A/N: Greetings my fellow readers. wiErD here and I got another chapter for you.
This would feature the first part of the fight between Phenex and Gremory. I'm not sure if I can fit in three chapters of the fight but if anything happens, it might fall into a two chapter duration of the fight together with some twists that would be bound in the near future.
I was also thinking about the outcome of the fight, whether if I wanted it to end as a lose or win for Rias but meh, whatever floats in my head, I'll write it anyways.
Now let's get the chapter going and started.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in these two stories. All credits belong to their respective owners. Support the official releases.
- The Battle Begins -
The last day of their training has finally ended and everyone geared themselves up to prepare for the upcoming Rating Game that is scheduled to come up in at least a few days after that. Everyone took a bit of a rest the next day after their return from the mountains but still honed their skills as sharp as they can be in order to maintain their full power until the fated day.
Everyone was feeling tense especially for the three since this would be their first time experiencing a real battle between two powerful high-class devils and its servants against each other. Even so, Natsu, Issei and Asia maintained a tough face throughout their nervousness as the time draws near for their battle to begin.
Natsu and Issei had been waiting near the hallway of their house while waiting in front of Asia room as the latter seemed to be the last one who is about to finish her things before heading out. They still have a lot of time to settle down so there's no need to rush.
"So this is it, huh?" Issei trailed off in thought.
"Yeah." Natsu could only nod in response.
"Nervous?"
"Kinda... Facing up against an immortal creature and a demon no less is actually impossible to beat..."
"Well, we have ourselves and the others... Despite being outnumbered, we can still kick their asses no matter how many times they regenerate." Pumping his left fist in determination, Issei let out a confident smirk on his face in which only Natsu grin in return.
"Right... We trained so hard to this very day... We can't let them get in the way without putting up a fight."
Moments later, Asia eventually emerged from her room as she opened the door and revealed her current attire. It was her old priest clothing when she was still a human back then. Seeing her in her old clothes confused the other two.
"You're wearing that?" Natsu asked.
"Y-Yes... Buchou said that we can wear anything that would make us comfortable so..." She paused as he immediately understood of what she was trying to say.
"I see..."
"Are you ready, Asia?" Issei asked.
"Yes... I'm ready." With the three seemingly agreed on heading out to the school grounds, Happy suddenly emerged from Natsu's room with comical teary eyes before sprouting his wings forth to meet the others.
"Naaatttssssuuu!" Without even looking at his direction, the blue Exceed flew and bumped right into the pinkette's chest as he tried to hug him tightly with a distressed look on his face.
"Happy?"
"It's unfair! Why can't I participate in the games?!" He whined before breaking into large sobs that made the others to sweatdrop.
"Well, Buchou was informed to pick one human to the Rating Game as an exception... You can't come along with me since you're not bound to me as my familiar, right?" He reasoned.
"But still..." Before he could even continue, Natsu proceeded in patting his head comfortably as he tried to calm the Exceed down for a moment with a warm smile on his face.
"Tell you what, we could somehow tell Buchou to at least let you watch the match... I hear that the student council guys will be observing this battle. You can always watch me take down this guys, alright." For sure, his suggestion made him slightly happy as his sad expression was instantly replaced with a beaming smile as he flew around in joy.
"Really?! I can get to watch?!"
"Yeah, sure... After all this, I'll treat us a lot of fish."
"AYE! I'm definitely rooting for you, Natsu... Everyone too! Give it your best!" Happy cheered which only lifted their spirits as a result before their usual conversation continued on for a few more minutes until they all went to the school via magic circle.
..
..
..
It didn't take long for them to reach towards the school grounds as the place was darkened in the night, having with little to no light shining the entire place as a result. The moon was at its brightest, sending down its illuminating light towards the dark world. After jumping into their destination, everyone emerged safely from it except for Natsu who had experience a brief wave of nausea bottling up from his body after taking that magical jump together with the others.
His sickness has already gone worse in these past few days.
There's nothing for him to do about it other than enduring it at least from now on.
After getting help from Asia, the three together with the Exceed trudged along the path towards the old school building where the meeting of all club members was supposed to be held together with the plan to come up to counter their enemies movements.
A few minutes passed and the group managed to reach to the club room as they all saw Akeno, Kiba, Koneko and Rias waiting inside. It seems like they came in early than them, seeing that they were all ready and geared up for the match.
"Good evening, everyone... It seems like you three just made it in time." Rias called out in relief.
"Well, we got some things to take care of but we got here okay." Natsu reassured.
"Good... Before we could start, there's just a few things I need to announce before you all..." Rias paused for a moment before clearing her throat to continue her statement.
"... As you can see, this will be our first ever Rating Game against Riser who has more experience in these than me. The odds will be against us since we're also outnumbered in terms of chess completion. But don't let those things weigh you down, we still have our own set of formidable weapons against them. We trained ourselves to the very best and pushed our limits to the very edge to unlock some of our skills to further enhance our arsenal."
"I got something, I've been wanting to use for quite some time now... I can't wait to use it in the battlefield." Issei spoke with confidence.
"Me too..." Natsu added along with his brother.
Rias could only nod in response to their statements before continuing.
"Also, this match will be also observed by my brother who is one of the Four Great Satans that govern Hell..."
"You're brother is a Maou?!" Natsu and Issei stuttered in surprise.
"I forgot to tell you, didn't I? Sorry about that, I guess we haven't got the time to discuss while we're training... Also, Sona and Tsubaki will also act as spectators to observe the match just in case anything went wrong on the system." As she said that, the doors suddenly opened, revealing the mentioned two girls who the same anticipation on their faces.
"Excuse us..." Sona bowed along with her queen.
"Good evening, Sona... We were just talking about you." Rias greeted.
"Good evening, Rias... I suppose they would know that we're acting as spectators of this match."
"That seems like it."
"By the way, there's also someone who will also watch the match aside from Sirzechs-sama..." She informed which somehow made the crimson-haired devil to tilt her head in confusion.
"Who?"
"Ajuka Beelzebub." After stating that name, some of the other old members of the peerage together with Rias widened their eyes in surprise.
"Ajuka-sama?!" Akeno stammered.
"Yes... Apparently, he came here in curiosity of the human that is brought here in exception to participate in the games. After all, this was the first time a human is sent out to participate in the Rating Game. Surely, that would also raise attention to the other devils as well." Sona explained.
"I see... Have they said anything about him?" Rias asked.
"No... Not at the moment. Not until they get to see him battle against Phenex then it would probably give them opinions towards that boy afterwards. Nevertheless, I think they will not try to pry in further to the subject. The presence of a human in the Rating Game and the showdown between two great pillars are mostly likely the reason why he and the other devils are watching." She reasoned.
"Then I suppose there's nothing we could do about it... For now, there's a battle worth winning for."
"I know... Best of luck to you, Rias."
"Thank you, Sona..." But as they were about to part ways, Natsu turned in to speak towards the short black-haired girl, prompting her to turn around in curiosity.
"Excuse me..." Natsu called out.
"What is it?"
"Can he join in the spectating too? I mean, I just want a favor that he could watch out battle from here since he can't join along with me." He carried the blue Exceed in his arms in which Sona gazed at it for a moment before closing her eyes in content while fixing her glasses for a moment.
"It's not that of a big deal... Sure, he can watch." She replied which made the two smile as Happy flew over to her before giving his last glance towards Natsu.
"Good luck, Natsu... Show 'em what you're really made of!"
"Leave it to me, Happy."
After giving themselves a nod, the three eventually headed off the room, leaving the Occult Research Club members alone in the dark room once more. With a minute ticking down to the start of their fight, everyone waited as the time ticked into its last seconds. It didn't take long as the timer clicked into its final countdown as the group soon began to feel some sort of heavy feeling, seeing that the match has finally started.
It was only felt for a brief amount of time until it vanished completely, causing the others to ask in confusion.
"What just happened?"
"We're transported through the battlefield where the Rating Game was held." Rias answered.
"But... we're still in school."
"Well, we are but technically, not at the same time." She began to stand up from her desk before opening the window beside her and revealed the outside to the other three.
The skies itself were lit with many illuminating colors, unlike from what they see at night. At first, they mistook it as auroras but the distortion seen towards it made them realize that they were in some sort of barrier. Other than that, the rest of the school seemed to be intact and left unchanged during the initiation of the match.
"As you can see... This is a different space dimension which teleported us and simply made a replica of our school as well."
"You mean, they used the school as the battleground?" Issei asked doubtfully.
"Yes... The Rating Games are decided by the organizers who happens to be also watching this fight... We should be fortunate that they used this instead of something else." Rias explained.
"Well, that explains it..."
"In any case, we should formulate our own strategy by now... Akeno, I want you to set up a barrier at the forest just in case some of Riser's pawns tried to sneak up into our base. We also need to set up traps somewhere nearby to slow them down. Kiba will take stage on the forest to act as a guardian. Also, bring out all your familiars and set them to strategic locations for reconnaissance of the enemy's movements..." She paused as she took out her bat familiar along with the others and sent them out to scout different locations.
"... Riser will likely send his underlings first rather than bringing out his strongest units in the course of the battle... He's underestimating me and we all think that it's one thing that will let his guard down when facing against us. We should use this opportunity and bring out the best of our abilities to knock him out."
"Yes, Buchou..." Everyone nodded in response.
"Our first target would be this gym at the center of the battlefield. In every battle, one side must take the center in order to gain advantage... We'll going to secure it and if we're met with resistance, we will respond in the same manner. Koneko, Issei and Natsu will be the ones attacking this place. Asia will stay with me in the meantime since she can't fight alone... The objective is to secure the place, there's no need for us to get rid of the enemies once you defeated them. Whatever you do, don't engage them until they attacked first."
"Why?" Natsu asked.
"We need to save up our energy for the other enemies to come... Riser has a complete set of his pieces and we cannot risk anyone getting exhausted and ambushed at the same time. We all need to take turns of whoever needs to rest."
"Good point..."
"I think that's all for the plan on this battle... We should start soon."
"Yes..." As the group prepared themselves downstairs, except for Asia who is ordered to stay with the president, Rias called out to Issei for something she wanted to mention beforehand.
"Issei..."
"Yes, Buchou..." Said brunet turned around in confusion.
"Please sit in my lap for a moment." She offered which somehow got the Boosted Gear holder to suddenly widen his eyes in response.
"I-Is it okay?!" He asked in which Rias smiled in response. In a brief moment, something perverted just came out from the brunet's mind as he laid his head down to her lap, feeling the tender soft skin of the redhead which only made him fantasize even more erotic scenes that he could think of. Thanks to that, his face was an obvious give-away as Asia puffed out in irritation as his perversion while Rias didn't mind a single bit before doing her thing for him.
"This is going to feel weird for a moment... Endure it for now." After saying that, she slowly lifted her hand just right above his head before a heavy feeling crept up to Issei's body almost instantly as he could feel a sudden surge of power coursing through him. It's as if his powers has suddenly doubled after feeling that sensation.
"W-What was that?"
"I simply released one of the seals I placed onto you in order to keep some of the dragon's powers in check..."
"Dragon powers? You mean the Boosted Gear?" Rias could only nod.
"That's right... The moment you were resurrected, your current body cannot hold much of the Boosted Gear's powers altogether. That's why I placed some seals on your body in order to maintain it. Now that you've improve your strength, I think you're more than enough to take a significant portion of the dragon's powers... Use them wisely."
"Yes, Buchou..."
"But don't forget... the true potential of the Sacred Gear will be achieved if the will of the user is strong... I'm sure you'll be able to use it also in this fight... Believe in your strength, Issei and that will be the key to our victory."
"Of course... I won't let you down, Buchou."
"That's good... Now show them what Gremory is really made of."
"YES!"
..
..
A few minutes later... (Near the gym...)
Both Koneko and Natsu had been standing right in front of the gym entrance as Issei came into view behind them after being called back by Rias to do something before heading out. So far, there hasn't been any movement going on around the place as the very building itself hasn't got anything suspicious at the moment but Natsu could smell the danger in the air as he kept his guard while Koneko readied her gloves for combat.
"What took you so long? We're about to head in without you..." Natsu asked in curiosity.
"Got something to take care of with Buchou... I'm all up and ready." Issei replied before using his Boosted Gear on his left hand that soon charged up into one boost.
"Hope it was worth it..."
"We're going in..." Koneko butted in as she punched the doors open, causing it to break loose from its hinges and fell down as a result. The two sweatdropped in response as they look at the white-haired junior with shocked faces.
"Why break the door? Aren't we going to sneak in?" Issei asked.
"The enemy's already here... There's no point in hiding." She replied as she headed inside which soon followed by the two as they found the interior to be quite empty and dark since the light wasn't turned on at the moment.
.
.
After a few moments of walking inside, Natsu immediately caught wind of multiple unknown scents coming from the other side as he summoned his flames in response which soon got the other two to raise their guard before gazing over to the opposite end of the gym. Soon afterwards, four silhouette figures made their way inside as the lights soon lit up the entire gym, revealing the mysterious intruders in the process.
Four girls revealed themselves in front of the three as one of them wore a Chinese costume, specifically a navy blue qipao. She had a shoulder-length black hair accompanied by blue-green eyes. A pair of Chinese buns are seen on both sides of the air and a white sash is wrapped on her stomach. Another is a pair of young twins, seemingly with the same turquoise hair color which is also both tied into identical ribbons on the same side of their hair. One disturbing feature is that they both carry a pair of chainsaws in their hands which soon ruins the character that Natsu and Issei first portrayed them to be.
And lastly was the same girl who had fought against Issei in their first meeting. The same girl who still has her staff in her hands, wearing a white haori which is worn under a red happi coat. Multiple bandages were seen on her arms that also reaches towards her forearms and shins. Four short pony tails are seen on her blue hair as they made towards the center with anticipation.
"We meet again, Rias's servants..." Mira announced.
"How unfortunate for you but this place is under our control already... If you want to take it, then come and fight us." The Chinese girl replied with her fists up and ready.
"Even the rumored human is also here... I wonder what can he do in this fight." One of the twins perked up in curiosity while also starting their chainsaws as they whirred loudly into the air.
"Don't underestimate them, Ile, Nel... That boy managed to stand up on his own against Mira." The Chinese girl warned before looking back to the trio.
"...I suppose we haven't introduced ourselves... I'm Xuelan. Riser-sama's rook." She declared.
"Mira... Pawn."
"Ile... Nel... Pawn!" The twins replied merrily.
On the other hand, the trio also returned the same favor.
"Toujo Koneko... Rias' rook..."
"Hyoudou Issei... Pawn!"
"Natsu Dragneel... Eh... I dunno what to call myself... A human, I guess?" He scratched his head sheepishly. The others looked at him with blank looks.
"... What?"
.
.
"Anyways, let's get this started... we don't want Riser-sama waiting around for his wedding so we'll have to finish you all here right now." The four declared before they started onto their battle stances in which the trio also did the same.
"Tsk... Deciding the match when they still haven't fought against us... These girls are sure as cocky as their master." Natsu clicked his tongue in irritation.
"In any case, we should take them out and prove them wrong... I still have a score to settle with that woman." Issei shifted his gaze towards the bluenette with a confident smirk.
"Let's go..." Koneko spoke blankly as she charged ahead of them and engaged with Xuelan without a moment's notice, leaving the two to deal with the three other pawns in front of them.
"I'll take you on, Rias' pawn!" Mira declared as she pushed Issei away with her staff while Natsu was left to dealing with twins who on the other hand, whirred their chainsaws even louder to show its deadly potential towards him.
"We'll cut you down, human..." Ile beamed.
"You shouldn't meddle yourself in the affairs of the devils!" Nel proceeded to charge towards him with a chainsaw in hand as she tried to swipe it down on his head until she was stopped as Natsu easily stopped the chainsaw with his bare hands which also stopped the chain from spinning in the process. Both twins widened their eyes in surprise at the situation as Nel backed away for a bit while holding onto her weapon as Natsu stood there unmoving for a second until he slowly moved into a battle stance before flames spewed out from his fingers and not before long revealing his confident grin towards them.
"I'm all fired up... Come at me with all you've got!" He declared.
Taunting them however, only fueled their growing anger towards the pinkette as the twins whirred their chainsaws again before charging towards him without stopping.
"Don't make light of us!"
..
..
..
Meanwhile, Koneko and Xuelan have both went into a hard fist-to-fist combat as both rooks traded huge blows and punches right unto each other without holding back. The forces of their attacks created miniature shockwaves, especially when their small fists collided with each other. Both of them shared injuries and pain as some of their punches managed to connect to each other's body but still maintaining their composure, seeing that they both possessed great offense and defense.
"You fight pretty well, Rias' rook... However, you should know by now that you're facing against a Phenex... Our immortality granted us advantage over your pathetic servants..." Xuelan boasted.
"Shut up and fight... Riser's rook." Koneko answered with a blank tone as she nailed a right fist onto the girl's face, staggering her for a moment until she tried to counter her with a left hook.
Koneko had enough time to dodge the incoming strike as she leaned down for a moment as the hook barely went past her face but the force of the attack, created an invisible gale that somehow ripped her uniform in half, revealing her undergarments as a result.
Leaping away to recover, Koneko showed no signs of embarrassment at the moment and simply disregarded her torn clothes before turning her attention again towards Xuelan with the same blank expression.
"This is nothing..."She muttered.
"Heh, let's see if you can still say that for that long." Xuelan mocked before raising her fist again to fight.
.
.
It was not long until Issei managed to get a glimpse of the situation between them and could only drool in response after seeing her near nude form, causing her to blush.
"Pervert..." Koneko hissed.
"I wasn't looking!" He poorly defended himself but his face could clearly see the truth.
"Focus on the fight!" It was then another voice resounded from behind as Issei narrowly dodged an incoming strike towards him before looking at Mira who had her staff with her as her weapon against her.
"Man, that was close..." Issei panted in relief.
"It seems like your master had trained you very well... Even after taking some of my attacks, you were still able to stand." Mira remarked.
"Well, I didn't waste my time moping over my loss... I've trained myself to defeat you and your master in this match..." Issei retorted before another boost resounded from his gauntlet.
"Only a fool would go against Riser-sama... There's no devil on this world that could outmatch him."
"We'll see about that..."
"Enough of this ramble... I'll finish you once and for all."
"Same here..."
The two contenders dashed right towards each other once more as Mira overpowers Issei in terms of speed and agility. Fortunately, he was able to stand up on his own and take several hits from her staff before trying to counter her with wide swings from his gauntlet in which she easily dodged in the process.
"Damn it!" Issei cursed as his attacks doesn't seem to catch up to her speed.
[Boost!]
"You're too slow!" Mira managed to send another bone-cracking thrust on his back that made the brunet to stumble forward but not long before he recovered as his gauntlet finally finished it charge.
[Boost!]
[Explosion!]
"Even if you managed to use that, you won't be able to attack me with the sloppy movements of yours." Mira mocked.
"Let's see..."
But before they could even continue, a voice resounded from above as the announcer soon began to call out the first elimination of devils.
"Riser-sama's two pawns have retired from the battlefield." Everyone gazed at the other parts of the gym and they saw Natsu standing triumphantly with scorches and burns surrounding his vicinity before dusting his clothes off as he placed a thumbs-up to his teammates. Xuelan and Mira, on the other hand were simply surprised at the sudden change of events.
The pinkette was able to defeat two of their pawns without breaking much of a sweat. Even Issei and Koneko took caution at the scene, seeing that he easily dealt his opponents without even trying.
"W-What the?" Mira stammered in surprise which resulted her to lower her guard, giving the brunet the opportunity to strike back.
"An opening!" In an instant, Issei tapped Mira's shoulder as a small magical circle appeared on the area where he placed his hand. He also proceeded in charging towards Xuelan without warning and shoved her back with the same manner as a magic symbol appeared onto their bodies.
"What are you trying to do?" Koneko asked.
"Behold! The secret technique that I've developed over the past few days of training! A power to defeat opponents like you!" He turned one last glance towards the two remaining enemies before closing his eyes to image his spell.
..
"Dress... Break!"
..
Snapping his fingers together, both clothes of the two girls suddenly got torn apart, causing them to kneel down in humiliation as they tried covering their exposed parts and other private sectors of their bodies. A huge blush went towards the two before being followed by a loud irritating shriek.
"Kyaaaaa!"
Koneko turned on the brunet in disgust while Natsu looked at him with a blank expression.
"Disgusting pervert..." Koneko hissed.
"O-Oi... What's this spell you just casted?"
"A power against women! I've been developing this spell back at the training camp using Asia's help to perfect it!"
"Hey! You're using her as a training dummy?!"
"Yeah... Why?"
"No wonder she always had that red face whenever she comes back in the house at night..." Natsu realized. "But still, I can't believe you would use her to do something like that... Are you mad? It's her we're talking about here!" He glared in irritation.
"Save your scolding for later. I have to save these images into my head right now." He looked at the other naked two with a perverted look.
"Enemy of woman!"
"Lecher!"
"I have to agree on those two as well." Natsu replied.
Before they could even continue, a voice was heard from their ears as Rias began to ask their situation.
"Koneko, Issei, Natsu... Get out of there now... Akeno is preparing to initiate her spell. Make sure to get a safe distance and flee from the scene..." A couple of nods went afterwards as the three hastily sprinted outside and set aside their arguments for the time being, leaving the remaining two confused at their actions.
Moments later, they made it outside but it was not long until a large lightning strike went down from above which instantly destroyed the entire gymnasium, leaving only a pile of burning debris as the trio looked at the sky and saw Akeno successfully bringing down her spell just in time.
"Riser-sama's pawn and rook retired from the battlefield."
Everyone could only watch as Akeno slightly licked her mouth in enjoyment of her actions as her sadistic nature simply covered her whole personality in an instant. Natsu and Issei could feel a shiver of fright running through their spines as she casted a somewhat seductive glance over to the group.
"Take..." She said.
.
.
On the other hand, spectators began to evaluate of the actions done by Rias as the battle progresses to the center stage. Sona had her hands placed below her chin with a deep thought while Tsubaki stood firmly beside her like a loyal knight. Happy was the only other spectator to be granted the access to watch the match without having any affiliations.
"Destroying a strategic position which rendered both sides to unable to secure, huh? Quite a bold move." Sona deduced.
"Why is that?" Happy asked.
"Probably she wanted to take it as a bait to lure out Riser's servants... Also, destroying it will prevent them from getting any advantages to each other so they'll have to rely on different position to take the other down." She explained.
"Heeeh..." Happy drawled confusingly.
"In any case, the real fight has just begun."
.
.
Going back to the trio, Natsu and the others watched as the gym collapsed altogether due to the lightning strike that also generated a large explosion in the process. It seems like they just got out in time before Akeno could even initiate her lightning spell towards it.
"We made it out somehow." Issei took some huge breaths for a moment as the others regained their composure and returned back to the situation at hand.
"Yeah..." Koneko nodded.
"Now what?" Natsu asked.
"For now, take position near the destroyed gym and wait for orders... We'll have to wait Riser to make his move before we could act out again. Hopefully, that would send a bit of a caution to him now that we successfully defeated some of his servants... Kiba will be joining you soon and if nothing happens, I'll send the four of you together with Akeno to the field for a full-scale attack." Rias explained.
"Yes, Buchou..." Everyone nodded in response.
As soon as her voice signed out to their ears, Natsu and the others breath a sigh of relief as they settled themselves to the ground for a moment, checking their statuses as of now.
"You alright?" Natsu asked the white-haired girl beside him who had her arms covering her exposed undergarments due her fight against Xuelan earlier.
"Fine... This is nothing."
"Are you gonna keep up fighting like that?" Issei turned to ask which only made Koneko to suddenly raised her guard in defense.
"I hate perverts." She muttered with a displeased tone before standing up and tried to walk away. Natsu and Issei could only look at each other for a moment before looking back at the fleeing girl.
"Did I do something wrong again?" Issei asked.
"It's because you were thinking something lecherous to her... That's what." Natsu deadpanned.
"I didn't think anything yet... I just asked!" He protested. Natsu sighed at his reponse.
"Anyway, I'll go talk to her about it." The pinkette stood up from his seat and went after her, leaving the brunet together with Akeno who had just descended down to the ground moments later.
.
.
Natsu slightly paced faster to catch up to Koneko as he neared to her in just a few seconds.
"Hey, Koneko... Listen, I'd just like to talk about-" But just as he was about to finish, a large purple circle appeared above their heads as a magic symbol glowed underneath them, shocking Koneko in the process.
In an instant, she glanced back to Natsu who was surprised as well and tried to tackle him away from the circle itself.
"A bomb!" She shouted.
However, before anyone could even react, the magic symbol glowed in bright light until it resulted into a massive explosion that caught both the pinkette and the white-haired girl in the vicinity, resulting them to be caught in the blast. Akeno and Issei stared in shock as the blast detonated just moment before they could even realize it's a trap and were left distraught as two of their friends were engulfed in the massive explosion just now.
The blast generated multiple gales that blew the ground together with the two as they held their footing from it.
"Natsu! Koneko!"
"What happened?! Issei... Akeno... Answer me!" Rias tried to contact the other two but they were left speechless and powerless to speak as Natsu and Koneko were simply engulfed into the explosion.
It was not until then, another figure made her appearance to the group as Akeno glared in anger towards her with lightning sparks emitting from her very hands after seeing the person responsible for the blast.
"Yubelluna!"
Said woman floated above the skies with her staff at hand, adorning her work of eliminating her enemies with her spell.
"You bitch! I won't forgive you!" Issei shouted in anger as his gauntlet began to charge up once more
[Boost!]
"Fufu... Take." She responded with a condescending tone before looking back to the fiery explosion once again. "It seems like you had your share of causing trouble to my master so I had to return the favor."
Akeno and Issei simply narrowed their gazes towards her with caution as the fight seemed to have continued once more.
..
..
SLURP* SLURP*
In the midst of the commotion, a slurping sound was soon heard from the explosion itself as the people around it turned around in confusion towards it before witnessing the fires beginning to spiral around into the center like some sort of a blackhole. It didn't take long for them to recognize what was happening until their eyes fell into shock and surprise as they saw Natsu absorbing the blast into his mouth, easily negating the effects of the explosion to them seeing that he didn't sustain any damage from it.
What's even more surprising is that he had Koneko buried into his chest with his arms wrapped around her to protect themselves from the blast itself. Even Koneko was surprised as well, seeing she was unable to process of what just happened.
A smirk went on its way on Natsu's face as he looked at the shocked purple-haired queen with a smug look.
"Woooh... Almost made it in time... I got to admit, it was pretty close back there. If I hadn't been faster, then we would all have been engulfed into the explosion." He patted his stomach for a moment. "Thanks for the meal, by the way."
"M-Meal, you say?" Yubelluna stuttered in surprise. The others looked at him with mystified looks.
"Takes some little time to use this power of mine but it seems like it's not just the immunity I get from it, I also get to use it to strengthen my power." Putting down Koneko beside him, the pinkette clashed both his fists together as flames began to erupt throughout his body, surging a lot of magical pressure around him which is felt by everyone.
"Tsk... Then, I'll just get rid of all of you at once." Yubelluna tried to point her staff at Natsu until a lightning strike went through her hand, causing her spell to deflect it trajectory as Akeno managed to avert her attention away from him.
"Your opponent is me, Bomb Queen..." Akeno declared.
"Hoh, I've always wanted to fight the Priestess of Lightning. How interesting."
"Natsu... Get everyone and meet with Kiba right now... I'll take her on myself." Akeno spoke as she glanced to the other three who for a moment, hesitated first but ultimately nodded at her suggestion as they all sprinted off away from the scene in order to avoid the big fight between queens. Issei and Koneko bid their good luck on the black-haired girl as Natsu was the only one left within the group.
He's still worried about Akeno no matter how powerful she is... Something tells him that these servants had something on their sleeves to make them so confident in this fight. Well, it's also a given to them now that everyone knew of his power. Any fire attack won't hurt him and would also try to use it against them and replenish his strength as well.
"Akeno..." He called out. Said girl turned briefly at him as their eyes met each other. "Go kick her ass!"
"You don't have to remind me at that." She smiled as they both nodded and eventually went into their separate ways as Akeno faced Yubelluna with determination written on her face.
"Shall we start this fight then?"
Both lightning and exploding magics surrounded the two as they began to engage against each other in a giant firefight between strongest pieces of their respective households.
A/N: And that's a stop. There's the first phase of the battle between Riser and Rias. Hope ya like it. Phase two would probably feature more fight scenes and powerups as well.
As always, leave a comment and tell me what you think.
Thanks again for the support you've been all giving to me while also waiting patiently on the updates. It really makes me happy and motivated at the same time.
Well, that's all for now. Let's see each other again on the next chapter.
- wiErD SpeCtrumz blacking out... ... ...