"Rias should have accepted my offer a month ago." Riser Phenex leaned back in his seat, the Student Council room his to do with as he pleased. "It'll be unpleasant to have to beat my own wife senseless but she is just obsessed with refusing all my offers, all my gifts, and-" Fires burst to life around him, the women that made up his Peerage all stepped away from their suddenly enraged King. "-and now she's brought in that human to fight for her. The boy who I will personally be incinerating for daring to even look at my wife, dare to lie right to my face, and dare to insult my wife right in front of me. He'll wish that he'd never been born by the time I'm finished with him."
"You shouldn't concern yourself with the actions of a human Riser-sama, allow your servants to go out and bring him to you for his punishment." His Queen, Yubelluna, approached him, laid a hand on his flaming shoulder and hoped it didn't hurt her. Such an act proved her master maintained control of himself despite his rage as the fires around his died down to pale embers instead of the inferno they once were. "We will handle this dreadful business while you speak with your misbehaving wife."
"Leave the boy to me no matter what." Riser gave his order. It would be obeyed by his Peerage. "Do whatever you want to the rest of them but I'll incinerate him in front of her as a wedding gift."
"Of course, Riser-sama." Yubelluna bowed even if his back was turned to her. She rose and turned to the others. "You heard Riser-sama, leave only the boy. Retire the rest."
The Peerage rushed to do the bidding of their King. Rias Gremory would be left alone but the rest of her Peerage would fall to their might. She would have no chance then. Her Demonic Power may be great and her Power of Destruction may be greater but she could not triumph over the might of Riser Phenex. He was their invincible King after all.
"Where the hell am I?" Issei had taken a wrong turn on the way to where he thought Riser was staying at for the Rating Game. He found himself beneath the school, pipes running above his head and a fair number of concrete walkways stretched out to the four compass directions. "Which one do I take?" He glanced to all four before sighing eventually. "Moss grows on the north, the sun sets in the west but rises in the east…what does any of that mean?" Issei brought a hand up to his face as he blindly chose a path. "I hope I don't regret this."
'W-What the hell is he doing?' Sirzechs looked on as Issei went in the completely wrong direction. 'He's supposed to be saving my sister's happiness? Why doesn't he just punch his way out like I know he can?' He was the picture of calm and decorum on the outside but his rage was growing on the inside. He wanted to rip through the barriers and snatch Issei up by his throat.
He didn't care that such a tactic would be ineffective with King's Dragon. He wanted to make the boy feel pain for his stupidity. He wanted him to suffer if he was going to let his sister get hurt while he got himself lost!
"Lucifer-sama." Grayfia knew him too well. She reached out and took hold of his hand. It was one of their rare public displays and he used it to focus. "Don't worry."
"My sister's happiness is on the line Grayfia." Sirzechs glanced to the screen and felt his rage build once more. Issei was lost at another intersection. "He's my trump card and he doesn't even seem to care despite what happens to him if he fails. He told me himself he doesn't want to join her Peerage."
"Perhaps he has faith in your sister." Grayfia's words made his eyes widen, only a fraction and he quickly regained control of himself but it still happened. Grayfia caught the minute movement and he saw the small smile she wore despite how quickly it vanished. "You trained her yourself for a month, prepared her all you could, and he is allowing her to show how strong she has become thanks to her Onii-sama."
"I-" Sirzechs wanted to laugh at himself in that moment. He hardly withheld the urge, hardly maintained the proper decorum of an Ultimate Class Devil. "I've been so worried about her for so long I guess I thought Issei would end this as quickly as he possibly could. I never thought he would take this on with anything less than absolutely seriousness."
"Why are there so many paths to take?" Issei let his head fall forward. He rose it and looked between the options presented to him.
One path was brightly lit by a number of lights hanging on either side of the ceiling. The walls were pristine, looked to be freshly painted almost, and seemed to almost beckon him forward.
The other was hardly lit, flickering bulbs running down the center of the ceiling hardly doing their job. Most were out. The walls were cracked and it looked to be on the verge of collapsing.
"This is impossible." Issei turned around and froze. Four paths were presented to him and he looked to each of them. "Which way did I come from?" He looked to each of them, looked down at his feet, and tried to draw a line with his eyes on where he had walked in from.
It was impossible. He turned back around with a shake of his head.
"I'll pick one of these two then." He strode forward to be closer to the fork in his road and looked to both options before him. "One of these is probably a trap…" Issei shrugged his shoulders and took the dark path.
"He's an idiot."
"He probably is." Grayfia agreed with her husband. "If he becomes a member of Rias-sama's Peerage, could you have him challenge Riser for the marriage contract in exchange for freedom?"
"That was my original plan but no one from her own Peerage was strong enough to battle Riser with a chance of victory. As for his freedom, I'm not so sure."
Koneko and Yuuto stood together as they waited for the battle they both knew was coming. A Demon Sword rested at Yuuto's side and Koneko wore a pair of gloves. Her appearance had also been changed with the addition of cat ears and a single white tail.
"I thought I wouldn't get a chance to fight when Hyoudou left early." Yuuto did not like Issei but waiting in silence was only making him more and more anxious. "I thought for sure he would attack Riser before any of us could get close to fighting any of his Peerage."
"He's probably lost." Koneko's eyes looked for their approaching foes, both could feel them coming closer and closer. "I think he gets lost easily."
"Where is the human?" The voice came behind them but neither turned. Both could tell the work of a Bishop's magic and knew they would only be opening themselves up to an ambush of some sort. Be it magical or physical.
"Neither of us have any idea." Yuuto stepped forward and a second Demon Sword appeared in his other hand as he lifted it, leveling the blade where he figured his enemies now hid themselves away. "But you've come to face us to get to Rias Gremory. I am her Knight, Yuuto Kiba, and I will not allow you to harm my King!" His declaration made, Yuuto rose his second Demon Sword next and crossed both in front of him. "Come forward and face me in combat."
"Ile, he's pretty stupid."
"Really stupid."
Yuuto heard the revving of the chainsaws before he saw the blurs that charged across the ground towards him. Twin turquoise haired girls threw away the gym bags they had carried their weapons with as they charged forward and Yuuto immediately stepped back. Koneko shook her head but her face remained completely blank as the Knight took cover, the Rook not bothering.
'Idiots.' The Demon Swords Yuuto had planted into the ground with Koneko's help erupted then. They were bombs at best, meant for one time use as projectiles, and it showed. He had planted a baker's dozen in the ground and four of them detonated, rose up out of the ground when the twin girls crossed over them. They both screamed as they were consumed in the explosion but Koneko felt no pity. They had Promoted to a Knight for one and a Rook for the other and such a thing guaranteed at least one of them survived the encounter.
"You saved me there Nel." The voice that came from the smoke, in addition to the renewed revving of the chainsaws showed both had survived.
"But my cute uniform is destroyed." The voice of Nel sounded back, identical to the other. "Riser-sama is going to be mad at me."
"Not if we beat these two for him." He heard ripping. "Now mine's ripped too anyway! He'll be mad at both of us!"
Yuuto charged into the smoke, swinging the sword in his left hand and unleashing a gale to blow away the dirt and smoke from his explosion and swung with his right sword. His blade was met with the roaring blade of a chainsaw but he didn't fear for it breaking. The Demon Sword was made durable to combat the two after all. He drew back and lunged forward with it, the stance he took similar to fencing but modified for the other sword in his hand.
"He's strong." He had chosen to attack the one that had Promoted to Rook it seems. Her strength was more than her small frame should allow even for a Devil.
'I shouldn't jump to conclusions through.' He stepped back, drew his right sword back and prepared to use the special ability of his left sword. 'Koneko's stronger than me and she doesn't look like much either.' He thrust forward once, twice, three, four, the number kept adding up.
A spiraling bullet of air ripped free as he used his Demonic Power to empower the blade, channeled it down to the tip at the end of each thrust. A cry came from the girl he was fighting, the one he identified as the Rook, before her sister was in front of her. Her chainsaw was durable, able to bat away the air bullets charged with Demonic Power with the flat side of it. She was rather dexterous with it and fast.
'I was right.' Yuuto drew back, settled the sword at his side with the other. 'She's the Rook and she's the Knight.' It didn't help much as the two were identical after whatever one had done. He believed it was Nel who had taken the brunt of the damage and had damaged her uniform. Ile had responded in kind by tearing her own to match. They remained almost impossible to distinguish if not for the way they stood. 'The Rook is taking point, the Knight is waiting for her to block before attacking me.'
"Nya, Ni, she's a nekomata like us." Yuuto spotted a red haired Devil approach Koneko. He couldn't do much to intervene as the Knight Pawn suddenly surged forward, forcing him to stop her chainsaw from cutting him in two at the waist with the sword in his right hand.
"She is." A voice very similar to her own answered her, a blue haired Devil at her side and both looked at the white haired Rook. "She isn't as cute as us."
"Nya, Riser-sama wouldn't want her." The red haired Devil brought her hands up to her chest, shamelessly groping her chest. "She's so small, isn't she Li?"
"She is." The blue haired Devil did the same to hers. "Riser-sama wouldn't like her like he likes us."
"I'm going to break you." Koneko didn't waste time, or address the redness to her cheeks. She attacked.
She was blocked, the red haired nekomata catching her fist with her palm and the blue haired one striking out at her stomach. She was barely fazed as she was sent crashing back through the air. The two triggered a trap from Yuuto but avoided it, the explosion not even managing to catch their respective long hair. It didn't matter regardless. From the blow she had received and the fact that her blow had been blocked, Koneko could guess the two had Promoted themselves the same way the other pair of twins had.
The red haired one was most likely the Rook and the blue haired one was most likely the Knight.
'There's more of them.' Yuuto could sense the other members of Riser's Peerage simply waiting. They no doubt feared the minefield he had left and were waiting either for the two sets of twins to defeat Koneko and him or for any of the four to be defeated and join the battle themselves. 'The threat of the bombs won't keep them back for long.' The longer one went without being triggered, the less and less time the two Devils had to end the fight. Eventually they would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers if they didn't keep them divided. 'We're outnumbered too much to let this go on for long.'
"Die already!" Nel and Ile shouted at him as both cleaved down with their chainsaws. The Knight avoided the twin blows with the expected ease but didn't keep hold of either sword any longer. They broke down as he held a hand in front of him, placing the other behind his back.
'Things are not on our side without him here.' Despite his feelings towards Issei, Yuuto knew he was powerful. He was more powerful than everyone else in the Rating Game most likely, even Riser was probably weaker than him. 'If he was here, we would probably be on our way to battle Riser right now.' Yuuto could hate the fact that he had to rely on the boy that had insulted Rias to win the Rating Game for them. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance against the Phenex no matter what he wished to think. 'He's our only shot at actually winning this…that means I have to hold them here until he gets to Riser.'
A new Demon Sword took form in his hand, a rapier that crackled with electricity. It leapt from the hilt, raced down his arm, and his hair stood on end from the charge in the air.
'I need to end this.' Yuuto charged forward with speed far surpassing his normal level, a speed already far surpassing the normal Knight. A Promoted Pawn stood no chance to stop him.
His rapier lanced through the chainsaw raised by Nel and the tip struck her in the chest. She screamed as electricity raced through her, gave her a thoroughly singed look a moment later, before Yuuto withdrew the rapier and struck the ground. It discharged as he threw himself into the air. He landed on the end of the hilt as Ile joined her sister on the ground with a groan.
"Two of Riser Phenex's Pawns have been retired." A voice sounded off from above as the two girls were taken away from the arena, both fried by Yuuto's Demon Sword. He dropped back to the ground and his eyes searched for his next opponents as he drew the weapon free.
"Who will come next?" Yuuto wasn't surprised when the idea of fairplay was gone. A pair of Knights attacked him with four Pawns who hastily Promoted to Knight. His eyes narrowed as a second rapier, identical to the other, appeared in his free hand.
'Hold the line.' He withheld a wince as more electricity raced through him. He charged forward.
"Kiba." Koneko stopped the blows of Ni and Li with ease, the two nekomata heavily outclassed by the secret nekoshou. She didn't waste any more time with the scantily clad girls and struck both of them in the stomach before they could react. They were thrown back through the air and nearly into their fellow Peerage members if they hadn't been avoided.
"Two of Riser Phenex's Pawns have been retired!" The voice sounded off from above again as the two girls were taken away from the arena just like Ile and Nel before them. Koneko didn't waste time with her victory, she joined Yuuto and turned a six on one battle into a pair of three on one battles.
"Ara Buchou, it seems Riser-san has sent his women out." Akeno stood with her in the replica of her clubroom, Gasper by the King's side. Rias wasn't disturbed at the smile her Queen wore while lightning cracked off of her form. "Should I go greet them?"
"Let Yuuto and Koneko have their fun before you get involved Akeno." Rias dismissed her with those words and her Queen eagerly flew off to battle.
'I can't believe I have to rely on Issei to win this for me.' Rias wanted to sigh but didn't. Devils across the Underworld were watching the current Rating Game and she needed to act proper. No matter how much she wanted to scream, to cry, to shout, she could do none of it. She needed to behave properly. 'I don't even know where he is.' The worry she felt was buried deep. 'How is he supposed to help me win if he's wandered off to wherever he is?'
"Where am I?" Issei felt as if he was further beneath the school then when he had started. His back hit the cracked wall behind him and he sighed. "King's Dragon."
The Stand burst to life in a blaze of red and green with a roar that made the tunnel shake.
"Just punch my way out of here." The Stand nodded before it looked to the ceiling and drew a fist back, the other hand extended forward, as if to assist it in aiming.
"ECHI!" The blow connected and the entire tunnel came down on his head.
"Oh…" Issei let his head fall. "I should have seen that coming."
"ECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHI!" King's Dragon was working overtime to keep him safe from the debris.
"Four. Four of my Pawns retired." Riser leaned back in his chair, Yubelluna rubbed his shoulders as he covered his eyes with one hand. "I can hardly believe they were that weak so Rias must have taken her training with her brother more seriously than I thought she would. I knew her and her Peerage had potential but I never figured it would be that great, increase so much in just a month to that kind of level."
"Her servants are still hardly even pitiful dogs when compared to your fearsome power Riser-sama." Yubelluna's words made him nod.
"Of course. I'm only humoring her anyway. I could have ended this in minutes but I'm not that cruel to my wife. I'll let her fight, let her come to me with her Peerage, and then I'll show her why the Phenex family is so feared." Riser smiled at the very thought. "She'll quit all this useless rebelling nonsense when she sees my power and come where she belongs."
"Your bed Riser-sama? Begging for you to treat her as she deserves?" Yubelluna leaned forward to whisper into his ear and he laughed.
"You have a talent perfect for a Queen, Yubelluna." The blonde Devil reaches up and laid his hand on her cheek, the Devil laying one of her hands over his. "You know exactly what to say to your King."
"Thank you Riser-sama." The mature Devil blushed. Praise from her King could make her no better than a human school girl.
"Ara, you two got a lot stronger in such a short amount of time. You two were always strong but it's almost scary how much you've both improved so much. Before, you two wouldn't be able to face such odds with the confidence you are now but now you can. You may even be able to beat them." Akeno floated in the air above them, lightning gathered in one hand as she took careful aim of her target. "I almost don't even feel like I need to get involved." She lowered her hand, her eyes locked onto the forms of Koneko and Yuuto. "Perhaps I'll just wait."
Koneko blocked the blows from the two women who had once wielded swords, their blades shattered from her blows and they had been forced to resort to using their fists. She winced when she failed to draw her fist back, the two Knights took hold of them, and a third, dressed with a metal bikini top and pink shroud, struck out at her. She was a Pawn that had Promoted to Knight and her blow connected with her stomach and Koneko was thrown back but held in place by the two true Knights of Riser's Peerage. The Pawn struck out again but her fist clashed with the white haired girl's foot this time. She tried to shove her away with the limb but her footing was bad, ripped away from her when the two Knights lifted her smaller frame into the air.
"Koneko!" Yuuto was a lightning clad streak across the ground. The two rapiers were held down at his side as he charged to the three that had gained the upper hand on the Rook. He was intercepted before he could reach her by the three remaining Pawns, promoted to Knight. He dodged the blows of the speed novices and ignored them in favor of reaching Koneko. He detonated a sword behind him, allowed it to distract the Devils from stopping him.
He reached the white haired girl then, thrust forward with both of his rapiers to eliminate two more enemies. The tips of his Demon Swords struck a barrier, ceased movement just long enough for the two to leap away. He succeeded in freeing Koneko but not as he would have liked.
"Yuuto." Koneko dropped down to the ground in a crouch. The Knight nodded to her as he lifted his two Demon Swords back up, withheld the desire to wince when pain coursed through his body. Koneko noticed regardless but said nothing.
No words were spoken as the battle began again, the two Knights charging forward once more and attacking ahead of the others. They were novices when it came to using the speed of a Knight and would act as support once the two more use to the speed occupied the two Devils. Yuuto darted forward ahead of Koneko, engaged them first and kept them at a distance with his lightning backed strikes. Each thrust sent forward a bullet of lightning with a small cost to Demonic Power and the six had realized the power behind each rather quickly. It was a painful experience, debilitating enough for any of them to be defeated while they were consumed by the electricity.
Koneko attacked the other four, the Promoted Pawns surprised at the speed the Rook moved at. Her blow struck the ground, sending them all scattering to avoid the debris she unleashed and she leaped after who she deemed the slowest. She had the most difficulty when it came to fighting Yuuto, the wooden staff she made use of part of a fighting style wildly different from the typical Knight. She aimed to retire her and move onto the other three before backing up Yuuto while he dealt with the two disarmed Knights.
She was stopped when two Rooks made themselves known, struck her with strength fitting a Rook. She was sent crashing into the ground and away from her target but she rose back to her feet with some difficulty to the act. She didn't let the effects of the surprise attack show. She didn't let her anger show either.
'Stupid.' She rose her fists up, readied herself for battle once more. 'I forgot about them.' Koneko's eyes shot to the Pawns she had been aiming to attack, saw them look to the two Rook's for guidance. All four didn't waste time at some unspoken signal, charging towards Yuuto. She attempted to intervene of course.
The Rooks intercepted her, their teamwork surprising her as she was floored once more. A double punch had sent her across the ground like a rock skipped across the surface of a lake. She hit the old school building they had been attempting to defend and brushed the rubble off her shoulders. She rose back to feet to no surprise from the two Rooks she fought. They were the same, knew how durable she was, knew what had to be done to remove her from the Rating Game.
'We can't win.' Yuuto knew it the moment the Rooks arrived. 'We've beaten only four of them and Pawns at that, probably the less skilled ones judging from the others here. There's eight of them here. Four Pawns Promoted to Knights, two Knights, and now two Rooks. It was hardly fair six on two but eight on two?'
He made a decision.
He planted his paired Demon Swords into the ground and they immediately created a bright flash. He threw himself back and detonated the remaining blades, others sprouting across the ground from the two Demon Swords he had left impaled there. The explosions weren't designed to retire any more of Riser's Pieces, just a smokescreen as he reached Koneko.
"Fall back." It wasn't a question but he nodded his head when she spoke. She nodded in turn and the two Devils left to another prepared field.
"Pursue those two." One of the Rooks seemed to be in charge above the others, a Bishop hidden from sight emerged cautiously. The Pawns nodded before they took off with the speed of Knights after the single Knight and Rook of Rias Gremory.
A bolt of lightning retired the Bishop.
"One of Riser Phenex's Bishops has been retired!" The voice announced such just as Akeno dropped to the ground, smiling at her future victims. The two Rooks were the main threat, could prove troublesome if not dealt with now.
"Akeno Himejima." One of the Rooks, dressed in a cheongsam, looked to her with undisguised worry but it was swiftly gone. "You are quite the powerful Devil to defeat Riser-sama's Bishop in one blow." She brought her fist into her palm. "Riser-sama will be glad the two of us defeated you before moving on to your King and that human."
"Issei-kun?" Akeno continued to smile at the two even as their powers clashed, the powers of a Queen against the powers of two Rooks. It was only a struggle because of the quantity against her and only just. "Why are you so interested in a normal human?"
"Normal?" The other Rook, a half mask on her face, snorted. "Riser-sama knows of his power, has seen it with his own eyes, and we have all felt it when it struck out at us." Both began to circle around her, take her from the sides it seemed. "There is nothing normal about such a boy and Riser-sama shall deal with him without mercy or pity. Rias-sama will learn why she should have forfeited this Rating Game when our King beats the boy in front of her."
"Ara ara." Akeno moved further back as she lifted a hand to cover her giggling mouth, the bat-like Devil wings emerged from her back but didn't lift her into the air. "You two are so talkative."
"We know you don't stand a chance against us." Both attacked, speeds that weren't fitting to Rooks but Akeno moved faster.
She was a Queen after all.
She was behind the Rook in the cheongsam and her hands were filled with electricity as she wrapped her arms around her waist and lifted her into the air with the strength of a Rook. Riser's Rook struggled for only a moment before the lightning ripped through her and Akeno smiled at the writhing form locked in her arms. She struggled, tried to free herself with trembling hands, but the voltage from Akeno's hands only increased and she had no choice but to give up and scream. The Queen of the Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess flew higher, avoided the stones thrown at her with enough force to knock her out the air.
"Release her!" She threw more stones, large chunks of the ground ripped free and hurled through the air. A barrier of flames engulfed Akeno as she flew higher into the air, avoided more projectiles as the Rook continued to scream in her grasp.
"You were so certain you could beat me, weren't you?" She whispered to the Rook as the electricity ceased, her limp body nearly nothing but dead weight the Queen could easily lift. "You were so certain I would fall to such a telegraphed attack, weren't you?" She couldn't help herself, the trembling form in her arms made bliss course through her body. "You should have planned better."
She released the Rook, let her slam into the ground where lightning and fire erupted from her.
"One of Riser Phenex's Rooks has been retired." The voice called out even as she shot down with the speed of a Knight, slammed into the sole remaining Rook with missile like force, and powered her back even as they hands locked together. The Rook tried to stand her ground but failed, she was powered back across the ground and her feet split the ground with a trench that was growing.
"You're stronger than you let on." Akeno now knew who was stronger. The Rook she was facing was probably only below Riser's Queen in raw power and had most likely been the field commander while the Queen remained with Riser. "I'm almost afraid of what you might do to me."
"You should be." She tried to stop herself once more, dig her feet into the ground, but Akeno was still a Queen. A Rook was strong but a Queen was faster, stronger, and simply more powerful in too many ways to count. She struggled while Akeno continued to push, continued to drag her across the ground.
"I'm almost afraid of what you could do to my King's other pieces." Akeno suddenly stopped. The Rook was surprised but immediately threw herself forward, tried to force the Queen to the ground to no avail. She tightened her hold on the Rook's hands and she winced as she forced them back, forced her to a knee as her feet touched down on the ground.
"You're still nothing compared to me." Electricity ripped through them both. The Rook was engulfed in agony, pale yellow lightning consuming her more and more as the seconds ticked by agonizingly slowly. She was reduced to only an existence of pain, an existence devoted solely to her own agony, and she could hardly scream anymore.
Akeno only smiled at the pain.
The Rook collapsed onto her back.
"Riser Phenex's other Rook has been retired." The voice called out as Akeno smiled down at her defeated foe, her twitching form consumed by light that marked transportation away from a Rating Game arena. She lifted herself into the air and began to fly away.
She needed to assist Yuuto and Koneko after all.
"Sword." Koneko leaped over Yuuto's fallen form even as the hilt of a Demon Sword, a massive two handed monstrosity, ripped forward from the ground near his feet. She took hold of the large handle with both hands and her feet touched the ground. her body formed a near perfect arch before she ripped the blade free.
More Demon Swords ripped free of the ground, formed a ring to keep the enemy Devils contained as ice that could chill the very soul flash froze a dome stronger than steel around them. The cold temperature let the air that escaped from their lungs show as Yuuto kipped up to his feet, a new Demon Sword in both hands. He could hardly stand but he refused to allow Koneko to fight the six Devils that had pursued them alone.
"His Sacred Gear is a problem." The armored Knight that had been disarmed very early on looked at him with some worry. Her fellow Knight nodded. Both looked to the Demon Swords in his hands and both charged him with speed he should have been able to outpace.
He was exhausted and wounded, momentarily attacked and pummeled by all six before Koneko had recovered from a blow to the back when they had initially caught up with them. He couldn't defend himself well but he didn't intend to.
He let them take the Demon Swords from his hands and rushed to cover, a wall of the same massive blade Koneko was making use of to keep the Promoted Pawns away forming in front of him. Koneko noticed and slammed her sword in front of her, embedding it into the ground.
Seconds later, hellfire consumed the two Knights.
"Riser Phenex's Knights have been retired." The voice called out even as the inferno still raged, soared upward as a mighty tower, and clashed against the frozen dome. The flames failed to bypass the thick ice, were forced to consume the inside of the dome instead. Water fell down onto his head, matted it down in moments, but Yuuto smiled regardless.
The battle had shifted to their favor at last.
Koneko attacked the Pawns with her massive blade while they stood in shock of what they had seen. They couldn't even scream as her blade cut through the air.
Two more fell.
A pair of fresh rapiers took hold of his hands, lightning engulfed him. He winced but threw himself forward and attacked.
The last two fell.
"Riser Phenex's four remaining Pawns have been retired." The voice sounded off as the two fell.
Yuuto gave a grim smile even as he collapsed. He was lucky Koneko was there to catch him. The ice dome dissolved around them, the swords vanishing from existence with their purpose complete.
"I wish I had managed my Demonic Power better now." Yuuto managed to smile at Koneko as the small Devil supported his weight. His body was exhausted, his hasty strategy showing its effects. "Rias-sama is going to be mad at me for wasting so much power."
"She will." Koneko didn't strain with his weight, she carried him with ease as her wings emerged from her back and she took to the air. "Let's go see her."
"R-Right." Yuuto forced his eyes to remain open, forced himself to remain in the Rating Game until the last possible moment.
'I have to stand by Rias's side for as long as I can.'
"Impressive." Sirzechs looked to where the two families watched the Rating Game, the fathers locking eyes as they both spoke at the same time.
"Your daughter's Peerage is quite impressive."
"Yes, she has good taste in members."
"This is getting bothersome." A separate screen continued to show where Issei was, buried underneath the school with King's Dragon easily supporting the weight with its armored arms. "I should have been up by now but this place just had to collapse." He closed his eyes as he threw his head back, one hand leaving his pocket to rest in his hair. "I can't help but feel I'm missing a lot while I'm stuck down here."
"The boy is less impressive." Riser's father, most of the Devils in the room in truth, looked to the human with barely disguised contempt. Sirzechs was glad for it. He would be sure to have a copy of the recording to look at when they all saw what Issei could truly do.
'Enough games Issei.' Sirzechs forced down his worry. 'My sister can't beat Riser. Do your job.'
"I need to get out of here." Issei's eyes snapped open. They were empty of anything, no light shined in those orbs. They were similar to a corpse or perhaps worse, corpses did not move at least. They did not move with such hollowness in their hearts with every action.
A green sphere engulfed him suddenly. King's Dragon vanished as Issei was lifted up from the ground, lifted through rubble that crumbled upon contact with the crackling energy that raced across the emerald surface of his shield.
'The Dragon Shield.' Sirzechs could identify the shield now. He had seen glimpses of it when he personally trained Issei and had begun to gather a healthy amount of caution towards what had to truly be the ultimate in defense. 'King's Dragon ability to manipulate all types of energy is devoted solely to the sphere around Issei and it excels. Any power used against him is turned into power for the sphere, any attack launched at him is consumed and redirected at Issei's leisure. No matter the energy, no matter the attack, King's Dragon can analyze it and replicate it with the Dragon Shield. Coupled with the Boosted Gear's power to double his strength and King's Dragon own tremendous might, Issei possesses a technique that is truly a terrifying combination.'
Issei continued to rise, the emerald sphere destroying all it touched with ease. It was familiar to Sirzechs only because shock had burned it forever into his memory.
'He can even replicate the Power of Destruction.'
Issei finally broke the surface and the sphere broke down, King's Dragon appearing behind him and dropping him to the ground as he yawned.
"Finally, I made it." Issei stood at the end of the hall, directly across from the Student Council room. "The place collapsed on top of me for me to get here but I might have luck on my side after all." King's Dragon moved behind him as he moved towards the door.
"Hmm?" Inside the Student Council room, Yubelluna looked to the door as she felt a strange power at it. "Excuse me for a moment Riser-sama." The King did not answer, he had fallen into deep thought when he had heard the announcement of nearly his entire Peerage being retired. They had utterly failed to defeat even a single of his future wife's Pieces. He was reworking his strategy it seemed.
"Hey." Knocking came from the door just as Yubelluna reached it. "Do I have to knock this thing down or something or are you going to answer?" The voice was unmistakable to the Queen, to the Bishop, and the King. The sole remaining Bishop let fear cross her face as she threw herself behind her suddenly standing brother. The Queen froze, looked to the King, and he gave a harsh nod.
She, the Devil given the title of "Bomb Queen", destroyed the door with an eruption. She unleashed a second, then a third, and finally a fourth blast larger than the other three put together before she paused and looked to the smoking doorway and ruined hallway. She saw nothing among the scorched debris, the smoke that hung in the air, and the flames that burned. She smiled.
Emerald light briefly shimmered through the smoke.
"ECHI!" King's Dragon surged forward without warning and struck her. She was thrown back and onto the table the Student Council would meet at, dazed eyes looking up at nothing.
"I wish you hadn't done that." Issei sighed as King's Dragon vanished from sight. "I was hoping to not have to do much fighting but I guess I was wrong." He stepped into the room through the ruined doorway. Flames shot towards him almost instantly as a fireball but King's Dragon batted them aside with its sudden reappearance.
"Riser Phenex." Issei didn't need to say his name but felt like it as he caught sight of the Devil. He looked at the blonde Devil across from him and sighed. "I'm going to have to beat you if I want to get my life back on track so let's get this over with. I've been dying to sleep in my own bed for almost a month now."
"W-" King's Dragon's armored hand threw him out the window via a blow to his face. Issei strode towards the shattered glass, not bothering to spare the two other Devils in the room a glance. He had already defeated one and the other wasn't a threat. The one on the table tried to attack him with the same explosion that had consumed the hallway but King's Dragon was in front of her, crushed her hand in an armored grip, and slammed her head through the solid table with the other curled into a fist.
"ECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHI!" It pummeled her, forced her body through the floor, and sent her crashing down and through the levels of the school below. "ECHI!" It drew one fist up before it struck straight down and unleashed an emerald beam that lanced through her chest before she could rise.
"Riser Phenex's Queen has been retired." The voice was numb with shock but still professional enough not to stumble over their words. The source had a right to be as no one had expected to see a Queen defeated with such ease. The human that had done so only yawned, raising a hand from his pocket to his open mouth to cover it.
"Are you going to do the same?" Issei didn't continue forward. He stopped but didn't look back at the younger Devil. He could hear her shaking actually, knew the fear she felt without even bothering to look at her. She was numb with shock, frozen thanks to her terror at the power before her. It was truly only a matter of time before she took one of two actions and he wanted one more than he wanted the other. "Forfeit if you don't want me to have to do the same to you."
No words came. He sighed.
"Alright then." King's Dragon threw itself forward with emerald light flashing from its fist. Riser's flaming form flew back in through the shattered window and intercepted it. Issei's eyes actually widened at the heat of the flames as King's Dragon pulled him out of the way. He quickly schooled his features. "King's Dragon."
A green sphere engulfed him without another moment wasted, the same green sphere that had engulfed him below the school but it lacked the crackling energy. He couldn't take any more chances. King's Dragon would be preoccupied for the most part and he couldn't risk losing the advantage just to have it defend him from a surprise attack.
"How dare you try to touch my sister." Riser glanced to the girl and Issei's eye twitched.
'Why do I keep attacking the family of powerful people?' This was the second time he had enraged an opponent over something like that. First Sirzechs with Grayfia and now Riser with, from her appearance, he had to have just attacked his little sister.
"I'm not the one who brought her into this." Issei was resolute, determined not to take the blame for this one. "You should have known better than to bring your sister here, endanger her safety with the power of your opponents and even yourself. With your power, you could hurt her just as easily as I could if you forgot she was here, let yourself be consumed by the heat of battle." Issei pointed a finger of accusation at the Devil across from him. Said Devil's glare was matched with eyes that held only cold analysis at the sight in front of them. "There is only one conclusion as to why you brought her here and it is simple: You must truly hate her to expose her to the terrors of a battlefield like this." At Riser's disbelieving look, even if his hatred remained, Issei dropped his hand and shrugged his shoulders. "It's not my fault if she gets hurt even if I target her." He ignored the growing rage on the Devil's face, ignored it with ease bordering on contempt. "Age, race, gender, none of it matters to me right now. You could have brought your grandparents here if you wanted and I'll beat them the same way I plan to do to you. Bring your dog, bring your mother, you could even bring out a newborn fresh from his mother's womb and I still wouldn't care. Whatever protected them in the normal world is gone when I stand across from them here. It's replaced only with two simple ideas: the enemy and the ally. If you are an enemy, you are to be destroyed. If you are an ally, you are to be preserved. It's as simple as that. If you can't understand that, it's not my problem or my concern."
"Don't look at me like that Riser Phenex and tell your sister do the same if you care for her so much despite being so foolish." Issei grew tired of the shock that had spread on both of their faces. "You fully intend to do the same to me, would do the same to my family if they were your enemy, and I only aim to return the favor to a Devil like you. If you were stupid enough to bring someone you cared for into this battle, be unprepared to lose them to the might of your enemies, and then be insane enough to question an enemy attacking one so important yet so weak, you aren't as smart as I thought you were. All I've been told about your tactical genius must be nothing but a lie you or your family has spread to others to hide how much of an idiot you really are."
Issei struck a nerve with those words. Power erupted around the Devil he had just insulted. An inferno rose to do his bidding and Issei's eyes narrowed as he saw the younger Devil stand within the inferno, unperturbed by the heat that would have made him sweat if not for the barrier around him.
'Ravel Phenex.' Sirzechs had told him of the members of Riser's Peerage and she was one of the most recent additions. She was his younger sister, inducted for reasons he didn't care to know and so didn't care to ask Sirzechs when he told them all. She was an enemy and would be defeated. That was all Issei cared for.
A Devil, no matter their form, was still a Devil after all.
"King's Dragon." He spoke the name of his Stand and it surged forward.
"ECHIECHICHIECHI!" Riser seemed surprised at the armored warrior's speed, unable to respond to any of the blows sent against him and sent crashing through his inferno and through a handful of walls before coming to a stop. He wouldn't be incapacitated for long.
"I'm going to test your regeneration now Riser Phenex." Issei wished he didn't wear his school uniform to the Rating Game now. It was very hot with the fires around him, it made him sweat, made the clothes cling to his skin in ways he was not comfortable having to deal with. "Attack me now or I'll attack your sister."
The Devil let out a grasp when King's Dragon swept her up by the front of her dress in one armored hand and drew the other back. She looked to him, panicked, and her pleas to stop, to reconsider, died before they left her mouth. The way he looked at her, as an object to be used above all else, showed precisely what she was to him. Fires engulfed her instead and Issei rose an eyebrow at the sight.
'Family magic then?' He had King's Dragon throw her into the charging Riser as he moved back towards the shattered window. King's Dragon looked to him and he nodded. A number of green platforms were created for him to step down. King's Dragon hovered at his shoulder as he did so. His feet touched the ground and the platforms reshaped themselves. They shot back into King's Dragon as green spheres. Issei began walking across the schoolyard. 'Both have the same type of regeneration then. She probably doesn't have the same level as him but it's probably enough to be a pain, let her come back from things that'll put Rias and any of her Peerage down so I can't make this easy on them.'
Issei sighed as the school turned into an inferno behind him. He could feel the heat, King's Dragon ripped the debris that almost rained down on him to pieces with its blows, and he turned around to see the sight of Riser and Ravel shooting forward on wings of fire.
'These two are definitely brother and sister.' They both held the same hate for him in their eyes. He sighed as he slid his hands into his pocket. King's Dragon brought its fists together with a sound akin to thunder. Green energy enshrouded its form in an emerald aura before it launched itself forward with a shout.
"ECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHI!" It ripped into both with its energy clad fists, blades of energy ripped forward, sprouted from their backs with each impact of the Stand's armored fists. Issei looked on with nothing in his eyes as Ravel fell first, powered into the air with an uppercut that unleashed a blade through her skull. Fires consumed her body now, would no doubt be healing her, just as an inferno surged forward on the fists of Riser Phenex. He was angry at the state his sister had been left in regardless of its lack of permanence. He wanted to hurt him for hurting his sister and would do so.
King's Dragon's fist clashed with his one of his own, an inferno roared against a blast of emerald light. Neither proved victorious before King's Dragon drew back and Issei lifted one hand free of his pockets. Power surrounded his arm and the Boosted Gear appeared.
"Boost." The gauntlet sounded off. Issei's eyes didn't widen or narrow when Riser's face widened with shock. "Boost."
The gauntlet continued to sound off as King's Dragon made use of the opportunity given by its appearance to deliver a flurry of blows to Riser Phenex.
"ECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHIECHI!" King's Dragon excelled with single opponents, able to devote itself entirely to the obliteration of the threat. It could prioritize pure offense over any defense this way. It also helped Issei had made use of his Dragon Shield from the very beginning of his confrontation with Riser.
He saw Ravel recover, an inferno burst to life in her hands before it was fired forward as a flaming torrent. He was unconcerned with it. Riser Phenex was occupied with King's Dragon and King's Dragon was occupied with Riser Phenex. He was sure he would hit the limit of his regeneration given time and he had plenty of it. The fires unleashed by Ravel washed over him but they only made the barrier around him shine brighter. It was a dull green compared to the bright emerald it now was. Ravel looked at him in shock before Issei extended his hand towards her.
"Dragon Shot." He missed but the explosion was massive. She avoided direct contact with the sphere but she didn't stand a chance of escaping the explosion.
'I'm lucky I can store power in the Boosted Gear.' It was a wonderful thing to fall asleep with the Boosted Gear active, funnel all of that power into the Sacred Gear to be used later. 'With the risk it runs to me if I use the Boost to much, King's Dragon automatically funnels the energy my body can't handle back to it and it absorbs it with the gem. I can hardly Boost a solid dozen times. Two minutes. After that, King's Dragon takes over and shunts the power back to the Boosted Gear. The Boosted Gear keeps doubling my maximum power and King's Dragon keeps pouring it back into the Boosted Gear. An endless cycle until I wake up. The only problem is how the damn thing sounds off 'Boost' every ten seconds and I'm stuck trying to go to sleep through it.'
"So, that's the power of a Longinus like the Boosted Gear?" Riser moved away from King's Dragon and the Stand did not pursue him. It instead moved in front of Issei, crossed its armored arms, and waited for the battle between itself and the Devil to continue. The human didn't have any reason to answer the Devil's question so didn't bother with responding. "Impressive."
"Dragon Shot." An inferno surged forward, created a shield around the two Devils, and the Dragon Shot struck the ground at their feet. A shower of dirt was thrown into the air, thrown over the fire and Issei's opponents.
'It's always best to suffocate fires.' Issei didn't need to direct King's Dragon, it struck the air and unleashed a sphere from each of its knuckles that raced forward through the air. Riser saw them all coming of course, could feel their power, but he thought his flames were stronger.
They were strong to stop the first few dozen but King's Dragon unleashed hundreds. It continued to strike the air, continued to unleash the destructive spheres, and Riser's flames roared against them. Ravel noticed and flames surged around her, formed a new layer to the barrier.
Brother and sister were united against him.
"Dragon Shot." Issei added his own nearly titanic blasts in comparison to the barrage. Three emerald spheres flew forward from his raised palm and erupted around Riser and Ravel. The younger Devil screamed at the sudden explosions and Issei allowed King's Dragon to surge forward as he pushed himself forward. "Dragon Shot." He fired again and hoped his aim was correct.
"Ravel!" He was accurate. Ravel's form was thrown from the inferno as Riser let loose a roar as power gathered in front of him as he threw his arms out to the side before bringing them together in front of him. Fires soared forward, took on the shape of a phoenix, and King's Dragon reappeared in front of Issei as he continued forward.
"ECHI!" It formed a barrier with one hand before striking it with the other, sending it forward and slamming into the flaming copy of the mythical bird. The barrier wrapped around it, took it on as a sphere as Issei ignored it as King's Dragon picked him up, flew faster with the power he funneled to it from the Boosted Gear.
'Damn.' Riser saw him, knew where he was heading, but was preoccupied with the attack that had been turned against him. The sphere surged towards him with a blow from King's Dragon sending it forward, and he saw his flames be condensed as it shrunk from its massive size to something no bigger than a baseball. 'I need to stop it.' He couldn't control the flames anymore, couldn't force them to dissipate or expand, and knew what would happen when the sphere touched anything.
It would rupture and create an inferno like no other. It would be like the sun as the flames shifted to a blazing emerald. Riser threw his hands forward, a magic circle appearing on each of his palms before they merged and he drew them back. Fires surged forward, split into three streams coming from the sides and above, and a central fireball ripped through the air. He immediately threw himself towards Ravel, flaming wings forming on his back and adding to his speed. He was a High-class Pureblooded Devil, a Devil with the potential to be the next Satan if he was to achieve the Ultimate-class status, and he refused to have his sister hurt by the human charging towards her.
"King's Dragon." The Stand broke away from Issei and charged towards him. An emerald sphere continued to consume Issei as he broke into a run, aided by the power of the Boosted Gear. Ravel was still airborne from his throw and had frozen up.
"ECHIECHIECHIECHIECHI!" King's Dragon clashed with Riser, his fire backed blows matched and exceeded by the Stand. He struggled to keep pace, to keep moving forward, but the Stand was beginning to force him back, force him into a stalemate that he couldn't escape from.
Issei reached Ravel, snatched her out of the air with an emerald chain fired from underneath the Boosted Gear.
"Transfer."
The emerald barrier shattered before reforming around her. It shimmered and Ravel screamed as she was lifted into the air.
Issei immediately called King's Dragon back to him. Riser charged forward and Ravel screamed again when emerald lances ripped through her body from the sphere around her.
"I've transferred one of my attacks to your sister." Issei didn't really need to state the obvious but he did. "I know you can regenerate so it'll be a pain to beat you so I've decided to try something else." Ravel screamed when lightning coursed down the lances, ripped across her body. "Your sister has the same regeneration as you but I doubt it's at the same level. You're a lot stronger than her so you can probably take a lot more physical punishment than she ever could." She screamed when the lances began to widen, flames coursed down her body as her regeneration kicked in. Issei turned a pair of bored eyes to her as the sphere shimmered once more. A blade ripped through her skull. "I figure one of two things will happen." Issei held up one finger on the hand not covered by the Boosted Gear. "One, I keep that up until her regeneration is over with and she retires from the game." Issei held up a second finger as emerald flames consumed the sphere, their roaring louder than Ravel's screams. "Two, you, the caring older brother, forfeits the Rating Game to spare your sister her fate."
Issei dropped his hand back to his side and locked eyes with Riser. Ravel's screams returned as the fires died down, allowed her to regenerate partially, before they surged forward again. The lances receded as the flames died down once more, allowed Ravel to regenerate partially once more before the fires rushed to consume her once more. She screamed again, louder with mostly repaired vocal chords.
"I know this is a hard choice for a Devil like you, a creature so filled with pride." Issei dropped his hand back into his pocket as he drew up the hand that the Boosted Gear covered. "I'll help you come to a decision faster."
"You w-" Issei laid a hand on the sphere.
"Gift." He gave the sphere more of his power before Riser could finish. The flames completely consumed Ravel as her screams ended. Riser charged forward with a roar but King's Dragon met him in front of Issei, its armored fist stopping his flaming hands.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Riser struggled to bypass the defense of King's Dragon to no avail. Power surged around him, Demonic Power that dwarfed many in the Underworld, and he roared with his rage. His flames burned hotter, grew brighter and brighter, and he burned through such great Demonic Power.
'Good, keep doing that.' The fearsome power of his flames was completely useless against King's Dragon. It matched his blows before it depleted him of his power, took it for itself, and prepared to attack with it. Issei's eyes turned to the shaking form within the repurposed Dragon Shield. 'I'll keep doing this until his power falls enough.' He was sweating but didn't let it worry him, simply pushed more of the power of the Boosted Gear out and allowed it to consume him. His body cooled thanks to it, was protected from the growing and growing heat as red hot flames began to turn into something new, something far more powerful.
His flames were slowly becoming white.
The air itself began to burn, the ground he stood on turned molten before it began to turn into nothingness, and soon even King's Dragon found itself facing the ordeal of the flames.
'Damn.' Issei looked at his unarmored arm as it began to redden, King's Dragon's fist becoming enshrouded in burning green flames of energy far earlier than he intended. 'I didn't think this Riser guy could bring the heat up this much.' Issei looked to the trembling form inside the sphere. 'I need to speed this up.'
Ravel's screams as his emerald flames engulfed her made Riser's rage grow, made his power engulf him in a wasteful aura, and it continued to burn as King's Dragon continued to match the Devil blow for blow. It was growing trying but it continued to do so.
'More rage.' Issei allowed a multitude of emerald blades to turn Ravel into a pincushion without regret. She gave out a scream he cut short when flames burned around her neck, nearly decapitated her before the fires stopped. 'He needs to be angrier.'
"I never knew you Devils could be so weak." Ravel's screams ran under his words, his voice was louder solely because the Boosted Gear allowed him to speak at volumes he would normally only be able to obtain with a megaphone. "Your sister is screaming in pain and you can't seem to be able to save her. You can't bypass my King's Dragon no matter what you try. Its defense is absolute."
Emerald flames burned her limbs off, let her scream freely as they left her throat alone to regenerate. He may have also increased their volume by funneling the Boosted Gear's stored power to her vocal chords. He was getting tired of the heat and wanted this over with soon.
"I th-" He didn't understand what was happening as he suddenly doubled over, blood coming from his mouth.
He looked up and saw Riser with his fist embedded in King's Dragon stomach. He, thankfully, hadn't broken the armor but the blow was still agonizing. If he and King's Dragon didn't have auras of energy around them, he had no doubt he would be dead via incineration.
Riser noticed his state and his other hand flew forward. King's Dragon withdrew, vanished from sight as Issei dropped to a knee. He spit out a mouthful of blood and turned watery eyes up to Riser. The sphere around Ravel condensed the moment he took a step forward.
He stopped.
Issei spit out another mouthful of blood.
"I was too easy on you." Issei's eyes were empty as he looked from Riser to Ravel. "I was too easy on both of you Devils and underestimated you." He forced himself to rise back to his feet. "I shouldn't have given you the choice." The sphere condensed further but no further attack came. Ravel was allowed to fully regenerate. She fell to the bottom of the sphere, sobs shaking her body. "If you don't give up, I'm going to just kill your sister later."
"What?" Riser was shocked. He was truly and completely shock at the blatant threat to a family as powerful as the Phenex.
"You heard me." Issei allowed the barrier to break down, return to him. "I'm done playing this your way." He stepped back, allowed the Boosted Gear to vanish. "I'll play it the human way." He stepped further back as his Dragon Shield covered him. "I'll be petty, I'll be cruel, and I'll be a monster when I find her. I'll take my time with killing her, use her regeneration to carve up her body over days. I'll burn her, let her recover, give her my power, and then start cutting her to pieces. I'll figure out a way to drag it on for months if I have to and make her beg for death when I finally get bored of her." His hands were in his pockets as he locked eyes with Riser and the Devil knew he was speaking the truth. They were empty like an abyss, showed no hint of falsehoods. He was speaking the truth and only the truth. "Your family's regeneration is powerful but it won't last forever, it can't last forever because it relies on your power and all of you only have so much. You have plenty of power so you can regenerate a lot. Your sister has a lot of power so she can regenerate a lot."
Issei smiled. It was a cruel thing.
"I have the power to kill Gods." He didn't need to show the Boosted Gear or summon King's Dragon. "There is no doubt that I WILL succeed and you'll be the sole guy responsible for pissing me off so much because you wouldn't forfeit." Issei yawned and it was perhaps more disturbing than his threat. Knowing he was completely at ease despite the white hot flames consuming Riser, the power his opponent had shown, was incredibly disturbing. "So, what do you say Riser Phenex?"
The Devil looked to Ravel's flaming form, her body repairing itself with the sphere gone. She was trembling on the ground, curled up into a ball, and his fires died. The fight in him died at the sight of his sister. He wanted to do nothing more than challenge Issei, to kill him for saying such things, but he stopped himself.
The emptiness in his eyes was too much of a promise.
He had to keep his sister safe.
"I retire."
"R-Riser Phenex has retired. Rias Gremory wins."