Jack POV

The day of the rating game had finally arrived. I was with most of my peerage along with Bova, Cynder, Cynthia, and Saphira inside the rating game dimension. Ultear, Kuroka, Le Fay, Ravel, and Lavina had just returned after creating several magic defenses surrounding the castle along with Kiyome who I had ordered earlier to use her sacred gear to create several explosive threads in the forest.

The dimension was a large forest with a few mountains that appeared to be in the distance.

The bases that were being used were two giant medieval castles that each had a giant stone wall and moat surrounding them. The castles were both almost identical the only difference was the color. The castle that I was using was black while Vali's castle was white.

Right now I was inside the castle throne room strategizing with my peerage and Bova, Cynder, Cynthia, and Saphira. We currently had only ten minutes left to strategize.

"We will need to be careful if we are to win against Vali we may have more people than him due to some of Jack's familiars but his servants are strong and they have abilities that can overwhelm us," Yasaka said.

"We also need to decide who will go on the offensive and who will stay behind to guard the castle," Ravel said.

"Out of all of Vali's servants the ones that may be the most difficult to deal with will be Cao Cao, Laxus, and Leonardo which is why I want to focus on having them retired before assembling a team to take Vali's castle," I said.

"So how do you plan on taking them out?" Erza asked.

"Chances are Leonardo will stay at Vali's castle that way he will be better protected and will be able to send countless monsters to attack are base which is why I want Arcee to assemble a small team comprised of whoever she feels is skilled at stealth to retire Leonardo. After she returns with her team I will decide on who should stay to guard the base and who will attack Vali's castle," I said.

"In that case I will take Cynder, Chromia, Kuroka and Ultear," Arcee said.

"Very well then but make sure to remember where Kiyome placed her explosive thread. One more thing, it's hard to say whether or not Laxus will stay behind at Vali's castle so if you should encounter him try and take him out but only do so if you have already retired Leonardo and you think you can defeat him quickly and escape back to base. As for Cao Cao do not worry about him I have a plan to deal with him," I said.

"Understood," Arcee replied.

"Now that's out of the way if I remember the rules correctly my servants can use their familiars correct?"

"Yes but just like you there's a limit albeit a separate limit. The overall number of familiars your servants can summon cannot exceed eight however as I briefly mentioned it's a separate limit so the four familiars you are using doesn't impact them," Yasaka answered.

"Good then we can use Le Fay and Lavina's owls along with Mirajane's dog spirit Alex to monitor the perimeter," I said.

Le Fay, Lavina, and Mirajane summoned their familiars upon hearing my idea.

"My familiar, Final Death Xiezhi, can also be of assistance in surveying the area for enemy movement," Xenovia said.

I had forgotten about Final Death Xiezhi since I hadn't seen him in awhile. He's a black xiezhi that's around the size of a dog who was previously one of the Four Invincible Generals in the Vortex Bunch organization, which me and several members of my harem faced and defeated when we decided to take a vacation a few months after I became a high class devil. He is a being that is said to protect a household, but instead he wanders around travelling. When defending someone, he is said to be a master of defense though his weaknesses is beautiful women which is how he became Xenovia's familiar. Although I'm not sure how strong he really is he is definitely good at being stealthy and if need be he can be use both defensively and offensively.

"In that case Final Death Xiezhi may also assist in surveying the area," I replied.

Upon hearing my reply Xenovia summoned Final Death Xiezhi who joined the recently summoned Alex and the owls. Soon they were ordered by their masters to survey the surrounding the area and left immediately.

"As for the last four familiars I want Yasaka' hydra, Samus's slizzard, Ultear's griffin, and Chromia's colchis bull to act as additional guards," I said.

"Understood," they replied.

"Now then their only one last thing we need to discuss. If I remember correctly celestial spirits don't technically count as familiars which means I can still summon the ones I have despite the familiar limit that was set for the game being now met correct?"

"Yes why do you ask?"

"Let's just say it's part of my plan to deal with Cao Cao and leave it at that," I replied.

"Alright but we should keep in mind that Vali and his peerage are allowed to use up to six familiars and while it is slightly less than us we should be cautious since we don't know what we will be up against we may have to change are strategy if they prove to be a challenge," Yasaka said.

"Ladies and gentlemen the time limit given to Lord Jackson and Lord Vali is now up," the announcer announced plainly.

Jack's Peerage (Please note that all pieces except Xenovia and Ravel are mutated)

Queen: Yasaka

Rook: Mirajane

Rook: Kuroka

Bishop: Ravel

Bishop: Ultear

Knight: Erza

Knight: Xenovia

Pawn: Le Fay

Pawn: Lavina

Pawn: Kiyome

Pawn: Samus

Pawn: Sento Isuzu

Pawn: Arcee

Pawn: Chromia

Pawn: Flareup

—-—-

Vali's Peerage (Please note that all pieces are mutated)

Queen: Cao Cao

Rook: Gogmagog

Rook: Heracles

Bishop: Connla

Bishop: Mystogan

Knight: Arthur

Knight: Tobio

Pawn: Bikou

Pawn: Fenrir

Pawn: Leonardo

Pawn: Perseus (He is a character that is set to appear in Highschool DxD)

Pawn: Dreadwing

Pawn: Skyquake

Pawn: Laxus Dreyar

Pawn: Tien Shinhan