File 28: The Leviathan Peerage
-Two weeks later-
Two weeks.
They have been given two weeks to train and prepare for the Rating Game as some sort of kind gesture because the Leviathan peerage are incomplete and inexperienced. Honestly, it's all just posturing. Two weeks wouldn't be enough for an incomplete rookie peerage to train to a level that they can beat a complete and experienced peerage. Both houses and whoever backed up the idea expected Ingvild to lose. It's only natural.
Well the game is on. If they're given two weeks then so be it. Ingvild will use that time to her advantage regardless whether she need it or not, and use it she did. For one and a half week, she and her peerage trained in their usual training area in the underworld and return to Kuoh just two days before the Rating Game in order to rest.
It was close to midnight and most of the peerage are sleeping in their room after their intense training regiments that Ingvild made them all do, including herself. They came back sore all over so she gave them all a day off from doing contracts. In fact, they won't be doing any contracts until after the Rating Game. Of course, daily patrol is mandatory so she left it Sona Sitri's peerage, especially after she heard that Sona got a new piece.
Ingvild herself though is still awake, watching video feeds of Riser's previous matches on her laptop. She managed to get the feeds from Serafall and now she's using it to get a feel on how Riser fight with his peerage. What she saw is enough to give her a good idea of how the enemy peerage fight.
The peerage itself doesn't look impressive. Riser's peerage comprised of females with exotic and diverse looks and personality. She dares bet ten thousand dollars that he picked them just to make a harem. Well at least he treated them decently enough. From the way the peerage fights, there is a semblance of unity and teamwork, especially when the peerage received an addition in the form of Ravel Phenex, Riser's own little sister.
It is an unusual but not exactly unheard practice. A younger member of a family would enter the peerage of an older family member in order to learn how to manage and command a peerage. It allows the younger devil to gain experience by observing and sometimes commanding their elder's peerage. But Ingvild didn't expect Riser to be someone who would indulge his sister in such a thing and according to Rias, Ravel is not the type to ask her sibling for such favor. Not that it matters to her anyway.
"Let's see. Riser usually would send the pawns in first to both act as scout to gain promotion. Once the pawns have done their job, then the second wave of fighters will come in to pick out their enemies one by one. The Queen is kept in reserve until they find an enemy that needed extra firepower to take down or to keep the enemy's strongest piece in check if they have prior information. If the Queen still lack the power to takedown the enemy, Riser will personally deal with the opponent. That's generally how they go about their battles and Riser usually gave them free reign. But with Ravel's addition, the peerage began to adopt more specific tactics under Ravel's command and became even more organized."
Ingvild summarized her observation. It is surprisingly a solid team. Not as solid as hers but solid enough for her to tell that Riser does actually put some work on them and that they are actually close. She could tell by their look that despite being a prick and a proud pureblood, he's not a total asshole like the elders. She could accept that. She had seen devils who treated their peerage badly like literal slaves or toys. The eyes of the girls in Riser's peerage surprisingly doesn't have the same disturbing look as in say, Diodora Astaroth's peerage.
"For that much I will give them a proper fight they deserve."
The King muttered as she brought a mug of coffee to her lips, savoring the bitter liquid inside. Caffeine has always been a close companion of hers in some sleepless nights to keep her human side awake, though her brew must be specialized since normal caffeine would do nothing thanks to her devil side.
"He has a complete peerage. Eight pawns, two bishops, two knights, two rooks, and a queen. The most troublesome would be Ravel and the queen, Yubelluna, outside of Riser himself. The others are capable pieces but… this is speaking only about Rating Games."
Ingvild had a thoughtful look as she watched several videos showing the individual capabilities of Riser's peerage. What she saw is interesting and it made her revise some of her plans. She has several already, and what she uses depends on whether she wanted to play nice or not. Either way, the Rating Game will be the simplest battle then and nothing Riser does will change the outcome.
No, what occupies her mind is the other 'game', the one that matters. She needed to think carefully on what she wanted to do, what statement she wanted to make. The Rating Game is Rias and her peerage's battle anyway. But the 'game' is hers to play. What card should she use this time around? What consequences will each move make? She has two days to decide.
-Day of the Rating Game-
"Is everyone ready? It's ten minutes before the match."
Everyone stood up after Grayfia called them. Ingvild had chosen what she wanted to do and her peerage is ready to carry out her order. Grayfia 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."
Everyone nodded, showing that they understood Grayfia's explanation. Satisfied at their response, Grayfia continued.
"This 'Rating Game' battle will also be viewed by members of both households from a different location by broadcast. Also, the Maou Lucifer-sama as well as Leviathan-sama will also be viewing this battle. Please do not forget about it."
Like they could ever forget. Rias is the Maou Lucifer's younger sister while Ingvild is the Maou Leviathan's adopted daughter. It is only natural that those two will be watching, especially since every each one of them knew those two Maou personally. But left unsaid is of course the unofficial spectators. The real audience of this Rating Game.
"Also once you get transported, you cannot use the magic circle until the game ends. With that said, good luck, ojou-sama, Ingvild-sama."
Grayfia bowed as the transportation magic circle glowed, ready to take them to the Rating Game field. Everyone nodded to each other, knowing what their roles are. The magic circle then engulfed them, taking them to the battlefield.
When they reappear, they found themselves situated in a familiar room, their very own clubroom. But despite the familiar sight, Yuuto, Shirone and Gasper prepares to fight. Meanwhile, the King walk to her chair and sat on it, turning it backward until it faces away from the desk and towards the window showing her the outside scenery with her Queen beside her while the senior Rook took her usual spot on one of the sofa.
[Hello everyone. I am Grayfia, a maid from the Gremory household. Today I will be the arbiter of the Rating match between the Gremory household and the Phoenix household.]
The peerage heard Grayfia's voice through the school's broadcast system. Normally, any student would be surprised when hearing an unfamiliar voice using the school's broadcast system. But that is not the case in this moment because they know that other than Riser's peerage and themselves, there are nobody else in the 'school ground'.
[In the name of my master, Sirzechs Lucifer, I will be keeping my eye on this match. By using both Ingvild-sama and Riser-sama's opinion we created this battlefield. The battlefield for this match is a replica of the school Ingvild-sama attends to, the Kuoh Academy.]
That's right, the school is a replica of their real school made inside a pocket dimension utilized for Rating Games. As mentioned by Grayfia earlier, Rating Games utilize a pocket dimension that can replicate various locations where Peerages can duke it out without fear of causing massive collateral damage on earth which would draw unwanted attentions.
[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.}
"Everyone please put the transceiver in your ears."
Ingvild told them as they all put on an earphone type transceiver Ingvild distributed earlier. In the battlefield they will be using the device to communicate with each other.
[Now it's the time for the commencement of the battle. Now this match will continue till dawn in the humans time. Then, Game start.]
The moment Grayfia finished her announcement, the school bell rang, and along with it, the Rating Game starts. The moment it started, Ingvild doesn't need to issue her order as her peerage already move. Yuuto and Shirone walk out the door while Gasper transformed into bats and flew out the window Ingvild opened for him.
"Right, everyone already knew their role so let's do this. We'll give Riser a game he will never forget."
Every member of the Leviathan peerage smiled, fully prepared to carry out Ingvild's order. It is time for Ingvild to make a statement.
After watching Riser's battles, she knew that his first move will be to send his pawns to scout ahead and reach the enemy base in order to trigger promotion. He has eight pawns and all of them are physical fighters. They will come here eventually and she only need to wait for them. When they come, her knight and rook will be there to meet them and Riser will find that she's not a conventional enemy.
On the floor below, the knight and younger rook of the Leviathan peerage are slowly walking out from the old school building as if they are just strolling, and they do look like they are strolling as Yuuto and Shirone don't look any different from usual. They are not carrying anything on them remotely resembling a weapon. It's like they don't even think that they're in the middle of the battlefield.
When the two exited the old school building where their clubhouse is, the two of them took position at both sides of the front door, leaning on the building as they wait. Shirone standing on the left side while Yuuto standing on the right side. Shirone even use this waiting period where the Phenex peerage is likely still planning to eat a dorayaki she hid inside her pocket.
"You know, I had thought that Ingvild-sama and Rias-san would want to fight this whole game by themselves. Ingvild-sama certainly thought about it. When they show that they can win against a complete peerage and against an experienced Rating Game player, many people will be forced to acknowledge Ingvild-sama's strength. But I guess the plan changed."
Yuuto struck up a conversation with Shirone to pass the time. As he had said, originally, Ingvild thought about going out with only Rias by her side and massacre Riser's peerage with a combination attack they have been practicing. She said that it will leave a strong impact if they can win the game with just the two of them. But she changed her mind and instead go with their current strategy. Yuuto doesn't mind the change in strategy. It just means that he can show the result of their two weeks long training where the rest of the peerage battled against Ingvild and Rias.
When it comes to training, Ingvild like to go over-the-top, especially after her lost against Sairaorg Bael. It's not a particularly terrible lost compared to anyone else that went against Sairaorg but it made Ingvild fired up and it certainly showed in their training regiments. She would push them all hard and herself even harder. Yuuto is glad that they now have an earlier chance to show that the effort their King put into them is not a waste.
"…they're here."
As usual, Shirone is a girl of few words. But when she speaks, it is best to listen. Like Shirone said, Yuuto can see movements from up ahead. The Phenex peerage have arrived, four of them. One is a brown haired girl dressed in maid outfit. Another is a dark skinned girl dressed in what looks like a sexy dancer outfit. The last two in the first wave are twin girls wearing gym uniform carrying chainsaws.
Yuuto had to admit that Ingvild is right. The peerage is filled with a fetishist's dream. Those outfits don't look like something someone should wear in combat. Not that they can argue much since they are wearing their school uniform in battle but it is still much better than what those girls are wearing, except for one of them anyway.
Although according to Ingvild and Rias who had travelled a lot before, they would see fighters with even more bizarre outfit from time to time if they go out enough. Considering that one of their Maou fights while wearing a magical girl costume, Yuuto unfortunately couldn't disagree with her statement.
"According to the data we have, those four would be the enemy pawns. The maid is Marion, the tanned one is Shuriya, and the gym twins are Ile and Nel. Let's give them a greeting."
Shirone nodded. The white haired girl then leaped into the air and create a magic circle as platform so she can launch herself towards their enemies. Launching straight towards the pawns in supersonic speed thanks to her immense leg power, Shirone punched the ground with her bare fist. The Phenex pawns disperse in order to dodge her preemptive attack but when Shirone's fist connects with the ground, the land exploded, as in everything in seventy meters radius exploded, sending powerful shockwave that prevented the pawns from landing on their feet as well as blowing them away.
This is Toujou Shirone, the White Rook of the Leviathan peerage, their hand-to-hand combat expert. Despite her small size, she packed a lot of punch that makes her an extremely strong physical fighter. Her fist not only enhanced by her rook trait but also by ki control and senjustsu that she had only started touching upon could shatter earth and split rivers and she still has more untapped potential that she's only starting to figure out due to her young age.
"It looks like Shirone is getting serious from the beginning. Then I can't afford to lose."
Yuuto declared. He then thrust his right hand forward as if he is commanding a charge. At that moment, around forty magic circles appear in the air behind him spread in a wide area. On the magic circles, demonic swords began to appear. Swords of various elements from fire to earth to lightning appear and looks ready to be used in battle.
"Sword Birth Full Barrel, open fire!"
On his commands, all swords are launched at high velocity like bullets from the magic circles. Yuuto smirked as his swords all hit his targets who are too late to dodge the barrage. They're not out of the competition yet as he still has to perfect his aim but with their injuries, they won't be able to evade his follow-up attack. Creating a sword in his hand, Yuuto dashed forward in at great speed, followed by Shirone who came from behind them.
With speed they couldn't follow, Shirone punched Shuriya hard enough that she was launched into Ile and they would've crashed through the whole old school building if not for a barrier of water stopping them and causing an immense impact damage.
"Shirone, try to not destroy the building we're in while fighting, please."
Kuroka chided from the communicator, making Shirone's face redden in embarrassment. Meanwhile, Yuuto slashed the remaining two pawn in a speed even greater than what Shirone showed that the pawns didn't even realized that they have been eliminated.
Kiba Yuuto, the Knight of Leviathan. He possess a sacred gear called Sword Birth, a sacred gear that allows him to create demonic swords. Originally, he can only make several swords in the vicinity of his hand in order to wield them and he used this ability to great effect, combining his skill with a sword and the speed trait of a knight to blitz enemies, damaging them immensely by switching between elemental swords that his opponent is weak to. But Ingvild saw that this is only a limited use of his ability, making him predictable as he fights like a typical knight.
His Full Barrel is a new technique Kuroka and Rias helped develop in order to give him ranged option as well as making him a formidable opponent able to rain down swords. To reach that stage though is not easy. He was made to train his magic very hard as well as his body in order to make him an all-rounder. But seeing the effectiveness of his Full Barrel made all his efforts and pain worth it. He's even thinking to train some more until he can expand his barrel limit to a hundred at least.
[Riser Phenex-sama four pawns retired.]
Grayfia announced as the four fallen pawns are teleported out from the battlefield. Shirone and Yuuto smiled at each other. Four more pawns left. But defeating them won't be their job. With the pawns defeated easily, Riser will definitely send the other pieces out now. Those are their next targets. Without even looking back, Shirone and Yuuto head out.
Once the two of them are out of sight, the remaining four pawns showed themselves, hiding behind the trees in the woods close to the old school building. They are surprised that those two didn't keep defending their position and even left the door wide open despite their King being inside.
"This is definitely a trap."
Mira, one of the pawns wielding a staff, stated what is in all their mind.
"Yes but with those two gone they would only have the other rook and bishop left along with the queen. And the rest will join us after defeating those two. If we promote to queen then we can at least hold them off until reinforcement arrive or we beat them."
Another pawn said, another maid girl called Burent.
"It's no use thinking about it. They left their base wide open so let's just rush them!"
A nekomata girl wearing sailor uniform said. Her twin nodded beside her. Seeing that they're going to charge in anyway because they're certainly not going to do anything else, the pawns jump out from the trees and ran towards the old school building.
"So my prey have finally shown themselves. I felt bored waiting for you guys."
Suddenly the whole area was covered in mist as the voice of a girl eerily greeted them. The pawns stop in their track as bats gathered in front of them, forming into a young girl (trap) wearing blood red dress carrying a parasol. Gasper smiled, showing his fangs and glowing red eyes to the four pawns.
"So someone is waiting. But what can one of you do against four of us?"
The pawns took a battle stance, confident in their chance against only a single opponent. With a battle cry, the pawns move in to engage. But just as they all took a step forward, the world stopped for them. The glow in Gasper's eyes seems to intensify as his enemies froze in the middle of moving. The smile never left the young dhampir's face as he closed his parasol and walk towards all four of them.
"Too easy. I'm quite disappointed that I can't show off like Yuu-senpai and Shiro-chan did but nee-chan gave me a job and I intend to finish it. Sorry."
One by one he bit them on the neck and drain their blood to weaken them. He would've drunk their blood to unconsciousness if he could but he's still at full power. Overeating is not good. After he's done drinking their blood, he walk in front of them and held his parasol in a manner similar to fencing.
"En garde!"
He smiled sadistically as he stabbed the unmoving pawns in non-vital areas but he stabbed them enough times to be able to retire them once they can move again. Walking back to his previous position, he let the pawns able to move again but instead of continuing their charge towards him, all of them fell one by one due to losing all strength they previously have as well as their sudden injuries, at least sudden from their point of view.
"H-how?"
All of them questioned as they fell to the ground, defeated and immediately teleported out.
[Riser Phenex-sama all pawns retired.]
Grayfia announced much to Gasper's glee. Gasper Vladi, the Bishop of the Leviathan peerage and on occasions, possibly the most dangerous member of their group. With a sacred gear called the Forbidden Balor View, he can stop time to a certain limit and anyone with inferior magical potential to him will find that breaking out of his influence to be impossible.
Ingvild had trained him hard to increase his magical potential to the point that anything less than an ultimate-class won't be able to break free from his Forbidden Balor View. Though most of his training was handled by Serafall who also taught him how to use a rapier which translates into his use of a parasol with hidden blade. Apparently Serafall thought that it would make it surprising as well as humiliating if his opponents were to be defeated by a boy in drag wielding a parasol.
His main role in the peerage is usually as reconnaissance but he is also skilled in assassination due to his skillset as a vampire and his sacred gear. Though it doesn't mean that he is weak in direct fight but it seems he can't show his capability in that front at this moment.
In another location, Yuuto and Shirone heard the announcement by Grayfia and they knew that it means Gasper had defeated his opponents. The Game is progressing smoothly and according to how they want it to be. The two proceeds to enter the sports field at a leisurely pace.
"All pawns defeated. That leaves the stronger pieces. Our target is the knight pieces, Shirone. After that we retreat and leave the rest to Ingvild-sama and the others."
Shirone nodded. Just as they enter the baseball court though, they were stopped by a loud voice.
"I'm the knight of Riser Phenex-sama, Karlamine! I've become bored of trying to sniff through each other's strategy! Ingvild Leviathan's Knight! I challenge you to a duel!"
In the middle of the baseball court, there was a woman standing upfront wearing armor. Yuuto and Shirone blinked and look at each other. Well, their search ended now since they found a knight but…
"Do you want to take her on or should I?"
Yuuto whispered to Shirone. It didn't take the white haired rook long to gesture to Yuuto to go at it. Besides, Karlamine challenged a knight after all. It's proper courtesy to respond to her honest challenge in kind so Yuuto stepped forward.
"I'm the knight of Ingvild Leviathan, Kiba Yuuto."
"Toujou Shirone. Rook."
Yuuto and Shirone named themselves to Riser's knight. The female knight then made a happy face.
"I'm happy that there are warriors like you two in Rias Gremory's group. Coming directly from the front. That's something people with normal sanity won't do."
Not when they are fighting a life or death battle but since this is not a fight to the death and more like Ingvild making a statement then attacking from the front is the only way.
"But I love idiots like you two. Then, shall we start."
Karlamine drew her sword out from her sheath. Yuuto simply made a pair of demonic swords with Sword Birth and held them both pointing downward in a lazy manner.
"Well then, shall we?"
Yuuto smiled… and then he disappeared. Karlamine blinked and suddenly the blonde knight is in front of her. With speed and power she had never seen in a knight before, he used one sword to knock aside her blade she had only started to move to defend and stab her with the other sword. It was over in an instant.
"R-Remarkable."
[Riser Phenex-sama, one knight retired.]
Grayfia announced again. Yuuto dismissed his swords and dusted his hand. He turned around to walk back towards Shirone when suddenly someone moved in to attack him. He didn't bother to turn around in order to intercept though. Swords appear from the ground between him and the fist of a woman wearing a mask that just covered her face. Yuuto recalled her as one of Riser's rook, Isabella.
"Tch, annoying swords."
Seeing that her attack had failed, Isabella was about to jump back and disengage when suddenly a lightning fast punch blew her away past the baseball court and towards the school building… or rather through it. Shirone's punch is not a joke.
[Riser Phenex-sama one rook retired.]
"Isabella!"
Someone called out the fallen rook's name just as Grayfia announced her elimination. That someone is a blonde-haired girl who has a drill shaped hairstyle on both sides and dressed like a princess. Together with her are three other members of Riser's peerage. The remaining knight and rook as well as bishop. That would make the blonde girl the other bishop and based on her appearance, she is no doubt Ravel Phenex, the little sister of Riser Phenex.
"To think that we lost so much pieces in such a short time without even being able to take down one of them. What kind of monsters did that Ingvild Leviathan recruited?!"
Ravel yelled. A reply came but not from either Yuuto or Shirone.
"Ufufu, what do you expect from the peerage of the person bearing the name Leviathan nya~?"
Suddenly a figure materialized in between Shirone and Yuuto. Wearing a loose black kimono with pink obi is the Black Rook of Ingvild Leviathan, Toujou Kuroka. All remaining members of Riser's peerage present entered battle stance at her arrival, knowing that this is an opponent they should be wary of even when compared to Yuuto and Shirone. With Kuroka's arrival, the Leviathan's knight and rook gave the battlefield to her.
"A firebird challenging the beast of the sea. You should've made sure that your fire is strong nya. Because if not, even a Phoenix will drown nya."
Riser's peerage took a step back when they saw the dangerous glint in Kuroka's eyes as she released her youki. But they didn't let it intimidate them for long as Ravel commanded them.
"Siris, Xuelan, Mihae, don't be intimidated! Show them the pride of the Phenex house!"
Kuroka smiled when she saw Riser's peerage nodding to each other and prepare to attack her. She wouldn't let then though. Kuroka then create a dozen flaming wheels with her youjutsu and send them towards her opponents. The size and power behind the wheels surprised them but their instinct allowed them to dodge the attack by dispersing to multiple directions. But even as Kuroka's wheels missed, they turn around from a simple mental command from the black cat and this time managed to hit the bishop and rook since they lack the speed to dodge.
"Mihae, Xuelan! Dammit."
Siris called out the names of her comrades. She's prepared to avenge them but when she turned around, Kuroka is already in front of her and the black cat struck her with a powerful palm strike enhanced with her rook power. The raw power behind the strike is not as great as Shirone's but Kuroka added senjutsu in her palm strike which would deal massive internal damage to the knight. It's over.
[Riser Phenex-sama all knights and rooks retired. One bishop retired.]
Toujou Kuroka, the Black Rook of Leviathan. Despite her piece, Kuroka is a master of fighting with magic, mainly youjutsu and senjutsu. Commanding powerful magic spells and youjutsu, she is the reverse of a glass cannon. Her powerful magical prowess combined with her rook constitution made her a veritable moving fortress of destruction.
Ravel couldn't believe it. Their forces defeated so easily without even being able to touch any one of them and she gets the feeling that none of the Leviathan peerage members have shown their full power.
"Good work Kuroka, everyone."
Ravel heard the voice of Ingvild Leviathan addressing her peerage. She looked up to the sky to see Ingvild flying together with Rias and Gasper looking down on her. The King's eyes didn't linger on her for too long though as something else caught her attention.
"Now then, it's time for the final act."
Suddenly several blasts of flame were fired towards Ingvild. The Leviathan didn't bother trying to dodge or create a shield as Rias move in front of her and create a wall made of the power of destruction. The demonic energy blast and flame met the wall and was devoured by the crimson haired Gremory's power.
"So you've come, Riser. I had wondered when you'll finally show up."
Ingvild greeted with a rather mocking tone while smirking at Riser. The Phenex finally showed himself with his queen, Yubelluna, by his side. He angrily glares at Ingvild as flame danced all around him.
"So how do you like my boys and girls' performance? They did very well today and I'm thinking about taking them out to eat sushi after we're done with this game, after all, I have to reward them after a job well done."
Ingvild taunted. Riser is visibly getting angrier and angrier by the minute. The purple haired Leviathan chuckled. She better finishes this before the man literally explode.
"So why don't we finish this? King against King and Queen against Queen."
Ingvild offered. Riser kept glaring at her until he finally took a deep breath to calm himself. He then nodded to her.
"Fine. It seems that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. I will admit that your peerage is strong. But you will never be able to beat me, the immortal Phoenix! Yubelluna, you take on Rias! I will deal with the half breed myself!"
Riser declared as flame burst out from every inch of his body. With his fiery wings spread out, he charged straight at Ingvild while his Queen began firing demonic energy blast at Rias. Ingvild grinned as she spread all eight of her devil wings, surprising Riser as a huge amount of water began to appear all around them.
"Rias, destroy."
Ingvild commanded. The crimson haired Gremory obliged.
"This will be over in an instant, Bomb Queen."
Yubelluna, the Bomb Queen, clicked her tongue in annoyance as she hates that nickname. She didn't immediately snark back though as she opted to be cautious with her opponent. Rias is a high-class devil possessing a very dangerous bloodline power on top of her queen piece boost. She is not an opponent Yubelluna can afford to underestimate even for a moment, especially if what she had seen from the other pieces are the standard for Ingvild's peerage.
"I will not make the mistake of underestimating you. That said, I cannot afford to lose for Riser-sama's sake!"
"That's fine. That's how a queen should be to their king. Then let's begin."
Yubelluna was the first to attack. She shot numerous blasts of fire at Rias. The Leviathan queen didn't move as she conjured a fully spherical barrier made of the power of destruction that devoured the Bomb Queen's fire the moment it made contact. Yubelluna tried again, increasing her attack power with every new blast she made but the defense hold.
"Is that all you have? Then It's my turn."
Rias announced. She dispelled her barrier and in the span of a moment, created a long whip made entirely of the power of destruction. The whip lashed out at Yubelluna. She tried to defend with a magical shield but the whip tore through her shield like they weren't even there. The whip of destruction struck her and would've punched through her whole body if Rias didn't have fine control to keep it from being too lethal. But what damage she did make caused Yubelluna to spat out blood and Rias followed up with another strike with her whip, fully taking her out of the fight.
"Riser Phenex-sama's queen have retired.]
Grayfia announced. Rias is satisfied with her work.
Rias Gremory, the second strongest member of the peerage after Ingvild herself. In terms of attack power, she is overwhelming thanks to her power of destruction. But thanks to Ingvild's training, Rias' power began to take a form different from her brother's. Through intense control training that always left her mentally drained to the point of passing out multiple times, she had started to learn how to make weapons and shapes using the power of destruction.
By learning how to manipulate the shapes of her power, Rias could use her power of destruction in a variety of ways for offense and defense. It's still a work in progress but what she had achieved thus far looks promising. Even her brother would be surprised with what she had achieved.
Riser who had been trying to toast Ingvild with a torrent of fire in the duration of Rias and Yubelluna's fight, which is no more than a minute, heard the announcement of his queen's defeat.
"Yubelluna was defeated?! Dammit! But it's not over yet. I'll take you all on by myself!"
Riser screamed as he increased the intensity of his flame. Meanwhile Ingvild is still save behind her wall of water that remains unyielding even in face of the intense heat of Riser's flame. It is not the most powerful flame that Ingvild had ever faced anyway.
"So it seems it's only us left. It's time to finish this, Riser."
As spoke, her water barrier began to push back Riser's flame as it moved closer and closer towards him. As they did, the water barrier also grew larger and larger until it became the size of a small building and envelop Riser entirely. Riser who is now trapped inside a ball of water tried to get out by trying to burn through Ingvild's water but whatever fire he could produce was immediately doused by the potency of Ingvild's demonic water.
"Drown."
As if following her verbal command, Riser began to choke inside the water. Even if he can regenerate endlessly, there is no meaning if the water were to drown him. Drowning is not something you can regenerate from and being an immortal means he cannot die from drowning. He will experience choking inside the water until his mind gives out, unable to escape as Ingvild kept a firm grasp on him.
This is the king of the Leviathan peerage, Ingvild Leviathan. She sighs as she slowly choked Riser to unconsciousness with her power over water, the most basic ability she has, not even bothered to use her sacred gear on the Phenex. As the descendant of the beast of the sea, she has a natural control over water which is boosted to an even greater level when she uses her sacred gear. But nobody would know that what she is doing is all using her natural power and would assume that it is all her sacred gear.
She blamed this all on Serafall and also on herself.
This all started with Serafall taking her in and adopting her… but keeping her Leviathan name. As one of the new Yondai Maou, their name is not hereditary but instead more of a title. When Serafall announced that she had adopted a half-breed devil, it caused quite a commotion, but not as big as what she does next. In the public's eyes, she's just another halfblood with a sacred gear.
But when her name was announced as Ingvild LEVIATHAN, it caused a commotion because the name is not really Serafall's to give. Bad enough that Serafall is the most infamous of the maou for cases of nepotism with her sister and now her adopted daughter is called a Leviathan? That is too much and it became another reason why she is the most hated halfbreed in the entire Underworld.
But there's a reason to the madness. It kept attention on her, annoying as it is, but it is useful. Ingvild had argued once that it's better for her to throw away her real name and adopted the Sitri name. It would cause less commotion. But with her unusual status, Serafall said that she's in the best position to make true friends and true enemies. When she knew which is which, the future of Devilkind will be decided.
At first, she doesn't really understand what she meant. But slowly she's starting to see what Serafall meant. Those who became her true friends or at least friends are those who fully embraced the new era. Those who are her true enemies are those who are behind time. Serafall is using her as instrument of selection and she's the perfect candidate to do this because of her unique situation. At first, she's angry at Serafall for using her like this. But what Serafall promised to her after she confronted her is just as outrageous.
'After the selection happens, you will be the next Maou.'
Ingvild will never forget those words Serafall told her more than a year ago. A promise between two Leviathans.
Well, this is the final chapter of the Leviathan Peerage arc. Honestly, the Rating Game fight here is lame, I will admit it. But that is because I focuses more on the introduction of each Leviathan peerage member. All members of the Leviathan peerage are overpowered when compared to Riser's. Even holding back, their base parameter is just ridiculous. This is of course because they will be facing much more powerful opponents in the future. All teams in ES are overpowered but their enemies will be even stronger. Anyway, this ends the devil chapter for now. A bit of a massive twist I think. Doesn't explain much but hinted at many more things in the future.
In the next chapter we'll finally enter the Excalibur arc. It will go much more differently from canon especially since I will be introducing a fallen angel team that serves as the main characters for the Fallen Angel side. Unfortunately, since we don't really get much in terms of Grigori characters and because Slash Dog team belongs to a different faction, I will have to borrow one character from another series to serve as lead for the Fallen Angel side just like Ingvild is the lead for the devil side.
