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"Rias" – Speech
'Issei' – Thought
[BOOST!] - Sacred Gear Ability/ Ddraig and Albion Speech
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Each piece on the chessboard has a responsibility when you look at it from the perspective of a Devil's peerage. The [Pawns] are the foot soldiers, yet full of untapped potential waiting to be harnessed. [Bishops] are magical powerhouses that can be geared for both attack and defence. [Rooks] hold immense physical attack and high defence, while the [Knights] are the point of the spear with their godlike speed.
The last two pieces are the [King] and [Queen]. Most see the [Queen] as the most powerful piece on the board and the [King] as useless, an objective to be protected rather than an actual game piece. The truth couldn't be further from such suppositions. Without the [King], the entire game falls apart. [Kings] lead, inspire and act as bait for the enemy, allowing their other pieces to take advantage of the single-minded focus of their foes.
As for the [Queen]? A [Queen] must support their [King] in all things and be the support of the entire Peerage. The ability of a [Queen] in chess to move in all directions in expressed as being able to use the abilities of the [Rook], [Knight] and [Bishop] pieces at once, so limiting oneself to a single discipline -magic or physical abilities- is foolish. Yet the power of a [Queen] is not absolute. No being can be in two places at once and even the strongest can be outflanked, surprised and overcome, so a [Queen] must also train for strategy and tactics, to better aid and protect their Peerage.
- Attributed to Mei Schwarzwald, two years before her betrayal.
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The Eighth Move: Zwischenzug (Intermediate Move)
Two Days Later
Basement Training Room, Hyōdō Residence
Issei fell onto one knee as his [Boosted Gear Scale Mail] shattered. He had been trying to think of a way to use his [Welsh Blaster Bishop] without having the insane amount of stamina consumption that it currently had.
Needless to say, thus far it had been a failure.
"Are you alright, Issei-sama?" Ravel asked as she hurried over to him.
"Y-Yeah…exhausted, but fine." he replied wryly, "I just can't seem to reduce the output of the [Dragon Blaster]. It seems to be fixed at a ridiculously high output."
"Maybe you can't change the [Welsh Blaster Bishop] form." Ravel mused, "But…perhaps you can add an alternate mode to it. One that uses multiple beams rather than two large blasts."
"That's an idea." Issei nodded as he pushed himself to his feet again, "Question is, how to go about doing it? I was working on instinct against Cao-Cao when I made the three forms of [Illegal Move Tríaina]. Ddraig, can you add anything?"
[The young Phenex has a good head on her shoulders.] Ddraig rumbled, making Ravel blush at the compliment. [I have a copy of all of your thoughts since you first awoke the Boosted Gear, so I can show you them. To summarise, however, you seemed to draw inspiration from anime. The Bishop form was drawn from the anime Gundam X, the Gundam Double X specifically. Similarly, the Knight form is drawn from Kamen Rider Kabuto and the Rook form is drawn from the Big O.]
"Huh…" Issei mused, noting that Ddraig's praise made Ravel flush slightly, "I guess it is similar to the Twin Satellite Cannon System. I wonder if using the Gundam X rather than the Double X as a model would improve the stamina consumption rate?"
"I don't think it would work." Ravel replied, "Concentrating all that power into one blaster rather than two might damage you and Ddraig, Issei-sama. I'm not really all that familiar with anime, but can you think of anything that might be useful in this regard?"
Issei thought for a moment. "Well…sticking with Gundams, there are two that come to mind. The Strike Freedom Gundam and the Nu Gundam. The Freedom uses multiple small cannons for battlefield dominance while the Nu Gundam uses devices called 'Fin Funnels', small semi-autonomous machines that the pilot controls with his mind. They fire lasers and can even form an energy shield."
"The first one sounds like a dispersed version of the current [Dragon Blaster]." Ravel thought aloud, one delicate finger tapping her lips lightly as she spoke, "I suspect that you'll have much the same problem with that layout as you do with the current arrangement, Issei-sama. The second one sounds…intriguing."
"You think it can work?" Issei asked.
"I think so, Issei-sama." the Phenex Scion nodded, "We will have to work with Ddraig-sama in order to see that it works, but I have confidence it will work."
"OK then." Issei grinned, "Let's get to it."
With Xenovia and Kiba
"You have to stop trying to hit as hard as you can with each blow." Kiba informed the former Holy Sword wielder, "EX-Durandal provides more power in even the smallest cuts than your arm muscles can provide. Combine your speed as a [Knight] with the abilities of [Excalibur Rapidly] and [Excalibur Destruction] and it is a powerful combination."
"I know that." the bluenette replied with a frown, "It's just that I'm more of a power fighter as opposed to a speed or technique fighter. Buchou should have reincarnated me as a [Rook] rather than a [Knight]."
Kiba looked at his fellow Knight in exasperation. She wasn't a technique user like he was, preferring to use the overwhelming power of her blade to carry the battle. Apparently that carried over to utilising her speed to its fullest.
"I can understand that." he said, "But if we don't give it a hundred-and-ten percent, Issei-kun might not survive."
A hard look appeared in Xenovia's eyes at that, along with a tighter grip on the Peerless Holy Sword EX-Durandal. The fire in her eyes almost had a physical presence that forced Kiba to remind himself to hold his ground.
'The feelings that she has for Issei-kun are strong.' the blond [Knight] thought as he nodded in approval of the determination she now showed.
"Let's try again, Kiba." Xenovia said firmly, "We only have one day left."
The two [Knights] tensed before vanishing in a blur.
Later
Occult Research Club Clubroom, Old School Building, Kuō Academy
Rias Gremory started slightly as Akeno placed a cup of tea in front of her.
"Rias, you really should rest." the Priestess of Thunder said chidingly, "Staring at your Power of Destruction all day isn't going to make it any more powerful or versatile."
"I know." the crimson-haired girl sighed before picking up her tea and taking a sip before continuing, "But I've already re-familiarised myself with my sword over the last few days, so I feel I should turn my attention to my Power of Destruction."
"What that wench said truly bothers you, doesn't it?" Akeno asked rhetorically.
Mei Schwarzwald's words regarding her lack of refinement in her magic had been gnawing at the back of Rias' mind for days. The way her magic had been defeated with such contemptuous ease had been galling, although the fact that her brother's magic, many times more powerful than her own, had been defeated the same way was something of a cold comfort.
All of her life, she had simple fired blasts of the Power of Destruction she had inherited from the blood of the Bael family she carried in her veins. It was incredibly powerful in its own right and was sufficient to deal with even powerful Stray Devils, so she had contented herself with that.
Then enemies had started cropping up that were able to resist and overcome the Power of Destruction. Riser Phenex, Kokabiel, Loki, the Hero Faction of the Khaos Brigade and now Mei Schwarzwald. Raiser had used his Phenex regeneration to tank her blasts, while Kokabiel had overcome the most powerful blast that she had ever made with one hand. Loki was a god, so it wasn't a surprise it had had little to no effect on him. The Hero Faction, powerful wielders of powerful Sacred Gears one and all, had rarely let her have a chance to attack them.
And now the Queen of Blood and Betrayal had a barrier spell that could negate ANY demonic magic. Clearly, she would have to change things now.
Out of her entire Peerage, Rias had changed the least in terms of power. She was a High-Class Devil, with considerable talent for both demonic magic and physical altercations. Her Power of Destruction was strong enough to make her one of the more powerful Devils in her age group. She had been strong enough to begin with.
Now, however, with Xenovia and her EX-Durandal, Kiba with [Sword of the Betrayer] and [Glory Drag Trooper], Koneko and her Senjutsu abilities, Rossweisse with her vastly improved defensive abilities, Gaspar and his control over [Forbidden Balor View] and Issei with [Illegal Move Tríaina] and [Cardinal Crimson Promotion], she was falling behind sharply.
Even Akeno had increased her power thanks to training with her father, Baraqiel, granting her the power to combine the Holy element that was her birthright as a Nephilim with her power over thunder to create Holy Lightning. Plus she had been experimenting with the draconic power she had siphoned from Issei after he offered his arm to Ddraig in order to attain his Balance Breaker. After the trick Issei pulled against Mei, she was thinking of combining it with her Holy Lightning to see what would happen.
"I need to become stronger, Akeno." she said to her old friend, "If I don't, I'll lose Issei again. And…I couldn't take that…not again."
Akeno placed a hand on her King's shoulder. "Nor could I, Rias. We'll protect him. And Issei-kun will protect us. It goes both ways. In the meantime, you need to relax and eat, or you won't be able to do anything."
"You're right." the Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess acknowledged with another sigh, "We'll head to Issei's home after I've finished my tea. What have the rest been doing?"
"Irina returned to Heaven to swap out her Holy-Demonic Sword for a more powerful one." Akeno replied, "Issei-kun and Ravel have been working on his [Illegal Move Tríaina], Koneko-chan has been learning Senjutsu from Kuroka, Xenovia and Kiba-kun have been working on Xenovia's speed, Gaspar has been working on using his vampiric abilities using some of Issei-kun's blood, Asia-chan has been learning how to use defensive barriers and Rossweisse has been liaising with Sona-kaichou and Serafall-sama regarding any further information about what Mei has been up to in these last three years."
Rias nodded, drank the last of her tea and stood up. "Well, time to go home. Asia-chan is making dinner tonight."
In a flash of red, the two girls vanished.
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The Next Day
Command Centre, Terror Twins Hideout, The Underworld
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Regalia Bael cursed as she paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, "That stupid, lowly reincarnated devil couldn't even die when she was supposed to!"
Her twin sister, Roan, sat nearby at a desk and was giving her sister a look. "Regalia, stop pacing. You're ruining that rug."
The twins were exactly identical in almost every way. The same height, the same pitch-black hair, the same elegant clothing, the same heterochromatic eyes (blood-red and ice blue) and the same body profile. The only way to tell the difference between them was that Regalia had her hair in a pleat and Roan had a ponytail.
"How can you be so calm?!" Regalia demanded, "Ro, we have the fucking Queen of Blood and Betrayal coming after us! She is going to kill us just like she killed Amadeus!"
"Reg, we have evacuated our castles and come out here, to the boondocks of the Underworld." Roan replied calmly, "There is nothing to worry about. This place isn't even on the tax roles in Lilith. There is no paper trail that might lead her or anyone else to us. No one from the Bael Family even knows this place exists."
Regalia muttered expletives under her breath as she stamped over to the only other seat in the room and threw herself into it. The base that the two sisters had fled to upon the return of Mei Schwarzwald had been Amadeus' idea. A hidden fortress to take refuge in when things had gone utterly pear-shaped beyond all recovery, with runes carved into the outer walls that deflected and distorted scrying magic and wrapped in powerful illusions to resemble a mountain to anyone not keyed to the wards.
All of that, plus the combined forces of both of their Peerages stationed ready to repel anyone who somehow managed to circumvent those outer defences, should mean that they were as safe as they could possibly be, Regalia was still on edge.
She had always been the more physically demonstrative twin, whether that had been seducing Amadeus, whipping whoever had displeased her that day or, in this case, pacing when she was worried. Her body was almost constantly in motion, seemingly unable to hold still for more than a handful of seconds.
Roan by contrast was far more sedate. She moved judiciously, considered things carefully and didn't let her twin sweep her along if a big decision was to be made. Still, they were both of the same mind in almost everything, including the opinion that reincarnated devils were expendable trash and in no way, shape or form truly devils.
That they were both hiding in fear of a mere reincarnated devil was a nauseating thought, one which made Regalia want to storm out and hunt the bitch down. It was tempered by terror at the thought of losing her twin. There were only a handful of people that Regalia loved in this world and the top spot was taken by her sister. She would do anything to protect Roan, even if it meant skulking around this place.
The room abruptly shook and the sound of shattering stone could be heard even in the room, which was at the top of the fortress. Roan clicked her fingers and a small communications magic circle appeared near her head.
"Report." she ordered.
"The castle is under attack, Bael-sama!" her Queen reported frantically, "Whoever it is just destroyed the illusion hiding the fortress! All of the runes are inactive! All of them!"
"Impossible!" Roan whispered, "Only an Ultimate-Class Devil should be able to do that! Stand ready to repel intruders!"
"Hai!" her Queen responded before the magic circle faded.
"Is it her do you think?" Regalia asked with a scowl.
"Mei has no recorded ability to break illusion magic." her twin snapped irritably, "She is a combat brute, nothing more."
Before the twins could continue their argument, they were thrown off their seats and onto the floor by an enormous impact that shook the fortress down to its foundations.
"What the hell was that?!" Regalia cursed as she scrambled to her feet, "We need to get down there!"
"Agreed." Roan spat as she stood also, "Evidently this is someone that our Peerages cannot handle alone."
Moving swiftly, the Terror Twins moved to the only location in the room that allowed one to teleport in or out, a safety measure they had introduced as an afterthought to ensure they would know where anyone pursuing them would appear. Roan, the more magic-savvy of the two, created a teleportation circle which whisked them to their destination, the antechamber, where their Peerages would be massed, ready to move.
What they saw when they appeared in the antechamber made them gasp in shock.
The thick stone doors hadn't been destroyed…they and the stone around them for a meter in all directions had been shredded into flakes of stone that had peppered the antechamber like bullets from a machine gun.
As for the members of their Peerages…they were trapped inside purple spheres that the twins immediately recognised as being Mei Schwarzwald's [Gravija Sphere] spell. No matter what the trapped devils tried, they couldn't escape.
"So Mei's 'just a combat brute,' huh?" Regalia mocked her twin, "Looks like she learned a thing or two in the last three years, wouldn't you say?"
"Indeed I have." a cool voice said from behind them. Whirling around, the Terror Twins came face to face with Mei Schwarzwald and Amakusa Chiaki. The younger devil had a look of rage on her face as she faced the Terror Twins.
"You!" Roan snarled, "Get out of our castle!"
"Chiaki-chan…destroy them." Mei said softly.
"[Katars of Vāyu]!" Chiaki growled, summoning forth the weapons that the two had implanted into her without her consent.
"Nice try!" Roan sneered and summoned a spell circle. It lanced out and struck Chiaki, surrounding her in an aura of red. "Did you really think we would have implanted that Artificial Sacred Gear into you without implanting a neutralisation code?"
"More to the point, Roan," Mei stated, "Did you think that I wouldn't have found and neutralised your neutraliser?"
Chiaki crossed the katar in front of her before slicing in the air, dispelling the aura like mist before a wind. Roan gaped in astonishment and disbelief at her spell failing.
"You forget oh so quickly that the one who taught you about Artificial Sacred Gears in the first place was me." Mei stated coolly, "Even three years isn't enough for you to outpace my knowledge of the [Katars of Vāyu]. You both will have to do much better than that in order to fight Chiaki-chan."
"Is that a fact?" Regalia snarled, "Allow us to up our game then. Come forth, [Tarnhelm]! Serve me, [Bident of Hades]!"
A steel helm appeared on Regalia's head, followed by the appearance of a large double-pronged spear in her right hand.
"Artificial Sacred Gears designed to resemble currently existing magic artefacts." Mei stated, sounding bored, "You don't have much in the way of imagination, do you?"
"Emerge, [Ichaival]! Protect me, [Yata no Kagami]!" Roan snarled. In one of her hands, a bow appeared while in the other, a bronze shield appeared.
"So, we have items from The Ring of the Nibelung, a polearm from Greek mythology, a bow from Norse mythology and a shield from Japanese mythology." Chiaki noted, "Presumably, they have lesser variations of their original abilities."
Tarnhelm, a helm of invisibility similar to Hades' Helm of Darkness, could accomplish shape shifting and teleportation in addition to its primary function. Hades' Bident was a symbol of his power, said to be able to fish in the sea of souls in his Underworld and pluck a soul free of that maelstrom. Ichaival, Odin's bow, was said to be able to multiply one arrow fired from it into ten. The Yata no Kagami was a mirror which represented wisdom out of the three regalia of the Japanese Imperial Family. Who knows what powers it could possess?
"We have been preparing to fight ever since you murdered Amadeus, you bitch!" Regalia snarled, pointing the bident at Mei, "Get ready to lose, Mei Schwarzwald!"
"You misunderstand, Regalia." Mei said indifferently, "I am not your opponent…Chiaki-chan is. Tear them down from their gilded pedestals, little one. [Promotion: Queen]!"
"Hai, Onee-sama." Chiaki replied as the Promotion took effect and raised her Sacred Gear to a ready position. "Tell me, Terror Twins…do you know what name I have garnered as a [Pawn] of Lord Bael in the last three years?"
"The Rage of Lightning and Flame." Roan replied with a sneer, "What of it? All it remarks upon is your affinity for lightning and fire magic."
"Partially, but not fully." the [Pawn] replied, "In truth, it refers to the unique martial art I have created. Feel the fury of my Raika-ken! (Fire Flash Fist)"
As she spoke, lightning crackled over her body and flames outlined her like an aura before Chiaki leapt into the attack, spinning in mid-air until she was surrounded by fire.
"Roan! Block it!" Regalia called urgently.
Nonplussed, her twin raised the [Yata no Kagami] and used its special ability to project a barrier in front of her, specifically designed to neutralise fire. That was the ability of the Artificial Sacred Gear; neutralisation of any reselected element, from fire, to lightning, to darkness, to even Light.
As the spinning fiery top that was Chiaki struck the barrier, it shattered like glass. Roan gaped before her survival instinct kicked in and made her dodge to the side, just in time to avoid being charbroiled into ashes by the firestorm that covered the former Bael [Pawn].
"What?! Impossible!" Regalia yelled, "No Elemental Magic can break through the barrier of the [Yata no Kagami]!"
A chuckle came from Chiaki as the flames died down to their form as an aura once more. "Pure flames or pure lightning, yes. My abilities as a magic user and martial artist combine them into one; fire and lightning as one unified entity. Not simply layered together, not merely unified superficially, truly combined as one, to the point that they register as a completely new element from either fire or lightning. Your little mirror can block any one of eight elements, correct? Against me…you may as well not even have that shield."
"[Underworld Summoning]!" Regalia screeched, shoving demonic energy into the bident and slamming the points onto the ground. Emerging from the stone were several hooded wraiths with hooks for hands.
"Lesser wraiths?" Chiaki snorted, "You'll have to do better than that! Shakunetsu Kamaitachi! (Scorching Heat Sickle Weasel!)"
She punched out with her weapons twice, sending two concentrated blades of sickle-shaped fire the size of a grapefruit at the shadowy wraiths. The blades cut through their targets without any resistance, dissipating the ethereal beings. What shocked the Terror Twins was when the fiery blades arced around to new targets. Very few devils, even High-Class Devils, could control their magic remotely like that once they had released it.
Some could do so, but it took immense talent, immense hard work or, in the case of this girl, immense hard work combined with immense talent to pull such a feat off in only three years.
'A lowly reincarnated devil accomplishing what we, pure-blooded devils cannot do…unforgivable!' Roan fumed. She drew back the string of the bow and summoned forth an arrow. Pointing the arrowhead at Chiaki, she snarled, "[Arrow Division]!"
Unleashing it at her enemy, the Bael Scion smirked as the single arrow became ten, and then erupted with the Power of Destruction. It was her tweak to the Artificial Sacred Gear. It drew on the magic of the wielder and added the strongest element of that magic to the arrows once division occurred. In her case, Power of Destruction was added, vastly increasing the destructive capabilities of each arrow to something approaching that of a modern human battle tank cannon.
"Raika! (Lightning Flower!)" Chiaki spoke as she dismissed her Sacred Gear and clapped her hands together. Then, she pulled them apart, revealing a ball of lightning which was tossed at the arrows. It exploded on contact with one arrow, scattering the rest all over the antechamber, blowing large holes in the floor and walls with each impact.
"Dammit!" Regalia cursed and turned invisible as her sister drew back the string of her bow yet again.
"Chiaki-chan." Mei spoke up suddenly from where she had been impassively watching the fight, "Finish it."
"Hai, Onee-sama." the [Pawn] replied. Spreading her devil wings, she flew up to the ceiling and clapped her hands together once again before spreading her arms out and creating a magic circle on each of her palms. One created a large ball of flames, while the other created a crackling ball of lightning.
Brining the two balls to the front, Chiaki created a third magic circle aimed at the floor and pointed the two balls of elemental magic at it and threw them in.
"[Arrow Division: Tenfold]!" Roan shouted, the arrow she launched this time becoming a hundred arrows.
"[Greater Underworld Calling]!" Regalia's voice growled, summoning forth two dozen wraiths this time, which silently floated towards Chiaki, who just grinned as three more magic circles appeared in front of the first as she pointed one finger at the first.
"Raika Gōen Kaku! (Lightning-Flash Flame Shell!)" She stated before triggering the spell.
With a roar akin to that of a Behemoth, a mass of fire and lightning erupted from the magic circles, the three in front of the first amplifying and channelling the mass of magic according to Chiaki's will. The arrows and shades were annihilated in a flash as they came into contact with the mass of fire and lightning.
The Terror Twins of the Bael Family had an instant to take in how outclassed they were before they were engulfed by the spell.
Later
Throne Room, Palace of the Maō, Lilith
"Sirzechs." Serafall Leviathan called out as she hurried to the Maō Lucifer's side, "A large spike of magic was just detected in the wastelands near where the old capital used to be."
Sirzechs frowned. "That's odd. Nothing living should be out there yet. The residual magic pollution from the civil war only just started to clear up five years ago. Expansion isn't due to start until next year if the ambient magic level drops enough."
The Maō Leviathan opened her mouth to reply, but the flash of a magic circle opening above them made both Great Devil Kings look up sharply. They dodged out of the way as thirty-one purple spheres fell from the queen-marked magic circle.
Once the spheres slammed onto the ground and stopped rolling, Sirzechs and Serafall moved forward and peered into the nearest sphere, seeing a bloody and unconscious devil sprawled inside.
"These are Mei's [Gravija Spheres]." Serafall muttered, "But who are these people?"
The two powerful devils stopped outside the only sphere to have more than one occupant. Inside, the Terror Twins of the Bael family were sprawled, half naked and covered in wounds. Burns, cuts and bruises covered every visible patch of naked skin and their black hair had been burned to the point that they were left with a pageboy haircut.
A piece of paper fluttered down from the ceiling and landed in Sirzechs' outstretched hand. It was a folded piece of paper that had his little sister's name written on it in Japanese, along with a single sentence in English.
"I'll see you at the games."
"Oh…dear." the Maō Lucifer said lamely as he looked between the battered and beaten Terror Twins and their equally beaten Peerages and the letter in his hand.
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Next Chapter: The Ninth Move: King Walk
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