Chapter 7

It's good to be back, Zakaria thought as he chugged from a can of beer fresh out of the fridge in his apartment. Making those six cans last the whole ten days had been a bitch, and he hadn't quite managed it. He took a sip now and then, yet still only managed to make it last for seven days. That was three days with no booze. Being a demon bumped up his immune system or something since the withdrawal symptoms took longer to manifest than they used to when he was human. It took almost 24 full hours for the shaking to start where it used only to take five. Hiding that had been complicated, but he thought he managed it. He could continuously hear his pulse in his ears as his heart rate picked up like a fucking jet engine, but he worked it.

But now he was home, he was drinking again, and all was right with the world.

He went back to filling up his duffel bag with the items Ignisia had procured for him while he was away. "You did good, Ignisia," he praised her. He handled each item with care, though still less respect than he probably should have since he was making no effort to cover his hands when handling some of the things.

Ignisia puffed her chest out at the praise. "You fuckin' know it," she said. "I still think you're a lunatic for wantin' this stuff, but holy shit, are you gonna turn some heads if this works."

"Probably, but that's not my intent. This simply provides me with the best chance of winning I could think of. My powers should make it all safe to handle."

"So why ain't you usin' them now?"

"To save my power for later, when I'll need it." With the last of the items packed away, Zakaria zipped up his duffel bag and stood up, slinging it over his shoulder. He walked over to the fridge and grabbed one last beer for the road. "Well, I'll be heading off now. I'll see you when this shit-show is over." He made his way over to the magic circle.

"H-Hey, wait a sec!" Ignisia called after him. He might have been imagining it, but he thought she sounded almost embarrassed.

It was the difference in her tone from the usual, which led him to turn back to her. "What's up?"

Something hot and moist pressed up against his lips. It took a second of staring directly into Ignisia's eyes for it to register that she was kissing him. She pulled away just as quickly as she had started. "Good luck, boss," she said.

Zakaria could not help the small smile that tugged at his lips. "Thanks," he said. Then he stepped into the magic circle.

The atmosphere in the clubroom had some hefty weight to it as the Occult Research Club awaited the start of their battle. Zakaria had finished his beer and thrown away the can a few minutes before. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this nervous. Despite everything he'd been through, those ten days of training had taught him he had a lot of catching up to do with the supernatural forces of this world, yet here he was, about to partake in a fight against a group with far more experience than him. He had a plan that he thought would work out, but the feeling of dread still refused to leave him. He tried to remind himself that none of the others here had Rating Game experience, so they were all at a disadvantage, but somehow, thinking of the others' lack of experience made that feeling of dread grow worse.

All the students were in their school uniforms, so Zakaria was wearing his work attire in solidarity. Yuuto came with gauntlets on his hands and some armour on his lower legs. Koneko was wearing fingerless gloves. Rias and Akeno were the calmest of everyone there, simply sipping at green tea as they waited. Zakaria kept toying with his machete.

He glanced at the clock. Ten minutes.

As if she had been cued to appear as soon as he thought that, the magic circle at the centre of the room glowed and Grayfia appeared in the room. "Is everybody ready?" she asked. "You have ten minutes until the match begins." Everybody stood up from their seats to show that they were ready. "When the time comes to start the battle, you will all be transported to the chosen battlefield through this magic circle. The battlefield itself is located in a pocket dimension, specifically for this purpose. You may fight however you see fit. It's a disposable face, so there is no need to hold anything back."

"Good," Zakaria said quietly to himself.

Grayfia, however, caught it and faced him. "You appear to be bringing quite a lot of gear," she observed, eyeing his duffel bag.

"This? This is just a surprise package. I'm very excited to show it to them."

"Phrasing," said Issei.

"Yes, I really should have thought that statement through, shouldn't I?"

Something occurred to Issei. "Hey, Prez?"

"What is it?" Rias asked.

"You have a Bishop, too, right? Where are they?"

Everyone in the room except for Issei and Zakaria shifted slightly like they were uncomfortable. "Unfortunately, my Bishop can't participate," Rias said after a few moments. "We'll talk about that in the future."

There's something else I'm not going to touch with a barge pole until someone else brings it up, Zakaria thought.

"This Rating Game will be viewed by both the Gremory and Phenex households," Grayfia said, breaking the awkward atmosphere. "Lord Lucifer will also be watching. Please try to remember that."

That piqued everyone's interest, but Rias, in particular, looked surprised. "My brother will be watching?" she asked.

Zakaria quirked an eyebrow. Issei raised his hand and asked, "U-Umm, Prez, did you just call a Satan your brother? Did I hear that wrong?"

"No, President's brother is a Satan," Yuuto spoke up.

"Well, I suppose that explains why Lady Leviathan said she was talking to him," Zakaria commented.

"Wait, so your brother is a Satan!?" Issei asked in shock.

"Yes," Rias said bluntly.

Issei seemed to think about something for a second before his face once again twisted in confusion. "Are you confused because President's family name is different from any of the Satans'?" Yuuto guessed.

"Yeah," Issei admitted after a moment of hesitation.

"The original Satans all died during the Great War," Yuuto explained. "We couldn't exactly carry on without leaders, so their children picked up the position. Then the Underworld Civil War happened, which is a whole other issue we don't have time to talk about right now, and new demons were chosen to take up the mantles of the Four Great Satans. To tell you the truth, out of the factions of God, the fallen angels, and the demons, the demons have the least power. We're in a pretty tight spot at the moment, but we're kept safe because the current Satans are just as strong as the old Satans."

"So … President's brother was chosen to be a Satan?" Issei clarified.

Yuuto nodded. "Sirzechs Lucifer, otherwise known as the 'Crimson Satan.' He's President's older brother and the most powerful of the current Satans."

"So that's why Prez has to inherit her household …" Issei mumbled in realisation.

"The Satans aren't all as loony as Leviathan, are they?" Zakaria asked. "Because if they are, I'm struggling to see how much gets done. That woman came across like an adult-sized child. The fact that she has power is more terrifying, the more I think about it."

"All the Satans have their quirks," Grayfia spoke up. "But Lady Leviathan is particularly childish, yes." She paused. "It's about time. Everyone, please step inside the magic circle." They did so. "Please be aware that once you've transported, you cannot use the magic circle again until the game ends."

The magic circle beneath their feet changed, no longer showing the Gremory family crest, but neither was it showing that of the Phenex family. Zakaria suspected it was some particular magic circle used for the Rating Game.

The light consumed Rias' Familia…

… and when it faded, they were still in the clubroom.

Initially confused, Zakaria had just enough time to register that Grayfia was no longer in the room before her voice resounded all around them as though it were coming through a P.A. system. "Greetings, everyone. I am Grayfia, a maid of the House of Gremory, and today I will be the arbiter of the Rating Game match between the House of Gremory and the House of Phenex. In the name of my master, Sirzechs Lucifer, I will be overseeing this match. By taking into account the opinions of both Lady Rias and Lord Riser, we created a perfect replica of Kuou Academy, the school Lady Rias attends in the human world, to act as the battlefield."

So we have a home-field advantage, Zakaria thought, pleased. That prick Riser gave us another handicap. He must be confident in himself. He looked around the room, allowing himself to be impressed by how accurate a recreation it was. They got every detail, right down to the occasional imperfection in the architecture. He walked over to the window and looked out. The school grounds looked the same, too. The only blemish was the sky, which was pure white.

"The locations both teams were initially transported to will be their bases for the game," Grayfia explained. "Lady Rias' base is the Occult Research Club's clubroom, located in the old school building. Lord Riser's base is in the student council room located in the new building. For either side's Pawns to use Promotion, they must enter the enemy's base."

With any luck, I won't need to, Zakaria thought, absent-mindedly patting his duffel bag.

"Everyone, please put these transceivers in your ears," Rias said.

Akeno walked to everyone and handed them the earpieces. That is until she reached Zakaria. She didn't give him his; instead, she walked right up to him and grabbed his face in one hand, hooking the transceiver around his ear so that the speaker was inside, and then lingering for a while. "There," she whispered directly into his ear. Her breath sent pleasant shivers down his spine. Then she backed off as suddenly as she'd stepped up to him. Zakaria had to admit that she was starting to drive him slightly crazy.

Even a man as withdrawn as he had his limits and Akeno was rapidly pushing him towards them.

"We'll use these to communicate on the battlefield," Rias explained, having a little smirk at the interaction between Akeno and Zakaria. She kept hoping he would give in. In her opinion, he needed to loosen up and relax around them.

"This game will continue until either one side defeats the other or dawn arrives in the human world," Grayfia explained. "Your time starts now."

"First, we need to take down Riser's Pawns," Rias explained. "It would be problematic if they were allowed to Promote to Queens."

The atmosphere was strangely chilled out, Zakaria noted. Rias was sitting on the sofa, calmly strategising, while Akeno was making everyone tea. Though I suppose Riser is likely strategising, too, he considered. Even a man that overly confident has to acknowledge that there's always at least a small chance of losing.

Issei didn't seem to consider that. "P-Prez," he said, "you seem pretty calm …"

"The game only just started," Rias brushed him off. "Rating Games haven't historically ended very quickly. True, there have been times where they turned into all-out brawls between Familias and ended quickly, but those are rarities. Mostly, it's like an actual chess game. It's not going to be over very fast. There is only meaning to your actions if you use the battlefield to its fullest. Usually, the bases would be fortresses, castles, or towers, and the landscape would involve forests or rivers. Just because our battlefield is our school doesn't mean we can afford to strategise any less. Yuuto."

"Right," said Yuuto, spreading a map of the school out on the table.

The map was drawn inside a grid not dissimilar to a chessboard. Rias drew circles around the old and new school buildings in red pen. "There's a small forest near our base," she said. "It's safe to assume that it is also our territory. Most of the school grounds would fall into Riser's territory since they're around the new school building. He'll likely have an ambush set up just in case we try for a head-on assault. The field is out in the open and easy to see from the new school building, so crossing there is dangerous."

"Then we have to go through the sports ground to get to the new school building?" Issei asked.

Rias chuckled at the question. "Normally, yes, but our enemy will also know that. Riser will likely have servants positioned at the sports ground. He'll probably have a Knight or a Rook positioned in one of the clubrooms on the sports ground." She frowned. "No, actually, he'd need someone with mobility around there, so one Knight and three Pawns would be my assumption, a total of four servants. Then he'll have control of the whole area."

"President, what about the gym near the old school building?" Yuuto asked. "Shouldn't we occupy that location first? From there, we have a route to the new school building. The gym is a passage to both of the buildings so that we could restrict our enemy's movements."

Rias nodded. "I had the same thought. Capturing the gym should be our first move. Given the location, I think he'd put a Rook in there. Since it's an inside location, the destructive power would prove more of an advantage than mobility. Yuuto, Koneko, you two head out and set some traps in the forest. Take a spare map with you and mark off the locations where you set the traps. I'll make copies when you're back and hand them out to everyone."

"Yes," said Yuuto.

"Roger," said Koneko.

The two of them left immediately, taking a map and a toolbox of some sort with them.

"The rest of us will be on standby until they finish setting up the traps," said Rias. "Oh, Akeno."

"Yes?"

"After Yuuto and Koneko return, cast illusions and mist around the forest and the sky. It should only affect Riser's Familia."

"I understand, President."

"U-Um, Prez?" Issei spoke up. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You and Zakaria are my Pawns, so the goal is to get you two into Riser's base to use Promotion," Rias explained. "Now, Issei, come here."

Zakaria zoned them out as Issei went over and put his head in Rias' lap on her instructions. It seemed that, whatever she was telling Issei, it had little relevance, if any, to Zakaria. He settled on the other sofa to wait for Yuuto and Koneko to return. That was the plan, at least. He had a feeling that wasn't going to work out the second Akeno sat down right beside him, and I do mean right beside him. Her arm brushed his as she sat down, and their arms remained touching even when she was seated.

"You know, my thighs would be rather comfortable," she said quietly.

"I'm sure," he said without making any moves. "Though I'm sure whatever they're doing somehow requires his head to be in her lap. We have no such need."

"You'd be surprised. Technically speaking, she only needs to touch his head to unlock some of the power she had to seal away to keep it from overwhelming him. The lap-pillow is entirely something she wants to do with him."

"I bet that thought will please him."

"Yes, he'll enjoy the attention. Just as I'm sure you'll enjoy my attention if you'd let me. Here," she took him by the arm and before he could do or say anything in protest, she placed his hand on the soft, warm skin of her thigh, "see?"

He did see. Her smooth flesh felt wonderful beneath the rough skin of his hand. His hand lingered there for a second even after she released him, but he pulled away quickly when he realised. "Why do you like me?" he asked.

Akeno blinked twice and then chuckled. "Oh my, you aren't like other men, are you? Most men would just be jumping at the chances I've given you, no questions asked." She paused for a moment. "At first, I was just teasing. I like doing that, and you seemed like a fun one to try and get a reaction out of. It was when you started working at the school that it started to be more serious." Her face flushed. "The idea of having a carnal affair with a teacher gets my heart racing." She brought her hands up to her cheeks as her face somehow got even redder. "But what really made me like you was what you said on the second day of training, about how much you're allowed to hurt our opponents during this game." She raised her eyes to his, and he saw lust in them like he hadn't seen since he was a teenager. "I like a man who knows how to play rough."

"You know I'm not a teacher, right? I'm a counsellor."

"Semantics~" Akeno purred, now gripping his arm, which pushed between her breasts slightly. "It'd still be so naughty for you to get involved with a student. Just thinking about it makes me feel so hot."

"Akeno, while I don't mind the idea of you two becoming involved, I must ask that you refrain from desecrating the sofa right in front of Issei and me," Rias said, amused. Issei still had his head in her lap. Where before he might have looked jealous, Zakaria was surprised to see Issei grin and raise a thumb towards him in approval. Guess the lap pillow he was receiving dulled his jealousy, or now he was actually on board with the idea of Akeno going after Zakaria… Nah, for a guy who's self-claimed goal was to be "Harem King", there's no way the second option was true… Right?

"Yes, President," Akeno said, immediately backing off and clearing her throat. "My apologies." She leaned back towards Zakaria's ear and whispered, "We'll finish this later."

Zakaria settled back down and kept to himself until Yuuto and Koneko returned. The Rating Game mostly took up his thoughts and when he would be able to make use of the items he had in his duffel bag. A smaller part of his mind was occupied with what Akeno had said to him. It was during this period of thought that Zakaria realised that he genuinely returned her interest in him.

That was both an excellent thought and a terrifying one.

Zakaria exited the old school building, duffel bag slung over his shoulder, alongside Issei and Koneko, who he would be working with during this first phase of the plan. They immediately began making their way towards the gym. The gym had two entrances, one on the side facing the old school building, and one that met the primary school grounds. Going through the gym was their best chance at avoiding being caught by the bulk of Riser's forces. They reached the gym and tried the door. It was unlocked. Not naive enough to think they had beaten Riser here, Zakaria came to the logical conclusion that they were expected. As they entered, this was confirmed.

Four of Riser's servants stood before them. The girl in the Chinese garb, the two disturbingly young twins Riser had made out with (who were now armed with chainsaws), and the one who had knocked Issei down, Mira.

Three Pawns and a Rook, just as Rias had predicted.

"Boosted Gear, standby," Issei ordered his Sacred Gear.

"Boost!" it boomed in reply.

"Koneko, take the Rook," Zakaria said, falling into a commanding position almost on instinct. He dropped his duffel bag to the floor. "Cannon Fodder, feel free to get some payback for what that Pawn did to you before. I'll take the twins."

"Right," his teammates replied simultaneously.

As Zakaria stared down the twins, he flipped a switch in his head. These were no longer children. They were no longer even people, not in his mind. They were enemies that must be defeated. That was all they were and all they would be until the end of this Rating Game.

The sight of two middle school age-looking twins charging, wielding chainsaws, and cheerfully saying, "Disassembling time~" would have likely unnerved anyone else. But not to Zakaria Holland. They were dragging their chainsaws along the floor, destroying the wooden flooring of the gym and causing sparks to fly from the blades. "Split, split, split, split, split!"

As short as they were, the two girls were easy enough to jump over, even as they brought their chainsaws up for an upward slash. As soon as he was behind them, Zakaria forced himself to spin around, pushing himself with his telekinesis to add to the speed with which he turned, and delivered a kick to the back of one of their heads. The one he kicked went flying forwards, rolling as she landed. The chainsaw, which had fallen from her hand, took to the air and zoomed into Zakaria's hand.

Before the other twin even had the chance to turn around all the way, her sister's chainsaw was buried into her shoulder.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Her screams echoed throughout the gym as blood gushed from her shoulder, soaking the white top she was wearing. Zakaria wasn't satisfied with just her shoulder, however. He kept pushing downwards and downwards until—

"Riser Phenex's Pawn retires," came Grayfia's voice.

—the girl vanished just before the chainsaw could cut its way past her ribs and begin decimating her lungs.

So, they do get taken out of the game before fatal damage can occur, Zakaria thought, pleased, as he turned his attention back to the sister whose chainsaw he was currently holding. This plan should go off without a hitch, then. He walked towards the terrified girl without saying a word. There was nothing on his face – no distaste, no enjoyment, no anger, no worry. His expression was the very definition of neutral as he walked over to the girl, who was paralysed with fear, and shoved the blade of her own chainsaw directly into the soft flesh of her stomach.

"Riser Phenex's Pawn retires."

Didn't even need to reach into my bag of tricks yet, he thought as he summoned his duffel bag back onto his shoulder and dropped the blood-covered chainsaw to the ground. He wasn't exactly free of blood, himself. His clothes had already been thoroughly splashed in it. I'm starting to think Rias overhyped these guys. He turned back towards the fights his two teammates were having.

While the carnage he had inflicted on the two Pawns had gone far from unnoticed, the other combatants were all a bit preoccupied with their battles to react.

"Boost!" shouted Issei's Sacred Gear.

Issei was mostly dodging Mira's attacks. Even when she did hit him, he managed to block her attacks. Frustration was written on her face as she struggled to land a good blow on the teenager she had no trouble with knocking down a peg only ten days ago. "Why can't I break through your guard!?" she growled in frustration.

"Boost!"

Issei grinned. "Let's do it, Sacred Gear!"

"Explosion!"

Issei wasted no time blocking any more. When Mira next swung at him, he brought his arm down in a karate chop, and her staff snapped in half with a loud crack. Then Issei brought the fist of his other hand across and knocked her aside like she was nothing. The grin he had been wearing since his last boost grew more perverted. "Take this! My new ultimate technique!" he declared. "Dress Break!" He snapped his fingers.

Mira's clothes exploded.

Her outer clothes and undergarments both were ripped to shreds by an unseen force the second Issei clicked his fingers, leaving her naked, breasts and everything on display. She looked understandably mortified by this course of events as she held her arm up to cover her breasts and lowered her other hand to between her legs so they couldn't see her privates. "N-Nooooooooooooooooooo!" she cried.

Zakaria pinched his nose and clenched his eyes shut, feeling a migraine coming on. "If it were anyone else, I would call that move strategically brilliant," he admitted. "Removing an opponent's clothes could be good for getting rid of armour and lowering their defences. But specifically, because it's you that did this, I find myself ashamed to even be in the same room as you right now."

"You're the one who told me to fight dirty!" Issei argued.

"I didn't tell you to fight rapey."

"Pervert," Koneko said with disgust. Her opponent was down.

"Issei, Koneko, Zakaria," Rias' voice sounded through their transceivers. "Do you read me?"

"We read you," Zakaria answered. "I retired two of the Pawns. The last Pawn and the Rook are both incapacitated currently, so we're on track with the plan."

"Good to hear. Akeno's preparations are complete. Proceed with the next phase of the plan."

"Roger that."

The trio immediately began rushing towards the exit on the opposite side of the gym from where they had entered.

"Are you running away!?" one of Riser's servants shouted after them. "Isn't this location supposed to be important!?"

She was summarily ignored.

The exact moment Rias' servants got out of the gym, there was a flash of light from the sky followed by an immense—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

—as the gym was utterly destroyed in an onslaught of lightning raining down from the clouds above it. Looking around, Zakaria caught sight of Akeno hovering in the distance, her wings flapping behind her. She waved at him playfully. He raised a hand in return.

"Riser Phenex's Pawn and Rook retire."

"We did it!" Issei exclaimed in celebration.

"Don't talk to me," Koneko told him with a glare.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm hardly gonna use it on my friends," said Issei.

"It's still disgusting."

"The first phase of the plan was a success," Rias' voice came to them.

She said more after that, but Zakaria wasn't listening. He was tensing up. During his training the last ten days, he had practised with expanding the range of his telekinesis as well as the number of objects he could interact with at once. To this end, he had tried simply touching things, nothing more than a small poke and feel around that none of the others ever noticed even when they were in the vicinity and being touched by his powers. He very quickly discovered that he could use it to effectively "map" his surroundings as he could feel everything his powers touched in detail. He was doing so now.

Someone was coming from high up.

Quick as a flash, Zakaria looked up and raised his hands to the sky, using them to create a physical feeling in his body of doing what he was using his powers for. This, he found, helped him to enhance their effect. The explosive ball of fire that had been fired down, directly at where Koneko happened to be standing, stopped in mid-air.

Zakaria pushed with his mind and made a pushing motion with his hand.

The fire went flying back towards its source, which Zakaria still couldn't get a visual on as it was right behind the projectile, and—

BANG!

The explosion was massive. It indeed would have done a lot of damage had it been allowed to hit its target. Issei and Koneko both snapped their eyes in the direction of the explosion, eyes wide. The smoke cleared, revealing Riser's purple-haired Queen. Her clothes had been ripped to shreds by the blast and were hanging off her like rags, exposing her underwear and parts of her body. Issei seemed to appreciate that view. She was glaring down at Zakaria, who met her gaze with an impartial stare.

"I liked these clothes," she said, the threat clear.

"I don't care," Zakaria responded. Unseen by his target, his duffel bag began to unzip itself. "You just tried to hurt one of my teammates. I don't appreciate that."

Riser's Queen laughed at him. "You do realise what kind of game this is, right? If you get this angry about someone trying to take out someone on your side, I don't think you're cut out for this."

"I beg to differ."

"And what would you know?"

"That this is really going to hurt …"

"On that, we can agree—"

"… you."

A bottle flew from Zakaria's duffel bag and upwards. He was focused on Riser's Queen, pouring his every thought into locking the bottle onto her. She raised her arms out of reflex to block it. The bottle shattered against her arms.

Steam began to rise from her skin in a gigantic cloud.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as her arms and everywhere else the liquid inside the bottle hit burned.

"Bottled holy water," Zakaria said idly. "That's got to be one of the oddest shopping lists I've ever written."

BOOM!

The sky flashed, and lightning rained down on the screaming woman. Water and electricity, not being the most ideal of combinations if you were handling them, proved to be the undoing of Riser's Queen. Akeno's lightning was conducted through the holy water that had been splashed all over Riser's Queen, and the added stress to wounds that were already doing a ton more damage than the average burn pretty much fried through the Queen's skin. Her screaming was cut off rather abruptly by her disappearing from the sky.

"Riser Phenex's Queen retires."

"… Holy shit," Issei breathed out in shock.

"Brutal," Koneko agreed.

Akeno floated down to join them, her face red with barely contained arousal. "I knew whatever you had in that bag of yours wouldn't be disappointing," she complimented Zakaria.

"You haven't seen anything yet," he replied.

"Between this and the way you cut up those two girls with their chainsaws … you seriously fucking scare me, dude," Issei said shakily.

"Oh my," Akeno sighed, bringing a hand to her chest the second she heard about the chainsaws.

"Losing his Queen is gonna piss him off," said Koneko. "We should get to Yuuto for the next phase."

Everyone concurred.

The quartet got a pleasant little surprise on their way to the sports court.

"Riser Phenex's three Pawns retire."

Eight servants down, Zakaria thought, counting up the ones that had been taken out up to now. That's just over half his team gone before we've even lost a single person. Plus, one of them was his Queen. He felt a sense of smugness run through him as he pictured what Riser must have looked like when the announcement of his Queen's retirement went through. It was slightly paradoxical, the fact that he felt nothing while retiring his opponents, yet picturing Riser's reaction to those retirements highly amused him.

He almost envied Akeno in a way. She had the time of her life, causing other people pain. He, on the other hand, had long since stopped feeling anything towards doing so.

"Wha—" Issei said in surprise from behind them all, causing the others to turn around, ready to fight.

It was just Yuuto. He was observing the sports court from behind the storage room they were walking past. "I hear you guys took out the Queen," he said. "Nice work."

"Was it you who took out those Pawns just now?" Issei asked.

Yuuto nodded. "Yeah. The clubroom at the sports court is an important location, so naturally, there's quite a force there. I managed to lure out three of his Pawns and take them down. But whoever is in charge of this part is pretty level-headed; they haven't responded to my attempts to provoke them out. It seems like the Pawns were only sent to test me out. Sacrificing servants like that is something Riser can only afford to do because he has a full Familia." He was smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes. "The ones in charge here are a Knight, a Rook, and a Bishop. That's three enemies in total."

"Well, it's a good thing there's five of us, then," said Zakaria.

"We'll keep the numbers advantage so long as we do this quickly," said Akeno. "Since the gym and the Queen got taken out, they'll probably be moving the bulk of their forces here soon."

"You nervous?" Yuuto asked, noting Issei's shaky demeanour.

"O-Of course!" Issei had no problem admitting. "I have no battle experience! Yet now here I am in an actual battle. I'm a grunt compared to you guys."

Yuuto held his hand out. "Look," he said. If one looked closely, they could see his hand shaking. "You say we have a lot more battle experience, and that's probably true, even for Zakaria, who's only been one of us for a day or so longer than you. But this is still all our first times participating in a Rating Game. A serious battle between demons. Even if this match is a special case between families, that doesn't change the fact that it's a real fight. We can't show them even a slight opening in our guard. This is a match where we have to give it all we've got as President's servants. I feel delighted but also scared. I don't want to forget how it felt for my hands to shake here. I want to feel everything and turn it into an experience. Let's all become stronger together."

"I'm a little nervous, too," Zakaria admitted. Issei shot him a look of sheer disbelief. "It's true. While we were training, I found out that even though I was well-equipped to take on enemies from my universe, I'm not that strong by this world's standards. I've only done so well in this game so far through sheer, unpredictable brutality. It's been easy only because they haven't seen it coming. The second I get into a fight with someone who can see how dirty and brutal I'll fight, I'm going to have my work cut out for me. You're not alone here, Cannon Fodder."

Issei smiled. "Okay, yeah. Let's do this!"

Zakaria tilted his head, feeling something. "Someone's coming," he said. "Out on the court."

Sure enough, Riser's medieval-looking Knight walked out onto the nearby baseball court only a few seconds after he finished speaking. "I am the Knight of Riser Phenex, Karlamine!" she announced. Her voice was proud. "I've grown bored of these games! Knight of Rias Gremory, I challenge you to a duel!"

Yuuto chuckled. "Since she introduced herself, I can't keep hiding," he said. "Both as a Knight and as a swordsman."

"I wish you could," Zakaria said in annoyance.

Yuuto walked out from behind their cover and straight out into the open where Karlamine could see him. The others, realising it would be pointless to keep on hiding when the Knight now had a good idea of where they were, walked out after him but kept their distance. This was a direct challenge he was answering, after all, and even Zakaria knew to respect other people's decisions even if they aren't ones he would make himself.

"I am the Knight of Rias Gremory, Yuuto Kiba," he introduced himself.

"I'm the Pawn, Issei Hyoudou!" Issei introduced himself, as well.

The others saw no reason not to follow suit.

"I'm the Rook, Koneko Toujou."

"I'm Rias' Queen, Akeno Himejima. Nice to meet you."

"Pawn. Zakaria Holland."

"I'm happy there are warriors like you in Rias Gremory's group," said Karlamine. "Coming to face me directly from the front. That's something sane people rarely do."

"My thoughts exactly," Zakaria commented.

"But I do love idiots like you. Now then, let's begin." Karlamine drew her sword from its sheath.

Yuuto also readied his blade. "A match between Knights. I have been waiting for this. I would like to cross blades with someone like this."

"Well said, Rias Gremory's Knight!"

Their swords clashed, creating sparks against each other. Both combatants were barely visible to their viewers since they were both utilising their Knight speed in their duel. Occasionally, one would appear, likely when they were keeping still between blows, but they disappeared just as quickly. To them, the whole world must have been moving in slow motion.

Zakaria, quickly growing bored of just watching, reached into his duffel bag and started to prepare something for the people he could feel approaching.

"You guys seem bored," said Riser's Rook, the one with the half-mask over her face.

"Geez, this seems like more of a mud fight," said the drill-haired Bishop. "All they think about is swords, swords, swords. Karlamine kept making faces when the Pawns were sacrificed, like she disapproved of Riser's plan or something, even though he's her master. And just when I thought I found a cute boy, he turned out to be a sword nut, too. What a waste." She looked over the servants of Rias who weren't fighting. Her gaze lingered and narrowed on Koneko, who glared back, before she eventually turned her attention to Issei. "So you're the Pawn Rias Gremory adores so much? Dear Satan, she has bad taste."

Issei seemed to take this personally. "Boosted Gear!" he said, summoning his Sacred Gear.

The Bishop, who Zakaria was becoming more and more sure was related to Riser, sighed at him. "I won't be fighting you," she said like fighting him was so far beneath her it would give the Parisian catacombs a run for their money. "Isabella, why don't you be his opponent?"

The masked woman nodded obediently. "I was planning to, anyway," she said. "Let's fight since we're both bored."

"Isn't she going to fight?" Issei asked.

The Rook put a hand on her head. "Don't worry about her. She'll pretty much just be watching."

"W-Why the hell is that!?"

"This is Ravel Phenex, Riser's little sister."

So, I was right about them being related. A plan began to form in Zakaria's mind.

"Riser says she's in his Familia more for the sake of appearances," Isabella explained. "He isn't into his sister or anything, but having the little sister type in the harem is important for it to look right."

If only the whole harem were purely aesthetic, Zakaria thought, shivering as he remembered Riser making out with those two young girls. The guy's still a creep even if he draws the line at incest.

"Now then, here I come, Rias Gremory's Pawn!" Isabella declared. She shot forward, far faster than any Rook Zakaria had seen so far (though she was only the third), and threw a punch at Issei's cheek. Issei dodged to the side, just barely avoiding the punch to the face. "I see. So you dodged it, huh? Sorry. I was looking down on you a bit. I'll bump this up by a couple of gears." She came at him again, sending punches at him with both arms from angles it wouldn't have occurred to anyone else to punch. Issei took this in stride and kept dodging and dodging despite an evident struggle it was for him.

This little routine came to an end when Isabella, without warning, delivered a kick rather than a punch right in Issei's stomach. He lost his balance, and suddenly, all of Isabella's punches to his face were landing.

Zakaria prepared to act if he needed to. Getting involved in others' fights may have been bad form, but if Issei looked like he was having too much trouble, he would do it, anyway.

"Boost!" shouted the Boosted Gear.

Issei raised his arms and crossed them in front of him, trying to block rather than dodging. He was still being knocked back with every blow. Issei took an intentional step back, presumably to get out of range of Isabella's attacks, and her punches stopped. She was still moving, though. Issei kept his guard up.

Isabella smiled at this. "I was taking you lightly. To tell you the truth, I thought I had you when my kick landed. It looks like Rias Gremory has been training you well. Your stamina is magnificent. In a serious battle, the most important thing is your stamina. Even a complete idiot can fight, but you need the stamina to keep going. Battles eat up your stamina and concentration. Just dodging an attack requires quite a lot of effort. So being able to do that until now shows me how much you've been training your body."

It wasn't clear what Issei was thinking, but he grinned at her words and gained a new fire in his eyes.

"… It looks like I said something unnecessary," said Isabella. "I felt your pressure increase."

"Rook Isabella," Issei spoke up with determination. "I am the weakest and least experienced member of Rias Gremory's Familia, but I will still defeat you!"

There was a buzz in the air, drawing everyone's attention towards the battle between the two Knights. They were finally standing still for long enough that they were visible to the others. Yuuto's sword, which appeared to be composed entirely of darkness, looked like it had been broken.

"Unfortunately for you, your Sacred Gear won't work on me," said Karlamine. Her sword was up in flames.

Yuuto smirked. "Then I'll also say this. Unfortunately for you, this is not the extent of my Sacred Gear's capabilities."

"What? Nonsense. It is unsightly for a swordsman to—"

"Freeze."

As soon as that word left Yuuto's lips, something began to happen to his broken sword. Something was visibly gathering around it. Zakaria shivered as the whole area got colder. Ice grew from the hilt of Yuuto's sword, spreading and spreading upwards until it was visibly the shape of a sword's blade. "In front of this sword, Flame Delete, all types of fire will disappear."

"A-Absurd!" said Karlamine. "Are you telling me you have two Sacred Gears!?" She swung her sword, which clashed with Yuuto's. The moment it did, the flames of her blade began to freeze. It made a cracking sound, like a crack spreading in glass, and then unceremoniously shattered. Karlamine, to her credit, didn't let this deter her. She threw the useless sword hilt to the side and drew a shorter sword from a scabbard at her hip. "We are members of the almighty House of Phenex, those who rule over fire and wind! Taste it! The whirlwind of fire!"

The cold area heated up incredibly quickly as a cyclone of fire appeared and began roaring around the two Knights.

"That Karlamine," Isabella huffed. "Has she forgotten that her allies are here, as well!?"

Despite the roaring flames, it was still possible to see what was happening. Yuuto's Flame Delete was melting. This did not seem to bother him. He held the hilt of his melted sword out in front of him …

… and the fiery wind was pulled into the hilt. After a few seconds, the whole court was silent.

"Repression Calm," Yuuto said by way of explanation. "It's been a while since I last showed more than two demonic swords for one battle." The sword he was now holding was like nothing Zakaria had ever seen before. There was a whirlwind of some sort sitting at the centre of the blade.

"… Multiple Sacred Gears." Once again, Karlamine could only seem to draw that conclusion. "Can you take the weapons of other Sacred Gear users and make them your own?"

"I don't have multiple Sacred Gears. I haven't taken anything from anyone. I created them."

"Created … them?"

"Yes. Sword Birth. I can create any type of demonic sword. That is the name of my Sacred Gear and its true ability."

"Boost!" came the voice of the Boosted Gear once again.

Issei grinned. "Boosted Gear! Explode!"

"Explosion!"

Issei stretched his arms out in front of him and pressed them together as a massive amount of power gathered at his hands. "Dragon Shot!" he shouted. A gigantic beam of demonic energy shot from his hands and directly at Isabella. It was quickly five times the size of the one he had fired at the mountain during training. The power was so strong that it was pushing Issei backwards as he was firing it, marking the dirt as his feet dragged across it.

"Isabella!" Karlamine yelled. "Don't take it! Dodge!"

Isabella, who had been in the position to try and withstand and block the attack, thought better of it upon that warning and dived out of the way. Issei's attack missed, but they still all got a good look at the devastation it would have caused.

BAAAAAAAAANG!

The nearby tennis court, along with literally all of the ground surrounding it, was just gone. A crater worthy of a crashed meteorite was left in its place, still smoking from the attack.

"Isabella!" Karlamine called once again. "Defeat that Pawn! That Sacred Gear has the potential to change the outcome of the entire battle!"

"Affirmative!" Isabella shouted back. She fixed her intense gaze onto Issei. "Boosted Gear will become a massive threat if we allow him to use Promotion! I will take him down before that happens!"

Isabella came at Issei again, punching and kicking. Issei blocked them all. Zakaria was about ready to step in after Issei used so much energy on that last attack but paused when he saw Issei pull his left arm back to deliver a punch of his own. Isabella crossed her arms to guard, but somehow, Issei's punch broke through her guard and sent her flying. "Dress Break!" Issei shouted.

Zakaria facepalmed before he could even see the results.

Isabella's body was revealed to everyone present. Akeno let out a half-amused half-disappointed "Oh my" at the sight. Isabella, for her part, reached up to check her mask before anything else, but upon realising it was still there, she lowered her arms to cover all of her private parts. Issei capitalised on her distraction and formed a small block of demonic power in his hand. He fired it in her direction, and this time, she didn't have her wits about her enough to dodge it. The block of power, enhanced by the Boosted Gear, consumed Isabella's entire body in seconds. The wind whipped at everyone in the vicinity as the shock-wave of the impact blew dust and dirt everywhere.

"Reset!" said the Boosted Gear.

"Riser Phenex's Rook retires."

Issei's power reset to the state it began in, but he still won his fight. "Hell yeaaaaaah!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Then he had to refill those lungs, both from that shout and the effort he just put into taking out Isabella and spent the next few minutes panting.

Karlamine smirked bitterly. "Apparently, both Isabella and I have been taking that Pawn and his Sacred Gear too lightly," she said. "Riser was right about you. You're no ordinary Pawn. But that attack was truly awful. B-Blowing away a woman's clothes …"

"I apologise for my comrade's lechery," Yuuto said to her, embarrassed.

Karlamine drew her focus back onto Yuuto himself. "But a demonic sword wielder … what fortune. I seem to have good luck when it comes to meeting swordsmen who wield special swords."

That piqued Yuuto's interest. "Hmm, so you know someone besides me who uses demonic swords?"

"No, it wasn't a demonic sword. It was a holy sword."

"—!"

The effect that had was similar to Yuuto's Flame Delete; only there was no actual ice. Yuuto's entire demeanour became colder than cold, so cold that everyone in the area could feel it. The murderous intent he was projecting was palpable. "Tell me who they are," Yuuto said, his tone as cold as the atmosphere he was creating.

Zakaria made a mental note of all of this.

"Hmm, seems like you and this other swordsman have some sort of connection," said Karlamine. "But since we are swordsmen, talking would be rude. I will answer you with my sword!"

"… Is that right?" Yuuto asked with no change in his tone. "If your mouth can still move, then cutting you to within an inch of your life won't be an issue."

It looks like I'm not the only damaged one around here, Zakaria thought. He probably could have told that before if he had paid attention. Still, between adjusting to his situation, getting a familiar, and training, he hadn't had a chance, nor the desire, to be observant. I need to start paying attention to these kids more. Who knows what kind of skeletons they have in the closet?

"So it's here."

"Huh? Where's Isabella?"

"Don't tell me she was defeated."

The remainder of Riser's servants had arrived. A Knight, a Bishop, and two Pawns.

"Hey, servants of Rias Gremory!" one of them said, getting the attention of everyone besides Yuuto. "Riser says he's going to fight your master one-on-one. See there." She pointed towards the school roof. Above the new school building hovered two figures, one with wings of fire and one with standard demon wings. It was Riser and Rias, just as the girl had said.

Perfect, Zakaria thought. Facing off against Riser was something he was hoping for from the start. Now, to draw his attention over here … "Issei, Koneko, Akeno," he said, drawing their focus to him. "Keep these four off me. I have a plan."

There were questions in their eyes, but they didn't ask them. They simply moved to fight the four new arrivals.

Zakaria unzipped his duffel bag.

"What do you think you're gonna do?" Riser's sister Ravel asked tauntingly. "Do you really think you'll be able to do anything to change the outcome of this battle?"

"Yep," said Zakaria, pulling a bottle out of his bag. It was a bottle of vodka with a rag stuffed into the neck – a Molotov cocktail. He snapped his fingers and a small flame, about the size you'd get from a lighter or a match, appeared at his fingertip.

"What are you doing …?"

He lit the rag.

"What good is that going to d—"

"HEY, RISER FRIED CHICKEN!" Zakaria shouted as loudly as his vocal cords would allow. Riser turned his head in his direction. "CHECK THIS SHIT OUT!"

He hurled the Molotov cocktail right at Ravel, propelling it forward with his telekinesis so that it was going far faster than she would be able to dodge. His nose gushed blood.

Now, a Molotov cocktail would not usually do anything of note to a member of the Phenex family. It was only fire, after all. But not this one. Zakaria had drunk a quarter of the vodka the second he had gotten back home from training. The bottle, however, still looked full. How was that? Simply put, he refilled that last quarter of the bottle with holy water. So, when the rag was caught on fire, it was connected to a bottle full of very flammable liquid that also happened to contain sacred properties. The result?

Holy fire.

The bottle broke against Ravel's head. She had all of about a second to just scream before vanishing from the game.

"Riser Phenex's Bishop retires."

For the first time since the game began, the entire pocket dimension was totally, 100% silent.

Riser's mouth hung open, and his eyes fixed on where his sister was standing only moments before. Then he turned his gaze to Zakaria, who could feel Riser's eyes boring into his skull with such intense heat that he swore his eyes were on the verge of melting. Now completely ignoring Rias, Riser lowered himself down, only coming to a stop when he was hovering close enough to Zakaria to speak clearly.

"Did you … just Molotov … my sister … with HOLY FIRE!?" he asked in a tone as venomous as any snake.

"Yep," said Zakaria. "What are you going to do about it?"

Everybody, both the participants of the game and those viewing it, could only conclude that Zakaria had a death wish.

They weren't wrong, but that wasn't the point.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

The violent screams of Riser Phenex felt like they could shake the whole pocket dimension as his rage just broke. He exploded in flames so intense that even his servants had to move out of the vicinity.

Yet Zakaria stood firm, waiting.

He wasn't waiting for long.

Riser swooped down at him like a bird of prey, and that's when Zakaria brought out the heaviest of the objects in his duffel bag:

A fire extinguisher.

He was not timely enough to stop Riser from crashing into him, and with several cracks, some Zakaria's ribs were shattered. He gritted his teeth as he flew through the air and crashed to the ground. Time was too precious to focus on the pain. He stood up and looked around, still gripping the fire extinguisher. When he caught sight of Riser, swooping once again with a clear intent to start butchering Zakaria for what he just did, Zakaria pointed the fire extinguisher at him.

He pointed it at Riser and just about managed to start spraying before he reached him. It wasn't foam coming out of the fire extinguisher, but yet more holy water. He didn't know where Ignisia had gotten all of this, but he was thankful she had managed it. Riser's fire went out, and steam surrounded him in a thick fog as Zakaria sprayed … and sprayed … and sprayed …

… and kept spraying until the fire extinguisher ran empty.

Zakaria walked right up to the floored, groaning, pained Riser and, without a hint of mercy or remorse, brought the fire extinguisher down on his head. Again and again, he whacked Riser on the head with the heavy metal canister with no signs of letting up any time soon. He was vaguely aware of Riser's servants trying to reach him but being blocked by the others, but he paid that no mind. When it became clear that blunt-force trauma wasn't going to cut it, he reached out with his telekinesis, losing more blood in the process, and summoned the last of the objects in the duffel bag.

Zakaria threw the fire extinguisher to the ground and reached out, catching the rosary with his bare hand. It burned like the light of the fallen angels' spears.

Zakaria reached down and grabbed Riser by his now blood-matted hair. He held his head up and immediately shoved the rosary into Riser's mouth. Then he laid into his face: one punch, two punches, three punches. Zakaria rolled Riser over, straddled his chest, and threw punch after punch into the Phenex's face, which no longer held the bad boy good looks he was known for. Teeth were missing and, thanks to the cross he had been forced to swallow during this assault, were not growing back. A small part of Zakaria's mind took note of the scar surrounding Riser's neck, which was exactly where he had cut his head off the other day, but the vast majority of his mind was focused on just one thing: caving Riser Phenex's face in.

He continued to do so until one of his punches hit dirt instead.

"Riser Phenex has retired. Rias Gremory wins."

"What the hell was that?" Rias asked.

"Winning," said Zakaria.

They were in a separate infirmary from the on where Riser's Familia went. Rias' Familia was mostly unchanged, bar a few scrapes and bruises from their fights. Zakaria's injury was by far the worse of the bunch, having had a number of his ribs broken during that last confrontation with Riser, but even that was an easy fix. They had been told, however, that what Zakaria had done was far from an easy fix. The twins were the only ones with superficial injuries, having merely been cut up. The Queen, Riser's sister, and Riser himself were both being given strict medical attention because of the holy properties of the attacks they had been hit with. Zakaria didn't particularly care about any of this.

"I know that," Rias huffed. "But dammit, Zakaria, I was about to fight him!"

"… Are you really about to let your pride sour that win for you?" he asked. "Because I don't care about pride, yours or mine. I care about winning. And guess what? I won. The desired outcome was achieved. I don't see how anything else matters."

"I certainly had a good time watching what you did," Akeno spoke up.

"Akeno, please don't side with Zakaria when I'm scolding him," said Rias. "Where did you even get all that stuff, Zakaria?"

"I sent Ignisia shopping while we were training in the mountains," he explained. "I figured, the danger to myself was more than worth the benefits of how easy the fight would be if it all worked."

"You should have at least told us about it. It was just as dangerous to us, you know."

"You're … not wrong," he conceded. "Sorry."

Rias then gave Zakaria the most significant shock he had gotten in a while when she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a hug. "Thank you," she whispered.

Zakaria awkwardly patted her on the back. "I wouldn't wish an arranged marriage to that dick on anybody," he said, trying to brush off her gratitude. "And I guess I kind of owe you my life for making me a demon when I would've died otherwise, so I should be the one thanking you." Those words rang hollow, given his apathy towards the concept of death, but he tried to make them convincing.

Rias pulled away from him. "Sure," she said in a tone that made it clear she didn't believe his reasoning. She smiled at him. "Really, though, thank you."

"… You're welcome."

Rias gave him one last smile, then walked over to Issei, who had looked a tad enraged when she hugged Zakaria, and wrapped her arms around his and laid her head on his shoulder. Akeno then took her place at Zakaria's side, wrapping her arms around his much like Rias was doing to Issei. "So, how are the ribs?" she asked.

"Good," he said. "They're all fixed up, and I don't feel any pain anymore."

"That's good." She leaned up and whispered in his ear. "How about we go somewhere private and see if your stamina has recovered? Seeing you brutalise Riser like that got me all hot and bothered."

"My, my, are we interrupting something?" came a man's voice from the doorway. It was a handsome man who appeared to be in his early twenties. He had shoulder-length, crimson red hair and blue-green eyes. He very much looked like a male version of Rias. He was wearing fancy-looking robes with armour at the front, broad shoulders, and a flowing cape. "I'd have thought you would at least wait until you were back home to start doing things like this."

"Sirzechs!" Rias exclaimed upon seeing him.

"Hello to you, little sister," the man, Sirzechs Lucifer, replied with a warm smile. "I came to see how you were all fairing after winning your first Rating Game."

"As well as to meet this generation's Red Dragon Emperor and the man from another world," said Grayfia, who stepped in behind him.

Sirzechs looked awkward. "Yes, that as well," he admitted.

"M-M-My name is Issei Hyoudou!" Issei introduced himself excitedly, bowing his head deeply. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Lucifer!"

"Zakaria Holland," Zakaria returned bluntly. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," said Sirzechs. He seemed friendly enough, and less energetic than Serafall, which could only be a good thing. "I'm afraid this will be a short visit. I'll have to speak to Father and Lord Phenex soon. But I hope to have a longer meeting with both of you in the future." He turned his gaze to Zakaria exclusively. "I must admit, your method of combat in the Rating Game was … rather brutal. No offence intended towards you, of course. I daresay you shocked the viewers on all sides with your display."

Zakaria shrugged. "I intended to win, so I won," he said. "I can't say it any better than that."

"I understand. Though don't be surprised if restrictions are placed on that sort of thing in the future. Bloodsport isn't necessarily unpopular in the underworld, but Rating Games are usually watched to see a fight, not a slaughter. Still, I must congratulate you. I've not yet seen a demon who was willing to bring holy items into a Rating Game." He turned towards Issei. "Your performance was quite admirable, as well. You have quite a good grasp on your powers considering how long you've had access to—"

"Lord Lucifer!" A servant came crashing through the doors, huffing and puffing. "M'lord, we have a problem!"

"What is it?" Sirzechs asked seriously.

"It's Riser Phenex, sir! He's dead!"

Oh my, how awful of me to leave you on that line.

…

…

…

What, were you expecting an apology?

I hope the reasoning behind Akeno's interest in Zakaria makes sense to you. In canon, she was lusting after Issei before she gained romantic feelings for him due to seeing his manliness in fighting Riser and she was turned on by the idea of being the "other woman." So I found it logical that she would be turned on by Zakaria's previous implication that he was planning on really hurting people during this Rating Game (which he did) and also aroused by the idea of having an affair with a teacher. Rest assured, I'm not trying to make out that she's in love with him just yet. Much like in canon, her feelings at this early stage are based almost entirely around lust.

Zakaria himself seems to have somewhat warmed up to the others over the ten-day training period, even if he doesn't acknowledge it much.

As you can see from the Rating Game, Zakaria has trained with his telekinesis, and he is now using it to enhance his physical combat rather than just lifting and moving things. I still plan on him being a primarily magic-based fighter, using his telekinesis as well as demonic power, but I felt like he should be able to at least last in a basic fight at close combat. But the more significant thing here is, of course, the fact that he brought a ton of holy items specifically to fuck up Riser and his Familia. He wasn't joking when he advised Issei to fight dirty. As far as Zakaria is concerned, the risk that comes with handling holy items as a demon is well worth the advantage it gives him over the enemy. He desires to win, not look right or honourable.

I appreciate that the Rating Game became a bit of a canon rehash when Issei was fighting Isabella. Still, as there were only two enemy combatants at the time, Koneko and Akeno were letting him have his fight, and Zakaria was both letting him have his fight and trying to conserve his strength, there was no way I could think of to change any of that. I wouldn't blame you if you skimmed over it.

I was kind of channelling Yellow Bastard's death scene from Sin City with Riser's loss scene there, huh? Except, y'know, without ripping his balls off. The plan wasn't originally for him to die afterwards, but I had an idea for a plotline which you'll see the real start of next chapter, so I took an opportunity for some more story.

Harems as they stand at the moment:

Zakaria: Raynare, Kalawarner, Akeno Himejima, Ignisia (O.C. familiar), Serafall Leviathan, Grayfia Lucifuge, Xenovia Quarta, fem!Vali Lucifer, Katarea Leviathan, Venelana Gremory, Kuroka, Rossweisse, Yasaka,

Issei: Rias Gremory, Asia Argento, Koneko Toujou, Irina Shidou, Ravel Phenex, Le Fay Pendragon, Elmenhilde Karnstein, Ophis, Mittelt,

I will also accept suggestions for Zakaria's future Familia. The only two confirmed members at the moment are Xenovia and Rossweisse, who will be traded to him by Rias as she trades them to Issei in canon.

Now, reviews.

Bladewolf101: I think it says a lot that everyone's just sort of fine with Kunou and Issei being a thing in canon, too. There was also that one awkward moment where Yasaka tried to bang Issei in front of her daughter. The whole situation is pretty fucked up. Zak is a pretty cool nickname.

plums: Really? The fact that we're nearing the end of the Riser arc and Asia still isn't a demon because the whole ending of the first arc was changed is "copy-pasted straight from canon?"

Creature of Grimm: :)

Guest: She's already in.

Gerden360: I wouldn't exactly say he's "happy." If you pay attention, you'll probably realise it's more a case of him having nothing better to do with his life, so he's just rolling with it. I'll agree that there not being more stray demons working together in canon is pretty weird, but I also think it depends on the master. Unless the master is a colossal twat, being a demon is usually not that different from just having a job, as you can work your way up, get promoted, and have your own Familia one day, thereby no longer being in servitude to someone else. So yeah, I think it depends on the master. Rias is one of the nicer ones, so I can usually see why the O.C.'s don't have a problem being in her Familia.

AnimeGoji91: Of course, I'm continuing the story. I hope you enjoyed the Rating Game!

Dharak23: Thank you! As you saw here, yes, it was undoubtedly gory. XD All right, now that you've pointed it out, I'll admit that was a failing on my part. I'll try to remedy that in the future. Thanks for pointing it out.

Boopadoob: Oh my God, somebody finally got the Cabin in the Woods references. You're the first one in the review section to pick up on that, mate. While the nosebleed when overexerting himself was something I got from Stranger Things, the plan was already to give him telekinetic powers before the comparison occurred to me. I'm not one for bashing fics, myself, and they seem pretty pointless in this category. Demons are meant to be the embodiments of greed, pretty much, so it comes off as kind of a double standard when people bash Rias' family but nobody else. I'm glad you're enjoying it!

If you enjoyed, please follow, favourite, and review! I'll see you all next time!