AN: First off, I'm not sorry.

I do regret that I wasn't able to get this chapter out sooner, but I don't regret taking the extra week writing and rewriting it. Plus you guys get a 14k word chapter so you don't have to wait yet another week for the rating game conclusion. This is the last chapter that I had prewritten, but there's a pretty basic fact that I have discovered as I rewrote this. I am absolutely awful at fight scenes.

Now I feel like I've improved while doing this chapter, but the first and second and second-point-five drafts were all absolutely horrible and I could not release them in good conscience when you guys deserve more and I knew I could do better. So this is version 3.0, improved and dressed-up into something that hopefully makes a lick of sense.

And I still hate action scenes.

Warning: There is definitely violence in this chapter since I can't write nice things, so be warned if that's not your cup of tea. I tried to keep from going into as much detail as my sick little muse wanted, but I'm still considering possibly upping the story rating to M, just in case.

Disclaimer: Yeah, pretty sure this never happened in the original Highschool DxD. Also it's fight scenes were much better than this.

Edit: I added a couple lines that change future chapters at the very bottom. If you've already read this chapter, go read that real quick.

We appeared in a flash of red magic, the elaborate magic circle beneath our feet disappearing as we were deposited in the Occult Clubroom. It hadn't changed at all since we'd last been here, same table, same couches, and same tacky skulls. Seriously, what was the point of those?

The teleportation made my chest ache for some reason and I rubbed it with a grimace as the peerage drifted off the dais where the Gremory circle was located. The entire peerage had teleported here from the training camp, leaving only Kioko behind.

Since Kioko wasn't a part of a Gremory peerage she couldn't teleport with us and had to go back the long way. Kioko had assured me that she'd find me once the rating game was over, to either celebrate or plan, and I knew that she could take care of herself.

We'd gone over the final plan for the rating game before leaving the camp, so there really wasn't anything left to do now but wait around for the actual battle to start. Plopping down on one of the two couches, I unconsciously checked the time on a gothic styled clock, the numbers looking like they were written in blood. Seriously, what was up with this decoration?

The rating game would begin in less than half an hour. It wasn't like we had to wait the rest of the day but it was still longer than I would like. And by the look of the rest of the peerage, they agreed.

Kiba had sat down next to me and was smiling blankly at a wall adorned with a poster of a pentagram drawn from blood, looking almost like his usual self. He was wearing a fancy-looking white shirt and black pants that almost looked like a tuxedo, as if he was just going to attend a wedding instead of a death battle. But the way that he was absently manifesting swords from his sacred gear before dismissing them revealed his own nervousness.

The only armor that Kiba was wearing was a single shiny metal shin guard on his right leg. The first time I'd seen it I'd wondered out loud if that was really the place most people were going to attack him. Kiba had responded by calmly kicking my legs out from under me before describing in great detail how undamaged his leg was due to his strategic placement of armor. I got the point and didn't make fun of his armor again.

My eyes drifting across the room and landed on Koneko, seated in a armchair that seemed much too large for her, which was normal for the girl. She wasn't eating anything sugary though, which was proof of her own nervousness, even if nothing else seemed to show it. She was wearing her school uniform like usual, the one change being the pink and black cat-patterned fighting gloves on her hands.

At least Akeno was acting normal, calmly sipping a cup of tea that she had begun making once we arrived in the clubroom. If she was completely relaxed though, Akeno probably would have offered everyone else a cup of tea as well. Her hospitality was breaking down already, not a good sign. Her wardrobe change was the biggest among us though, a fancy shrine maiden outfit in white with ed trim. I suppose that's where she got the nickname of "Priestess of Thunder."

The sofa across from me was occupied by Issei and Asia, the former making strange faces at his manifested sacred gear, probably talking to Ddraig. At least he'd figured out how to do so without talking out loud, something that I was extremely grateful for due to the randomness of their conversations. He was simply dressed in his school uniform like usual, looking slightly out of place among everyone else.

Asia on the other hand was fastened to Issei's other arm, the one he wasn't making faces at, and seemed to be reciting something under her breath. She was dressed in her old nun's habit as well, something I hadn't seen since that disastrous double date where she was kidnapped.

I held my gaze on Asia a little longer before looking away, feeling guilty. I'd been told that I'd caused Asia's nausea by describing how much it had hurt to be tortured by Raynare, forgetting that Asia had been there healing me the entire time. It must have triggered some kind of flashback for the young girl. After that night she seemed like she was more independent, not sticking to Issei as much, although she was clearly still attached to her boyfriend.

She still avoided me, and I tried to do the same in exchange, hoping to keep her from having another flashback like before. It was probably why she had been staying away from me in the first place, and now I felt like a jerk for trying to get Asia to talk to me when I had been causing something like that.

And lastly, Rias. She was the one who had the most at stake in this battle. By marrying Riser, Rias' peerage would come under Riser's control, but we all knew he was really interested in Rias, we were just an obstacle to obtaining her.

The king was seated behind her desk, relaxing in her luxurious chair with her eyes closed and hands folded on her stomach. The entire peerage knew she was nervous, her entire fate was riding on the next few hours, after all. But she wouldn't show it, always the strong leader.

And so we waited, each with their own individual thoughts and concerns, but all revolving around Rias. We were her servants and she was our king. We would defend her, not just because she was our king, but because she was worth it.

I nervously checked my pockets again, pulling out several pages torn from a holy bible that gave me a slight stinging feeling in my fingers simply from holding them. I would have borrowed the holy water from Asia as well, but those had been banned from official rating games, along with crosses. They'd overlooked bibles though, not thinking anyone would try to weaponize a book.

And those were the only weapons I had. No sword, no gun, no… brass knuckles or whatever. Anything I could get on short notice wouldn't stand up to devil strength, and we were forbidden from receiving aid from any of the devil houses or factions. No armor either, just a white t-shirt from home and a scuffed-up pair of jeans.

I had my own ideas of how to help, though. Staring down at my hand I squeezed it into a fist and grinned like a shark at the feeling of magic thrumming deep beneath the surface.

I would not be useless.

The peerage was finally broken out of their collective thoughts when a low ringing sound, like a bell, rang throughout the room, emanating from a small box on Rias' desk. Rias opened her eyes and stood up, an action I mirrored along with the rest of the peerage as we all stood in front of Rias.

"It is-" Rias' voice cracked and she swallowed before speaking again. "It is time for the rating game to begin."

Not a moment later, I felt the same ache in my chest that I had experienced earlier and realized we had just been teleported. There had been no sign of a magic circle, but I had definitely felt it.

"Hey, the sky's all weird!" Issei shouted from where he was leaning out one window. Coming up behind the brown-haired boy, I could see past his shoulder that the sky was a blank uniform white, no sign of clouds or any kind of celestial body. I swallowed, thinking about what kind of power it would take to manifest another dimension of this size.

The box still on Rias' desk rang again before abruptly shutting off with a click, a vaguely familiar voice filling room that seemed to emanate from the sky but wasn't obstructed at all by the fact that we were inside a building.

"Welcome to the rating game between the peerage of Rias Gremory of the house of Gremory and the peerage of Riser Phenex, of the house of Phenex. I am Grayfia, the maid of Sirzechs Lucifer, and will be the administrator and referee of this battle."

Huh, I'd thought that Grayfia was Rias' maid, what with the "Ojou-sama" that she'd called Rias by when we first met. And if they're that close, wouldn't Grayfia be considered biased? Not that I minded, but I'd rather not have our victory overruled because people said there was interference from the administrator.

"The battlefield is a replication of Rias Gremory's school, Kuoh Academy, as agreed upon by both kings," Grayfia went on, her bland voice sounding more like a text-to-speech program than the announcer for a rating game. "Both teams are beginning in their territory. The Gremory peerage territory is the Occult Research Club main room, while the Phenex peerage territory is the Student Council Offices in the main building. Pawns must advance to their opponents territory before being allowed to promote."

I wonder if Sona was watching? If she was, she was probably incredibly upset at Riser for claiming her offices as his territory. It honestly wasn't bad strategically either, since we would have to navigate throughout almost the entire school before reaching the territory with plenty of chances to be ambushed along the way.

Grayfia continued explaining the rules and I refocused on what she was saying. We had gone over all the official rules before the game, but we had also considered the possibility of the Phenex team slipping in an alternate rule just before the game began so I tried to listen closely.

"Kings are able to communicate with their peerage through the rings provided to each peerage beforehand." Rias opened the small box that had first given the warning and inside was a set of seven ornate silver rings with the Gremory crest, all nestled in black velvet.

I reached for a ring and got mine third, slipping it onto the middle finger of my right hand and wincing slightly as the band tightened to the point where it wouldn't come off during battle. Akeno began to make a dull joke about not expecting to receive a ring from a girl, but was hushed by Koneko as Grayfia announced the final instructions.

"Each team may have up to two items they do not produce during the rating game, but that is all." My pages counted as one, and Kiba's leg-guard the other. Nobody else had any items that hadn't been registered with Grayfia ten days ago. "The game will continue until one king has retired or until six hours have passed. The rating game between house Gremory and house Phenex begins now."

We had been waiting for that, and Koneko punched down the door, knowing that it would provide no shelter from enemies before jumping out a window, trailing shattered glass behind her as she took the short route down to the ground. Kiba was right after her, utilizing the same window and relying on his speed to handle the fall without breaking any bones.

Akeno began to set up some magical traps around the perimeter of the room and the school, but she would soon be flying off to support the peerage from the skies.

Issei was the next one out of the room, and I followed just behind him. We weren't quite sturdy enough to take a two story fall unharmed, so we were forced to take the stairway down, skipping three stairs at a time as we descended.

Pausing for a moment after reaching the doors to the old school building, Issei gave me a wide grin and thumbs up. "See you after we win, Kado-san!"

Smirking, I gave him a casual two-finger salute in response. "Punch Riser's face in for me, will you?"

"I'll have to punch him for myself first," Issei laughed, pushing open the doors to the school grounds. It was still midday, but since we were in a pocket dimension without any sun I didn't have to worry about my sensitivity.

Issei and I split up, the other pawn to the gym to meet up with Koneko, and I to the main school building.

The rating game to decide Rias' fate had begun.

I headed to the school, taking the long way around the sports field and sticking close to the equipment sheds, trying to stay out of sight. I could feel my earlier nervousness beginning to drain out of me now that I was in action. It helped that I didn't have a major part either, so how well I did wouldn't drastically affect the outcome of the rating game.

My role was to head into the school and harass any pieces there, force them to use resources capturing me that they needed elsewhere. I should make it there after most of their pieces had already left, leaving just a few guards.

So basically, I was a distraction. Almost an afterthought. It would have been nice to have played a more key role, but I knew that even after the ten days of training I still couldn't win a fight against any other member of the peerage.

I paused at the edge of the field, a small hill next to the gymnasium and the rear of the school, and readied myself for the last dash across the open area to the back door of the school. Not spotting any figures in the open area, I bolted down the hill, putting my head down and pumping my legs as fast as I could.

Seconds later my devil instincts flared, warning me of an attack an instants before the ground to my left exploded, throwing up chunks of dirt and stone that peppered my body as I was thrown to the side.

Landing on my side I rolled down the dusty hill at high speed, only stopping when I reached the bottom. I was covered in dust and dirt now, but unhurt and still alive. I took a moment to glance up at the sky as I gracelessly scrambled to my feet, ignoring the stinging on my face and arms where I'd been hit by stray shrapnel from the explosion. There was a silhouette high above me in the sky, bat-like wings fulling extended in a glide as the figure lazily circled.

Behind me on the hillside was a crater blasted into the ground, water from a burst pipe slowly leaking out to form a puddle at the bottom of the hole. It wasn't hard to put the pieces together. Yubelluna, the "bomb queen" and someone I had been told to avoid at all costs.

Barely getting my feet beneath me I dashed off towards the school, hoping to make it to the safety of the building before the ferocious queen could fire off another shot, the next one more accurate.

I couldn't be taken down here, before I could help in the battle, but the distance between me and the doors leading into the school seemed so far away, too far to reach in time.

It would reveal my hand early, but I had no choice. With a mental flick like flipping a switch I pulled out a tiny trickle of magic, splitting it further into two pieces and trailing them into my legs, sinking the demonic energy deeper and feeling it soak into my veins and muscles.

Skidding to a stop and reflexively ducking a bolt of magic that sent up another spray of soil just in front of me, I triggered the magic, feeling the glow in my legs, closer to a lightbulb than a sun, but still enough to feel like I could kick through a wall.

Judging the distance between me and the door, I smirked, a surge of confidence pushing me on. Tensing the muscles I pushed off, blasting a miniature crater in the earth where I had been standing and rocketing forward, covered meters in a single second. Landing I slapped one foot down, digging it into the surface and feeling small stones through my shoes before I was off again, farther and faster.

My last step was a meter from the door and as the foot impacted I spun, rotating so I was facing back the way I had come before pushing off again and launching myself through the door and into the school, back-first.

The wood around the doorjam only resisted for a moment, the wood crunching as it compacted before shattering, the door opening wide as I flew through it and hit the floor hard. Through the wide-open door I saw the circling silhouette above hold in one position for a moment before flying off at a different angle, giving up on hunting me down when there was bigger prey around.

Breathing out a sigh of relief I shut off the magic in my legs, feeling the glow sink down to almost nothing. I only had a few seconds before the pain would hit like usual, but I took the opportunity to smile, proud that my technique had worked perfectly the first time I tried it in a real combat situation.

I'd managed to get a good handle on controlling how much demonic energy went into each burst of strength so I wouldn't be crippling myself with each use of the power, but I got less of a boost in exchange and would still be limping around for the short-term future.

"Well, now ain't that surprisin'." The voice was loud in the silence left behind by my sudden entrance, and had a foreign twang to it. Cringing at the sudden sound and berating myself for completely missing that there was someone else in the room, I got my arms beneath me and pushed myself up onto my feet, whipping around to see who else was in the room.

The room I was in was closer to a short hallway, with one door at the far end and small cubicles lining the walls for stored items or tools. Standing at the other end of the chamber with a confident look in her eyes was a women with long navy hair tied in a ponytail at the top of her head and brown eyes, a white dress with black lines draping her body and conspicuously open at the chest and along the sides of the legs. The final piece of clothing was black boots with thick soles and two-inch heels.

The most defining feature though was the giant sword she was holding casually with her right hand, the broad almost ax-like edge almost brushing the floor. The sword was almost as tall as Siris herself and about half as wide, excluding the tip. It looked like a giant slab of steel that was forced into the shape of a sword and I didn't even want to think about how strong the girl had to be to be carrying it with one hand like she was.

This was Siris, one of Riser's knights, known for being as strong as she was fast. Riser's preferred strategy was to hold Siris in reserve for part of the game and then have her perform a blitz attack, laying low multiple pieces in an ambush before being brought down.

"Who are you," I asked warily, hands up in front of me in a ridiculously weak stance. I needed to make her underestimate me, see me as just a weak pawn. If she decided not to take any chances, I was as good as defeated now. I slipped into analysis mode, eyes flickering around the small room to find any possible advantage.

The room was small so at least the knight wouldn't be able to swing her sword around wildly, instead having to use thrusts or vertical strokes. The shelves lining the walls mostly had gloves in them, used by gardening students, and the few tools that were there, shovels and shears, wouldn't be able to stand up against well-crafted steel.

"Me?" Asked the girl, poking a thumb back at her chest with a smirk. "I'm the 'delinquent type.'" That both gives me no information and far more than I wanted to know.

Shooting the girl a deadpan look while still keeping my weak stance, I said, "Please tell me Riser didn't just gather a peerage because he wanted an easy harem." The thought that he was using his pieces like that made me feel like punching something, and the feeling got worse when I thought about Rias being added to it.

Siris' cocky smirk turned into a frown as she leaned forwards slightly, her fingers tightening around the hilt of the sword angled by her side. "And what about it? What are ya gonna do about it, kid?"

The muscles in my legs started seizing up, right on time. I set my feet firmly into the ground, holding each leg rigid to hide how badly they were shaking. "Just surprised you're working for such a shallow jerk who cares more about his 'harem' than the people in it."

The knight growled lowly at my words, taking a step forward and reaching around to grab the hilt of her sword with the other hadn. That was the only warning I got, the head of her giant sword lifting up from the ground and rushing at me in a dark-gray blur of steel accelerated by the knight's incredible strength. It was a sweeping strike, arcing upwards from my left side and aiming to cleave through my torso and leave me in two pieces.

But the tiny instant of movement before the attack was enough forewarning and I was already squatting low, using the devil's sense of balance to lean backwards and shave off precious centimeters off my height, allowing the blade to curve above my head, not even brushing my hair.

The heavy sword had too much momentum to stop in time and crashed through the shelving before it dug deeply into the wall of the chamber, slicing through wood and plaster easily before eventually halting, the curved tip embedded halfway in the wall.

Siris would need a moment to pull her sword free before attacking me again, giving me enough breathing room to either try an attack or to run. If I ran in for an attack, Siris could just punch me directly and I wouldn't be able to hurt her anyway. But escaping outside would give the knight more room to attack me and use her speed in her favor.

I spun and ran back out of the room on stiff legs that popped with each step, straight through the door I had blasted open in my entrance, not stopping until I was a good five meters away from the building, turning back around to see if I was being followed.

The knight hadn't followed me yet, but I could vaguely see her tall form still inside the building. Moments later the navy-haired girl stepped out, sword once again held in one hand, squinting her eyes to adjust them to the sudden brightness of outdoors.

"Wahl now, just when I thought ya had some guts, saying something like that, you turn tail and run away on me." She was annoyed and underestimating me, exactly as I'd hoped. I needed some way to beat her though, and some way to overcome her speed long enough to hit her.

Siris sighed dramatically, hefting the sword up until the humongous tip was pointed unwaveringly at my chest. "Guess I'll have to be the one who teaches you some manners then, kid." Cocky, toying with me. Wait for an opportunity, let her have her fun. Don't rush this, Kado.

"What are you going to do about it then," I bluffed, egging the knight on further. I just need to buy time, keep her occupied.

The swordsman gave a beatific smile, tilting her head to the head slightly. "This." She dashed forward in a blur, sword cutting high to low and tracing a long line of fire down the outside edge of my arm, wrist to elbow.

I looked at the other side of my arm and stumbled back, giving out a cry of pain and fear as I did so. The wound honestly wasn't that bad, I'd had worse trying to cook food as a kid. It did have blood seeping from it in a steady stream though, and I reminded myself to patch it up once I was done with this fight.

"What, is it your first time seeing blood?" Siris leaned lazily on her sword, watching me with lidded eyes that barely veiled the disgust within. I looked at her with wide-eyes, taking another step back. My legs didn't hurt as badly anymore, the small amount of magic not being enough to do long-term damage, so I could be ready to go on the offensive in a short time.

The self-proposed delinquent took her weight off her sword, standing up straight and grinning a wide, bloodthirsty grin. "Lucky that I get ta be the one teaching you then." She fell back into a narrow stance, sword held with both hands and turned parallel to her body, left shoulder angled towards me. "Lesson one. The strong beat the weak."

She was gone in a flash, a streak of movement from my right warning me enough to jerk my head back, millimeters away from a sword blade that would have carved a deep cut into my right cheek, just below my eye. She was going for scars, visible but not life-threatening.

The sword disappeared along with Siris for a second before another cut opened up on my back, slicing a hole through my shirt and marking my back with another thin line while I was off balance. Doubling over and ducking low in hopes of avoiding another cut, the bottom of my chin met a thick-soled boot halfway down, flipping me onto my back and impacting hard enough to make me see stars.

When my vision cleared there was a sword blade hanging millimeters over my chest, the point aimed directly at my sternum. "Lesson two, kid." The knight was standing over me, one leg on each side of my thighs and brown eyes staring directly at my own. "If you don't got the moves to back up your fierce words, get outta my way."

Giving me another fake smile like she had earlier, Siris asked me, "so what's it gonna be, kid. Either you retire, or I start chopping pieces off." Suiting action to words, the razor-sharp tip still encrusted with small flecks of plaster and blood drifted to the left, hovering over my left arm just below the shoulder.

Not much of a threat, considering I'd get my arm back after being retired from the dimension, but I suppose it's part of her personality. Licking my lips and being careful not to make any sudden moves I opened my mouth, running through what to say that would buy me more time. I was ready to attack now, but I'd let it go on too far and now I was in a bad position.

The sky seemed to darken for a moment before it lit up, a pillar of white light descending from the sky to hit the gymnasium, a sharp crack ringing out like the world was breaking piercing my ears and leaving my eardrums ringing. But Siris was worse off, swiveling her head to look at the source of the sound. I smirked, seeing the distracted state of the knight standing above me. My thanks, Akeno.

"Riser Phenex's three pawns and one rook retire."

Bracing my elbows in the dirt and pulling my legs in to my chest, I kicked both feet out and almost directly upwards, scoring a direct hit on Siris' wrists, a cracking sound ringing out as my tennis shoes met devil skin and won. Siris' sword broke free of her loosened grip and I barely rolled backwards in time to avoid getting my arm completely chopped off as the sword buried itself into the ground.

Siris stumbled back, a grimace on her face as she rubbed her wounded wrists and glared down at me. Getting my no feet beneath me I stood up, reaching out to wrap my right hand around the hilt of the great sword partway between me and her. "Isn't it a knight's rule to never let go of their sword," I taunted, suddenly feeling much better about my odds of beating the girl than I had moments before.

Energy was directed into my wrists and arms, a stream this time, not just a trickle. I'd need a bit more for something like this. The dark-haired girl growled wordlessly, fury in her eyes. Then she was gone in an instant, blurred form breaking away to the right.

I waited for a moment before flexing my enhanced arms, ripping the sword out of the ground and spinning around, arms fully extended and hands gripping the sword tight. The blade whistled through the air before slowing with a sickening sound like sliding a scalpel through a frog in biology class.

The sword came to a stop eventually, the friction of hard devil flesh halting it a few centimeters from exiting out the other side of Siris. The knight looked at me with wide eyes, before coughing up a heavy mouthful of blood that stained the grass beneath her feet. "How… did you?"

Knowing what she was trying to ask I shrugged in false casualness, keeping my gaze fixed on the knight's brown eyes instead of the sword embedded deep into her. "You knights are all so cocky about your speed, figuring that you can attack from behind before anyone can react."

Siris' eyes opened wide in surprise before she bowed her head slightly, a true smile growing on her face. "I will… remember that."

"Riser Phenex's knight has retired." Grayfia's voice rang out from above, heralding my victory as Siris dissolved into blue sparks of light and taking her oversized sword with her, eyes closed in satisfaction. I suppose at the end that was her true personality, not the role forced onto her by Riser.

"She's fine," I mumbled to myself, gaze drawn to the ground in front of me, splatters of red on the dusty ground like red paint flung from a child's fingers. "She's fine, she's healed now. Like it never happened." Her smiling face, eyes closed in calm acceptance. A dark chuckle slipped from my lips. "Well, there are worse faces to have when you die." No, not dead. Alive, still alive.

And I was alive too. I had a job to do and Rias' future was counting on this. There was no room for me to feel sorry for myself, I didn't matter here. I jerked my face up from the stained dirt, forcefully shoving all the emotions I couldn't deal with right now behind steel bars, walling them off until I could deal with them.

Lifting up my right hand, I slipped free another small trickle of mana, this time directing it not to my own body but to the engraved ring squeezed tight around my middle finger. After a moment the ring warmed up to an uncomfortable degree, proof that the connection was active.

Rias' voice emanated from the ring, sounding as clear as if she was directly in front of me. "Yes, Kai-san? What do you have to report?" Her voice sounded slightly strained, as if she was trying to handle several things at the same time and I was adding onto her burden.

"Just reporting that I defeated Siris, Riser's knight, so you don't have to worry about her," I said carefully, trying to speak clearly while paying attention to my surroundings just in case anyone attempted to sneak up on me. "Any change in strategy?"

There was a short silence from Rias, but I could hear a repetitive tapping sound through the ring and got the mental image of Rias, concentrating heavily while tapping her fingers on her desk. "…No," Rias said at last. "Carry on infiltrating the school, relay any vital information you discover to me."

Immediately after Rias said that the ring grew cold once more, the connection closed once again. It wasn't really anything other than I'd expected, but I still felt a faint sense of disappointment that being able to deal with an experienced knight as an unpromoted pawn didn't seem to raise my value in this rating game any.

Well, I had my orders and Rias wouldn't sabotage her own strategy and future just because she didn't think I could handle something. This must still be the best way for me to help, and I'd just have to trust Rias.

"Now," I said out loud, scanning the area one last time for enemies, "where can I get a weapon."

S~~~S~~~S~~~S~~~S~~~S

After tearing off a sleeve to bandage my arm and deciding that the cut on my back wasn't deep enough to worry about, I'd ended up settling for a shovel, one of the slightly less rusty ones used for gardening work. It wouldn't even injure a devil, but I doubted even Riser wouldn't flinch if a shovel hit him in the face. It was better than nothing at least.

The annoyed pawn trying to bash my face in with her quarterstaff didn't really seem to care though.

"Really?" The blue-haired girl shrieked, face red with what was either embarrassment or anger, bringing her staff down in a two handed blow meant to crack my head open. "Why would you even do something like that! It's a stupid idea that doesn't even work in real life!"

Holding the shovel above my head in a wide two-handed grip I blocked the heavy strike, wincing as the shovel shook, chafing against my hands that were already sore from the fight. Any attacks of my own were batted away by the staff and quickly punished by a sharp tap to my shins or a poke at my chest, keeping me defensive.

"You fell for it though!" I yelled back in response, giving up on any kind of stealth entirely. "It looks like it worked just fine to me!" I'd originally found Mira, the pawn, guarding one of the stairwells up and had tried to pull her into an ambush by dropping a pencil onto the ground and leaving one of my pages from the bible on the ground next to it.

I was honestly surprised that it had worked, the pawn even reading the first line of the page and getting a headache to boot. My surprise attack had been blocked anyway, but as long as I could keep the pawn angry she wouldn't think past trying to hit me with her stick.

Mira's face flushed even redder than before, that combined with her two upright spikes of hair making her look like an ogre from mythology. "That's because I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to use it!" Turning her embarrassment into strength, her next blow whipped past my pale excuse for a defense and hit my elbow, making the arm tingle and grow slightly numb.

"Then what does that say about you?" I retorted, squeezing my grip tighter on the metal handle of the shovel, refusing to let go and lose my only defense against the blows raining down on me. Mira was much slower than Siris, that was for sure, but I'd still rather not get beaten to death by a blunt object.

"You… You…" Mira finally paused her relentless assault, tucking her elbows in close to her sides and squeezing hard enough on her staff to make the wood let out a faint creaking sound. "You idiot!" The girl finally yelled out, bringing her staff high above her head with faint tears in the corners of her eyes.

This left her entire body open for an attack, something I'm sure the girl would have avoided if she'd been in her right mind. I took immediate advantage though, bringing the shovel back before lunging out with the tip pointed directly at her side, a burst of light in my stomach and arm making the blow that much quicker, that much more powerful for a brief instant.

The two blows hit at the same time, my arms feeling a slight sense of resistance as the quarterstaff cracked against my head. My vision went white for a second and when it came back I was on the floor, the hallway spinning around me while my head ached like an elephant had stepped on it.

I'd lost the shovel at some point after getting hit so I propped a hand beneath me and used the other one to cradle my head while I scanned the area for my impromptu weapon. Mira was still standing, just a few meters away, but her face was pale and she was holding onto her weapon with only one hand, the other cradling her side where I had hit the girl.

The shovel was laying just to the left, apparently cast aside when I fell, but I could see that the bluntly pointed tip was covered with a faint sheen of blood. I had done more damage than I had thought I would, but it wasn't too serious, or the girl would have been forcefully resigned. She seemed to be naive though, so perhaps I could manipulate her into giving up on her own.

"I punctured your kidney," I said confidently, arranging my position so it looked more like I was lounging instead of helpless and prone. "The arbiter won't be able to see internal injuries, so you only have a few minutes before you're in so much pain that you won't be able to move, much less fight."

I could see a faint trickle of blood leaking out below the blue-haired pawn's hand tightly pressed to her side, but she was still standing, her expression switching rapidly between fear, anger, and pained grimaces. "I can still fight!"

Keeping my gaze locked onto the brown eyes of the martial artist pawn, I slowly inched my hand closer to the handle of the shovel nearby. If she didn't believe me, she'd keep attacking and I really didn't want to try blocking that with my arm, devil-enhanced or not. "That's up to you, but the longer you stick around, the more pain you'll be in. Eventually I'd be able to do whatever I wanted to you."

Mira's face went from pale to beet-red within moments, holding up her staff with one hand and pointing it at me with a shaking grip. "Y-You pervert! You'd do something like that in a middle of a battle!"

…Why am I being called a pervert? It was natural to use someone's weakness in battle, especially when you were as weak as I was. I met her eyes and hoped she could see the determination in them. "I would." I was serious. If she was too in pain to actually attack me, I would take advantage in a heartbeat and forcefully resign her from the rating game.

The enemy pawn immediately started stuttering something, shrinking backwards and shifting the arm that was plugging up her wound so it laid over her breasts instead. "Y-You'd even do t-that! And that! And the other thing?"

I had no idea what she was imagining, but it seemed to have her scared so I just went with it. "…Yes." Meanwhile my hand was slowly inching closer to the handle, just millimeters away now. The pawn still hadn't noticed, too focused on whatever was happening in her mind.

At hearing my declaration, it looked like Mira's head imploded, blood rushing to her face so fast that she must not have any left in the rest of her body. "You fiend!" The girl shrieked, just as the tip of her quarterstaff burst into flames.

Why didn't anyone tell me she could do that! The girl, by now overcome with rage at whatever she'd imagined I would do, pulled her right hand away from her side to grasp her staff firmly, going for another one of her standard downward attacks. Her arms upraised, I could see an area on her red jacket that was colored darker than the rest, filling me with a sense of guilt.

I was more concerned with the flaming quarterstaff about to be brought down on my head though, my hand finally grasping the smooth metal of the shovel and yanking it over to my position and falling onto my back so I could use my other hand to grasp the end of the shovel close to the blade, holding it high in a block.

The attack came at me in an orange and brown blur, arcing downwards as I was entirely focused on blocking the attack. It hit, impacting directly on the center of the shovel I was holding. The force of the blow bent the metal, the sides slitting open and curling away as the shovel was forced into a right angle. My arms were jerked closer together but I managed to keep my hold on the gardening tool, my grip braced against the wide handle and the blade.

The tip of the wooden staff stopped barely a centimeter from my nose, the fire flaring up for a second before sputtering and going out. Uncrossing my eyes I looked past the weapon and to the girl still holding the other end, now panting heavily as the blood rushed out of her face, diving back into vampire levels of paleness.

Breathing out a breath of relief I forced a relaxed look on my face as I tossed the now-useless shovel to the side, hearing it clatter against the floor as I pushed myself up to a sitting position. "Seems like you're all out of energy now," I calmly observed, slowly getting to my feet and dusting off my pant legs. The calmer I seemed, the more intimidating the girl would see me.

"Now," I said, taking a step towards the girl in what I hoped was a menacing manner, "How about-"

"Iresign!" The girl blurted the words out with a panicked look on her face as she dissolved into blue sparks, recalled by the system.

"Riser Phenex's pawn has retired," the same placid voice of the ninja-maid said, somehow reaching all the way into the school building.

I was still standing after barely taking a step, shocked by the abruptness of the pawn's departure. Huh, I guess I was a lot more intimidating than I'd thought. Feeling a smirk pull at the corner of my lip I ducked into an empty classroom to call Rias, sending another small spark of energy into the ring.

"Yes? Kai-san?" Rias sounded more enthusiastic now, some of the burden lifted off of her shoulders seeing how well the peerage was currently faring in the rating game. Doing a quick mental count in my head, I realized that we had defeated over half of Riser's peerage, with no casualties on our side as of yet. Rias' tactics were working.

"Just reporting in. I defeated Mira, Riser's pawn, and the first floor of the school is clear of any hostiles."

Rias hummed lightly and I could hear the scratching of pencil on paper, probably marking down the information. "I see… Do you have any severe injuries?"

She hadn't asked that last time, but she must have been incredibly busy with the early game at the time. I did a quick check, but nothing seemed to be broken or even strained. My stomach and arm were slightly pained due to the magic I had used earlier and I was covered with bruises including a bump on top of my head, but nothing that would keep my from fighting. "Nope, I'm all good. Any change in strategy?"

I wasn't expecting anything from the question, so I was surprised when Rias answered back immediately. "Yes, actually. Issei's on his way to the school right now, meet up with him at the back door and assist him in getting to the student council room."

Now she was taking me seriously. I snapped off a salute before realizing she couldn't see it and sheepishly lowering my hand. "Got it, Rias. I'll be there shortly." The ring went cold, the connection ended. Ha, I was getting somewhere now! I'd prove I was useful in the end!

Closing the sliding door behind me as quietly as I could, I couldn't help but notice the stairs leading to the upper floor, unguarded and seeming to beckon me. It would take time for Issei to reach the school, and I had time for a quick peek, just to see if there was anyone guarding the next floor.

Seconds later I was creeping up the stairs, taking care to move as quietly as possible. Reaching the landing I carefully peeked around the corner to see nothing on the stairs. Hurrying up the next dozen steps I was on the next floor.

Not a single person was in sight, empty hallways in every direction. So this stairway was clear from possible guards at least. About to turn around and find Issei, my gaze lingered on the stairs going upwards just steps away. …It couldn't hurt, right? I could report that the next two floors were clear to advance upwards, at this stairway at least.

Moving carefully, checking each metal step as I placed my foot on it, I crept around to the next landing, also finding it empty. Winding around the corner I stepped up the next series of stairs with increased confidence. Riser only had about five pieces left, and most of those were tied up with other members of Rias' peerage, so there should be hardly anyone left in the building.

Advancing to the top I did a quick scan just to check for any guards. All the hallways seemed clear and I breathed a small sigh of relief. I'd just realized that if there was a guard, I'd have to fight them by myself, since I doubted they'd just let me leave. Luckily, the area seemed to be deserted.

"Don't you dare ignore me!"

A high-pitched voice rang out from my right and I jumped, barely managing to suppress a shriek from being startled. Had I missed someone? Whirling around and slipping into the combat stance I'd be taught during the training camp, I finally noticed a small girl wearing a pink dress, golden blonde hair in curly ringlets and blue eyes glaring down at me, despite the fact that she only came up to my chest.

Ravel Phenex, and one of the people I'd been told to flee from if I caught sight of her. She had the same healing factor and control over flames as her brother, but she had nowhere near as much power as Riser. Still plenty enough to burn me to a crisp, though.

"…Hi." I offered lamely, already analyzing my options. Defeating Ravel wasn't an option. Her regeneration would ensure I was on the losing end of any battle, even if I was physically stronger than the girl. But running would only lead her towards Issei, who wouldn't be able to defeat her until he had promoted.

The smaller girl cocked an eyebrow arrogantly, not budging from her stern stance. "I refuse to believe that you overlooked me like that! What was your game, ignoring me?"

I was honestly lost for an answer. Was she complaining about me not seeing her when we were supposed to be in a desperate battle for survival? "Well you are short," I finally offered in an apologetic tone, knowing that it would do the exact opposite of calming the arrogant girl down.

Defeating two of the enemies pieces was already more than Rias had expected of me, I could tell that much. I wouldn't be much use elsewhere, but if I could distract Ravel long enough for Issei to sneak by and promote, he would probably be able to defeat the younger girl. And besides, I kinda wanted to go out in a blaze of glory.

Ravel glared even harder, opening her mouth to say something before stopping herself and sighing deeply instead, relaxing her shoulders. "Regardless, I did want to meet you." And I really had been hoping that riling her up would force her into an argument, wasting more time. At least she didn't seem eager to fight just yet.

"You… wanted to meet me?" I asked hesitantly, dropping out of my combat stance. I would have to fight her at some point, but if I seemed willing to talk the Phenex would be less likely to make the first move.

The blonde girl nodded decisively, nudging her chin slightly higher in the air. "Kai Kado. Second year high school student, barely been a devil for a month. You have no sacred gear and no previous combat training that we were able to discover." Ravel took a step forward, absolutely fearless despite being almost a meter shorter than I was. "So how did you defeat Siris-chan and Mira-chan, two experienced fighters with years of training."

Well I certainly wasn't as skilled as they were, that was for sure. I took a moment to think, bending my knees so I was closer to Ravel's height. Mostly because if she thought I was looking down on her it would further rile her up. After a moment I stuck out a thumbs-up and flashed a wide grin. "The will of fire, believe it!"

"As if!" The girl's retort was instantaneous and a small lick of fire actually erupted from her forehead for a second as she yelled, before she regained her composure and calmed down. "The desire to win wouldn't be enough to succeed against the likes of Siris. So how did you manage to defeat her?"

I didn't know why Ravel wanted to know so badly, but she did so I certainly wasn't going to tell her. "First," I said seriously, "tell me why you want to know." If she could bluntly ask me, I figured I could do the same in return.

The small devil's forehead crinkled in thought for a moment before it smoothed, Ravel coming to a decision. "Alright. I had predicted that you would fall early on in the rating game, and am bemused as to how you managed to not only avoid defeat but to win out against obstacles that should have killed you long ago." She looked up at me with stern eyes, like she was daring me to lie to her. "So how did you come so far?"

True, Ravel was the main strategist of the Phenex peerage, even more so than her brother, the king. It made sense that she would have her own strategies in place and want to know where they had gone wrong. Even if it did sting that she had pegged me as a weakling from so early on.

Sighing, I let my shoulders slump as I sunk down onto my heels, propping my wrists on my knees and now looking upwards at Ravel, something that was probably a novelty for the short girl. "I don't think that I did anything too strange. I just fought with everything I had and didn't give up." I shrugged, injecting a hint of casualness into my tone. "I was joking when I said the will of fire earlier, but it's honestly not that far from the truth. I'm fighting for my friends right now."

Ravel gritted her teeth, looking actually angry now, not just prideful. From my low angle, the girl was almost silhouetted by the bright lights embedded into the ceiling, like some kind of drill-haired reaper. "You think we aren't fighting for a reason? You think we're just mindlessly attacking you?"

Shrugging, I smiled blandly. "Well you are attempting to win your brother another member for his harem, and by doing so deprive them of their free will and future." Maybe it was a little harsh phrasing it like that, but if she was fighting as my enemy she should be fully aware of what she was doing.

The Phenex girl's hand came up from her hip and violently poked my chest, forcing me to use my hands to stop my fall as I allowed myself to fall backwards. "You don't get to say that we don't have a reason to fight," Ravel growled, advancing until she was almost standing on my toes, keeping her outstretched finger poised and at the ready. "We're fighting for our king, and even if that isn't as high and mighty as you would like it's still our reason and we're doing our best out there in the field!"

She lowered her face towards my own and I could see my own surprised face in her eyes. "We're giving it all we have, same as you. Don't make us out as the bad guys in this fight, just because it makes it easier for you."

My eyes were wide for a moment before I closed them, smiling lightly. "Yeah, guess so. I'd underestimated you, Ravel Phenex." I really had, seeing her as the "little sister" role, just like Siris was the delinquent. Turns out she was a pretty good little sister outside of the crazy harem scheme as well.

Opening my eyes I saw that Ravel had leaned back and was once again looking down at me with a haughty expression on her face. "Hope you don't mind us still being enemies though, Ravel-chan." Grinning up at Ravel, I felt like I really could become friends with her in time.

Ravel matched my smile. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Kado-kun." For a moment, still highlighted by the fluorescent lights that made her hair look like it was glowing, Ravel looked like an angel instead of a devil.

Leaning back onto my hands I lifted up my legs and surged forward with a double kick that Ravel danced away from, sliding out of range with a grace that wouldn't have looked out of place in an ice rink.

Using the momentum I pushed of the floor and landed on my feet, staggering slightly but returning to my previous combat stance with a practiced ease that came from having been knocked down far too many times while training.

Simultaneously, Ravel ignited her hands, each fist burning with bright orange flames that licked at her hands and clothes without seeming to burn. Somehow I doubted they'd be so kind to me.

Feeling reckless, I motioned for Ravel to attack me, to which she responded by an elaborate curtsy, her head not bowing a centimeter in a motion that clearly meant "after you."

We attacked at the same time. Ravel lunging forward with a fist to my face that I ducked, aiming a punch at the girl's arm and to throw her off balance, which was easily dodged. A blow laced with hungry flames darted past my side, leaving black scorch marks on my white shirt before darting back as a side kick bought me some range.

I took the moment of respite to catalog what I'd just discovered. Ravel primarily used her hands to fight, her feet staying rooted on the ground except for when she changed position, quickly leaping back and forth. She was focused and knew her own limits, but wasn't as experienced as Mira had been.

She was more trained than I was, but her lack of footwork gave me a slight edge, as did my greater height. We were pretty evenly matched. I'd never enjoyed fighting before, either finding it a chore or a pain, depending on who I was fighting against. But this time, I could feel a faint pull at my lips, the thrill of the fight. Somehow, this was exactly what I needed.

Darting back in, body low to the ground like I had done so many times with Akeno I crossed the few steps quickly, lunging upwards in a punch that followed into a side kick. Both hit only air, Ravel having crouched low at the same time that I had shot upwards, and exposed as I was it was simple for her to grab my leg and pull, yanking me towards her even as she held out a palm of fire on a direct course for my chest.

I could feel the skin on my leg begin to burn and I gritted my teeth, going with the tugging motion to punch downwards, forcing Ravel to deflect the fist with her palm instead of burning my chest. At the same time I grabbed Ravel's arm with my other hand and used my last limb, the foot left on the floor to deliver a kick to Ravel's side.

The fire-wielding girl grunted in pain, recognizing the current stalemate and releasing my leg, allowing me to hop backwards and regain my balance. Now I had a burned leg and a burned wrist where my attack had been blocked, while Ravel had taken barely any damage. Not a good sign so far.

My style of combat was much more adaptive than Ravel's more rigid style, but I couldn't use it to it's fullest in an open area like this. So without taking my eyes off Ravel I darted to the left towards the third-year English classroom I had noted when I first reached this floor.

Ravel followed close behind, eyes flicking past me to check for any traps but seemed willing to let me flee. Pausing in front of the door, I took an instant to reach behind me for the handle, hoping to jerk it open before Ravel took the opportunity to attack. I found the handle easily enough, but it refused to budge. It was locked.

Ravel's answer to my accusing glare was a smirk and an arrogant tilt of her head. "I had some spare time while I was waiting for a fly to land in my trap." So now I had something to my back, keeping my from retreating.

Or so she thought. Smirking, I quirked an eyebrow at the girl, acknowledgment for her foresight as I used my left leg to kick backwards at the door, a small bit of magic enough to let the door jump it's track and fall to the ground behind me with a clatter.

I couldn't help but laugh at Ravel's pouting face as I jumped backwards and into the room. It was filled with chairs as additional obstacles but there didn't seem to be much else besides some supply lockers. No easily visible weapon, at least. There were windows on the far side of the classroom though, something that gave me an idea.

Ravel followed into the room, daintily stepping over the fallen door and wrinkling her nose at the most likely "plebeian" decoration to someone from a noble family like her. "Why would you want to come into here?" She asked disdainfully. "It's just locking yourself into a smaller space."

"If you really think that," I said with a grin, "You won't mind coming at me to prove it."

The pampered girl rolled her eyes but darted in, heading for my form and telegraphing a wide punch to my chest. Which meant it was probably a feint, made to lead away from some other kind of attack.

Either way, I simply avoided it by leaping up onto an adjacent desk with a single bound, landing in a crouch. Incidentally this let me dodge the thin burst of fire that erupted from Ravel's hand and hit where I had been a moment before.

Straightening up I lashed out in a kick that was blocked by Ravel's arm but pushed the girl back a step. I kept up with a repeated course of kicks, using my heightened position to my advantage and easily dodging any of the shorter ranged attacks that Ravel sent.

Growling in frustration, Ravel sent another burst of fire towards me, forcing me to leap back to another desk or risk getting burned. Seeing that her new strategy was working, Ravel kept up the assault, keeping me on the back foot as I leaped from desk to desk, barely evading each tongue of flame.

Once I got deep enough into the sea of chairs and desks, Ravel was forced to either follow me down the aisles and possibly trap herself or follow me onto the desk-tops, putting us on more equal footing. Ravel chose the latter option, keeping balance as she followed me in our little dance.

Intent on putting an end to my constant evasion, Ravel sent a wave of flame out with a wave of her hand, sending an entire row of desks on fire and blocking off one route of escape unless I wanted to land in the middle of an element that the Phenex was known for controlling.

I'd been keeping an eye on our position in the room and had been leading Ravel on a pretty chase, resulting in the girl being exactly where I wanted her. She was consumed in lighting further parts of the room on fire, further reducing my movements. But she was standing on the last row of desks next to the windows, the light from the blank sky above shining through and framing the girl once more.

Mentally judging the size of the window, I figured it would be a large enough fit. "Hey, Ravel-chan?"

Ravel cast me a glare from where she was diligently setting the ceiling on fire, just in case I tried to jump too high. "Yes, Kado-kun? What is it?" Her tone was deceptively sweet, not doing a thing to hide just how annoyed she was with me right now.

I smiled, perfectly guileless. "Duck."

"Wha-"

Lunging forward I aimed low and curled my arms around Ravel's body, trapping her arms against her sides and carrying forward, taking both of us into and through the glass window that had been behind Ravel. Her head must have hit the top of the windowsill since I heard a sickening sound of flesh hitting stone as we carried through, the shattered glass sparkling in the light.

Ravel had taken most of the damage from going through the window, but several cuts had opened up on my arms as I went through, those being the widest parts and the glass not being pushed away enough from the force.

But then we were falling, Ravel limp in my arms as we quickly descended. I fought to keep my eyes open against the rushing wind, wrestling with Ravel's body to force it beneath my own, hoping to cushion the impact with her form.

Then we hit and it felt like I had just been doused in a vat full of acid, every part of my body stinging, but I couldn't feel anything broken. My head felt woozy but I managed to unwrap my arms from around Ravel and push my body up off of hers, kneeling just to the side.

Ravel had taken the fall harder than I had, I was sure, but she was still breathing, chest rising and falling in a steady if slow rhythm. But more telling were the pale yellow flames licking at the back of Ravel's head, healing the injury from our escape from the top floor.

She hadn't been retired yet. It wasn't enough. I had to go farther. Slowly, I reached forward and cradled Ravel's head lifting in from the ground in a tender grip. At the same time I opened a crack in my soul and guided a strand of magic down to my hands and arms.

The yellow flames died away and Ravel's brow crinkled, her eyes beginning to open. "How-"

Biting my lip, I activated the magic in my arms, and as they burst into light, forcefully threw Ravel's head back down onto the ground. There was a crack as Ravel's eyes rolled back in her head.

I stayed still for a moment, hands beginning to shake. Was that enough? Would I have to go farther?

Yellow flames began licking at the back of the Phenex's scalp and I gritted my teeth, forcing back the bile in my throat as I once again grasped Ravel's head and brought it down onto the ground.

Again and again, not waiting for the telltale flames before repeating the process. I knew there was only one way this would end but my hands continued through with their work, as if they were a separate part of my body. Each crack of skull against ground tearing a hole somewhere inside of me.

Over and over and over, until I couldn't see straight through blurry vision, until my hands felt wet and sticky, until something inside me screamed and cracked and I kept going.

Then the yellow flames went out and didn't come back.

"Riser Phenex's bishop has… retired." The permanently calm voice seemed shaken, a frozen lake finally breaking.

My hands were shaking, not just from the cramping and snapping muscles, and my vision was as if I was looking through a screen of static, blocking out everything but the deep color that covered my hands like rain, dragging me down into the depths.

She was alive. I kept repeating that to myself as the body in front of me slowly dissolved into blue sparks, leaving nothing left but the… liquid covering the ground and me.

My chest started to ache as my thoughts whirled around, going nowhere, but I didn't dare to touch it, didn't dare to take my eyes off my hands as if they might attack someone else if I looked away.

I don't know how long I kneeled there, the world unfocused and nothing real except the hatred and self-loathing inside my own head. Eventually, something broke through. Issei. I had to go meet Issei. We were still fighting. We hadn't won yet.

Running on autopilot I forced everything I didn't want to think about, the guilt, the hatred, the memories, all shoved inside the mental box, never to be thought about again. Ravel was fine. She was unhurt. But I had blood on my hands, and would never be able to wipe it clean.

My head finally feeling clearer, I stood up, wincing as my knees ached. How long had I been kneeling there? Or maybe it was from my improvised landing, only partially absorbed by Ravel's body.

I began staggering around the building to the back door, bracing myself against the wall with one hand, dragging myself forward step by step, leaving a red trail behind me as my hand was scraped free of blood.

By the time I reached the back door of the school, I was almost fully recovered, my actions of just a few minutes ago seeming like a distant dream. But the dark red stains on my legs and the marks on my hands were undeniable proof.

Surprisingly, Issei wasn't waiting at the back door like I had thought he would be, instead nothing to be seen besides the shattered remains of the gymnasium and the craters blown in the hard dirt from Yubelluna's first attack on me as I dashed to the school.

Which brings to mind, where is Yubelluna now? The plan was for Akeno to engage her and keep her occupied, but I hadn't heard an announcement that either of them had been defeated yet. Perhaps they were still at an impasse, neither queen able to defeat the other.

Turning away from the carnage that seemed like I'd lived through so long ago, I headed into the school building, carefully picking through the plaster and wood fragments from my first real battle. Poking my head out into the open area I glanced around at the three hallways branching off into the front, left, and right wings of the school. Still no sign of Issei.

Just as I was beginning to wonder what had happened to the pawn, if he had been captured by the enemy or had somehow gotten lost inside his own school, Issei appeared in the right hallway. The brown-haired boy was clearly running, his devil speed pushing him to the level of a practiced athlete runner.

He slid up next to me, backpedaling slightly to not fall over with the speed of his stop, giving me an annoyed look as his activated gauntlet declared "Reset!" in a loud voice. "Where were you, Kado-san? Buchou said you'd be waiting for me?"

Apparently he hadn't noticed the blood covering me yet, since he hadn't recoiled in horror. A sudden surge of guilt pushed me to twist my palms away from Issei, trying to subtly tuck them behind my back. "Sorry, I wanted to do some scouting and got caught up in something." It wasn't a lie, but just speaking to Issei seemed to make my stomach churn.

Issei immediately switched from anger to concern just like my mother, craning his head around to spot any kind of injury on me. "It wasn't an enemy, was it? You didn't get hurt, did you?"

Squeezing my fingers into my palms I smiled at Issei, touched by his concern. "No, I-" (Blank eyes head oozing red on gold) "-didn't get hurt at all. It was nothing." Please, please stop asking.

Giving me one last considering look, Issei turned back into his usual jovial persona like a switch had been flipped. "Alright then! You probably just got lost, didn't you!" Thank you, Issei.

Rolling my eyes, I tried to get back onto topic. "My little adventure wasn't totally useless, though. If we use the right stairwell, there shouldn't be any guards up until at all, it's completely open." At least it was now.

Instead of the gratitude I will confess to expecting, Issei's face morphed into an expression of terror, as if he had just heard that Kuoh Academy had become an all-male school. "Oh Maou I just remembered! That's why I was looking for you?" What was wrong? Did he find an enemy piece and get chased all the way back here?

"We can't promote!"

My breath caught in my chest and I had to swallow before I could speak. "What do you mean? You… we need to promote!" Was there someone guarding the room? Was there a trap?

Issei shook his head, frantic. "I can't! The Student Council is destroyed! There's nothing there but a big hole! That was their territory, and if it's gone we can't promote!"

Destroyed? A big hole? My first thought was that Sona was going to murder Riser. My second through tenth thoughts were running through what must have happened. It made sense, honestly. Pick a location that's far away, destroy it so enemies can't promote, and then use it as bait and use guards to attack any pawns who try to take advantage.

"That's genius," I breathed out softly, before snapping back to the present. This was bad. "Have you contacted Rias yes?" We were counting on the queen promotion being enough to let Issei overpower Riser, and without it we might not have a chance. I knew it was possible to defeat a Phenex, but it would mean killing Riser hundreds of times to run his magical supply down.

Issei shook his head, a serious expression on his face as he lifted the ring up to his face without a moment's hesitation. "Buchou? We've got a problem!" There was a moment of silence. Then another one. "Buchou? Buchou?" A tense feeling grew inside of me as the silence continued and I could see Issei getting worried as well, his gauntleted hand clenching and unclenching in a sound of scraping metal.

There was no response. Issei slowly lowered his his hand from his face, a look of fury on his face. "It must be Riser," he said without pause, a fire burning in his eyes, the movements of his left fist increasing in speed. "He took Rias. And Asia was with her."

I wanted to tell Issei not to jump to conclusions but I couldn't argue with him. "Since we were winning so badly," I said out loud, "he must have interfered directly, going straight to where Rias was."

Issei barked out a laugh, a harsh, cold thing. "You call this winning? We're barely surviving right now, even without Riser to deal with."

Surprised at the tone of Issei's voice I almost took a step back, suddenly seeing a stranger in front of me instead of the good-natured, perverted boy I had come to call my friend. Then I blinked and Issei was back, just very, very angry. "But I thought nobody from the peerage had retired yet?"

Now it was Issei's turn to Seem taken aback. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Didn't you hear?" I could feel a slow dread start to seep into me at Issei's next words. "Koneko-chan, Pretty Boy, and Himejima-senpai were all retired in the last ten minutes!"

My blood ran cold. How had I missed that? But if that was true, then we were the last fighters on Rias' peerage. And without promoting, I was barely as strong as one of Riser's pieces. Issei could put up a better fight than I could, but it still wouldn't be enough against Riser.

Then I remembered watching Rias train, pushing herself to the point of exhaustion to refine her volatile energy for this fight. She was fighting for her freedom, and still would be. "Come on," I told Issei, brain churning through possibilities before settling on one. "Riser's on the rooftop. We've got one chance at this."

Issei just nodded, not even doubting me for a second. "Good luck, Kado." His eyes were set, chips of stone in a face of flint. I had no doubt that Issei would do everything he could for Rias.

I nodded in return, shoving the last of my doubts and qualms deep inside. "Show them what a dragon can do, Issei."

Then Issei was gone, his gauntlet declaring a boost as he dashed away and was out of sight within seconds. I followed after, not daring to use any magic to increase my speed. Issei would be able to hold Riser off for a short time at least and I would be no use handicapped.

Even though I knew I was a devil, for the first time in my life I felt an urge to pray.

S~~~S~~~S~~~S~~~S~~~S

When I finally made it to the top of the stairs the sudden sunlight temporarily blinded me, leaving my vision blurry until I had blinked it out of my eyes. Once my vision cleared I could see Riser standing at the far end of the rooftop, surrounded by a corona of flames that seemed to intertwine and snap like snakes. Issei was avoiding the tendrils of fire and I could see his speed visibly increase as he boosted, increasing in speed. But he seemed to just barely avoid each hungry flame, not gaining any ground towards Riser.

Farther back, halfway between Riser and where I was standing, Rias was lying weakly on the ground, the entire left arm of her school uniform burnt away and a bright red burn covering the limb.

Asia was kneeling next to her king, forcing energy through shaking hands to heal the roasted arm. It was clear that both girls were completely exhausted, Rias not even able to stand up while the green glow that denoted Twilight Healing's power was beginning to flicker, Asia's bishop-enhanced reserves beginning to run low. How long had she already been healing Rias?

I took a step forward, but hesitated, seeing no way that my interference could improve the situation. The battle currently taking place was far above my level, Issei a black and red blur now even as he began to slowly gain ground, working his way towards the irate Phenex as he yelled something I couldn't hear over the rushing of flames.

Choking on my indecision, all I could do was stand still, intently watching the battle between Issei and Riser. This was nothing like the perverted Issei who would loudly discuss the appeal of various ladies in the school. His eyes were red and angry, his teeth bared in either a grin or a snarl as he was leaped backwards to avoid a wave of orange fire.

I turned my attention to Riser, who hadn't budged in all the time I'd been here, standing with his arms folded and a confident smirk on his face like nothing could touch him. And then he turned his head, just enough to catch my eye in the corner of his gaze.

Flame erupted from Riser's back, leaving his red suit untouched as two thick strands of flame stretched out, gaining shape and definition until they were in the shape of angel wings, raised towards the sky.

Then they crashed downwards, a single flap of the feathered fire creating a giant sphere of flame that engulfed both fighters, the heat so severe that I could easily feel it from where I was standing, a stinging sensation across my face.

In an instant I was filled with absolute certainty. That's going to kill Issei.

My feet were already propelling me forward as I registered the dual screams of fear that came from Asia and Rias, fear that their friend had died in front of them. I knew that Issei would be fine, he would be returned to a state of perfect health, but in that moment I didn't care. So what if he would be fine, that arrogant chicken had just attacked my friend and I was going make him pay!

I reached into my chest and tore the core open, releasing a wave of magic many times greater than the small amounts I had been using previously, channeling it into my already damaged arms and hands as well as my legs. Who cared that this guy was immortal, I just needed to be a distraction long enough for Issei to recover.

My flight across the roof was only a few seconds, each step impacting with the force of a bullet as I shot past Asia and Rias, the blonde girl collapsed onto her knees. In front of me was a friend in danger, a tornado of flames, and a jerk who was about to be missing a few teeth.

Just before I reached the hemisphere of flame it dissipated, the fire fading into the air like bubbles popping in a strong wind. Riser was standing as placid as ever, his suit not even scorched. Issei stood ahead of Riser, on his knees with with a fist planted into the concrete of the roof as if it was sand, clothes in tatters but with a shimmering scale-like pattern of blue energy overlayed on his skin.

His face was red, eyes furious, but he was alive.

Uncaring that his greatest threat was in front of him, Riser slowly rotated to face me, a smirk on his face. "I believe you and I have some unfinished business, brat." His voice was filled with venom, his eyes shining with hatred.

As if just remembering where I was I put up my hands, still feeling the magic thrumming through my veins, lighting me up like a million fires. Now was the time! "Riaaaahhh!" I shouted, pushing myself forward, arm cocked back, the magical energy forming a light blue corona around the fist.

Riser stood there, uncaring with the same arrogant look on his face. I swung, intent on crushing in Riser's nose. Then an image of blank eyes, blonde hair, and bloody hands flashed in my mind and I jerked backwards, grinding to a stop millimeters away from Riser. I was breathing heavily, eyes unfocused.

"How unfortunate," Riser said out loud, shaking his head with a sad look on his face. "A coward as well as a fool. At least you know your place." Drawing back his leg, Riser kicked out viciously. I saw it coming but was too slow to respond and the tip of Riser's red leather shoes dug into my stomach, throwing me back onto the concrete as I felt something inside me rupture.

I could hear a roar of rage from Issei and Rias' concerned voice, but I didn't move. It wasn't that I was too badly hurt, I just… couldn't. My eyes stared blankly ahead for a moment, unable to shake the memory of kneeling over Ravel's corpse.

No, she was alive. She was alive, you idiot! I sucked in a heaving breath regardless of the piercing pain in my stomach and rolled onto my side, putting a hand on the ground and stumbling to my feet. Issei was fighting Riser again but he seemed visibly exhausted now, the repeated use of the boosted gear taking it's toll on him.

The magic in my legs and arms was waning, but I still had some left. I took one step, then another, then I was running forward, ready to take a swing at Riser. This time I didn't stop partway through. My clenched fist hit Riser straight on the cheek, blasting the arrogant devil a few meters across the roof, his body skipping once, twice on the concrete before stopping, Riser staggering to his feet, his suit finally damaged.

Riser looked angry now, his jaw and part of his face hanging limp, clearly broken. Blood leaked from a cut on the side of his head. Yellow flames licked at the wound for a second and the blood was gone, Riser's jaw snapping back into place with a dull crack. "How dare you touch me," Riser seethed, flames springing up around him once more. "I'll kill you all!"

Then Issei was there, his left gauntleted fist burying itself deep into Riser's stomach, doubling the devil over and blasting him straight up into the air. This time Riser was more prepared, expanding his flame wings to halt his fall, leaving him hovering in midair, Issei yelling for him to come back down and fight like a devil.

Riser snarled, entirely fed up with being on the back foot. "You want me to fight like a devil?" he asked, gathering a large mass of flames into his hands. "Fine! I'll fight like a devil!"

And with a deceptively light toss, the ball of fire expanded into a roaring cone of flame, burning through the air on a direct course towards Asia and Rias, still on the roof behind me.

Without any time to think I was spinning on one foot, chasing the flames to Rias and Asia. I could feel the power beginning to flicker, already strained with how much magic was forced into my limbs. I gritted my teeth and clamped down on the glow, flaring it as bright as I could. Just a few more seconds, that's all I needed.

The world was a blur for an instant and then I was standing above the two girls, staring down at their shocked expressions with my arms spread wide. There was no time to pull them somewhere safe, or even push them out of the way. All I could do was hope that this would protect them enough.

The fire hit and I arched my back, mouth open in a silent scream as I felt my flesh burn and melt, my arms twitching to pull back into the shelter of my chest as the fire curled around them. But I resisted, holding them outwards with as much strength as I had. Rias and Asia would not die!

Then it was over, cold air that was both soothing and painful struck my back and I staggered, taking a single step forward before falling onto a knee, arms still out wide. I let them fall to my sides and closed my eyes, a smile on my face. I had protected them.

Cool hands touched my shoulders and a voice cried out, saying something I couldn't make out. I felt a blissful numbing on my back, around the middle of my spine and realized that Asia was trying to heal me, using up the last of her energy. I wanted to resist, speak up and not force the young girl to endure any more trauma, but I was already fading, my consciousness growing dim despite the pain I felt.

Rias' voice, breaking through the haze. "I resign!"

...What?

"Rias Gremory's pawn has retired."

End AN: I am evil. Completely irredeemably evil. This? This is the tip of the iceberg.

I took some liberties with the characters, partially because I was actually able to write this Siris while the slightly more canon-compliant one had no character with how I wrote them the first time. The rest of it is because I don't actually know Ravel's character very well, although I tried to keep it realistic.

I also changed a few things with the rating game system to make it more like a sport, with devil referees that pulled out players if they got hurt too bad and slightly changing the communication method for reasons that were shown at the end of the chapter.

And for everyone who wanted to see Kado being awesome and showing his worth, I hope this satisfied that urge! Part of the difficulty of this chapter was trying to reach a balance for Kado's skill, experience, and power. He is still only a month-old devil, but with his reckless tendencies, body amplification technique, and cunning, I figured he could pull it off.

Related to that though, I've had it planned for a long time that Kado takes out Ravel. A Phenex, someone that is believed to be immortal, resigned by pure force and repetition by a low-ranked devil. That's something that's going to stir up a hornets nest or hundred in the underworld.

Plus evil stuff that happens later.

Now, next chapter isn't written yet so I don't know how that'll impact quality, but it should involve some of the repercussions from this rating game.

Hope to see you all there!