Content Warning

Anyone with arachnophobia should be warned that after the line "Not the poison" this chapter contains disturbing violence involving spiders from the perspective of the person experiencing it. Gore and overly graphic details are kept to a minimum but you still may find the content of the section off putting. If you want to skip it a quick description will be available after the author's note.

Riser inspected his stomach wound. The flesh was black and putrid, and he had apparently caused the wound to reopen during his retreat. A dark fluid oozed out of the opening and ran down his leg. He needed to deal with this now.

Riser tore a piece of rebar out of the wall and began to use his flames to heat the metal until the end was glowing white hot. He pushed the end against the putrid black flesh of his stomach and paused for a moment. The Phenex family's techniques to deal with pain were almost perfect, he had once been torn in two and had barely felt a twinge, but even with that preparing to carve your own stomach open was... unsettling.

With a grimace he plunged the rebar into his stomach and carved out the rotten flesh. His flames surged and moments later healthy flesh had replaced the putrid wound.

Satisfied Riser began preparing the rebar to deal with his other stab wounds and started thinking about how he was going to get out of this situation. Burning the building had bought him time, Taylor seemed content waiting out the fire rather than risking her swarm, but it was only a temporary haven. Eventually the building would burn out and he would be exposed again.

Riser winced as he carved the flesh out of his thigh.

He could continue to stall moving to another building or even starting a forest fire but it was only a temporary solution, he needed to find a way to take the Queen out of play. He felt his skin crawl at the memory of those insects melding into her flesh and regenerating her. That type of regeneration belonged to his family. It was what made them invincible, it was why they deserved power.

He plunged the molten rebar into his liver as he forced himself to focus. There was no way some mid class devil had created an ability on the level with his bloodline, it was impossible. Hers must have a drawback for him to exploit. Even the Phenex's own regeneration could be overcome if their opponent could force them to run out of demonic power.

He paused, fuel, that was her weakness. She needed her swarm to regenerate. If he had just burned away the insects that she had used to fix herself then there would have been nothing she could do. If he destroyed the swarm she would be helpless.

He smiled as he plunged the rebar into his heart. He would still win this, he was invincible after all.

Mira clutched at her quarterstaff as Burent told them what had happened to the gym. The only reason she was not inside was because Marion had agreed to swap places with her. She had hoped that by promoting this game she would get a chance to impress Riser, but now they had her instead a useful pawn like Marion.

Mira loosened her grip, she would just need to step up. Everyone knew that she was Riser's weakest pawn, and her performance in the last Ratings Game was pathetic, but she should still be more than enough against a bunch of rookies. Even if they did have someone powerful enough to take out half of the peerage in a single attack...

She felt her heart start to beat faster. What kind of monster had Rias been hiding?

Isabela stepped in front of the group, "Calm down everyone, if they could fire another shot immediately we already would have been taken out. Their Queen should already know where we are."

Ravel responded, "They likely need some more time to store up power for another attack like that. Mihae likely put up defenses but if the building was completely obliterated like Burent said then they were not enough."

Isabela nodded, "Do you think your defenses would hold out any better?"

Ravel paused before answering, "Maybe a little, but not if we are moving and it still likely wouldn't be enough."

Isabela frowned, "Then we will stick together and move quickly, once you four promote we can break into smaller groups without needing to worry about being ambushed."

Mira nodded at the plan, but was interrupted by the sound of an explosion coming from Rias' base.

Ravel smiled, "I expect that is Yubeluna eliminating our problem."

Mira felt some tension leak from her shoulders. She glanced at her fellow pawns, Burent met her eyes and smiled back, Li was jumping up and down cheering, and Ni was...

"Where is Ni?"

The whole group turned and looked at Mira, then started searching their surroundings. Li looked like she was about to start shouting for her sister but was cut off as an ear piercing scream emanated from the forest before stopping suddenly.

Li turned in the direction of the scream but Isabela grabbed her shoulder, "We need to stick together. If we split up they will just pick us off one by…"

There was a flash and a thunderous crack that left Mira blind and her ears ringing. She blinked rapidly to clear her vision and when she could see again she saw scorch marks where Ravel and Burent had been standing moments ago.

She felt someone grab her arm and pull her hard. Looking she saw Isabela pointing deeper into the woods and shouting something she couldn't understand. Isabela released her and started running. Li started running with her and Mira rushed to follow.

Her ears started to clear and she could finally make out what Isabela was saying. "-oving! We need to get out of this ambush if we are going to be of any use!"

Mira heard a sharp whistling sound followed by a meaty crack. Li collapsed to the ground and disappeared into fragments of light.

Mira started to feel her breath shorten. What in Lucifer's name was this? Almost her entire group had been eliminated and she hadn't even seen who was attacking them. In previous ratings games an ambush was an unexpected attack followed by some posturing, not this unrelenting assault.

Another sharp whistling sound rang out. Mira felt the world pause, knowing that whatever had hit Li was about to take her out as well, but instead she felt Isabela grab her and fling her farther into the woods. "Mira, I'll hold them off! Return to back me up after you have promoted!"

Mira crumpled as she hit the ground. Using her quarterstaff as a walking stick she pulled herself to her feet and started sprinting as fast as she could towards the enemy peerage's base. Behind her she could hear the trees crack with the sounds of battle.

She sprinted away from the noise. She would not let this be a repeat of last time, she wouldn't drag the rest of the peerage down.

She considered taking flight but decided against it. She wasn't the most precise flier even in the best of times and she needed to preserve her strength if she wanted to be useful.

Something snagged her foot and she fell to the ground hard. Pulling herself back to her feet she looked down to see white threads tangled around her leg. Suddenly the forest came alive with noise. She looked up and all around her was a formless mass of insects.

After a second the buzzing of the wings began to harmonize and she could make out words. "Surrender."

Mira gripped her quarterstaff and fell back into a shaky stance. She didn't stand a chance against a Queen but she couldn't let herself be useless.

"Your friends have all been eliminated. Your Queen is lost. Your King cannot help you. And there is nothing you can do against a swarm with a quarterstaff. Surrender now or I will be forced to eliminate you."

Mira felt her hands start to shake and dropped her staff, with tears in her eyes she shouted. "I- I give up!"

The sound of the swarm vanished. She collapsed to the ground and started crying, she hadn't done anything. She was still useless.

She felt arms snake around her and pulled her into a hug. She opened her eyes to see it was Marion. Mira spoke quietly, her voice unsteady with tears, "I'm sorry. I wasn't able to do anything."

Marion let her go and looked her in the eye, "It is fine Mira. We were not ready for this. I wouldn't have been any more help than you were."

A loud gasp caused Mira to look away from Marion and take in the rest of the room. It was a small lounge filled with the other members of her peerage. They were all staring at one wall with horrified expressions on their faces.

Mira turned to see what they were looking at and saw a broadcast of the game being projected on the wall, she let out her own gasp seeing what was on display. Isabela was on the ground screaming in pain, she had a broken arm and one of her legs was bending the wrong way. Over her stood Rias' Rook with no emotion visible on her face.

Marion's voice turned grim, "I'm not sure anyone was ready for this."

"We just need to stick together. If we split up they will just pick us off one by…"

Ravel felt electricity coursing through her body, momentarily overwhelming her family's technique to block pain, and was blown backwards by the attack, her back slamming against something hard causing her to slide to the ground. She felt the flames of the Phenex family course through her in response repairing the damage, and clearing her eyes from the blinding light.

Once again able to see she noticed that she was no longer in the forest. Instead she was back on the campus, her back against a building that looked older than the rest of the school. In front of her stood Rias' Bishop, an annoying smirk on her face.

Ravel called out, "You know it is illegal to use teleportation during a Ratings Game."

Akeno giggled in response, "Technically only the traditional form of teleportation is illegal. That one gives Taylor a headache, so Beelzebub helped her develop a different way to teleport that wasn't as painful for her. Sadly for you that one isn't banned."

Ravel frowned going over the rules in her mind. Her perfect recall meant she could pinpoint the relevant passages and Akeno was right. The rules specifically banned the standard teleportation circle, not the act of teleportation itself.

"Fine. You were able to separate me from my peerage. What now?" Ravel rose into the air forming wings of flame out of her back. "Do you really think you can defeat me?"

Akeno's eyes went wide. "Oh, how scary! Those fiery wings and confident eyes, I'm shivering just looking at you!" The black haired bishop sighed wistfully, "I almost wish I was allowed to make this an actual fight."

Bright red light flashed behind Ravel and she felt something slide across her wrists and ankles. She was suddenly pulled back hard and smashed into the building behind her. She felt her wings disappear from the shock. Her arms were pulled wide and her legs together, leaving her crucified against the building.

Ravel glared down at the other girl, "Do you think this can hold a scion of Phenex?"

Akeno floated up before her with that annoying smirk back on her face. "If it was your brother, then no. But it shouldn't have a problem holding you."

Ravel breathed in summoning her power to fire a blast of flame from her mouth at the annoying bishop but as she did so electricity surged from her bindings quickly overwhelming pain resistance and leaving her gasping.

"After all wasn't it just last week that you were telling Mihae that you were still having trouble mastering your family's pain blocking techniques?"

Ravel felt her blood run cold, "How do you know that! The Ratings Game hadn't even been called yet!"

Akeno dropped the smile and looked her straight in the eye, "You really don't get it do you. Honestly I wonder if any of you did, this was never a game."

"What do you mean? Of course this is a game! And you still haven't told me how you heard that!"

Akeno sighed, "Have you really considered what is at stake for us here? If we lose this then your brother rapes my best friend."

Ravel felt indignant, "What are you saying? My Brother would never do something like that!"

She felt a sharp momentary pain across her face as Akeno slapped her. "What do you think being married against your will is?"

Ravel opened her mouth to protest but closed it moments later, she hadn't really thought about what this game meant for Rias personally, just what it meant for her brother and her family. In her mind marriage was something you did for your family, but if Rias didn't view it that way… She suddenly felt sick in her stomach.

Akeno began to speak again, drawing Ravel's attention back to the girl's cold glare. "This was never a game, this was the last act of a war that has been raging for years. Ever since we found out about the marriage arrangement we have been preparing for this; placing spies, forming alliances, training ourselves past the point of exhaustion. Every moment of this was planned in advance, every capability you have was accounted for, every weakness you have ever shown was considered. This is not a game, this is not even a battle. This is a public execution. This is our statement to the world of what we will do to anyone who tries to harm us and ours."

Ravel felt her eyes go wide, panic setting in. "Are you going to kill my brother?"

Akeno answered, her voice ice cold, "If necessary."

Ravel swallowed, "Will you let me try and convince him to surrender instead?"

Akeno smiled, "I'm glad to hear you say that. That is one of the reasons I captured you instead of eliminating you. But I doubt it will come to that."

"What do you mean?"

"He would need to have not already been broken by our Queen."

Riser stepped out of the burning building. In front of him an inky black swarm was already forming. He looked up to see Taylor floating down to meet him.

He smiled at her as she landed, "I will admit that was an impressive power you showed me earlier. I can see why Rias made you her Queen, but sadly it is still nowhere in the class of the power of the Phenex Clan. Shall I show you the difference between us."

She looked at him with her cold dark eyes. "This is over Riser. I had won before you fled."

Riser snorted, "Your poison? It was a cute trick, but meaningless against my power!"

"Not the poison."

As soon as the last words left her mouth the left side of the world went pitch black. An odd pressure started to build up behind his left eye. He raised his arm to check what had happened but stopped cold as soon as his arm came into view. It was covered in small bumps that were moving around. Something was underneath his skin.

"What did you-" the question died as he felt his throat close. He flooded his body with fire to fix whatever Taylor had done to him but it didn't seem to have any effect. He felt something sharp cut into his leg and fell forward, catching himself on his hands and knees.

The pressure behind his left eye continued to build and after a moment he felt it pop free. With his other eye he could see it lying on the ground before him, covered in spiders and half eaten. He could feel the spiders crawling out of the freshly vacated socket and spread across his face. Instinctively he tried to scream but he was still unable to breath.

He felt a sharp kick at his side and was sent sprawling landing on his back. A moment later he saw Taylor standing over him, "How do you like the Muspelidae? They are a fascinating species, native to Muspelhiem and almost impossible to breed outside of their home since their eggs need to be exposed to intensely magical fire in order to hatch. While we were fighting I had my swarm transplant their eggs into those open wounds.

Riser tried to launch a fireball at the Queen but it was hard to focus while choking and his fire was behaving oddly. Taylor gave him a smirk that did not reach her eyes, "I would avoid using any fire right now if I were you. It just feeds my little friends."

Taylor leaned in close and whispered into Riser's ear, her voice calm and clinical. "I am going to clear your throat soon, if you do not immediately surrender I will leave and allow the Muspelidae to follow their instincts. You will become a living nest, feeding them and housing their brood. Every time you use your power you will just make them stronger and more numerous. You can try to get rid of them but if you miss even a single pair the process will begin again. It take centuries for you to be free of them."

Riser felt his blood run cold at Taylor's words. What kind of psychopath threatened to do that to another person. He turned to look at her and her cold hard stare left him certain that there was nothing she wasn't willing to do to him in order to win this.

She leaned back in, "I forgot to mention, we captured Ravel."

Riser tried to scream at her to leave his sister out of this but was only able to make a choking noise. Would she really do the same thing to Ravel that she had just done to him in order to win?

Her cold dark eyes flashed through his mind. She would, he doubted she would even feel anything at the act. The devil that stood over him wasn't a person, she was a monster like the Old Satans in his father's stories.

He felt his throat clear and took a few breaths of air before screaming, "I surrender! Just get me away from her!"

A/N: Fucking hell I am so glad that this Ratings Game is over. It only took me two years and a truly astounding amount of rewrites but it is done, and I never need to write about the bloody thing again! Next chapter will be falling action and set up for future arcs.

For anyone that chose to skip the last section. Taylor forces Riser to surrender by infesting him with a magical species of spider that consumes fire, threatening to turn him into a living nest. When she implies that she might do the same thing to his sister, Riser surrenders.