I do not own the Persona series or High School DxD. Everything belongs to their respected owners.
"Wow, this is amazing, Sakura-san." Issei breathed, definitely impressed with what he couldn't see but knew what was happening.
Running around the school grounds, one of their objectives was to get Issei to the respected enemy territory. The reason was why that if they wanted a larger chance of winning, they would need the brunette to evolve into a Queen piece so his strengths would increase. But with that, it was easily, and one of the bigger probabilities, that Riser's team was going to do the same.
But that was why they had other people at the same time. "You can communicate with us whenever you want. And we can talk with you as well."
[Don't forget that I'm here as well, Issei-kun.] Rias chuckled as her Pawn noted all of these things. [Futaba-san's main purpose is to provide support with me having to give you commands while all of you are out in the field. Futaba-san will get her hands dirty when the time arrives that they would have no chance of winning… Thought that won't stop her from getting involved here and there.] A mischievous chuckle came from Futaba in the middle of Rias' pause.[Update, Riser's pieces have just began to move. Three Pawns and one Rook are moving to the gymnasium. All other pieces are heading towards the sports grounds. Looks like they're afraid we'll split up.]
"Then I say we do the same!" Issei exclaimed.
[Hold on a second, you can't just make a conclusion like that.] Futaba voice began to go through their heads. [You're not the commander, Gremory-san is. So if she says something, you follow it unless you have a reason to dislike it. Or if you say an idea, it's up to her to approve it.]
Her reminder made Issei sigh as everyone else accompanying him was a mixture of reactions. [Issei-kun does have a good point though. Both parties have Pawns that could potentially turn into Queens.] Well that was a slightly morbid thought. A total of four or six potential Queens was a force not to be taken lightly. [But, I think there is something else we could do. Issei-kun, get to the enemy's perimeters as quickly as possible and survive. Do not hesitate to back out if it gets too hectic. Akeno, Asia-chan, both of you try and hold off the opponents at the sports grounds. Koneko-chan and Kiba-kun, the two of you will take care of the ones going to the gym.]
"Got it!" Everyone exclaimed as they went their separate ways.
As Issei took off in the direction with Kiba and Koneko, Akeno stuck with Asia. The Queen and Bishop were decently fast as they made their way to the more open area; a perfect place to be picked off from. But they had a trusty navigator with them.
[And like that…] Several keys were typed within seconds before Futaba let out a triumphant hack. [Got it. The one's that are going to the sports grounds are the Pawns Ni and Li, Marion, Burent, Shuriya, the Rook Isabela, Knights are Siris and Karlamine, Bishops are Mihae and… Ravel, and finally the Queen Yubelluna.]
Rias let out a sigh. [It seems they way I sent you two is extremely tough…]
[Come on, have a little faith in your Peerage] Futaba's stated. [At least they won't go down without a fight. And let me just say, I bet there's going to be a lot of bodies when Himejima-san and Asia-chan are done for.]
[Futaba-san!]
[I'm just stating possibilities!]
"Ara ara, no need to worry, Buchou." Akeno shook her head with a look on her face. "Remember, we just need to hold them back for as long as we can. Just tell us when to retreat." She licked her lips however. "But I cannot wait to try these skill cards against them. I wonder just how much they will hurt when I use them."
Asia let out a small shiver, thankful that Akeno was her friend.
Walking over to the field, no one was around yet. But soon, they could see it. Several Devils were flying all the way over towards them. But the two of them stood in place. The Queen and Bishop both looked at each other before nodding their heads. Each of them pulled out a card with small figures on the front with depressed looks and the symbol of a boot next to the bottom (Masukunda).
As they both poured magic into their cards and swiped their hands. Several dark-green orbs flew straight towards them all. Each sphere was shot forward like a bullet and had homing abilities, pretty much being impossible to dodge or miss with those shots. The two watched as all of the opposing Devil's broke up their formation in favor of trying to avoid the green orbs. But then within a matter of seconds, all of them absorbed the spheres at the same time and their movements became sluggish.
Akeno smiled sadistically while Asia snuck backwards and pulled a couple of cards on her own. "Ufufufu…" The black-haired beauty laughed, one hand generating lighting. But her other hand held eight cards, each with unique designs; several pillars of fire (Maragidyne), several lightning bolts (Maziodyne), several tornados (Magarudyne), several snowflakes (Mabufudyne), several blue domes (Mafreidyne), several pink swirls (Mapsidyne), several black skulls (Maeigaon), and several mushroom clouds (Megidola).
All of the Devils approached them slowly, their eyes glaring. "What did you do to us?!" The twin Pawns, Ni and Li, both exclaimed at the same time. That single voice or demand began to bring out the anger in all of the other pieces, their voices drowning each other out with insults and demands for answers.
"Enough!" Ravel, who was among the ground, raised her voice even louder than everyone else. "We all don't have time for this. Onii-sama is depending on all of us for this, so all Rooks, Knights, and Bishops stall the two of them while the Pawns make their ways over towards the enemy stronghold!"
Before all of them could move though, all of the Pawns felt sudden chills at their feet. Looking down, ice began to grow from the ground. Looking around for the source, all of them saw Asia holding up single card and was aiming the bottom of it to the ground near them all. They tried to move away, but their bodies refused to give the speed they needed "Wha-" Before one of the Pawns in a maid outfit could speak, all of the lowest pieces were frozen solid inside of jagged trees made of ice.
"Ice magic?!" Ravel exclaimed, all of them slowly getting away from the frozen water. "Ugh, good grief, I have to use my own powers already."
Raising her hand to conjure up some flames, she was forced to cover her eyes as several domes of blue energy suddenly erupted from the trunks of the frozen trees and the light partially blinded them all. Every single piece in both Peerages had to cover their eyes after what Akeno had done.
[Riser… Phenex-sama's five Pawns… retired] The announcement was certainly surprised even though their voice was completely monotonous and almost seemed to have their emotions in check.
As their vision came back, all of the Pawns were gone. Just was the voice had stated, their retirement meant their defeat. But soon, all of Riser's Peerage began to regain their speed back. However, they still had to be careful. Who knew what other tricks two pieces of Rias' Peerage had?
As the Queen of Rias' Peerage licked her lips, Asia readied her slingshot once more. "Futaba-chan," The black-haired beauty began while brushing some hair back. "Would you mind lending us a hand in the meantime?"
[Ask and ye shall receive. Hold on a moment. Attack, up!]
Oh, Akeno felt like she was going to have a lot of fun as a red light washed over her and Asia.
TakeABreak
"Hmm… Gremory-san's got a pretty good grasp of leadership and already has a plan in mind. Nice." Ryuji nodded his head as he watched Rias' Peerage split up. "Hard to believe they weren't as experienced as they were now ten days ago. You'd think they were used to this kind of stuff already."
"Still, it's up to them to make sure they win." Makoto reminded the male blonde while grabbing a pretzel stick while nibbling on it after. "Every leader can begin to break down when times arrive." Her head soon turned back to the screen. "I just hope that moment won't have to come in this Rating Game."
"…" Hearing their conversation, Sona slowly turned her head around. She was about to speak, but then someone beat her to the punch.
"Seriously?!" Her most recent Pawn, Saji Genshirou, exclaimed loudly while standing up. He even knocked his seat down in the process. "You guys are talking about that despite the fact that Himejima-san and Argento-san just beat five Pawns like it was nothing?!"
"…Yes." Morgana deadpanned. "It's not like, I don't know,' He soon began to go on sarcastically. "We gave them several of our strongest area-of-affect spells. Seriously, that stuff is extremely powerful. I don't think those bombs we gave Sitri-san are as strong as those spells."
"You gave Kaichou explosives?!" Saji shouted with horror, earning several shushes from other members of the student council.
"…Did you fail to tell them?" Akira asked, raising an eyebrow.
"In a sense." Sona admitted shamelessly. "I did say that you gave us means to aid us in Rating Games and exterminating Stray Devils. I should have specified the items." Turning her focus back to the screen, she still felt Akira's gaze. "Stop staring at me like that."
"Hey, look!" Ann pointed at the screen, regaining everyone's attention who was not really focused on it at first. "Issei-kun, Kiba-san, and Koneko-chan are on right now."
TakeABreak
Issei, Kiba, and Koneko were still on their way towards the gym without any sort of hinderances at all. The entire field still amazed Issei since it all looked the same just like the real Kuoh Academy. The entire thing was just… bizarre.
"Right, Buchou, we're almost outside of the gym. Issei-kun, you should be on your way." Kiba looked over to the brunette and the Pawn nodded. But before he could go, Kiba stopped him by raising a fist. "Good luck."
Issei grinned. "You too." His look seemed to be a bit infectious as Kiba smiled as well and bumped the guys fist. "You as well, Koneko-chan!" He began to move his hand over in the white-haired girl's direction.
"I refuse to make any physical contact with you." Koneko answered with her usual, neutral tone. She even heaved up the shotgun in her hands to make a point while shifting around so the grenade launcher strapped onto her shook.
"…" Issei sighed, not really feeling the impact of her words hit him. But that didn't mean that the pain was not there. "Well, I'm off now. Kick their asses!" The brunette began to wave as he ran towards the tools warehouse that was right next to the gym in the first place.
As both Kiba and Koneko ran towards the gym, they both began to slow down when the building came into sight. There was no sound around them though, so it was either they arrived first or… [Hold on, Kiba-kun, Koneko-chan. There are readings of three Pawns and a Rook. Definitely the rest of Riser's Peerage.] Rias' words confirmed the unsaid latter part of their thoughts.
"What do you suggest we do then? If we just break in, we could easily take them on." Kiba pointed out as the two of them crept closer. Now, they were either unaware of their presences or they were setting up for an ambush.
[No need to do that as well as we won't] Rias stated, the two of them imagining the red-haired girl shaking her head. [I would rather not risk losing a piece when we can just do something that will have a large chance of us to win.]
"Do you something in mind, Buchou?" Koneko asked, looking at the building.
[Mwehehe…] A creepy laugh was soon heard. It clearly was not Rias'. So that meant it had to be one other person, Futaba. [Gremory-san's already ahead of you on that. All you have to do is set charges that you should have on your person to the appropriate parts of the building. After that, ka-boom!] Both Kiba and Koneko jumped with surprise. [The building comes falling down and crushes them!]
[At least hopefully.] Rias calmly added on. [The Rook will most likely survive, but will tread carefully knowing that you would be possibly be around still. The Pawns however will certainly be hurt when the entire building comes falling on them. Before detonation, Koneko-chan can fire in some grenades as well.]
"That sounds rather violent, Buchou." Kiba stated with a small sigh, but a smile still grew on his face. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a couple of Megido Bombs. But then a thoughtful went over his face as Koneko began to pull out some bombs of her own. "Will be building actually come crashing down though?"
[That's where Futaba-san's… skills come into play.] Rias found herself slightly trailing off. [I think it's better if she explains what she did]
[It's simple. I just managed to hack it.] Futaba said nonchalantly. [Since this is a magic world, and when I compared it to Mementos and Palaces, it got me trying a couple of things out and I can control this world in a way I see fit.] She then cut herself off and Kiba as the boy opened his mouth. [Before you say anything, I'm not doing anything too cheap. You guys still have to do your own jobs and win. I'm just support who can play a god in this kind of environment.]
"…I wasn't going to say anything like that." Kiba denied.
[Sure, you weren't.] Futaba said dryly. [Anyways, demolition awaits! Go on, that building isn't going to blow itself up! Just stick them on the walls and let's get moving!]
Rolling his eyes but still kept a smile up, Kiba and Koneko both began to move quickly around the building. As the both reached their first point, they both looked at the back of the bombs to see if there was anything sticky behind it. There wasn't. With a look of doubt at first, they stuck it on the wall and it stayed in place as if it had been glued.
…Must have been another one of Futaba's tricks.
Setting up at appropriate points Rias commanded them to put them on with Futaba's guidance, Kiba was on one side while Koneko was on the other. [Fire!] Rias commanded.
Kiba had a sword spawn from his hands that contained flames. With a wave of the weapon, fire shot out in burst and towards the charges with complete accuracy. Koneko meanwhile aimed the grenade launcher up to the windows near the rooftop. Shooting three grenades through the windows, she then shot the last three in her grenade launcher towards each of the bombs.
Several explosions all blew up after another, forcing both Devils to cover their ears at the sheer volume. Debris went everywhere, bit and pieces flying all over the place. The sound of a building collapsing was soon added to the noises as well. But after all of that… it was quiet.
[…Riser Phenex-sama's three Pawns, retired] The announcer stated, less surprised that before.
[Yeah! You did it!] Futaba cheered as both Kuba and Koneko began to walk towards each other with the smoking scene right next to them.
[Good job to the both of you.] Rias also congratulated them. [But that's not the end. We still need to wait for Issei-kun. Until then, come back to the clubroom to take a small break. Remember, we need everyone and great teamwork if we are going to win.]
"Yes/Got it, Buchou." Kiba and Koneko said at the same time.
Pulling out a piece of paper, a summoning circle appeared when they tossed it to the ground. With a flash of red, the two of them were in the clubroom with Rias and Futaba.
TakeABreak
Everyone continued to watch, almost everyone surprised at the fact that Rias had Kiba and Koneko blow up the gym to take out three Pawns while severely hurting one Rook.
"Well, that is one way to do the job." Yusuke commented, his eyes not being able to hide the rather shocked feeling he had.
"Honestly, I never thought of doing that before." Haru added. "Although…" She turned her head. "What about you, Akira-chan? Have you ever thought of something like this?"
"Yes, but denied it for various reasons." Akira answered.
The student council members still stared at the screen at the complete mayhem that had been left behind. Once more, Saji didn't keep quiet. "Okay, I am never going to piss you guys off! Ever! Just please don't do something like that to me!"
"…" All of the Phantom Thieves didn't know how to react to the boy. So, all of their heads turned over to Sona.
The student council president continued to look at the screen. But out of the corner of her eye, she saw all of the humans with their cat keeping their gazes on her. "…" The girl wondered if she only recruited the boy due to his Sacred Gear and completely ignored the personality aspect of him. She was going to have a long talk with Saji later after this. A really long talk.
TakeABreak
"Ugghh, running is hard!"
Issei groaned to himself as he ran across the school grounds to make his way towards the enemy stronghold. He already passed the tools warehouse and was inside of the new school building. It was still a bit surreal to him that this entire environment was not actually real, but instead created by magic. It must have taken some impressive amounts of power to create it.
[Issei-kun, can you hear me?] Rias' voice began to speak in his head, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Huh? Y-yeah, I can hear you just fine, Buchou." Issei spoke to himself, slowing down his running a bit so he could focus a bit more on talking. "What's wrong? Did something happen to the others?"
[No, everyone is doing fine… except Akeno and Asia-chan.] Rias actually sounded a bit worried. [Kiba-kun and Koneko-chan are both inside of the clubhouse, just getting ready for the main assault. But the other two are still at the sports grounds, starting to falter. Their numbers and strengths were even more than I had anticipated.] But soon Rias' words began to gain their confidence again. [But the good news is that you are almost at the stronghold to rank up. Just one more flight of stairs and you should soon be able to enter a hall that will allow you to rank up. As soon as you do, get back to the clubroom. I'll tell the others to retreat right now.]
A bit of strength returned to Issei. So, they were all still waiting for him? He felt a bit guilty that he was keeping them waiting and was almost about to ruin their chance at winning. Everyone was needed for an all-out attack, him just being the only one left. Increasing his speed, he found the flight of stairs quickly and ran right up them, three steps at the time. Within seconds, he made it to the top and looked down at himself.
"All right then… Promotion! Queen!" He yelled out, feeling the piece within him transform. He could feel it, every bit of his power begin to strengthen. It spread through his entire body. Like electricity, it continuously flowed within the circuits without fail.
"Did my Pieces actually let that Pawn through their defenses?"
Issei heard a voice. He gritted his teeth at the sound of it, clearly belonging to that bastard he hated since their first and only meeting. From around the corner ahead, Riser walked into view and frowned. "Hmm, it seems Rias had become much more cunning than expected. I've heard all of my Pawns retiring while none of her pieces are gone." His glare became more irritated. "And that just pisses me off."
Issei smirked, just hearing that Riser was angry at them. Just because he thought it would be cool, he immediately began giving the Phenex the middle finger. "Just you wait, you Grilled Chicken, we're going to kick your ass after we beat your Peerage down. With what we had managed to get done in the past ten days, I am sure none of you won't even stand a chance."
"Then I will finish you off here before you get the chance to fight!" Riser roared, raising his hands towards the brunette and a blast of fire careened towards the boy.
But Issei was gone in a flash of red while the fireball continued down the hall and destroyed the wall.
TakeABreak
"Phew, that was a close shave."
Issei wiped some sweat off of his brow as Asia was handing over a bottle filled with some kind of energy drink that. The brunette accepted, chugging the liquid eagerly to quench his thirst. Looking around while sitting on the floor, he saw everyone else and smiled with a bit of a sheepish look. "Sorry for keeping you guys waiting." He apologized.
"It's okay, Issei-kun, as long as you're fine." Asia gently told him while stepping back after she was took the bottle back.
"Futaba-san, how does the school grounds look?" Rias asked from the side, looking over towards the ginger-haired girl who was moving her hands wildly around. Green, holographic screens one would see in futuristic movies flew all over the place.
"Just as you wanted, they are all moving in towards the old school building. But all of them seemed to be pretty pissed off since none of them are going slow." Futaba stated, a small grin growing on her face. "But that just means none of them will be able to keep their cool." She turned her head slightly so that she could eye all of the Devils out of the corner of her eye.
Rias folded her arms with confidence. Akeno had her hands knitted behind her back with a smile. Kiba smirked while spinning a sword in one hand. Koneko looked blankly at Futaba, but there was a glimpse of determination. Issei was widely grinning as his Sacred Gear appeared right on his arm. Asia had a pleasant look.
"Well, then, let's get cracking!" Futaba laughed as she climbed into Necronomicon.
As all of the Devils began to make their way down the stairs, they went out of the front but immediately hid themselves amongst the trees. All of them kept their eyes to the sky, making sure that none of Riser's Peerage were flying about.
But Yubelluna, the Queen, was spotted within seconds. Most likely, everyone else was right below her on the ground and advancing. Issei and Koneko both dug into their bags of ammunition and pulled out a couple more bombs. Issei handed one over to Kiba as the blonde took one. The brunette gestured over towards the flying Devil in the sky and all of them shared a look. Looking over towards Akeno, the Queen of Rias' Peerage easily understood what was about to happen and nodded her head.
Issei, Kiba, and Koneko all took a couple of steps away from the trees. Issei activated his Sacred Gear and his Boosted Gear was holding onto the explosive. Rearing their arms back, each of them threw one bomb while the white-haired girl threw a second one soon after. With their strengths, although Kiba's was not as strong, the explosives flew right towards Yubelluna. All four bombs seemed to be thrown and miss just barely though. But Akeno had her hand cracking with lightning as she threw the bolts and caused each and every bomb to explode while striking the enemy Queen.
[Riser Phenex-sama's one Queen, retired]
"Now! Go!" Rias ordered loudly, just as the announcer revealed the status of the Queen.
"Come on!" Issei roared as all of them burst out of the tree line and ran straight towards their opponents.
Above them, Futaba was inside of Necronomicon, watching the fight their supporter. Rolling her neck, she tapped a few icons before swiping her hands and revealing several profile pictures with health bars. "Right, now let's get this show on the road!" She exclaimed to herself, her UFO constantly zipping about just in case she would be a viable target.
Issei reached down to his legs and fingered the handles of two revolvers that was holstered just below his waist. Quickly drawing them from his waist, he pointed them up and pulled both triggers at the same time. His aim was towards the back of the group they were charging at. He watched as the bullets both supposed Bishios; Mihae on the shoulder while Ravel in the arm.
But he didn't stop there. Issei furiously pulled the hammers back with such speed while firing at the same time and managed to strike each and every one of the pieces on their bodies twice. Pulling the trigger again soon though, he heard the sound of clicking and he swore. Right, reloading was still a factor he completely forgot about.
There was no time in doing so though as they were close enough to fight in melee range anyways. Charging on through, Issei dove forward and rolled at the same time. Isabela and Xuelan (Rooks) were both at the front line and saw this. As the two of them jumped into the air while eyeing the brunette, Kiba sped right past them. Just as the blonde made his way through to be near the promoted Pawn, Koneko had clotheslined both of them at the same time.
As Xuelan and Isabela both hit the ground about being hit, Koneko wrapped her hands around the shotgun and pointed it right towards the former Rook. About to fire, the weapon was knocked right out of her hands as Siris (Knight) had managed to quickly get up to her and prevent the girl from shooting by using her zweihander. Siris soon swung around, about to cut Koneko but then felt a small bearing hit her hand and caused her to hiss in pain while missing her attack.
Angry eyes quickly darted over towards Asia holding a slingshot as the blonde soon squeaked before scampering off to find another place to not be noticed. Koneko seemed to take advantage of this situation by punching Siris right in the stomach and sending her back several feet. Reaching back to grab her grenade launcher, Koneko shot a grenade straight towards the enemy Knight, engulfing the opposing girl right in the stomach.
[Riser Phenex-sama's one Knight, retired.]
Isabela and Xuelan both got back up, groaning at the attack they both had faced. But it was going to take more than that to force them to retire. As soon as they were on their feet, the two of them rolled out of the way of a red and yellow blast of energy. Looking over, they saw both Rias and Akeno had shot those respective shots of magic and seemed like they were just ready for more.
Running right towards the Bishops, Issei and Kiba saw both girls preparing spells. While Ravel looked like she was going to shoot fire, Mihae seemed to be focused on some thing else entirely. Seeing how they weren't going to be close enough, Issei had his hand move over to the side of his stomach as grab what seemed to be a whip off of his body. "Kiba! Move on!" As Kiba sped up to get ahead of Issei, the brunette cracked the whip in Mihae's direction and struck her hands.
Ravel saw this and gritted her teeth. "Take this!" She exclaimed, throwing a ball of fire in their direction. But Kiba simply continued to run without hesitation. Dropping his current sword, a new one formed and he held it up to guard. Running straight through the flames, it still burned Kiba but not as bad as it would have originally if he hadn't made a fire-resisting blade as he made it close to Ravel.
Swinging his blade when his vision was clear of the fire, he missed. Looking around, his gaze soon went up when he felt the temperature rise once more and saw that Ravel was now flying with an even larger flame ball than before. But then she didn't have any time to throw it when Mihae came careening from below right into her and forced the blonde-girl to lose focus.
As the two of them began tumbling down, Issei spun his whip around and latched down onto the foot of Mihae and pulled her down right onto the ground apart from the falling Ravel. Yanking in his direction soon after, Issei quickly transferred the whip from his right to his left hand so his Sacred Gear was free as he punched the girl right in the stomach with his gauntlet.
Watching her roll on the ground, she didn't get up, but her body did not disappear. It was not enough strength to retire, but then her hands began to shine once more, probably another moment to use her magic. "Oh no you don't!" Issei grinned, snapping his fingers.
It was at that moment; all of the clothes suddenly began to tear off of the girl. As if there were explosives inside of her body that destroyed clothing, all of the cloth surrounding her body was ripped to shreds as she was suddenly stark naked in the middle of the battlefield.
Issei grinned and cheered that his technique worked.
TakeABreak
"…" Ann groaned into her hands as many of the other people in the room just stared as reactions were mixed with horror, shame, fear, happiness, and confusion. Akira, Morgana, Ryuji, and Yusuke however all had their head turned over to the side and up towards the ceiling. If they could be honest, it certainly reminded them of that one time during the fireworks festival when it rained and Ann revealed her legs while trying to wring water out of her kimono.
Makoto noticed Ann's groaning and decided to ask the blonde. "Were… you aware of this technique this entire time, Ann?" Makoto made a face that was unsure if she should be confused, horrified, or scared.
"He managed to develop in in the past couple of days." Ann's voice was muffled in her hands. "Right after using Asia-chan as an unwilling example, I made sure to beat him hard in order to make him promise he would only use it in battle against enemies." Her head shook. "I still am unable to even comprehend that he could come up with a technique like that."
"Well, I suppose this is coming from someone who is from the infamous Perverted Trio so I shouldn't be too surprised." Makoto sighed as well, shaking her head. "Still, that is something I do not even know how to describe."
TakeABreak
Kiba made quick word of Mihae as she slashed her back and her body disappeared shortly.
[Riser Phenex-sama's one Bishop, retired]
"That is… a very unique power you have created, Issei-kun." Kiba commented, unsure if he was using the right kind of words to describe what he had just seen.
"Thanks!" Issei exclaimed as the two of them just stood still. "I call it Dress Vreak, and…" He paused for a second before shaking his head. "Sorry, bit my tongue there. What I meant to say was-" He couldn't even complete his sentence due to a fireball being throw in his direction and he had to dodge it. "You know, I'll explain it to you later when this is over."
Kiba held his hands up. "No rush."
Asia meanwhile was in a bit of a bad spot. Karlamine (Knight) was furiously chasing her as her small legs could only make her go so fast. Since she was the healer of the group, it would have made perfect sense for Asia to be a main target. Making her way to the treeline, Asia looked back and jumped with surprise while dodging a knife thrown at her in the process.
Seeing the weapon lodge itself into the tree, Asia skidded to a half when she almost ran into that exact trunk. Ducking down quickly, she dodged the slash that came from Karlamine and the blonde began to flee once again into the forest. As the Knight yanked her weapon free, she let out an angry breath at how she failed to catch the Bishop and began to go into the forest in order to find Asia.
While the Knight went through the greenery to find the blonde, Asia snuck out of the forest way Karlamine had entered and went back into the fight just in case some of them needed to be healed.
Both Issei and Kiba were running, but then Ravel proved to be more of a nuisance than expected as she was flying around and bombarding them with fire. As Issei rolled on the ground, he saw the blade that Kiba had dropped from before. An idea came up in his head soon as he took a couple of hops away from the weapon while keeping Ravel in sight. Flicking the whip and having it wrap around the handle, Issei snapped his wrist over in Ravel's direction and caused the sword to fly and cut the wings of the flying Devil.
Watching Riser's Bishop fall, Issei holstered his whip while running forward towards the blonde female. Reaching to his back, he revealed a third revolver stuffed in his pants as he pulled it out. Pulling the hammer back, he aimed for the girl and pulled the trigger. A small tornado of winds was released as it launched Ravel to the side.
Isabela was struggling against Koneko as the girl was managing to hold her ground while wrestling the Rook. It was not easy taking the white-haired girl down, especially with the Akeno and Rias both providing magical bombardment to destroy her. But her struggling was brought to an end when Ravel came flying in from the side and knocking Isabela down.
Koneko looked over and saw that Issei had a shiny new gun pointed right at their direction as he fanned the hammer immediately and shot five more times. As Konek leapt out of the way, a fireball, large ball of ice, a bolt of lightning, and then a blue beam all flew towards Isabela and Ravel. Each of the attack hit their mark, something being compared to a lightshow being set off whenever each element hit the two targets.
[Riser Phenex-sama's one Rook, one Bishop, retired.]
"…" Koneko turned her head towards the brunette who was grinning at her. "…That could have hit me." She stated dully.
Issei sighed at her words. "Would it kill to be thanked a little?" He asked.
[Riser Phenex-sama's one Rook, retired.]
As everyone looked over, Akeno and Rias had both taken care of that one Rook that had been announced to have been destroyed. As the smoke cleared, both Rias and Akeno began to walk towards them as the rest of the Peerage did the same. "Well, that takes care of that." Rias stated as they all took in as much air as they could. Though the fight may have looked easy to them, it took an incredibly large amount of energy from them almost and their stamina was used in a lot of their hits.
Thankfully, Asia and Futaba were able to restore some of their energy with proper supplies and magic recovery from each respective person. "Phew, I actually never thought we'd manage to do that." Kiba commented, wiping some sweat off of his brow. "Taking out the Pwans and then the Queen before rushing them at least made their ranks lower and easier to fight."
"Riser's advantage was always numbers. Not only did we manage to even that out, but out equipment I think was a bit… overdoing it." Rias said, massaging her head. "I still think that Akira-kun and everyone else forced us to overstock on this stuff."
[That's what you say.] Futaba commented from above, her help almost not even being needed at all during the fight. She was very happy and proud about that fact. It proved that Rias and the others could do well if they tried. [But it's better to do that than understock or else you would run out of the supplies.] She sighed soon after. [I just remember the times whenever we would run out of Megido Bombs when exploring Palaces. It was so fun just blowing Shadows up… Oh, right, you guys apparently forgot about one Knight. She's still in the forest looking after Asia-chan.]
"…Ah… right." Asia said slowly, after a moment of remembrance. She had completely forgotten about that girl. "We should go take care of her."
TakeABreak
[Riser Phenex-sama's one Knight, retired]
"All right!" Morgana exclaimed as there were several cheers from the many Phantom Thieves that were watching the fight that had gone down. "All of that time with them and working on those Megido Bombs really paid off! They've got this in the bag for sure now!"
TakeABreak
Riser stood, staring out among the created land that mimicked reality as Rias and her Peerage all made it to the roof of the new school building where the Phenex stood. "So…" Riser stated neutrally, turning around. "You managed to get very lucky and beat each and every one of my Peerage members."
"Yes, we have." Rias stated, stepping forward with her arms folded. "You should know what is going to happen to you, next. It's over, Riser. Surrender, and you won't have to face the humiliation of being soundly beaten."
But the man didn't even turn around. "Don't ever think that it's over until you have surely obtained victory." Riser stated, his arms moving slowly which made everyone stand on guard while waiting. Koneko and Issei both stood in front of the group. His neck moved side to side, popping those air bubbles in that area. "All of my Peerage had been beaten after all. It hardly seems… possible at all. So, you cannot blame me for being a little… angry at the moment."
Without even looking, he quickly raised his left hand while pointing it right at them. A large blast of flames came their way. Everyone but Issei and Koneko made it out unharmed. The two front-liners just made it out of the flame in time, but their clothing was singed. Patting themselves down, they noticed that their ammunition bags were on fire as well. Quickly ripping them off, they each threw them and all of the packages exploded in more fire.
Well, there went all of their munitions.
While their attention was turned to the explosions, Riser had appeared right next to them. Grabbing Koneko's arm, the blonde twisted it while spinning around and elbowing the boy right in the stomach to knock the brunette down. As Koneko cried out in pain, Riser spun the girl around while kicking her legs up and slammed her onto the ground soon after.
Akeno and Asia raised their hands, more skill cards at the ready. But Riser quickly raised his own hands in return and threw out more fireballs faster than they could shoot any of the spells. The cards that weren't used were burned up as wind and ice were careening his way. The ice melted among the flames while the wind was no strong enough to part the fire.
Kiba came charging soon after, his sword about to skewer the enemy blonde. Riser only managed to get out of the way in time before Kiba's shoulder actually pressed against his center and began to push forward. Riser however managed to put his feet onto the ground, slowly stopping the boy from moving any further. The Phenex smirked a little while tilting his head and kneed the Knight in the stomach before punching his back and throwing him off the edge of the roof.
He then felt something hit the back of his head. It was powerful enough to blow off a quarter of his head. "…" Slowly turning around, he looked towards Rias who had her palm facing towards him. He felt his flesh regenerate until he had his entire face and head back as if it had never been gone in the first place. "Just give up, Rias. There's no way you can beat me with my powers."
"Keep your mouth shut, Riser!" Rias stated, glaring. "It's time to end this Rating Game before you dig yourself into a hole even further." As soon as those words parted from her lips, she looked up which caused Riser to do the same. Hovering right above the roof, somehow unnoticed by the Phenex, was Necronomicon. "Now, Futaba-san!"
[You got it! Here come the buffs!]
A triangle formed all around Akeno, Asia, Issei, Koneko, Kiba (who was rushing back through the halls of the school, and Rias. A red, purple, and then green light all showed up before shooting up like a pillar while washing over each of the Devils. Riser gritted his teeth, not knowing what had happened but he felt like he shouldn't have liked it.
Issei watched as Riser just began to raise his hand. So the brunette quickly drew the skill card revolver and spun the weapon around in his grip. With the butt of the gun now up, he thumbed the handle until there was an image of a brain vibrating on it (Brain Shake). Charging up, he managed to catch Riser off-guard and slam the handle right against the blonde's skull.
Riser was certainly shaken by the sudden surprise attack, but then he could still fight back. Backhanding Issei and sending the brunette skidding along the ground, he made a clawing motion towards Koneko was attempted to aim the grenade launcher at him. A wave of flames emerged from each finger as the white-haired girl raised the weapon up to protect herself. The weapon however melted in her hands as she sighed and tossed the molten metal away before it could actually burn her skin.
Hearing footsteps coming up from behind him, he turned around quickly to see Kiba running right towards him. With a horizontal movement of his arms, a wave of fire followed in hopes of burning Kiba. But the Knight ducked right under the flames. As Riser attempted to swipe his hand again, Kiba raised his equipped arm to block the limb before punching Riser's stomach with his left hand. Soon, he grabbed Riser's body with that left hand while stabbing the King right in the stomach before throwing him to the ground.
Yanking the sword out of his body, Riser put his hands on the ground. While getting up, he twisted his body and kicked Kiba's face. But when the man got back on all fours, Koneko had run up and kicked Riser's face in return. With his body twisted around, Riser saw Issei coming straight for him again with his revolver. As the brunette swung his arm, the King grabbed the arm while redirecting it towards Koneko, the girl being blown away after a flash of light and a small explosion.
Twisting Issei's arm, Riser pointed his free hand towards Akeno, Asia, and Rias and shot three balls of fire towards them. As the three retreated while Riser threw Issei to the side, the blonde ran towards them. Punching Akeno as she tried to aim for Riser, the man soon raised his hands to stop Rias pointing an SMG of all things right towards his face and she had already been pulling the trigger to spray bullets.
Rias kept on pushing though, surprising the Phenex with how much strength she actually had. As Riser had his back against the wall next to the doorway that led inside of the school building, he kept Rias' aim down the stairway that went down as she continued to pull the trigger. Ripping the gun out of her hands while kicking her away, Kiba was back in the picture as he ran up to overhead-slash the enemy King.
Riser was faster enough to grab the sword arm though and spin the boy around while keeping his grip. Koneko was already right next to the Knight as she punched Riser right on the face before being punched herself. Kicking Kiba to the ground, Asia had a perfect opportunity to use her slingshot and fired it and hit Riser dead on the forehead.
Irritated by the sudden impact on his head, he glared at Asia a second to long before he was struck by lightning thanks to Akeno. Before he could even make a single breath, Issei was right behind him in the middle of the doorway. Grabbing the Phenex by the waist, the brunette lifted the man up and suplexed him.
As the two of them began to tumble down the stairs after, Riser looked up to see the revolver the brunette used. Grabbing it off of Issei, Riser threw it right up the stairs that the Devils were barreling down. Most of them dodged out of the way, but Asia was too slow and was hit right in the center of her forehead and toppled over.
As Riser looked back, he saw Issei swing his fist towards him. The blonde caught it finely, but then ended up being headbutted when Issei slammed his forehead forward. Trying to twist the blonde's arm, Issei ended up being elbowed in the stomach before punched into a classroom. Looking down the hall he had fallen into, Riser threw a few fireballs down the corridor right towards Rias and her Peerage.
All of them dodged out of the way fortunately. Riser followed the flames however, running past almost everyone so that he was right in front of Akeno. As his hand lashed forward, it was caught by Rias as Akeno also grabbed a hold of it to prevent the male from blasting them with fire. About to use his other hand, he immediately felt something wrap around his throat and he was forced to use the spare fingers to stop himself from being strangled.
Issei had gotten back up and had snapped the whip around Riser's neck. Angrily, Riser tried to furiously rip his arm out of Rias and Akeno's grip while trying to get the whip off of his throat. While doing all of that, the Phenex could only watch as Issei threw the whip across the corridor. Koneko and Kiba however were able to follow the item, the two of them grabbing the handle while crashing out of the window.
Riser immediately began to be dragged towards the side of the hall where broken glass laid as Akeno, Rias, and now Issei as well were pulling on the blonde's arm. Settling for kicking them while being strangled, his attacks were less effective than he expected due to the pulling on his neck keeping him off balance and easier to read. Furiously waving his captivated hand around, he pointed his palm to the ground and released flames which forced the three to back away.
Putting both hands on his neck, he wondered why he just didn't burn the whip this entire time. Generating more power, he scorched the wrappings around his throat. Taking in a deep breath, he was soon tackled out of the window by Issei as the two of them fell while Akeno and Rias flew down after them.
As the blonde and brunette both dragged each other up at the same time, Koneko took up Riser's attention as she grabbed his wrist and broke it by punching with her other hand. Twisting his arm next, she broke it before shoving the man forward straight towards Kiba. Spinning around, the boy slit Riser right along the throat, the man gurgling as he was still healing from his broken wrist and arm. Stepping forward, Koneko punched Riser right in the face, breaking perhaps several features as well as maybe a part of his skull.
As Riser was too dazed, being forced to heal and be unable to do anything at the same time, he couldn't react to what happened next.
Koneko ran forward, ducking her head below between his legs. Moving her body up though when the back of her neck was touching the bottom of Riser's crotch, she Koneko began to lift Riser into the air and threw him up. Kiba and Akeno were already in the air, soaring right towards Riser. As the both of them were on either side of the Phenex, they grabbed his sleeves and began to pull him down back to the ground.
But below them, right where Riser's head was going to land, Issei and Rias were running to that location. Issei had his right hand ready, Boosted Gear out and been powered up since the fighting began. Rias had her left hand ready, an orb of black and dark red destruction gathering around it. Her hand began to shift slowly in front of Issei's, the brunette's hand drawing closer to the back of hers.
As if it happened in slow motion, Issei's hand cupped the back of Rias' and both of them began to swing their hands upwards right towards the back of Riser's head as he was being dragged down.
"Transfer!"
Trust me, I am not very happy with how I wrote the Rating Game. Get rid of all the Pawns first and hold out until Issei quickly makes his way to the enemy stronghold to be promoted before teleporting back to the ORC room to heal up before leading a full-on assault. I've seen other ways Rating Games have been written, and they are better. While I could take examples from those, I wanted to try my own thing.
Which was probably a bad idea, but I still thought it was nice.
Also, there may have been a lot of things you all will point out from fights that don't work at all perhaps. But, as I quote from DBZA… Fuck power levels, they're complete bullshit half of the time.
No flames please.