Chapter 57 Dicey Situations

I don't own DxD; I just use its characters and techniques. All credit goes to its creator. Same applies for anything that I used from other animes

Welcome to chapter 57 everybody and the beginning of the battle between Issei and Sairoarg. Last time the Gremory group and Sairoarg's team had an interview where it was revealed that Sairoarg wanted to face Issei and group with everything they had. Issei of course was focused on the odd presence that he felt in Sairoarg's peerage. Of course for Issei his problems continued when Jeanne sent a message to him about the Khaos Brigade. Things are about to get fun.

(Scene Skip)

"Something about this is very wrong." Issei said nervously as he sat in the waiting room for the battle. Jeanne picked an absolutely horrible time to give him news like that.

"If Ophis is planning to leave she could be a valuable ally" Ddraig said into his head.

'Yea, but that information is too good to be true. Sure Jeanne has no reason to lie, but the truth was even crazier. I don't know whether or not I can really trust her this time.' Issei admitted.

"You can trust her Issei.' Eisha said firmly to the surprise of everyone. It was rare that Eisha spoke to him about stuff like this so Issei had to take them at face value.

"How in the world do you know that?" Belzard questioned.

"Well for one she's in the middle of major enemy territory and she did it just to see him. Not to mention that their little fuck session back in Kyoto could've been easily stopped a few times. She's not lying about Ophis" Eisha replied.

Issei was annoyed because both of the past hosts were correct in their logic. 'We'll continue this discussion later, we're about to have a big match and I need to stay focused.' Issei replied. As further proof of his distraction, he didn't realize that Akeno was sitting on his lap.

"Ufufufu something's definitely on your mind care to tell us." Akeno teased as she grabbed a hold of Issei breaking him from his stupor.

"Akeno I know you haven't had much time with me recently, but now is not the time" Issei said calmly despite Akeno's rear being right on his penis.

"Ufuffu why not" Akeno teased as she continued to rub against Issei who was slowly giving in. Unfortunately for Akeno, Rias wasn't going to let them.

"That's enough Akeno. They'll be in to grab us in a few minutes and we have to be ready to go" Rias growled angrily.

"Fine" Akeno pouted but it was clear that she would tease Issei later. Of course the Gremory group wasn't the only group that was focused on the battle.

(V.I.P Room in the Stadium)

"So how do you guys think this will play out" Azazel said calmly as he sat in one of the V.I.P rooms for the stadium. Sitting with Azazel was Sona Sitri, Tsubaki, Vali, Murayama, Katase, and Serafall Leviathan.

"I think this battle will be an interesting test for Issei. Especially this is the type of battle Issei hates the most." Vali said with a smile.

"What makes you say that?" Murayama wondered. She understood that Issei was a tactical genius from conversations with Sona, so the fact he wouldn't like the battle made no sense.

"My rival is a tactical genius but in this battle he's going in blind. He knows very little about Sairoarg and even less about his peerage. You can't create tactics around a group you know nothing about. It worked against Zephyrdor because the guy was weak but Sairoarg is anything but." Vali smiled.

"You're right Mr. White, but even if he knew everything there was to know about Sairoarg it wouldn't matter" Serafall said whimsically having listened the whole time. She knew the format and Vali was right that Issei was going to flip.

Sona frowned at the amusement in her sister's words, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well you see…." Serafall said as she explained the battle to the rest of the group. Once she was done everybody was stunned well with one exception.

"HAHAHAHA he's gonna be furious." Vali said with a chuckle. After hearing the type of battle he knew that Issei was screwed.

"This will definitely be interesting" Sona said calmly though she was fighting a chuckle because she knew Issei would loathe this. As much as she loved Issei, she hated his ability to seemingly control everything.

"I don't get what's so funny" Katase wondered.

"Don't worry about it Katase it's a bit of an inside joke" Sona said as she got her composure back.

"Well I've gotta go announce the fight so have fun guys." Azazel said with a smirk as he left to go towards the booth. The original plan was for Sona to fight Seekvaira at the same time but Sona managed to convince the Agares heir to postpone their match until later so they could watch Rias and Sairoarg.

(Scene Skip)

It was time at last for the big battle, "Hello everybody I'm Azazel the Governor General of the Fallen Angels and your MC for this event. Joining me for this is wonderful occasion is Venelana Gremory who knows both of these peerages very well" Azazel said with a smile.

Venelana smiled before making her own announcement, "That's right Azazel. Rias might be my precious daughter but Sairoarg is my nephew and believe me he's strong"

"Speaking of Sairoarg, very little is known about his peerage? What can you tell us about him" Azazel wondered. The amount of information he had was minimal and for somebody like Azazel no information is always a problem.

"From what I understand his peerage consists of mostly people who were shunned by others. I admit it's been a while since I've seen them fight. Ahhh here's the list now." Venelana said happily as somebody interrupted them to bring a peerage list.

'This is' Azazel thought to himself as he recognized the names on the list. Most of them belonged to extinct devil clans but the last one caught him off guard. Issei mentioned that he sensed a strange power coming from Sairoarg's peerage and he suggested Azazel look out for it but Issei didn't say much more. "Well this is sure to be an excellent battle so let's bring out the teams" Azazel announced. "On the left side she's currently undefeated and has the mighty Red Dragon Emperor on her side. Let's see what she can do this time, Introducing…. RIAS GREMORYYYYYYYYYYY!" Azazel roared causing the crowd to erupt as the Gremory's walked out with their Kuoh uniforms on.

"On the other side; He's got the heart of a lion and the strength of one too. The one who held the title of strongest Youth Devil before the return of Vali Lucifer. Let's see what he can do against the power of the Red Dragon, my wonderful nephew… SAIROARGGGG BAELLLLLLLLLLLLL." Venelana announced as Sairoarg appeared in front of the group.

'Well now let's see what he can do' Issei thought as his peerage walked out. He hadn't seen Sairoarg's previous battle so he wasn't sure how strong the young man was. However now that he was in front of him Issei was pleased. Sairoarg had his queen 2 bishops 2 Rooks and 2 knights along with a single pawn.

"Hey Issei do you sense that" Gasper whispered while staring discreetly at Sairoarg's pawn. Due to Gasper's training with Issei he could sense power far better and he could feel the aura of the pawn.

"Oh yea, I sensed it before and that pawn is powerful. Fortunately for us Sairoarg won't use it till the time is right" Issei replied. If Issei was right that pawn was a Longinus like Ddraig and Sairoarg was no fool.

"What are you two talking about" Kiba asked worriedly. Kiba knew that anything that those two noticed was a big deal and the two of them were clearly focused on something.

"Don't worry about it." Koneko replied. Because of the training she's done with her sister Koneko could sense the same thing the others do and realized just what they had.

"Well the time has come Sairoarg." Rias said happily. She was really looking forward to this battle since to this point she hadn't really fought. She heard many a rumor that she was riding Issei's coattails and she didn't appreciate that.

"Well everyone it's time to reveal how this rating game is going to work. I present to you….. Dice battle." Azazel said with a smile.

"Oh boy" Issei twitched already having a bad feeling about what was coming.

"Each evil piece is given a specific value. Pawns are worth 1, Knights and bishops are 3, Rooks are 5, and queens are 9. The Kings will each have special values that will be decided in a moment. Each round we will roll 2 six sided dice and only peerage members that add up to that number can go. The only restrictions aside from that are that you cannot have a person fight twice in a row" Venelana explained. Issei looked on in pure annoyance as he realized that this battle was a complete disaster. Because he held 8 pawns his value was 8 which meant that he basically couldn't fight unless a really high number was rolled. Of course he also stared at Sairoarg's own pawn, which he was certain was Regulus Nemea and hoped that he could face him alone or with Sairoarg.

'This is horrific with a battle style like this everything is random.' Issei thought to himself realizing that the battle would be to his disadvantage. He was brought from his musing when the numbers for the Kings were announced.

"Rias Gremory will be 8 and Sairoarg Bael will be 12" Azazel announced which calmed Issei down.

'Perfect with a value like that I can fight any battle Rias can which basically means she doesn't do anything. The fact Sairoarg is twelve means that he pretty much won't fight until the end.' Issei thought to himself. This was the type of battle he truly hated and since Sairoarg was a powerful opponent he had to stay calm.

"Will the two Kings come up to the dice roll to select the first match." Azazel announced

Much to Issei's annoyance Rias and Sairoarg rolled a collective 3 which meant that the battle would involve only the knights or bishops. "Kiba it's up to you now buddy" Rias said calmly.

"Right" Kiba replied as he vanished into the arena. Kiba was their most versatile fighter and having him go first would make for an interesting choice for Rias.

(Battlefield)

Kiba's opponent appeared in a silver armor aboard a horse with equal armor of his own and a lance by his side. His opponent raised his helmet to reveal an older gentleman with messy black hair "Greetings Sir Yuuto my name is Beruka Furcas and I'm honored to be your opponent. Alongside me is my trusty steed Altobrau. We look forward to being your opponents." Beruka said with honor in his voice.

"I agree." Kiba replied as they prepared to fight. As Kiba got into his stance he couldn't help but mentally curse due to the clear disadvantage he had. His opponent had armor and a horse which meant defensively he would have trouble.

"Battle begin" Azazel announced and the battle was on.

The first move was Kiba's and he charged Beruka ready to fight. Unfortunately his first attack was easily blocked.

"Not bad but you'll have to do far better if you're going to beat me." Beruka smiled.

"I know and I will." Kiba smiled before making his move. "SWORD BIRTH GO" Kiba shouted as his blades appeared from the ground. The only chance he had was to eliminate the horse and Sword birth provided the perfect chance to do it by attacking the armor less underbelly of the steed.

"Not bad but not good enough" Beruka shouted as he jumped into the air. Clearly he had prepared for that type of attack.

"Good grief it looks like Kiba has his hands full." Issei groaned in annoyance.

"Yep. This couldn't have gone worse if they tried." Gasper agreed and Rias looked at them in shock.

"Holy Demonic Sword of lightning" Kiba shouted as he threw an electrified blade into the air.

"How about now" Rias said smugly as she looked at Issei and Gasper with slight disgust.

"Won't work" Issei smiled and sure enough Beruka tossed his lance taking the lightning away before summoning a pair of twin lances. "Told ya" Issei smiled.

"The guy wears metal all the time. He'd have to know about the obvious weakness." Gasper reminded his King and it was only made worse when Beruka made clones of him and charged Kiba.

Back on the battlefield Kiba struggled mightily to deal with the onslaught of Beruka and he was struggling heavily to hold on. 'What a guy. I can't believe that I'm having this much trouble." Kiba thought to himself. This was a more difficult battle then he thought and there was only one way to win.

"Give up now Kiba Yuuto. This battle is ours" Beruka roared with pride as he pushed Kiba back further.

Kiba was in trouble and he knew it but he had one more trump card left, "I'm not done. I've come this far and I'm not going to give up." Kiba shouted as he brought his blade forward. "BALANCE BREAKER: Glory Drag Troopers" Kiba shouted.

"What's going on" Beruka said in shock. All of the sudden miniature knights with dragon like heads appeared in the sky.

"Well Issei channels the power of dragons when he fights so I figured I'd try the same. These are my pride and joy the Glory Drag Troopers."

Beruka smiled since he knew what it meant. This would be one final showdown and if he could win this one, the battle was his, "Here we go Kiba Yuuto" Beruka roared as his clone lit up with power as they charged Kiba.

"Yes. This is how it should be." Kiba said proudly as he and the knights charged back. One final showdown and one final clash and when the dust cleared the winner would be decided. Fortunately for Kiba, Beruka was more worn out then he realized and with the clones unable to help he fell.

"Well done Kiba Yuuto. You've done your group proud." Beruka smiled as he faded away.

"WINNER: Kiba Yuuto" Azazel roared bringing an end to the first battle.

"That was close" Gasper said with mild relief.

"Yeah and if this is what's waiting for us we have a problem." Issei groaned. He hated this battle because he couldn't do anything the whole time. His only battle was going to be against Sairoarg and that meant that he was going to have to wait. It was a shame since he would've had fun battling somebody like Beruka.

The Kings were summoned to the battlefield to roll again. This time the number rolled was a ten.

"Rossweisse Koneko. Take the stage." Rias ordered.

"Good luck girls" Issei chuckled as he sat back and watched the battle. The battlefield turned out to be a large castle which suited Rossweisse and Koneko perfectly. Waiting for them was a man made of pure brown stone with blue pants held up by a large gold belt and a young man with long blonde hair silver eyes and amber knight armor over a blue long sleeved shirt and matching pants with long brown boots. His blade was by his side ready to fight.

"Greetings members of the Gremory family. My name is Liban Crocell the knight of the Bael family and my partner is Gandoma Balam the rook. Are you ready?"

"Yes we are. I am Rossweisse the rook and this is my partner Koneko." Rossweisse said with a smile. As the girls prepared for battle a watching Issei couldn't help but frown.

"This should be interesting." Issei said whimsically. He could tell that Gandoma had incredible defenses that Rossweisse wouldn't be able to easily break through and the knight was hiding something.

"Yeah" Gasper frowned.

"Battle begin" the referee announced and the battle began.

"Let's do this" Koneko smiled before revealing her ears and twin tails. She was working on a new power mode but she hadn't quite mastered it yet. With any luck they wouldn't need it. Koneko quickly charged at the rock golem enhancing her fist with senjutsu smashing him into the wall.

"Good job Koneko. I'll deal with this guy." Rossweisse smiled as she turned towards Liban.

"Handle me will you. I don't think so" Liban smiled as his eyes lit up. All of the sudden a massive pressure appeared around Rossweisse.

"It would be gravity powers." Rossweisse cursed.

"Not good." Koneko frowned as she wanted to speed over but Gandoma was still fighting back grabbing a pillar and charging Koneko who quickly countered before attacking him again.

"You're in trouble now. My sacred gear Gravity Jail allows me to control gravity anywhere in my field of vision. Plus there's this" Liban said happily as he pulled out his blade and froze Rossweisse's feet.

"Not bad but I'm not finished." Rossweisse smiled as she reached out her hand in order to blind the young man.

Liban quickly noticed what she was planning and smiled, "Do you honestly think I'd leave such a weakness alone." Liban chuckled before creating a mirror to block the blinding light.

"You have a point" Rossweisse smiled before she snapped her fingers and swapper herself with Koneko trapping the rock golem in the gravity field.

"What!" Liban cursed not expecting that at all.

"It's over now" Rossweisse smiled as activated an enormous amount of magic circles and attacked the pair. The massive explosion that followed was impressive and Liban and Gandoma were down.

"That was close" Koneko mumbled. This battle was not going well for them.

"We're not done yet" Liban shouted catching both girls off guard before activating his power.

"Shit" Rossweisse cursed as the gravity field activated again. To make matters worse, Gandoma was no longer trapped and ready to attack.

"Not happening" Koneko growled as she gathered herself to push Rossweisse out of the way taking the full brunt of the attack.

"Koneko!" Rossweisse shouted as the rook faded from the battle. In her rage, Rossweisse summoned as much magic as she could and wiped out the pair in a fury.

"Winner Rossweisse" Azazel yelled out bringing forth great cheers from the group

Over with the Gremory group Rias was glad that she won, but angry that she lost Koneko.

"How careless" Gasper said coldly much to Rias's surprise.

"How can you say that about your comrade?" Rias chastised.

"It's simple. Rossweisse should've known that Crocell could use Gravity to reduce the damage and that's why he survived the first round. We had no business losing Koneko." Gasper growled before a hand was placed on him by Issei.

"You're right Gasper, but a drawn out battle was never going to work. When dealing with somebody who uses Gravity you have to hit hard and fast. That was an unfortunate result but one we can manage. Plus we still have Rossweisse for later on." Issei said with a calm stare.

"Right" Gasper replied having been calmed down.

Rias frowned at how easily Issei was able to calm Gasper down but she was also frustrated since Gasper was right. They had to save Issei for as long as possible and Gasper was extraordinarily powerful himself. She had to play this right or she would be in big trouble.

The kings were summoned up and this time the roll was eight. After the first few battles, everyone was looking forward to the next battle.

That's it for Chapter 57 everybody and I hope you've liked the start of the battle as predictable as it may be. Next time Gasper shows off just how powerful he's become and Issei has a unique opponent to say the least.