused it to shake even further and the cracks to spread faster.

A few seconds later, the building groaned before collapsing inwards, having been destroyed at the foundations and force to collapse into nothing but a pile of debris.

Alex smiled. "And that is how you collapse a building, my dear Lucy!" he called, striking a pose that showed off his biceps. Interestingly enough, the action also caused a series of sparkles to surround him.

Lucy had to refrain from rolling her eyes, and said "Whatever. Let's just get back." Then she walked away, and Alex struck a few more poses before catching up to her.

Riser stared out the window of the Main School Building, watching in shock as the entire Gym was forced to collapse while the two members of Deiru's peerage responsible walked away, completely unscathed. He had previously taken his opponent lightly, thinking that he was just another weak devil with a peerage full of weak Evil Pieces.

As if to mock his previous thoughts, Grayfia chose that moment to talk over the loudspeaker, calling "Two of Riser-sama's Pawns,one of Riser-sama's Rooks and one Riser-sama's Bishops have been retired."

But now, after seeing this? He needed to rethink his plans. Reaching to the communicator in his ear, he activated it and spoke up. "Yubelluna, fall back. Return to headquarters and stand guard in case anymore of this trash's peerage shows up," he ordered.

On the end of the line, he could he his Queen reply. "Of course, Riser-sama. I'll be right back immedia- AAAH!" he heard, jumping to his feet when he heard her scream in pain. "What happened?! What's going on?!" he demanded. When all he got was static, his eyes widened.

"Yubelluna!" he yelled.

With Yubelluna…

The Bomb Queen winced in pain as she managed to catch herself before she hit the ground. She didn't know what had happened. One moment she was hovering the air near the Gynasium, ready to unleash an explosion large enough to take both Lucy and Alex out of the game. Then Riser-sama came on the line, telling her to retreat.

She didn't have a problem with that, seeing as she would always do what Riser wished. But just as she had turned to begin heading back, she felt as if a freight train had smashed into her back and sent her downwards, barely able to stop herself from creating a crater in the shape of herself in the ground.

Yubelluna looked back up to where she had been, and saw no one there. But she did hear a voice, one that cackled loudly and said "Oh, that too good! The look on your face when I got you? Now that was funny!"

She glared up at the sky. What was it with this peerage and the invisible attacks? "Show yourselves!" she called.

There was a moment of silence, and then her unseen foe chose to reveal himself. His appearance was somewhat humanoid, with a very thin build, gray-blue skin and spiky black hair. His lips were dark blue and exposed his pointed teeth, while his eyes with large and round with yellow sclera and red irises. To top it off, his limbs were unusually long and each finger ended in sharps nails.

Ryuk grinned and gave her a mock-salute, saying "You called? I am the Shinigami Ryuk, and Deiru's other Rook."

Before Yubelluna could reply, she heard another voice say "And I am his Knight." Then she saw Hannah descend from above behind her.

She looked between both of them, and frowned. Given how much that hit to her back was still hurting, she could guess that Ryuk was more than strong enough to stop her if she tried to escape. And even if she wasn't, there was no telling yet how fast this Hannah woman was. Therefore, if she wanted to obey Riser's order and return to his side, she'd need to get rid of them both to keep going.

With that in mind, she raised her staff and smiled at them, though said smile was anything but sweet. "I see. It's a pleasure to meet you both. And now, I'll be able to remember your names after I blow you to pieces," she said.

Hannah returned her smile and began reaching for her mouth. "Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," she said, before shoving her hand down her throat. Yubelluna reared back, repulsed at the sight, before shock accompanied her disgust when Hannah began pulling a sword, of all things, out of her throat.

"Holy shit…" Issei muttered, staring at the screen. The other were similarly shocked, having seen just two members of Deiru's peerage annihilate an entire quarter of Riser's and also demolish an entire building with just two hits. Then, his other Rook hit Riser's Queen hard enough to nearly knock her out of the air.

Even the others were just as shocked. Kiba's shock grew when he saw Hannah pull that sword out of her, recognizing it immediately. "That sword! It's the blade Lævateinn!" he called.

Issei blinked, confused. "Huh? What's Lævateinn?" he asked. The others looked to Kiba as well, knowing that he was the most knowledgeable on famous swords out of any of them.

Continuing to watch the match, Kiba explained "Lævateinn is an ancient and cursed sword, which is said to be 'cloaked in eternal darkness'. Whether or not that's true, I don't know. But I do know that it is a sword that can cut through the very soul of a devil, and any soul pierced by it can be destroyed completely. It's supposed to require a living person to act as its sheathe, but I guess now we know who that is."

The others looked at Hannah and her sword at that, while Rias performed a mental checklist in her head. A mutant, an alchemist, a Shinigami, and now the living sheathe of an ancient sword. Just the hell was Deiru going to reveal next?

Within the Underworld, Grayfia stood next to her husband, Sirzechs Lucifer, as they both watched the Rating Game with great interest. For Sirzechs, it was not only because of the fact that this Deiru Ouroboros was a new player on the scene, but also because the fate of his beloved Ria-tan was dependent on this fight. If Deiru lost, then his precious little sister's destiny was sealed.

Even so, he chuckled at seeing everything that had occurred so far. "Well, this certainly seems to have turned out better than we thought. Isn't that right, Father?" he asked, looking over at the two seats on his right. The one closer to him was occupied by a middle-aged looking man with bright blue eyes and long hair that was just as crimson as Sirzechs with a short stubble. This was Zeoticus Gremory, head of the House of Gremory and his and Rias's father.

Zeoticus nodded, smiling pleasantly. "Yes, this Deiru child is proving to be much more formidable than we initially expected. If what we saw from this first encounter repeats itself, he could very well win," he commented.

A grunt from next to him had him turning his gaze to the occupant of the other chair. He was a man of similar age to Zeoticus, though his hair was blonde, only reached his chin and spiked in the back. Also, his eyes were of a lighter shade of blue. This was Riser's father, Lord Phenex. Currently, he was glaring at the screen and looking none too pleased by the events unfolding. If it had been Rias holding her own against his son, that would be one thing, and he'd even commend her for it.

But for someone like to just show up out of the blue, challenge a member of his family and have already made a spectacle of it in the first match? Not even someone as humble as him could swallow that pill right away. And so, he said "I'm withholding judgement until after we've seen everything. For all we know, this could be the extent of his strength. If so, then he still will lose to my son soon enough."

Deiru smirked as he sensed Hannah and Ryuk begin engaging Riser's Queen in the skies above. Now that she was being taken care of, he considered what to do with his remaining servants.

His thoughts were cut off when he heard Grayfia once more, calling "Three of Riser-sama Pawns, one of Riser-sama's Knights and three of Deiru-sama's Pawns have been retired."

He frowned at that. He had sent the Triplets off to patrol the surrounding forests and intercept any enemy who tried to come close, and looks like they had indeed found some enemies. He had thought that the three of them together would be enough to take on any of Riser's Pawns, but apparently adding a Knight to the match had evened it out.

Pity. And he was going to have those three switch to investigating the track field for anyone stationed there.

'Well, that simply won't do,' he thought, before looking down at the map. Between here and the Main Building was a lot of open space, which had been divided up by baseball, football and track fields. None of those places had a lot of cover, so any attempt to get to there would likely end in a brawl.

At that, he smirked. Well, if a brawl was needed, then a brawl would be given. And he knew two servants who perfect for combat in wide-open areas. Looking at one of them, he said "Izuna," and got her attention.

Izuna was a young girl with dark purple hair held back with a yellow headband and chestnut eyes, though the pupils were slit like a cat's. Also, rather than a normal set of ears, she possessed to large foxlike ears covered in fur with the same color as her hair, and sprouting from the small of her back was a fluffy tail, also of the same color. She wore a short white kimono that was tied shut with a large red bow, and over that was large beige robe with a red border. On her feet were a pair of sandals and white socks. She was another of Deiru's Pawns.

Pointing at the map, Deiru said "Now that we've leveled the Gym, our next target will be the baseball field. You and Patchouli are to head there and pick off any opponents that you find. If it turns out that you need any help, notify me and I'll send assistance," he said.

Patchouli closed her book and stood. "We will have this taken care of quickly," she said. Izuna nodded. "Yeah. We won't lose to those losers, thank you!" she declared.

As they left, Deiru stood. Now was what he considered to be his favorite part of the plan—the part where he took the fight directly to Riser. "Prepare yourself, Phenex. Now you face a dragon," he said, and gathered the rest of his peerage before moving out.

And that's that. Ordinally, I had planned to write the whole Rating Game in this one chapter, but that ended up not happening. Oh, well. Now I have inspiration for the next one! And here's the updated peerage so far:

King: Deiru Ouroboros

Queen: ?

Bishop 1: Patchouli Knowledge (Touhou Project)

Bishop 2: ?

Knight 1: Hannah Annafellows (Kuroshitsuji)

Knight 2: Walter C. Dornez (Hellsing)

Rook 1: Ryuk (Death Note)

Rook 2: Alex Louis Armstrong (Full Metal Alchemist)

Pawn 1: Canterbury (Kuroshitsuji)

Pawn 2: Thompson (Kuroshitsuji)

Pawn 3: Timber (Kuroshitsuji)

Pawn 4: Mittelt (DxD)

Pawn 5: ?

Pawn 6: ?

Pawn 7: Izuna Hatsuse (No Game No Life)

Pawn 8 (Mutated Pawn): Kaede/Lucy/Nyu (Elfen Lied)

And before any of you start saying how neither Alex or Izuna died in their respective series, I did say that I would be breaking my only-dead-characters for a few peerage members. Those are two of them. And I already have the rest of the peerage figured out, so don't worry about that.

Also, before we get to harems, I have an announcement in regards to the harem declarations from last chapter. I don't know how it got past me, but I ended up putting the wrong girl as the fourth member of Issei's harem. Somehow, I had written down that it would be Mittelt who would be the fourth girl for Issei, when I actually meant to put Ravel in that spot. Like I said, I don't know how I missed that, but it happened. So, yeah. Mittelt is not is Issei's harem. Ravel is.

Also, considering that we just had a tie breaker between Rossweisse and Akeno last chapter, I deliberately did not count the votes for Rossweisse this time around. Will I count them for the fifth spot? Absolutely. But not this time.

So, fourth member of Deiru's peerage had been voted to be…

The Mascot Rook, Koneko Toujou!

To be frank, I was honestly not expecting Koneko to make it in. A surprisingly number of people want Deiru to paired with Seekvaira Agares for some reason, enough that she was only two votes behind Koneko. She might make it in for the last spot, but who knows? That all depends on you guys and who you vote for in the review box.

And the fifth and final member of Issei's harem will be…

The Cheerful Witch, Le Fay Pendragon!

So that's it. I expect the Rating Game will concluded next chapter, and following that is the fallout from these events and, after that, the start of Season 2. Stay tuned!

Please review! If you flame me then Bruce Lee will smash you with his nunchaku. (I'm just kidding… or am?)