Disclaimer: I don't own Fate Stay Night or High School DxD. They belong to Kinoko Nasu and Ichiei Ishibumi respectively. If I did, I would have already created an Ilya route in the VN with a fully-grown and matured Ilya as the heroine and make a badass protagonist for High School DxD instead of a pervert like Issei.

A/N: ...I have no excuse. This chapter should have came out months ago but I had problems with the fight scenes so I thought about having a change of pace by doing something else. In other words, gaming.

I never thought I'd become addicted to Dragon Age: Inquisition like that. It was unexpected. Trying to level up my character, getting the best equipments and beating those High Dragons, not to mention I'm a working individual so the amount of time I set aside to write was diminished to non-existence. Yeah.

...After that, I got hooked on web novels. Sorry.

UPDATED ON 31/07/2015: Due to several complaints and suggestions, I've changed the scene at the end of the chapter a little. Enjoy.

- Story Start -

"Koneko. Get away from Yubelluna. Now!"

As soon as Shirou's orders were heard, Koneko didn't hesitate. Their various training in the mountains have deeply ingrained in all of them how important his opinions were when it comes to combat. As such, she immediately disengaged form her activity of shadowing the enemy's Queen despite not knowing why.

She found out the reason almost immediately.

Before she knew it, her instincts for danger that were honed during their training camp had been triggered and it made her jump to the side almost too late before a huge explosion engulfed the place she was at just mere moments ago. Since she was so close to the blast site and was in the middle of her jump, her body was easily blown away.

However, instead of crashing into a tree like people would've expected after such an event, she instead made a flip in mid air and landed lightly on a tree trunk before springing herself forward and continued her retreat. She had enough experience with Shirou's exploding arrows during the training camp to immediately increase her body's defense to the maximum of her capabilities in such situations to avoid injury that might incapacitate her. She also took the moment when dust would spread around the area due to the explosion to use it as cover and escape. This part was also something she learned to use during the training camp.

Unfortunately, the enemy also had other ways to track her other than using their eyes.

"She's right over there, Yubelluna."

"Got it."

At the twin catgirl's direction, Yubelluna set off another huge explosion right where Koneko was located.

When Archer saw Yubelluna regrouping with Ni and Li who were most likely Nekomatas like Koneko, he had immediately judged that they most likely had sensitive senses like her and would immediately discover her from her scent which was why he had ordered her to retreat. And just like he feared, they had discovered her presence and were trying to take her down.

Koneko didn't have any intention of making it easy for them however.

She used the same tactic like before to avoid sustaining heavy damage and kept retreating, relying heavily on her instincts to tell her the moment she should dodge. Despite that, her body should've been riddled with small injuries that kept accumulating with every blast but whatever damage she had, kept healing instead.

The answer lied in the small dagger that's emitting an emerald colored light she's currently holding.

Twilight Breeze. A dagger with healing properties that Yuuto and Asia had cooperated to create. The name was due to it emitting a similar light as Asia's Twilight Healing and because it also produced a soft and comfortable breeze around the user when healing them. Every member of the Occult Research Club were given a copy of the dagger at it's completion. It was not as powerful Asia's Sacred Gear but it still increased their chances of survival in the Game.

Not only that, Shirou had tried to see if his Reinforcement spell could be used by other members of the group so he taught them the basics during their training camp. What they discovered was that their way of filling their bodies with Demonic Power to increase their capabilities and Shirou's Reinforcement were actually the same thing.

The difference was that Shirou's method was superior in that he was able to fill all the imperfections in his body thanks to Structural Analysis while they were only able to instinctively fill a small portion of those imperfections in their bodies. Basically, as long as they can discover their limits, there should be room for further improvement.

Unfortunately, one week was not enough for them to completely master Reinforcement as it requires the use of Structural Analysis. Still, they were able to increase their capabilities by more than a quarter of what they were used to and it was also thanks to this that Yubelluna's explosions weren't able to take her out yet.

Still, she knew that she couldn't keep this up forever.

At the moment, the enemy was being conservative and only aimed at places she was at but if they became impatient, they could just as easily blow up a huge area with her in the middle to ensure her defeat. Even if she could survive the initial blast thanks to her defense, the power of the blast would definitely heavily injure her. In that state, she could easily be rained down with explosion after explosion and Twilight Breeze will not be able to heal her fast enough with the rate of damage she will be receiving.

Shirou's sniping would definitely be able to save her at this time but,

"Shirou-senpai, not yet."

Instead of relying on his aid, she had made him prioritize in concealing himself and their rendezvous point.

"...Do you have a plan?" Shirou's doubtful voice could be heard from the earpiece.

"Please trust me and Yuuto-senpai."

"Understood." Despite only hearing his voice, she could somehow picture Shirou having a small proud smile at that moment. It made her more motivated.

"Yuuto-senpai, are you ready?"

"Ready when you are, Koneko-chan. Let's show everyone our teamwork."

She nodded. A small twitch of her lips showing that she had a smile on her face.


Ever since he started training with Shirou, he would end up having to team up with Koneko on several occasions in order to be able to even match the white haired weapons specialist in direct combat. As such, he and Koneko began to have a better understanding of each others thought processes as they interacted with each other more with every training session.

Which was why he was able to guess what she wanted to do when she was spotted by the enemy and ended up being pursued while having explosions rain down on her. He realized what she was after when the explosions kept coming closer to his approximate location which indicated that Koneko was headed his way.

It was fortunate that they had coincidentally passed each other a while ago but separated as Koneko had kept on tailing Yubelluna while he headed for the hill.

All he needed to do now was to figure out how they could take down the enemy who was in the air. Exposing themselves by also flying in the air wasn't an option. When he surveyed the situation from a nearby tree, he discovered that their opponents were the enemy's Queen and two Pawns who have most likely promoted to Queen. He and Koneko would definitely lose on a head on aerial battle.

Their best bet would be a hit and run tactic that Rias had suggested before while using the jungle to impair the enemy's ability to locate them. Thus, the two catgirls that were able to find them without using their eyes would have to be taken down first.

A single idea had formed in Yuuto's mind on exactly just how to do that.

He would have to time this very carefully.

"Yuuto-senpai, are you ready?"

"Ready when you are, Koneko-chan. Let's show everyone our teamwork."

Just as he said that, he began running. His path was just parallel of Koneko's. He also had to make sure that there was enough distance between them so that he wouldn't be inside Ni's and Li's detection range but at the same time near enough to her in order to execute his plan. This feat was harder than it sounded since he couldn't exactly be sure of how large a range the twin's detection ability encompassed. He only had his experience with Koneko's senses to compare.

What's more, the trio who were chasing Koneko were in a triangular-like formation with the twins keeping a set distance with each other while Yubelluna was flying in the space between the twin's formation and kept changing her position depending on where she wanted to cast her spell. Their keeping up with Koneko's retreat and triangulate her position made their movements in the air hard to predict especially since Koneko kept changing directions in random if the explosions were any indication.

Fortunately, it seemed that his gamble was working as he decided to add about half a time more of Koneko's detection range to his estimates just in case. At the same time he started running, he materialized Wind Piercer in his right hand and a small gray dagger in his left. Using a vine he cut from a tree, he tied the dagger to the hilt of Wind Piercer. Shirou might have commissioned from him Wind Piercer's creation to act as an arrow but he later discovered that he also had a use for it.

BOOM

He waited until Yubelluna had casted another explosion down Koneko's way before immediately stopping, took aim, inserted his Demonic Power into the two blades to activate their abilities and threw them like a javelin to the air straight towards where Yubelluna was. When he surveyed the situation a while ago, he found the general position the trio kept to complete their formation and knew that it was something to take advantage of when he decided on a way to get out of this situation.

Wind Piercer was a wind elemental Demonic Sword that releases strong winds from the sword's edge. Since the the sword was made to be in the shape of a drill, the air released from the sword's edge acted as propulsion for it to go forward at an astounding speed while taking out everything that was in it's path. At least, when it was released from Shirou's bow as an arrow. When thrown during it's normal state like he did, the propulsion from the wind only made it three times faster than his normal throwing speed.

That was enough.

Yuuto watched as his two creations traveled to the air and the dagger that he attached to Wind Piercer released a massive amount of black smoke that was further dispersed by Wind Percer's wind and in no time at all, it completely covered the airspace surrounding Yubelluna and it even almost reached the twins. The dagger was a refined version of the same one he used during the group training in the mountains a week ago. Since it releases a black smoke screen, he decided to name it Blackscreen.

Not wasting any time, he materialized Night Edge in his right hand and Sonic Accelerator in his left and flew straight towards the nearest twin. Of course, the cat-eared girl was already aware of his presence and was already flying towards his position the moment she estimated the trajectory of Wind Piercer + Blackscreen combo. She had already discovered Yuuto's scent the moment he was in range of her senses.

Yuuto wasn't the least bit worried however.

From their research of Riser's peerage, they already knew that the twins were close quarter combatants who specialized in using their agility to confuse their opponents while identifying and attacking their enemy's vulnerable points. So far, the twins have been known to have very little talent in magic so Yuuto had very little worry in that department.

Shirou had estimated that the the twin's speed would be a bit above Yuuto if they ever promoted to a Knight or Queen. If this had happened in the past, Yuuto would have had a difficult time when fighting either one of them. He would've eventually won due to his superior talent in sword skills and Sword Birth's versatility but the time and stamina consumed made it impractical in a Rating Game.

In the past, at least.

As the Pawn and Knight neared each other in the air, instead of clashing directly, Ni instead had changed her trajectory just a little to her left and had aimed her strike at Yuuto's right hand which she assumed was his dominant hand. She had no intention of trying to overpower her opponent in a straight up fight from the front. Li's and her's specialty lied in exhausting and whittling down their opponents before going in for the kill and claim victory. She was also confident in her current battle prowess as a Promoted Queen.

From what she knew of the Gremory's Knight after some investigation that Raiser had made, she should be faster than him in her current state. All she needed to do was to evade one of his slashes and she could land a hit on him. She was aware that if her opponent was proficient in handling two swords at once, this simple strategy of her's could easily fail but even if she wasn't able to counter him, just delaying him would be enough. After all, once Yubelluna escapes from the black smoke that's currently enveloping her, she would be able to make short work of him with her explosions. Their victory was assured one way or another.

She didn't however, expect that her enemy would suddenly close their remaining distance of about ten meters faster than one could blink and completely pass by her. The next thing she knew, she felt a lot of pain coming from a line from her left shoulder to her right waist and blood was squirting out of the wound that suddenly appeared there. Coughing up blood that clogged her throat, she rapidly lost consciousness from the pain and blood loss and fainted in mid air. As she started to fall down from gravity, her body started fading away.

[Raiser Phenex-sama's [Pawn] retires!]

Yuuto's quick victory over Ni was due to the work of a bit of deception. Although he had already materialized Sonic Accelerator in his left hand, he did not activate it's ability until he was close enough to Ni in order to fool her of his true capabilities and let her have some sense of security over her superior power as a Queen.

As expected, she had let her guard down just because there was still some distance between them and seeing him slower than her current self. It was at this time that, just when he judged that they were close enough, he activated Sonic Accelerator and used his maximum speed to immediately close their distance within his sword's range to slash her from shoulder to waist before she could even realize what had happened. Night Edge's cutting power have been proven to be able to surpass a Rook's or Queen's defensive power during their training camp, so he had no problem taking her down with only that one strike.

However, even after hearing the announcement that marked his victory against a Queen level opponent, Yuuto wasn't able to allow himself to rejoice in his heart or even relax a little bit. The reason was because of the spectacle in the distance that he was currently seeing.

Koneko was in trouble.


[Raiser Phenex-sama's [Pawn] retires!]

To Koneko, that announcement meant that Yuuto had managed to defeat one of the two twins that had been hounding her until just a moment ago. If she wasn't in the situation she was in right now, she would've been congratulating and thanking him for saving her.

Right now, she was in a bit of a predicament.

When Yuuto had obstructed Yubelluna with the smokescreen, she had figured out that he wanted to take out the twins with good sensory abilities which can be a problem for them in the Game. Seeing the twins disengaging from pursuing her and heading towards where the attack from Yuuto had came from cemented this idea. She couldn't let Yuuto fight alone against the twins so she decided to confront one of the twins which was closer to her.

This however, led to her current predicament.

Shirou had explained to her during their training camp that her current opponent was a bad match for her once she managed to Promote. Li was faster than Yuuto and her fighting style that involved hit and run tactics combined to be an annoying opponent for her to face. Just like what Shirou predicted, she was currently in a defensive fight against Li who was trying to accumulate the damage she was receiving bit by bit until it was too much for her small body to endure any longer.

If it wasn't for Twilight Breeze healing her injuries as they were inflicted and her use of touki to further increase her defense, she would've fallen long ago. Li didn't just become faster, Promoting to a Queen had increased her strength tremendously which was more than enough to break through a Rook's powerful defense. Fortunately, the damage Koneko received was healed at a rate that exceeded Li's ability to inflict and thanks to that instead of a losing battle, Koneko was now facing a battle of attrition.

Normally, this would be bad for Koneko since all that she could do was defend against Li's attacks without any chance of countering while being riddled with injuries but with the healing powers from Twilight Breeze, she could endure Li's constant harassment for a full hour at minimum. Twilight Breeze's usage consume only a little bit of Demonic Energy to activate, so she could just wait out her opponent to exhaust herself before taking action which was quite ironic since that fighting style was Li's specialty.

Unfortunately, Koneko didn't have that kind of luxury.

The smokescreen Yuuto made to obstruct Yubelluna was only a visual distraction at best and only an annoyance at worst. It didn't have any ability to stop her at all. She could easily come out of that smoke any second now and once that happens, the former pursuit will be renewed and most likely intensify as long as one of the twins could regroup with her. However, now that Ni was already defeated, Koneko's and Yuuto's only chance to turn the tables will come once Li is also made to retire.

Thus, she decided to take a gamble.

Directing her Demonic Energy, she sent it towards her eyes. She remembered a conversation that Rias and Akeno had during their weeklong training camp from hell.

"Yuuto's getting better at using the potential of his Knight trait to the fullest. I'm amazed that Shirou could still keep up with him. Both of them using Sonic Accelerator aside, I still can't figure out how Shirou's able to follow Yuuto's movements."

"Oh, if it's that, Shirou-kun told me that he's using Reinforcement on his eyes."

"What? I thought that ability only strengthens his body."

"According to Shirou, it's actually quite flexible in it's usage. Currently, he's using it to increase his speed and body strength while improving his dynamic vision acuity to the fullest."

All this time, she had used Demonic Energy to strengthen her body since it was the most natural thing to do but that was wrong. The applications she could do with it should be more than that. However, the degree of risk that comes with it were quite exceptional. If Shirou's description of Reinforcement was to be believed, one wrong step with it would cause whatever she was trying to reinforce to explode, which in this case were her eyes.

Even so, she was willing to face that consequence. She owed Rias too much not to. She couldn't afford to lose here.

Prick.

She felt a small pain in the inner part of her eyes along with something flowing down her eyes but she ignored it in favor of what she had accomplished. Her enemy which she perceived as only a blur just a moment ago was finally revealed in front of her eyes. She had done it. She was finally able to follow the fast movements that Li had gained as a Queen. She suppressed the excitement she felt at her success. It was still too early to celebrate.

Preparing herself, she changed her defensive stance just a little bit so that a small opening could be seen in her stance just below her left ribs. A little trick she learned from Shirou's fighting style who used those openings as bait for his enemy. She wasn't him however, so she could only afford to show this much opening without endangering herself too much and without it looking suspicious. She would only have one shot at this. If she failed, there's a high chance that she wouldn't be able to ever turn the table on her opponent because Li would definitely become more wary of her.

As Li approached her, Koneko could see that she had taken the bait just as planned as Li's claws was ready to rip into her left flank. She waited until the last second before she sprung her trap. Immediately strengthening her hands with Demonic Energy and Touki as far as she dared to, she evaded Li's claws with a paper thin margin and punched Li's face with all her strength.

A cross-counter.

Even with all her strength, Li was only knocked back a few meters instead of being blown away like Koneko was used to when fighting Stray Devils. She had expected this however since she knew how strong a Rook's defense was being one herself. Which was why she didn't hesitate to chase after Li, who's mind was still rattled from her cross-counter, to deliver a series of reinforced kicks and punches on the most vulnerable parts of the body. By the time Koneko had finished her combo, Li's face was almost disfigured and her arms and legs were bending in unnatural ways and her eyes were completely white.

Seeing her opponent in a miserable state and unconscious, Koneko stopped her attacks and let Li's body fall. Before her body made it to the ground however, Li faded away and was transported to the infirmary where she would be nursed back to health.

[Raiser Phenex-sama's [Pawn] retires!]

Koneko didn't feel any sympathy towards Li even after seeing her brokened state. Why would she feel such a thing for someone who was very willing to take away the happiness of one of her most treasured person? Besides, she had more pressing matters to attend to than feeling regret.

"Koneko. Yuuto. Hide in the forest!"

Once again, she didn't question Shirou's orders once she heard it. She'd even guessed the reason for it. True enough, when she was satisfied with the amount of cover she had in the forest to conceal herself from anyone watching from the sky, she saw Yubelluna flying around the empty sky looking for her and Yuuto.

If Koneko was puzzled why Yubelluna took so long to come out of that smokescreen, Yubelluna's current appearance answered her question. Defensive barriers were surrounding her whole body that even an ant wouldn't be able to pass through. Not to mention that three layers of them were made. Koneko understood that Yubelluna had decided to play it safe by setting up defenses first in case of an ambush but this was just too much. What was the hell was she expecting? One of the four the Maous?

"Hm~. Looks like you gave too much of an impression on them during the feast last week, Shirou. They probably think that holding on as long as possible was the best way to resist if they ever got caught with your Dark Keys again." Rias's carefree comment could be heard through the earpiece.

Oh. So that's why.

"What's done is done. There's no point dwelling on it. Koneko. Yuuto. Come over here. I'll take care of Yubelluna."

Although Koneko felt reluctant since she wanted to take down Yubelluna as well, she obeyed. It was very clear even to her that it was impossible for her to beat Yubelluna as she currently was even with Yuuto's help. Even after Promoting to Queen, the twins that she and Yuuto had defeated could never match Yubelluna. That was how much of a gap a true Queen like Yubelluna had compared to other members of Raiser's peerage.

Which was why she was interested on Shirou's claim about 'taking care' of Yubelluna.

Before she could dwell on that thought however she met up with Yuuto but his triumphant expression she saw he had at the beginning immediately turned to alarm the moment they met and it set her on edge. Did something happen? Before she could voice out her question Yuuto had cut her off.

"Koneko-chan! What happened to your eyes!?" Yuuto was quite frantic.

Puzzled by what he was talking about Koneko started to feel the surrounding of her eyes. It somehow felt wet but that can't be right. She didn't remember crying the whole time after the Game started. It was only after pulling her hand away did she discover what the real source of the wet feeling she felt around her eyes. On her hand was red liquid that had been coming out of her eyes since awhile ago.

It wasn't tears. It was blood.

Alarmed, she immediately activated Twilight Breeze. To her relief, the small annoying prick of pain that she felt in her eyes disappeared and the blood from her eyes stopped flowing. Yuuto who saw this also looked relieved and his earlier panic completely vanished.

"Don't scare me like that." Yuuto admonished her gently.

"Um. I'll be more careful." And she meant it too. That blood was probably caused by her use of untrained Reinforcement just a while ago. It seems that she was able to avoid the worst case scenario but she had probably skirted death by the thinnest of luck. A chill went down her spine when she imagined her eyeballs exploding within their sockets.

Even so, she didn't regret her decision. Even if time was rewound, she would do the same thing again if it meant that she could secure her team's victory. That was how much Rias's existence meant to her.

[Raiser Phenex-sama's [Queen] retires!]

Both she and Yuuto were both surprised at that sudden announcement.


"What the...? That was fast. I didn't even hear any explosion. Did you?" Currently, he was filled with astonishment.

Koneko shook her head, indicating that she didn't hear anything either. How did Shirou beat Yubelluna so fast in such a stealthy way? The barriers that Yubelluna had cast around her shouldn't have been so easy to break. It would've required a lot of firepower to destroy such a thing so they should've noticed if Shirou had used such a destructive weapon. His answer came from his earpiece in the form of Rias's voice.

"That's because there wasn't any." Rias's voice was filled with disbelief even to an untrained ear.

"What do you mean, Buchou? How did Shirou destroy Yubelluna's barriers?" He decided to question Rias. It was important that he understand the situation in case of unexpected events.

"He didn't."

"Huh?" He could only let out that dumb sound from that simple answer.

"I'm not really sure what happened but he just materialized a red spear and shot it towards Yubelluna. The spear just... passed through her barriers like they were never there. Heck, he even aimed at the Phoenix Tears that Yubelluna hid in her bosom."

Okay, now he was really curios.

"A red spear? And you saw him aim for the Phoenix Tears from that far away?"

"I brought a high powered binocular since we were going to be placed in such a large area. Just in case."

That made sense. Still, he had never seen Shirou use a red spear and it was definitely not something that he himself had made using Sword Birth. His Sacred Gear created swords. Not spears. Maybe it was something Shirou had encountered before he joined the peerage? Whatever it was, he'll find out about it after the Game.

Right now, Yubelluna's defeat was good news for the team especially since it was achieved without any casualties from their side.

"Just because I took down Yubelluna, doesn't mean that this is a time to relax. That huge smokescreen Yuuto made just attracted the attention of Raiser's other girls. They're all heading your way right now. Move!"

Shirou's warning prompted them to get away from the scene as fast as they could. They didn't need to be told twice to escape from being surrounded by Raiser's other girls. Still, both Yuuto and Koneko couldn't help feeling optimistic since they managed to take out three more of the enemy's forces without sacrificing one of their own against Queen level opponents.

"We've taken out almost half of the enemy's forces but don't be overconfident. There are still Ravel and Raiser himself. Beating them won't be easy. Even Raiser's other girls aren't exactly pushovers either. Don't let your guard down until we win this. Got it?"

"""""Yes, Buchou!"""""

All of them answered enthusiastically. Although Rias was warning them, all of them could tell from her voice that she was feeling quite confident at the moment. It wasn't hard to figure out why since Yubelluna, who was one of their biggest threats, had just been defeated. No one seemed to want to point it out though, seeing as she was right that they shouldn't let guard down just yet. They'll have enough time to celebrate once they win the Game.

Reality however, was very cruel when it wanted to be.

"!? Asia, get down!" Before anyone could ask what was wrong that made Akeno sound so panicked-

RUMBLE

-A small earthquake could be felt at the same time as a huge pillar of fire manifesting just south of their rendezvous point.

"Akeno! Asia! Can you hear me? What happened!?" Rias's voice that was on the verge of panicking could be heard from the earpiece.

"Calm down Buchou, we're fine. It looks like the enemy General has decided to take the stage." Although Akeno sounded calm they could tell that she had sustained injuries from her voice alone. None of them was too worried however as Asia's presence there meant that she should be fine. For the moment at least.

"Twilight Healing, huh? A useful support-type Sacred Gear but in the hands of an enemy, it's quite troublesome. I'll have to force you to exit the field, Asia Argento." Raiser's voice could be heard from the other side. From the sounds of it, he was non too pleased, possibly because he had just lost his Queen.

"Tch, looks like Raiser has figured out our rendezvous point. All of his girls are heading this way!" Shirou's report had also clued them in on how grim their situation was.

The second phase of the Rating Game had just begun.


"Master. You and Ise should go to Akeno and Asia. Myself, Yuuto and Koneko will handle Raiser's girls." Faced with such a crisis, Archer was still as calm as ever to make a split-second decision. Compared to some of the worse situations that he had experienced, the current one couldn't even enter the top fifty. Not to mention that he was still confident that he could turn the situation around with just a few Broken Phantasms.

The only reason he hadn't done so just yet was because he still wanted to keep some of his abilities and weapons hidden as long as possible. Especially since this battle was currently being monitored by several higher-ups from the Underworld. Thus, he decided to rely on his teammates until he's certain that he would have no other choice but to reveal his hand though from what he could see, their chances of winning this Game without him wasn't as low as all of them were currently thinking.

After all, he and Ise weren't the only ones with hidden trump cards.

"Alright. I'll leave this to the three of you." Rias didn't even reveal any doubts or hesitation with Archer's declaration and immediately entered the forest again in order to deal with her own task. This showed how much confidence she had towards her peerage. Not to mention her confidence in facing her designated opponent. She didn't even reveal a trace of fear but instead she was filled with anticipation.

Looks like she will be showcasing the new technique she created during the training camp in full.

Watching Rias's disappearing back, Archer readied his bow. A black steel arrow was already nocked. "Now, then. Since this place is already discovered, I no longer need to hold back as much."

In the next moment, dozens of arrows were shot at the oncoming enemies. Each person was the target of around four to six arrows depending on Archer's judgement based on their data that he had been combing through for the past week. The arrows speed could even give trouble to a Knight who specialize in it so there was no way that all of them would have a chance to dodge these shots. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that they have no way of coping with the bombardment.

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM

The sky was littered with explosions that could give even Yubelluna a run for her money. Seeing this however, Archer didn't have even a modicum of satisfaction appear on his visage. His eyes that could even track a small insect from four kilometers away had clearly seen that none of his arrows had reached their targets before they exploded.

And just as he expected, all of Raiser's remaining peerage members appeared unharmed once the dust cloud cleared away.

Still, that didn't mean that his surprise attack hadn't achieved anything. For one thing, his exploding arrows weren't something that could be withstood easily even with a Rook's strong defense. The only way that they could survive his bombardment unharmed was through casting their strongest barriers to protect themselves.

Even so, not all of them were proficient with such spells so they had to rely on those of them who were. Also, he was pretty sure they had to recast their barriers a couple of times because the explosions from his arrows destroyed the initial three or four. Currently, both of their Rooks that specialized in defense seemed to be on their last legs. Even Ravel who was their remaining Bishop seemed to be out of breath.

Not surprising since she was the one who shielded most of her teammates and ended up using a chunk of her Demonic Power to do so and he was pretty sure that her barrier was the only one that didn't collapse at all from the bombardment. It was quite an outstanding feat considering all of them were still scattered throughout the sky since they haven't managed to completely regrouped yet. As a matter of fact, Archer's preemptive strike was intended to prevent them from doing just that.

Everyone scatter! Hide in the forest and form teams of twos but don't gather in one place! Ravel had given this order to her teammates. At least that was what Archer had guessed with his experience from lip reading. He wasn't exactly proficient but he had devoted some effort in learning the art since compared to his eyesight, his hearing wasn't really up to par even after Reinforcing it. Seeing all of them doing exactly what he thought Ravel had said, he probably wasn't far off.

"That should buy us some time." Everything had gone as predicted.

Ravel's instructions were actually right on the mark. Facing an opponent who could do such a large scale bombardment from kilometers away, they should never bunch up together to prevent from being annihilated and use cover as much as possible so they aren't easily targeted. Forming into teams of twos was to make sure that all of them would have someone to watch their backs while not having a party that was big enough to be easily noticeable in the forest. Just from this, it's clear that Ravel had a talent in strategic planning. Usually, it would be wise to take her out as soon possible since denying the enemy of their strategist was one of the most basic rules of warfare.

Usually.

Unfortunately for Ravel, her moves had already been read beforehand.

"Yuuto, move east for about two hundred meters and set up one of our lightning traps. You have ten minutes. Withdraw south even if you couldn't finish it. Koneko, go northwest about a hundred meters and do the same. You've got fifteen minutes."

""Roger.""

Archer had a bird's eye view of his allies and enemies movements from where he was hiding. Ravel had underestimated him. The forest cover wasn't enough to hide themselves from his Reinforced eyes. All he had to do now was to instruct Yuuto and Koneko to prepare some traps in advance at places the enemy would pass through and they'd be able to forcefully retire maybe half of Raiser's remaining peerage. It was a good thing they had stored some scrolls with various attributes to use for setting up the traps and handed them out to everyone except Ise and himself. The both of them hadn't learned how to use them yet.

BOOM BOOM CRACK BOOM BAM RUMBLE

Looks like the fight against Raiser behind the hill was also quite intense. A small section of the forest had been turned into an ocean of flames. It couldn't compare to the Fuyuki Fire but it was still a testament to a High-Class Devil's power. And they still haven't fully matured yet.

These kids are going to be monsters once they've matured. Especially Ise. I'm going to have to step up my game if I don't want them to overtake me or be left behind in the dust. There's a reason why I only needed one Pawn piece to be turned.

Archer didn't have any illusions about his potential. He's ahead of of everyone else right now because of his experience which spanned a few millennia but the amount of power he could wield at this moment is a testament to how low his potential really was. Others who've had the same experience might've already become a powerhouse on the same level as Zelretch or one of the Dead Apostle Ancestors already. If they were especially gifted, some might even be strong enough to fight against a TYPE. Hell, from some of the worlds he was sent to by Alaya, there were those that could subjugate a TYPE by themselves without even reaching a century of development.

And now I'm stuck in a world where Angels and Devils walk on Earth like it was only natural and I have to somehow do something especially heroic that people would remember me in legends for centuries to come to save myself from an eternity of hell of my own making. Lucky me.

Dispelling himself from those gloomy thoughts that suddenly started to rise from out of nowhere, Archer surveyed the landscape again for Ravel and her teammates progress but before he could do so-

BOOM

[Rias Gremory-sama's [Queen] retires!]

What?!

The sound of a huge explosion followed by the announcement almost made him abandon his post. He had only turned around and took one step before stopping himself from moving any further but every single fiber of his being wanted to rush at the scene with Raiser to find out what happened. It was only with great self-control that he managed to keep himself composed and forced himself to calmly analyse the situation.

She's fine. This is the Rating Game. Even if she's injured, the healing specialists that were prepared beforehand would nurse her back to health.

With great effort, he managed to force himself to calm down but he still had to grit his teeth to keep his anger and frustration from going out of control. As he convinced himself to first complete his task before anything else, he continued what he was doing before.

The two teams that he was targeting for would enter the range of the traps that Yuuto and Koneko had managed to set up while another team of two Rooks were holing themselves behind some huge rock formations that could be considered adequate cover from long range snipers while resting. As for Ravel's team, all he could see was her partner Karlamine who was taking cover behind a large tree. Ravel herself was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did she-?"

Before he could completely sound his confusion, he felt a sudden spike of Demonic Energy to the West of the hill he was currently hiding on and a moment later, a giant fire bird reminiscent of a Phoenix that was described in myths and legends was headed towards him. Not even having the time to think about anything else, he was forced to rely on his instincts to let him Project something to protect himself.

"Rho Aias!"

KABOOM

The Phoenix collided with the seven petaled flower-like shield and the result was a huge explosion of flames that engulfed the top of the hill. High temperature flames had burned the trees and ground on the hill in an instant upon contact. It was a truly devastating magic attack. The only place that was safe from the flames was the ground where Archer was standing and the immediate vicinity behind his back. Rho Aias had already disappeared after it's use was no longer needed.

That was close. One of the layers was almost pierced.

It seems instead of the enemy underestimating him, he had underestimated the enemy instead. He was puzzled how Ravel could approach this close to the hill to cast that spell without him noticing until he saw something strange about the ground behind Ravel. When he looked closely, he noticed that the ground wasn't actually level like he initially thought, which created a blind spot if looked from where he currently was. Although he couldn't see it, he guessed that it might be a small ravine that was hidden from his view.

Looks like thinking that he had a good grasp of the geography had backfired on him. It's not like he had mapped every inch of the whole area when he was here last time. Not noticing that there was a blind spot from his position had almost cost him dearly. This compounded with his earlier distracted moment gave Ravel the chance to close their distance in one single move. Fortunately, he was able to defend himself but if someone like Assassin with Presence Concealment had been the enemy, he'd be dead by now.

Still, Ravel also had to pay a big price for that attack just now. Whatever spell or technique she had used, it fully drained her of all of her Demonic Energy. From what he could see, she was already unconscious seeing that she was lying face down on the ground and not moving at all except from her breathing.

[Raiser Phenex-sama's [Bishop] retires!]

Just as he thought, Ravel's body started to be transported outside of the field. Most likely, she had used a forbidden kamikaze attack just to make sure that she would take him down. It would answer the question of why the destructive power of the attack was so high despite her exhausted state. Although she had given her all on that last attack, it had failed but it seems that she had given some orders to her teammates in advance because the moment his view started to clear from the flames, all seven of her remaining teammates tried to rush to the hill. Keyword 'tried'.

CRACK BOOM x2

[Raiser Phenex-sama's four [Pawns] retires!]

It might've been a bit later than expected but the traps they had set up had finally been triggered. He had specifically targeted the four Pawns that had Promoted to Queen since at that moment, they were their biggest threats excluding Ravel. The only ones left were the two Rooks who had exhausted themselves already and one Knight. Yuuto should be able to handle Karlamine by himself while the two Rooks, Isabela and Xuelan, won't be much of a problem for Koneko.

"Yuuto, Karlamine is currently heading your way. Be ready for her. Koneko, the two remaining Rooks are-"

[Raiser Phenex loses. He retires. This is the end of the game. Rias Gremory Team's victory!]

Before Archer could finish his instructions, Grayfia's announcement of their victory was made.


A/N: Well, that's it for now. Next chapter is the fight with Raiser and the conclusion of this arc. And don't forget to review.