Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD, it rightly belongs to Ichiei Ishibumi. I am doing this purely for the creative enjoyment.

Authors Note: Okay, so I said that I would have the training, fight, and familiars for this chapter, but it's taking up a lot of space. So I'll be doing the engagement hall, familiars, and start of Hunters past with the next chapter.

Chapter 6: Fight with the Firebird

[] Asa

[] Cathal

{} Niefelm

{} Ddraig

'' thinking

'10 days huh?'

I was currently in the backyard garden. After Raiser had left, Rias had decided that all club activities were canceled and then went into one of the adjoining rooms to probably work out a plan of attack against Raiser.

{This won't be easy. He is a Phoenix and that healing ability will be tough to counter.}

{True. But there is always a way to defeat someone or something. There is no such thing as an impenetrable defense.}

[I can attest to that! I can cut through anything! Oh yeah! That's right! I Rock!]

[Boastful as always. Still, the ten days could be a downfall for Raiser.]

'True. If it had been within the hour of the challenge, we wouldn't last more than 10 minutes against them.'

I had decided to stop next to one of the rose bushes. I always liked them. The scent from the roses, and the fact that they had thorns appealed to me. I could never explain why.

'I've been thinking…'

[There's a first.]

'Watch it Cathal! I mean that I've been thinking about what all of you have been saying about opening up to everyone.'

[Finally! When are you going to tell them?!]

'Easy there Asa! I said that I've been Thinking about it. I may tell them about most of the past up till what happened with Angelica. But what happened with the Doctor…..'

{We get it. That was something that's still haunting you, isn't it?}

'Yeah. And I think that it's time that I took them out again. People do say that it's good to face your fears.'

{Just be careful. If it gets too much, we'll take over and put them away.}

'Thanks.'

With that, I proceeded back into the house to my room. Once inside, I decided to lock my door for this. If Asia were to see this, she would start to ask questions and I didn't want to have to give her half-truths.

I walked over to one of the bookshelves. On one of the lower shelves was a long wooden case with a lock. I took it over to my desk, got out the key, unlocked it, then with slightly shaking hands I opened the case.

'To think that these have had such a change on me….'

Inside the case was 4 manacles with a little length of chain. The very same 4 that had held me while I was abducted by the Doctor. Once all of the evidence had been processed, I had asked if I could have these. They thought that I was a little nuts, but I explained that I wanted to face them one day without fear.

[Careful Hunter. Don't dive too deep into those memories….]

It had been less than a minute but I was already starting to sweat a little. I was still afraid of them. I thought that I would have been stronger than this, but I'm dead wrong.

Even if they weren't attached to anything, even if I had the key right in front of me, I was still scared to even see them.

My body was shaking now. Heh heh. It's kind of ironic in a way. Even though I'm free of the shackles, they still have me bound to them.

"It's time that we began with why you are here Hunter. I am going to enjoy this. And to think it's all thanks to my benefactor!"

"W-w-what are you going to do?"

"Why, I'm going to make sure that my mark is left. Hmmmm….the brands should be hot enough by now."

Looking over, I could see a ton of branding irons glowing white hot from a furnace. But the strange thing was they were all attached to mechanical arms.

"Right. Time to begin."

With that, the machines started up and the brands were moving through the air. I was unable to move an inch as they neared various spots of my body. I could already feel the heat when they were over a foot away.

The brands were slowly starting to come closer. Why? Why is this…..madman doing this?

The brands were now less than an inch….

[{[{Hunter!}]}]

With that, I was jolted out of that horrible memory to find that my hand had slammed the cover shut over the manacles with the key in the lock. I was shaking like mad with tears coming from my eyes.

[That was too close! You should have closed the lid as soon as the shaking set in!]

'I-I could handle it.'

[Bullshit! You were back there in the lab! And the way things were going, you would have yelled out from the branding. Again! And Asia would be pounding on the door wondering what was going on!]

'You don't know that! I could have made it out of the memory!'

{Don't lie Hunter. It's not you. We saw that you were back there. And the sites from the branding were heating up from it. Do you know what could have happened if you had gone far enough in there?}

'My clothes might have burned.'

{Even though you do have an affinity with fire, your furniture doesn't. You shouldn't look at these alone anymore. You need someone else here to keep an eye on you. We might not be able to break you out of it next time.}

'….Alright. I won't look at these again for a while. Maybe I could have one of the others here once I let them know about this.'

I was just putting the box back when someone was knocking on my door.

"Hunter? You alright in there?"

It was my mom.

"Give me a sec mom."

I opened the door and once my mom saw the way I looked, she knew.

"Why didn't you tell us you were going to look at them?!"

"Easy mom! If you yell like that Asia will hear you!"

"And if she does? You know we don't really approve of you keeping them in the dark!"

"I can handle it! I'm going to be telling them soon about all of this."

[He means that he'll tell them up till after what happened with Angelica.]

{And we are not going to allow him to look at the manacles alone anymore.}

At this point, my mom was in my room with my door closed again.

"Why?"

{Because this time, it was worse than before. Usually, he breaks out in a sweat and starts to shake. But this time…}

[He was having a vivid memory. It was back at the beginning, right before he received the wolves and moons….]

At that point, my mom was looking scared.

"What? But why?! I thought that you were getting better with them. Even if you could only open the lid for a minute, it was better than the brief second from the first time."

"I don't know mom. I just….I can't explain why. Maybe it was just a relapse. But I'm kind of scared. If I was going that far, I don't want to look at them alone ever again."

It was then that my mom enveloped me in a hug. I had started to cry again and I didn't stop.

"Shuuuusssshhhh. It's okay Hunter. It's okay. You don't have to worry about a thing. He's dead and gone, you know that. You shouldn't push yourself so hard."

My door was then opened and Raynare and Asia were looking a little bewildered at the scene. When I looked up, my eyes were red from all of the tears and I was still covered in a sheen of nervous sweat.

Asia, "Hunter-san?"

"It's alright Asia. I just….had a bad memory come back at me. It's nothing."

I smiled at her but she didn't look convinced while Raynare was shaking her head from side to side.

[Hunter…]

I got out of moms hug, nabbed a spare change of clothes and proceeded into the bathroom to take a shower.

When I had gotten into the bathroom, Asia was talking with my mother.

"Okaa-sama, what's wrong with Hunter-san?"

"He's having a little trouble putting the past to rest. It isn't my place to tell you about what happened. Outside of us, his immediate family, no one knows what happened to him earlier in the year. We were hoping that he had told you and the other Gremory members about it, but it looks like he's still coming to terms."

Raynare, "What do you mean? He seems fine to me."

"That's because you and everyone else has seen him after he had more than a month to deal with what happened. All I can say is that when he was found, he was an absolute wreck. He didn't trust anyone at all and we even had a hard time. It wasn't unusual for him to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, sometimes twice. He was highly paranoid and wouldn't leave the house. But thankfully, he was able to heal a little bit from the garden and from his gears/equipment. If he didn't have them, he would still be like he was when first found. And please don't treat him differently because of what I told you."

With that, Lisa Silas left the room while Asia and Raynare were wondering what could have made someone so caring into what they just heard.

The next morning

We, the members of the Gremory group along with Raynare, found ourselves walking on a mountain trail. After I had finished with my shower the night before, Rias had called and said that we would be spending the 10 days training in one of the Gremory summer homes in the mountains. The air was nice and crisp and I was enjoying myself.

Of course I was also walking the trail with a giant backpack full of cooking equipment and supplies. Rias said that it was part of the training so I didn't argue with her. In fact, it was actually a bit of genius to do this.

Kiba and Koneko also had overlarge backpacks, but Kiba's was smaller while Koneko's was only slightly larger than mine.

Rias, Asia, Akeno and Raynare were slightly ahead of us waiting. They had regular backpacks and I wasn't going to complain about it.

"Buchou, I gathered some herbs. Let's use them for the meal tonight."

Kiba says this while walking with a cool expression.

{Impressive. Guess he really is stronger than he looks.}

'Heh. Kind of like me.'

It was at this moment that a gust of wind brought a scent to my nostrils that made me excited. Wild Boar!

[It's been some time since we did hunt in mountains. Think that Rias will let us get it for supper?]

'We can always ask.'

"Buchou! There are some wild boar in the area! Would it be alright if I can hunt one for supper?"

Rias looked like she was thinking about it for a minute as I caught up with everyone.

"It should be fine. This is Gremory land that we are on but I have to come with you."

"Alright."

'Why does she seem happy that she'll be hunting with me?'

{Because she likes you! Dense as always! Gahhhhhh!}

About a half hour later found us walking up the drive to an impressive looking mansion. From the looks of it, the mansion was composed of shining old wood with a few marble pillars for the front door. Also, there were plenty of windows to enjoy the surrounding valleys.

"Alright! Everyone change and we'll start with the training."

With that, Buchou and the other girls went upstairs to change.

"I will also go and get changed."

Kiba had his blue jersey and was making his way to one of the spare rooms.

"Don't peek."

"And here I was going to say the same thing."

Kiba and I had a brief exchange. Though we both had a foolish grin on our faces, I was actually serious about him peeking while I changed. I was still a little self-conscious about the markings.

[You really need to lighten up about that.]

Once everyone was back in the main entryway, our training began.

Training with Kiba

I was currently standing in front of Kiba, both of us holding a bokken with a barrel on standby in case we break any.

{So are we going to hold back on him or go full out?}

'We'll hold back a little while making this interesting.'

With that, I pull out my blindfold that I have on hand. Never know when one might come in handy.

[Yeah, like when a girl gives you a full view and you spoil it for us.]

'Sigh. You just love to get hit, don't you?'

[Huh?]

Whack!

[Pervert.]

'See what I mean?'

"What are you doing, Hunter-kun?"

"I'm training. What else? I just want to make sure that I haven't lost it."

Once I put on the blindfold, I try to calm myself. Without my sight, I rely on my other senses.

'Should be interesting with the devil senses now.'

"Shall we begin Kiba?"

"Yes."

So we began our little duel.

In a breath of wind Kiba came straight at me and attempted to do an overhead slice. I calmly moved my body to the right when I heard it coming. From what I could hear, Kiba sounded a little surprised.

I then countered with a slash across the stomach, but Kiba blocked, pushed back, and then did a leg sweep.

{Improvisation. Good.}

I will admit, I wasn't expecting him to go with the sweep so I was caught by it. Once I hit the ground, I immediately rolled to my left to avoid the impaling strike that Kiba wanted to end it with. He missed my head by a few inches.

Slashing out with my bokken, I forced Kiba to do a slight jump backwards. Using this to my advantage, I got back onto my feet.

'If I remember correctly, I should be facing the bokken barrel.'

Kiba was currently edging to my left leaving the barrel open. I decided to take a chance and charged straight to it. With all of the training that I've had, I was pretty on par with Kiba on speed.

As soon as I felt I was near the barrel, I jumped over it while grabbing another bokken. Once I landed, I spun around tensed for any strikes from Kiba.

As I heard Kiba moving in, we began our training once again.

Training with Akeno

"Remember, concentrate on the aura from your whole body."

Asia and I were currently inside one of the rooms of the house. In front of us was a table with several bottles of water while Akeno was at the end of the table watching us.

"I did it!"

Asia's block of magical energy was the same green as her sacred gear.

[Of course it is! A lot of gear user's magic is influenced a little by the gear.]

"Araara. So Asia-chan is gifted in using magical powers after all."

Asia's cheeks got red after Akeno-san complimented her. It was kind of cute.

Her block of magic was the size of a softball.

"Hunter, aren't you going to gather your energy?"

"Hmmm? Oh right! Sorry."

So I focused and gathered my energy. When it condensed, it was about the size of a volleyball while the coloring was a swirling mass of red and black.

"To be expected of you Hunter. It seems that you also have a latent talent in magic."

"Well, I have been training for a little while so I can do a few things."

"Now we will change that magical ball into fire or lightning. You could make this by imagining it. But for a beginner, it will work better if you use it on actual fire or water and make it move by using magic."

Akeno-san sends her magical power into the water inside the water bottle.

SPIKE!

The water that received the magical power formed into the shape of a spike and ripped the water bottle from the inside.

"Asia-chan. I want you to do this next. Hunter-kun, I want you to try to actually make a ball of water and then manipulate it."

"Can do."

I then thought of summoning water and turning it into ice.

When it was midway through the process, I started to try to form the ball into a small ice rose bush.

{Careful Hunter. Don't try anything too advanced.}

'C'mon Niefelm. You know that I've done harder stuff than this.'

Once I was done, I had left it on the table.

"Haaaaaah! So cool! Hunter-san, you are terrific in magic!"

"Ara ara! To think that you could do this."

I was blushing a little from the praise that Asia and Akeno were giving me. Meanwhile, my tail was wagging around like mad.

Training with Koneko.

"Higggg!"

I was currently skidding back along the ground from the punch that Koneko just did. I had a hand down to try to keep my balance, but it was a little tricky.

'Man she's strong!'

{You shouldn't underestimate her Hunter. Doing that would lead to instant defeat.}

[Don't hold back with her.]

'Yeah. But I'm more used to using weapons, not hand to hand.'

{Then we'll add that to the training. You shouldn't lose just because of that small technicality.}

'True….What?!'

Koneko was right in front of me and getting ready to strike. I rolled to the left to avoid it but the tree that was behind me was cut down.

'Welp, looks like we're set for firewood.'

Now back on my feet, I decided to go on the offensive.

I charged straight at her at full speed. She seemed slightly surprised at this but not by much. Rearing my right arm back, I aimed for a straight punch to her gut.

She had crossed her arms to block and the force of the hit caused her to slide back a couple of feet.

"….Strong. You aimed at the middle of the body for that blow."

"Heh, yeah. I was hoping to get a little breathing room with my Howling right."

{Groan. Really? You're going with that for a punch?}

'What?! It is true since that is the hand that has all the howling wolves.'

[And I suppose that the left will be the "Lunar Left"?]

'Well…..'

[Geeze. That one is just….I have nothing to say on that.]

{The Howling right is alright, but don't name the left. That would be pushing it.}

'Alright.'

"….Here's another round."

So we resumed with the spar.

Training with Rias

"Hunter! Keep going!"

"Right!"

I was currently going up one of the steep mountains that was near the mansion. Tied onto my back was a fairly decent sized boulder with Rias sitting on top. I will admit that I was starting to feel a little drained from this.

"Okay, we're done with this. Now we will go with pushups."

We were back at the top again. I immediately toppled forward and went right into them.

'This is getting a little intense!'

{C'mon Hunter! This is nothing! Do you want to be stuck serving for Raiser?"

'No way!'

And so with renewed vigor I went through Rias's strength training.

A little while later, Rias and I were making our way back to the mansion. From what I could tell from the tracks and signs, this mountain had plenty of wild boar to hunt.

When we were nearing a small stream, my ears were starting to twitch from the grunting noise.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Hunter?"

"Shush. There's a boar nearby. It seems to be alone from what I can tell."

'Niefelm, if you would?'

I was now in Woman-at-Arms and holding a bow with a boars head arrow on the string.

"Alright. Time to hunt some Boar."

"You're not going to use magic?"

"If I used magic for everything that I do, what would there be left? There would be no need for practice and I don't want to rely too heavily on it."

I started to creep my way forward towards the stream. When I was situated behind a decently sized tree, I started to peek my head around.

On the other side of the stream was a decent sized boar, male if I wasn't mistaken. He was currently rooting around one of the trees looking for mushrooms.

'Here goes.'

Taking a deep breath, I pulled the arrow to full draw, spun around the tree, and loosed the shaft having a second on the way just in case.

I was lucky. The first shaft had pierced the boars' heart without any trouble while the second was a little insurance that he was down.

"Impressive."

"Thank you Rias."

While I was cleaning the boar, Rias had caught a few fish as well.

"Looks like dinner is all taken care of for tonight."

Dinner

Everything was delicious! We were having dinner after our first hard day of training. The boar and the fish were excellent. There was a wide variety of dishes on the table.

"Ara ara, we still have more food left so eat as much as you want."

Akeno gave me a refill on my rice. She was the one who had done most of the cooking.

"Akeno-san, you're the best! Whoever marries you will be so lucky."

"You're embarrassing me."

"….I'm the one who made the soup."

Huh? Asia was looking a little sad, even a little sulky. Apparently the onion soup on the table was made by Asia. She was probably feeling sad because I was only praising Akeno-san's food. I got the bowl of soup and drank it with one sip. Yes, it's good!

"It's good Asia! It's the best! Give me another one!"

"It is!? I'm so glad... Then now I can also be with...Hunter-san..."

{Better watch out there Hunter. If you're not careful you'll wind up hurting one of the girls if you don't pay enough attention to them.}

'Give me a break here Ddraig! I'm still getting used to the harem thing! I just need a little time!'

Wait, did I just say that I'm going to be going with the harem thing? Eh, oh well.

"I'd like that Asia."

"Eh?!"

Asia waved her hand while her face became red.

"Now, Hunter. From today's training what have you found out?"

Rias asked me after drinking some of her green tea. Seeing as I was done eating I set down my chopsticks and got serious.

"From what I've seen so far, everyone still has a way to go. But I am impressed at the levels of skill that everyone's shown."

"Interesting. And how would you know that everyone has a certain level of skill?"

{That would be from his training with us, Rias-Buchou.}

"Niefelms right. She and Ddraig have been putting me through training ever since they first showed themselves to me. Though I do seem to be lacking a little bit in hand to hand, they are going to start changing that."

"Still, Akeno, Yuuto, and Koneko have lots of battle experience even though they have not participated in the game, so they can fight if they get used to it. But you and Asia basically have no experience yet. Even so, your Boosted Gear and Asia's healing ability can't be ignored. Even the enemy knows that. I want you to have at least the power to run away from the enemy."

"You mean for any tactical withdrawals', right?"

"Correct. Running away is also a part of the strategy. Retreating to form a new formation is also a professional way of battling. There are ways to win a match like that. But running away with your back facing an enemy is something very hard. If it's an enemy with roughly the same strength as you, it is easy, but showing your back to an enemy who is far superior to you is basically saying please kill me. So running away from an enemy like that is also part of the strategy. So I have to teach you and Asia the timing to run away as well. Of course I will also teach you how to fight the enemy head on."

"Righto."

"Yes."

Both Asia and I replied to Rias. But I think that I'll talk with her about this. I pretty much can handle myself in a retreat but Asia will need all the help she can have.

It was unavoidable that Asia got involved in this fight since she became a member of the Gremory household. In the worst case I will have to become Asia's shield.

"Let's take a shower after the meal. It's an outdoor bath so it's wonderful."

"I'm not going to peek, Hunter-kun."

Kiba said it to me smiling.

"I appreciate that, but just don't make any comments on the marks that I have."

"Ara. Hunter, do you want to peek at us while we are taking a bath?"

Everyone looked at me after Buchou's question.

"W-w-what?! I'm not a pervert! I wouldn't peek! I swear!"

"Then do you want to take a bath together? I don't mind."

What!? She can't be serious!

"How about you, Akeno?"

"I don't mind if it's Hunter-kun. Ufufufu. I might want to wash the man's back."

Akeno-san gave me an okay with a smile! What is going oooonnnnn?!

[What are you complaining about this for?! This is every guys dream! Live it out!]

"How about you, Asia? If it's your love, Hunter, then you are alright with it right?"

Asia got red and became quiet after Buchou's question, but she eventually nodded.

[To think that these girls are so open with Hunter. Looks like Ddraig is going to enjoy this.]

{Don't forget me! This is going to be so awkward for Hunter it'll be funny! Get the popcorn!}

'Thank you for your support Niefelm.'

"Lastly Koneko? How about it?"

"...No."

{Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! It was so close! Why?!}

"Then it's a no. Too bad Hunter."

You have no idea how relieved I am at this. Of course Ddraig and Cathal are having a slight breakdown crying their eyes out.

'Geeze guys! Get a grip!'

[How can we?! We were hoping that you could get a grip of one of the girls in the hot spring!]

Whack!

[Pervert!]

Sheesh.

The next Morning

We were gathered around a table having a little study session on the devil world and it's relation to the rest of the world. Of course we were a little stiff from the night training that we had gone through.

After having gone through who the four maou were and the leaders of the Grigori, Asia was lecturing us on the church. She had just finished on the explanation of exorcists and was now on her next subject.

Asia took out loads of stuff from her bag. Buchou picked up a small bottle with water inside it with her fingers and was holding it as if she was touching something disgusting.

"Now I will talk about the traits of holy water and the Bible. First of all, holy water. It will be very terrible if a devil touches it."

"Yes, that's true. So you can't touch it as well, Asia. Your skin will get harmed."

"Sob...that's right... I can't touch holy water anymore."

Asia was shocked after hearing Buchou's comment. Well she is a devil after all.

"I will tell you how to make one afterwards. I don't know if it will be useful but there are a couple of ways to make them."

Asia continued to talk energetically because it was her strong field. Yo, devil priestess! If I say something like that she probably would cry so I shouldn't say it.

"Next is the Bible. I have been reading it every day since I was a child. But I'm in trouble now because it gives me a pain in the head even if I only read a sentence of it."

"That's because you are a devil."

"You are a devil."

"...Devil."

"Ufufufu, devil's receive intense damage."

"Sob... I can't read the Bible anymore!"

Asia started to have teary eyes after everyone pointed it out to her.

[You should talk to Michael about that.]

'Yeah, but he hardly ever has time and I don't think Rias would be too thrilled if I talked with him directly.'

"But this is my favorite phrase... Oh God. Please forgive a sinful person like myself who can't read the Bible...Ouch!"

There she goes again.

After that, we resumed our training. I had decided to forgo the blindfold for the rest of the spars against Kiba.

One week later at night

I was currently standing outside the mansion looking at the stars.

'Sigh. It's so peaceful here. I'm glad that I can see the stars again without any light pollution from the city.'

{You miss living in the country that much?}

'Well, considering I grew up there and I've had to do a fast dive into city life, yeah.'

Still, we all have improved drastically over the week through our training. I was getting better with my hand to hand combat against Koneko, but I still had a ways to go. Kiba had been learning a few tricks from me in our sparing matches and my stamina had greatly improved from the training that Rias was giving me.

Asia was also improving. She started to master using fire, water and lightning.

[This battle is going to be a close one.]

'Yeah. If we can do it right, we should all be able to take out Raiser's peerage and hit him hard.'

{But nothing is for certain. The slightest slip can change the outcome of a battle.}

[C'mon. You should be getting back to bed. We've got a long session planned for you.]

With that, I turned to face the mansion. I noticed a small light within the library.

'Strange, looks like someone else is still up.'

When I got back inside and looked in the room, I saw Rias in a light red negligee with a ton of papers and books spread out in front of her.

"Oh, you're awake Hunter?"

"Yeah. I was just admiring the view out there."

"Well, I'd say that you have good timing. Let's talk for a little bit."

So I started to walk in and take the seat next to her on the couch. It was then that I saw she was wearing glasses.

"I didn't know that you had bad eyesight."

"Oh this? It's just for looks. I can think more clearly while having my glasses on. Fufufu, this is the proof that I have been in the human's world for so long."

Even so, she did look really cute the way she was. My tail was thumping against the seat a little bit. So I decided to distract myself to see what was on the table.

It seemed like a few maps with battle strategies and some books on tactics.

{Smart girl. Trying to find the best way to fight that peacock at this hour.}

'It just shows how much she doesn't want this marriage to go through.'

"To tell you the truth, reading this won't help me at all."

She had closed the strategy notebook with a small sigh.

"It's because our opponent is a Phoenix, isn't it."

"That's right."

Rias took out a book after answering me and put it on the table. She then pointed out at an opened page. There was a picture of a fire bird with its wings spread wide open.

"A long time ago the mystical beast, Phoenix, was looked upon by humans as a bird that represents life. The tears of the phoenix can heal any wounds, and the blood that flows within its body can give eternal youth to those that drink it. It became a legend and that's how it's told in the human world."

But there was also another clan that was different from the mystical beast phoenix. They were the devils that had the rank of Duke, and were counted as one of the "72 pillars". The "Phoenix" from the devils' side.

"The humans gave a different name to the Devils' Phoenix to distinguish it from the mystical beast Phoenix. They gave them the name "Phenex". But the mystical beast phoenix has the same ability as Raiser's clan. In other words immortality. We need to fight someone like that."

{And taking someone like that down won't be easy.}

"Yes. They are basically invincible. Even if you attack them, their wounds will heal right away. Their flames won't even leave a bone left. This is the record that Raiser has at the Rating Game. 8 wins and 2 losses. This is the official record of Raiser's Rating game results. He fought 10 times and won 8 matches. He lost 2 of the matches on purpose as kindness to one of the households he is close to. In other words he won most of his games. He already became a candidate to obtain a title in the official game."

Damn! The last time that I had paid any attention to the rating games was that he was at 7 wins.

"I felt something uneasy when I heard that Raiser was chosen as my fiancé. Yes, I think otou-sama and the others chose him in case something like this were to happen. They chose Raiser so I will have no choice left. Even if it becomes a match between households, they knew that there was no way for me to win."

"Rias…."

"When the Rating Game became popular, the ones who rose the most is the house of the Phoenix. There weren't that many battles among devils until the game was introduced. In a game where the "King" also participates, the strength of Phoenix became clearer. The house of Phoenix is the leading group in the ultimate class. Immortal. Devils realized how terrifying this power was for the first time."

[She really is in a bind with this. To think that her parents would use the immortal phoenix ability to trap her.]

"Still, at least there are two options to bring him down."

Rias looked at me with a little understanding.

"Yes. There are two ways you can defeat him. One is to beat him down with incredible power and the other one is to keep on taking him down until he loses the will to fight. The first method requires the strength of a God. The second one is to save our stamina until Raiser loses his will to fight. If we can crush the soul of Phoenix, then it's our win. Then their resurrection will stop and they will fall. Well, the easiest way is to defeat him with a power that is on par with God that crushes him down with one strike."

But unfortunately I wouldn't be able to power up to that point. I wasn't strong enough anyways and I don't think that Raiser would just stand there while I powered up.

"Um, Rias?"

"What is it?"

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you hate Raiser? Actually, I can understand why you hate him. What I meant was, why are you against the marriage?"

Rias sighed before answering my question.

"…..I'm a "Gremory"."

"Well, yeah but…."

""No. I didn't re-introduce myself. I'm a person from the house of Gremory, and that name will follow me to wherever."

"Do you hate it?"

"I'm proud of it. But it's also something that is a burden to me. Everyone looks at me as Rias from the Gremory. They don't look at me as Rias. That's why I'm enjoying my life in the human world. They don't know that I'm a devil from the Gremory. Everyone looks at me as Rias. I really like that feeling. I never felt something like that in the devils' society, and I never will. The only time I feel like myself is when I'm in the human world."

Rias had a distant look. She also had very sad eyes. She told me a story that I could never imagine. I'm Hunter Silas, and I never felt anything to my name. I am "me". I'm just the son of mum and dad. Right now, wherever I go, people look at me as "Hunter Silas" as an individual. Rias had been spending her life with the name of Gremory on the line. That would be the same from now on.

"I want to be with someone who will love me as Rias. That's my small dream... Unfortunately, Raiser only looks at me as Rias from the Gremory. And he loves me as Rias from Gremory. That's why I hate it. But still, the pride of being a Gremory is very important. It might be a complicated situation, but I want to cherish this small dream I have."

So she wanted to be loved as "Rias" and not as "Rias Gremory" from the opposite sex... A girl's feelings huh. But she also must feel complicated because of her house's problems. To think that she's been able to be the way she is, even with all of that weighing her down. I decided that I should try to cheer her up.

"I like Rias as Rias."

I just said what I thought. She stared at me in wonder.

"I know that the Devil world can be a bit complicated at times, but I don't care about that. No matter who I meet, no matter what their standing is in for whatever society they are, I just see them as a regular person. No titles, no family legacy, just who they are. And that's how I've been seeing you."

I said everything I could think of with a smile. I had started to blush at the last part. Buchou's cheeks started to get red.

"R...Rias? Did I say something weird?"

I asked her but she shook her head.

"No...nothing! It's nothing!"

She was in a panic. What? I mean, I did kinda put my feelings out there.

[Yeeessss! He's going for it! Pay up!]

{Man! Why couldn't you have done this earlier in the month?!}

"But the opponent for the genius Buchou, someone like that is a hard obstacle, isn't it?"

"I don't actually like the word "genius"?"

Buchou answered me still with a red face.

"Why is that?"

"A talent that is given by heaven... It seems like it's a gift given by God so I don't feel good. My talent is born from the roots of the Gremory that has been passed down to the generations. I inherited that trait as a devil. I never thought that I received it as a gift from God, and that's impossible. My power belongs to me and the house of Gremory. That's why I won't lose. I will win if I have to fight. I have to win."

Buchou said it to me as if she was saying it to herself. Amazing. Buchou is really strong.

"In that case, then I guess we won't lose. No matter what's thrown at us in the game, I'll just keep on moving forward."

[Someone get the pancakes, it's starting to get really sappy here!]

'Cathalllll! C'mon man!'

"Hunter…"

At that, Rias started to lean against me with her head on my shoulder. I froze up wondering what the heck I was supposed to do.

"You know, I've been curious about your tail."

'Huh? Where's this coming from?'

"R-really? Ummmm….What do you want to know?"

{10 bucks she asks how you got it.}

[Nah! It's going to be on how much control you got.]

"How soft is it?"

{[Damn!]}

Eeeeehhhhhh?!

"Well, it's kind of soft. Though it is a bit of a pain to dry off after a shower."

"Can I….pet it?"

[Ahhhh! So cute! You Have to let her!]

'You just want to see what'll happen! This has never happened before!'

{Yeah yeah. Just shut up and let her!}

{Hunter…..she's gotten out a notebook. I think she's going to make this into a new romance scene.}

'Greaaaat.'

"Alright. Just….don't go against the fur, please?"

"Okay."

So I grabbed my tail and put it on my lap. I was tensing up while Rias's hand was nearing it. I hope she doesn't notice.

Just as she was about to touch it, her hand hesitated. Almost as if she was second guessing herself. But it was just for a second. On the first pass, I immediately relaxed.

'Who knew that this would feel so…peaceful?'

"It really is soft. I'm kind of envious of you now he he."

And that finished off my face making it completely red.

"You know…..you're the first person who've I let done this."

"Oh? Are you sure that you want me to be your first?"

{Ooooo! This is good material here!}

"Yeah. If it's you then I don't mind."

She continued to pet my tail for a few minutes in silence. I didn't want, or know what, to say during this. It seemed right that we just stayed silent.

After a while, her petting started to slow down as did her breathing.

"Hunter? Could we stay like this for a little longer?"

"Sure. Take as long as you need."

{Awwwwww! Perfect!}

[Dude. You are sooo not going to hear the end of this from her when she writes this up.]

{I can see it now. A thrilling new romance from the writer Niefelm: The wolf and his Master. A tale of friendship, romance, and Danger!}

[Shut it you two!]

Thwack! Bam!

[Owwwwww! What was that for?!]

[Don't make fun of her! Besides…..I want to see what she comes up with.]

'I am not looking forward to this. Just don't try to make me the outlet into the real world for this.'

{I never thought of that….Thanks! You are now the proud co-author of our novel!}

'Wait! I didn't mean for you to take that literally! Crud!'

By this time, it seemed like Rias was asleep.

'I'm glad none of the others are up. I don't know how I could explain this.'

I picked Rias up, bridal style, and started to make my way to her room. When I started to move, she moaned a little and snuggled up against me.

[This is just too cute.]

{You had better not take advantage of this Hunter!}

'Niefelm! I'm hurt that you would think I would do something like that!'

Opening up her door, I made my way to her bed. Using a little wind manipulation, I was able to pull the covers back to lay her down. As soon as I got the covers over her, she grabbed onto me.

"mmmnnn….don't go Hunter."

Her eyes were still closed, so I think that she was just dreaming.

"Don't worry Rias…..no matter what, I'll always be there for you."

I had leaned in near her and out of an impulse, I kissed her forehead. That seemed to calm her down and she let me go.

"mmmmmm."

I then made my way back out into the hall. Once I had closed her door, I leaned my back against it.

"Sweet dreams."

[You've come a long way Hunter. To think that you would open up to her this much.]

'Yeah. I think that if I visit Angelica after this, I might be able to finally start moving forward and stop looking back.'

With that, I went to bed to continue with my training.

The next morning

We were all gathered outside of the mansion and I currently had Boosted Gear out. Rias didn't want me to use it for some time to make sure that I had enough strength.

"Hunter, you will be sparring with Kiba. Pleas boost for the next minute."

"Roger."

So, after the minute passed, I was at a total of 12 boosts thanks to the second evolution.

"I thought that the gear had a ten second wait between boosts?"

"That may be true for most of the time, Buchou, but with the evolution that happened, it's down to a 5 second limit."

{Alright, let's do this! Explosion!}

"Hunter, I want you to fight Kiba in that state. Kiba, I will leave you to be his opponent."

"Yes Buchou."

Kiba than readied his stance against me.

"Hunter, do you want to use a sword or fight barehanded?"

"I'll go barehanded for this round Buchou."

"Okay. Then both of you start."

Kiba came at me in a burst of wind. When he swung his sword, I used the boosted gear gauntlet to block. He seemed surprised that I did this, let alone that it withstood the blow.

{He's open!}

I punched towards Kiba, but he dodged it and disappeared from sight. I did a full 360, but I couldn't see him. It was then that my ears twitched from the sound of something falling.

[Here he comes!]

Kiba was aiming his bokuto straight down for a strike. I jumped back from my position and started to charge some of my magical energy into my boosted gear hand.

Kiba was at this moment prying his sword from the ground. When I deemed that I had enough energy gathered, I shot out a large red beam towards him.

"Kiba! Dodge this! Dragon Shoooottt!"

Kiba had barely managed to dodge the shot. Unfortunately, the shot continued on until it destroyed the top of a nearby mountain.

'Ooookay. A little bit of overkill with that. I hope that no one was on there…..'

"The spar is over."

{Reset. Well done partner!}

"Good job you two. Now I will hear your impressions. Kiba, how was it?"

"To tell the truth, I'm a little astonished. I tried to finish the spar with the first strike. But I couldn't break through his guard. I was focusing on breaking through but when that failed I tried to go for a strike to the head, but that failed as well."

Kiba answered while laughing. He brought his bokuto up for everyone to see it. It was broken.

"I had strengthened the bokuto with magical energy, but it couldn't give that much damage to Hunter-kun because his body was too hard. If we continued, I would only have the option to run around because my bokuto is broken."

"I see. Hunter, your impression?"

"I was impressed with the tactic that Kiba pulled when the first strike failed. If I hadn't heard him coming down towards me, he would have gotten in a blow to my head."

"Good. Now let's show those that looked down on us. It doesn't matter if the opponent is Phoenix or not. We need to show them how strong Rias Gremory and her servants are!"

"Yes!"

We all responded to her with strong voices. We will win the game and defeat Raiser.

With that, the rest of the training proceeded smoothly.

Night of the Rating Game

"Only a few more hours to go."

I was currently waiting in my room for the start time. It was currently 10 at night and the battle would begin at midnight. Rias had canceled devil duties so that we could save up our stamina. We planned to meet at the clubroom with 20 minutes to go before the match.

{Nervous?}

'A little bit.'

{Why should you be? You know that you've got some good tricks up your sleeve to take them on.}

'But will they be enough?'

Knock Knock

Looking up, I saw Asia standing in my doorway.

"Hunter-san, may I come in?"

"Sure."

When she did enter, I was slightly surprised at her outfit. When I asked Rias if we were to have a battle uniform, she said that we should go with the school uniform. We were the Occult Research Club after all.

But Asia was wearing her nun outfit from when we had first met, minus the rosary and veil.

"Asia that outfit..."

"Y...yes. When I asked Buchou-san she told me to wear something that I feel the most comfortable in. I thought about it a lot, and I found out that this outfit is the easiest for me to move around in... I'm not a Christian anymore, but I haven't forgotten my beliefs. Even though I'm a devil now..."

Is that so... This girl thought deeply about it as well... I'm sure that you need a lot of guts to appear in a nun's outfit for a battle between devils, but if that's what Asia chose then I don't have any complaints. Buchou will also allow it with a smile.

"Yeah. You look the most natural in a nun's outfit. You also look good in our school uniform, but you were dressed in that outfit when I first met you. Yeah, you look great."

"Thank you very much."

Asia made a very happy face when I praised her.

"Um..ummmm, Hunter-san?"

Asia suddenly became hesitant.

"Can I stay beside you?"

"Y...yeah. Sure."

I was sitting on my bed and Asia sat next to me. Then she hugged my hand.

"W...what's wrong?"

I panicked but I could feel her shaking.

"...I can't stop shaking when I think there is a scary battle waiting for us. But if Hunter-san is with me, I will be okay."

"Asia..."

"Ehehehe. I'm not scared if I'm with Hunter-san after all... Can I stay like this until we leave?"

"Sure."

"...Can I stay with you forever from now on?"

"Yeah, we will always be together."

I held on to Asia's hand gently and we stayed like that until we left the house. Asia had stopped shaking and I felt confident that we would beat Raiser.

We were now all gathered in the clubroom with 20 minutes to go. I had both Boosted Gear and Woman-at-Arms already out with a sword at my hip. Everyone except Asia was wearing their uniform. Kiba had a gauntlet on his hand and had some armor on his lower leg. He had his swords against the wall. Koneko-chan was sitting on the chair and was reading a book. On her hands she wore gloves that allows her fingers to be seen. It's one of those gloves that martial artists wear. It looks pretty intense if a girl with a loli face wears it. Akeno-san and Buchou wore it too and were drinking green tea elegantly. Just to be expected from our onee-samas... Asia and I were sitting on the chair waiting quietly. Ten minutes prior to the match, the magic circle glowed and Grayfia-san appeared...

"Is everyone ready? It's ten minutes before the match."

Everyone stood up after Grayfia-san confirmed us. Grayfia-san then started explaining about the battle.

"When it'll be the time to start the battle, you will be transported to the battle field with this magic circle. The location of the place is in a different dimension used for battles. You may fight with all your power. It's a disposable space so feel free to fight to your satisfaction."

{Alright! Then we won't have to worry about any collateral damage.}

'If you're thinking about using a mortar, I think that you can forget it. That would be too ineffective and would throw Rias plans into disarray.'

{…fine.}

"Buchou, you also have another Bishop right? Where is that person?"

Asia asked that question. It was true that Rias did mention it one time in the past. But for some reason, everyone kept their mouth closed.

"Unfortunately the other Bishop can't participate. I will talk about that in the near future."

Rias said this without looking either Asia or myself in the eye. Guess something bad must have happened for her to be like that.

"This "Rating Game" battle will also be viewed by members of both households from a different location by broadcast."

Are you serious?

"Also the "Maou Lucifer-sama" will also be viewing this battle. Please do not forget about it."

Well this should be interesting. Buchou then made a shocked face.

"Oni-sama is... Is that so... So Oni-sama is also going to view this battle."

"Ummm... Just now Buchou called Maou-sama "Oni-sama"... Did I hear wrong?"

But Kiba answered Asia's question straight away.

"No. Buchou's Oni-sama is Maou-sama."

"Maou!? Buchou's Oni-sama is Maou-sama!"

"Yes."

Buchou confirmed it straight away.

"Are you confused because Buchou's family name is different to the family names of Maou-samas'?"

Kiba guessed what Asia was thinking.

"Yeah, that's it."

Kiba started to explain after she confirmed it.

"In the previous Great War, Maou-sama was in a critical condition and has passed away a long time ago. But there would be no devils if there isn't any Maou-sama. That's why..."

The devils decided to keep the names of the Maou and let it be inherited to the ones with enormous powers. So the current "Yondai-Maou (Four Great Satans)" are successors of the first Maou who inherited their names. So that's how it is. Then "Lucifer" and "Beelzebub" isn't a personal name but more like a managerial position.

"To tell you the truth, out of the three factions of God, fallen-angels and devils, the devils have the least power. We are actually in a tight spot but we are still safe because Gen-Maou-sama (Current Satan) has a power equal to the Sendai-Maou-sama (Previous Satan)."

"So Buchou's brother was chosen to be a Maou from the Ultimate-class devils then?"

Kiba nodded at her question.

"Sirzechs Lucifer is also known as "Crimson Satan". He is Buchou's Oni-sama and the most powerful Maou-sama."

"...That's why Buchou has to inherit the house."

Her brother became a Maou. Then it can't be helped, since her brother has to carry the world of the devils on his back. Amazing. Even Buchou's family is amazing...

"It's about time. Everyone to the magic circle."

We gathered to the magic circle after Grayfia-san urged us to.

"Also once you get transported, you cannot use the magic circle until the game ends."

So we return here only after the outcome. The magic circle's symbol changed to another one which is not that of the Gremory's and glowed. It's also not the symbol of Phoenix. Maybe it's the one for the game? While I was thinking about it, the light covered us and the transportation started.

Once the light died down, we discovered that we were back inside the club room, but the atmosphere felt different.

"Hello everyone. I am Grayfia, a maid from the Gremory household. Today I will be the arbiter for the match between the Gremory household and the Phoenix household."

She must be using the schools PA system.

"In the name of my master, Sirzechs Lucifer, I will be keeping my eye on this match. By using both Rias-sama and Raiser-sama's opinion we created this battlefield. The battlefield for this match is a replica of the school Rias-sama attends to, the "Kuou Academy"."

"The location where both teams were transported will be their base. Rias-sama's base would be the Occult research club room located in the old school building. Raiser-sama's base would be the student council's room located in the new building. For the "Pawns" to use "promotion", please go to the enemy's base."

'I'm surprised that he didn't go with the principal's office.'

"Everyone, please take this."

Akeno had summoned an orange orb to her hand. When each of us touched it, a small part went to our ears.

"In the battlefield we will be using this to communicate with each other."

[Handy. Beats having them being intercepted.]

Grayfia, "Now it's time for the commencement of the battle. This match will continue until dawn in the human realm."

The school bell rang out.

[Showtime.]

"First we need to take out Raiser's Pawns. It would be troublesome if they were all able to promote to Queen."

Rias began talking strategy while sitting on one of the couches. Akeno was currently brewing up a batch of tea while Kiba spread out a gridded map of the school.

"There's a forest near our base. It's safe to think that this is also our territory. In other words the new school building would be Raiser's territory. It's likely that there will be an ambush when you enter their territory. The school field is visible from the new school building. So it's dangerous to pass here."

She was right, since the school field is visible from the new school building. Once we enter the battlefield it's impossible to transport by magic circle. So it was impossible to transport from the old school building to the new school building. So we had to use our feet to move around then. Well we could use our wings to fly but we would become sitting ducks.

"So it's safe to say that we can't use the sports ground to get at him?"

Buchou nodded at my question.

"Yes. He'll have his servants at the sports ground...He'll have his "Knight" or "Rook" positioned in one of the club rooms located in the sports ground. No, if it's a sports ground you will need a person with "mobility". So he'll have 1 "Knight" and 3 "Pawns', a total of 4 servants positioned here. Then he'll have control of the sports ground."

Then Kiba said his thoughts.

"The gym near the old school building. Shouldn't we occupy this location first? If we capture it here then we will have a route to the new school building. The gym is a passage to both of the buildings so we could also restrain the enemy."

Buchou nodded at Kiba's opinion.

"Yes, I also have the same opinion. First we will capture the gym... In terms of location, the opponent may have his "Rook" positioned there. Since it's inside a building, it would be better to use the "Rook" with destructive power over "Knight" with mobility."

{Good plan.}

"...Yuuto and Koneko. You two set a trap in the forest. Take another map with you and mark the places where you set the trap in. I will make a copy afterwards and give it to everyone."

"Yes."

"...Roger."

Koneko-chan and Kiba left the room straight away and took a map and a weird tool box with them.

"Everyone else will be on standby until they finish setting up the trap. Oh, Akeno."

"Yes."

"After Yuuto and Koneko return, can you cast illusions and mists around the forest and the sky? Of course, a trap that only reacts to Raiser's group. The start of the match will be like that. We will have to move around during the mid-game, so I'll leave the mists and illusions to you, Akeno."

"I understand, Buchou."

"Sooo, what now?"

Rias waved her had towards me.

'Huh?'

"Hunter, sit here."

She patted the seat next to her on the couch.

When I sat next to her, she then pointed at her lap.

"Now lay down here."

'What?!'

[Yesss! You're going to get a lap pillow!]

{This makes it worth the battle!}

'I can't believe you guys are so worked up over this.'

When my head touched her lap, I couldn't help but wonder at how soft it was. But from the angle I was facing, I could see Asia. Her eyes looked a little watery and she also had a mixed expression on her face. Is she mad?

{Dense idiot.}

It was at this point that I felt Rias touching my forehead.

"I'll be releasing a part of the seal that I cat on you."

'Uh-oh. We are about to be busted.'

While the process was happening, I felt a slight surge of power go through my body.

"Hm? Hunter, why is it that there seems to be 3 seals already gone?"

"Eh heh heh. Well you see, Ddraig and the others had taken down those three since my body could already handle some of the power from the pieces."

"Oh? So that would explain what that aura was when I used the Evil Pieces?"

'Here comes the bombshell.'

"Partly, yes. I'll let you know more after the battles over, okay?"

{There's no way she'll go for this.}

"…..Alright."

'Whew! Dodged a bullet with there.'

Rias started to pat my head. Why am I getting the evil eye from Asia?

"Hunter, you have to beat your opponent even if they are girls, okay? You can't hold back because they won't either."

"Understood. I figured they wouldn't."

"That's a good boy. Use the promotion to turn into a Queen. With that, you can change the entire battle."

[heh heh! You'll be a Queen!]

'It's just an expression from the Evil Piece system Cathal!'

"Buchou! I will definitely help us win this!"

I believed this to my very core. There was no way that I would allow Rias to wind up with someone like Raiser.

"Yes, I will be relying on you….my cute Hunter."

{Whoa! We got some new development going on here!}

[Who had this for the pool?]

{I believe that his brother, Nick, had this development. But it's a close tie with his dad as well.}

'I still can't believe that all of you, including my family, set up that pool based on my love life. Yeesh!'

Once Kiba, Koneko and Akeno returned from setting up the traps, we moved onto the next stage.

Koneko and I would go and secure the school gym, Kiba would take care of any intruders into the territory and Akeno would wait on our signal for when we got the gym.

We were all in front of the old school building, ready to be on our way.

"Asia will be on standby with me. We will move out once we receive the confirmation from Hunter and Koneko."

"Y-yes!"

Asia was really nervous. Because of her Twilight Healing, is was imperative that we didn't lose her early in the game.

""Now my adorable servants. Are you ready? We can't turn back now. Our enemy is Raiser, who is said to be a genius from the house of the immortal Phoenix with a promised career. Now! Let's blow them into pieces!"

"[Yes!]"

All of us replied together and headed off! Me, Koneko-chan and Kiba left the old school building!

"Hunter-san! Everyone! Please do your best!"

I could hear Asia cheering for us from behind. We raised our hand and waved at her. We ran towards the gym. During our way towards the gym, Kiba left us to go in a different direction. It was in the plan that Kiba would leave us at that part.

"Then I will be waiting for you ahead!"

"Yeah. You just do that!"

'Ddraig, let's start.'

{Alright. Boost!}

I planned on boosting 5 times. That should give plenty of power for the gym.

We entered through the back door and found ourselves backstage. Maybe we beat them here?

"….Presence. Enemy."

Koneko put an end to that thought. Also, it seemed like we were found out as well.

"We know you are there, servants of Gremory! We saw you coming inside."

'So much for stealth.'

Koneko and I went out onto the stage to see what we were up against.

It seemed like Raiser had the same thoughts as Rias did for piece distribution. There was the Rook in the China dress, the little twin Pawns and the Pawn Mira.

"Koneko, I'll let you pick first."

"Hunter-sempai, I will take the Rook."

"Works for me!"

{Round two against Mira eh? Should be interesting.}

Koneko started to make her way towards the Rook while I went towards the Pawns.

{This should be interesting. Just make sure that you watch out for}

Grnnnnn grnnnnnnn!

{the chainsaws…..}

Yep. The twins were wielding chainsaws as their weapon of choice. And they were sporting some really happy faces.

"Disassembling time!"

[Man are those two psychotic!]

I could hear Koneko exchanging blows with the Rook. I didn't look over because I had confidence that she would hold her own and I didn't want to be surprised by my opponents.

Mira decided to get the ball rolling for my bout. She started to move in with her bo-staff ready to strike.

Drawing the sword I had, I readied myself.

[Not going to fight her with the same weapon?]

'No. It would be interesting but the staff wouldn't last a second against the chainsaws.'

I parried Miras strike and tried a counter slash. But she was skilled and jumped back. It was at this moment that the twins made their move.

Running towards me, they had their chainsaws eating up the floor, creating a trail of sparks behind them.

The twin on my left attacked with a raising strike while the twin on the left went for a slash across my gut.

I decided to block the left twins strike while moving in her direction. I didn't have enough time to materialize another sword for the second.

When my blade met the chainsaw, I had to grip with both hands to keep it from flying out of my hand. The screech of metal against metal took up all of my hearing.

"Geh!"

I jumped back just as the second twin tried another strike.

{You have to take care of those two fast!}

'Yeah, better go with a quick…Gah!'

I had to bend my body backwards to avoid a strike from Mira.

"Impressive! To think that you would sense that strike."

I was pretty much stuck on the offensive now. I was parrying and dodging like mad.

The twins seemed to be getting pissed off.

"Why isn't it hitting?!"

'Time to change the tables.'

[Finally!]

Once one of the twins opened themselves with their last strike, I punched her in the gut and sent her flying halfway across the court.

"You! How dare you to my onee-chan!"

"Don't leave yourself open!"

I used my momentum to punch her next to her sister. They both seemed a little dazed so I could now take Mira down.

Her next strike extended her staff fully. I used this chance to cut it through.

"Wha..?!"

I proceeded to do a quick series of slashes that left her kneeling on the floor.

Looking up, I saw that Koneko had her opponent on the ground in an impressive hold.

"You! If we lose to you Raiser-sama will be mad at us!"

"We'll dice you up!"

{They're at it again.}

'Sigh. Time to stop them.'

I had Niefelm summon a pistol with ice rounds. Taking aim, I fired off 10 rounds, 5 for each sister, and froze up their joints.

'That should hold them for a small amount of time.'

"Hunter, Koneko. Can you hear me?"

"We can Buchou. Koneko and I are safe! Also, we have the situation in here under control."

"That's good to hear. Akeno is ready to go! Move accordingly to the plan."

"Roger."

We proceeded to exit through the main doors.

"Are you running away?! This location is supposed to be an important place!"

Yeah, Raisers servants were a little confused why we were doing this.

"Why else do you think we are running? It's been nice knowing ya!"

'3,2,1 annnnnd….'

Goooooonnnnnn!

The gym was eliminated in a large flash of lightning, courtesy of Akeno. When I looked up at her, she had a large smile on her face. I couldn't help but think that it was kinda cute.

{Wow. Never thought that you really would be that into her S mode.}

'Shut it Ddraig!'

"Raiser Phoenix-sama's 3 Pawn and 1 Rook are defeated."

Grayfia's voice came out over the intercom system.

"As expected of the "Lightning Priestess". Good job Akeno!"

"Ufufufu! Thank you Hunter-kun!"

'Why is she blushing?'

"We did it Koneko."

I put my hand on her shoulder. Was she blushing too?

"….Thank you sempai."

"Everyone, can you hear me? Akeno did a perfect attack and finished it. With this, the first phase of our plan is completed. That lightning takes time to charge after she uses it. So repeated use is impossible. The enemy still has a greater number than us. We will also head out as soon as Akeno's magical power recovers. So I want each of you to move to the next phase!]

"Yes!"

At that moment, I grabbed hold of Koneko and dived right. And not a moment too soon. An explosion ripped the ground where she had been standing.

"Ku!"

Looking up, I saw that it was Raiser's Queen who had tried to take down Koneko.

"Nice try! A common tactic is to let the opponent think that they had a major victory. That way they would let their guard down and makes it the perfect time to strike."

"Fufufu. So you have a slight knowledge of battle tactics. But it's useless. Your group has small numbers and no matter what you do you will lose."

Just as I was about to bring out a missile launcher, Akeno dropped down in front of us.

"Hunter-kun, I will be her opponent."

"But!"

Akeno was looking at me with a serious face.

"You have your own role. Go, this is my job."

She started to coat herself in a golden aura. To think that she is this powerful…

"Alright! We'll leave it to you!"

Koneko and I started to make our way to the sports ground to regroup with Kiba. A series of explosions could be heard going off behind us.

[Think she'll be okay?]

'Of course she will!'

The next phase of the plan was for us to distract Raiser's peerage at the courts while Rias and Asia snuck their way inside the school building.

"Raiser Phoenix-sama's 3 Pawns retire."

Grayfia's announcement raises my spirit. With this, he was now down 7 members.

"…Kiba-sempai."

Looking up, Kiba was waiting for us behind one of the outbuildings.

"Yo Kiba! That was you that took down those 3 right?"

"Yeah. The club room located in the sports club is an important location. So it's natural that there are lots of enemies. I somehow managed to lure the "Pawns" around here and took them down. But the person in charge of this location is quite calm and hasn't been taken in by my provocation. Well, it seems like she used the "Pawns" to watch my attacks. Seems like Raiser Phoenix likes to battle by sacrificing his servants. It's something only he is able to pull off because of his immortality and the number of servants he has."

Kiba's mouth was smiling, but his eyes weren't.

"The enemies who are in charge of here are 1 "Knight", 1 "Rook", and 1 "Bishop". Total of 3 pieces."

"...That's a severe defense."

"That's how much they are keeping up guard for this place, of our intrusion here. Since we eliminated the gym, they will put more strength here."

The two routes that were seen as a path to the bases. The route from the gym and the route from the sports court. Buchou chose to destroy one path, so the only place we needed to guard was this sports court. So it would be obvious that they would increase the strength here. Because of our plan earlier, it ended by making their "Queen" come to the front lines... Looks like the battle at this place will be more intense than the one at the gym.

I couldn't help the small grin that was making its way across my face.

[Heh heh! Looks like your battle manic side finally caught up to you.]

'I can't help it. Fighting against large odds somehow makes me feel more….alive.'

"What's with the smile? Are you nervous?"

Kiba asked me this question.

"I'm actually excited, not nervous. It's been some time since I've had a fight like this."

Koneko looked at me with a little surprise on her face.

"Sempai?"

"I'll tell you all about it later. What about you two?"

Kiba held up his hand. It was shaking.

"It's my first time participating in the Rating Game. A serious battle between devils. Even if this match is a special case, it doesn't change the fact that it's a serious fight. We get involved in devils fights, whether we like it or not. And this is our first game. We can't show them even a slight opening in our guard. This is a match where we have to give it all we got as Buchou's servant devils. It's something that will be important even in the future. I feel delighted and also scared. I don't want to forget the feeling of my hands' shaking. This feeling of being nervous. The intense atmosphere. I want to feel everything and make it my experience. Let's become strong together, Hunter-kun."

"…I'm also slightly nervous Hunter-sempai."

Koneko clutched my right arm a little. I think that she caused it to crack a little.

"Alright. Let's show them the strength of the Gremory Peerage!"

It was at this moment that someone started to yell out.

"I'm the "Knight" of Raiser Phoenix-sama, Carlamaine! I've become bored of trying to sniff through each other's strategy! Rias Gremory's "Knight"! I challenge you to a duel!"

In the middle of the baseball court, there was a woman standing upfront wearing armor. What a bold female knight! She can't complain if someone shoots her from the back! Fu Fu. Kiba laughed next to me.

"Since she introduced herself, I can't hide myself both as a "Knight" and a swordsman."

"And what kind of a gentleman would I be to leave a woman waiting? Shall we?"

With that, Kiba and I started to move towards the baseball court directly.

"….idiot sempai."

Koneko started to come after us.

"I'm the Knight of Rias Gremory, Kiba Yuuto."

"I'm the Pawn, Hunter Silas!"

"….Rook. Koneko Tojo."

"I'm happy that there are warriors like you in Rias Gremory's group. Coming directly from the front. That's something people with normal sanity won't do."

{Oh if only she knew.}

"But I love idiots like you two. Then, shall we start."

Carlamaine drew her sword out from her sheath. Kiba also got ready to draw his sword out.

"The match between "Knights". I have been waiting for this. Personally I would like to fight in an intense sword fight."

Kiba's aggressive words. Oh. Kiba is making a really lively smile!

"Well said! Rias Gremory's "Knight"."

With that, they both met in the middle of the court. The sound of swords making swift contact began to ring out. From what I saw, they both were proficient in their art.

[Not going to help out?]

'Of course not! That would be rude of me to interfere in a Knight's duel.'

"You seem bored."

Looking towards the voice, I saw Ravel Phoenix looking at me. Also, the other Rook, the one with the mask over half of her face, was with her.

"Geez. She only think about swords, swords and swords. Their match looks like a mud fight. Carlamaine was making a bitter face when the "Pawns" were being sacrificed. Does she hate the battle strategy of her master, the "King"? But when I thought I found a cute boy, he was also a sword freak. Geez, what bad luck."

'Really? That's what you have to say about my friend?'

"So you're the Pawn who Rias Gremory adores. I will admit that she has somewhat interesting tastes in guys if you're here."

"If only you knew."

{Reset!}

'Damn! Too much time between. Ddraig! Again!'

{Boost!}

"Sigh. I'm not going to be your opponent. Isabella. Why don't you be his opponent?"

"I was planning to in the first place. Let's fight since we are both bored."

She started to move forward a little while Ravel moved off to the side.

"Koneko, don't interfere. I've been wondering how I would hold up."

"…Okay."

I dismissed my sword from my side.

{Hunter?}

'It's only fair that I fight her hand to hand.'

{Sigh. That cavalier attitude is going to land you in so much trouble one of these days.}

'But that's what keeps life interesting.'

[He's got a point there.]

[So says the battle freak.]

[Hey!]

"I take it she won't be joining in the fight?"

I wanted to make sure that she wouldn't try a surprise attack.

"She will just watch the entire fight. She is special."

"It's because she's Raiser's little sister, isn't it?"

Both Isabella and Ravel were surprised that I knew this.

"How do you know that? You're just a recently reincarnated devil!"

I tapped the side of my nose.

"It's the scent. It's the same, but slightly different. The ears and tail aren't for show. And there is the similarity in their looks and the odd rumor. But I have to know, why is she a part of his peerage?"

"She became Raiser's servant through a special ritual. And according to Raiser-sama..."

[Having your sister in your harem has a significant meaning. You know the significant view of having your close relatives? You know how there are people who look up to and also get jealous about it? Well, I'm not a sister-moe type, so I have her in my group as fashion.]

"That's what he said."

I could only facepalm at that.

[He really is just a peacock! Grrrrr!]

"Now here I come! Rias Gremory's Pawn!"

She charged right in with a right jab to my face. I deflected it away and tried to counter with a right hook.

She blocked it and tried another strike. I was forced to dodge this one.

"Yes. So you can dodge a punch like this. Sorry. I was looking down on you a bit. I'll put one gear...no, I will increase by two gears then!"

Isabella made a suspicious move while moving her body. But...

SWISH! SWISH!

She started to attack from unpredictable angles and places!

When I blocked or dodged her attacks, another was right behind it. I was doing what I could to land in a blow myself, but her moves were astounding.

{Boost!}

'That must have been my 7th boost. Ddraig, that's enough!'

{Explosion!}

With that, I did a straight punch to her gut. When she defended against it, she was forced back a few feet.

"Why are you grinning?"

Yeah, my battle grin was plastered all over my face.

"Heh heh. You really are a worthy opponent. I haven't had this much fun for some time. But like you, I've been holding back. It's time that we both went all out, don't you think?"

Isabella smiled at this.

"Pawn, no Hunter-san, you truly are an interesting person. I was right in choosing you to be my opponent."

But before we moved, the sound of wind being cut was heard.

I looked over to where Kiba was having his duel to see that his sword was cut in half.

"Unfortunately, your Sacred Gear won't work on me."

Caralamaine's sword was covered in flames.

'Guess the Holy Eraser won't do.'

{Good thing that wasn't his only one.}

Kiba's face had a slight smirk.

"Then I will also tell you this. Unfortunately, this isn't everything of my Sacred Gear."

"What? Nonsense. "Knight" of Gremory. It's unsightly for a knight to..."

"...Freeze."

When Kiba said it with a small voice, there was something gathering in the blade-less sword. Huh? It feels like it has gotten cold... I felt chills around here. When I was feeling something like that, Kiba's sword started to freeze. The ice started to pile up and it took the shape of a sword.

[BREAK!]

At the same time with the sound of ice breaking, Kiba's sword formed into a blade of ice.

"In front of this sword, "Flame Delete", all types of fire will disappear."

"A...absurd! Are you telling me that you have two Sacred Gears!?"

Carlamaine swung her flame sword to the side! She had an impatient look.

BREAK BREAK-BREAK...

The instant Carlamaine's sword touched Kiba's sword, the flame sword started to freeze and turn into a solid. Then it made a sound and broke. Then it disappeared. But she didn't stop attacking. As soon as she threw away her sword, she took a short sword from her hip. She then put her sword up and shouted.

"We are the members of the all mighty house of Phoenix, who rule over fire and wind! Taste it! The whirlwind of fire!"

Guuuuuuu!

There was a wind of fire around the baseball court with Carlamaine and Kiba in the middle of it. The hot wind was burning my skin.

"That Carlamaine! Has she forgotten that her allies are here as well!?"

Isabella commented, while using her arm to guard her face. Kiba's ice sword started to melt after receiving the wind of fire. Even so Kiba still didn't seem to be bothered.

"I see... You are trying to burn us with the whirlwind of fire...But."

Kiba put his blade-less sword in front of him. He then said with a strong voice,

"...Stop."

[SUCK!]

The wind was getting sucked into Kiba's sword while making a large noise. The wind stopped, and the baseball ground became silent.

"..."Replenish Calm". It's been a while since I last showed more than two demonic swords for one battle."

There was a unique looking blade in Kiba's sword. There was a mysterious whirlwind in the middle of the blade. The winds were sucked in there? He can even make that kind of sword as well!?

"...Multiple Sacred Gear. Are you a Sacred Gear possessor who takes the weapons of other Sacred Gear users and makes it their own?"

Kiba shook his head at Carlamaine's question.

"I don't have multiple Sacred Gears. I also don't take the Sacred Gears of others and make them my own. I created it."

"Created...it?"

"Yes. "Sword Birth". I can make any demonic swords. That is the name of my Sacred Gear and its true ability."

Multiple swords appeared from the ground when he put his hand downwards! They were all of different shapes. Even the blades were different! From Kiba's words, they were all demonic swords!

'Hmmm. Is anyone else suddenly thinking of the blade graveyard from the "Kingdom Hearts" series?'

[That's just because of all the time you've spent playing it.]

"Now then, Isabella, where were we?"

I decided to take a chance and bring her down in one shot. I gathered a block of magical energy into my Boosted Gear hand.

"Take this! Dragon Shot!"

I fired off the shot towards her. In a Rating Game, the Rooks can prove to be the most troublesome due to their high defense and offense. If this trait were to be combined with someone who has either high speeds or strong magical powers they could become an almost impossible tank. Also, if they could switch their position with the King through "Castling".

"Isabella! Don't take it! Dodge!"

She was barely able to avoid it. I noticed that a part of her sleeve was destroyed from the proximity. But I didn't take her down.

My shot continued to go in the direction that I fired. After a few seconds, the ground was shook from the explosion.

{Whistle! If you went any stronger, you would have taken out half of the playing field with that!}

Ddraig was right. When the shot went up, a fourth of the combat field seemed to be enveloped in red.

"Isabella! Defeat that "Pawn"! That boy! That Sacred Gear has the power to change the outcome of the battle!"

By following the shouts of Carlamaine, Raiser's "Rook" Isabella locked-on at me.

"Affirmative! Boosted Gear! It will become a big threat if we allow him to use "promotion"! I will take him down before that happens!"

"Try it!"

With that, we began to lock in hand to hand combat.

I decided that I had to end it now before any more of the peerage came in. I covered my right arm in lightning and struck.

"Gaaahhhh!"

Isabella began to convulse from the electric shock.

"You're an excellent opponent Isabella. I look forward to our next meeting."

I then charged up and unleashed a second Dragon Shot.

"Raiser Phoneix-sama's Rook has retired."

I smirked at Grayfia's announcement.

'Just a little more Raiser, and then it's your turn.'

"Apparently both Isabella and I have been taking that "Pawn" and the Sacred Gear lightly. Just like I thought, I shouldn't take him as an ordinary "Pawn"."

I was glad that I was receiving such praise from my enemy.

"But a demonic sword wielder...what fortune. I may have a destiny of meeting swordsmen who wield special swords."

Kiba seemed quite interested after hearing that.

"Hmmmm, so there is someone besides me who uses demonic swords?"

"No, it wasn't a demonic sword. It was a holy sword."

"...!"

Everyone here knew how Kiba's expression changed after hearing that. Instantly there was a load of killing intent coming out from Kiba. Wow. What killing intent! It felt really cold. My whole body felt cold. Kiba asked with a low voice while having cold eyes.

"Tell me about that holy sword wielder."

...What intense force. He had the same level of hostility as Buchou when she's pissed. Could it be that he was a part of "That" project?

"Hmmmm, seems like that swordsman has some connection to you. But since we are swordsmen, talking would be rude. I will answer you with my sword!"

"...Is that right... If your mouth can move, then leaving you on the verge of death will be okay."

CHILLS

There was killing intent between the two. The killing intents were so strong. It was then that I heard several people approach the field.

So it's here."

"Huh? Where's Isabella-neesan?"

"Don't tell me she was defeated?"

Lots of Raiser's servants started to gather. I remembered the faces. There were 2 "Pawns", 1 "Bishop", and 1 "Knight". It was the gathering of the remaining servants. Akeno-san is probably still fighting the enemy "Queen", since there is still lightning up in the sky. Buchou and Asia... Yes, what happened to those two? They should be moving ahead from the base...

"Hey. The "Pawn"-kun over there."

I was being addressed by Ravel Phoneix.

"Raiser-sama said he's going to fight your princess. See there."

The girl pointed very high at the sky. When I looked in that direction, there was a shadow with fire wings and a shadow with black wings. No matter how I looked at it, the person with black wings had crimson hair! That was Rias!

[Hunter-san! Can you hear me, Hunter-san!?]

Asia's voice came out from the transceiver.

"Asia! What happened? Is it about Buchou?"

[Yes. Right now I'm with Buchou-san on the school rooftop. The opponent, Raiser-san, challenged Buchou to a duel and Buchou-san accepted it! Thanks to that we were able to get into the school building without any problem...]

Damn it! That wasn't part of the plan. We were supposed to all take him on together!

"Seems like Oni-sama made a challenge since Rias-sama was doing well in the battle unexpectedly. If we fought normally it would have been our win, so he gave her pity. At this rate she will be defeated before you fight him. Ohohoho."

His sister started laughing by putting her hand on her mouth. I was starting to get pissed!

"Buchou is strong! Akeno-san will also come here as soon as she defeats the "Queen"! Kiba Koneko and I will also defeat all of the servants here!

"The "Crimson-hair Ruin-princess", "Lightning Priestess", "Sword Birth", and "Boosted Gear". Just hearing the names gives me chills. But your opponent is the "immortal bird". No matter what kind of power you have, it means nothing against the immortal bird."

"But the "Phoenix" also has weak points!"

His sister laughed at my argument with her nose.

"Are you going to beat him until he loses the will to fight? Or are you going to defeat him with a strike that rivals God? Are you trying to win this match? That's a laugh."

"Why is it!?"

"That's because there was no chance for Rias-sama to win from the beginning. That's how much despair the thing "immortal" is to you."

"I don't care! And you forgot about my "Woman-at-Arms" Gear!"

"Tch."

Ravel clicked her fingers. The remaining servants started to surround Koneko and me.

"Carlamaine. I will leave that "Knight" boy to you, but if you lose we won't fight in one-on-one. We will defeat him together. Or are you trying to lower the name of Phoenix?"

Carlamaine agreed to Raiser's sisters words.

"Sieris."

"Affirmative."

The one who stepped forward was a woman with a wild appearance. She was carrying a sword on her back.

"She is Oni-sama's other "Knight". Unlike Carlamaine over there, she doesn't have any of that 'honor of a knight'. She will defeat her opponent. Just like that."

The woman called Sieris drew her sword from her back... It was a big sword.

"But she can do the finishing. Ni and Li."

"Nya."

"Nya-nya."

The ones who responded to her words were two girls with beast ears. I believe they were "Pawns".

"They are female beast warriors. Their hand to hand combat is remarkable you know."

They disappeared in a gust of wind and Koneko and I were getting hit with a rain of blows.

"Gah!"

They were fast! I had to do something fast otherwise we would be finished.

"Ni! Li! Boosted Gear is a Sacred Gear that doubles the power every 10 seconds! Due to his Sacred Gear ability, he can't fight when he increases his boosts! He will just run away! Aim for his legs!"

They started to assault both of our legs. I was able to dodge a few but Koneko wasn't fairing as well as me.

"Koneko! Hold on!"

I put all that I had into my punch and hit the ground. This resulted in me sending out a shockwave while causing a ton of cracks to form.

Thump.

Looking behind me, I saw that Koneko was now kneeling on the ground while the cat twins regrouped.

"Hunter-kun! Koneko-chan! Shit!"

When Kiba saw our situation, he started a frantic attack while holding his sword with both his hands.

"Carlamaine! Hold it for another 10 seconds! I know that you can't win against that "Knight"! But we will be able to defeat the dragon user shortly! Keep that "Knight" busy!"

'They haven't noticed that it's actually now 5 seconds yet.'

BAAAAANG!

A shock-wave shook the whole field! I looked up because I thought it might be, and it was Buchou and Raiser fighting. They were clashing against each other by using their magic up in the air. A red magic energy and fire energy. Raiser didn't even have a scratch. Even his clothes weren't ripped. And Buchou on the other hand had some parts of her uniform burnt. I think she was breathing heavily as well.

[Here they come again!]

"Koneko! Get back to back with me and don't move an inch!"

She looked at me in slight confusion at the order but the look on my face convinced her otherwise.

Just as the twins were about to strike again…

"Niefelm! It's Hedgehog time!"

With that, several spears burst out of the jewels located in the Woman-at-Arms.

"Nya?!"

At the last second, the two shifted their course and only received light scratches.

{That won't work a second time. They'll come in slower next time.}

'Damn it! If only we could do something….on a larger…scale. That's it!'

"Kiba!"

I grabbed onto Koneko and started to run towards him.

"Release your Sacred Gear!"

Kiba seemed slightly confused. But he was able to push Carlamaine back, shoved his sword in the ground and howled out:

"Sword Birth!"

With that, he was once again surrounded in a field of swords.

I thrust my hand to the ground.

"Time to let you see this ability! Boosted Gear Gift!"

{Transfer!}

Pinnggg!

The sound of metal rumbling violently echoed through the area. All of the sports court became a sea of swords. There were different shapes of swords in various places where the blades were directed towards the sky. The whole area became like a display area of demonic swords. All of them were the demonic swords created by Kiba.

The second power, Boosted Gear Gift. The effect is to send the power that I boosted with the gauntlet to other people or objects and increase its power drastically. I sent my power to Kiba's demonic swords on the ground. And this was the result. It increased the power of creating demonic swords and the area around us became a field of blades.

"...Impossible."

"Are you telling me this is also the power of the dragon?"

Raiser's servants blurted out their anguish. That couldn't be helped. Their bodies were penetrated by the swords that were sticking out from the ground. Then their bodies started to glow and disappeared from the battlefield. They retired!

"Raiser Phoenix-sama's 2 "Pawns", 2 "Knights", and 1 "Bishop", retires."

"Yes!"

[Shouldn't you help out Koneko?]

'Huh? Oh, right.'

One who is able to cure all and save lives, the snake that contradicts its poisonous cousins, heed my call Asclepius!

I then started to heal Koneko from the fight against the cat twins.

"….Thank you Hunter-sempai."

I ruffled her hair.

"My pleasure. I'm just glad you weren't hurt that badly."

"Hunter-kun. I'm surprised. This power…."

Kiba was looking at the various swords surrounding us. It did make for quite a site.

"Yeah, Kiba. I used the gauntlet to help out. But that's not all…"

"Rias Gremory-sama's Queen retires."

"What?!"

"No way!"

We couldn't believe our ears. Akeno-san…she was one of the strongest members of our group.

Boooom!

I was thrown back from the duel explosions that happened. I shattered several of the swords that were in the ground with one shard becoming stuck in my left shoulder.

When I got back up, I was speechless. Both Kiba and Koneko had smoke coming out of them. They were just standing there with blood all around them.

"No…."

They were then immediately enveloped in the blue particles that signify their retirement.

"Rias Gremory-sama's Knight and Rook retire."

I could only stare at the spaces that the two had occupied.

I was the last person left on the sports field, surrounded by the blood of my comrades and enemies.

The sound of shattering glass filled the air. Without Kiba present, the field of swords disappeared. It was then that a shadow came into my sight.

It was Raiser's Queen, Yubelluna. And she was laughing.

"How are you still standing?! How!"

She only looked down at me and smirked. She then turned her back to me and flied towards the battle at the roof of the school.

"Come back here and face Me!"

But she just kept on flying.

I gritted my teeth in frustration at this. She didn't see me as a big threat. But that was going to change.

I pulled out the sword shard that was in my shoulder and closed the wound with Asa's help. I didn't bother with the smaller scratches that I had from the explosion.

[If you keep on using me like this, you won't have any energy left against Raiser.]

'I know. That's why I'll leave you with Asia. It's only fitting that the healers stick together, right?'

As I started to move forward, a voice spoke out.

"Are you still going to fight?"

I looked over to see that Ravel Phoenix was standing in the entryway of the school. If I remember correctly, Grayfia did say that only one Bishop had retired. But from the stance that she was in, she didn't have any hostile intent.

"I'm not going to fight anymore. No matter how you think about it, it's your loss."

"Shut it! We still have a chance if we are still standing!"

"The power of the dragon from earlier. It certainly was something tremendous. To transfer the power you boosted to the person. I think it's an abnormal power and thinking of Rias-sama's power of destruction and "Lighting Priestess" power's rising scares me. That power would be a threat to the high-class devils in the Rating Game in the future. But that isn't the case here."

"It's because of your Phoenix powers, isn't it?"

"That's part of it but also because both you and Rias-sama barely have any stamina left. Isn't it? Even if you can heal any wounds, you can't heal stamina. In this situation you will lose because you will get even more worn out. Also..."

Raiser's sister took out a small bottle... What is that? Is it holy water? It can't be.

"Tears of a phoenix. Have you heard of it? This is it. Our tears can heal all types of injuries."

"So that's how Yubelluna was able to beat Akeno. We should have seen this coming!"

"Is it no different than your groups Twilight Healing? Besides, it's stated in the rules that "Only two people participating in the Rating Game can use it". It was restricted because it was too powerful. Well that would be natural. In our case we gave it to our "Queen". That's why our "Queen" was able to defeat the "Lighting Priestess". Also our tears are sold for high prices. Thanks to that, the house of Phoenix is very wealthy. Only good things happened since the game was created. Immortality and tears. It is our age."

"If that's what you think, than more power to you. If you'll excuse me, I've got a game to win."

I started forward again.

"Hold on! Are you ignoring me!? You are going to lose anyway so it's safe to stay here with me!?"

"Wrong. Even though you say that you aren't going to fight I'm not like you. If I can blink an eye, then I can still go. So either stay out of my way or get attacked. Your choice."

Once I was through the doors and in the hallway, I felt a slight change within me.

{Time to use promotion. What's it going to be?}

"Simple. It's what we talked about during the planning stages. Promotion: Queen."

I felt the surge of power throughout my body. So this is what it must be like for Akeno.

{Careful partner. If you do anything reckless you will most likely be out.}

'In that case, I'll just have to take Raiser down with me when I do.'

When I was near the rooftop door, I could hear several explosions happening from the duel. But just before I touched to door, I felt something….off.

"Gurg! Gchouh!"

I started to cough up blood.

[Hunter!]

[That duel blast that the Queen used must have done some serious damage internally. Asa! Get ready to do your thing!]

'No! I need to save what energy I've got for Raiser! Asia can help with this.'

With that, I opened the door and saw the confrontation between the Kings.

Asia was looking at them nervously from a distance. Good, they were both safe. But Buchou was inhaling her breath painfully. Her beautiful crimson hair was messed up and her uniform was torn.

On the other side stood Raiser and his Queen. Although her clothes were disheveled, she looked as fit as Raiser.

"Buchou! Asia! I'm here!"

I had decided to yell to make my presence known. When they turned around, they both started to smile.

"Hunter!"

"Hunter-san!"

Raiser did not look pleased with this.

"So my sister let you pass? Tch! Still, like the dragon brat can do anything against me."

"Raiser-sama. Should I take care of the Pawn boy and the Bishop girl? The power of those two could be quite troublesome."

Raiser merely raised his hand up.

"Against the power of the immortal Phoenix? Let them do what they want."

That last statement pissed Rias off.

"Don't mess around Raiser!"

She shot an orb of destruction and took off a side of his head. But it didn't last. After a brief flash of flames, he was back to normal without a hair out of place. He twitched his neck.

"Rias, resign. You will make your Otou-sama and Sirzechs-sama who are watching from another place look bad. You have no more choices. Everyone already has foreseen the outcome. It's checkmate, Rias."

Raiser said it as if he could see the outcome. But Buchou just glared at him.

"Shut your mouth, Raiser. I won't give up! They knew the outcome? I have no more choices? Me, the "King", is still active you know?"

"Besides Raiser, that attitude of your will lead to your downfall. Guh!"

I coughed up more blood.

"Asia!"

Rias called to Asia. After glancing at both Raiser and his Queen, she came over and started to heal us.

[You were cutting it too close Hunter!]

Even though the wounds were gone, the lost stamina was still there.

"Asia, take this."

I handed her my Rod of Asclepius.

"Hunter-san…"

"Asia, once you are done healing us, please stay back. You are our lifeline. Also, with Asa's help you can heal even if you exhaust you Twilight Healing."

Her eyes had a sad look to them and it seemed like she wanted to say something. But before she could, a magic circle appeared underneath her feet.

"Kyaaaa!"

"Sorry about that. It would make you guys seem pathetic if it takes too long. I could have taken that girl down but... I just made sure you guys can't heal anymore. That magic circle can only be unsealed if my "Queen" is defeated."

Raiser said plainly. The opponent's "Queen" was putting her hand forward and her fingers were glowing. So that "Queen" is restricting Asia...

{The arrogant bugger doesn't know the mistake that he just made.}

"Buchou, the fights still on right?"

"Yes it is."

"Good. Promotion: Knight."

And with that I charged forward.

Authors Note: And with that I'll leave it hangin! Seemed like the best place for a cliffhanger to me. I did not expect this chapter to take up so much just to this point, but that's the way it is. I appreciate that you've been understanding with my sporadic updates. But this next chapter may or may not be within a week. I'm going to be spending a bit of time getting the past figured out and also, I need a little help. If anyone can think up of a good name for a black female wolf and a water dragon, please either leave the ideas in a review or send me a PM. Thanks!

Next time: Breaking it off, Familiar surroundings, and a blast to the past!