A Demon Lord's Hero

by Fahad09

When I sold my soul to the Devil, I thought I was prepared for anything. I wasn't. I didn't expect him to be a her. Or dressed up as a magical girl carrying a pink wand tipped with a cheerful yellow star. Her being a prankster however didn't come as much of a surprise. You know, the Bible would have been a whole lot more interesting if they included stuff like this. Complete AU

18. Chapter 18: Can Immortals Bleed?

Author's Notes:

And here it is, the start of the Young Devil's Gathering. Since so many of you were eager of bloodshed after the last chapter I was left with no choice to deliver the GAR all of you wanted. Oh and I addition to my regular Beta, I had Mabawabawa volunteer to help me fix up my writing. So if this chapter's quality is much higher than my usual standards it's them you should thank.

Now onto the show.

*Chapter Start*

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Chapter 18:

Can Immortals Bleed?

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.

I watched the screen as all three of the examiner's Pawns, unseen by their foes, managed to slip past the participant's guard and into the their territory unopposed. Allowing a Pawn, with their ability to promote, to successfully enter your territory in a Rating Game was a potentially lethal mistake. To let three Pawns in all but guaranteed your defeat. A basic mistake to be sure, but seeing how hard pressed the participant's Peerage was an understandable one. As it was even without the three Pawns joining in the fray they were hard pressed, and it took everything they had just to keep from being overwhelmed by the examiner's Peerage, and they were just barely holding on as it was.

Still, I looked away from the screen. There was no point in watching after that. With the Pawns promoting themselves into Queens the fight was as good as over. Though it wasn't the worst performance I'd seen so far, it wasn't likely they'd make it past the examination round of the gathering. Then again it was still early; if the rest do badly enough they might just manage to squeeze through.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.

It had only been a little under half an hour since I found myself roped into the Young Devil Gathering, and currently I, along with some of my fellow participants, were waiting in a room for our turn to face the entrance exam.

The waiting room was fairly large but nowhere near enough to hold us all, so only the Devils who were expected to take the exam within the hour needed to stay. The rest were allowed to wander the arena until their names were called. Still, even with less than a tenth of the competitors in here with me, the place was filled to the brim. As if the competitors alone weren't enough they had to bring along their entire Peerage as well. The place was so crammed that you couldn't stretch your arms out without smacking someone the face.

...Well, except for around me. At some point a large pocket of space happened to form around the sofa I had chosen to sit on, one of many that lined the walls, as if every Devil in the room preferred to remain cramped and uncomfortable to coming anywhere near this spot.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.

'I wonder why?' I thought and barely resisted the urge to snort at the cowards.

Usually the room wouldn't have been anywhere nearly as jam-packed as this but it just goes to show how ill quipped the Gathering's organizers were to handle the number of Devils who wanted to participate this year. Normally the number could vary from as many as thirty to as few as ten. This year however was different, the expected amount of competitors was overwhelming. Just a few days ago the total number of contestants had been just over a hundred and twenty, but a lot of last minute applicants poured in since then and the number had ballooned until it was closer to a hundred and fifty.

Simply put, there were too many Devils participating this year. So in order to handle the excessive amounts of participants, an examination would be held to quickly trim down the numbers to more manageable levels, weeding out the weakest of the bunch in process, before moving onto the main event. In other words, an elimination round.

Ordinarily there shouldn't have been any matches held today, not so soon after the opening ceremony. Hell, ordinarily there shouldn't have even been an entrance examination, period. But as was quickly becoming painfully apparent to all, there was nothing ordinary about this year's Gathering.

The exam was a simple one. Each Devil and their Peerage would be pitted against an examiner in a Rating Game. A panel of judges would observe the match and judge the participants on how they performed. Once every Devil had a chance to fight, the scores will be tallied up and ranked and the top 64 performing Devils will be allowed to join the official tournament three days from now.

What had most of the competing Devils nervous about the upcoming exams was not the content of the exams themselves, but who were chosen to implement them. The examiners. Each examiner was a hand-picked veteran of the Rating Games, all with at least a solid decade of experience. Fortunately for the young Devils they were not expected to win; they simply needed to perform well enough to pass.

Still, I'm sure that it didn't help everyone's morale that every competitor who had taken the exam so far had lost. If the anxious, nervous air that filled the place was any sign, the tension was so thick that it felt you could cut it with a knife. The room was rather quiet when you considered that there were a good ten or twelve dozen Devils crammed in here with me. Almost no one spoke and the few who did, did so in near silent whispers, and other than the shuffling of feet as the crowd stirred in unease nothing else could be heard.

Then again if the infrequent glances that they sent my way maybe were any indication maybe it wasn't the exam that had them so nervous. Maybe they were nervous of me. Going by how they would hurriedly look away whenever I caught someone's eye it almost felt that they were afraid of me, as if they believed that I would snap and attack them if they happened to draw my attention. Though I had no clue what gave them that idea-

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.

-Then again, maybe it was the way my left leg wouldn't stop jumping up and down in agitation, the heel of said foot tapping a rhythm on the hardwood floor, that scared them away. Or maybe it was how I growled at the last person who happened to stray too close to me.

I ignored how most of the Devils in the room kept glancing down or away whenever I looked around, pointedly refused to meet my gaze, and instead I shut my eyes and took a deep breath in an effort to calm myself. I had hoped that watching the matches would have helped take my mind off of things and reel in my temper a bit but it didn't seem to be working if the way the rest of the room was behaving was any indication.

If I had been in my normal state of mind I would have felt mortified at the way I was behaving. Terrifying a bunch of people, some of them still only teenagers, for no other reason than they happened to be stuck in the same room as me. But as I was now I couldn't seem to bring my self to care or feel anything really, other than the overwhelming desire to hurt someone as the rage continued to burn in the middle of my chest. So fiercely that I found myself glancing down to make sure that my shirt hadn't burst into flames.

Yeah, I couldn't blame them for staying away.

Because I was truly and thoroughly pissed!

Even now, almost half an hour after my confrontation with Zekram my anger hasn't abated. No, if anything it had managed to get stronger, time just helping it grow instead of cooling it down as I had hoped. Even shutting my eyes didn't seem to help as I just kept replaying the scene of Zekram calling me a fraud over and over again in my mind. They way he smiled down at me as if I was nothing but a child, or how his mad eyes danced with amusement as he hurled insult after insult. It had gotten so bad that more than once I had to restrain myself from lashing out at the other Devils in the room. So maybe they were smart to stay away.

Yet, a small part of me that wasn't overwhelmed by rage couldn't help but ask: why the hell was I so angry?

I could understand being upset after what happened, anyone would be, but I didn't understand where all of this anger was coming from. Not even what Zekram did warranted this feeling from me. This rage, this overwhelming need to smash his face in, or anyone else's if couldn't get to him, was so unlike me that I couldn't understand where it came from.

I tried to sort out my emotions, examine what I was feeling so I could understand the source of my rage but no matter how hard I thought about it I came back empty. At first I thought it was my Pride acting up again, reacting to the perceived insults I had suffered but now, now after half an hour after the event and I still hadn't gotten my temper under control I wasn't so sure anymore. A little anger from me would have been understandable but I was livid and I couldn't even figured out why.

Even when Sona crushed me in her chess games in front of her Peerage I never felt anything like this, not even Xenovia dismissing my swords did. Back then it had hurt, it had stung having my Pride tarnished like that, but it sure as hell didn't make me mad. Not like it did now.

And it just kept building up.

What the hell was happening to me?

I knew that if I didn't do something to let out all the anger and soon, I'd explode, and even in my current state I knew I must never allow that to happen. I had to fix this and soon before I ended up hurting someone.

Fortunately, I thought as I looked towards the screen to find the next round of exams just starting up, I knew just the thing to help me let off some steam.

I was not sure if it qualified as irony that the very competition that played a big part in creating my anger would help me fix it, but if nothing else something told me I would find fighting the examiners an oddly therapeutic event.

Now all I had to do was make sure I kept my temper in check till then.

"I was wondering if something like this would happen." My seat dipped a bit as someone sat down on the sofa beside me. "It took a while but it looks like it's kicking in, and hard."

Without even thinking I turned and snarled, a noise more animal than human. I bared my teeth in rage, even as a part of me screamed with glee as I finally found a target to vent my frustration on, only to end up pulling myself short when my eyes registered whom it was that had sat down next to me.

"Easy there Shirou." Sona had turned in her seat to face me, holding both her hands before her in a placating manner. Though her voice sounded soft her eyes were watching me carefully, as if I was some kind of wild animal and she couldn't quite decide yet whether or not I was dangerous or. "It's just me."

It was like having a bucket of icy cold water poured over my head and being sucker punched in the gut all at the same time. Watching Sona act like this, afraid as though I might genuinely hurt her, had hit me harder than anything had so far and I felt all my rage sputter out and die inside of me. And with it went all of my nervous energy and I found myself slumping, feeling oddly exhausted.

"What am I doing?" I found myself questioning out loud as I dropped back into my seat, "What the hell's wrong with me?"

Though I had been speaking to myself more than anyone, to my surprise, I received an answer.

"It's your Wrath," Glancing to my side, I found Sona shooting me a sympathetic look as she reached out to give my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "It's finally starting to manifest itself."

"Wrath?" I shooting Sona an odd look, "What are you taking about?"

There was a curse that all Devils carried, a burden that we shared and united us as a race. It affected us all, both the Pure-blooded and Reincarnated. Weak and mighty, we were all equally cursed.

The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, Envy, Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth and Wrath.

When I first found myself in this mad new world, in a body no longer human, Serafall had told me about this curse and I had been warned to choose, fast, which one of the seven I wanted to embody. At first I honestly had trouble believing what I was hearing. 'Devils needed to Sin or else we died', it sounded more like an elaborate excuse for Devils to justify their actions than anything.

But the more I researched it, the more I understood that Serafall had been completely serious. Devils really were cursed, and one way or another we inevitably embody a Sin.

Trying to resist never worked. Even should they try to avoid embodying or indulging any of the seven sins, a Devil will eventually end up developing one on their own. Without fail. A Sin will manifest itself in the Devil's personality, engraving itself deep into their psyche, and unlike the artificially developed Sin that we choose, Devils have no control over a natural one. Not over which of the seven it manifests itself as or over how much hold it has on us.

I have read of Devils who had developed the Sin of Sloth that became so lazy, they simply dropped dead one day when breathing became too much of hassle to bother with. Of how Devils with Gluttony will never stop eating, not even when their own stomach bursts, they just pick up the food as it spilled out of their guts and stuff it back into their mouths. Of Prideful Devils who became so narcissistic that they could never stop staring in their own reflection, preferring to gaze at their face even over eating or sleeping. Some had even died in combat when they caught sight of their reflection on an enemy's sword and walked into the blow just so that they could get a better look. And those were some of the better stories.

All Devils embodied a Sin, the only choice we had was whether we control the Sin or it controlled us.

So we chose to Sin instead, embodied it so that we may control it instead of being controlled by it.

Shirone who ate more food than five fully grown men combined in a single meal, who would continuously sneak into my kitchen to mooch off my cooking had obviously chosen Gluttony as her Sin.

Kiba was once Wrath, his desire to avenge his lost friends overwhelming everything else in his life. But when he chose to abandon his quest for revenge he could no longer continue as he was and had to adopt a new Sin instead. And by the looks of things he was going to end up choosing Lust. His sudden interest in porn and his apparently budding friendship with the Perverted Trio all pointed to that.

Though for most people learning that they were forced to embody a Sin or be driven mad would have been an unwelcome experience, it wasn't that way for me. When I had first began to comprehend what it meant to become a Devil I felt something akin to relief. For while others may have seen it as a burden, I saw it as a form of salvation.

When the time came for me to choose my own Sin I didn't hesitate, on the contrary, you could even say I was almost eager for it. There was only one thing it could have been.

Pride.

Priests loved to claim that all sins were evil; that we must never hate and to always turn the other cheek, should never be greedy nor feel envy to those who had more than us. But what they failed to understand that it was those very sins that made us human. That if there ever was such a person who could be deprived of all sin, then that person could no longer be considered human.

We were human because we proud of our accomplishments, envied our neighbour's success, lusted over the beautiful, desired more money than we needed, ate more than simple bread and soup, lazed in bed on Saturday mornings and wanted to hurt those who hurt us.

Pride, Envy, Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth and Wrath. Without these sins, if there ever existed a person who was completely devoid of even a single one of them, they would no longer be human. And I knew all too well what happened when one was incapable of feeling one of these Sins. I had seen it, in a man completely devoid of Pride.

The Counter Guardian EMIYA, Archer of the Fifth Holy Grail War and my alternate self taught me that lesson well.

That man, he had no Pride in him, none what so ever. Not in himself nor his accomplishments. Victory after victory yet he tasted none of it, even as he continued to wander through countless battlefields, not even noticing the losses he suffered. He had saved hundreds, even thousands of lives, but they meant nothing to him, never satisfied nor proud of his deeds.

Devoid of Pride, his hard won victory held no meaning.

Even his favoured swords, Kanshou and Bakuya, reflected his nature. For those two swords also had no Pride in them. They lacked the vanity found in other blades, a sense of purpose found in almost all other weapons.

They were swords crafted more for the sake of crafting, as if questioning the meaning of the swordsmith, than any real ideal behind their creation. They contained no fighting spirit to defeat others nor the competitive spirit to beat other weapons, they held neither the desire to be famous nor the ambition to accomplish great deeds. They were empty of anything resembling spirit.

Empty of both victory and defeat, just like he was.

I...I didn't want to be like that. While I didn't believe his path was the wrong one, not his desire to save people or his dream of becoming a hero, it was how he went about it that I could not accept. I may have chosen to walk down the same road he had but the way we lived our lives would be different. Otherwise it would just be too sad.

Besides, I did promise him that one day I would find a way to save myself alongside other.

And while I had never was as bad as Archer had become, I had never quite been normal. The fires that blazed through Fuyuki on that day had distorted me just as much as they did him, erased a part of me that could never be fully regained. It made me less human, twisted me enough in some fundamental way that Rin had been left with no choice but call me Distorted.

But now, only after I had discarded my humanity and became an inhuman Devil, I had finally become prideful, a human trait that I lacked when I had still been human.

I still remember how different things were afterwards. How after tasting a meal I made and found myself thinking in realization that 'I could cook something this good'. Though I was always aware of my ability to cook it was only at the moment that I began to think that I might just be a little bit special for making something so delicious. It was then that I began to take pride in it than simply being aware of it.

Then there were my swords.

I had been called a Faker and not once did I feel ashamed of it. I had always wondered why Gilgamesh seemed to think of it as an insult when he was simply pointing out the simple truth? I was a Faker. My swords were copies, nothing but forgeries that will always fall short of the original. So calling them fakes was only natural.

Or at least that was how I used to think.

Now I realized that it did not matter. Counterfeit or not, forgeries or not, my swords, they were still beautiful. I finally could recognize that even if they did fall short of their original, it did not take away from their own value, did not lessen their beauty. And that I was able to craft such wondrous swords, well, maybe that was something worth taking pride in.

I had finally found Pride in my swords.

It could be nothing but the purest of irony that only now that I was no longer human, I finally was starting to behave like one. If Rin had been here, I was sure she would claim that I had become so distorted that I circled right back into being normal again.

Which was why Sona's words confused me, she knew just as much as I did which Sin I embodied. She shared it after all.

"Sona, what are you talking about?" I asked, eyeing the raven haired girl. "What does Wrath have to with what's wrong with me?"

"Everything, I'm afraid." Sona snorted and pushed her frames up her nose before giving me a very pointed look. "Tell me Shirou, how often have you been indulging your Pride?"

I blinked, not expecting that question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how often do you brag about your accomplishments, boast about your achievements?" She was still giving me that pointed look as she spoke. "How often do you try to show off? And when you do, do you go out of to do so or only reveal the skills you take Pride in when they are needed and keep them hidden otherwise?

"I...the latter, I guess." I answered hesitantly.

Sona heaved a big sigh, her head drooping "I figured as much." Her eyes rose up to spear me a with a disapproving look. "Shirou, you do know why we Devils dedicate ourselves to a Sin right?"

Sona waited for me to nod. "Then I'm sure I don't need to explain to you what it means when a Devil fails to indulge in his Sin like you have."

"Wait." I said, my eyes widening as it began to dawn on me what she was implying. "You don't mean..."

"Yes." Sona answered and she glanced away. She raised a hand up to adjust her glasses, a sign of how worried she was. "It tends to happen with newly Reincarnated Devils. Ordinary humans have trouble comprehending why it is so important for Devils to commit themselves to a Sin, and consequently they end up taking our warnings only half-heartedly. In those cases it usually takes only a couple of months for them to end up manifesting a Sin naturally and learn their lesson."

Sona turned to face me again. "It needs time to form, and though I admit it was an unnaturally long wait with you but it looks like your finally starting to naturally manifest a Sin. And if the temper that you seem to have developed over night hasn't clued you in yet, it's almost certainly Wrath."

"Shirou," She locked her eyes on mine, trying to convey the seriousness of her words. "Naturally developed Sins are not like chosen ones, you can't control them. And you possibly developed the worst of the seven. Any insult or slight, real or imagined could set off a Devil with Wrath. Something as tiny as bumping into them on the street could cause them to go on a killing spree where they'll murder the man who bumped into them, before hunting down and murdering the man's wife, children, friends, neighbours and every last living relative. And I don't need to explain why that's a bad thing to develop in a Devil as strong as you."

"To counter that," The Sitri Heir carried on, ignoring the look of growing horror that was no doubt dawning on my face as I realized the amount of damage I could end up doing if I lost control, "We choose our own Sin and indulge in it as much as we can. While it might not be a perfect solution or even a good one as a chosen Sin will have a powerful influence on our personalities, but at least it's better than the alternative of simply going mad."

At her words my mind drifted back to the Devils I knew of and what I had seen them do when possessed by their Sin. I remembered how Sona, the always impeccably dressed without a thing out of place Sona, dirtied and muddied from our workouts would still drag herself to join us to train every morning anyway, clearly hating every second of it but forcing herself through it till the end without ever missing a single day, her Pride accepting nothing less from her. Yet despite all the suffering she put herself through she refused to allow her Peerage to witness even a second of it, refused to even contemplate allowing them to know, all for that very same Pride.

I thought of Gremory, who loved her Peerage so much that I honestly believed that she would happily destroy her very soul for their sake, yet the very Greed that fuelled that mad love drove her to kill one of her Peerage just to make him hers. And yet, it was as she if could not seem to see anything wrong with what she did.

Then there was Riser, with his Lust so strong that he yelled out his love for women to the highest ranking members of Devil society without hesitation or a hint of shame, as if it never even once occurred to him why such a thing would be inappropriate.

"But-" Despite the seriousness of the situation I realized something was off about what she said. "But you don't brag."

Sona was a Devil of Pride and like me she had barely done anything to indulge in her Sin or at least no more than I had. True she took Pride in her work and Peerage but that was hardly any different than how I took pride in my swords and cooking. As far as I could tell she didn't brag or ever go out of her way to show off her skills but she was somehow able to manage just fine.

A tiny smirk grew on Sona's face and she pushed her frames up her nose again before speaking.

"In the primary building of Kuoh Academy there is a corridor. This corridor is situated right next to the entrance so that every student has to pass through it at least twice during the school day, once in the morning to enter the school and once in the evening to leave. At the heart of this corridor is a large bulletining board, placed right in front of the entrance so that it is the very first thing the students see every morning when they set foot in school.

"In the middle of the bulletin board is a large sheet of paper, a poster really, and it is by far the biggest thing on the entire board. It's the School's Academic rankings, and printed on it are the average results of every exam taken over the course of the year along with overall ranking of all the students. And do you know who stands at the very top of that ranking? Of all the rankings?"

The tiny smirk on her face grew just a tad larger and Sona's violet eyes seemed to gleam as she leaned closer and whispered "Me." before leaning back again. "I have achieved a perfect score in every exam since entering the Academy, and that board proves beyond any doubt that I am ranked first academics in the entire school."

"And every day I make sure everyone knows it.

"Then there is my position as Student Council President." She inclined her head a little to the side, her bangs shifted slightly so they ended up covering her left eye. "I actually earned that you know? Fair and square, I participated in ever election since my freshman year and won each one with neither magic nor trickery. And of course there is the fact that my family, along with Rias's, owns the school. And while that knowledge is kept secret from the students, the teachers are very much aware of it. On my very first day at school I made sure that every teacher in school understood that I held their careers in my hands, and that if I ever catch them performing below acceptable levels of work, I can and will fire them."

That explains so much about why all the teachers are so terrified of her.

"You see Shirou, during the night when the school stand empty and no one is there to care Rias may rule the school. But in the day, under the light of the sun when a thousand and more people tread on its ground, I rule. Kuoh Academy is mine to do with as I please, and I make sure everyone knows it.

"And that Shirou," Sona gave me a very self-satisfied nod, "is how I brag."

"...I see." And I really think I did. To me, test scores and ruling over a school were meaningless. But to Sona, who valued academics over anything and dreamed of founding a school of her own, it must have gratifying to gain control and successfully run a prestigious school. To stand as the number one student and have more control over the staff than even the Principle did.

...wait, did Kuoh Academy even have a Principle?

"But that's not important right now." Dropping her smile as the solemn expression reappeared, Sona returned to the issue at hand. "Your temper problem may have calmed down for a time but it's not gone. It'll keep flaring up for the rest of the day at least, and even now when your calm it should still be effecting your thoughts, even if you don't notice it. It's still reversible but it's only a matter of time before it becomes permanent. You need to get rid of it Shirou and fast."

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?" Repressing a shudder at the idea of the rage returning even stronger than before. I had barely been able to restrain myself as I was, I didn't even want to imagine what I'd do if it got any worse.

"Exercise your Pride." Sona answered. "Your Wrath only manifested because you failed to commit yourself to your Sin but as it's still in it's early stages reversing it should still be a relatively easy process. My recommendation is to use your swords. Since you appear to hold so much Pride in them then all you need to do is show them off. And you literally have the perfect opportunity on your hands to do so."

Sona pointed to the screen were another examination was taking place, and I understood what she was getting at.

"The Young Devil's Gathering." Funny how everything keeps coming back to that. "You're suggesting that I beat everyone here with my swords?"

"Not just beat them." Sona corrected. "I'm suggesting that you fulfill the prediction you gave and crush them. To get rid of your Wrath you must exercise your Pride, and you can only do that if you show off. And there is no better opportunity for that than right now. The Young Devil's Gathering is broadcasted to millions. Over half the Underworld will be watching while the rest will hear about what transpires here within the day."

"Stop holding back, Shirou," She commanded, "and prove to them your superiority. Don't hide your powers, don't play it smart, instead flaunt your abilities and crush everyone here. Don't finish your opponents with a single strike but prolong the fight until they understand how hopelessly outmatched they are and what kind of monster they ended up facing and only then should you end it. Just winning your fights isn't going to cut it here. Winning isn't your goal, proving your superiority is, and to do that you need to show-off. And since you hold so much Pride in your swords then it is their power you need to demonstrate.

"Teach them the might of your steel, let them learn the bite of their edge as they fall from the sky like the rain. Break their pride with their strength and prove to them, all of them, that your swords are second to none, that even the 72 Powers that we Devils so covet would be found wanting when compared to their splendour."

For a brief moment I was taken aback by her words, not just by what she said but the intensity with which she spoke them; it was something that I never would have expected to hear from the usually calm and analytical Sona but before I could call her out on it our conversation was interrupted.

"Kaichou!" A panicked voice hissed out. "Don't tell him that. Are you trying to get us killed?"

Turning away from Sona I discovered that her entire Peerage was nearby and listening in. They were standing off near the edge of the circle of space surrounding me so I hadn't noticed them earlier.

An anxious looking Ruruko, the Pawn and the source of the hissing, eeped when she realized I was watching and jumped to hide behind the tall form of Sona's Queen, Tsubaki.

"Kaichou," Tsubaki stated coolly, "I'm afraid I must agree with Ruruko in this matter. Need I remind you that we too are participating in the gathering and thus are one of the very opponents you are advising Emiya to crush?"

Though Tsubaki did not yelp or show any overt reactions like Ruruko had she did stiffen slightly under my gaze. In fact, the rest of the Peerage were looking kind of panicked as they all kept sending Sona looks as if she had gone mad.

Well, all but Saji. For once the usually over-reactive Pawn was playing the role of the level headed one of the group and he looked rather calm. When he noticed my eyes focused on him, Saji just returned it calmly and nodded in acknowledgement. He then opened his mouth and spoke in a voice of one who knew with absolute certainty that what he was about to say was the truth.

"We're gonna die."

"Actually," Sona spoke up, an amused look on her face. "I already decided, should we ever end up facing each other in the Gathering to simply resign without fighting."

"We're gonna live~!"

"Are you sure?" I asked Sona, ignoring Saji's spirited cheer. "I thought that the Gathering was important to you."

"Better to resign and let everyone think I'm terrified of fighting you than to fight and prove to them right." Sona snorted and adjusted her glasses. "I'm not stupid Shirou. Let's face facts, even if you decided to go easy on us, which is unlikely considering your current condition, you'd still end up wiping the floor with us. No," she shook her head, "I think I'd much prefer resigning than the alternative of you taking my entire Peerage apart piece by piece in public.

"And do not forget Shirou, I never entered the Gathering with the intention of winning in the first place." Sona pointed out, "not with Sairaorg and Riser entering, you participating just cemented my decision not to aim for victory. Instead I'll continue with my original goal and concentrate on giving a showing. Fighting you will not help me there. Besides, if you, a newly Reincarnated Devil, perform overwhelmingly well in this gathering with so many Pure-bloods participating then that would only give credence to my dream of starting a school for Reincarnated Devils. So in a way you winning will benefit me just as much as it does you."

"All right." I accepted, not even bothering to hide my relief. Though I would have still gone through with it, the idea of fighting Sona and the others seriously was unappealing to say the least, so I was glad that wouldn't end up happening. Still, I was a little surprised that Sona was so willing to resign. She didn't even seem conflicted by her decision.

You'd think after having her dreams of a school laughed at and being called a child she would have been eager to prove everyone wrong. Instead she was willing to step back and encouraged me to go all out in my fights-

-something in my head seemed to click and I finally began to piece the puzzle together.

"...you just want me to get back at the Elders for laughing at you, don't you?" I asked, a sly tone slipping into my voice as I finally understood why Sona had been so insistent that I not hold back.

Sona flushed, but stubbornly refused to let anything else slip past the stoic mask she wore slip. "Of course not." She pushed up her glasses, her cheeks reddening. "I have simply advised you to the best of my abilities, nothing more."

"However." She continued, a tiny almost mischievous smile appearing on her lips, "If said advice just happens to make you, a Reincarnated Devil, utterly demolish every Pure-blood in this tournament and make a certain group of Elders eat their words about my school well," And I swear the grin she was sporting as she shrugged could only be described as Serafall-ish, "so be it."

I shook my head ruefully at that even as I kept wearing an amused smile. I swear, these sisters.

"Speaking of the Elders," Sona dropped her grin before giving me a concerned look, "did my sister tell you anything about what Bael is planing?"

I scowled at the reminder and looked away. "No, before I even got a chance to talk to her we were interrupted by Sir-" I froze in mid-speech as another flash of insight hit me and I couldn't help but let out a groan before dropping my face into my hands. "Dammit it. That explains it."

"Explains what?" Sona asked, sounding a little bemused.

"Sirzechs." I answered, as I thought back to my last encounter with the man.

The opening ceremony of the Young Devil's Gathering had just ended, and we had barely stepped out of the hall and away from the public eye before Sirzechs cut off my path, standing between me and the others, and before I could even get a word in he spoke.

"Emiya Shirou, here are your orders." He sounded so unusually serious that I was taken aback even through the rage that was starting to mount. I looked up to find him watching me with hard blue eyes, none of his normally easygoing attitude to be found anywhere. "In the upcoming fights you are forbidden from holding back. Don't bother with concealing the true nature of your abilities; instead just focus on fighting to the best of your abilities and win. Overwhelm every opponent, showcase both your physical and mental combat abilities. This is a direct command from one of the four Satans, win and hold nothing back."

Sirzechs then turned to Serafall, "Are my orders acceptable to you?"

For a moment Serafall looked like she had something to say, but after pausing to give Sirzechs a piercing look she stayed quiet. An instant later she smiled and nodded. "Sure, it's fine." She answered chirpily. "Internal matters are your business anyway. Besides, I wanted to see Shi-chan kick ass anyway."

Then before I had the chance to gather my thoughts together, one of the Arena staff appeared to drag me away. The next thing I knew I had been brought here along with a dozen of other contestants and told to wait my turn.

Did Sirzechs too realize what was happening to me like Sona had done, and was that the reason for his orders, or did he have another plan that I wasn't seeing, something moving in the background? Plus there was also his sister. Why would he give me those orders when he knew I might end up fighting her?

I had no idea, there were simply too many unknowns, too many things that I wasn't seeing to piece things together. Still, there was one thing I knew for certain, and that's when I'm done with this little exam here I'm going to be demanding some answers from Sirzechs and one way or another I will get them.

"My Lord Emiya." I glanced up to find a Devil I did not recognize standing a short distance before me. He was a tall dark haired man dressed up in the same uniform I had seen all the members of the Arena staff wear.

Before I could ask what he wanted the man gave me a deep respectful bow before speaking, "My apologies for the interruption but all the preparations are complete and your exam is set to start in fifteen minutes. Your examiner will be Lord Rylan Phenex. Please gather your Peerage and wait in the designated room before the appointed time so that we may begin."

The Devil then bowed once again but just as he straightened up he, to my complete astonishment, flashed me a quick smile and whispered a quiet 'Good luck' before turning and walking away.

I spent the next few seconds staring after the departing Devil in bewilderment. Ok, what the hell was that about? But after a moment I just shook my head and decided to ignore the Devil's odd behaviour for now. I had more than enough on my plate to deal with as it was without adding more to it.

"Well, looks like I'm up." I announced to the others as I placed my hands on my knees to push myself up. But I had barely started to stand up before I felt a hand latch onto my wrist, halting my movement. Turning back to see what she wanted, I found Sona staring back at me with an aggravated look on her face.

"Shirou," she began, and something about the way she spoke told me that it wasn't me she was angry at, "there is something wrong here. Don't you realize who your examiner is?"

"No," I replied and I dropped back into my seat. I still had a few minutes to spare, and if Sona thought that whatever she had to say was important enough to stop me then it probably was. "While I recognize his Clan of course, the name Rylan doesn't ring any bells."

"That's not surprising." Sona admitted, still looking upset. "While Rylan is talented in his own right he is often overshadowed by the accomplishments of his elder brother, Ruval Phenex."

"Ruval?" My eyebrows shot up at that. Now that's a name I recognized and not because he the Phenex Clan Heir. Not only had Ruval managed to earn the rank of Ultimate-Class Devil on his own merits, but he managed to earn himself a spot as one of the top 10 Rankers in the Rating Game. And if Ruval was Rylan's older brother it meant, "Wait, he's Riser's brother?"

The Sitri Heir nodded. "Yes, he is his elder brother. Had Rylan been a single child he would have been considered a capable addition to the Phenex Clan, but he had the bad luck of being born as not only the brother of one but two geniuses. Both Ruval and Riser Phenex are natural prodigies born with a remarkable amount of mastery over their family's flames while Rylan was only gifted with a moderate amount of talent. Surrounded by people of such overwhelming talent, he had often been overlooked."

"Alright." That would explain why I didn't recognize his name despite him being one of the Clan Head's children. "But what is it about him that has you so worked up?"

"That's because Rylan isn't supposed to be an examiner." Sona snapped, revealing the source of her anger. "I have already researched all the examiners and their fighting styles before hand just in case I ended up fighting them, and I'm certain Rylan wasn't supposed to be one of them. He is simply too powerful to qualify as an examiner."

"But you just said-"

"I said," Sona didn't even wait for me to finish and ploughed right through my retort. "That he's the least gifted among the three brothers, not that he is weak. Rylan has been trying for years to work his way out of his elder brother's shadow, and he has done that by throwing himself into the Rating Games. And while still falling short of Ruval's success he managed to prove himself to be rather capable in his own right. Knowing he'd never be able to compete against his brother head on he decided to specialize instead. Ignoring all of his Clan's offensive magic capabilities he instead decided to focus on his regeneration trait. And to compensate for his lack of offensive capabilities he has gathered several powerful Peerage members. It took him decades and cost a small fortune but he had managed to bring together a Peerage made up entirely of powerful Sacred Gear users; the weakest among them has the power of a mid-ranked Devil.

"And even if you disregard his Peerage, he's still trouble. Unlike Riser, who's talent but inexperienced, Rylan has been participating in Rating Games for over a century now and those years of combat experience have allowed him to all but master his power of regeneration. It reached the point were he hasn't been hurt in a Rating Game in almost a decade now, not without his opponents spending hours trying to exhaust him first." Sona's anger slowly began to abate, only to be replaced with concern.

"Shirou, I think they must have brought Rylan in just to fight you; Zekram or one of the other Elders I mean. Rylan's regeneration is at a level where nothing short of completely annihilating every atom of his flesh could kill him, and without your Holy Swords I don't think even you can hurt him."

So that's what Sona was getting so worked up about, she was worried that I wouldn't be able to harm Rylan without resorting to my Holy Swords. And since all types of Holy weapons or attacks were banned from Rating Games, it was an understandable concern.

Death in Rating Games is a pretty rare occurrence. Since all Rating Games take place in a special Bounded Field that, in the event a fighter receives a mortal injury, automatically teleport said fighter out of the match, along with any dismembered limbs or body parts, and into a medical ward where they are immediately forced into suspended animation before they begin receiving treatment. This method is so effective that there have been Devils who survived being beheaded. It is not an exaggeration to say that so long as they can collect all of the wounded Devil's body parts in time, there is not an injury they cannot heal.

Except for the ones caused by Holy attacks.

I cannot begin to stress how weak Devils are to the Holy element. Just by standing in Holy Ground their bodies grow weaker, their magic less potent, and just the sight of a Holy Sword fills even the bravest of Devils with dread. And if a Devil is injured by a Holy Weapon, it is almost always fatal. The claims that Devils can be killed by a single cut from a Holy Sword wasn't much of an exaggeration.

There is a reason why so many human Exorcists can bring down even High-Class Devils and that Devil-kind never once came close to conquering Heaven.

While the Rating Games were supposed to be a simulation for war, they were not meant to be an actual war. Death was not an acceptable outcome, not with the Devil population suffering as it is. And while the risk of deaths cannot be completely avoided during any kind of combat, the Rating Games have successfully reduced that danger enough that it has become a rare event.

If Holy Swords were allowed in Rating Games then no matter what precaution was taken, the death toll would skyrocket.

So Sona's assumption that I would be hampered by my inability to use Holy Swords, one of the only effective weapons against Phenexs, wasn't an unreasonable one. Were Holy Swords the only thing that I had in my arsenal that could harm a Phenex then her concern would have even been justified.

But I had more than just Holy Swords.

A lot more.

So I gave Sona the most comforting smile I could. "Relax will you. You don't really thing I would be taken down that easily? I'll be fine."

A worried Sona searched my face, looking for any sign of false bravado, before she visibly relaxed and managed to give me a rueful smile. "Of course you will. I may really just be an idiot to have bothered worrying about you."

"Nah, you're not an idiot, just a worry wart." Chuckling I reached a hand out to her head before ruffling her hair like a child. "Aren't you So-tan."

I didn't have the heart to tell her that the glare she sent me at the use of Serafall's nickname just made her look that much adorable, almost like a chipmunk.

"Drop dead, Emiya." She managed to growl out through clenched teeth, her cheeks reddening as I continued to ruffle her hair.

"Not a chance Kaichou." Chucking again at the way Sona somehow managed to turn even redder, I had a flash of insight to as why Serafall loved to mess around with the girl. It was rather fun. Still, I had a match to get to so I removed my hand from her head and quickly rose up from my seat. "But in exchange for the advice you just gave me let me give you a piece of advice in return. Something that will help you in your upcoming fights."

Seeing that I caught her interest, if the way she stopped glaring at me was any indication though her cheeks were still flushed, I carried on. "In a fight, whether it's between two armies or two people, one of the greatest mistakes you can make is to become predictable." I pointed to one of the nearby monitors which showed another fight about to start. "It's a mistake that every Devil I've seen fight so far has made, both examiners and contestants alike.

"It's understandable why," I admitted and dropped my hand. "For all of their differences, the Rating Game do share some similarities to chess, and in this case it's that they both have pre-established opening moves. Like what's happening here."

I nodded towards the same monitor, where the examiner's Peerage was currently scouting the tiny castle that was their designated territory. During a Rating Game match both sides are given their own territory, usually a building of some kind. And every territory in today's exams had been some variety of castle, though the terrain they were located on was different, varying from rich forests to desert plains.

What the examiner was currently doing, sending his Peerage to scout out his castle, was one of the most popular opening moves in the Rating Game, perhaps even the most popular. It allowed the examiner to map out his territory and discover all the possible exit and entry points. The next step would be to block most of the entrances while guarding the others. The reason why he went through so much effort was to prevent enemy Pawns from entering the heart of his territory, a place where they'd be able to use their ability to promote.

"And what's wrong with what he's doing?" Sona questioned, sounding inquisitive more than anything. Good, it meant that she was willing to listen. "Almost all opening moves in the Rating Game consists of some variation of scouting and guarding your territory. It's the most effective way to establish a defensive position and protect yourself from enemy Pawns. It's a highly effective opening move."

"And I'm not saying otherwise," I explained, "The move in itself is not a bad one; if it was, it would never have become as popular as it has. The issue I have with it is how people use it. That's the problem with well-established opening moves, people eventually begin to commit to them at the start of every fight without thinking them through anymore. It becomes a habit to them. And in a fight, a habit is something that can be exploited."

Sona narrowed her eyes as she mulled over my words. "But how?" She finally asked, "There is a good three mile gap between territories. Even if you can predict your opponents opening moves, it means nothing if you're too far away to do anything about it."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. Everything can be exploited in a fight, you just have to figure out how. And I just happen to know one way." Turning away, I began to make my way towards the exit of the room and towards my match. But as I started walking away I held up a hand over my shoulder, two fingers extended.

"Two minutes," I called out. "I'll end this fight in two minutes. So be sure to watch the fight carefully or else you'll end up missing the whole thing."

The silence that followed my proclamation was broken a few seconds later by the sound of Sona's quiet laughter. "I see you're finally beginning to learn how to brag."

"Just following Kaichou's advice." I quipped before quickening my pace as I began to make my way out of the room. I still had a few minutes before my exam was due to begin, but I wasn't sure what would happen if I arrived late and didn't want to risk it.

Still, a Phenex, huh? Somehow I couldn't find it in myself to feel surprised with this last-minute development. Though, unlike Sona, I wasn't quite convinced that it was Zekram or one if the other councilmen responsible for my choice of examiners. There was one other person who would only be too happy to see me and Rylan duke it out.

I had been wondering when Sirzechs would teach Riser his displeasure, but even I didn't expect him to act this quickly. I couldn't say for certain whether or not he had a hand in this, but I found it rather convenient that I would end up fighting Riser's older brother right after Riser slighted his little sister in public. And unlike Sona, Sirzechs knew precisely what would happen if Rylan and I fought.

"Shirou," Sona call out to me just as I was about to step out of the room. Turning I found her looking about the room in confusion before looking back to me. "Where is your Peerage?

"They're still back in the Manor where I left them." I replied.

"Shirou!" Sona looked like she was trying and failing to fight back a headache. "Your exam is going to start in less than ten minutes. If you don't hurry and summon them here then they won't make it in time for the fight."

"Get here in time?" I repeated. "Sona what makes you think I'm even going to bring them along into this fight? Didn't I already tell you?" I asked her before turning away and exiting the room.

"I'm ending this fight in two minutes. There's no point in dragging them all the way here when they won't even get the chance to fight."

---

[Ladies and Gentlemen, the start of the Examination of Emiya Shirou is about to commence. Will both the Contestant and the examiner along with their Peerages, please step onto the Magic Circle.]

Doing as the announcer requested, I took several steps forward until I stood at the heart of the Magical Circle before me.

I stood in a barren room, emptied of all types of of ornaments or furniture. It was just me in here, surrounded by plain concrete walls and the large Magic Circle painted on what would have been an otherwise equally plan floor.

The Circle in question was massive. It was no doubt meant to hold an entire Peerage comfortably, and since a Peerage could be made up of up to sixteen different individuals, I felt a little dwarfed standing in the heart of the giant thing.

The speakers hidden somewhere around the room cackled to life, delivering the announcer's words clearly as if she was in the room with me.

[Now that both parties are ready I will briefly recap the rules. Both parties will be transported to one of several predesignated locations at which point the battle will begin immediately upon arrival. The battle will last until either side's King has been defeated, at which point the exam will be over. Both parties will be provided a castle to act as their territory; please be aware that both castles have been reinforced with magic and are far sturdier than their mundane counterparts. Both the terrain and the castle are randomized and neither party has been informed of their layout; both will be going in blind. Pawns will be able to promote once they have managed to penetrate at least fifteen meters past the outer walls of their opponent's castle. That is all.]

The announcer paused to give us time to absorb her words.

[Are there any questions?]

I said nothing and stayed quiet. After a good ten second wait the announcer spoke up again.

[As neither party has a question, I will continue. Please stand by for teleportation. The Examination will commence in three...two...one-]

The Magic Circle came to life, the lines that made it up burning like liquid fire. Shutting my eyes I waited patiently for the light to die down. A couple of seconds later it did and, when I opened my eyes I found myself in a completely different room.

In a quick glance I took in my surroundings. I was in what appeared to be the castle's war room. There was a long wooden table in the middle of the room with what appeared to be a pair of maps and several ear-piece communication devices on its surface. Three of the walls were lined with banners of a design I did not recognize while the last wall had a large open window that gave a clear view a green vista.

I was already moving before I had chance to take it all in. Ignoring the maps on the table, I instead ran towards the window. Out of my back I felt something shift before two bat-like wings erupted from my back at my command, appearing just as I set my foot down on the ledge of the window sill and, without hesitating, leapt straight out.

Flying was hard. My transformation into a Devil may have given me wings but it didn't give me the ingrained flying instincts that only those born with wings seemed to possess. So even after nearly a year of having my wings I was still a horrible flyer; I had trouble doing anything more than fly in a straight line and would be less than worthless in any kind of aerial battle. Fortunately the room I leapt from was located on the highest floor of the castle, so I didn't need to do my more than flap my wings a few times and turn to land on the roof.

As soon as my foot hit the relatively flat roof of the castle, I opened my hand and Projected a bow into it. It was long, longer than almost any other bow I had seen before, longer than I was tall. From top to bottom it was crafted from a black metal, one still unknown to modern man, and 'til I had Projected it this world had never once seen the like of it.

Archer's bow.

Quickly, for the first time since I had arrived, I began to examine the land that I had been deposited in and where I was expected to fight. The castle I was standing on was situated atop a very tall hill, surrounded by a thick green forest. And across it, a little more than three miles away in an almost mirror image, was another hill with an identical castle sitting on its peak. Between the two hills was a deep forested valley, so thick with vegetation that it was impossible to see the ground hidden beneath the trees, blocking the sight of anyone approaching.

But it didn't matter. This would all be over before anyone had the chance to sneak under the cover of the trees.

Once I saw the other castle, my target, I raised my empty hand up to my side, palm facing the sky. A crimson orb appeared over my hand before it swiftly expanded upwards, painting a web of line that outlined the shape of a sword with the hilt pointed to my palm and the tip to the sky, before with a flash of crimson light it was replaced with the real thing.

The sword, if it could even be called that anymore, hovered in mid-air above my hand for a brief instant before gravity took effect and it dropped into my grasp. I didn't even need to look at it to know the abnormality of its shape, the unnatural form of its blade that coiled into a spiral instead of straight edge.

Caladbolg II: The Fake Spiral Sword

Facing my opponent's castle I raised the black bow and set the twisted blade to the string of the bow. Taking a single breath, I pulled the sword back, the bow going taut with the strain. A small part of my mind marvelled at how effortless the action was.

Archer had made using this bow look easy, notching, drawing and firing arrows with deceptive ease. But this was a bow that was designed to fire Noble Phantasms, many of which weigh several kilos, at targets miles away. The amount of force needed to accomplish that was massive, so it was only natural that the strength needed to draw the bow was equally massive. When I was still human it took every ounce of Reinforced strength I had to draw this bow, and even then I couldn't match the range Archer could reach.

But now, now in a Devil's body with its inhuman strength and all the demonic power flowing through its veins, I drew the bow back with ease, not needing to reinforce my limbs. As I did, I Altered the sword even further, modifying it so that it became narrower, longer and more aerodynamic.

Centering my aim at the heart of the other castle, I had a brief flash of doubt attack me. Was this really the right thing to do? According to legend Caladbolg was so powerful that it once blasted the tops off three hills, and that was in its natural state. Broken, it will be far stronger, and now that my Projections are no longer degraded by a full rank its destructive power will become far stronger than even when Archer used it.

Is it all right to use it now? Against opponents who aren't trying to kill me, only trying to beat me in what amounts to little more than a game? Isn't this taking things too far?

Overwhelm every opponent; showcase both your physical and mental combat abilities. This is a direct command from one of the four Satans; win and hold nothing back.

Stop holding back, Shirou, and prove to them your superiority. Don't hide your powers, don't play it smart, instead flaunt your abilities and crush everyone here. Don't finish your opponents with a single strike but prolong the fight until they understand how hopelessly outmatched they are and what kind of monster they ended up facing and then, and only then, should you end it.

A grin that was almost maniacal graced my lips. Well, since so many people seemed to want me to stop holding back, who was I to say no?

Still, I lowered my aim from the castle to the peak of the hill on which it stood. Even the medical abilities of Devils had their limits and while the Phenex would probably live I wasn't sure about the rest of his Peerage. If they took a direct hit there might not even be enough pieces remaining to put them back together. So instead of the heart of the Castle where I knew my enemy had gathered, I aimed at the ground it stood on.

And I knew that my enemies were in there, all of them.

My parting advice to Sona wasn't an exaggeration. Predictability was something that would get you killed against someone like me. Like Archer, I had rarely ever been stronger or faster than my opponents, and I had been forced to out think them instead. The strength of my entire fighting style was centred on versatility and adaptability, all so that I could attack my enemies at their weak points while defended with my strengths. In order to make this style of fighting work I needed to be observant, to predict how my enemies would react and manipulate them to move in a certain way that would give me the advantage and ultimately lead me to victory. Archer's personal sword style was based on this principle, guiding his opponent's strikes to where he wanted them to go so he could intercept them.

Which was what made fighting opponents in the Rating Game so easy.

In the start of every Rating Game all of my opponents, every single last one of them, would be gathered together in a single spot, all in one tiny room. And there they would remain, long enough for me to take them all down.

Almost every match I had seen today had started off in one of two ways. The first was that the Peerage would gather around the maps to examine them while they collected and passed the communication devices around. The second was that the Peerage would immediately disperse, quickly scouting and securing the castle while setting up their traps.

No one ever left the castle. Not in the first few minutes at least.

And why would they leave? It was an easily defended position, a place where they'd hold the advantage should a fight break out. And most importantly, they needed to secure it to prevent enemy Pawns from sneaking in and promoting. It was perhaps the greatest reason why so many Rating Game veterans were so fanatical about guarding their territory, they knew all too well how much damaged a promoted Pawn could cause.

"My core is twisted in madness."

But there was one problem with that logic.

"Caladbolg."

Did it look like I had any pawns?

The sword streaked through the air, leaping from my bow like living thing when I released my hold on it, traveling so fast that it appeared to be little more than a blue blur.

In a single second it crossed over half the distance to the target.

Lowering my hands I dismissed my bow, breaking it down to bright particles of light before they too disappeared. I wouldn't need it anymore, the shot I had lined up was perfect and I already knew that it wouldn't miss.

A second later, when the hill disappeared in a sphere of flames, I was proven right.

Caladbolg had struck right at the dead center of the hill's upper half, ripped through its crust and buried itself deep in its heart before it detonated. And when it did, the entire top half of the hill simply vanished, a sea of flames taking its place. The force of the resulting explosion was so powerful that even from where I stood miles away I was buffeted by a wall of air so solid that if forced me back a step. The trees that surrounded the hill at its base were gone, shattered and splintered by the shock waves, while those farther off fared a little better. They were brought down, their roots hanging exposed to the air from when the trees had been ripped from the earth and now lay flat against the ground.

As for the castle that sat atop the hill, that too was gone.

Like a child's discarded Lego pieces, the once mighty stone blocks of the castle, reinforced and hardened by the magic of some of the Underworld's most talented spell weavers, now littered the valley floor, nothing more than ordinary rubble. Those were the most discernible pieces that I could see, though there were also large gray clouds of dust drifting overhead that might have been the rest of the castle.

Once again the announcer voice appeared, originating from somewhere in the sky instead of the hidden speakers. And unlike last time when the announcer spoke with a polite and well-practiced but bored voice, this time she sounded bewildered.

[R-R...Rylan Phenex's Queen, two Bishops, two Knights and all his Pawns have...retired?]

By my count, it had only been around nine seconds or so since the fight started.

That meant I still had a minute and fifty one seconds left to show off before I had to finish this.

---

It was only thanks to years of practice in hiding her emotions that Sona kept from gaping. The rest of her Peerage didn't share that particular advantage.

"That's-" Momo's eyes were wide as she stared at the screen, where a certain red haired boy could be seen conjuring a familiar looking sword. "That's the thing he showed us in the student council room."

Sona absently nodded in agreement with her Bishop, also recognizing the spiralling sword. She remembered the power she sensed from the twisted blade, the overwhelming amount of magic, all of it crammed into such a tiny shell of metal that she could hardly believe it. Afterwards, whenever she thought back on that sword she couldn't help but wonder if it really had been that powerful or if she had just imagined it all.

Then she watched as the redhead summon it again and this time the monitors, with their ability to make magic visible to the naked eye, confirmed what she had seen that day.

Light, so much light filled the screen that it felt as if he had stolen the sun from the sky and held it in his hand. The monitors appeared to have trouble trying to compensate from the sudden influx of power that appeared out of nowhere because they malfunctioned for a few seconds, flickering off and on, before they had managed to stabilize again.

Again she was reminded of the reason why she had trouble believing that her sister's Queen was capable of crafting such swords. Their power, she had no idea where it came from. While the redhead may have been powerful, with more Mana in his body than even she had, it wasn't anywhere near enough to create a sword of that calibre. The twisted blade alone seemed to hold more Mana than he had in his entire body, yet she had seen the boy create a hundred like it effortlessly.

It shouldn't have been possible to craft weapons more powerful than you were, but it appeared no one had bothered to tell Shirou that.

Then she watched as the boy notched the sword to his bow and draw it back as he prepared to fire it, and again she had to fight to keep her emotions off her face.

How did he expect to hit anyone from there? Even if his claims about the spiralling sword's piercing ability hadn't been exaggerated, and she was beginning to feel they were understated if anything, and it did pierce through all the layers of reinforced stone of the castle that stood between him and the opposing Peerage, there was no way he could see where anyone was.

Then she watched as the boy released the sword, and it ripped through the air, moving so fast that it looked like a blue line was drawn from his bow to the opposing hill.

Then the hill, along with the castle, disappeared.

[R-R...Rylan Phenex's Queen, two Bishops, two Knights and all his Pawns have...retired?]

When her mind finally rebooted from the shock, she found herself gaping at the burning inferno were once stood a formidable fortress alongside her Peerage and the other Devils in the room but she couldn't bring herself to care about the slip.

He only needed a few seconds to summon and fire that sword, and it he didn't even appear to strained. Did that mean that he could fire more than one? How many more of those could fire in a row?

"I'm going to kill him." She said calmly in the deadly silence that had taken over the room, meaning every word. "I'm gonna find that stupid jock and then I'm going to kill him."

"Kaichou!" Tsubaki whipped her head to her king.

"It's a bomb." Sona managed to squeeze through gritted teeth. "The idiot brought a bomb with enough power to wipe out an entire town into my school, at a time when it was filled with students and when he was surrounded by my entire Peerage." She whipped a hand to point at the screen which showed the redhead flying swiftly towards the burning hill. "No wonder he gets along so well with my sister, that idiot is just as crazy as she is."

"Kaichou," Sona glanced over to Tsubasa, the blunnete staring at the screen with a remarkable amount of cool, "Do you remember what you told Shirou right before the match?"

Sona furrowed her brows as she tried to figure out what her Pawn was talking about and then she pale, all colour draining from her face as she remembered.

Oh.

She had encouraged him to stop holding back, pushed him to go all out without caring for the consequences and what happened? The redhead ended up obliterating what amounted to a small mountain in the first ten seconds of his first fight. There was still an entire tournament's worth of opponents left to fight, and he still hadn't finished with the first one.

"Tsubaki." Sona murmured as she turned back to the screen, just in time to see the redhead landed in front for Rylan Phenex. "I think I might have made a horrible mistake."

---

The hard earth fractured beneath my feet as they met the ground, sinking. My landing, if you could call me dropping from the sky a landing, was a rough one, but I was relieved to find that I had managed to keep my feet beneath me this time, and not fall flat on my face as I was still prone to do.

I had landed in a field of grass not too far behind the hill where the castle once stood. Unlike the other side of the hill this place was mostly clear of trees, it was just an empty plain with nothing but grass and the occasional shrub growing on it.

Or at least it was empty before giant chunks of a castle dropped into the middle of it.

These were the largest pieces remaining of the castle. They were still nothing but rubble and other than chunks of walls and what might have once been the top of a tower, none of the debris could even be identified as once have been part of a castle.

And there standing in the middle of the rubble was the reason why I landed.

Rylan Phenex was an immaculately dressed man. He wore a black dress shirt under a well tailored maroon suit, while a fur-lined crimson cape draped over his shoulders and he held a black wooden cane topped with a fist-sized diamond in his left hand. And though his shoulder-length, swept-back blond hair and blue eyes were the same shade of colour as his bother's, he looked remarkably different from Riser. The lines of his face were smother, features softer, more delicate and aristocratic that his energetic younger sibling.

He also didn't have a scratch on him.

I had no doubt that he had been in the castle when it blew up, that he suffered through the same destructive force that brought its walls crumbling down, but for all that he had just been through the man looked like he had just gotten dressed after stepping out of the shower. There wasn't so much as a speck of dust on him. Hell his clothing wasn't even ruffled and it still managed to look freshly pressed while his hair was still straight and neatly combed.

"Magnificent." Rylan had been examining the ruins that surrounded him with a look of admiration but turned around to face me when he heard my approach.

"Truly magnificent." He repeated and this time he actually began to applaud, not in mockery but in genuine admiration. "I must commend you, Emiya. I have seen High-Class Devils rain attack after attack for hours on reinforced walls like this one but still fail to penetrate it, yet you managed to bring down an entire castle with but a single strike." He glanced around himself again, a little wonder on his face before he shook his head. "It seems that your ascension to Ultimate-Class was no fluke. Lady Leviathan has chosen her Queen well."

I nodded my head in acknowledgement but said nothing even as I steadily closed the distance between us. Even though I kept my guard raised, hands by my side, open and ready to grip anything I projected into them, I felt that I was missing something, that there was something off with the entire situation.

The man was acting too calmly, too relaxed for a person who had just lost almost his entire Peerage in one fell swoop. He didn't even seem to care that I just blew him up; rather he seemed almost delighted that I had.

A trap? Maybe, but it didn't explain why everything about the guy felt so off.

"I would have dearly loved to see you face off against my elder brother." His voice took on a longing tone as he gave one last appreciative glance around him. "What a fight that would have been. But, alas, it seems you have to content yourself with me. Though, it is truly a shame; had it been anyone one else this would have resulted in your victory. But, as it is, I fear the best outcome you can hope for from this match is a draw."

He almost seemed apologetic as he finished speaking, giving me a sympathetic smile, and with a flash of insight I understood why he felt so off.

He didn't think I could hurt him. No, he was certain of it. That explained his complete lack of fear; it was because he really wasn't afraid of me. Why should he be? He had taken a broken A ranked Noble Phantasm almost head-on and there wasn't even a scratch on him to show for it. Sona did say that Rylan hadn't been injured in a Rating Game for over a decade, and by the looks of things it seemed that he believed that trend would continue.

"You honestly don't believe you're in any danger, do you?" I asked the blonde as I reached the edge of the pile of ruined stones and continued to draw closer to him, my guard still up just in case I misread the situation but something told me I hadn't.

Even earlier, when he examined the destruction I had brought to his castle, he hadn't been studying the ruins of his former territory like a strategist trying to figure out the secret behind my attack, but rather he was looking at it with the admiration of someone gazing upon a well made painting, of a patron admiring the work of a master craftsman.

Rylan, he wasn't treating me as a threat – no that wasn't quite it either. It wasn't that he was looking down on me, but instead, it felt like he was detached from the situation, an outsider to this fight rather than a participant, as if the upcoming engagement had nothing to do with him. If I had to guess, I'd say he saw himself as a member of the audience watching the battle instead of one of the fighters down in the arena.

This guy, he didn't even see himself as a combatant did he?

Again I remembered Sona's words. Rylan had abandoned all of his offensive capabilities in exchange for his regenerative ones. That probably meant that he lacked any attacks with the power to break through my Queen-enhanced defence.

In other words, this was a stalemate for him. He didn't think he could harm me and was absolutely certain I had no chance of harming him. So instead of agonizing over this stalemate he found himself in, he would just sit back and enjoy his view of the upcoming fight from his front row seat as I battled it out with the rest of his Peerage, and no matter the outcome the worst that could happen to him was a draw.

I had to bite back the urge to chuckle.

Now I understood Sirzechs gripe with the new generation of Devils and their attitude towards the Rating Games; they really did treat it like a game. Even after seeing my attack and knowing what I am capable of, the Devil before me refused to even consider the possibility that he might die.

Well, I guess I should rectify that mistake.

"You have never faced a Phenex in battle before, have you?" Rylan gave me a sympathetic look before shaking his head almost mournfully. "I'm afraid it is always like this with newcomers. They never seem to heed the warnings of the Phenex Clan's immortality; they fail to recognize that is no empty boast, but a reality, until they face it themselves. And I have achieved absolute mastery of my Clan's regenerative ability; only Ruval can boast to have a skill equal to mine in that respect." He held his arms open. "And here in the ground of the Rating Game, where all Holy Weapons are banned, I am immortal."

"Immortal?" I asked in disbelief before I felt the edge of my lips quirk up. "You think you're an immortal?"

Opening my right hand I began to project a weapon into it. Golden steel came to existence at my command, its sudden weight felt reassuring in my hand and I tightened my grip on the haft of the fairy-blessed weapon. Though the ends of the spear stretched out before and behind me, for a weapon of its kinds it was on the short end of the spectrum, not even reaching my shoulder when set on the ground.

Rylan's eyes widened with wonder as he caught sight of the weapon, "They told me that you could conjure swords, but I see that your skills are not so limited. It is beautiful." He breathed, never taking his eyes away from the spear. "May you tell me it's name?"

"It's called Gae Buidhe, the Golden Rose of Mortality." I answered as I cocked the arm holding the spear back.

Had this been a normal fight I would have never done what I just had. Information was one of the greatest tools you could hold in fight, as valuable as any Noble Phantasm in determining victory. By controlling the flow of information, you ruled the battlefield. And in a world where Noble phantasms did not exist, it meant that no one knew what any of my blades could do until I used them.

For me to willingly give away the name of my weapon, well it went against every fighting instinct I had. But that was the thing, this wasn't a battle any longer.

It was a show.

My objective was not victory, but to crush my opponent. To overwhelm him and teach him the might of my blades. To demonstrate to him and all watching how much higher I stood above them all. To do that I had to restrain my urges to finish Rylan off, to just cut him down where he stood and end this. I needed to drag this out; until my Pride was satisfied, I could not allow this fight to end.

So when I lobbed the spear at the Phenex, instead of aiming for something vital, I targeted the right side of his torso, right at the very edge and away from any vital organs.

Rylan didn't try to avoid the golden spear as it came streaking towards him. Instead he calmly waited for the weapon to reach him, his face an expression of patient boredom even as the spearhead dug into his side, ripping through cloth and flesh alike before tearing through him entirely and burying itself in the ground not far off.

Flames burst out from the open wound, orange and red tongues of fire that licked his side before they condensed, gathering over the gash on his side, hiding it from sight before they faded away, dieing out so thoroughly that not even a flicker of ember remained.

And where once there had been wounded flesh peeking through the tear in his clothing, now only the undamaged cloth of his suit remained, its maroon colour unmarked by the heat of his flames or the bite of my blade.

Rylan Phenex raised a single brow, "Was that supposed to do anything?".

In place of an answer I just pointed to his side where Gae Buidhe had cut him.

His other brow rose up to meet the other before he sighed out, though he obediently placed his hand on the point I indicated, to humor me more than anything. "Emiya, I understand why this may be hard to accept but you must understand by now that you can't...hurt...me?"

Rylan words had started out strong but he began to trail off towards the end, his brows furrowing in confusion. Slowly he lifted his hand away from his side and brought it up to his face, the crimson that stained it standing out on the pale skin of his hand.

At first he seemed bemused by the sight, as if he couldn't quite understand what he was seeing, the sight so outside the realm of what he believed to be possible that his brain needed a few seconds to comprehend it. Then his eyes steadily began to widen as it finally began to dawn on him that, yes, that was blood that covered his hand. I wonder when the last time was that he had seen his own blood?

"Answer me this my Lord Phenex." I looked away from where blood seeped through his clothes, dyeing them red as the wound beneath continued to spill out his life's blood. "Can an immortal bleed?"

"I-I..." His blue eyes wide with shock, still overwhelmed, he could do nothing but watch as I continued to close the gap that separated us.

It was then that the Rooks attacked.

I did not know if they had dug themselves under the heap of rubble or if they were simply buried there when the castle was brought down and just decided to wait for their opportunity to pounce, but when I was a little more than a stone's throw away from their bloodied King they struck

They emerged in a shower of stone and debris as they erupted for the ground, a dozen or so yards away, a little bit ahead and to either side of me. Then they charged, moving at speeds that matched that of Knights and belied their true role as Rooks.

The one that came from my left was a giant of a man, dwarfing even my height. Brown dreadlocks fell down to his shoulders, eyes hidden behind the cracked lenses of his shades. He wore an open vest that exposed a tanned muscular chest to the world and denim jeans covered his trunk-sized legs and nothing else. Already painful bruises were beginning to form on his exposed chest and arms, splashes of red, blue and purple dotting his brown skin.

Yet, for all their number, his injuries didn't seem to slow him as came at me with all the force of a semi. He was actually grinning, his white teeth contrasting sharply with his dark skin, as he clenched his right hand into a fist in preparation to bring it down on my head.

It was what surrounded that very fist that captured most of my attention.

Crimson scales surrounding a human hand, forming a very familiar metallic gauntlet that left the fingers exposed to the open air.

Twice Critical

For the briefest fraction of a second I felt myself overcome with awe. To survive the destructive power of Caladbolg and walk way with nothing more than bruises using nothing more than Twice Critical was so remarkable that it broke through my battle haze. Direct strike or not, it was a broken Noble Phantasm, his defended must have been phenomenal to have achieved that. What kind of training must he have put his body through to become that tough?

But almost immediately my amazement faded, buried away as my mind returned to the battle at hand and I switched my attention to the second Rook coming at me from my right.

It took me a moment to realize it was even human, and another to realize she was female.

She looked like an ogre. Pale gray skin covered a body that seemed to be made form bulging muscles and nothing else. Ugly red welts, burn marks I realized, dotted her skin, the only break in the monotony of gray. Her shoulders were set unnaturally far apart, making her wider than she was tall and her arms were so long that her knuckled dragged on the ground. A long brown mane tumbled down her back, sharp shark-like teeth filled her mouth that was set in a snarl while her hazel eyes, the sole human-looking thing about her, glared at me with loathing.

Like the other Rook she was sparsely dressed, wearing a stained wife-beater and ruined sweatpants. She lumbered towards me, using her hands just as much as her feet to propel herself forward almost like an ape. And it was only thanks to the pink diamond-shaped gem embedded in the center of her forehead that I recognized as a Sacred Gear that I realized she was human.

Deus Bestia – God of the Beast, was a highly-sought after Sacred Gear for it made its wielder all but invulnerable to physical attacks. It negated all kinetic damage and so long as it was active no blow should ever bruise its wielders flesh nor will shall any edge pierce their skin. The only way to damage them was through non-kinetic based attacks, such as elemental magic, or by somehow bypassing the skin completely and targeting their internal organs.

But what truly made this Sacred Gear so valued was it's ability to absorb all the kinetic energy and use it to empower its wielder, enhancing their body. In theory there is no limit to this ability and the wielder can potentially match anyone in physical strength should they absorb enough energy.

Though it also had the side effect of transforming their physical body, which explained the Rook's current appearance.

But the most frighting thing of all is its last ability. Should the Wielder choose to sacrifice self-enhancement for pure destructive might, they can fire all the absorbed energy in a massive attack back at the enemy.

Which meant that if she were to land a single solid punch with those ape-like hands of hers, then all the damage she should have received from Caladbolg would be transferred to me instead.

Still, even though they were my enemies, these two were really amazing.

For them to have survived Caladbolg's attack meant that they either must have sensed the attack coming and responded by immediately summoning their Sacred Gears or they already had them out at the start of the fight. And I could not even begin to imagine the amount of composure they had to have to coordinate an ambush so well after all the chaos and confusion they must have suffered through when the castle blew up beneath their feet.

It seemed that Sona's assessment of Rylan's Peerage skill level was correct: they really were excellent pieces.

It was a shame that it wouldn't make any difference in the end. No matter how skilled they were, they had already lost the moment they set foot on the opposing side of the battlefield from me.

So after a single quick glance, I ignored them and continued my trek towards their King, not even slowing down my sedated pace. I deliberately made sure not to even bother looking their way again as I summoned a pair of crimson spears into my hands and lobbed both weapons at them as they closed in on me.

It was a fairly weak toss, with barely enough strength in it to bury the spear heads into the hard earth, and nowhere near enough to penetrate through the guard of ordinary Rooks. Which was exactly why neither Rook reacted as the spears soared towards their chests. No matter how sharp their tips were or how enchanted their steel, there simply wasn't enough power behind the blow to break through their defence.

So instead of bothering with battering the spears aside, an action that might have slowed down their charge, however slightly, and risk giving me more time to project another weapon, they put their faith in the Rook enhanced defence to get them through, the very same defence that allowed them to survive the attack that brought down the rest of their Peerage, and committed themselves fully to their offence.

They died.

Both Rooks slowed their charge, they pace dropping before they stumbled to a complete halt only a scant three strides from reaching me. The ogre like female was looking at me in confusions and tried to speak, but when she opened her mouth no words came, only blood. It spilled past her lips and dripped down her chin, staining her gray skin red.

Her knees gave out and she fell, dropping to the floor, hazel eyes still filled with confusion.

The dark-skinned man took one look down at his chest, where a crimson spear protruded from it, before looking back up at me and smirking, revealing crimson teeth stained with his blood, as all the while his shoulders shook, rising and falling in silent laughter.

Then he too followed his comrade and fell.

They had both dropped to their knees, in a mockery of respect, as I walked towards then past them, not sparing them any attention even as they fell face first onto the ground, prostrating themselves before they faded, their bodies taken back to the medical facility were they'd be resuscitated and healed. I barely noticed any of it, my full attention reserved only for their bleeding King.

[...Rylan Phenex's final two Rooks have retired.]

Rylan legs folded beneath him, sending him sprawling to the ground as they were no longer able to support his weight, his injury finally beginning to take its toll on him compounded by the shocks he had suffered through. He was staring at the spot where the final members of his Peerage had fallen.

"Gae Dearg," His eyes shifted to me as I continued my sedated pace towards him, answering the unasked question. "The Crimson Rose of Exorcism."

With no more hidden cards to play now that he'd lost the last of his Peerage, I no longer needed to maintain my guard. It was over. As it was I could now cross the distance between us in a single dash without fear of an ambush and cut him down.

But instead I continued my lazy pace towards the fallen Devil.

Everything I had done so far was for a single goal; to achieve a victory so overwhelming that no one would doubt my abilities ever again. Fighting alone, bring down the entire castle and even sparing the final two Rooks nothing more than a glance as if they were not worth my time, all of it was aimed to give one impression to all watching; that I didn't even need to try to win.

And this was the end to the show, the finale, and my last chance to give a lasting impression.

I had better make it a good one.

This pretender before me had called himself an immortal, and I did promise myself that I would rectify that mistake.

"Once, Immortals were real." Holding out my hand before me, I start to project another Noble Phantasm in it. "They roamed this earth as real as you and me, and could be found in every land. Gods who existed since the dawn of time and would be here at it's end. Supreme beings that would never die, Primordial entities who knew neither pain nor suffering, omnipotent demons who could not bleed, They were plentiful, those immortals, who never needed to fear the touch of death or comprehend the meaning of an end.

"Then one day, they simply stopped existing."

It slowly began to take shape in my hand. Red cloth wrapped a portion of its pitch black frame, allowing me to grip its long and far too narrow shaft.

"Nineteen years ago, every immortal, every undying being lost their immortality. Those gods of old could no longer escape death's embrace, and have learned the meaning of an end."

Twisted metal, divine steel made crooked tipped the dark shaft. It was no spear, not this twisted thing. No straight and elegant point adorned its end. Not with its inwardly-curved blade and blunted outer edge.

A scythe.

"Something happened, an event occurred which made the immortals no longer untouchable, stripping them of their invulnerability, making it a lie."

This was not a weapon meant for war, not a tool forged for battle where steel clashed against steel. This was an edge meant for the flesh, an instrument for killing and nothing more.

"And that event nineteen years ago was a birth."

An executioner's weapon.

"My birth."

And there existed no better at its job.

"I was born,"

This was the Harpe,

"And on that day, immortality became no more."

And it was on its edge that immortals came to die.

---

It was death trapped in steel, the end worked into metal and given form. And even from there he could sense how magic died as it met its edge, a void trailing behind the air as the scythe cut it.

The boy was holding death in his hands and he was coming for him.

And the Phenex could do nothing but watch.

"Immortality became but a myth, nothing but a fairytale."

Then came more,

"And so long I live and breathe it will continue to be so."

First was that golden spear, a twin to the one spilled his blood and it came to be in the air, held up by invisible hands, and though he knew he should fear it, the sight of it still managed to take his breath away such was the weapons beauty.

And more followed still.

"Because in this world, there is nothing,"

In ones and twos, then by dozens, weapons of highest calibre, until finally a hundred and more filled the air over his shoulders. Majestic weapons, all radiating overwhelming power, of the like he had never seen before this day. They came in all shapes and forms, swords and spears, daggers and axes, the conventional and the exotic, all were there.

"Nothing,"

And still more came, each different from the last. Yet for all of their differences they all held one thing in common.

Each was an immortal killer, every last one of them.

And all were pointed at him.

"That I cannot kill."

To immortals, to those arrogant few that believed they could live for ever, there was nothing they feared more than death, true death.

And as the immortal Phenex watched as death came for him, he learned to fear.

He felt the kiss of twisted steel on his skin as the boy softly hooked the scythe around his throat. He managed tear his gaze away from the weapon and looked up to the one who held it.

And found himself staring into eyes that danced with madness.

Was it Pride or Wrath that twisted the soul of one that once shone brightly?

It did not matter, for now the Phenex knew, knew that what stood before him was no man.

But a Devil.

One every bit as dangerous as those who sat on their thrones high above and ruled them all.

The Devil that was his death gazed down at him patiently.

"Would you like to see how an immortal dies Lord Phenex?" Death asked him.

Then Death smiled.

And it was a beautiful thing, free of malice, a promise of salvation.

"Or would you rather take this opportunity to resign?"

---

[Match over. Total time: 00:01:56. Winner by resignation, Emiya Shirou]

---

*Chapter End*

Author's Notes:

And there we have it, the first fight and I hope you all enjoyed it. This chapter was supposed to include the Sairaorg's fight as well but that would probably take me another couple of weeks to finish and I figured you all rather I split it in two and post this now than wait. So next chapter looked forward to seeing Sairaorg and his Peerage fight.

Oh, and to give credit where it's due Artful Lounger had been giving me a lot of idea of original Sacred Gears and Underworld Politics in addition to DxD facts. So if you see any new Sacred Gears he probably helped me make them. Plus I want to thank the guys in 'Fandom Flux Podcast' (for those of you who don't know it's a podcast by Fan-fiction writers that talk about fanfiction and give writing advice among other things) I listened to one of their discussions about this story it helped to inspire the first part of Shirou's Wrath.

And to Nasu-fans, I researched the Harpe and while it was established that it was a Divine Weapon it did not make it clear if it's holy. But since in this story holy and divine swords are two different things I decided to establish it as just a Divine sword.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the fight scene because there will be a lot of them in this Arc. So please tell me how you thought it turned out.

Well, that's it for now. Again, Thanks for reading.