Replies to my Reviews
Tyrant Overlord Killidia: For the Omake, I'm making it like they all dreamt it even though it really happened. So yeah, it's Canon.
AzureDominion: I'm not fixing that as it is deliberate. Koneko obviously won't know the correct franchise like Gasper and Issei would.
Chapter 16: Gremory vs Phenex II
Koneko Toujou panted as she laid down in the Recovery Room along with her {Queen} after they had lost yet again to their opponents.
Koneko in particular had lost to a rather gigantic snake/shark hybrid which Tomoki Sakurai had called a 'Baku Zame' while Akeno and Rias had fought against giant wolf/rabbit hybrids called 'Kill Rabis'. Her absence in the Recovery Room showed that Rias had won without sustaining too much damage unlike Akeno.
"Akeno-san. Koneko-chan." Yuuto Kiba called out as he jogged towards them with a book in his bandaged hands. As he approached, he noticed that his {King} wasn't present. "There's this book that I found which might be advantageous to us."
The book in his hands had a large title on it, written as {Rokushiki - The Six Styles}.
Akeno Himejima was a {Queen}.
Akeno Himejima had a strong affinity for Lightning.
These two facts resonated through Akeno's core as she fought Yubelluna up high in the skies. The purple-haired woman formed another explosive orb and shot it at Akeno. At the speed it moved, the Akeno of two weeks ago would've have struggled to dodge it.
The Akeno of now laughed heartily as she batted the explosion away, relishing the brief look of shock on Yubelluna's face.
Lightning cracked and thunder boomed a bare fraction of a second later as Akeno landed a lightning charged kick into Yubelluna's side. Yubelluna was sent careening through the air, choking a bit as oxygen briefly denied itself to her.
A {Queen} was the Evil Piece that combined all the traits of the {Rook}, {Knight} and {Bishop}. Until her training with Issei Hyoudou, she had foolishly fought all her life like a {Bishop}, forgetting that she could've have always matched Yuuto's speed and Koneko's strength if she had ever wished to.
Hindsight really was a bitch.
Lightning was a perfect element to indulge Akeno's sadism in. It always dealt internal damage first before outer, making it one of the deadliest, most painful elements and yet, easiest to recover from.
Note that it is 'easiest', not 'easy'.
And now, she had more options. The ability to easily overspeed a fleeing prey. The ability to easily crush a prey's limb as they tried to fight back. To think that before fighting Issei, she had forgotten about those advantages... What in Maou's Name had she been thinking?!
*BOOM!*
An explosion impacted Akeno's form, engulfing her in it's fiery waves. Yubelluna chuckled as she had finally managed to land a hit-?!
"Was that the best you can do?" Akeno taunted with a steel-like grip on her neck. Her attire was severely damaged now, with one of her hakama pants leg missing, her left sleeve burnt off and her haori damaged enough to show lots of cleavage. Despite that how ever, the worst damage on Akeno's skin was nothing more than soot. "Without Ise-sama's training, even that might have done me in- Oh, that's looks important."
Yubelluna gasped as Akeno mercilessly ripped into her clothing to rip out a small vial which had been sticking through on her cloth despite it being hidden in her coat. After she was done, Akeno's backhand crashed into Yubelluna's face, sending her spinning away.
As she watched Yubelluna right herself, Akeno felt really cathartic. After suffering the threat of losing her best friend to Riser for so long, it had taken an irredeemable pervert to help them better.
Rias had confided to her one night during their training. How if Raynare had succeeded in killing Issei, she would have allowed it for the sake of his potential help within her Peerage. Rias had felt sickened on how desperate she had become to have considered a plan which would have required an innocent's murder.
And when that had failed, Rias had wanted to worm into his good graces, wishing for his hopeful acceptance of her future offer of induction into her Peerage. Then during the evening before Riser's arrival, she had gotten desperate and had tried to seduce Issei in order to give her virginity to the only guy she cared for in a romantic sight.
Thankfully, the usually perverted Issei saw through her and hadn't accepted it, causing her to suffer a brief breakdown in his arms. To Rias's embarrassed relief, she had slept in the same bed with him that night, seeking comfort in his arms.
And then Issei had trained them in increasing their powers rather than lending them his, ensuring a more permanent solution to their debacle rather than simply lending them his power for a quick fix.
'Giving Ise-sama my virginity was one of the best decisions I've ever made.' Akeno thought giddily. 'I'm sure once this is all over, Rias won't be too behind on that.'
Electrical energy built in the air around her, lighting the sky like a beacon. A pleasant tingle spread through her body and Akeno laughed into the growing wind with a massive blush on her face. Streaks of white and yellow lashed against the surrounding (fake) school buildings, scoring them with black scorch marks.
Akeno clapped her hand and when she separated them, a lightning bolt was formed between them from all the stray lightning around her. With a simple hum, Akeno grabbed the bolt like a javelin and aimed.
Yubelluna felt an immense pain in her chest before hearing a loud crack of thunder that nearly ruptured her ear drums.
'Oh. I got hit by a thunderbolt.' Yubelluna dumbly thought as she smashed down into the ground hard enough to create a crater. As she stood again, she looked up just in time to see Akeno ruthlessly crush the Phoenix Tears vial.
"Yubelluna!" Ravel Phenex moved to her side at once. "Are you alright?"
"Don't worry, Lady Ravel." Yubelluna stood tall while staring defiantly at Akeno. "I am the {Queen} of Lord Riser Phenex! I will not fall so easily!"
Akeno's smile only got wider. "Don't threaten me with a good time~"
Yuuto faced off against the other {Knight}, Siris. With her immense speed and power, she swung her zweihander almost as if it were a simple longsword, shattering Yuuto's sword the one time he had tried to block.
Unlike her Phenex companions, Siris seemed to be attributed to Wind rather than Fire, often unleashing concussive gusts with each swing.
'She's pretty strong as well in the physical department-' Yuuto thought as he dodged a stab to the head from the huge sword she was currently holding onehandedly. '-just like Karlamine. However, her usage of Wind over Fire combined with her surprising strength makes her troublesome.'
Yuuto flinched as the wound in his side throbbed, causing him to have to block with his gauntlets as Siris took advantage immediately. Even as he was sent flying, Yuuto's gauntlets did their job of protecting his hands from damage even at the cost of getting broken themselves. 'I also won't last long with this wound.'
"You truly are a strong {Knight} to have given Karlamine the battle she craved as well as survive me for this long." Siris raised her zweihander up high into the air. "In respect to that, I shall now unleash my strongest attack and defeat you in an instant rather than wearing you down!"
Wind started to gather around her raised weapon and her body, nearly obscuring her form before she charged forward.
"[Phenex Charge!]"
It was like a bullet the size of a humanoid had been fired at the same speed as a normal one.
"[Mountain Feller!]"
There was a small explosion of wind and sound as Siris's zweihander stabbed against the flat side of a large sword that Yuuto instantly created. Yuuto had only been forced back some inches before Siris disengaged her thrust against the planted sword, before rotating her whole body to slash against Yuuto's side.
Another {Mountain Feller} appeared again to block, it's defense successfully working against Siris as her zweihander didn't make the planted sword budge.
With a snarl, Siris leapt up into the air with her wings and started to descend, gaining speed by spinning forward. She then slammed her zweihander against Yuuto's raised {Mountain Feller}s, creating an immense shockwave from the impact as Yuuto struggled to hold the two large swords steady above him.
With a grunt that had Yuuto coughing up a little blood, he forced Siris off and away from her downwards slash. With no time to waste, he ditched the swords aside and created a new katana, not giving it any special attribute other than to be durable as possible.
With it at the ready, Yuuto faced his still stunned opponent. "This will be my final attack of this Rating Game, so I'll have to display my best, too."
With a deep breath, Yuuto's boot cracked the ground as the footwork for his attack started.
"One step is Silence... Two steps is Infinity...!"
"Soru!" Yuuto became a blur as he charged, stabbing Siris with two Thrusts at the same time. For an instant, the unleashed First Thrust and Second Thrust 'existed at the same time' and at the 'same position'. Even if the First Thrust had been blocked, the Second Thrust was at the same position and broke through, causing an instant defeat.
"[Nidanzuki(Two-Stage Thrust)!]"
Siris choked as her throat was stabbed and her lung was pierced through, both at such an immense speed that reality itself was convinced into believing the two consecutive attacks to have happened at exactly the same time.
After a few moments of painful rasping, Siris disappeared into motes of lights.
"1 {Knight} of Riser Phenex has been Taken."
"No good..." Yuuto muttered as he coughed up a dangerous amount of blood and collapsed, his muscles and organs now incredibly damaged. "There's no way I can perform Okita-sensei's {Sandanzuki(Three-Stage Thrust)} if a weak version of it still hurts like this. Still, I hope I have... done enough... for Rias-sama..."
Yuuto's words cut off as he fainted, leaving his Peerage as he finally fell unconscious.
"1 {Knight} of Rias Gremory has been Taken."
Koneko "Shirone" Toujou growled as she stalked towards a shaking Mihae.
"S-S-Stay back!" Mihae yelled slammed her hand unto the ground and created a large glyph. "Come forth, Salamander!"
An immense burst of flames promptly flared out, mimicking the roar of the elephant-sized flaming lizard that appeared from it.
"Attack, Salamander!" Mihae ordered her Familiar. "By my command, incinerate her to ashes!"
"You've got to be kidding me-nyan." Shirone grumbled as the salamander gathered fire inside it's mouth before breathing it out into a huge stream that threatened to obliterate the Nekoshou who suddenly tensed her body.
"[Senjutsu: Tekkai(Sage Arts: Iron Body).]"
The flames engulfed Shirone completely, causing a massive explosion. Mihae relaxed a bit... then tensed up again when the defeat wasn't announced.
"Looks like that's the best you can do-nyan." Shirone idly stepped through the flames, manipulating her own fiery Ki to keep the flames from affecting her or her already damaged clothes.
"A-Attack once more, Salamander!" Mihae ordered in panic, causing the salamander to charge it's breath again.
"How about... no-nyan. Soru." Shirone blitzed to right underneath the gigantic salamander's head.
"[Rankyaku: Stomp.]"
Shirone kicked straight up in a stomping manner, blasting a compressed shockwave right into it's lower jaw and causing the salamander immense damage as it's lower jaw broke and got the salamander burnt from within as the attack closed it's jaw back and sent the attack 'inwards'.
Mihae choked as her Familiar was thrown into the air from the power of Shirone's attack before it finished it's fall and shattered the ground before disappearing. "Wh-What are you?"
"Name's Koneko 'Shirone' Toujou-nyan." Shirone walked right up to Mihae's front, looking down at the girl despite the the catgirl being the shorter of the two. "Suck it."
"'Suck'-?!" Mihae opened her mouth to speak only to be punched in the mouth, breaking her jaw and knocking her out instantly.
"1 {Bishop} of Riser Phenex has been Taken."
"Yubelluna, everything we've predicted for this battle has gone awry." Ravel warned as Akeno floated menacingly before them. "I'm not sure if she even realizes it but the liquid from the Phoenix Tears she crushed in her hand has most likely rejuvenated her."
"I understand-" Yubelluna choked. Why? Because without her or Ravel's awareness, Akeno had somehow reached right in front of her. 'Such speed! Is she utilizing the {Knight} aspect of her {Queen} piece?!'
"I was just indulging my habit earlier..." Akeno raised a hand, causing water to manifest and rapidly spiral around it. "...but against the {Bomb Queen} and a Phenex, continuing with just lightning magic might be a bad idea~"
Water spun and grinded into an impossibly thin blade disc as Akeno swung downwards, hoping to cut Yubelluna in half.
"Yubelluna!" Ravel blasted the floor between them, blowing everyone away from their positions, including Ravel herself.
As Yubelluna was sent flying, she still had to dodge the Water Slashes that Akeno sent her way.
Ravel wasn't spared either, needing to push her flying and dodging skills to the limit as Akeno's attacks decimated bits of the (fake) school around them. Eventually, Akeno chose to chase after her, swiftly cutting to her front.
However, Yubelluna slammed into her, smashing them both into the (fake) tennis court. Yubelluna didn't stop there, making sure to bludgeon Akeno a few times in the face with her staff. Unfortunately, Akeno had trained with Issei enough to raise significantly raise her durability. Plus, Yubelluna hit like she had never thrown a single physical blow in her life.
Without even a small grunt, Akeno kicked Yubelluna far away into the burnt remnants of the gym. As Yubelluna flew off, Ravel flew around Akeno, rapidly increasing the flames of her wings until Akeno was trapped within a tornado of Hellfire.
"Yubelluna!" At Ravel's yell, a magical projectile was shot from Yubelluna's position, hitting the tornado and turning it into a gargantuan explosion!
"Did we get her?!" Ravel and Yubelluna observed the smoke which engulfed Akeno's spot. An ice cannonball suddenly struck Yubelluna, sending her flying through one of the undamaged buildings-
"Soru."
-and as she passed over the pool, Akeno suddenly appeared to kick her down into the water. As Yubelluna splashed down and fell unconscious, she disappeared into motes of light.
"1 {Queen} of Riser Phenex has been Taken."
Ravel roared as she slammed into Akeno, her entire body ablaze. With a swift application of judo, Akeno flipped the girl hard, causing her to spiral into the pool as well.
*KROOOOSHH!*
In seconds, the water boiled and evaporated away, leaving Ravel alone in the starting-to-melt pool.
"Oh, my." Akeno spoke as the Hellfire raged even stronger, setting the nearby trees ablaze as well just from the heat. The girl herself has started to grow feathers over her wrists and nape while her fingers partially grew into talons. "I guess it really wasn't a stretch for Issei-kun to mistake your name as 'Phoenix', after all."
Akeno promptly created a large shield of ice as Ravel slammed into it, rapidly melting through it as the two ascended with a berserk Ravel really trying to kill Akeno.
Akeno suddenly crashed against the upper barrier before dodging aside as Ravel slammed into it a much higher speed.
Akeno surrounded herself with a combined aura of lightning and water, boosting her durability, strength and speed to the max.
In a literal flash, she kicked Ravel downwards towards the earth, sending the dazed girl into a falling spiral as her broken nose spurted blood from the hit on her face. Gathering the combined energy from her body into her palms, Akeno shot downwards towards the falling girl.
A massive stream of electricity-saturated water blasted towards Ravel before engulfing her and utterly destroying more of the (fake) buildings.
"Huh." Issei Hyoudou idly sipped his third cup of tea. "I've just realized that any of us could totally destroy our real school in seconds if we ever went on a rampage. That's funny."
"It. Is. Not." Sona Sitri harshly replied. "You and your boys better not get any ideas! Sohara Mitsuki can't be the only sane one in your club."
"1 {Bishop} of Riser Phenex has been Taken."
"Whew..." Akeno felt the last of her magic disappear, causing her to fall out of the sky. Still, she felt no worries as she neared the ground at an alarming speed.
Why?
Koneko caught her, allowing the both of them to land slowly. "Akeno-senpai. Are you alright?"
"Exhausted." Akeno mildly patted Koneko's still present cat ears, causing the embarrassed girl to blush and hide them away again, much to Akeno's disappointment. "Now, it's just Riser left. Rias will finish this."
Rias Gremory and Riser Phenex stared each other down as they faced each other.
"Don't you have any words to say to your future husband?" Riser teased, even as his left fist heated up. "This is our 'premarital intercourse', after all."
"Please stop running your mouth, Riser." Rias huffed. "I already have enough motivation to defeat you today."
For a beat, the two High Class Devils stared each other down, their glares, smirks and emotions feeding into their magic and causing it to go wild, causing both Rias and Riser to release slight wisps of their energy into the air along with their wings.
Riser had his flaming wings as usual. Rias's wings however, now had...
Unminding of Tsubaki Shinra's dropped jaw, Sona's neck made a strange creaking sound as she turned to see Issei Hyoudou's smug face. "Hyoudou-kun."
"Yes, Shitori-kaichou?"
Sona's tongue struggled to speak, to say the words that translated what she was looking at right now. "Why... Why does Rias have four wings?!"
"Oh?" Grayfia Gremory née Lucifuge's eyes widened as she and her husband watched the match. "It seemed that the brief spout of training Rias went through gave more results than we thought."
Sirzechs Lucifer sighed in relief, seeing that the contingency he had planned might end up being unnecessary. "Regardless of how this battle goes, I'll have to thank the Red Dragon Emperor personally. A Devil's increase in their wings shows that rather than merely increasing their power, they've irrevocably transcended their past limits. For Issei Hyoudou to help Rias in such an endeavor deserves nothing but my utmost gratitude."
"Oh? It seems that you didn't waste your days in the slightest." Riser commented, a drop of sweat being the only thing to highlight how wary he had become. As arrogant as he was, Riser Phenex was no fool. Unless he went all out, the chances of victory would obviously be on Rias's side.
"Thank you." Rias coolly replied. 'It was especially hard to build up stamina for it. Even though I was assured in my victory, Ise-kun still insisted on training to get used to the increased power and abilities unless I end up like that alien who could turn golden.'
For some seconds, the two stared each other down, before suddenly clashing!
Separating after colliding their forearms against each other, Riser threw a straight punch which was dodged, allowing Rias to elbow Riser's face. The attack caved in Riser's face but did nothing to take him down as he instantly reciprocated with his own elbow and a left hook after his initial attack was dodged.
Rias made sure to dodge that as well and launched a pointblank blast of destructive energy into his chest. Riser flew back through a wall, only fly back out instantly.
The shockwaves caused from their attacks slowly caved in the ground underneath them, eventually leading them to take to the sky with Rias chasing down Riser.
Once high enough, Rias swiftly diverted a punch from Riser and punched him in the face and judo flipped him while disoriented. Riser careened through the air until smashed into the (fake) Headmaster's Office.
Roaring out in anger, Riser literally exploded upwards to Rias's position, unleashing a flurry of flaming punches. All of the punches were immediately blocked and dodged, allowing Rias to immediate retaliate with a knee to Riser's stomach, sending him flying backwards as another destructive energy blast obliterated his torso.
Growling as he regenerated, Riser clashed against Rias again, causing shockwaves to pepper the sky.
"How is this possible?" Tsubaki marveled in shock. "Even with four wings, how has Rias-sama not taken a single blow even against a monstrously strong opponent like that?!"
"Unbelievable..." Sona muttered as she was torn between joy and frustration. "To think that Rias had grown so much... And now, she's far beyond me..."
"Go, Rias-senpai!" Issei cheered. "Beat the Yakitori's ass!"
Rias yelled as she hammer fisted Riser with both arms and enough force to smash him into another building, kicking up a lot of flames and smoke as he exploded on impact.
In an instant, a compressed fireball was shot at Rias from within the conflagration, prompting Rias to shoot a compressed blast of her own. The two attacks collided, detonating into a humongous explosion that briefly lit up the entire school like a Sun before exploding and blocking Rias's view of the ground.
Another firebomb shot through the smoke to hit Rias, causing her to deflect it away so that it exploded far away this time. Suddenly, several firebombs shot out of the smoke, causing Rias to divert them all.
However, a few of them were accidentally sent towards Akeno and Koneko's position, causing the priestess to chuckle at her {King}'s mistake.
"[Thunder Dragon!]"
An Asian dragon composed of golden electricity roared as it shot forward from Akeno's glyph and devoured all the approaching firebombs.
As Rias sighed in relief from that, Riser suddenly appeared above her with a titanic fireball in hand. "Take this, dear Rias!"
The firebomb this time had enough size and power to instantly decimate the entire area, which was why Rias didn't give it the chance to get any closer. The moment Riser launched it, Rias shot up a powerful stream of Destructive energy, stopping the firebomb in it's tracks and shooting back towards Riser.
Riser only had a second to yell in shock before the firebomb detonated as it hit him instead, releasing a massive explosion that nearly blinded all the spectators.
After the light faded away, Riser revealed himself to be utterly undamaged as his own flames couldn't burn him. However, he still showed signs of being intimidated when Rias flew up to him.
"If this is what I was worried about facing, would you mind resigning, Riser?" Rias flipped her hair arrogantly. "I honestly feel like a bully at this point."
"This is unexpected." Riser crossed his arms, gaining a slightly intrigued look. "I still can't believe that 10 days were enough for you and your Peerage to have improved this much."
Rias hmphed. "Didn't I tell you so?"
"To be honest, I'm a bit relieved." Riser's words got a shocked look from Rias, as the playboy raised his fist to clench. "My little sister was so very adamant in not underestimating you. Considering how far this Rating Game has gone, it seems I may have a chance to go all out, after all."
"I knew it." Rias smiled as she tried to suppress the nervousness that was starting to spring up. "The sheer arrogance you constantly carry about wouldn't be as threatening if you didn't have the power to back it up. You've still got a trump card hidden like her, huh?"
"Well deduced, dear Rias." Riser acquiesced with a nod, aware that she might have seen a bit of Ravel's incomplete transformation. "But then, so do you, right? If so, let's both go all out."
"No more hidden cards?" Rias agreed. "Fine, then."
Riser raised a hand forward. "Ladies first."
"If you don't mind me taking the wind out of your sails, I'll show you!" Rias dropped down with Riser following her until they both landed on the (fake) school roof.
Rias squared her feet, clenched her fists and then called upon the inner power she had awakened. Her hair grew wilder, starting to glow as her eyes turned crimson. Her fingers gained claws, her teeth sharpened into fangs, her skin turned blood red, her now crimson wings doubled in size and sturdiness, pair of narrow vermillion horns protruded from her forehead and a long barbed tail peeked out from her butt.
"[Gamory!]"
In a devastating wave of power, the transformed Rias unleashed a blackish red aura formed from her {Power of Destruction} which slowly ate away at the surrounding reality like gaseous acid.
Riser himself flinched back from what he felt. It was like being exposed to a greedy Devourer with the awesome instinct to destroy everything down to the molecules. "Wow... What a terrifying woman you are, dear Rias. I do not doubt the power of what I am looking at, but... what am I looking at?"
Rias chuckled as she explained. "This? This is {Gamory}. The Bloodline Prowess of the Clan of Gremory."
"Impossible. The Clan of Gremory doesn't have any recorded existence of a Bloodline Prowess." Riser instantly replied before suddenly rubbing his chin in thought. "Then again, even the greatest of all generational empowerments need a starting point... Well, no matter."
Riser shrugged before removing his jacket. "It still doesn't change the fact that you are now using the Bloodline Prowesses of two separate Clans, mixing this {Gamory} with the {Power of Destruction}. There's no way I could disrespect you without using my own to the fullest."
"[Pheynix!]"
Riser spread his arms as Demonic flames burst off him, briefly shaping into the form of a titanic golden Phoenix. After crying out ethereally, the Phoenix closed it's wings around Riser, surrounding him in flames that spun and concentrated until it resembled a Sun, melting the roof on and nearly forcing Rias away with the sheer heat.
Eventually, the flames sputtered away and revealed Riser's new form. Being adorned in a suit of bird-like armor, Riser had now gained an extra pair of flaming wings, armor-like scales and feathers across his body, a large avian eye in the center of his chest and talons on his hands and feet.
If Rias's new form had felt like voracious Greed personified, Riser's felt like burning Pride. A Pride that burned away at all who dared to encroach into it's territory.
"A-Amazing...!" Rias admitted despite herself. The sheer heat and power Riser was giving off easily matched hers now, maybe even surpassing it by a bit. "Four wings..."
"Indeed, dear Rias!" Riser's voice even sounded deeper and stronger as well. "I as well possess four wings just like you. However, whether they only appear in this form because I was on the cusp of transcending myself, or whether I'm simply an naturally talented Devil who has never felt the urge to evolve into a stronger form than I am now, nothing changes the fact that I am now and have always been undeniably stronger than you!"
Taking offence at that statement, Rias blasted forward with a Destructive punch, only for Riser to effortlessly catch it and deliver his own into Rias's midsection, stunning her long enough to smash a left hook into her cheek and send her into a building.
While Rias kept crashing through the walls until she simply smacked into the last one that would've allowed her outside again, Riser was already shooting at her at with lots of firebombs, blasting the building into chucks of flaming rubble.
Riser stopped firing as soon as the smoke grew large enough to significantly block his view, staying on alert as Grayfia hadn't announced Rias's defeat yet.
Sure enough, Rias floated upwards, not the tiniest bit of damage on her. At the sight of Riser's smirk, Rias soared towards Riser until just as she was inches away with a cocked fist, she blitzed to his back and smashed a large blast of Destructive energy into him.
Riser yelled as he was sent crashing into the ground, kicking up a large amount of dust and smoke as he caused a huge crater. Still undamaged himself, Riser flew up and clashed against Rias again, sending her flying through another building.
Even as Rias righted herself, Riser was already onto her, landing a punch on her face. However, Rias quickly recovered, diverting the next punch and elbowing Riser's nose.
"Wow..." Sirzechs trailed off as he watched his little sister keep on even footing with the Phenex.
"Do you think that this {Gamory} truly is the Gremory Bloodline Prowess?" Grayfia questioned.
"I... do not know." Sirzechs frowned as he pondered. "Still, even if Rias loses, there's no way Father will casually give Rias away now."
Rias roared as her kick crashed against Riser's forearm, before blocking Riser's flaming punch with her own forearm. As always, the Demonic flames and Destructive energy kept cancelling each other out, leaving Rias grateful towards Issei for her intensive CQC training.
Raising his left arm high, Riser roared as he swiped it downwards, creating a crescent of Demonic flames that cut into Rias and burnt a scar across the entire (fake) school grounds.
"Was that too much for you, dear Rias?" Riser chuckled as he raised his still flaming arm. "I must have put too much power into that one."
"Hyoudou-kun, how exactly did Rias achieve this {Gamory}?" Sona questioned.
"By nearly dying for it." Issei replied with his eyes fixed on Rias's form. "Even so, it still took a lot to turn it into this worthwhile power you're witnessing."
After kicking Rias into the ground, Riser panted heavily but still had the energy to sneer as Rias slowly got up from another of her craters. "You still struggle, dear Rias? I commend you and your Peerage for putting up an excellent fight but in the end, you are all still far below me."
"Are you still saying words like that, Riser?" Rias cricked her neck as she glared up at the armored Yakitori. "I just discovered something really nice, considering that I've lasted quite long while fighting you." A wide, toothy grin similar to Issei's appeared on her face. "Your weakness that is."
"Weakness?" Riser laughed derisively. "What a ridiculous thing to say. After fighting me just now, you ought to know better. What weakness are you talking about?"
"Oh, you aren't feeling it yet. Even so, it will show itself soon." Rias chuckled in anticipation. "It's just a guess but, you've never fought someone for so long in that form of your's, have you?"
"Of course, not." Riser indulged her with honesty. "So what if you're the only one other than my elder brother Ruval to have survived more than 30 seconds against me in this form?"
"You're consuming your stamina at an alarming rate." Rias revealed. "I know that because Ise-kun warned me of that particular flaw the day I achieved {Gamory}. I still had to train in order to get accustomed to it so I wouldn't keel over the moment I dropped out of it."
"Hmph, is that it?" Riser snarled. "Then I shall hurry up and defeat you right away!"
Riser shot towards Rias while she shot towards him as well, stunning the Phenex as she actually blitzed passed him. As Riser raced back upwards to catch her, Rias suddenly turned about and punched his hastily raised forearm.
*CRACK!*
Gawking at the first crack in his armor, Riser's head was suddenly crushed as Rias's Destruction-enhanced kick obliterated it. Regenerating instantly, Riser punched into Rias's stomach. Unlike before, she neither blocked nor was blown away. She simply weathered it and took the chance to punch back and break Riser's jaw.
Grimacing at the slight pain as he healed, Riser shot forward a barrage of firebombs. After dodging the first few ones, Rias started to deflect them instead, sending them flying into different parts of the (fake) school.
"And there goes the Girls' Locker Room." Issei sighed despondently as the mentioned facility went up in flames. "What a shame."
Riser roared as he flew forward with a cocked flaming fist. It was therefore to his utmost shock when Rias caught the punch in her left palm, not even flinching from the flames licking her hand.
"WHAT?!" That was all Riser had the time to utter before a Destructive Orb was smashed into his face. As Riser reeled from that, he was completely unprepared for the Destructive energy blast which sent him down to the ground and buried him deep into a crater.
Rias wasn't done, however. She cupped her hands, gathered a lot of Destructive energy between her palms and then shot down a streaming, powerful beam of blackish red energy.
Riser growled as he raised his arms and blocked the attack, straining as the ground beneath him cracked, broke and then shattered from the pressure. "I-I'll just take this and...!"
With a growl of her own, Rias doubled down on her attack, overpowering Riser and causing him to be engulfed in a gigantic explosion!
After a while, a horribly bruised Riser stumbled out of the smoke, his armor destroyed in several spots over his body.
"Wow." Issei murmured. "He's really gotten the crap beaten out of him."
"Rias's assessment of him was right." Sona adjusted her glasses, making them flash as she smirked. "When someone as strong and talented as Riser Phenex kept winning against his opponents by simply overpowering them, he lost the very basic knowledge of knowing to mind his limits against someone who could keep up."
Rias floated down until she stood on the ground some meters before Riser. As Riser clenched his fists and stalked forward, Rias breathed deeply and smiled brightly at the approaching man. "Did you know that in a Rating Game, anything goes?"
Suddenly, Riser and every male currently watching felt a sudden bout of foreboding at the sight of that smile.
Rias suddenly blitzed into Riser's personal space and headbutted him right in the chin.
As he reeled back, Rias grabbed Riser's arms and pulled at them, driving a Destructive energy-enhanced knee into his groin.
Unknowing of Issei, Yuuto and Sirzechs's sympathetic screams of horror, Rias elbowed Riser's nape as he bent forward while wincing.
As he was forced down further, his face was unfortunately smashed into Rias's rising knee, again charged with Destructive energy, causing another need for regeneration as he fell to the ground while groaning.
"Such cruelty..." Sirzechs shivered as he buried his face into his wife's breasts. "When did Rias become so mean...?"
Grayfia just sighed as she rubbed the top of his head.
"The Cock-shot." Issei trembled tremendously as he tried to sip some tea from the cup in his shaking hand. "To think that the all powerful attack of the females could become even deadlier."
"You know, I do have a version in which I cover my knee with water spikes instead." Sona mentioned as she made a show of cleaning her glasses, enjoying the raw terror that briefly took over Issei's expression. "Once it pierces through, the magical water left behind violently rips it's way out."
"TMI!"
Riser could do nothing but writhe on the floor, groaning as his {Pheynix} faded away.
Rias stared down at the defeated man as her {Gamory} deactivated as well. For a second, she seriously wondered if this was a dream or illusion, having beat down Riser with her own power. Then, her aches from the battle reminded that this was very much reality.
"And now, all that is left is for Riser to Resign." Sona raised her cup as a toast to Rias's imminent victory. "As he is now, the battle's decided and there's nothing left that Riser can do but-"
"That's impossible. As a fellow King, how can you even say that of him?" Issei cut her off in a completely serious tone. "I may not like Riser but even though I'm a Human and he's a Devil, we're still Men and Rulers. There's no way those babes in his Peerage would've followed Riser so loyally if he was so weak-willed."
As Sona and Tsubaki gaped at the respectful and offended tone he had taken, Issei raised his hands for emphasis as he clenched them into fists. "Even if an opponent's legs have been broken, their hands burnt and their bodies pierced through, as long as they themselves don't admit defeat, the fight's still on. Even if Rias Gremory is the one standing, as long as she doesn't accept victory, the fight's still on! Even if Riser Phenex looks like he's about to keel over, as long as he doesn't accept defeat, the fight's still on! DON'T LOOK DOWN ON A MAN'S SPIRIT SO EASILY, SHITORI-KAICHOU!"
"Resign, Riser." Rias raised her hand and aimed an orb of Destructive energy at him. "This Rating Game is settled."
"Just who do the Hell do you think I am?" Riser growled from that insulting statement as he unsteadily pulled himself up to his full height, his wings flaring out again, although much weaker than usual. "Just how low is your respect for me that you would ask such a question to Riser Phenex?!"
Rias's eyes widened in surprise before they lowered in sympathy. "I see. Then, I apologize for my offensive statement."
Riser smirked and then rushed forward but it was too late.
"[Destructive Bullet.]"
The basketball-sized orb of Destructive energy in her palm quickly compressed itself to her pointing finger before shooting through Riser's chest. Riser slowed down and looked at the small hole that wasn't even healing anymore before he fell onto his back and disappeared into motes of light.
Rias sighed and fell back, nearly falling asleep even as Akeno caught her in her arms. "Checkmate."
"The {King} has been Taken. Lady Rias Gremory has won the Game."
KingVessel: Whew! First update of the year! This makes a whole year into being a Fanfic Author. Please review.