Fate: Bonds Beyond Humanity

by Apprentice of Life

In a world where all can be real, what does it mean to be human? What is the meaning of humanity? A meeting between a human and a devil will have them discovering the truth while chasing their dreams. My take on the combined worlds of Fate and DxD with characters from other franchises if they can be adapted to it. Harem.

31. Chapter 31

Fate/Bonds Beyond Humanity

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31- Destruction Vs Immortality: Battlefield Fake Kuoh

…..

Inside the Gremory Castle, the theater was mostly silent at the developments of the Rating Game. Previously there was some discussion from the nobles about Rias' maneuver and if what she did was cowardice or not.

Unlike the participants of the Rating Game who didn't know everything that happened in it, the crystal ball in the theater was able to show every angle that the main judges decided was interesting or important. They saw how Riser's Pawns charged Rias' base, managed to Promote and even arrive in its center.

Only to be defeated by fire and the lack of oxygen.

It was something that the members of the Bael present found amusing, most of the Gremory found it funny and even Zeoticus couldn't help but crack a smile and tease his friend about it that the man took in stride.

That was everything that any member of the Phenex clan in the audience could do, everyone knew that Rias had managed to humiliate their clan even if indirectly and some of them even rose up from their seats proudly to say that a true Phenex would have escaped that situation.

Some more jabs and debates ran around the theater but the VIP box was mostly silent. Rias' actions managed to impress her family and even her father, who was technically rooting for Riser's victory, couldn't help himself with how proud he was for his daughter's intelligence with Venelana also singing praises at her cunning.

Millicas couldn't stop himself from bouncing in his chair and analyzing everything that happened, even describing how the use of cloaks to hide the Queen's absence was a great strategy, asking Sirzechs and Shirou if they knew that Rias was planning something like that.

Shirou could only say he didn't; it was the truth after all. Despite having helped Rias learn strategy and run scenarios to get her used to making plans and falling, he had no clue what the battlefield was and what Rias was planning, that was all her and her peerage to deal with.

Meanwhile everyone else chatted around them, the members of the Phenex clan were mostly silent, the two actual heads of the clan looked at their Honorable Elder with some fear and respect. They couldn't deny that he was right to be cautious any longer and that maybe his contributions were the only thing securing their victory, especially after the humiliation of losing members to fire of all things.

Riser the Elder couldn't help but smirk when he saw that Rias had to split her numbers and Ravel did the same, it was the right call which would allow the Phenex win in his opinion. The man couldn't hide his satisfaction when someone gasped at the reveal of their trump card.

"That is a Noble Phantasm!" Shirou shouted in surprise, getting everyone's attention, even the Phenex didn't expect someone to identify the sword that fast.

"What are you talking about, Shirou?" Millicas boundless curiosity got him to speak first and Shirou noticed how he reacted at the view of the immaculate sword that showed up on the crystal ball.

Compelled to answer by the eyes on him, Shirou lowered his tone. "That sword, I have no doubt it is a Noble Phantasm."

"Are you sure about this?" Sairaorg rubbed his chin as he examined the white sword. "How can you tell? While it is a magnificent sword, we are in another dimension and we can't feel its presence. I can see it is a special sword but a Noble Phantasm? There is no way to be sure."

"I studied them. I know Noble Phantasms and I bet my life that such a unique sword can only be one." Shirou couldn't use Structural Analysis on it, any attempt would just give him information about the crystal and the scrying spells on it, but his eyes couldn't be deceived. "That shape is too unique, the metal too immaculate, too pure. Not only that, the damage Kiba just took… it must have something harmful to devils in it."

"Lord Phenex, what is the meaning of this?" Sirzechs asked evenly but anyone that really knew the man could tell he was hiding his real emotions. "Did you really provide a Noble Phantasm for Rating Game between clans?" It wasn't the brother of Rias or the father Millicas talking, it was Lucifer with all the authority the title gave to him.

"What is the problem, great Maou? There aren't any rules against providing members of our house with the best arms possible." Riser the Elder didn't give the chance to his descendent to speak, he wouldn't allow an apology or justification to leave any of his clan members' lips. "Besides, this is a matter between the Phenex and Gremory clans and I believe that the Head of Gremory has no objection, does he?"

All eyes moved to Zeoticus who hesitated to answer for a couple of seconds before shaking his head. "I suppose that there is no violation of the rules so there is no issue."

Sirzechs wanted to grab his father by his suit, call the man an idiot and punch him in the face before stopping the Rating Game completely. The presence of a Noble Phantasm added too many dangers for him to feel comfortable in letting things proceed.

Except he couldn't, he couldn't act as a Gremory and hasn't been able to act as a Gremory for the last few centuries. Ever since he took the chair of Lucifer he had to stay away and don't involve himself in his family's policies, usually having another Maou to handle them when possible, to avoid bias.

He still intervened where he could but the only reason why he was really allowed in the theater was both because his parents loved him and his son was Rias' heir and a true Gremory which gave him some leeway but not enough to do anything.

But as Lucifer his hands are tied. By trying to make sure the Underworld was more equal and avoid another civil war. Sirzechs limited his political powers and now that decision came back to bite him as he can't even speak in protest if the other part of the dispute, the Gremory part, wouldn't.

"Are you all insane? A Noble Phantasm isn't a toy to just be used without care!" Shirou protested when no one else did, earning another glare from the Elder Phenex. "Look at the damage that Kiba already suffered from a single scratch, that sword can kill someone in this game easily."

"It was a risk that the heiress was willing to take when she challenged our contract. Accidents can happen on Rating Games, nothing strange about that." The Elder replied with a cocky grin, gaining satisfaction on how Shirou was gritting his teeth. "Shouldn't you, the son of the famous Magus Killer, understand something as simple as that?" Anger flashed in Shirou's eyes for the Elder to see and his fist was shaking from how much emotion the redhead was trying to hold back. "So Rutal was right, you are indeed his son."

Some eyes now saw Shirou with a new light as they all knew about the Magus Killer but only a few knew about their relation before the Elder's reveal.

"'Magus Killer'? Who is that?" Millicas was the only person that knew neither about the man or the implications of what the Elder Phenex was talking about since he was too young.

"The Magus Killer is a human, a bounty hunter of some sort. A human so skilled and powerful that managed to kill a dictator surrounded by powerful guards which included magicians and even some devils, without a scratch." Zeoticus said with a smile as he gave Shirou a side hug. "I can see why Rias saw value in you. I am a little upset that she didn't tell us that you were the son of such a powerful mage."

"I heard a story that the Magus Killer once challenged a vampire king to a duel and won. Is that true?" Sairaorg asked with child-like curiosity. "Nobody was able to confirm or deny the story but it was known that a sect of vampires around Turkey stopped acting after the man was sighted in the area."

"I don't-"

"Some people even claim that the Magus Killer is not a single man but a whole organization, always killing for the highest bidder." Lord Phenex said with respect and a little frustration. "Such lies to try and diminish the work of such a great man. If he just worked for whoever paid more, he would have been under our Clan's employ for years now."

'What the hell?' Shirou couldn't believe the devils' reaction to his father's identity. While not everyone was impressed or surprised, the majority of the present were treating him as a celebrity.

"He is a human to be respected, Millicas." Venelana told her grandson with a smile. "A very powerful man that has managed to eliminate many beings that dared to challenge him. Some of them even our enemies, like a Cardinal that was trying to start a Crusade against devils in Europe."

A quick glance at Sirzechs told Shirou exactly why his father had done that and even why many devils would respect the man. Yet Lucifer said nothing, not a single comment about being in a pact with his father or that the Magus Killer worked closely with the Underworld leadership.

"Really? Is he a hero then? Like father?" Millicas eyes full admiration rubbed Shirou the wrong way. "Didn't you go on a quest with him? Was he trying to teach you how to be a Magus Killer?"

The worst part for Shirou was that the question managed to cut deeper than it should. He had no words to express how bad he felt about the implication of him becoming like his father, even the man himself agreeing with him that it was a bad idea.

And Millicas, a child, sounded enchanted by the idea of the Magus Killer. Shirou can understand why; devils value power and by his many feats it can be argued that the Magus Killer must be an extremely powerful magician.

"No. It wasn't." Shirou found his voice after a moment and made sure to glare at the Elder of Phenex. "And you are changing the subject; a Noble Phantasm is too dangerous for a Rating Game between people that are supposed to get married." Not that they would but Shirou was grasping for straws to try and stop the match.

"The same could be said about the Power of Destruction." Riser the Elder comment had the intended effect, Shirou can't disagree with him, Rias' Power can be considered as dangerous as a Noble Phantasm.

"You don't need to worry about anything, young Emiya. Karlamine trained constantly to master Bakuya and she will not kill the members of Rias' peerage, everything is under control." Lord Phenex tried to reassure him and Shirou can feel the change of the posture of the man, how he was suddenly paying more attention to the magus' actions.

"Indeed, indeed. It would truly spoil the marriage if Riser's Knight lost control like that." Venelana nodded her approval, the devils accepting a Noble Phantasm presence without a thought. "But Millicas is right, you spoke of a quest with your father before. Facing a dragon and rescuing a princess? Why not talk more about it in more detail."

'They aren't even caring about the Rating Game any longer now that Bakuya was revealed.' Shirou recognized the name, he wasn't sure exactly where and without the sword present he couldn't get the information from it. But there was something he was sure of. "Using a Noble Phantasm is not that easy; one can't master it without the proper conditions."

"It is a sword. A good Knight must be able to wield it." Riser the Elder deflected but Shirou wasn't giving up.

"There are many more things about a Noble Phantasm, many things that you aren't taking into account; the legend, the power, the previous owner. All these things can influence it in ways that someone unprepared can't predict." Shirou ignored everyone else, to him there was just the Elder Phenex present. In his mind if he could convince the man that his weapon was dangerous he could stop the match.

But Riser won't be easily swayed, on the contrary, his look turned into a full glare. "Are you implying I didn't do my due research, boy? That I handed out such a powerful weapon without thinking?" The oldest blond present was clearly upset at the implications even if it wasn't Shirou's intention. "I researched the Married Blades and even if I failed to procure the other part of the pair I am confident that sword is just that, a sword good at cutting advanced beings such as devils."

"'Married Blades'… Kanshou and Bakuya." Hearing the title the blades gained through story made Shirou realize what the weapon really was and when he looked back to Kiba's fight, he couldn't help but smile. "It is not over yet."

"Huh?" Riser wasn't the only one surprised by Shirou's words but he looked to the man expecifically.

"I said 'it is not over yet'. Rias can still win this match." Disbelief dawned on many faces but Riser just looked angry. "You did your research and you know you only have one of the swords but you forgot to account for its legend and meaning."

"'Legend and meaning'? Could you elaborate, Shirou?" This time Sairaorg was faster but Shirou couldn't reply as Riser the Elder spoke first.

"What do a youngling like you, who didn't even reach two decades of your life know about meaning? You are a century too young to come and speak of meanings." The Phenex was irritated with the look Shirou was giving him, full of defiance. "That is a powerful sword, a Noble Phantasm. Rias Gremory has nothing and no one able to counter it. The Red Dragon Emperor is young and Bakuya can tear her whole peerage to pieces."

"You underestimate them and overestimate yourself." Shirou points to the crystal ball but his eyes don't leave the Phenex. "Rias is going to win, I bet my life on it."

"One would think the son of the Magus Killer would be wiser than that." The Elder Phenex said dismissively.

"I am not my father, not even close." Shirou said with a smirk before turning to Millicas. "That quest we took? We weren't there to save anyone, we were there to kill and to let everyone else around us die. That was all for a lesson; all those deaths that my father set up were supposed to be a lesson for me."

"What are you-"

"Hundreds died because the Magus Killer cared about his son." Shirou interrupted Venelana who looked at him shocked. "It wasn't a grand quest or mission, it was just to teach me how to kill, to not care about the lives of others, only my own."

"An important lesson." Zeoticus noted but Shirou shook his head.

"I rejected it and decided to save someone that tried to kill me, because I am my own person." The devils were looking at him in confusion but Riser remained mad.

"Is there a point to this little story?" The Elder asked with a frown.

Shirou turned his head to Zeoticus so the Gremory head could see he was the one he was talking with. "Yes there is; that sometimes, even if the parents want to do what is best for their children, they end up doing something that can create a rift between them." Looking at Millicas, Shirou gave the young boy a smile. "I hope that never happens with you, that you and your father never have a discussion that changes how you view each other forever. Make no mistake, I still love him, he is my old man after all, but there are still things between us and we both walk our separate ways for the most part."

"Huh, the foolishness of the young." Riser the Elder grunted. "You don't see that what your father was trying to do was the proper way of doing things. He was correct, you needed a lesson and since all I hear from you now is foolishness."

"Even if he was correct, that doesn't mean he was right." Shirou's words confused some people but he just chuckled. "Besides, he didn't understand what my problem was at the time and the conversation we had later could have spared us the trip. Probably wouldn't but could."

"Such foolishness." The Elder Phenex said once again.

"I believe the two of you are forgetting something." It was then that the other Elder present reminded everyone of his presence.

Zekram had an amused smile on his face as he pointed to the crystal which was showing three fights simultaneously, the ones which the judges found more interesting; Rias struggle against two Pieces, the aerial combat between the Queens ,who were throwing magic all around, and the Knights where a Noble Phantasm was present.

"All this drible and discussion is pointless as the Rating Game is still going, the game which will define who is in the right and who is in the wrong." The Elder Bael reminded everyone of the facts and ended the discussion, something that earned him a curious glance from Sirzechs. "There is nothing better than a Rating Game to settle this anyway, don't you all agree?"

"'Might makes right', huh?" Shirou could only accept that was how things were done in the Underworld.

"Of course. It isn't the right of the strong to say how things should go when everything else fails?" Zekran asked with fake curiosity. "Both of you say your side is going to win, that was what we came here to watch in the first place. Will Rias find a way around a Noble Phantasm? Will young Riser manage to recover after all his Pawns were taken out unceremoniously? This is what makes Rating Games fun."

The excitement the Elder Bael was letting out confused all the devils, even if he supported the actual regime he never showed his emotions that much about Rating Games around anyone else.

It was Sirzechs who realized what was happening first. 'He is trying to stop a fight, but why?' With Zekram there was always a plan, a reason why he did anything. 'The Phenex clan is rich but not important enough, even Ruval's position in Rating Games wasn't that big of a deal for him. Shirou isn't important either and even his father's reputation isn't enough to make him be seen as anything other than a human. Why is Zekram trying to stop a fight between them? Or rather, what is his real goal?'

The actual Lucifer truly didn't like being left in the dark about the Elder devil's intentions but there was nothing he could do.

'Come on Kiba, you can do it.' Shirou's focus was particularly turned to that fight as Bakuya's presence worried him more than anything else. 'If I can figure out its weakness from here, you can as well.'

…

Fighting against a Noble Phantasm wasn't a novel experience for Kiba. With his King's brother having a servant with one and Shirou also showing him Muramasa when requested, he can say for certain he had more experience facing them than the average devil.

Which didn't help since no one he faced armed with one of these revered weapons tried to cut him as much as Kalarmine was trying at the moment. The woman herself didn't realize or didn't care that her sword was so dangerous that shel could kill him before the Rating Game's safeguards saved his life.

'At least she isn't aiming for the neck or the head.' That was the only indication that Karlamine wasn't really trying to kill him, she was excited because of her new sword and the chance of trying it in real combat. Kiba could recognize that much.

With her two swords, Karlamine had started her offensive quickly and aimed mostly at Kiba's arms and chest, something the Gremory's Knight was grateful for since it made her attack easier to defend with a single sword which was his preferred style.

Her attacks are a constant barrage of steel in his direction, fast enough that Kiba was stuck in the defensive position with no end in sight as one sword, Bakuya, was always too close for comfort while the other did small damage when the opportunity presented itself.

Karlamine was proving herself to be a hard opponent that Kiba had no idea how to defeat. Since both of them are Knights their speed was too similar for him to get an advantage and her weapon was much superior due to the fact his sacred gear was limited to his power and skill while her Noble Phantasm didn't have such limitations.

The woman in question focused most of her attacks with Bakuya, her attention was clearly on her best sword and she made many attempts to break Kiba's guard with it and the blond had no choice but to always keep his sword against the Noble Phantasm, which in turn left him open for the longer and weaker normal sword on Karlamine's other hand.

After the normal sword cut his arm, Kiba saw no other choice but to start retreating, it was clear that this wasn't a fight he could win head on. He blocked Bakuya for what felt like the hundredth time already, his bleeding hand reminding him of the danger and making the fight harder as he pushed the legendary sword back just enough to get some space to run despite how much he didn't want to.

After a look of surprise, the other Knight started her pursuit. "Get back here!" Karlamine demanded but she wasn't angry, she was smiling. She knew her weapon was just that dangerous and didn't blame Kiba for running. That didn't mean she liked it. "Are you afraid or something?"

The taunt didn't bother the blond, the sword that she pointed at him did. "Could you please throw away that sword first?" Kiba asked with his best fake charming smile, hoping that the woman attended his request.

"Maybe we could spar after the marriage, I promise to not use it then." Karlamine wouldn't hurt a comrade with a Noble Phantasm, Kiba wasn't one at the moment so until the game ended she would use it fully and with gusto.

Turning around fully, Kiba places his wounded hand on the ground. "Sword Birth!" At his call, dozens of weapons sprung in Karlamine's direction. 'Need to keep my distance.' He glared at Bakuya with more hated than he intended

The sudden appearance of swords surprised Karlamine. Unlike Issei who was the Red Dragon Emperor and whose reincarnation was an event of note, Kiba's with his more common sacred gear wasn't someone they paid much attention to and so his full capabilities are unknown for the Phenex Peerage.

Yet the surprise attack wasn't going to stop her as she jumped up and revealed her wings again, despite one of them being wounded. They are still enough that she can cross the distance but her method of attack also left her open as Kiba calls for another sword.

Karlamine was surprised once again when a sword three meters tall came in her direction, Kiba needing to use both his hands and creating a mid attack to take her out. Never before has the Phenex Knight been attacked like that and her reaction was simple, putting the Noble Phantasm in the giant sword's way.

It worked as Kiba had to rush his creation and failed to give it proper defenses, Bakuya shattered without difficulties and the other Knight finished her leap and cut him with her broadsword even when Kiba tried to jump back to avoid it.

"Not bad. Your sacred gear is truly the ideal one for a Knight." Karlamine complimented while raising Bakuya and pointing in his direction again. "But it still can't compare to a Noble Phantasm."

"Kinda an unfair comparison, don't you think?" Kiba asked a little sarcastically which had Karlamine smiling at him.

"Just stating the facts." In Kiba's opinion she was bragging but he had no time to say it as she attacked again, Bakuya moving to stab his chest just as he picked one of his swords from the ground to redirect it and then another to block her broadsword's follow up. "Oh~ you can fight with two swords too?"

"Not really my specialty but…" Any conversation they had was another second Kiba had to plan and try to get around the Noble Phantasm but Karlamine didn't care, she just attacked.

It didn't take long for the blades on his hands to break, usually when using Sword Birth offensively Kiba creates cheap weapons and he expected that, using the fact the first one broke to create another sword inside Karlamine's guard.

However this time the woman was paying more attention and knew about the trick and quickly used her other sword to block. Kiba then sacrificed his other blade to the Noble Phantasm to try and hit Karlamine with some pieces of steel but she protected her eyes with her gauntlet covered hand while her armor protected the rest of her body.

"That wasn't very honorable of you." Karlamine commented while noticing the thin weapon that Kiba made, a saber but a little thicker than the standard. She also could see that the handle had ornaments like wings wider than the blade itself.

"I am fighting a Noble Phantasm." Kiba said bitterly while making another of the same sword and the two clash again in a sequence of parries and counter attacks that lasts a couple seconds before Kiba has to disengage again after a cut on his shoulder from Bakuya.

Just looking at that legend and the aura that was exuding was enough to make him annoyed for a reason he could never forget. It wasn't holy or sacred but the way it rejected him was enough to make him want to lash out at it.

This time Karlamine didn't pursue, she could see that her fellow Knight's wound was deep and looked at Bakuya with admiration. "Truly a marvelous sword."

Only the fact that Kiba had practice facing people faster and stronger than him was that kept him in the fight at that point as their speeds are relatively close. However in the last exchange he noticed something odd.

"Using two swords at the same time… it is a style you picked recently right?" The blond question had snapped Karlamine from admiring Bakuya and she nodded in confirmation.

"Yes. I only received this sword recently, for this game to be more precise." Karlamine had no fear of admitting it since to her the information made no difference.

"Then you and I are on the same boat." Raising both blades, Kiba crosses them together and Karlamine raises an eyebrow. "We both aren't used to fighting like this."

"I don't see what difference that makes." Karlamine commented before proceeding to renew her attack but this time it was different as Kiba abandoned defense and attacked as well.

They ended up meeting in the middle and Kiba's attack was telegraphed by the position of his swords, their both together over his head clearly giving her an opening and telling Karlamine he was going for a sacrificial attack.

Not wishing to be take out together with her opponent, Karlamine raised her swords in defense, both sides colliding and the woman realized that Kiba had won the encounter when her Noble Phantasm had been pushed back farther than expected and left her open for a slash on her side that if it wasn't for her armor she would have been taken out.

The blow on her chest still pushed Karlamine back and now she was on the defensive as Kiba brought his sword back with a stab that she easily stopped with Bakuya only for the blond Knight to hold the Noble Phantasm in place before swinging with his other weapon from the side.

Once again two swords clash against each other and Karlamine finds herself losing the competition with Bakuya as Kiba manages to deflect it and hit her again, this time the woman ends up bleeding from a cut in the arm.

When Kiba started his attack with two swords he was expecting to surprise Karlamine and beat her because they both lack experience; he knew that defending with two swords wasn't the same thing as defending with a shield or even with just one; it was necessary a great deal of discipline to pay attention to both weapons and use them effectively, something he noticed Karlamine was having difficulties on.

He didn't expect as much success as he was managing to have but quickly realized that every time both Karlamine swords were close to each other it was like she lost her grip or something similar on Bakuya or her other sword.

Even not having that much time to think about the reasons why he was now winning, Kiba could figure out that it must have something to do with Bakuya's legend. Something was making the Phenex clan devil unable to use her swords properly and while Kiba was uncertain of what exactly happened he wasn't going to complain.

On the other side of the fight, Karlamine was trying to understand why she found herself falling back in the confrontation. With Kiba's sudden offensive she felt that something was wrong with her swords, mostly the one on her left hand but she dismissed the thought as impossible; it was a Noble Phantasm, one of the best swords on the planet and there shouldn't be anything wrong.

The blond Knight accelerates his pace and for the most part Karlamine can block Kiba's attacks but there were times where she wasn't able to fully stop him and they were always when he managed to lock Bakuya in place of a second or two and she failed to defend with it.

Frustration was starting to build up on Karlamine's chest and she decided that the fight couldn't keep going with her on the defensive, that she needed to attack and win. As far as she was concerned this match should have already ended, the wounds on Kiba's body showed that her sword was much superior than anything he had.

Compared to Kiba, Karlamine's wounds were minor, just small cuts and a bruser where she was hit on the chest. Meanwhile, the Gremory Knight was still bleeding from his arm and shoulder, the visible white of his uniform was already a dark red color from the wounds he took.

Frustration made way to fury as Karlamine abandoned defense as well and threw herself in the offense, her speed was comparable to Kiba's but her sword was sharper and she only needed a good hit to win the fight. With that instinctual realization, she moved to secure the win by attacking with her two swords at the same time and fully expecting Kiba to block or do the same.

Only for her eyes to catch a glimpse of Kiba's smile. Having realized that both of them lacked true skill with two swords at once, the Gremory knight found a path to victory. When Karlamine decided to go full offense Kiba knew he had his opening and activated the power he prepared on his swords, the power of compressed wind.

There was no great call nor announcement, Kiba needed to act quickly and with a strong jet of wind he managed to push himself to the side and turn his shoulder to hit the woman in a tackle.

Surprised by the sudden action, Karlamine felt the pain of the impact that threw her back a couple of steps and couldn't react fast enough as Kiba used both his swords and wings to chase her and aim a slash at her chest to end the fight.

"Propulsion Blade!" Kiba unleashed the power of his blade, moving at least twice faster than his normal speed. He spins mid air to use his momentum to increase the power of his attack beyond anything Karlamine could survive as his flight continued directly to her.

A part of him felt all that was overkill but he shut it off completely. His opponent had a Noble Phantasm and he had no time to hold back.

The actual holder of Bakuya could see the attack coming, they were barely two meters apart and the woman knew she couldn't dodge it in time neigher block it as Kiba's speed and rotation made the attack too strong for her.

Instinctively she still acted and raised both weapons as fast as she could over her head, all the while knowing that wouldn't be enough but trying anyway.

When the attack landed it was a surprise for them both that Karlamine was still standing, despite the ground around her cracking and breaking apart due to the impact. The Knight of Phenex didn't understand what happened but she forced her muscles to push Kiba away and throw him back, the Knight of Gremory not even reacting until he was mid air and had to fix his center of gravity before landing.

"You really were careless, Karlamine." A soft voice announced the presence of one of the members of the Phenex Peerage and had the Knight frowing.

"Mihae! Why did you interrupt our fight?!" Both Knights look to one of Riser's Bishops as she approaches her companion with calm steps and eyes directed at Kiba.

"Don't you remember that I was ordered to support you? I could see that lady Ravel was right, you needed help." Mihae words had Karlamine biting back a reply as she spit on the ground in frustration.

Keeping his silence, Kiba glared at Bakuya. 'So close. I was so close to beating it!'

"This is my fight!" She shouted while pointing her sword at her friend's neck but the Bishop wasn't even phased.

"Maybe. But this is a Rating Game on behalf of our King and you were about to be defeated." Mihae pretended to not notice the flinch Karlamine was trying to hide. "Indeed you were dead to rights if I hadn't interfeared, despite the fact that you have a Noble Phantasm." Finally her eyes left Kiba and she looked to her comrade with a small smile. "I wonder what you would tell Siris if that were to happen. Or better yet, Riser-sama." Once again the Knight has no retort.

"Tch. Fine but don't get in the way again." Karlamine's demand received a sigh of disappointment before the reply.

"I can't do that. You are one of our main fighters and clearly that Knight is clever enough to defeat you." Mihae explained calmly but the Knight just glared at her. "Stop complaining and let us finish him. You already played with your sword and he almost won because of your carelessness. Remember our orders. Or do you wish to lose your precious new sword?"

Mihae knew that she got through Karlamine when she glared at her again but said nothing else as she turned to Kiba with a disappointed look. "I wanted a true fight between Knights."

"Can you say it was one when you are using a Noble Phantasm or when he is using a sacred gear?" Mihae asked with a small smile.

"Of course! He is using the weapons at his disposal! The same thing I am doing!" WIth a frustrated swing of her sword, Karlamine expressed her frustration to Mihae who just sighed.

"I will never understand you, Karlamine-chan." She looked at Kiba who had taken out his blazer and used it to tie his wounds. "You can challenge him after the marriage."

"I will!" Karlamine huffed but looked at Kiba again. "I don't like this."

"Think about how happy Riser-sama will be when this is all over." Mihae motivates her friend who nodded but Kiba had something to ask.

"You are a Supporter?" He asked of the Bishop who looked at him with a small smile.

"Or maybe I am a Wizard type that can help their allies." Her goal was to not make clear what function she had but Karlamine's pride took offense.

"Yes! She is a Support type! Bishop of Phenex, Mihae." The woman's expression finally changed to another emotion other than tranquility, irritation.

"You shouldn't give such information to our adversaries, Karlamine-chan." But before the Knight said anything else she moved her sword to intercept Kiba who used his Propulsion Blades to try and take out the Bishop.

"That was cowardly!" The Knight of the Phenex complained.

Not bothered by the insult and having no patience for it, Kiba retorted. "You can hardly say that in a 2 versus 1 fight." He uses his second sword to push Bakuya out of the way and try to stab Karlamine only for her body to be covered with an orange aura and her moves accelerate as she blocked the attack with her unnamed weapon and kicked Kiba away.

"He has a point, you know." Mihae told her friend with a magic circle the size of a book in front of her.

"Shut up!" Karlamine says nothing else while she charges at Kiba faster than she did before, as fast as Kiba was when using his swords on his last attack. "I wanted to give him a fair shot but I will be content in just finishing this!"

Kiba raised both of his swords to stop the sudden attack but both of them broke against Karlamine's new power as her strength also increased proportionally with her speed. It was only the fact that she threw him away with her attack that Kiba was saved even if he needed a second to recover his balance.

"SWORD BIRTH!" Realizing that Karlamine was charging again, Kiba called for his sacred gear, hoping that her awareness diminished with the extra speed. Instead of jumping, Karlamine lets out a roar as she slams her swords against Kiba's improvised shield, destroying the wall of swords without difficulty. 'So strong.'

Realizing that he was facing two devils, the blond's attention was directed to the Bishop who wasn't moving and kept pointing her magic circle to her friend. He knew what he had to do to win the match.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Two swords destroy the ground Kiba was standing as he moved to the side, barely avoiding the hit. Karlamine actually smiled at her fellow Knight's persistence. "That is right! Keep fighting! That is how things should be!"

'Great. She is having fun at my expense. Just what I needed.' He thinks sarcastically but Kiba doesn't let himself panic as he creates a heavy sword and holds it close to his chest. 'I need to figure out a way to take out the Bishop and then her. Fortunately she isn't as fast as Setsuna going all out. Unfortunately, she is far more aggressive.'

His sword was ready just in time as Bakuya slammed against it and Karlamine began her attack again. Even with his body in front of her, the Bishop's magic was still strengthening the other Knight and the blond knew that the odds were really not in his favor.

All Kiba could do was hold on until an opportunity presents itself to take either the Knight or the Bishop out, something he knew he was ill equipped to do. An attack from Karlamnie and a new cut on his right arm told him it was not going to be that easy.

The worst part was that in his eyes, Bakuya seemed to change shape and even become more European in style as Kiba's tired mind began to associate with something he despised more and more.

…

In the skies of fake Kuoh, the two Queens continue their fight. To observers it was more like a dance of death where their powers collided in bright flashes and explosions. Neither side had managed a real hit just yet but both were running out of patience and their maneuvers are growing more elaborated.

When one made the smallest of movements, the other reacted by either changing their position or pressing for an opening with their attacks. Both women threw magic around constantly to keep the pressure going and the collisions of their blasts surrounded them with smoke and the ground around their position was full of craters and fire.

None of that was what Akeno wanted. What she wanted and was aiming for was finishing the fight fast but more and more she felt that she lost her chance after her failed surprise attack.

'I need to get closer.' Akeno concluded as she began to send lighting in Yubelluna's direction to disguise her advance as she followed right behind it.

If the older Queen was disturbed by the sudden change of tactics she didn't show it. Twirling her staff, Yubelluna creates three magic circles, two to counter the lighting bolts and a third to shoot at Akeno herself.

The raven haired woman dodged the first attack aimed at her and fired back only to see a fireball half way in her direction and skipping the circle to neutralize it quickly with her lighting.

Momentarily both Queens found themselves blinded by the collision of their elements but they could still estimate where the other was and kept attacking regardless for a few seconds before Akeno crossed the cloud of smoke and noticed that Yubelluna was moving to the side faster than expected.

Yubelluna didn't know what Akeno was planning but if the younger woman wanted to get closer, she was going to keep her distance. The purple haired woman had no intention of letting herself be caught in any kind of trap.

Besides, she was a Wizard type and her speciality was range. If Akeno wasn't really one or was preparing some kind of spell then Yubelluna knew she needed to be careful. Some of the Phenex Clan made note that the Gremory Queen had an unusual amount of power for someone so young by devil's standards.

Noticing that Akeno wasn't entirely focusing on her, Yubelluna chuckled. "Truly inexperienced." Shaking her head, she prepared to use that weakness for her advantage.

Akeno flew higher than Yubelluna to make her life harder since the older woman was using fire spells which would grow weaker with distance and also to keep an eye on Riser's position.

So far the King of Phenex didn't bother to enter the fight just yet, or even leave the main school building, but Akeno still kept an eye out on his position just to be safe since their side's plan depended on the man staying out of the fight for as long as possible.

"You should pay more attention, young lady." Yubelluna's voice practically demanded Akeno to turn her eyes back to the older Queen but she only saw a magic circle that reproduced the voice and was shocked to see no sign of Yubelluna. Looking around with a little panic, she heard the amused call. "Here, here~"

Looking up and behind her, Akeno was shocked by how fast the older woman had moved and the ten or so magic circles she created above her head. All of them quickly threw fireballs at Akeno's direction and the raven haired girl moved to dodge or block them with her own magic.

Many of the attacks collided with Akeno's defenses but she couldn't stop them all and when one finally managed to hit her, the others followed. With the assistance of her staff, Yubelluna was controlling the circles around her and moved them all to barrage Akeno with fire until the younger Queen was overwhelmed and thrown to the ground.

But the Phenex Queen wasn't satisfied, she wouldn't be until the announcer called for Akeno's defeat. And so she continued the attack, more fire pouring down on the raven haired beauty location until a tower of flames was reaching the heavens.

Everyone on the Rating Game could see it from all the battlefield and the members of the Phenex Peerage felt their confidence raise as their Queen asserted her dominance.

For a good minute the pillar of fire remained, the flames cauterizing the ground around it and Yubelluna just needed to keep pouring mana to sustain it as her magic circles were now positioned to maintain its form.

Yet, the woman frowned. 'What is taking the announcer so long? Are you telling me she is still resisting? ' Yubelluna couldn't believe that Akeno could last as long as she did but she knew the judges were handpicked and competent. "Doesn't matter how much you struggle young lady. You cannot escape the flames of Phenex." A wave of her staff sent more fire into the tower. "Whatever defenses you have, whatever hope, I shall crush it. It is only a matter of time."

Guessing that Akeno must be at her limit at that point, Yubelluna focused on keeping the fire going. In the older Queen's mind, the fight was already over.

Being experienced enough to not stop the fire until the announcer called for Akeno's retirement also meant she couldn't see the raven haired Queen and how much Akeno was struggling to stay on the game.

Above her head was a gold magic circle to give her a small island covered by the inferno which threatened to decimate her and a golden aura covered her body to help her resist the terrible conditions.

All Akeno's actions demanded a huge focus and her shields needed a great deal of energy so they didn't break. Her arms were also burned and her miko outfit was damaged with the sleeve of her right arm destroyed enough to reveal tapes covering her chest.

But her eyes remained firm and determined, she hadn't given up and was trying to find a way out. 'I can't outlast this.' Akeno concluded after some thinking. 'Either the fire will break my shield or the heat will do me in. I need to get out. Fast!'

Her predicament got worse when she dropped to one knee before quickly getting up again, feeling the new burn almost had broken her concentration but Akeno recovered just in time as her hakama got damaged and her feet were now bare as her sandals became ashes.

Every moment that passed it became harder to breathe. Even if she was neutralizing some of the effects of the fire, the air she managed to save would soon end and she would pass out if her concentration didn't give out first.

And the moment that happened, Akeno feared for her friends. With the enemy Queen proving herself that strong, she was sure that Rias wouldn't be able to fight both her and Riser at the same time. Previous Rating Games showed that Riser didn't fight until the very last moment but the time he fought together with his Queen they ended up defeating eight opponents by themselves.

Rias also showed their oponent's records and they were a strong Peerage with half a century of experience; that still wasn't enough to compete when the King and Queen of Phenex worked as a team.

That was why Akeno was sent to take Yubelluna out as fast as possible, Riser usually only fights when only him and a Piece or two are left standing, not before. So far the man had fit that profile and with how much power Yubelluna was showing, Akeno could see why; the third son of the Phenex had absolute confidence in his Queen's capabilities.

So Akeno can't allow herself to be taken out, not while Yubelluna was also on the battlefield. If she did then the Gremory Peerage would only have Rias capable of challenging Yubelluna and that was with whoever else Rias had to deal with.

Not even accounting Riser himself.

Glaring where she remembered Yubelluna was, Akeno made a decision and her circuits began to glow as she prepared her attack. 'If I can do this right, I win.' Reinforcement covered her body fully as she can feel even her wings getting prepared for her last charge. 'Spark up.'

With the mental trigger and the crack of a whip, Akeno began to push the magic circle above her head. The disadvantage of the pillar of fire was that its power was spread around, doing more than just focusing on her and Akeno planned to take advantage of it to the fullest.

Since the pillar of fire wasn't fully focused on her, Akeno could see an opportunity to counter attack but she could already tell it was going to be hard and painful. She didn't mind the pain and so she jumped and began to fly as fast as she could.

The mana being used on the pillar blinded her senses, the heat was starting to affect her, the burns around her body tried to rob her concentration and yet Akeno kept pushing her magic circle and flying as fast as the fire allowed it.

Outside of the inferno Yubelluna was starting to get bored. Most of her opponents that she managed to trap with her Pillar of Flames would already be defeated and the fact that Akeno was lasting a full minute of the attack was starting to bother her.

'She must have a lot of mana to focus on defense. This has been going on for too long.' Yubelluna was tempted to drop the pillar and start taking the fight seriously. She can admit she underestimated Akeno somewhat and redoubling her efforts for a shift end would be a demonstration of respect if nothing else. Or she could just send more fire to overwhelm the girl. 'Decisions, decisions. Waiting another minute is still an option.'

Pondering her decision for a seconds, Yubelluna raised her staff to summon another magic circle when the side of her pillar blew up and she saw a burned Akeno exiting her trap with a smile. "Found you~"

Yubelluna didn't know what surprised her more; the sudden arrival of the Queen of Gremory or the fact that she managed to burst out of her trap even if full of wounds and burns. The conditions of her opponent stunned Yubelluna enough that she needed a second to properly process the situation.

Akeno was already attacking when she jumped out of the fire, her magic circuits direction mana towards her right hand in great quantities. Electricity ran on her hand as the raven haired beauty aimed to stop any future action from Yubelluna.

By positioning herself properly Akeno can finally reveal her trump card as the lighting on her hand started to take a new shaper, even many of the spectors eyes couldn't keep up with it as it quickly transformed and Yubelluna could only scream in pain and surprise as her hand holding the staff is suddenly tied up with lighting.

"Aaahhh! What is this?" Her defenses equivalent to a Rooks helped Yubelluna control herself as she sends mana to the area where the lightning hit her. The problem was that the lighting was still there, connected to Akeno's hand and she could barely move that arm as heat poured in her body. "A rope?"

Akeno's beautiful smile infects her voice as she speaks with excitement. "I call it 'Lighting Whip'." At the name of the spell being called, Yubelluna felt more pain as the discharge grew in intensity and ran through her whole body. "Do you like it? It is a variation of the Gradation Air spell."

The 'whip' barely could be called that by appearance alone. While it acted like one by tying itself to Yubelluna, it was mostly a constant lightning bolt that Akeno was holding on her hand as it constantly waved around, barely stable but still full of power, a great deal of it also shocking the purple haired Queen constantly.

"'Gradation Air'?" Yubelluna asked with familiarity as she glared at the younger woman. "That is impossible! That spell can't create a thing like this-"

"An elemental construct?" Akeno's amused grin was followed by a hard pull of her whip that Yubelluna couldn't fight against. With electricity running rampant on her body the woman was having difficulty focusing. "Magecraft can't do those, but devil magic can."

It was a deed that Akeno was proud of, the modification of the Gradation Air spell into her own variant. Since magecraft was ideal to direct and control mana, all she needed was a form for the spell to take, something that took many steps for the human art to reach and that she was unsuccessful for the most part. 'Projection' like Shirou's ended up being unavailable to her and even Rin failed to learn the practice.

However Akeno, thanks to Yoruichi's input, figured out that she could compensate for the many steps with the devil's connection to imagination. Theoretically, if the image on a devil's mind was strong enough, they could do anything just needing a magic circle and mana to do most of the heavy lifting.

But devils had limits on what they could do even with the magic they inherited because using imagination wasn't a simple endeavor and Rias was a great example of that.

Once Yoruichi showed the two sides of her power working together, Akeno tried to do the same thing as suggested. In the end she worked on figuring out how to use magecraft at the beginning of the process and a devil's imagination at the end of it.

And for the whole training camp that was what she did; for ten days she would just eat, sleep and train with the thought of making that combination work. When she finally succeeded, she felt proud of her accomplishment but not for a second she thought it was over. It still took some refining and was far from perfect but she succeeded in her main goal of creating something that even a Phenex would have to fear.

Constructs that used lighting for attack and were capable of constantly doing damage to her enemies while being used in a plenitude of ways. All within the limits a human reincarnated devil could reach with dedication and skill alone..

Now finally Akeno could show everyone the results. "I call this Lightning Projection. A variation of Gradation Air that takes the image in my heart and a devil's imagination to fully close the gap and make it reality." Sending more mana to her whip, Akeno can tell that her fellow Queen was in a great degree of pain. "Now, time for me to finish this."

Grabbing her whip with both hands which improved its shape and raised the power of the lighting, Akeno began to dive down towards the ground at full speed while Yubelluna was dragged for the ride.

The pain made it impossible for Yubelluna to focus enough on her attempts to escape or to fight back Akeno's strength and the forces of gravity itself. Both Queen's are Wizard types, women who specialized in spell casting but Akeno had more strength thanks to Reinforcement and Yubelluna failed to resist being taken into a dive.

At that point the pillar of fire had been extinguished and only its residual flames remained. All of Yubelluna's attention was on her arm and in trying to escape but so much disruption of her concentration was making things impossibly hard for her.

Akeno saw the ground rapidly approaching and couldn't help but smile to herself. When she was just a couple of inches from hitting the ground face first, she changed her direction vertically to avoid the danger.

Something Yubelluna couldn't do as she was being pulled by her enemy and was being shocked out of any attempt of properly focusing because of the Lightning Whip. When she finally hit the ground, it was on her back and at full speed with nothing to protect her other than her natural defense.

Akeno stopped to look at her fallen opponent, flying a little closer to make sure the fight was over. However, she didn't drop her lighting whip for the moment. She diminished its length while she approached but kept the power output up to make sure Yubelluna couldn't do anything.

Until an opponent was retired they were still part of the game, that was why Yubelluna kept her pillar going and Akeno recognized that. She also was confident that the other woman took a lot of damage and that another hit or two should be enough for her to win.

Still flying at a safe distance, Akeno paid close attention to the older woman that looked unconscious with her eyes closed and a peaceful expression. Raising an eyebrow in suspicion, Akeno closed her grip on her whip and sent more mana for a hard shock on Yubelluna body only for the purple haired woman to not react.

Maybe in a normal fight that would be enough to satisfy Akeno but this was a Rating Game. 'She is doing something." She didn't know what but the Queen of Gremory quickly raised a hand and prepared a magic circle to send a proper lighting bolt at the fallen Queen.

It was still too slow as Yubelluna's eyes snapped open from her short meditation and she let go of her staff that began to glow brightly before it blew up, throwing Akeno back and breaking her Lighting Whip.

'So close! If I could have just sent more energy through the whip I would have won.' Akeno chastised herself for just a moment before recovering her balance with her feet and shooting a lighting bolt at Yubelluna direction but it was for naught as the older Queen had already prepared a magic circle to block any attack while she drew something out from a magic circle.

"An interesting trick but imperfect little girl~ Your new magecraft is still far away from being perfect~" Anyone else on her position wouldn't be provoking their enemy like that but Yubelluna wasn't worried for in her hands was an object that worried Akeno and Rias immensely in their planning section.

On the Queen of Phenex was now a small elegant bottle made either of red crystal or similar material. It was small, so small that a baby could easily hold it in their hand but inside it was one of the most expensive items in the whole Underworld and beyond.

"It was you who had it. The Phoenix Tear." Akeno sounded frustrated and no one watching could blame her.

Even her condition couldn't hide how pleased Yubelluna was with herself. "Of course I was. Despite recent events I am still the strongest Piece of my King and a Queen must be protected."

At present Yubelluna's right hand was burned and almost useless, the purple haired woman was full of wounds, bleeding from her mouth, the way she was standing also indicated some broken bones and with the impact she took before, combined with the effects from the Lightning Whip, it was obvious that she wasn't in any real condition to keep fighting.

That was sure to change with a Phoenix Tear and as soon as Yubelluna opened the bottle and allowed a few drops to fall on her body as she drank the rest of the liquid.

The change was fast and easy to see, Yubelluna was now standing straighter, her smile became more confident and any visible wound or bruise faded. While Phoenix Tears couldn't replace the blood lost, she hadn't taken that much damage externally and her organs were still functioning so she was back at full force in just a few seconds.

"Do you see how worthless this fight was? You never had a chance of winning~" Yubelluna said with a confident smile. "Not that I plan to let you off easy after all that you have done."

"Oh, you are upset about your staff?" Akeno asked as her hand moved inside her remaining sleeve. "You were the one who blew it up."

Yubelluna's smile grew sharper before she responded. "You know that it was more than that. Your little stunt with that rope- I am sorry, a whip, of all things." An aura of mana covered the purple haired woman as she glared at Akeno but her smile remained. "I didn't like being slammed into the ground either. Not one bit."

"Never heard that 'all is fair in love and war'? Besides, look how you healed, your skin is pristine." Akeno took a step back when Yubelluna took a step forward. "Talk about a cheating item, all that work and it was for nothing." She commented with a shrug, her hand still on her sleeve.

"There is a good reason why Phoenix Tears are extremely regulated even on Rating Games. Their limit of one per team is the only way to make sure most matches end in a timely fashion." Yubelluna held the crystal that once carried the precious substance with pride. "It is proof that the noble Phenex Clan is the greatest combat asset in the whole Underworld and even beyond, the ultimate healing belongs to us!"

'Ultimate healing?' Akeno wanted to voice her doubts but she stayed quiet. 'This is all propaganda. There are three whole families of nobles watching and the Phenex are worried about Shirou's creations.'

Akeno had to control her expression to not smile as Yubelluna took her time to approach her with the intention of finishing the fight. The purple haired Queen was still singing her Clan praises and admonishing Akeno for Rias' lack of insight on challenging them but the raven haired Queen said nothing, just keeping a neutral expression on her face.

When Yubelluna ended her scripted lines about the advantages of the Phoenix Tears, she glanced at Akeno with a superior smirk. "You showed me something interesting, a variation of magecraft that I confess I hadn't seen until now."

Raising an eyebrow at the change of topics, Akeno blinked to gather her thoughts. "Since most magicians trade their arts for ours after they reincarnate, I thought about giving it a try."

"So you weren't a magus before reincarnating?" Yubelluna couldn't hide her curiosity and then she made an annoyed face. "That explains why your magecraft was so unstable. It is just too new and never had time to be refined."

Akeno pouted a little at the criticism but didn't disagree with it. Instead she noted something else. "You speak like you studied the subject…"

The implications were clear. "My dear, it isn't that we all give up our family legacy upon reincarnation." Yubelluna sounded extremely pleased with herself as she raised a hand to create a magic circle but this one was inside a shield or a bubble of purple mana. "As such, you are not really the first to, how did you say it again? Oh yes, to 'take the image of my heart and a devil's imagination to make it reality'? Hahaha~ Here is something you didn't know about, most devils who were magus add their magecraft to their spells already, the majority of people just don't notice the difference."

With a gentle wave of her hand the bubble traveled towards Akeno quickly and the Gremory Queen didn't hesitate to shoot it down. She didn't expect the huge explosion that followed after, many times bigger than anything the two produced previously.

Yubelluna on the other hand was unfazed, she had created a barrier for herself and expected the blast. "That, my dear, is magecraft and devil magic combined and refined. Maybe we can talk more after the wedding, your method sure is interesting." But Yubelluna frowned as she noticed Akeno easily standing up after the blast. 'She should be more hurt than that.'

"Combining two diferent types of magic to create an explosion? That is what I would call basic." Akeno raised her head with a smile and Yubelluna finally noticed that all the burns and wounds she had before were gone.

In fact just by seeing the damage on her clothes and seeing no sign of a single burn was enough for alarms to start going on the older woman's head. "Your wounds! You are healed! But how? The Bishop with the Twilight Healing isn't here to support you!"

"Were't you who said that 'a Queen must be protected'? Or did you forget why we are really fighting in the first place?" The glare Yubelluna threw at Akeno was hotter than any fire she used during the whole fight, much to the younger Queen's amusement. "Fufu~ You advertised the Phoenix Tears so much that you forgot its competitors~" Finally taking her hand out of her sleeve Akeno revealed the scalpel that looked to me made of cheap steel and yet had an ability that the Phenex Clan was learning to hate. "My King saw fit to give me one of her most precious possessions, the first EM, or Emergency Medic. Personally I prefer Emergencial Medic but EM is the short and sweetest name. This little scalpel here can, much like the Phoenix Tears, heal all your wounds including burns, lacerations and cuts. Not only that, the new version, EM Two, can also fix bones and has managed to fully recreate a liver." Each word made Yubelluna considerably mad and Akeno was enjoying every second. "I would do more advertising like you but unfortunately I don't have a script so the fact that you only need to use your mana and EM can last much longer than a single bottle of Phoenix Tears will have to suffice."

"You!" The word was said with a fury that didn't surprise Akeno since Yubelluna's usually beautiful face was now fixed on a glare that promised her death. "How many times must you accursed peerage humiliate us?!"

"Well~ You just keep giving us opportunities~" Akeno angelic smile just made Yubelluna more mad until the purple haired woman took a deep breath and controlled herself.

"You are going to pay for this. As my lord Riser Phenex's Queen, I here swear I will make you pay for every humiliation ten fold!" Her aura grew, taking a complete purple color while her white coat opened to reveal dozens of magic circles that started to spread around.

Then Yubelluna opened her wings and took flight, Akeno about to follow the purple haired woman when one of the circles approached her quickly. The Gremory Queen dodged it, noting how it didn't change directions but instead stopped mid air where she was standing before.

Looking back to Yubelluna, Akeno blinked in surprise when she noticed the dozens or so purple bubbles surrounding the area and every single one of them floating without any apparent input from their creator.

The older Queen wasn't glaring anymore but she was clearly sweating from the effort. When she spoke again, it was with a smile. "Let me show you then, Queen of Gremory, why people call me 'Bomb Queen'."

Looking around herself, Akeno paled a little when she noticed her position. A verifiable labyrinth of explosives was created and she was stuck in the middle of it while having no idea how to escape or what kind of traps waited for her.

"Bomb Cage!" Was the name given to the attack, a name she never had uttered before in her fights but that was just a demonstration of how much Yubelluna was trying to win. "You are more work than I thought you were worth, Akeno Himejima, I will acknowledge that." For the first time since the fight began, Yubelluna called Akeno's name and with some respect even, something the raven haired Queen didn't see coming. "I realize now this isn't a game but a proper fight. And I shall treat it as such." With a wave of her arms, Yubelluna was presenting Akeno to their new battlefield. "Now… shall we begin again?"

Akeno nodded, accepting the terms but neither woman moved. The tension on the young woman's shoulders was contrasted by the calm of the older expression as a new stage of their battle began.

…

Two fists collide against each other as Issei's naked hand fails to break Xuelan's defense. With a speed much greater than his usual, Issei tries to follow up with an attack with his gauntlet fist in an attempt to catch the Rook by surprise.

But the Chinese woman was the better fighter and despite Issei's boosted state his punch wasn't properly done so Xuelan redirected his sacred gear with the palm of her other hand and then moved it to hit his chest in a proper follow up that had Issei retreating a couple of steps and coughing. That was when she pounced.

It was just a small cough to recover his breathing but Issei couldn't predict either stop when Xuelan punched the side of his face, kicked his leg to make him fully lose his balance and then had her knee hit chin. The whole sequence took just a couple of seconds and the brown haired devil hit the ground.

Xuelan then jumped for a high kick, aiming at Issei's exposed belly when he rolled to the side, avoiding the hit. "What does it take to take you down?" The usually calm Rook asked in frustration as she followed him and started to punch the places where his head would be if he stopped rolling.

Issei kept going for as long as he could, instincts born from his training and constant beating under a stronger woman had him knowing exactly what to do on such occasions. Took him a couple of seconds but he finally managed to get up in a rush that Xuelan noticed and sent a kick in his direction that connected on his side.

Even with his body under the influence of his Boosted Gear, Issei's can feel every time the woman's attack connected. Xuelan wasn't stronger than Liz, not even close, but his teacher was holding severely back during their training to a point that it was more or less on the same level as his actual opponent.

'Should I use Explosion again? I don't know if it will be enough.' Even after ten days, Issei could only use four to five boosts on himself, six if he tried to push it, seven if he didn't want to get up the next day unless he used the energy really quickly for something. 'No, I still need to protect Asia.'

It was an annoying conundrum for the Pawn, if he tried to push himself more so he could take himself out with his opponent but he would also expose Asia to danger as everyone else had their own fight and if any of his friends lost then another Piece could chase the Bishop. If he could even take Xuelan down in the first place

Meanwhile Issei struggled with his dilemma, Xuelan was getting upset. She expected more from the famous Red Dragon Emperor but so far he has been a disappointment. He could take hits, lasting more than most of the Pawns in her own peerage but his fighting style was too simple and his power wasn't something people would hear legends about.

'Instead of a dragon I am fighting a lizard.' A quick glance towards the Bishop and healer from the opposition told her that the girl had no interest in intervening in the fight. Despide her standing on her feet, Asia's face showed only concern as she looked ready to run. 'Weak.' Xuelan looked back to the Pawn who finally managed to get up. 'I will just finish this, her and then go help lady Ravel.'

With a flick of her wrist, a magic circle appears on each of her hands before they catch fire, startling Issei. "I thought you girls couldn't use fire like that." He voiced his thoughts and Xuelan chuckled.

"You are referring to the Pawns, the weakest Pieces." It was clear that Xuelan was speaking about him and her companions at the same time, which made Issei glare at her. She takes a new fighting stance, a clearly more aggressive one with her arms ahead of her and the fire burning brightly. "I am a Rook, one of the pillars of my lord's peerage. Compared to a single Pawn, I am much stronger."

After her declaration, Xuelan attacked at full speed. Previously Issei could dodge or block most of her attacks but this time he could only dodge as the fire left a gash on his red shirt before the arm retreated. The Pawn saw that fire almost burned his skin when he noticed the other hand moving, aiming for his neck.

Issei raised the Boosted Gear, his only real defense, managing to stop the second attack but the flaming hand grabbed it. Pushing the sacred gear to the side, Xuelan began to punch Issei on his stomach, chest, then the shoulder, every hit burning more of his uniform and leaving behind somel burns.

But the burns were small and while the pain bothered him, Issei was managing to resist and even raised his free arm to stop another attack. That didn't phase Xuelan, she just kicked his leg again to force Issei to go down before releasing his arm and attacking with a fast sequence of punches on his face and upper body.

'I can't-' Issei's train of thought was cut when Xuelan finished her attack with an uppercut that threw him back again. 'I can't fight back. She is too fast.' His feet left the ground as he flew approximately five meters before falling down again.

"ISSEI-SAN!" Asia prepared to run for his rescue when the brown haired Pawn raised a hand to stop her.

"Stay… out of this… Asia…" Slowly he gets up, surprising Xuelan a little since she expected to have finished the fight but the Pawn retained his consciousness. Now Issei's face is full of bruises, he was bleeding from his mouth, burned all over and he was sure he lost a tooth or two in the previous exchange but he kept in mind his mission. "You can't… we can't risk… your safety."

"So your Bishop can only heal. Talk about a worthless Piece." Xuelan commented, glaring at Asia. "Maybe my lord can advise his future wife on proper training later. Every Piece of a peerage should be able for single combat, even the supporters." Shaking her head in mocking pity, she scoffed. "Or maybe the fault is in the famous 'love' that the Gremory family seems to have. That would be the only excuse I can think of to not train a weak devil, or worse yet, recruit a weakling in the first place."

"Shut up." Issei's voice came out stronger than he expected and looking at him. "I won't let you bad mouth Buchou or Asia." Once again standing on his two feet, Xuelan can see in Issei's eyes that there was still a fighting spirit in the Pawn.

"I only spoke the truth. Weaklings have no place on the battlefield." She started to consider leaving the Pawn alone for the moment to finish the Bishop. "If you want to blame someone for your defeat, blame your King who surrounded herself with trash."

"Shut up!" Issei could feel his rage burning more than anything that woman ever did to him as unpleasant memories pushed his fury further as the green gem on the Boosted Gear started to glow. "Take that back! Don't you dare to call Buchou or Asia weak!" Looking at his gauntlet, Issei could see the number of boosts he had on it before taking a single step forward. "Take that back!"

That single step in her direction that made Xuelan raise an eyebrow. "Do you want me to lie?" She asked with a confident smile. "I shall not. All I spoke was the truth. Without your King and Queen, your peerage is just a punch of weaklings capable of lasting this long through trickery and stubbornness." She plays with her hands a little, which are still covered with fire, before preparing herself to finish off the Pawn. "But if you are going to be this stubborn, this time I will beat you up until you are only a pulp on the floor."

A little intimidated by the threat but still Issei's eyes remained determined and he spat some blood in the woman's direction in a show of bravado. "I'm going to make you eat those words!"

Asia was someone that Issei cared much about, maybe more than all the other friends and members of his peerage. In a way she was his light, keeping him honest even at the worst times and just seeing how the former nun flinched at the Rook's words had him boiling with a fury he didn't know he could have towards a woman.

Rias was someone he holded in the highest of esteem. She was the person who saved him, cared for him and every member of her peerage and he would be damned before he let any insult towards any of them pass. He literally would be dead without her and for his King to be insulted like that made him feel a real desire to do harm to Xuelan.

She insulted two of Issei's precious people, his whole peerage even but she specially insulted the two that she shouldn't and now Issei was seeing red. Ignoring all the pain on his body, all his wounds, he focused on the only thing he wanted, his desire to win. On his arm the Boosted Gear shone brightly, almost eager to grant his wish..

He was going to win at all cost if just to shut that woman up. 'Her control of mana must be good if she can create fire on her hands without suffering any harm.' Issei began to think, his few options mean that he can't make a single mistake anymore. 'I will have to use everything I saved up so far.'

Maybe there were other ways for him to win the match but Issei could easily admit he wasn't smart enough to figure them out. So when Xuelan charged at him, Issei quickly pulled something from his pocket with his right hand before holding it with his left.

Xuelan reached him in a couple seconds before she saw what Issei pulled out. Initially she suspected it was a weapon but when she saw it was a rock, not a big one either and barely bigger than a pebble, she almost stopped to insult him.

It would have been better for her if she had actually stopped. "Boosted Gear Gift!"

[Transfer!]

The green light traveled from the gauntlet into the rook and caughting Xuelan by surprise when it suddenly grew taller than her and wilder than a tree. The Rook had no time to react properly before her closed fist made contact with the sudden obstacle.

At that point her brain could barely understand the events surrounding Xuelan, everything that happened in a barely a second was completely unexpected. All she could do was process the pain that came to her when her fist collided with the huge piece of stone.

Xuelan was an experienced fighter, even before she became a devil she practiced martial arts and upon reincarnation she trained to abuse the strength of a Rook with her fighting style and any magic attainable by her meager reserves, barely bigger than the Pawns' on her peerage. During her life she had broken plenty of bones either in fights or training.

But never before her fist had collided with something so hard with her full strength like that, at least not something that could take the hit and not be damaged. Instead it was her hand, strengthened by magic fire and her Rook Piece that lost the confrontation and she could feel every bone of her hand breaking.

Even after years as a devil she never screamed in a fight, at least not from pain. Even in the ones she lost it was always with some grace and dignity.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" This time, Xuelan couldn't stop herself, not from the sudden impact and the strength of the rock that looked to be intact for a second before it began to break apart.

It wasn't the Rook's punch that did it, it was the rock who couldn't take the power that Issei had bestowed upon it. "Boosted Gear Gift. With this ability I can transfer as many boosts I have in stock towards anything of my choosing." Picking something from his back pocket, Issei prepares to swing it from the side once the rock fully disappears after breaking apart, turning to dust as a result of the Gift it received.

With tears in her eyes, Xuelan could barely see what Issei was holding in his hand but she was afraid of repeating what happened to the rock. She didn't attack, even if the brown haired Pawn was open, she raised her arms to the side on defense, survival instinct suppressing everything else as she raised her arms and Issei took his swing.

It was a stick, something he got in the forest when the Rating Game began.

[Transfer!]

Then it was a mighty oak, a huge piece of wood that Issei couldn't even hold anymore but the momentum of his original swing was still there and it hit Xuelan on the side with all its weight. She just didn't have time or the presence of mind to react as it hit her and broke some bones of her as she ended up falling on the ground to her side.

She could see the moment the oak disappeared, her mind still trying to process everything that happened between the pain and tears. "How? You didn't boost." Xuelan managed to ask the young man standing before her.

It was a known fact that dragon types' sacred gears announce when their powers are activated, a weakness that Xuelan was paying attention to since she recognized that her opponent was the Red Dragon Emperor.

That little quirk of those kinds of sacred gears was something that not even years of training could fix, it was the pride of a dragon manifesting its power that gave it voice. Even if the dragon itself was sleeping inside the sacred gear it still shouted its activation every time without fail.

Yet that didn't happen in the match, at least not a call for a 'Boost' even if Xuelan heard other terms, terms that weren't known for the devils, coming from the Boosted Gear.

Raising the Boosted Gear with an open palm in front of his chest, Issei began to gather energy. "I did. I was Boosting for hours before the fight began. At least until I reached my limit after a couple hundred times." He could see the incredulity of the Rook written all over her face. "I can't use all those Boosts, I'm not that strong and holding them is a pain in the ass. But I learned to save them up. To stockpile them to use later."

"That is- that is impossible." His statement contradicted everything the Phenex Clan managed to gather about the sacred gear and Xuelan barely could believe that revelation despite all the evidence in favor of it.

"'Why is it impossible? There is a huge dragon already stuck inside the Boosted Gear many times stronger than a single devil. What is the problem with a little more power?' Had to pretty much use everything I had there but hey; a win is a win right?" Issei asked her with a mean grin while quoting something that Medusa asked him during his training. "Wanna know the worst part? I can't even turn off the Boosted Gear while holding the Boosts and almost ripped my nose off by accident while waiting for the game to begin. Good thing I didn't need to use the bathroom." Xuelan couldn't believe his words, she could barely react. Pulling an arm back, Issei finally attacked. "Dragon Shoot!"

Punching the sphere of energy, it traveled the small distance between Issei and Xuelan at high speeds. It wasn't the fastest thing Xuelan had ever seen and she jumped to her feet to defend herself, to at least deflect the attack.

*Riser Phenex's Rook has retired* Grayfia's voice sounded louder than any explosion around the battlefield and Issei felt a wave of relief hit him as he sat down on the ground, exhausted.

[Reset!]

'Good thing I'm already sitting down.' Issei thinked to himself as he felt the extra power leaving him, there wasn't a single boost left in the Boosted Gear. 'What I wouldn't give for a nap now.' His body certainly wanted one.

Thanks to Liz's training and Medusa's direction, Issei managed to develop and use this method of fighting while also learning how to Transfer the power inside his sacred gear to other people and objects.

His incentive from it came from Medusa once again when she asked, "What would you give to make a woman's breasts larger?" After she suggested it he tried to give his power to other people at any cost as a base line to reach that goal.

Unfortunately for Issei it was more complicated than that, he didn't know if it was a safety feature of the Boosted Gear or from God himself screwing him over but every time he tried to Transfer his Boosts to someone else he only affected their powers, not their size.

Imagination wasn't the problem, neither will for Issei really wanted that to work, it was just that there was some form of priority engraved on the Boosted Gear that raised power first and foremost. Too much power could hurt someone but it even told him how many boosts he could give to a person even if they didn't get all of it.

Rin had a theory that Issei actually didn't want to change a woman's size or the dragon itself couldn't do it. Either way, it was still uncertain why he couldn't make people bigger in any way or shape.

Lucky for him with objects things were a little different. Anything inanimate could receive any number of Boosts in any way he wanted since it wasn't relevant if they would survive long in that state or not.

That was what he did to the rock and the stick, he made them bigger and then raised their resistance as much as he could. The objects didn't need to last long anyway, just enough to do some damage and Xuelan's careless attack was the opening he needed to win the fight.

There was also the cost of stamina which was also considerable. For each Boost he used in an object he also used at least one tenth of the energy he would use if he Boosted himself and while that allowed him to put hundreds of Boosts into something he still needed to be careful with his limits or else he could knock himself out before even finishing using Transfer.

With people was even more exhausting for both sides and that was the main reason why Rias considered him Boosting everyone a waste unless a single member of their team planned a giant attack of some kind.

"Issei-san!" Asia came rushing to his side, Twilight Healing already ready. "Are you alright? Where are you hurt? Where do you need the most attention?"

Issei wanted to chuckle and pat Asia's head to calm her down. "I'm fine, Asia. Just fix me and I'll be ready to roll in a second." Lying down and letting himself be healed by Asia was routine for him at this point and the green light of her sacred gear was great to help his muscles relax. "I got so lucky on that final attack. If it was Liz-sensei I doubt I would have won."

The Pawn could say that for certain since Xuelan ended up losing because of over confidence while Liz was always emotionless during their fights, always managing to keep a cold exterior and attacking him with efficiency similar to a machine's. On the other hand, the Rook wasted time berating them and giving him time to recover.

"I am sorry that I couldn't be of much help, Issei-san." A middle depressed Asia kept healing Issei but he almost jumped to stand again if it wasn't for his wounds forcing him down.

'Ow!' He managed to avoid showing how much pain he actually was in but Issei still wanted to cheer Asia up. "It's alright Asia. Remember what Buchou said; 'not everyone needs to be in the front line'. I mean, if you weren't healing me right now I would be out like a light."

A determined and fierce look that wasn't that much different from a puppy's appears on Asia's face. Issei couldn't help but smile as she redoubled her efforts. "Don't worry, Issei-san. I will have you back on your feet in no time."

"Yes, doctor Asia." Issei found the blush the guy had after he called her that was just too cute to describe with words. "Just remember that we have to rush for the main build for Buchou's plan-"

*Ise, can you hear me?* Speaking of the devil, Rias' voice sounded loud with the spell on his ear.

…

Fighting two people at once wasn't easy for Rias, not because it was a 2 on 1 fight but because the opponents themselves.

Isabela was pure brute force and every single one of her punches was enough that she could stop a car on its tracks and break it in half if someone let her. She was also quick with her legs alone, only using her wings to pursue Rias when the pureblood tried to fly herself and that is not advisable with the other element present in the fight.

Ravel looked like a delicate noble, acting the part both in personality and combat skills. Prudent, cautious and a Wizard type with an especiality in fire, she was all that Rias used to describe a proper noble devil. Every time Rias tried to escape to the air, Ravel was the one to stop her with huge blasts of fire or spells that forced the redhead to return to the ground at Isabela's optimal reach.

Trying to take out Ravel would be the better choice since usually Wizard types lacked defenses. Except that Ravel was a true pureblood Phenex, the Power of Immortality meant that Rias needed to throw something really powerful to take her out in a timely fashion and even that wasn't a guarantee.

Now Rias had something that could break the Power of Immortality, it wasn't even hard for her if she decided to use every resource at her disposal. However the problem was that neither of her opponents was an idiot and if she used something dangerous then Riser would hear about it, making fighting him harder, especially while Yubelluna was still on the field.

So Rias needed to hold her best cards close to her chest and try to defeat both women with the minimum necessary; pure Power of Destruction and normal spells while trying to save mana. Those were the only options the Heiress of the Gremory was allowing to herself.

'Of course things would be easier if Ravel wasn't the one here. With her Power of Immortality she could take everything I would dish out and call Riser before I could truly defeat her.' Rias was at this moment hidden in the forest of the fake Kuoh.

Part of the area around her club was still on fire because of her previous trap but the flames would still take some time to completely spread around. That gave the young woman time to think and plan.

If there was something she learned from Shirou was that fighting directly wasn't necessary and using the woods to one's advantage could balance a match in her favor if she played her cards right.

Except that Ravel was a fire user and she was losing her patience. "Where are you, Gremory?" The small blonde demanded an answer only to receive none. Isabela a couple of steps in front of her was prepared for anything when she heard the order. "Isabela! I will start to burn down this place! Give me cover!"

"Understood!" The Rook quickly positioned herself fully in front of her lady while Ravel closed her eyes and created a magic circle between her hands. After a couple of seconds it was brimming with energy and Ravel raised it above her head.

"You want to play hide and seek? Fine! I just won't leave you any place to hide!" The circle grew as Ravel got ready.

The orange magic circle flew higher as Rias prepared her own attack since the other noble was distracted by the build up of her own power. With a control that few knew she had, something showed up hidden beneath her cape, something that Rias was still hiding just in case as a small projectile flew in Ravel's direction.

It was dark red with an aura of dark lighting surrounding it and had the shape of a bullet but was clearly something made with the Power of Destruction and its target was the blonde devil's head.

Except that Isabela was on guard and saw it coming, she couldn't precisely identify what it was but she threw her hand in front of her mistress to stop whatever it was. Knowing that their enemy was Rias Gremory, Isabela put a lot of her energy on her aura to make sure she could resist any uses of the Power of Destruction.

It wasn't enough as the projectile opened a hole on her arm, eradicating a part of it while leaving behind a perfect circular shape and barely missing Ravel's head thanks to the Rook's intervention. Even the bone was partially disintegrated as Isabela couldn't believe the damage the attack did to her despite precautions.

For Isabela the sensation was new and old at the same time; there was pain but not the burning kind but instead like someone had ripped part of her skin off and then let go of her. After that there was more on the exposition of her bone, muscle and veins to open air as there was now an opening on the side of her arm a little below of her wrist and it was also bleeding considerably.

Ravel noticed her protector predicament and accelerated the activation of the spell, the magic circle above the forest grew a little more in size before fire began to rain down everywhere except the members of the Phenex peerage position.

"Isabela! Are you alright?" There was a certain panic in Ravel's words at the sight of the wound. Intellectually she knew the Power of Destruction was dangerous but that was more than she ever could bargain for.

"I am fine, my lady, just glad you are safe." That didn't stop the blood and Ravel quickly took a hold of the arm. "I would like to request that you cauterize the wound so I can continue the fight."

"What? Are you mad? Such a wound- I can't believe the Power of Destruction broke through your aura." She took out one of the ribbons on her clothes before Isabela stopped her.

"My lady, it won't stop bleeding that easily. The flesh was destroyed completely and the only way to fix this is with proper magic." In moments like this Ravel cursed the fact that the Phoenix Tears were limited to just one per peerage, official Rating Game or not. "We need to cauterize it fast. I doubt that Gremory was defeated by your rain of fire."

Indeed while the forest began to burn around them there was no sign of the redhead noble and the announcer didn't give any indications the game was over.

Ravel knew her protector was right and the damage that Rias did to Isabela, even if she didn't know how, didn't bode well for them in the long run. 'If we are to defeat Rias…' She made up her mind. "Very well. Please hold still."

A solemn nod came from Isabela as she weakened her defenses and allowed the fire to close her wound, her visible eye showing how much pain she was in but she remained silent to not show her mistress her suffering.

Meanwhile Ravel was applying emergencial treatment, Rias was in full retreat out of the forest as fast as she could. The rain of fire was merciless, it didn't take long for it to get mixed to the fire from the Gremory's side previous efforts and some of the fire to start suffocating itself as there was little to burn in that direction.

However there was still plenty to burn all around the area and Rias was doing everything she could to dodge the flames and the falling trees that tried to get in her way.

To make sure her path was clear, Rias used mana to explode anything that could actually stop her while ignoring the rest, a red aura covering her made sure that the fire wouldn't touch her or her clothes by accident as she ran to the exit.

*Riser Phenex's Rook has retired*

The announcement was so surprising that Rias almost tripped on her own feet. 'Wait! That wasn't enough to take that Rook out. That kind of woman wouldn't stop just because of a wound on her arm, no matter how severe the injury.'

Maybe if she had hit the chest or head the heiress would be more confident, or worried, about Isabela's condition but a simple shot on the arm wasn't enough to really take her out, of that Rias was sure.

Her mind ran through all the possibilities and a smile made its way to her face. "The other Rook was defeated." The implications made Rias happy for a moment before concern entered her mind and a hand moved closer to her ear. "Ise, can you hear me?"

*Buchou? Yes, I can.*

"I just heard you managed to defeat the other Rook, congratulations." Rias wanted to shower her Pawn with praises but the middle of a match wasn't the best place for that. His reply was a mostly ashamed mumble that she could barely comprehend before she spoke again. "Is Asia still with you?"

*Yes, Buchou. She is healing me right now.* Finally finding the exit from the burning woods, Rias decided she needs to relay her instructions quickly. *She didn't manage to run by herself but don't worry. We are going to the main building now and-*

"Change of plans. Riser now lost too many Pieces and sooner or later he is going to move out. Asia won't have enough time to prepare the trap there." Once she jumped out of the woods, Rias looked back to see Isabela running in her direction with Ravel protecting her from the flames. She began to shoot mana at the opposition while giving Issei new instructions. "Go to the gymnasium. It is closer and the plan can still work from there."

*Buchou… I lost my cloak.* Issei said a little ashamed of the fact. *Once it begins, I won't be able to help-*

Offering her Pawn the closest thing to a chuckle of amusement as she could in her current situation, Rias interrupted him. "Don't worry, Ise. You managed to take out one of Riser's Pieces. That was already a lot of help. Keep guarding Asia for as long as you can and don't let any devil find her. Just remember to be outside of the gym when things go down." Isabela was already on her and Rias had to raise a barrier to block a kick aiming for her side. "Got to go."

Both women pushed each other back as Ravel came flying with a fireball on each hand. Rias had to create a wall of magic circles just to stop the sudden attack when Isabela came kicking once again and managed to break one of her barriers and set herself up for a following kick that Rias ended up taking in her midriff and was sent flying.

Ravel refused to stop her attack and a flamethrower followed the Heiress of Gremory, once again being stopped by one of Rias' barriers. The attack lasted for a few seconds before Ravel stopped and Isabela was there to deliver another free kick, this time on Rias' face.

Except that this time Rias managed to stop it with a magic circle while she made another to hit Isabela on the chest to send her back. Before Rias could keep pressing the Rook she had to deal with a rain of fireballs courtesy of Ravel, the Bishop with an angry expression as Rias dodged her attack and shot a beam of Destruction back that had Ravel flying higher to protect herself.

"I almost wish that you were like Riser and tried to test your Immortality." Rias commented as she ran straight to Isabela who was going for her as well.

When the Rook jumped for a kick, Rias didn't think twice and sent a blast of Destruction her way. Isabela couldn't fight against it by herself and so she pushed back, her aura growing considerably weaker as Rias prepared another attack only for Ravel to throw more fire in her direction and force her to back.

"Damned!" Ravel poured more mana on her flames but she was failing on breaking Rias' defenses by herself. What she managed to do was give Isabela enough time to get up and attack Rias with a swipe at her leg and making the redhead devil fall. "Isabela! Get away!"

Before the Rook could follow up with an elbow drop with her good arm, Ravel had already prepared a huge fireball to send at Rias. Realizing her mistress wasn't going to stop her attack, Isabela retreated as fast as she could.

Rias, noticing the peril of her situation, quickly surrounded herself with demonic power, molding it for one attack she knew could both protect her and end Ravel.

While Isabela managed to see what the heiress was doing she was shocked by it when the aura took a new form behind Rias. It then raised a hand that shot a projectile full of power towards the fireball.

One moment Ravel was sure of her victory as her flames were ready to consume Rias, the next she had seen her giant fireball undone as its center collapse and she felt something bite her ear. Slowly, her hand approached the place that was now surrounded by fire, her body automatically moving to repair her partially missing ear.

And looking up was a mildly annoyed Rias who was frustrated her counterattack failed. "What was that?" She turned to see a shocked Isabela glaring at her with her lone eye as a hand holded her wounded arm. "That was the same thing you used on me before. I am sure."

"And?" Rias asked with a raised eyebrow, a little surprised that the constant attacks had stopped.

"Why aren't you using it more?" Isabela couldn't tell for certain what Rias was using, the fire around them obstructing her vision, but she was certain that the Heiress of Gremory acted too fast for it to be exhausting in any shape or form. "Are you playing with us?"

"Not really. I just don't want to kill you." Rias replied with a shrug.

"That attack in the forest, you almost took out lady Ravel's head!" Exasperated, Isabela was ready to jump and attack again when Rias replied.

"I meant you alone, not her." Rias pointed to a distraught Ravel who kept her hand close to her regenerating ear as she landed close to Isabela who, upon hearing the reply, stood in front of the younger noble. "Are you really surprised? She is the enemy commander and part of the clan that is trying to force me to do something I don't want despite all the times I said 'no'. When it comes to the Phenex Clan I am all out of patience."

"I am also your enemy. Part of the same clan you despise!" Isabela said with the intent of deflecting some of Rias' aggressivity towards her but the heiress shrugged.

"You were nice before so I was trying to avoid shooting you in the head just to get to Ravel." Rias' calm reply now had both members of the Phenex peerage attention. "Ah, don't worry too much about her, she is a Phenex. Odds were that she would survive… maybe."

"You just threatened another noble's life." Ravel said with a great deal of anger but Rias looked uninterested. "Do you think that the other nobles would let you get away with it?"

"Are they even hearing this conversation? If they are, do you think they care?" Rias replied back with a smile. "If they did then a Rating Game wouldn't be the last solution on anyone's minds. After all, accidents happen in these." And Ravel could see that the older noble was completely serious just from her eyes. "All that I want is to not marry someone I don't love. Yet here we are. If they really cared about us as individuals, there wouldn't even be a fight." Ravel couldn't believe her ears but the Gremory Heiress kept talking. "Look at it this way, you aren't even the heir of your clan either. Sure your direct family will be mad, maybe some branches too, but politically you are mostly irrelevant."

"You are exaggerating. Rating Games don't have as many fatalities as you are implying." Ravel said back, a firm denial in her mind demanded that she make Rias admit a mistake, to say that she was wrong.

"But there are some fatalities and so there is a chance you don't leave this one alive." Rias responded while raising a hand and pointing at the new ear on Ravel's head. "It all depends on the intent of the fighters and how willing they are to go all out."

"We didn't come here to kill you." Isabela said with some disdain and Rias nodded in acknowledgement.

"True. And you were nice to me too, trying to make me surrender without a fight to avoid bloodshed. That is why I just didn't take your head off in the forest when I had the chance." That and also Rias didn't want to let Ravel gain any information about her real power, just in case she would relay it to Riser. "But make no mistake; the more time passes, the more pressed I will be to not hold back. I will try and not kill you but I make no promises of not doing it."

"Then why aren't you going all out now?!" Isabela already realized that Rias was holding back.

"Can't you guess?" Rias wasn't going to divulge that she wanted Riser out of the picture for as long as possible or at least until his Queen was out of the board. 'It is all a matter of numbers.'

Without saying anything else, Rias prepared another magic circle and sent a blast of normal demonic power at the other devils. All for the sake of distracting them to not figure out her plans.

…

Koneko expected many things from the Rating Game; a chance to help Rias who she cared a lot for, a fight that would bring her to the limit and an opportunity of punching one of the flaming birds in the face.

She didn't expect to fight against a Knight covered in fire that kept charging at her with recklesses in par with a bull in a frenesi.

It took a minute for Koneko to realize that as a Knight, Siris didn't fight like Kiba at all. While she certainly had the speed typical for her Piece, her main focus was direct combat with magic in the shape of the fire that was covering her sword and the former nekomata had to admit that the black haired woman knew how to use it.

Every time that Koneko tried to get close the Knight would try to cut her with that huge sword only for the Rook to surprise Siris with an unexpected dodge that forced the black haired woman to spread the flames of her sword around her or be left open for a counter attack.

Both sides soon found themselves in a stalemate as Koneko was fighting more like a Knight by using speed and agility in a way that Siris wasn't anticipating while she was trying to burn her or cut her with brute force alone.

The older woman tried to adapt to the Rook's unusual fighting style but Siris knew that this wasn't her field of expertise for a simple reason; her sword was too big.

Siris couldn't help but frown in frustration. Karlamine was the one who challenged Knights, she was supposed to face Rooks and even if she was facing one, the little devil wasn't fighting like any Rook she ever faced before.

Usually the black haired woman would be able to do constant damage with her fire and sword while wearing down a Rook's defense little by little. But Koneko was dodging every time the fire was too close to her and avoiding her sword all together.

To make matters worse for the Phenex clan member, she was using a considerable amount of mana to keep her flames going while the white haired devil didn't show any signs of using magic whatsoever. That factor implied that Siris was on a clock to defeat Koneko before her fire ran out and the smaller devil could hit her freely.

So the fight continued like this for a while, Koneko being passive while Siris tried to force a confrontation. It was then that they heard. *Riser Phenex's Rook has retired*

Both women couldn't hold back the surprise from the news, Siris being more expressive than Koneko had to look around her to try and decipher the meaning behind the announcement. That was when the more stoic devil took the opportunity to strike.

Once she noticed Siris distracted, Koneko put all her strength on her legs so she could cover the full distance between them in a single leap. The Knight barely had time to do anything when Koneko's fist connected to her stomach, suffering from some vomit that escaped her mouth.

Not willing to waste her chance, Koneko goes for an uppercut with her other arm that had Siris off her feet. The Rook then grabbed the Knight and slammed her back down on the ground with all her strength.

This time Koneko wasn't planning to stop until her opponent disappeared, she began to move towards Siris head, making sure to step in her midriff to keep the Knight unfocused. Getting into position to kick the older woman's face, Koneko felt an intense heat and almost failed to react as the Zweihander came from the side.

Not being able to escape fast enough, Koneko held her side to try and stop the bleeding from the smallests of cuts while Siris used her weapon to help her get up. "You little… bitch!" The Knight was out of breath and clearly suffering but her eyes showed only anger. "I will kill you!"

The fire grew more intense around the Zweihander as Siris raised it above her head. Koneko could now see the engravings around the blade, a magic circle serving as the catalyzes to channel mana around it to generate fire and the Knight was pouring much more energy on it.

Soon the fire became a giant sword, almost as tall as the school itself as Siris attacked with it. Koneko ran to the side to evade the attack and was mostly successful but the fire was liberated in an explosion that burned her back and legs.

The little devil didn't flinch, she held the pain in and managed to land on her feet to notice that Siris was exhausted, her shoulders were low and she had to take deep breaths while the fire around the sword fully disappeared.

'Now it's my chance.' Koneko ignored the burns and rushed for one more attack. Keeping her center of gravity low and her eyes mostly on the sword, Koneko aimed for a fake punch followed by kicks if her attack was successful. In the case that Siris manages to block or attack her, the Rook will change and go for punches while using her feet defensively to repel the sword.

With the white haired devil's approaching, the furious eyes of the Knight locked into her. Never before Siris felt so humiliated in her life, not only her best attack failed but the younger devil was clearly less winded and hurt.

Compared to every single other Rating Game she fought before just made things worse. Siris knew Koneko wasn't as strong as some of the previous Rooks she faced but her fighting style was so different that the Knight was just too much out of her element to fight properly. With a frown on her face, Siris knew what she had to do.

So as Koneko approached, Siris did the best thing she could do and used a single hand to swing her sword. Just as Koneko calculated, she was able to jump over the blade, kicking it for good measure as her fake punch became a real one aimed towards the Knight's head.

But Siris reacted and managed to catch the fist on her hand, however it wasn't without a cost. Despite training to fight against Rooks, her defenses are poor in comparison, her sword was supposed to be the thing taking the brunt of damage.

Because of her designated role, Siris spent a lot of time training with Isabela and Xuelan, mostly Xuelan who was supposed to fight other Rooks and Queens, so she knew how use Aura Defense but her control wasn't as tight and she could feel some bones of her hand breaking just from a punch from a small little girl.

Siris just gritted her teeth and closed the hand around the fist to slam Koneko on the ground much like she had been previously. The Knight had no doubt she was on her last legs but she refused to be taken down without eliminating at least the little girl who hurt her so much.

She didn't hesitate to pull her sword to stab Koneko in the back, she was sure the win was hers since she was holding Koneko's arm and that the white haired devil had no real place to escape this time.

For her part, Koneko was calm, she didn't even feel pain from Siris last ditch effort and easily recovered from the sudden shift of the fight as Yoruichi trained her to do. Kicking the ground with her two legs, the little devil got up faster than the Knight expected, the sword missing its small target that was crouching uncomfortably close to Siris.

At that point Koneko didn't have any mercy on her and began to punch all the upper body of the woman; abdomen, chest, arms and face. She kept going for a couple of seconds in a combo that had no end in sight until the Knight simply disappeared.

*Riser Phenex's Knight has retired*

'I won?' It was a little jarring for Koneko as it still took her a couple of seconds to stop punching where her opponent previously was. "I won?" She asked again outloud, looking around and noticing that no one was present to reply. Nodding to herself with a small smile, the only demonstration of pride she allowed to herself, she repeats her words, now sounding more certain. "I won."

Closing her fist and looking at her glove, Koneko felt a bubble of happiness ready to burst from her chest. That was her triumph, after ten days of hellish training she managed to defeat her opponent by herself.

'I can't wait to tell sensei.' Koneko didn't even find herself surprised at the thought, her heart really warmed to Yoruichi, the woman who helped her grow strong enough to defend her friends.

Still pleased with herself had to stop celebrating once she remembered that the game wasn't over and that there was another huge problem close to her position.

"Kiba!"

…

A few minutes earlier.

Kiba was doing her best to survive the combined power of a Knight with their status amplified by a Bishop. Facing that wasn't something he expected on this particular Rating Game but it was always a possibility with how devils fought so he wasn't surprised or intimidated by the event.

What really surprised him was the Noble Phantasm he was facing. 'It is funny. That sword isn't a Holy Weapon and it has nothing to do with that 'sword'.' Kiba thinks as another of his blades breaks to repel Bakuya as Karlamine hits him with her normal weapon. 'But I hate it. Just standing close to it makes my blood boil.'

It wasn't because of his devil's instincts either. The presence that the sword exuded wasn't Holy but it was so close that bile wanted to leave his throat as Sword Birth brought another weapon to his hand to push it away as she stepped back.

Karlamine's pursuit was firm and Kiba's retreat failed as another cut was done on his abdomen. Bakuya's rejection of the other sword stopped the Knight of Phenex from fully using them as a team but she was adapting to it quickly, too quickly in Kiba's opinion as he repealed the normal weapon only to force Bakuya in a lock soon after.

With his stuck on Bakuya, Kiba goes for a desperate gamble of trying to keep the sword close to keep the other at bay. Karlamine almost lost her grip on the Noble Phantasm as her arm was having difficulties to keep Kiba's two from just pushing her back.

Two things, however, kept the Phenex Knight on the contest and soon gave her an advantage; the first one was that Bakuya was a perfect weapon, it had no flaws and was superior to anything Kiba was able to bring to bear, just those facts meant that Kiba's sword was already cracking under the pressure of their fight.

The second was Mihae's presence; the Bishop noticed her teammate losing her footing and quickly sent a wind spell to help her balance before her magic circle began to turn and she sent more power to Karlamine's body to make sure she wasn't going to lose.

Once these two events happened, it wasn't even a contest and Kiba's sword broke.

The Knight of Gremory saw the danger coming and he managed to crouch down just fast enough to not be decapitated but his opponent's reaction was just too fast and the other sword had already cut his shoulder before Kiba could fully recover.

Holding his arm to try and stop the wound, Kiba glares at Bakuya. The hatred he felt before returning in force as the sword in front of him gained a new form and a new name. 'Why? Why here? Why did one of those swords have to show up here?'

His mind began to lose itself on memories of happy times and prayers that were quickly suppressed by gas and men with masks going around shooting or cutting down children.

Kiba's hatred began to build in a crescendo and his sacred gear felt it as it reached its peak.

Sword Birth didn't have a spirit or a consciousness but like its pears it was programmed to grow with the heart and desires of its owner. It knew that something had to be done, needed to be done against the object of hatred of its owner.

"Ready to quit?" Karlamine asked, she wasn't having any pleasure with the fight since Mihae showed up.

"No way in hell!" Kiba declared defiance as the idea of losing to that sword was enough to make him sick. "I will defeat you! I will break that sword! Mark my words!"

"Fuh. I would pay to see that." Mihae commented from the side only for Karlamine to glare at her before looking back at Kiba.

'I need something to break that sword. I need something to break that sword. Something to break that sword. Something to break that sword. Break that sword. Break that sword. Break that sword!'

The single minded thought kept repeating on Kiba's head as Karlamine advanced again. He already knew that any blade he previously made in his life wouldn't be enough to surpass Bakuya and he wasn't focused on what he was doing as he willed another weapon to his hand.

Sword Birth replied, its demonic power pulsing in synchronization with Kiba's own, devouring it to make a new weapon.

Just by holding it, Kiba could tell that the dark gray sword was incomplete, it looked like a normal weapon despite its color and while the dark aura around it was ominous there was something lacking about it.

It was a bastard sword big and heavy enough that Kiba needed both hands to properly use and if it wasn't for the dark aura around it then it may be confused with the weapon of a knight of legend.

But the aura around it gave a tone that made a chill run on Mihae's spine but she chose to not focus on it as Karlamine was clearly going to win the fight.

That didn't stop Kiba from clashing it against Bakuya, it didn't break and the sword managed to push the enemy weapon back only for Kiba to be cut on the leg for his troubles. An event that repeated itself twice with similar wounds on his arm and another on the same leg.

And it kept repeating with Kiba being unable to change the outcome but it didn't matter to him, his sword wasn't breaking and he could still keep fighting.

The Knight of Gremory was having a miserable the last few minutes, even the seconds he gained by the announcement of Xuelan's defeat weren't enough to help him as Kiba could barely stay standing.

"How are you still standing?" Karlamine asked not in frustration but in respect. She was impressed by the determination of the opposing Knight who refused to quit despite his condition.

His body was full of wounds, almost every single one of them from a cut or a stab of some kind, his left arm was useless, the Noble Phantasm made sure that he would need medical attention before it could hold a sword again. The only reason why his limbs remained attached was because even with a single sword Kiba was still able to redirect Bakuya close towards the other sword on Karlamine's hands which made the Noble Phantasm retreat or push it back.

That didn't mean that the normal sword on her hands wasn't able to hurt Kiba, it was the prime responsible for most of the blood he lost but the blond Knight refused to fall down.

It wasn't for determination or a desire for success, even Rias' plight had already left Kiba's mind as Bakuya's image was fully replaced with another sword that Kiba never saw but wished deeply to find.

Hatred and anger made Kiba raise his sword once again to block another stab from Bakuya only for Karlamine to almost cut his leg off with a pass of her other sword.

Kiba ended up falling on the ground again and he could already feel a teleportation spell trying to drag him out of the battlefield. "Not yet." He complained as the dark gray sword on his hands created an aura that demanded he got up. "I haven't lost yet."

The Rating Game system had no other choice but allow the fighter to stay, even if the judges were trying to pull him out, unless the devil was unconscious or let them do it, there was nothing to be done. It was the only way to stop certain Kings to argue that they would have won if the judges had made better calls.

Mihae felt pity for the usually charming young man. "If the judges are trying to retire you then you should let them. At this point the spells around the field must be going insane with how much blood you have lost." She supplied the information but Kiba barely reacted, only standing up again. "Why must your sword for brains always be this stubborn? You fought well, it isn't your fault that you can't defeat a Noble Phantasm."

"Mihae, show some respect! It is clear that he is trying his best for his King!" Karlamine wouldn't accept any mockery from her ally who just shrugged. "With a spirit and loyalty like that I will need to knock him out or kill him."

"That wouldn't sound good in the wedding." Mihae admitted, the idea of killing on a Rating Game, already an unpleasant one, was worse under those circumstances.

Meanwhile the two discussed, Kiba's eyes didn't leave Bakuya. The old hatred burning inside him directs all his attention to it even as some of his sanity returns to him. 'If I can't defeat this sword, this weak legend, what chance do I have against the greatest of them all?'

Obsession was the only thing that kept him going, a fleeting thought he had during the fight that grew and grew until it was the only thing occupying his mind and distracted him from his pain and wounds.

Despite that, or maybe because of it, Kiba can't win against Bakuya. His mind rejected the fact but that was the reality.

The right thing to do, something Rias wouldn't blame him for, would be to surrender and let himself be teleported out. He gave his all and while he was found lacking and yet it wasn't for nothing. Kiba had distracted a dangerous enemy longer than most devils alive would be able to brag about doing.

However there was only the obsession on his mind right now, even as he properly recognized the sword as not the object of his hatred it was still a step up on the ladder to reach it. Any distraction was gone as Karlamine prepared herself to knock Kiba out or break the gray sword to disarm him and force a surrender.

Sword Birth's response to the Noble Phantasm was failing him and Kiba had no idea what that sword was or what it really could do but Kiba wasn't going to give up. He intended to win against Bakuya by any means.

All that Kiba had was a refusal to surrender born of obsession and that never was going to be enough in this situation. His body was weak, his blade incomplete and he could barely keep going.

Karlamine looked at the young Knight with respect but also some pity. She wanted a duel, a fair fight, his sacred gear may have allowed him to keep up with her Noble Phantasm and give her some of the thrill of combat but not how she wanted.

Now that was all gone and the victory that waited for her felt bittersweet. "I will make this quick." Once again Kiba doesn't answer her, all his focus was just on standing.

Nobody paid attention when another devil was defeated, nobody noticed the white missile flying in their direction. Nobody saw Koneko with her fist raised and aiming at Mihae until it was too late.

With the two Knights commited to one last attack and Mihae focusing on Karlamine, Koneko flew at max speed in her direction. Her instincts told her the white sword was the most dangerous thing around and seeing Kiba in his actual state almost had her rushing to help him.

But she stopped herself from doing that, it was a thing she learned with Yoruichi after the many times the nekomata had thrown her around when Koneko rushed into things; think before acting.

A simple lesson, an important lesson that had Koneko observe the situation and use her senses to determine that Karlamine was too powerful to be defeated with that sword in hand. Because the Bishop was making her more powerful.

So Koneko jumped into action after determining that her odds would be better if the Bishop was out of the picture and Mihae could do nothing against a tackle coming from the side at more than a few kilometers per hour.

The moment that the Knights were in each others' range, Karlamine began to move to knock Kiba out with the handle of her sword when she noticed something strange; she was slower now, still faster than a wounded Kiba but much slower than she should be.

Not even noticing what was happening around him, Kiba just swung his blade one more time, the last time of the Rating Game as it managed to make contact with Karlamine's side before it shattered.

The blond Knight didn't have enough awareness of mind to understand what was going on as his sword just broke when it got into contact with armor despite him placing everything he had left on it.

The announcements came. *Riser Phenex's Bishop has retired* A second later. *Rias Gremory's Knight has retired*

Karlamine could barely understand what was going on as Kiba disappeared and she turned back to see Koneko getting up from where she had crashed with Mihae, pretty much the same position the Bishop was before.

It didn't take long for the Knight to glare at the smaller devil and for Koneko to prepare herself. "You have no chance." Karlamine declared with anger, Bakuya ready.

Koneko didn't reply, she couldn't disagree with the statement but she wouldn't just lay down and surrender.

So the Rook and the Knight charged at each other.

…

After Yubelluna created her cage, the fight between the Queens slowed down. Akeno wasn't going to risk herself in a reckless attack if she could help it and Yubelluna was content in letting the younger Queen try and figure out of her trap.

The whole formation surrounded Akeno for all angles and sides, there were clearly less spheres in the opposite direction to her opponent and the raven haired girl pondered retreating a little to try and attack from a distance.

Only a couple of factors made her hesitate; the first was that the bombs were moving, not much neither fast but the bombs were moving little by little, keeping Akeno on guard. The second was that she feared that the escape route may be a trap of some kind and by trying to run away she would fall on the purple haired woman's hands.

So Akeno was being cautious, or at least as much as she could be while surronded by bombs that tended to move when she wasn't looking.

'Why isn't she just throwing them all at me?' Akeno asked herself while she opened her wings slightly and began to fly around the orbs. 'I doubt I could escape or really defend myself if she attacked with everything at once.'

But Yubelluna didn't react when Akeno began to fly a little higher, her smile just remained there while her hands were hidden beneath her cloak. That was enough for Akeno to imply she was really controlling the orbs somehow but didn't answer her question.

'Let's try the slow approach first.' Paying attention to her surroundings and Yubelluna at the same time was a challenge. There was just so much mana in the air that Akeno's eyes were her best resort at this point and she found something that pleased her. 'Here!'

An opening in the orbs' formation had Akeno jumping at the chance of finishing the fight; she saw a path to Yubelluna that may not be big enough for her but she could still use to finish things.

Mana flows on her circuits as Akeno shoots from her hand. "Lightning Spear!" Similar to the whip but with no connections to the Queen, the lighting spear was bigger than the whip and carried much more energy, a direct attack to pierce the enemy.

It barely left the palm of Akeno's hand before an orb just moved on its path and exploded, blowing the younger Queen back and making her arm hit another orb. Before Akeno could recover her balance she ended up hitting two more, on the shoulder and the arm of the same side.

Once she recovered, Akeno paused to breathe and draw EM to begin to heal. "You should be careful, Akeno. My orbs are more dangerous than you think." Yubelluna announced proudly as more orbs began to move in her direction, forcing Akeno to move while she healed.

When she tried to fly lower, more orbs positioned herself in her direction and Akeno quickly dove to the side. More orbs were already there, practically waiting for her and Akeno had no choice but to raise her free hand and create a barrier as more orbs converged in her direction and began to hit her.

Looking at what was happening with some amusement, more orbs began to leave Yubelluna's cape. "How long do you believe you can hold, Akeno? A minute? Two? I confess I am curious."

Akeno doesn't reply, instead she channels more mana around the barrier and hides EM again now that she was healed to free her other hand to expand her defenses. The once imobile orbs were now all converging in her direction and Akeno could feel her reserves diminishing as Yubelluna watched the events without much concern.

'If I keep going like this, I am going to lose.' The result was there for Akeno to see as the explosions were strong enough that she couldn't let the barrier down but Yubelluna didn't looked tired in the slightest regardless of how many bombs she made. 'How can she control so many of those?'

With Yubelluna keeping the number of orbs high, Akeno saw no end for the barrage from the maze. All the Queen of Gremory could do was defend herself and she knew that she was going to tire first unless she did something.

'I need to save some mana.' Akeno decided after some consideration, dropping her barriers and letting herself fall. She used her wings only to dodge the orbs, keeping them close to her body to avoid any more damage until she landed and turned back up to prepare her defenses again.

Only to see the orbs static once again, practically not moving when she looked up. "Would you like to surrender, Akeno?" Yubelluna asked gently and with a sweet smile. "I don't believe that you will be able to hold this for long. My Bomb Cage has you trapped and I can don't think that your healing is for free."

Akeno offered the other woman a smile of her own. "You received reports from Rutal, correct? You already know it costs mana."

"Indeed I do." Now that Yubelluna was calmer she could recall the details about the EM a magician gave Rutal and the Phenex Clan received in turn. "Every time you use it, you grow more exhausted and I would like to not hurt you if possible."

Looking around her, Akeno can still see the orbs approaching much slower than a couple of seconds ago. Her violet eyes kept searching for another exit while she tried to distract the older Queen. "I have to admit that this cage is an impressive demonstration of magecraft. Your use of the basic combination of the two types of mana to isolate and trap the enemy is something I never imagined doing myself."

"We can talk plenty about it after the wedding." Yubelluna said respectfully. "Most former magicians, magi especially, don't talk much outside of family and other circles. It would be nice to talk about it with someone."

"I suppose it would." Akeno was still looking for an exit or any openings she could exploit. 'She already used her Phoenix Tears. All I have to do is get to her and I can finish the fight.' The thought may be mostly optimistic but Akeno was certain she had means to win in a close quarters confrontation.

Deciding that the charade had gone long enough, Yubelluna tried to press Akeno to give up. "If you don't surrender I shall be forced to close the cage." She announced in a loud voice that had Akeno looking directly at her with some trepidation. "You do not have enough space to fly nor can you wait for your allies to come here to free you from it." The hopelessness of the situation did bother Akeno but her eyes remained defiant. "You are alone in a cage like a bird with clipped wings," Yubelluna spoke as gently as she could, trying to prove she was attempting to show mercy, " and I would like to not harm you-"

*Riser Phenex's Rook has retired*

The announcement came suddenly and Yubelluna couldn't hide her shock which made Akeno smile. "Looks like things aren't going as well as you expected."

"Careful Akeno, you are still trapped." The warning had a tone of panic in it and Akeno was aware of the situation. "Just surrender. It is true that one of your Pieces took out one of our strongest but that doesn't change anything." Yubelluna spoke with a certainty that the raven haired Queen found it hard to challenge. The concern in Akeno's eyes gave the older Queen an idea. "I am trying to be nice here, to defeat you all gently before someone gets seriously hurt. Surrender so I can stop things from getting worse."

"You are the Bomb Queen. I don't think you can avoid making things worse." Akeno pointed out while motioning to the bombs around her.

"I am offering you the chance to surrender aren't I?" Yubelluna responded swiftly but her eyes were not on Akeno but looking around the battlefield. Unlike the younger of the two, Yubelluna had a better sense of what was going around and was growing worried. 'Should I contact Riser? Maybe he should join the battle?' She knew her King was confident of their victory but the fact that one of their Rooks was defeated worried her.

When Yubelluna's attention turned to the area, Akeno moved again, slowly and methodically. She was doing everything she could to not be noticed by the purple haired woman at the moment.

Just with a couple of steps Akeno noticed something odd, the orbs were still moving in her direction despite the fact that Yubelluna clearly wasn't paying attention to her. She was aware that the distracted appearance from the Phenex clan member could be a trick or something similar but the shock on her face made Akeno believe it wasn't.

'Maybe that is why she wasn't attacking.' Akeno began to smile as the thought entered her head. 'If that is the case then this is some sort of-'

"Don't you think you are escaping. I can see you move." Yubelluna warned Akeno but the raven haired Queen couldn't stop smiling. "You are getting too over confident on one victory."

"If you count the Pawns, doesn't it go up to nine victories?" Akeno replied mischievously, something Yubelluna didn't like.

"Careful Akeno, I won't warn you again. Surrender now or I will close the cage." The ultimatum was supposed to scare Akeno but just made her more confident. "Just ask to be retired and-"

*Riser Phenex's Knight has retired*

The new announcement silenced Yubelluna and Akeno felt an immense pleasure at the sheer disbelief on her face. "You were saying?"

"Just surrender already!" Yubelluna now was really worried but she didn't have the full picture of the situation, her King was watching most of the fights through her crystal ball and if he didn't leave the main building already it meant it wasn't Karlamine the one defeated. She was still worried. 'I love you Riser but sometimes you take too long to act.'

"I don't think I am going to do that." Akeno steps close to one of the orbs and sticks her hand out, just shy of touching it. "Out of curiosity, can you control them?"

Akeno had to move her hand a little when the orb began to get too close but with her other hand she created a really small magic circle that cost practically no energy at all as far away as she could before stepping back.

The reaction from the orb was instantaneous, it began to float a little faster towards the magic circle before it disappeared and it stopped before moving slowly towards Akeno again. "You can't~" It was clear that the younger Queen was pleased with herself. "If you-"

*Riser Phenex's Bishop has retired* *Rias Gremory's Knight has retired*

The two announcements were practically simultaneous and despite the loss of another teammate, Yubelluna was the one smiling while Akeno was frowning for the same reason.

"My staff was what allowed me to control the magic circles but that doesn't matter anymore." Yubelluna turned her head towards the main school building, anticipation in her eyes. "My King is coming."

And Akeno wasn't close to finishing Yubelluna off. Figuring out the trick of her spell helped the situation but Akeno still needed time to escape safely or else she wouldn't be able to help against Riser.

After discovering that Yubelluna's spell was really a cage, one that punished those trying to escape and knowing that the staff was how she would close the cage made Akeno understand how her magecraft worked. The bombs were the cage, pursuing the mana of anyone else but Yubelluna, that was why they attacked when EM was active or Akeno tried to protect herself.

The staff that the older Queen sacrificed to escape Akeno's whip was the key of the cage, the thing that allowed Yubelluna to stick her hand in and crush those inside it. With a title like Bomb Queen it was easy for Akeno to deduce that the cage wasn't her main method of winning fights. The orbs individually were usually enough when she was taking things seriously.

Realizing the trick and knowing that Yubelluna had to waste a lot of energy to build the Bomb Cage as fast as she did actually didn't change her situation much. Akeno was still stuck and the fact was that Riser was moving, once he got there before Akeno escaped the fight would be over for her.

*Rias Gremory's Rook has retired*

Those news pleased Yubelluna greatly and the fact Riser was finally joining the fight meant that soon victory would be theirs. She had to use the Phoenix Tears and the process of trying to defeat Akeno left her a little tired but with Riser as support she knows that they will be able to defeat Rias even if she was exhausted.

'Quickly my King. Come to my position so we can win the Rating Game.' Yubelluna was always excited by the prospect to fight together with Riser. It wasn't just her love towards the man but the fact that his powers and abilities complimented her magic in ways that most devils would envy.

"Oh, kind mother above in the heavens, bring forth the power to smite my enemies." Hearing the words that carried a considerable amount of power, Yubelluna looked back to Akeno who had a barrier around her as the orbs began to explode against it.

More collided against Akeno's barrier to the point Yubelluna was starting to get worried. "Akeno! What do you think gathering all that mana is going to do? You are just making yourself a target against hundreds of explosions! That is suicide!"

"Let my body be filled with your love, which didn't diminish with your departure. Let me take the pain you carried, so our souls can meet each other again." The words continue and Yubelluna can feel the high concentration of power around the Queen of Gremory whose presence grew stronger by the second.

Soon the barrier broke and Yubelluna could see her orbs hit the younger Queen who didn't look afraid. Over thirty attacks hit Akeno constantly but the power wasn't diminishing, instead it kept rising and rising in a way that she couldn't comprehend even.

Instead of making more orbs to continue the attack, Yubelluna watched her cage break and fall apart around itself where only a golden light remained in the center of its previous location.

Floating there naked and covered in wounds was Akeno with her hair free and waving around. Her body was also covered with a bright aura that preserved her modesty while also expelling constant lighting around her in a way Yubelluna never saw before.

When Akeno looked at her once again, Yubelluna felt herself retreating instinctively."This is impossible! Is that the power of a High Class- No! It is beyond that! It is Ultimate Class! How?!"

Ultimate Class devils were strongest in the Underworld, they were the main force of the devils and a Rank that came with its own fair share of titles and privileges that all devils desired.

To become an Ultimate Class devil was a feat that either demanded someone to be born with an unbelievable amount of power or to train for centuries and yet those were so few that the actual government had no problem offering titles that previously belonged only to the 72 Pillars to those who accomplished the feat.

Only the so-called Super Devils, devils whose very existence was an anomaly, could be called superior in the Underworld. So far there were only two examples of those in the current era known to the public, two of the Maou.

Lightning kept surging around Akeno who looked to be in a considerable deal of pain before her feet touched the ground. Then she jumped at a speed that Yubelluna couldn't have predicted, moving many times faster than she did the whole fight.

The Queen of Phenex knew she couldn't dodge and began to make a magic circle to protect herself from the attack only for it to break malformed as Akeno held her in a embrace, lightning running freely through their bodies.

With a somber but fierce tone, Akeno finished her spell. "Let us walk this road together! Departure of Lightning!"

With an almighty roar, a lightning bolt struck not from the clouds in the artificial sky but from Akeno herself and Yubelluna took the full force of the attack. It was a last resort, a magecraft Akeno developed in her final days of training and an extension of her Projection.

Instead of creating objects, she became the conduit for true lightning, a weapon that could be compared to the fury of the gods themselves. Yet the cost was high, channeling true lightning was not easy and when she discovered she could do that she ended up knocking herself out for a couple of hours and only to wake up with Shirou, Rias and Yoruichi checking on her.

As a bonus she was also carried back to the mansion by Shirou, something that had Rias pouting for reasons she couldn't understand but that only made Akeno more pleased.

But the exhaustion of that day didn't outshine her discovery. Akeno managed to figure out how to become a complete conductor for her energy in the form of lightning but once she began using it there was no return..

Departure of Lightning was a creation that was only possible thanks to her dedication to magecraft, her body of a Queen able to take the output of power and her huge reserves of mana.

But as a spell it was imperfect by design as every descent magic user present during the training camp knew, even Akeno herself.

It had no range, if the opponent was faster it could miss and once used there was no turning back.

For it was an attack that took a great tool on the body and cost every little scrap of mana she had. Arguably it was an attack that could be considered suicidal because it left the user completaly vulnerable after its use but in a Rating Game, where defeat didn't mean death, it was a way to take out a dangerous oponent at the cost of Akeno's further participation.

For that reason, Akeno didn't need to care about the damage she would take. The aura around her before was just an extension of it, showing that she was using the spell to also fuel her Reinforcement and resistance to make sure she could hit Yubelluna before going down.

That was her mission anyway, the job her best friend entrusted her with, to take down the Queen before Riser began to act. She wished that she could have helped more but there was just no time left.

'Sorry Rias. I won't… be able to… help you with Riser.' It was Akeno last conscient though as her body was fully spent. However she was happy because she managed to defeat a powerful enemy with the powers that a reincarnated devil, a former human, could attain.

After all, the aria she made to focus the spell was in honor of her mother.

*Rias Gremory's Queen has retired* *Riser Phenex's Queen has retired*

…

After revealing she was holding back, Rias watched as her two opponents began to fight more defensively; Ravel didn't know what Rias was planning and it was clear her mind wasn't properly on the fight as she would just support Isabela. The Rook herself was still trying to land a kick on Rias but the red haired King was now having a much easier time repelling the weakened taller woman.

Despite her defense being efficient against the Power of Destruction, Isabela was forced to keep it up all time which was exhausting. Add to the fact that Rias wasn't using the Power of Destruction the whole time and the masked devil was stuck over reacting to most of Rias' attacks with a little fear that pureblood would repeat the thing that almost took her arm off.

So Rias was actually in an advantageous position despite being stuck fighting two people, being able to save some energy for later also makes her more confident but she wasn't taking risks or chances.

The Heiress of Gremory was always keeping her distance against Isabela. Despite the Rook's hesitation she still charged a couple of times with jumps and kicks as her only safe form of attack were her feet and Rias wasn't going to allow herself to be hit again if she can help it.

Isabela still tried, she wasn't a coward and more than once she attempted to reach Rias for a definitive hit. Before when she wasn't wounded and less tired, the open area in front of the forest was her prefered battlefield and she was able to pressure Rias into running to the woods.

Now Isabela was tired and was wounded, her battlefield became Rias' playground as she could easily keep both Phenex Clan members at bay with ease. The masked woman just had no place to hide or to circle Rias. Isabela fears that the moment she left Ravel open the redhead wasn't going to hesitate in killing the young noble.

The worst part for Ravel was that she was well aware that her presence was hindering Isabela but leaving wasn't really an option, her bodyguard can't defeat Rias by herself, even before the wound that was a fact and they knew it by the power the Heiress of Gremory demonstrated.

Yet Rias didn't finish them, she threw some blasts to force Isabela to stay close to Ravel and was mostly happy to let the two members of the Phenex just stay together and away from her. Ravel threw another fireball at Rias to try to force her to attack or to expend more energy defending or just lose the look of confidence she had.

But it was for naught as Rias just opened her wings beneath her cloak and flew back just enough to avoid the attack, even offering Ravel a smile that told the blonde she was not bothered by the attempt.

"Lady Ravel, you must calm down." Isabela called for her mistress and the pureblood devil stopped herself just before throwing another attack.

"She is playing with us, Isabela. She is just mocking us!" Never before Ravel had felt so much contempt against someone else.

"I know my lady. I understand." The masked woman spoke clearly and honestly, her pride also had been wounded even more than her arm. "But we must save our energy. Remember that we have the advantage in this game. Once the others arrive, we can finish-"

"We still don't even know what she planned." Ravel reminded Isabela of the thing that was eating her inside. "She doesn't fight like any other devil we faced before! Her whole strategy is just frustrating and full of trap after trap. Even this 'fight', if we can call it that, is keeping both of us busy!"

That was the main reason why Ravel hadn't called Riser or anyone else for assistance, she was so sure that Rias was planning something that the fear of luring her brother straight towards it was stopping her from getting into contact.

Which was Rias' plan, or part of it at least. It was why she was taking her time and letting Ravel try to guess her true intentions. In a way that was what the initial moves of the Rating Game were all about.

Rias had managed with her previous strategies and victories to put Ravel against the way surrounded by suspicion and fear, not realizing that was the point in the first place.

By taking out the Pawns, Rias proved her peerage a threat, by splitting up the Phenex's side she had isolated them and by just showing her power she made Ravel cautious to the point blonde pureblood had become her own worst enemy.

That wasn't how devils fought in Rating Games, there was strategy but what Rias was using was going beyond that by applying psychology and fear tactics, things that the Magus Killer would be proud of but Shirou hated even if he still taught her enough to understand the value of understanding the opponent.

Rias could understand Ravel, the proud daughter of a great house, because that was how she viewed herself before; the need to project an image of status, to keep control of the situation or of not calling for help until the situation was truly hopeless. Those were all things that Rias had herself and still has to an extent.

To defeat Riser, Rias had to understand pride and how to beat it. Riser was too proud of his power and peerage and so he was staying away until enough of his side were defeated, as he did before in previous games.

It wasn't hard to guess he was watching the events and that was why Rias was trying to make her fight look boring in comparison to her friends'. She was hiding her skills and waiting for when she had no choice when to go all out.

The best scenario for her would be if Akeno took out the opposite Queen, if that happened Rias can defeat Ravel and run towards her best friend so both can defeat Riser together. That was her best chance that didn't account for the rest of their peerages.

Other scenarios included the numbers game and a couple of extra plans that Rias placed Asia in charge of, mostly because she was the only one that could execute them. That was why she directed Asia to the gym with Issei as her guard and was the one she really didn't want to use because it was a little cruel. And also because it meant that she was admitting Riser was stronger than her.

Rias may not be allowing pride to rule her any longer but she still had a great deal of it.

But while she stalled, the fight continued and people were falling. *Riser Phenex's Knight has retired*

When Rias heard it she was a little worried but that was completely outshined by her happiness; another member of her peerage had defeated a devil much more experienced than them. If they weren't in the middle of the Rating Game, Rias would hunt them down to give whoever they were a huge hug and prepare to throw a party.

But a small worry remained, another of Riser's fell which meant the King of Phenex would be more inclined to join the fight.

'Maybe it is time to finish this.' Rias observed her opponents, they were much more worried than her and close enough together that she knew that it wouldn't be easy. 'Yes, it is the right time. With things going like this Akeno won't have time to-'

*Riser Phenex's Bishop has retired* was followed by *Rias Gremory's Knight has retired* and Rias knew things were going faster than anticipated, too fast even.

'Kiba wouldn't- No! I can't underestimate them. If Kiba was taken down then Riser has someone stronger than we planned.' Rias didn't know who defeated Kiba but she trusted her Knight and wouldn't dismiss the fact he was beaten in the first place.

With those two defeats, despite Rias' own loss, she couldn't see Riser sitting the match out anymore because she knew she wouldn't tolerate it herself.

*Rias Gremory's Rook has retired*

'Koneko.' Now she really had no choice. "Time is up!" Rias declared loudly to the two women. "You two can either surrender or deal with the consequences I won't be holding back any longer!"

Rias' sudden shift of attitude surprised the two members of the Phenex Clan. From playful to serious in a second, the announcements were the only thing that justified her actions.

"What is wrong, lady Gremory? Did some of the defeats ruin your plans?" Ravel asked but the confidence from before wasn't present. She was clearly trying to fish for information.

"No, the plan is still going but your presence is now dangerous." Rias admitted much to Ravel's shock. "Now I need to take both of you out before things get truly in motion so this is me repaying the kindness from before. Surrender or else."

"Or else what?" Ravel challenged as Rias' dark aura returned at full force. Isabela immediately reinforced the defenses of her body as Rias looked at them with clear murderous intent.

The aura of power now was much more oppressive and both devils knew Rias wasn't joking when she said, "Or else I won't be responsible for what is going to happen in the next few minutes."

Before any reply was given there was a roar much like thunder as flash caught everyone's attention, blinded all of those who looked at it.

*Rias Gremory's Queen has retired*

Those news were the worst words that Rias could hear.

*Riser Phenex's Queen has retired*

And those were the best and they had Rias smiling slightly.

"Akeno, Koneko, Kiba. Thank you for all your efforts." Rias' words surprised the two members of the Phenex Peerage who noticed her look at them with determination in her eyes. "I promise to win this, whatever it takes." The fierceness returned and the aura around Rias began to take the shape of something that Isabela saw before but now it was more clear. "The biggest threat is out of the board and I have no time to waste anymore. You two are on my way and I will take you out."

Both members of the Phenex Clan and all the spectators witnessed as Rias' aura took a new form that was connected to her; it had small arms and a big hat that wouldn't be out of place in a cowboy, its two hands looked like pistols complete with a cylinder with space for six bullets, a barrel and a hammer each in each.

Floating at Rias' side it was evident that the new being wouldn't be able to reach her knees if it was standing, it didn't even had feets to do so, but understood Ravel that its threat was very real as the demonic power that it was made of was far more than she could use safely.

"What is that?" Ravel couldn't help but ask while Isabela prepared. The masked woman could feel Rias mana more intensely in her new invocation and that most of her power was on it.

"I suppose introductions are in order but unfortunately we don't have much time." Rias estimated that she must have a minute or two before Riser finally shows his face. "This is a manifestation of my resolve, my fighting spirit that stands by my side. That is why he is a Stand, my Stand; Born To Be Wild!" When called, the little spirit created by her power looked more lively and even stronger, despite its size the devils of Phenex knew it was more powerful than them. "Destruction Bullets!"

With her words, the gunslinger aimed both of its hands at the opposing devils and Isabela immediately knew what was about to happen, all her power turned to being focused on defense. "Lady Ravel-"

Unlike normal guns, the sound of the shots wasn't that loud, it was similar to a firecracker and not much else. But the bullets were things that both devils knew were dangerous beyond comparison. Red like blood and glowing with the Power of Destruction that made them, those two shots were more powerful than anything Rias had used before.

Isabela did her best to cover Ravel's body with her own, pushing herself to the limits to strengthen her aura as much as she could, she even crossed her arms in front of herself, ready to sacrifice them for one more layer of defense.

She could do nothing as the Bullets of Destruction pierced her defenses, her arms and her midriff, all Isabela felt was the sudden pain and the teleportation spell took her out as the bullets ended hitting Ravel on the shoulder and heart.

Unlike Isabela, Ravel felt a longer lasting pain. Her bodyguard's sacrifice didn't redirect the bullets this time, these ones were much stronger than the previously hidden shot. But Isabela did manage to weaken them enough that once they hit the pureblood devil they weren't at full power and just ended up wounding her.

Ravel ended up with her back on the ground, feeling more pain than she ever felt in her life. When her ear was hit she felt nothing, just a fast bite that she could not even feel if she was distracted. It couldn't be compared to her actual pain, before it was sudden and fast, this time it was lingering and was a weird sensation that she could only identify as painful.

Flames surrounded the wounds and the blonde pureblood knew that soon there wouldn't be even a mark. Soon the pain subsided and when Ravel lifted herself and saw Rias' eyes and her spirit aiming at her again, the message was clear.

A proud devil she may be, a pureblood one at that, but Ravel couldn't deny that she was afraid. Never before Ravel was harmed like that in a Rating Game and as a Wizard type, her training was hard but only lasted until she was out of mana, no need for wounds or blood whatsoever.

But Rias Power could break her barrier, if Isabela couldn't withstand it then Ravel knew she had no chance.

'This is not fair.' Ravel thought to herself as tears began to fill her eyes. 'This should have been an easy match! My plan was perfect! She shouldn't be so powerful!' Ravel's fist closes around the dirt as her mind runs scenario after scenario to try and find an escape route. There was none and the tears ran dry in her flames. 'I am a proud daughter of Phenex! I won't just lay down in defeat!'

Rias saw Ravel's decision before she actually made it. "Don't-"

There was no time for warnings or threats, Ravel just created a magic circle and was ready to throw a fireball in the blink of an eye. Rias just shoots faster, Destruction Bullets hitting her head and heart as the redhead made good on her promise to go for the kill.

The daughter of Phenex didn't even feel her conscience slip, she just fell back and her flames began to burn brightly. Despite the holes in her body, Ravel's flames didn't diminish and quickly her Immortality began to work.

In a few moments Ravel was opening her eyes normally, a headache made itself known and her chest was still regenerating but she managed to use a hand to push herself up. "What happened?" The blonde asked the powerful devil surrounded by power in front of her.

"So even damaging the brain doesn't kill a Phenex. That is interesting to know." Rias' words were cold and then Ravel remembered her situation. She could almost not believe that she forgot she was in a Rating Game and that Rias tried to kill her. "Well, let's see how long you can last."

Understanding the danger, Ravel tried to prepare a magic circle for a fireball only to be hit by two shots again in the same places as before, the center of her forehead and her heart.

Those two parts are vital to many living beings and the Phenex Immortality quickly got to work on fixing them, it wasn't a conscious effort for when Ravel was hit on the head she comes as close to dying as was possible for one of her bloodline without actually dying and her memories become hazy as she momentarily pass out.

Once Ravel came back again, Rias observed that the flames were growing weaker and that she took a little longer to realize that she was in the middle of a fight. The heiress just shot her again and the Immortality quickly returned to work.

At that point Rias knew that it was only a matter of time for the regeneration to fail, a lot of energy was being used every time Ravel was 'killed' and she wouldn't last for long. 'She can't even surrender and always tries to attack first thing. If the judges don't pull her out she is going to die.'

Rias was about to repeat the process again when she felt an energy coming closer to their position. Turning her head, the redhead saw who was coming and turned her Born To Be Wild against the enemy that was flying at high speed.

Instead of attacking Rias, Riser directed himself to land close to Ravel and the heiress allowed him as the blond man landed quickly and scooped his sister in his arms. "Ravel! Ravel! Answer me!"

"She is still regenaring." Rias told Riser as her Stand's weapons remained on him. "After a couple of shots on her head it takes some time for her to heal." Riser eyes turned to him as his fire wings remained ready to either attack or defend. "More or less a minute to get here. That was fast, I have to admit."

Riser throws a glare at Rias before looking back to his sister. "Did you need to be so rough with Ravel?"

With a raised eyebrow, Rias responded. "This is a Rating Game. You knew the risks and so did she."

"Hard to talk about the risks with your tricks." Riser criticized.

"Harder when your numbers are bigger right?" Rias asked back and Riser remained silent. "You have no right to complain, Riser."

And yet he did. "Your tactics were deceptive and cowardly. Not worthy of pureblood devils such as ourselves."

"And I don't care." Rias said back easily.

With a sigh, Riser said, "I suppose you came here ready to win." Rias surprised him by shaking her head.

"No Riser. You came here ready to win. I came here ready to kill. I came here ready to die."

…

With her wings wounded, Karlamine wasn't in any condition to fly after her King once she saw Riser moving towards Rias' position. She wanted to call Riser but seeing that he was clearly upset painted a worrying picture and she didn't want to distract him.

'Lord Riser will be fine. I won't take long to arrive there with my legs anyway.' Karlamine was using as much of the speed of a Knight as she could but her body wasn't in the best condition in general.

While Mihae was supporting her, Karlamine didn't get hit a single time by Kiba. It didn't matter what the blond Knight tried, she was just too powerful and fast for him, despite not liking to win like that.

She still didn't recover from the wounds she received before her support arrived and some were still open as she ran towards the battlefield of the next fight.

Koneko tried to finish Kiba's job but in the end the little Rook's speed didn't compare to the Knight's and Karlamine finished the small girl without any additional damage thanks to Bakuya which easily broke her defenses.

But the damage was already done and Karlamine can feel herself grow more tired by the minute. 'I can't fail. For lord Riser, I won't fail. While I have this Noble Phantasm I have a responsibility.' Her hand trembled as she held the sword firmily.

Karlamine was irritated with it since there were mysteries she still did not understand about Bakuya but she refused to discard it. It was the best sword that she had and her best chance to take Rias out.

Instead of complaining about Bakuya or understanding the Noble Phantasm, Karlamine threw away her other sword and the knife she had after dealing with Koneko. In her mind it was simple; if Bakuya was rejecting other weapons then she would only use Bakuya itself.

"Dragon Shot!" It came without warning but the call for the attack was enough for Karlamine to stop herself from running and dodge it. "I won't let you reach Buchou!"

Coming from the gym's direction, Issei stood firmly with his two feet on the Knight's way. Even if she was slower, Karlamine was still a lot faster than Issei and he had to hurry to intercept her once he saw that she was going in Rias' direction.

"The Red Dragon Emperor? Maybe you are worthy of the title." The Knight raises her weapon with her two hands. "Unfortunately I don't have time to waste. I need to reach my lord Riser."

Issei could feel goosebumps just looking at that sword, it was like every hair on his body was screaming for him to run and not look back.

'Would the trap work on her?' The thought came quickly to the Pawn as he felt an extreme need to run. He was afraid, he knew he was afraid, that his whole being didn't want to fight that white sword at any cost.

[Boost]

The call of his sacred gear snaps Issei out of his panic. It was almost like the dragon inside sensed his thoughts and told him to stay and fight. Or at least that was what he felt.

'Asia isn't ready yet, she needs more time. Besides, that trap is for that fried chicken.' Taking his fighting posture, Issei raises a determined fist. "I won't let you pass."

[Boost]

"So be it." Karlamine prepared herself, she had no intention of giving her opponent any mercy. She charged, not as fast as she wanted but enough to make sure her attack would strike the Pawn.

She saw no weapons, no equipment and in her mind there was no way that Issei could survive Bakuya. It was the same with Koneko, she tried, fought bravely but was ill equipped to face the Noble Phantasm.

Karlamine completely forgot about the sacred gear. [Explosion x3]

The gauntlet blocked the attack much to the Knight's shock even as she could see the effort on Issei's face. Unlike her, he wasn't wounded, Asia's healing made sure that even if tired he could go all out once again and Boosted Gear wasn't just a piece of armor.

It was one of the Longinus, one of the strongest sacred gear and it proved its merit by blocking Bakuya without trouble as Issei used his naked hand to punch Karlamine on the face, forcing her to retreat.

"It won't be that easy!" Issei announced proudly, happy that his sacred gear gave him a fighting chance.

After taking a couple of steps back, Karlamine spits blood from her mouth and glares at Issei with real fury. "You think you are some kind of big shot, Pawn?" Usually she would be more excited by the idea of fighting someone but that was far from her mind now.

Karlamine was just done with this whole Rating Game; her companions were all defeated, her King was on the field which meant that she failed in her job and the only fight she expected to have, a fight that would get her blood pumping, ended up in a disappointment with her ally helping her which ruined the fight in her mind.

That was not even mentioning that the game got into this state despite the Phenex Peerage beginning with more than double of Pieces of their opponent they were still close to losing. It was a bitter pill to swallow for Karlamine. She can imagine that many of her friends would agree with the assessment.

And now a Pawn, a non Promoted Pawn at that, was on her way. Instead of rushing to the main building, he attacked her despite the Noble Phantasm, despite the fact she was a Knight.

"Are all the members of your peerage insane?" She couldn't help but ask.

"We aren't going to let you take Buchou!" It was the only thing on Issei's mind, his only goal.

"Idiot." Karlamine whispered as she held Bakuya firmly. "I will cut you to pieces!"

[Boost]

The Boosted Gear call filled Issei with courage as the Knight charged at him with murder on her eyes.

…..

Some people did figure out that Jojo's Bizarre adventure was Rias' favorite manga despite me not being able to put as much clues as I wish I could; there were some mentions like the reference of two brothers in conflict(Dio was adopted by the family Joestar despite not changing his name), when Rias had the upper hand in a conversation she tries to do Joseph's trick of saying the line before the opponent but that is harder to do in a real conversation to the point even the author admitted that Joseph was cheating, her office being similar to a mafioso's and others.

I had plans for more but the story either didn't allow it or I didn't want to make it too transparent. Funny thing was that when it came to guessing what Rias figured out by having a more open mind and imagination, nobody guessed Stands.

Regardless, to everyone that figured out her favorite manga, congratulations. Now attempt to guess her favorite part before the next chapter.

This is the part that I reveal that yes, while some powers from other franchises can show up they either already have a Fate or DxD equivalent(Demon's Slayer breathing is similar to advanced touki for example) others can show up if the devil has enough imagination and power to use them even if not on their proper form.

For example; Rias' Stand isn't the same as the ones from Jojo's, everyone can see it since it is just a mass of mana that Rias managed to manipulate with enough imagination and will. Its powers are far more limited than Jojo Stands whose abilities can be simple but absurd, but there is a positive on the diference; she can do things with it that nobody in Jojo's can unless it is part of the Stands abilities themselves.

What can I say about Jojo's Bizarre Adventure? I like it. At the moment my favorite part is part 7, Steel Ball Run, and like all parts of Jojo's there are a lot of symbolisms, great storytelling, bizarre but fun powers that can either give the fans a headache or can be surprisingly fun to read about.

For those that have never read or watched any Jojo's midia I can only warn that the author doesn't hold back and I will leave it at that, I don't want to spoil anything if someone gets interested.

If you aren't then you don't need to read to understand the context of this story. Rias is a fan of Jojo's Bizarre Adventures; it is a considerably violent manga that has meaningful themes that she likes so once she realized that she also had a form of humanity she began to use her favorite thing to grow stronger.

By the next chapter I also expect everyone that is a fan of Jojo to know what is Rias' favorite part which will also reveal her ringtone on Shirou's phone.

But enough about Rias for now.

Riser's Peerage members have some of the best designs but it fits him since all are girls that correspond to a fetiche or another. From the books it is possible to see that wasn't something that Riser forced on them, they are just like that.

So to make his harem Riser found as many girls as he could with different styles as possible that were his type or his ideal type of that kind of girl. Some of them could even be the heroines of their own stories.

But even in future volumes of the novel we never see them fighting much so I built fighting styles that fit their design as best as I could.

For example; Siris, the Knight with the big sword, has a weapon that is known to be good at killing people on horseback. SInce horses are rare in Rating Games and only one specific devil family actually uses them, her weapon could be to defeat those as dangerous as a full plate knight, Rooks.

And then I check my past self notes and see that Rias was taught strategy by Shirou who was taught by his father… Well, the Pawns' powers are going to go unseen because they are the logical scouts and the trap was important to both establish Rias' new line of thought and to equalize the battlefield.

That being said Ravel did everything as logically possible with the information she had. Since trickery wasn't something much used on the battlefield as devils value power above all else, her strategy, Pawns as scouts that can be Promoted while the rest keep their distance since they don't need to take the place, makes sense if the opponent is playing by the same rules.

Kiritsugu would ignore as many rules as he could, Shirou tends to bend them as much as he is able and Rias was taught by the second after he learned from the first. Enough said.

The individual fights were a proper chance to show the direction each of Rias' Peerage are going at the moment;

Issei was the most simple one to develop at the end of the day, even if his perverted side is more subdued, all that was needed to give him some direction was look at what Vali can do in canon. Basically if the Heavenly Dragons are equal and opposites and Vali can Divide objects and steal their power with Half Dimension, there is no reason why Issei can't make objects bigger and stronger.

The rest is pure determination and grit. Because of his personality it is hard to see Issei even in a supporting role for combat, the guy just has no patience. Either he is in the thick of the fight or he isn't fighting at all.

On the other hand Asia didn't show much because she is the team medic and the support. The only great indication of her development was that Issei was ready to fight again after a few minutes of rest.

Kiba's backstory presents a chance to explore a side of sacred gears that to me he is the ideal vessel for; if positive emotions equal good growth, what about negative emotions? And not the ones from past wielders but Kiba's own emotions and the nightmare he had to deal with.

Unlike the other members of his peerage, Kiba has an object of hatred, not a person. While he saw others Noble Phantasms during his life, all of them were either neutral or were closer to demonic swords than Holy ones. Bakuya is the one of the few neutral Noble Phantasms that can be considered close to Holy for it was made to reach the Heavens.

So Kiba has that to deal with, something that reminds him of his hatred but is not it. First he doesn't think much, just focusing on the fight. Then, as he starts losing both the fight and blood as he gets pushed to a corner, his mind starts to snap.

Koneko's fight was just a demonstration of how someone with a considerable amount of defense can develop when they add speed to their defense. Everything was pretty much covered in her training, she just fought Yoruichi with the nekomata correcting her forms and giving advice. Is it basic? Yes but that was what she needed at the moment and she could apply enough to win against the right opponent.

Was it possible for Koneko to defeat anyone else on Riser's Peerage? Yes, all promoted Pawns couldn't properly break her defense, she could defeat one or even two at once, she could defeat Mihae, the Bishop, in a fair fight easily and she would stand equal against Xuelan, basically a kung fu movie at that point. The rest she wouldn't win unless she was willing to go for Senjutsu, which she wasn't, or if Karlamine didn't have a Noble Phantasm, that would give Koneko a chance to win but not a guarantee since she would still need a good hit.

Akeno doesn't want to use her real power and runs with alternatives, if humans have magic why not give it a chance? Her fight also reveals that yes, there are magi who became devils but they didn't stop being magi. Any magi that just divulges their research are the exception and not the rule.

Akeno also finds a new avenue to how magecraft can be used when combined with devil magic. In a way magecraft is similar to science; if one person can do it, another can achieve the same result by following the same steps. However by adding imagination to the mix two people can start in the same spot but diverge immensely.

In summary the whole situation developed like this; Akeno took Shirou's magecraft as inspiration and mixed it with Rin's lessons to build her own version of Gradation Air by adding her devil's brand of magic to make her own thing. Her creations aren't the same as Shirou's because his own version is already something else entirely but she picked the basics and created her own spell that suits her.

The Departure of Lighting was a spell created because of her nature as a person, both her S&M tendences as her love and hate for herself, she loves that she is a devil with human powers from her mother but her hatred for her father still holds her back.

I know that doesn't cover everything but I did my best to avoid as many spoilers as I could.

Until next time.