"You have all done well to get this far." Riser stated with surprising sincerity given the stakes, which despite this sincerity was still unnerving

"That won't stop being creepy," Issei thought as he watched Riser speak.

"But I cannot allow myself to lose. I have everything on the line, and I will prove that I am truly your superior..."

"Bring it on, douchebag!"

"But I cannot do so until I face you all. Call your Master and tell her to face me. Otherwise, I will hunt her down myself. Riser proclaimed flames began to rise from his body, with an aura similar to his old self emitting from his very being.

With this, Akeno, as Rias's queen, knew that she had to contact her king to inform her of Riser's request.

"Rias. Riser has requested to face us all at this very moment. Will you come to face him?"

"Yes, I will be over in a few minutes, as will Asia and Gasper.." Rias stated as she deactivated her spell gave both Asia and Gasper a nod causing the small group to follow her as she left the club room.

"Rias will be here in a few moments," Akeno stated to Riser, who stood their arms crossed, and a sour scowl on his face.

Five minutes passed, and Rias, Asia and Gasper arrived to find the group facing her former betrothed.

"Ah, Rias, you finally made it. Now we can get started. However, we can end this match here and now if you surrender, saving both yourself and your peerage the pain that will be inflicted upon them." Riser offered, his voice still ice-cold despite the flames that radiated from him.

"There is no chance in hell that we will surrender. Perhaps you should consider surrendering, given the disadvantaged position you are in." Rias fired back

"I'm afraid I cannot do that either." Riser proclaimed as he glared at Rias, who met his gaze in defiance.

However, in a matter of seconds, Riser unexpectedly faded from view and reappeared behind Rias, aiming a flaming punch to knock her out of the fight.

"Rias! Issei yelled as he summoned Ascalon to block Riser's punch on the flat of his blade.

This was further backed by Kiba, who, thanks to being a knight, had further enhanced reflexes beyond that of a regular devil, which allowed him to catch up to Riser's reappearance. Kiba summoned his sword to reinforce Isseis's block, following Issei's example.

The pair successfully blocked the attack, pushing Riser back. Riser then faded from view and rapidly appeared and disappeared around the group. Riser threw a flurry of kicks and punches, which were enhanced with phoenix flames at that moment.

This approach had caused the group to form into a ball-like structure. This tactic turned Rias's numbers advantage into a disadvantage by reducing the space the group had to work with. This made it harder for them to counter-attack effectively.

"Damn, he's quick..." Issei growled as he scanned for an opening, with Rias, who had her back to Issei replying to his comment by saying.

"It's Sairaorg's training. Most devils can't move that fast without being enhanced by the Knight piece.

"Come on, Sairaorg. I know you had to pay off a debt, but you didn't need to go this far!" Issei scratched as he tried to hit Riser, but he couldn't land a shot.

"Issei Kiba, I have an idea, but we need to time it carefully...Asia!" Rias declared to the pair before turning her gaze to the former nun, who did her best to maintain the team's health.

As this was going on, Riser continued his assault, now throwing balls of fire, which pushed whoever they hit further into this ball formation, which limited the peerage's movements.

"Savings training has paid off, but I need to take out their female bishop, eliminating their ability to heal." Riser thought as he looked for an opening, and after a few more attacks, he had created a gap in their formation, at which point he darted, his right hand cocked back.

"Aim for the centre of mass. imagine punching through the target." Riser thought as he closed in on Asia, who had her back to him as she looked around to spot the next attack that would be thrown her way.

"I've got you now..." Riser stated confidently, a sickening grin on his face when out of the blue, Rias yelled.

"NOW!"

At which point Kiba jumped into the line of fire with his sword and thrusts it through Riser's chest, stopping him in his tracks. Kiba held the blade in place as Riser, who had blood dripping from his mouth, tried to dig the sword out of his chest. At that point, Issei jumped in and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"DRAGON SHOT!" Issei raised his hand as a red ball of draconic energy was produced, which shot out into an ungodly blast. As soon as Kiba saw the growth in blood-red light, he lunged to his side to avoid the explosion. the attack enveloped Riser sending the phoenix lord flying into the distance, only stopping when he hit the barrier and crashed into the ground."

"Nice shot, Issei," Asia said, with a relieved smile on her face.

"You did great as well, Asia. The entire plan couldn't have worked if you hadn't risked being the target.

"Aww, Issei, you making me blush..." Asia said sheepishly, raising her hands to her cheeks in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. But Rias interrupted as she spoke to the entire peerage.

"Excellent work, but this isn't over. ready yourselves!"

Meanwhile, at Riser's crash site, he lay on the ground gasping for air as his body slowly healed the damage inflicted by Issei and Kibas's joint attack.

"Damn it...that knight's sword is both holy and demonic in nature, my healing is slowed down due to that fact... damn it!" Riser grumbled as he slowly rose to his feet, as the blood pouring from the wound returned to where it once came.

"Sairaorg's training has pushed my healing factor, making it stronger than before, but I'm still a devil. Holy weapons will slow down and stop me from healing if they are strong enough...I need to take ut her divine sword users. Otherwise, my odds of winning will be significantly diminished." Riser told himself as he straightened up his posture. With his wounds fully healed, Riser summoned his flaming wings before launching himself into the air to return to face his foes.

A few moments later, the group saw Riser flying towards them, his flames growing even larger and fiercer than before. In each of his hands, he had manifested a pair of flaming swords, which glowed a golden shade of orange and was double-edged, like those a knight would use.

As soon as Riser was visible, Rias, Akeno and Rossweisse flew into the air and threw volleys of Destruction magic, true lightning and Norse runes at Riser. Riser could not dodge every spell thrown his way, even with his enhanced reflexes, as his body was torn apart with each strike. Yet, in mere moments his wounds would disappear.

This display caused the crowd to unexpectedly start quietly chanting his name as they watched this feat of both physical and mental resilience.

"This pain is nothing to what I have had to endure since the loss to Issei and I. . !" Riser yelled as he bull-rushed the grounded forces, swinging his blades in the form of combative dance. Large swings complimented by powerful leaps allowed Riser to dodge the attacks aimed at him and gave power to his own attacks.

"Take this!" Xenovia yelled as she swung Durandal in a sweeping arc, just missing Riser's chest but cutting his shirt collar. This miss had left an opening that Riser exploited. Riser thrust his sword into Xenovia's side, causing her to scream as she dropped to one knee, with her mighty blade falling out of her hand.

"Xenovia! Issei yelled, summoning Ascalon from within his gauntlet. As he charged at his foe, Riser withdrew his blade from Xenovias's side to use it with his other sword to bind and catch Issei's blade. Riser then used this to move Issei's blade arm offline, to allow him to disengage and slam a flaming fist into Issei's helm, denting it.

"Fuck that hurt!" Issei yelled as he tried to hit Riser, only for Koneko and Kiba to join in the fight, who attacked the phoenix lord from behind.

"Trying to get the drop on me...I expected better!" Riser roared with the fury of his former self as he avoided the pair's joint attack. Before landing, a powerful spin kick and back fist, the kick throwing Koneko into the dirt. Afterwhich the back-fist caught Kiba on the jaw and caused him to crash into the ground before a swift kick to the stomach sent him crashing into Asia and Gasper.

"Damn you!" Issei roared in anger as he activated his armours flight boosters and charged Riser. Riser seeing this, assumed a traditional Karate stance, his right hand cocked for a powerful attack.

.

"I have to focus all my power on this one blow." Riser told himself as he took slow breaths. He channelled his power into his right hand, which was curled into a fist that began to glow from orange to yellow till it was white, with the air surrounding his fist being warped by the heat.

Unfortunatly for Riser he had undertsaimted Isseis combative knwoeldge.

"He's using a similar tactic to what he tried to do to Asia. I can't dodge it. Otherwise, he will expect that and continue to fight...Ddriag, " Issei's thought turned to a quiet mumble before he called on Ddriag.

"Yes, partner?" " Ddriag replied.

"Be ready to boost when I change form...promotion to rook!" Issei yelled as his form morphed to show his now higher defence base. His armour not only grew thicker but also broader, with large rounded surfaces ideal for deflecting oncoming blows. Issei's arms had grown large battering ram structures with sharp points to amplify the force of his strikes while also increasing his reach.

I can still break his form; I broke through Sairaorg's aura, this won't be an...no," Riser thought as he prepared to unleash his empowered fist. Still, within a few inches of contact, Riser's body froze. Still, he had enough strength to turn to see Gasper, who had been cut on the top of his forehead due to the collision with Kiba. This wound was disappearing thanks to Asia's sacred gear.

"Great work Gasper...now take this bitch!" Issei cried as his fist collided with Riser's face, with the instant sound of cracking bone. The force of Issei's blow broke Gasper's time stop, allowing Riser to try and retaliate by swinging a haymaker with his amplified fist. Still, Issei caught the impact on his forearm and struck the lower arm with his free hand breaking Riser's arm above the wrist.

"AHHHHHH", Riser screamed, only for Issei to grab hold of his now broken arm with the arm he had used to block the strike and deliver a knee shattering kick. Issei then let go of the broken limb and grabbed Riser's head, and threw a terrifying headbutt that, on impact, sent a shockwave around the arena, dropping Riser to the ground.

"Damn it...damn it...damn it!" Riser screamed in his head as he gasped for air, his body now in a broken state from Isseis assault.

"It's over, Riser. stand down and accept your loss." Rias stated in her regal tone as she landed close to Riser.

"I cannot surrender...I would rather die than surrender." Riser spluttered, coughing up blood as he tried to rise from the ground, but his body failed to respond.

"Is your pride really worth all that pain?" Issei asked. He had seen Riser take an ungodly beating which would have wiped most devils out of the rating game.

"My pride...gave me strength. My pride gave me power." Riser gasped as his body slowly regenerated the damage done to him by Issei's assault. Riser's plan to move his magical aura from his healing had caused his recovery to temporarily slow down as it tried to return to its normal levels. Which met he had to experience the familiar sensation of pain for longer than he had typically experienced.

"Did it? Your pride made you arrogant. Your pride made you wrathful. Your pride made you into a monster...do you want to be that monster, Riser?" Rias asked sternly, listing off Riser's toxic traits. She had witnessed Riser's worst tendencies and knew, based on Riser's transformation since their last fight, that he was capable of change.

"If I lose my pride, how do I fill that void? My life, reputation, and place in this world will be ruined without my pride. My family have turned their backs on me, leaving me to fight this battle alone."

"But you are not alone," Rias replied, stating in a soft, almost tender tone, which caught Riser off guard.

Riser lay there silently, his wounds slowly closing, as he listened to Rias speak.

.

"You have Ravel. She jumped in to save you from further harm after your loss and has been at your side ever since. She has stood by you, supporting you in any way she could, and even if you lose today, she will still be there to help you no matter what.

"And you have your peerage. They stayed by your side even after your loss and believed you could win. They stood by you till the very end and would do so again if they were asked." Akeno added.

With those words, Riser was left to think Rias's words as he rose to his feet. Rias allowed this, as she was reflecting on what Sairaorg had said to her after their press conference.

"Riser needs to see that fighting for his pride will not make him happy or stronger. He needs to realise that to be stronger to be better; you have to fight for those that you care about, as that gives you the most substantial reasons to win and the strongest reasons to keep on fighting."

"Ravel...my peerage. they have done so much for me and I...I have been blinded by my pride, thinking this fight would restore my old self. No. This fight was never to prove that my pride made me strong. This fight was to prove that I could be better. I can be a better man and fight for those I genuinely care for. "

"I will fight for Ravel! I will fight for my peerage! I will fight until I draw my last breath, and I will fight no matter what it costs me!" Riser roared like a lion and released an ungodly amount of magical energy. Rias and the rest of the peerage were pushed back by the release, as Riser was then engulfed in bright yellow flames, which were growing more radiant with each second that passed.

"I know you're an inspirational speaker, Rias, but shit, I didn't realise that what you said would have that much of an effect!" Issei yelled as he covered his eyes from the brightness of Riser's flames.

"All I did was plant the seed that Riser allowed to grow. What we are seeing is how powerful a truly motived Riser is when he has nothing to lose." Rias explained as she watched Riser's body be warped and covered in living flames.

"Looks like shit's about to get real", Issei stated. He could sense the increase in the power of Riser's aura. In response, Issei began to boost his own, readying himself to unleash his fight-ending transformation.