Author's Note: Only 2 chapters left in the Gregorious Arc. This chapter and the next!
Chapter 20: Laying the Groundworks
Lord Phenex had spared no expense in ensuring that the Viewing Room was set up just right for Tatsumi and Night Raid to watch his son's Rating Game. Spared no expense didn't mean that it was lavishly furnished either, it was exactly what it needed to be. A burgundy, c-shaped couch soft enough to make even the longest Rating Games a pleasant experience to sit through, encircled a round table inset with a variety of runes. A touch here, a touch there, and any number of food and drink would appear before them. Several menus rested atop the table with the list of what was readily available and what had to be prepared.
The couch faced a large, blank wall that was scrawled with tiny red runes from end to end. They glowed with a soft, red light as they projected an image of the landscape that served as the arena for the upcoming Rating Game. It gave the appearance that the entire wall had simply fallen away and they were simply looking down upon the arena from on high.
From their vantage point they could see everything. The 'arena' that the Rating Game was going to be played at was an arena in name only. All it had in common with an actual arena was a set of boundaries marked by a semi-transparent wall of energy. The landscape was a part of the Underworld itself, an area sectioned off for this express purpose. It was a landscape that quite obviously favored Ruval Phenex. The side of a volcano. A charred forest, still smoldering from a recent eruption, fanned out around the base of the large volcano. Tatsumi wondered if the volcano might erupt during the game, it was still smoking and small streams of lava trickled from holes in the sides of the volcano, winding their way down the slope along a lazy, meandering path.
It was essentially a wide-open battle arena. The magma had created numerous pockets one could hide in where it had eaten away the softer rock and dirt leaving behind only dense sedimentary stone it couldn't melt, but the pockets weren't very large and no one could hide from even a cursory inspection.
Tatsumi didn't know what sort of peerage Ruval had, but being a fire based individual, a lava field seemed to play to his advantage more than Gregorious', especially since he had it on very good information that Ruval was going to have his base at the summit, while Gregorious would be at the base.
Terrain and height advantage.
Tatsumi turned his attention to the rest of the room but there wasn't much else to take note of. A few small ferns sitting in each corner added a splash of color and a small table sat next to the door for servants to quietly deliver food, drink, or whatever they needed without disturbing them. There was little to draw one's attention away from the arena that was displayed before them.
"Lord Phenex really outdid himself," Tatsumi said as he seated himself, hopping over the back of the couch so that he sat directly facing the viewing screen. "It almost feels like we're there."
"When my father does something, he likes to do it right," Ravel said as she made her way around the couch. She was far more sedate as she took her seat, each motion proper and regal. "My father also saw the value in having a place like this at home. I do not believe this will be the last time this room sees use."
Bennia didn't so much hop over the back of the couch as she rolled over it, landing on her back. ((This place is so totally the best! We can order all the food we want!)) Tatsumi quickly found his lap occupied with Bennia's head and her arms were quickly wrapped around his waist. She grinned up at Ravel as the young girl settled on Tatsumi's left. ((Mine!)) Ravel's eyebrow just twitched in irritation.
"I'll just stick with the end," Mine said as she took a seat at the end of the c-shaped couch as far from Bennia as she could manage.
((I didn't mean you! I said Tatsumi is mine!))
"Just ignore her, she's making terrible puns on purpose," Tatsumi said to the Fallen Angel.
Mine sniffed the air delicately. "I intend to. We're here to gain information on our enemies, not play around."
((That's just because you're not talented enough to do both!))
Mine whirled around on Bennia, her eyes blazing with anger. "What was that?!"
"This is pretty good!" Xenovia suddenly spoke up. As one they all turned to her. She was seated next to Bennia and there was already a plate of onigiri in front of her. They'd been here a whole two minutes and she was already stuffing her face. For what must be the hundredth time Tatsumi wondered if the church ever bothered to feed Xenovia when she was an Exorcist.
Everyone just stared at the Exorcist. Not even Mine could remain irritated at Bennia as they all watched her stuff her face with food not five seconds after arriving.
((Seriously?!)) Bennia asked incredulously. ((I know I made a comment about food but already?!))
"Want some?" Xenovia asked as she offered Bennia an onigiri. "Wherever this food comes from, it's really good!"
Bennia hesitated, wavering between wanting to accept the snack and pushing it away. Eventually her restraint won over and she shook her head with a sigh. ((Maybe later… I don't want to get crumbs in Tatsumi's lap.))
How considerate of her. Tatsumi craned his neck back and looked up at Najenda. She hadn't bothered to take a seat. "Aren't you going to sit?"
Najenda gave him an amused smile. "I'll stand for now, I may take a seat if the game goes overly long. I find myself spending too much time sitting as it is." A loud voice suddenly boomed across the arena, echoing into the room where they all sat. "It seems to be starting."
Bennia quickly sat up, her playful smile disappearing as if it was never there as she became focused on the screen. "Pay attention everyone, these will be our targets," Tatsumi said as he leaned forward as well. He didn't want to miss a single detail. "We have names and capabilities, but we don't have any faces to attach all that to, or what they're truly capable of. Assume everyone on Gregorious' side is an enemy."
"Even Hikaru?" Ravel asked, sounding rather surprised.
"I intend to rescue Hikaru, but not at the risk of any of you. Until we've officially pulled her from Gregorious' grasp she's to be considered a threat, albeit one we're to disable, not kill." As much as he cared about Hikaru, and as much as he wanted to save her… she was secondary to eliminating Gregorious. A very, very, close secondary, but still only that. "Gregorious is still our priority. His death takes precedence over everything else and we have to be prepared for any possible situation."
"Tatsumi and I will be going over a strategy afterwards, I'm counting on you girls to pick up on anything we miss," Najenda said.
Everyone murmured their agreements and turned their full attention on the screen. This would mark the true beginning of the first major operation for Night Raid.
~o~
Even before the light of the summoning circle ebbed the acrid scent of sulfur assaulted Hikaru's senses so she wasn't surprised when she opened her eyes to find a volcanic landscape. Small streams of magma still gurgled out of the sides of the volcano suggesting that the volcano wasn't quite finished yet belching. That was something Ruval Phenex would be able to utilize to his advantage, and something for them to watch out for. This was a battlefield that benefited their opponent more than them.
Gregorious Abaddon, her master, let out a soft snort as he took a few steps forward, testing the ground as he did. It was covered with a thick layer of ash that got kicked up by Gregorious' prodding and carried away by the wind. Beneath that was good solid dirt. "As I suspected, Ruval Phenex chose this battlefield out of all the options available. Well, no matter, my recognition will only rise that much further if we manage to defeat Ruval while he has the field advantage."
As they were the challengers, it was Ruval's right to choose the location of the Rating Game.
A large screen appeared in the air above the grounds and the Satan, Sirzechs Lucifer, appeared on the screen clad in his formal armor and cloak. [Greetings everyone. I, Sirzechs Lucifer, shall be carrying out the role of Arbitrator in the Rating Game between The Gregorious group and the Ruval group on this occasion.]
A low whistle escaped from Morrigan's lips. The devil stretched her wings out behind her and leapt a few meters into the sky to get a better look at the image. She smiled widely up at the image as she stretched her arms behind her back, sending her distractingly large breasts bouncing. How she managed to keep them contained in that skin tight latex bunny suit Hikaru would never know. The one time she'd brought it up Morrigan had just laughed and patted her cheek before telling her she'd tell her if Hikaru grew a bit more.
Hikaru really hated her, and it had nothing to do with her relationship with Gregorious.
"Sirzechs himself is it?" Morrigan said, her voice warm and rich as she gazed longingly up at the image of Sirzechs. "We have a Satan arbitrating our game."
Hikaru just shook her head in disgust and looked away. That woman was far to free with her body and it didn't help that she had a voluptuous body that Hikaru would never admit she was envious of. She glanced down at her own modest chest, held in check by the metal breastplate she wore. It had taken so long for her to develop she had feared at one time she never would. She knew she should be happy that she had anything at all but… it still didn't stop her from wishing she had more.
"As it should be," Gregorious said, nodding his head in satisfaction. There was a pleased smile on that man's lips as well. "It is about time our games started to get the acknowledgement they deserve."
After a brief pause to allow everyone to acknowledge his presence and his words, Sirzechs continued. [On the honor of my position as Lucifer, I vow to watch over this game between two worthy rivals in both a fair and honest manner. The challenger of today's match, Gregorious Abaddon, will battle against Ruval Phenex on a field of the latter's choosing. The lava field of a still active volcano. The boundary is the breadth of the lava field with the east edge ending at the mouth of the volcano while the west edge the beginning of the ashen forest at the base.]
"Base advantage and field advantage," Syura scoffed loudly. "This is neither fair nor honest. Ruval already starts several steps ahead of us."
"As is the right of the challenged," Gregorious said, waving away Syura's complaint. "I have used that self-same position to our advantage in the past as well. It's intended that way so that only the truly strong continue to rise." Gregorious paused as he rounded on Syura. His eyes were lidded and dangerous, "or are you insinuating you're incapable of utilizing your abilities to overcome such an advantage?"
A dangerous threat hung in the air. Was Syura too weak to be of any further use to Gregorious?
"Nothing of the sort," Syura was quick to reassure him.
"Good," Gregorious said as he turned back around to face the screen with Sirzechs on it and what was most likely Ruval's base in the far distance at the lip of the volcano.
Syura threw an irritated look at the man's back. Hikaru tried to avoid Syura whenever possible, but what she had learned over the past three years was that he wasn't someone that liked to be ordered about. He enjoyed doing the ordering. He had tried to do the same with Hikaru.
That ended when Hikaru proved fast enough to rip him out of the warped space between teleportation points. She was his better in every regard and as much as she knew that angered him, it also caused him to leave her alone.
"What are you looking at?" He demanded when he caught her staring at him.
She gave him the most innocent smile she possibly could. "Nothing important."
His face clouded over in anger. "Why you—"
A powerful grip clamped upon Syura's shoulder, effortlessly driving the man to his knees. "You had best remember your place, child," Kurenai hissed beneath her breath to the scar faced man. "Do not think my Gregorious is unaware of your defiant attitude. Be thankful you're still useful enough to tolerate it." She paused and gave Hikaru a smile. "And never think for a single moment that he finds you more useful than Hikaru."
Gregorious was quick to reward good work and just as quick to punish those that defy his authority or fail to live up to his expectations.
[Both groups have been transported to their respective bases. Gregorious' base is the small, raised hill near the ashen forest that has not been covered in lava. Ruval's base is at the top at the lip of the volcano. In order for a pawn to promote they must either enter an opponents base or enter one of the designated special zones.]
As if his words were the queue, four pillars of light lanced towards the sky, two red and two blue. The red beams were high up on the mountainside near Ruval's base while the blue beams were to either side of theirs. Little extra rules like this were common in higher games. It added an element of excitement. If they wanted to prevent any of Ruval's pawns from being promoted they'd need to protect all three spots. Or, they could ignore those spots and focus on taking down the King before the pawns have a chance to promote and become a problem.
[There will be a few additional rules added to this game. First is that neither side can use a Phoenix Tear for any reason.] That was an obvious rule both sides knew would come. Ruval Phenex essentially had an unlimited supply at his command while Gregorious had none. There was giving the challenged team an advantage and then there was just blatant favoritism. [Second, neither side is allowed to interrupt or intercept the recall of a downed opponent. If the Rating Game system has deemed someone no longer fit for battle, you will immediately cease all actions towards said individual and move on.] That was for Syura, since his Sacred Gear could interfere with the recall system. That was put in place to prevent him from raping anyone else after he'd knocked them out.
Now he just raped them while they were still considered active. At least there was a way for people to tap out of a game early if they felt they were done… or to prevent being tied up and raped.
[The third rule is that anyone forced out of boundaries by an opponent will be automatically returned to the point of ejection.]
Again, that was for Syura after he teleported a King out of boundaries and won a match by default. It was such a piss-poor way of winning that it had raised complaints and protests across the Underworld. If that rule hadn't been implemented no one would have fought Gregorious ever again.
[The fourth rule is that you're not allowed to arbitrarily teleport random parts of an individual's body into a random part of another's body.]
Again for Syura. It caused complications with the recall system when people started to get mixed up, such as when one body had two heads, with the second head stuck halfway up the ass of the first. The recall system ended up tearing the first person in half because it didn't know how to deal with it.
"At least I can still rearrange a person's innards," Syura smirked. He was proud of all these rules that were created explicitly to limit what he was capable of. It inflated his already over-inflated Ego.
Hikaru tuned out the next seven rules that Sirzechs listed off, each pertaining to Syura and what he could, or couldn't, do with his Shambala Sacred Gear. Hikaru knew placing rules on Syura would be futile right up until the point they just outright banned him from participating. Every time they placed one restriction on Syura, he just found a new and creative way to exploit the system and, unfortunately, entertain a large number of pure-blooded devils that actually looked forward to the creative uses of his abilities.
Syura was one of the few reincarnated devils that most of the older devils accepted and appreciated. They all just chalked up his human origin to a mistake in the grand reincarnation system and that he should have been born a devil from the start.
It wasn't until Sirzechs started in on the twelfth rule that Hikaru's attention was drawn back to what the Satan was saying. [The twelfth and final rule is that a piece, once defeated, is allowed to return to the battlefield starting at the base of their King after a thirty-minute downtime if they are able and willing.] What? Hikaru was shocked, she'd never heard of a rule like that, not just in their games, but in any Rating Game. It wasn't exactly against the established core rules that governed how the game was played, both sides theoretically benefited equally from it, but it was a precedence. To the side, she noticed that Gregorious Abaddon was equally surprised by the addition of the rule. [The game has no time limit and will continue until either Ruval Phenex or Gregorious Abaddon has been defeated. You have thirty minutes to come up with a plan. Until the thirty minutes are up neither side is allowed to cross the halfway mark or interact with the opposing side in any way.]
The screen disappeared signalling the start of their thirty-minute prep-time.
"The lack of time limit is unusual," Kurenai commented as she threw a hard look up the mountain side. "Even the top ranked games have a limit of at least half a day. And that last rule? This is going to be a rather unique game."
"An interesting one never-the-less. The return to the battlefield feature supports us more than them. Syura and Champ can ensure certain members of Ruval's peerage don't want to return to the battlefield." There was little need to interpret the meaning behind that, especially considering the wide smile that sprang across Syura's lips. "As for the time limit, it's not needed here," Gregorious said as he eyed the lava field. He looked every bit an a general surveying the battlefield of an upcoming battle as he determined the best course of action to take towards victory. "It's too open. There's no choke points, significant hiding spots, or anything that could potentially cause a rating game to get drawn out indefinitely. There's no place for a King to hide."
"It also ties in with the last rule," Kurenai asked.
"Yes, with no time limit it means defeating the King is the only thing that matters." Gregorious frowned as he went into deep thought. "The lack of time limit and that last rule makes this is a blitz type game. Take out as many of the other pieces as quickly as possible at the same time and then move onto the King before they have a chance to return and reinforce. In that regard, it might benefit Ruval more overall than us. It plays to that man's advantage. He has an offense orientated group and Phenex's are notoriously difficult to bring down quickly."
Gregorious had a more well-rounded peerage. They had individuals like Jeina and Lilian that could guard a choke point all day without issue, Hikaru and Kurenai to go on the offensive and Syura for support.
"They have most of the advantages," Morrigan said, letting a sigh drift down from above where she floated. Her wings were stretched out behind her, transformed into a makeshift chair. "Perhaps we should change the terrain?"
Gregorious gave Morrigan a firm nod. "My thoughts exactly and I have just the person to do it. The most problematic issue at the moment are the multiple promotion points, we need to remove the two extra ones as quickly as possible." Gregorious turned to her and for once his eyes didn't wander down Hikaru's chest. He was all business, a testament to how important this game was to him. "Hikaru, I need you to get one of Syura's markers to the promotion point on the left."
"That's the one closest to us, they'll expect me to make a run for it," Hikaru pointed out. "Ruval Phenex's two knights can definitely intercept me before I make it there."
"I know, and I expect you to be able to get past them," Gregorious said. He would force this plan to work no matter the pain it caused her. "You just need to get there and place the marker for Syura. After that you're to deal with Ruval's Knights, keep them locked down so they can't interfere with anything else."
"I won't be able to without—"
"Use it if you find yourself unable to get past them otherwise," Gregorious said calmly. His eyes bespoke of a punishment if she used it without due cause however. "The time for keeping your Sacred Gear hidden is over. This match is too important to risk losing just to keep a trump card hidden."
Hikaru nodded. That was fine. If she was allowed to use her Sacred Gear she could keep Ruval's entire group tied up if need be. It would also showcase her abilities to Tatsumi. Show him how much better she had become. Her anger towards him that day in the diner hadn't been entirely faked. It had frustrated her to no end that no matter how good she became, she was never as good as Tatsumi.
That would change. She knew he was watching from somewhere. Hoped he was. She didn't want to have to suffer through another Rating Game for this piece of shit.
"Good," Gregorious, satisfied with her response, turned his attention to Syura who was brushing some ash off his knees. "Once the marker is in place Syura you're to teleport Lilian and Sakuri there."
"Why not all the useless pawns?" He asked.
"Because unlike a certain someone who is incapable of seeing past the first move, I know how Ruval will act," Gregorious retorted. "Don't question my orders. Just get those two there." Syura managed to keep his face schooled this time as Gregorious moved on. "Lilian—" he paused and scowled at someone behind Hikaru. Turning she found Lilian, trembling as Champ's hands wormed their way beneath her clothes. "Champ, what have I told you before?"
The fat clown-faced man was quick to jump away from the little girl, his hands quickly came up in a gesture of peace. "Ah ha, I just couldn't help myself! Such a delectable—"
"Touch my piece again while we're in a Rating Game and you're replaced," Gregorious said in a dark tone that broke no argument. 'Replaced' was Gregorious' way of stating Champ would be disposed of, permanently, and one of any number of backups he had for Champ's spot brought in to replace him. His eyes shifted over to Lilian. "Lilian, I need you to immediately make for Ruval's camp to attack him. If you manage to keep him there until I can bring everyone else to bear against him, I'll see to it that you sleep alone until our next rating game."
"What about me?!" Champ protested. Hikaru scowled in disgust. The man couldn't think about anything beyond his next molestation.
"What about you?" Gregorious demanded. Kurenai cracked her knuckles loudly. "You didn't perform particularly well in the last Rating Game. You have worth you need to make up." Gregorious' face softened a bit. "But I am feeling a bit magnanimous on account of securing this critical game. If you manage to prevent any of their pawns from entering this base, I'll see about finding some children in my territory to keep you occupied in lieu of Lilian."
Champ was all smiles now. "I'll protect this place with my life!"
Gregorious had already moved on as he sidled up next to Lilian. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and draped his hand down her front. He rolled a finger across her right breast and smiled. "You're starting to bud. It may be time to consider moving you into my bed. You'd like that, right?" Lilian nodded her head. It was all she could do. Anything was better than Champ. "I was serious about my promise. Help me win this Rating Game and I will see to it that you're able to sleep alone until the next."
Hikaru actually wanted to believe the man. He was cruel, vicious and perverted beyond all measure. However, all that took a backseat to his desire to beat Bedeze Abaddon. To him, winning Rating Games and advancing his societal standing took precedent over everything.
This battle against Ruval Phenex was the most important one to date. Ruval had at one point been within the top ten and was still considered a contender for one of those spots. If Gregorious could win here it would greatly propel his efforts to reach his cousin. It would open the gateway to allow Gregorious to challenge those in the top ten spots.
It was something the man would sacrifice everything for.
"…will do it…" Lilian's voice came out quiet and broken.
Gregorious smiled and gave her shoulder a gentle pat. "Good. Don't worry about anyone else. Ruval Phenex is your only target."
"What do you wish of me, master?" Sakuri asked. Her eyes were completely blank, devoid of all life and thought. She had well and truly been turned into a tool.
"The moment you get to that pillar, promote to a Rook and rush to that promotion area," Gregorious said, gesturing to the tall blue pillar glowing off to their left. "I want you to hit the ground here at base with your Giga Impact."
"How hard?"
"Everything you have."
"Yes master!"
Hikaru could see where Gregorious was going with this. If they destroyed the two promotional areas to the side of the base it would be just that much more difficult for Ruval to promote his own pawns since the promotion points would be no more. There was nothing in the rules that stated they couldn't destroy them.
If Gregorious could promote all his pawns while denying Ruval the same, it would very quickly shift the tide of battle in their favor. It was also necessary to take Ruval down. Since the man was a Phenex, he was all but invulnerable with his ability to regenerate and heal from virtually any injury. The only way to truly defeat Ruval Phenex was to wear him out mentally to the point where he couldn't regenerate anymore.
They needed the added power provided through promotion to do that.
The rest of the organizing went as Hikaru expected it would. Everyone else was on defense until Sakuri could destroy the various promotion points. After that Syura would teleport the rest of the pawns to Ruval's promotion point, promote everyone, and then do a full concerted assault on Ruval himself. The idea was to overwhelm him before his forces could reorganize and make it back to protect him.
The plan was solid, as good as any plan one could come up with without any information on how Ruval intended to play this Rating Game. She had her duties and she would perform them as instructed. It was up to Gregorious to make the necessary changes to adjust to Ruval's battle strategies. She'd give her all to provide Gregorious his victory.
And then she'd have her own victory once Tatsumi made good on his promise to rid the world of that man forever. She just hoped he had some plan to acquire her from Gregorious otherwise she may very well find herself passed along to a different Abaddon, possibly even Bedeze himself.
"This is it, Hikaru, prepare yourself!" Gregorious' voice snapped through the din of her thoughts. Her eyes went up to the large image of Sirzechs hovering in the air above the field.
[I trust that both teams have had enough time to prepare their strategies. As stated before, the game will continue until a King has fallen. Now, begin!] The screen blipped out of existence.
That was her queue.
She didn't even wait for Gregorious to tell her to start, she knew what the man expected of her. Her muscles flexed and blood surged through her veins as she launched herself from the base. The sound barrier shattered as she raced up the side of the volcano. The slope didn't impede her at all, it was no steeper than the hills she trained on, it wasn't even all that much different from the one's she used to jog up and down in the human world.
She was as comfortable racing uphill as she was down.
A pair of black wings erupted from her back which she used to lighten her step even further, reducing the weight of gravity upon her form. Demonic energy crackled about her form further fueling her speed to even greater heights.
The sound barrier broke a second and third time.
There was no point in flying when she was faster afoot than in the air.
Halfway up the volcano Hikaru noticed a pair of forms racing across the broken, ash strewn mountain side, angled towards her. They were too far away to make out perfectly, even with her heightened eyesight as a devil, but they could only be Ruval's two knights. That speed was simply too much for anyone else save possibly his Queen.
There was other movement happening up near his camp as well. A group of four was making their way down the slope towards Gregorious' base, albeit at a much slower pace than the two knights. Another was making their way towards the very spot Hikaru had set her sights on.
Hikaru pushed for even greater speed, surging up the broken landscape at breakneck speeds. Her hopes of causing them to misjudge her speed and outpace them was for naught as both forms surged faster as well.
She clicked her teeth in annoyance. It had been incredibly unlikely that she'd make it to promotion point without getting intercepted, but she had hoped. Under any other circumstances she'd have loved to test her skill against Ruval's Knights, but not here, not now. She just wanted this game to be over with.
The glint of steel caught her eye as the foremost individual racing towards her pulled out a long blade. It seemed a battle was unavoidable.
They were close now, too close to keep running and risk stopping on unfavorable ground. Hikaru could pick out the features of the one in front. Lucina, a skill swordswoman that had fought alongside Ruval longer than Hikaru had been alive. Ruval's Knight launched herself from the broken ground and took to the air, her long blue hair whipping out behind her as her wings caught the air. She came down upon Hikaru from above even faster than before.
Hikaru found a solid patch of ground and stopped, crouching low on the balls of her feet. In a single, fluid motion as quick as lightning she drew her blade. The scream of metal on metal pierced the air as the two blades met. The blades became locked at the hilt as Lucina tried to force Hikaru to her knees or, more likely, prevent her from being able to counter the second knight that was racing for her.
"You didn't take to the air," Lucina commented, her words coming out so quickly they tumbled over one another.
Her muscles flexed as she shifted and spun on her left foot. Faster than Lucina could react Hikaru slammed her right foot into the woman's stomach. A sharp gasp was ripped from Lucina's lips as she was sent knocked up. Before she could fly far Hikaru spun in place and slammed her foot into Lucina's side, sending the blue-haired swordswoman tumbling down the mountain side. After how effortlessly Tatsumi had taken her attacks at the diner it felt a little satisfying to see someone react like that. "You can't attack me from below."
This wasn't just any knight though, this was one of the best that fought alongside Ruval Phenex for centuries. Lucina was quick to recover regaining her breath and righting herself in midair before she tumbled more than a dozen feet away.
Lucina let out a short little laugh. "Are you certain of that?"
What did she mean by that? Hikaru's eyes went wide. The other knight! She whirled around to deal with the other knight, Seri, only to find someone else standing before her. Clarine, one of Ruval's bishops, and there was a large amount of demonic energy racing up and down her arms.
"Your bishop Syura is too much of a one-trick pony! You're all woefully unaware of what a real Bishop can do!" She slammed her hands upon the jagged, rocky ground. "Nyarlathotep's Tentacles!"
The ground beneath her disappeared, consumed by endless darkness. A cold chill pierced through her body, like the very marrow of her bones were freezing. Hikaru didn't wait to find out what was going to come up from within that depth. She surged across the landscape, barely managing to keep outside of the ever-expanding circle of darkness.
That last for a whole two seconds. More demonic energy poured forth from Clarine and the darkness raced across the landscape an instant, utterly defeating her speed. Nearly half of the mountain side was consumed by that darkness, including the promotion point. There was no way to escape from it. Not on foot. With no other choice Hikaru launched herself into the air, narrowly avoiding an enormous mass of black tentacles reaching up from the darkness.
Lucina was waiting for her to do just that. "You're good, but you don't have nearly enough experience fighting in midair!" Ruval's Knight crowed as she slammed into Hikaru from the side. Hikaru grit her teeth and bit back the pain as she hastily righted herself in midair. Lucina was on her almost immediately, her sword screaming from Hikaru's throat. She managed to get her blade up just in time to deflect it to the side but it was sloppy, even from a beginner's perspective. "Your human heritage and training is your downfall! You need to have your feet firmly planted on the ground to be a real threat!"
Hikaru didn't respond. She wasn't going to let them rile her up. She needed to keep her compose and focus on dealing with this threat.
If only the Bishop wasn't here she'd have been able to manage. Tackling two Knights wasn't a problem, tackling a Knight backed by a powerful and versatile Bishop wasn't something Hikaru was used to, or had a proper counter for.
Ruval probably knew that which was precisely why he had sent his Bishop to back of Lucina instead of both Knights.
"I think she's confused!" Clarine laughed cheerfully from below. "You are, aren't you?"
"No," Hikaru bit out as she struggled against Lucina. She was and she wasn't, she probably knew the answer but didn't have time to think on it as she twisted around another blistering fast strike from Lucina only to just barely get her katana raised in time to block the follow-up strike.
Hikaru had far more pressing things to worry about than why she was in this situation, such as getting out of it. Even if Gregorious had permitted her to use her Sacred Gear, that didn't mean she was allowed to use it without exploring every other option first.
"Oh don't be shy! It's simple. I simply made myself look like Seri and then used my own magic to boost my speed!" The pride in her voice was evident. "The speed boost is only temporary but it was enough to fool you and get me here so who cares!" From the corner of her eye she saw Clarine's mouth split wide with a smile. "We'll show you all how a real peerage supports their King and his goal!"
"Someone that would willingly serve a selfish man like Gregorious wouldn't know anything about that!" Lucina added.
Clarine placed a pair of fingers against her forehead and grinned. "This is real teamwork!" An enormous amount of demonic energy billowed about Clarine, whipping her clothes about her as it was summoned from the depths of her being. Her hands snapped forward, tracing eldritch runes into the air before finally clasping together into a tight ball.
"I pray to you, my lord, who destroys all things!"
Hikaru paled. Clarine was beginning a chant! Each line she spoke would amplify the effect of the spell by a magnitude! There were only a few spells that required a multi-line chant, and all of them were battle ending spells.
In a way it was a little satisfying knowing that Ruval would go to such lengths to neutralize her. It was an indication of how great a threat they perceived her to be. With the amount of power Clarine was pouring into the attack it was doubtful she'd be of much use afterwards.
It was also going to be incredibly painful and Hikaru did not want to be on the receiving end of it!
"Lead me from the darkest pits of the abyss!" The demonic energy swirling around Clarine became visible to the naked eye, tendrils of raw power crackling about her form as it swirled towards her clasped hands.
Hikaru wasn't going to just let Clarine get the spell off. A chant, as dangerous as they were, could be stopped if the channeller was interrupted in mid chant. A punch to the face or a blade through the gut would suffice.
"Ah, I can't let you go off on your own," Lucina said, as if reading Hikaru's mind. The Knight had placed herself between Hikaru and Clarine. "Your battle is with me… right up until the moment Clarine ends your involvement in this game."
"And grant this tiny body the almighty power of the divine!"
Three lines… this wasn't good.
"Ascend from the Abyss and rule over the Earth!" The earth and air howled in agony as the demonic energy was whipped up into a frenzy. The concentration of it at her clenched hands was so intense it leaked out from between her fingers to encompass her gloves in a dark, translucent glow.
She needed to reach Clarine now, there wasn't any more time!
Hikaru made for the Bishop. The point of Lucina's sword nearly found a resting spot between her eyes. Pure instincts was all that allowed Hikaru to shift out of the way just in time, and more than a decade with a sword in hand the experience and reflex required to follow-up with a palm-strike to the flat of the blade, sending it wide. She flexed her wings, surged her demonic energy through her body and propelled herself past Lucina.
Her vision was consumed by back of a clenched gauntlet. Hikaru had no time to adjust her flight path as Lucina back-handed Hikaru in the face. Pain flared across her face as her head was rocked back.
By the time Hikaru shook the pain away and forced her eyes into focus she found herself a dozen feet away from Lucina, and twice that from Clarine. Lucina hadn't bothered to follow up despite her vulnerability.
There wasn't any need for her to.
Clarine's clasped hands broke apart and gathered between the palms of her hands was dark, translucent ball of incredibly dense concentration of demonic energy. "War Satan Strike! Futsunomitama!"
The color of everything shifted, darkening, like a thin, black veil had been pulled across her eyes. Before she could even begin to escape an overwhelming force slammed into her above. An embarrassing yelp was torn from her throat as she was ripped from the sky and unceremoniously slammed into the inky darkness below.
Hikaru's lungs burned as she gasped for breath. Her lungs didn't want to draw in breath. Her body almost didn't respond. Everything felt so heavy, sluggish, it was like all the weight of the world was pressing down upon her body. Movement was impossible, her limbs felt like they were a thousand times their normal weight.
She knew what it was she'd been hit with now. A divine-class gravity spell. If kept up it would smother her completely, possibly even cause her body to break apart.
To further compound her issues the dark, grasping tentacles that reached up from that darkness latched onto her, wrapping around her legs and arms. They wound across her body, searching for chinks in her armor and slipping through cracks.
Raw anger surged through her as the grasping tentacles brushed across parts of her body they had no right to be touching.
Gregorious Abaddon and this Rating Game didn't matter to her right then.
"I… was hoping… not to need this… but…" Hikaru managed to force out through clenched teeth. "Now… I want to… beat you for my own… sake!" She reached inside herself, grasping the power that dwelled within her soul. She brought it up, bringing it to the forefront of her being. "You. Have. No. Hope!"
"You sure talk big for someone who is about to be eliminated!" Lucina said, looking down on her from on high. The gravity spell even distorted the woman's voice.
Hikaru pushed back against the gravitational field to raise her head and glare at the Knight hovering above. "Trigger: Raiten Taisō!"
~o~
A dark shadow, cloaked all in black, hid within a small alcove just behind a tall black marble pedestal with veins of red spider webbing through it. It was topped with the bust Gregorious Abaddon, carved out of a black marble with a pair of rubies for eyes. Just beyond the bust topped pedestal was an extravagant hallway. A long purple carpet ran the length, running past dozens of alcoves identical to the one the shadow hid within. Each alcove held a similar pedestal, most with the same bust although a few were topped with other priceless artifacts, works of art of famous devil artisans and rewards for winning bets made upon Rating Games.
A pair of devils, young women in matching black and white maid outfits, made their way past the alcove, heedless of the individual hiding only a few feet from their position.
"…think of the game going on right now?"
"Couldn't care less! That man isn't here which means I can actually get a few hours sleep without…"
A meaningless conversation. One that had been parroted by many others before them.
There was a different air about the manor than usual. The people living were more relaxed and at ease. It was this way due to Gregorious Abaddon and certain individuals in his peerage being out. As bad as some members had it, they at least aided Gregorious in his goals and so were treated better than the rest. The servants were more like slaves.
Some of them envied slaves.
Their pain was going to come to an end soon, one way or another.
When the two servants disappeared down the hallway the shadow moved on, slipping out from behind the pedestal. The shadow paused just long enough to make sure the hallway was empty, before moving down the hall as silent as death and just as unseen, both by the people in the estate and the wards about it. The pink brooch pinned to the inside of her collar kept the wards from perceiving her as an intruder.
It didn't take long for her to reach her destination. It was a large ornate door at the end of the hallway. The risk of someone coming up on her was minimal at best. Most of the servants were taking advantage of their Lord's absence to get in some much needed sleep. The shadowy figure pulled out a small key made out of ice that would never melt and slipped it into the keyhole. The key molded to the shape of the keyhole as it slipped inside. For a few brief moments nothing happened, then a small blue circle of runes sprung up around the lock. A series of soft clicks and pops rose from the lock, sounding unnaturally loud to her heightened senses.
There was a flash of light as the final locks and wards on the door unravelled and the door opened a crack revealing a dark room beyond.
It seemed that a magical girl was indeed capable of a few magical feats. Having her meet Gregorious before hadn't just been a means to get Hikaru and Tatsumi to meet, but to also analyze and unravel all the security features the Lord of the Estate had in place.
The shadow edged the door open slowly, listening, smelling, tasting, feeling the air for any sort of disturbance.
There was none. The room beyond was completely empty. She stepped into the room and silently closing the door behind her. It was pitch dark inside. Almost unnaturally so considering the time of day. She had prepared for that. The shadow pulled out a small clear globe from within a pocket of her pants and raised the clear globe above her head.
"Ignite." It was barely a whisper but it was enough. The globe lit up, filling the room with a soft, warm glow.
It was Gregorious' study. The place where he kept everything of any importance. A large, extravagant desk dominated the room with an equally large and extravagant chair to go with it. The desk was covered in decadent gifts from those attempting to curry the Lord's favor, or make amends for a perceived wrong. It was the sort of furnishing one would expect from a pompous, self-entitled aristocrat. There was little in the way of actual work to be seen. It was more a display of one's wealth and station than a place to study, research or do any sort of legitimate business.
If they were to find any sort of incriminating evidence that could be used to undermine his position in society, and his right to own a peerage or participate in the Rating Games, it would be here. The most suspicious and likely place for that to be was in the enormous metal safe located directly behind the desk. It towered from floor to ceiling covered nearly the entire wall.
It was so in your face that the shadow immediately disregarded it. In a world where people had enough power at their finger tips to wipe out a small nation, a safe like that wouldn't last long against a determined burglar.
The shadow turned from the large safe and swept her eyes across the rest of the room. There was nothing strange or out of place at first glance. There were a few bookcases, lined with tomes, scrolls, and bound parchment and more black marble pedestals similar to those out in the hallway, each topped with what one could assume was an expensive piece of artwork.
She, however, had been trained from a young age to pick out the most minute details. It was what caused her to ignore the overly cliché door hidden behind a bookshelf and instead focus on the pieces of art on the pedestals. One in particular stood out.
It was a bust of Serafall Leviathan, topless of course, made out of some blue-white stone and carved with perfect, exquisite detail, right down to the tiny little details on the nipples. What drew her gaze to the bust wasn't some minor detail such as there being less dust accumulated on it than the rest, the entire place was spotless clean, no it was something even more minute.
The sculpture itself was just ever so slightly more worn than the rest of the sculptures in the room, in particular the breasts.
The Shadow made her way over to the bust of the Leviathan and held the light above it to get a better look. Her eyes hadn't lied. The breasts were definitely more worn than the rest of the statue. Setting the globe of light on the pedestal beside the bust she placed her hands on the pair of incredibly details breasts. The statue's dead eyes immediately lit up with a soft, ice-blue light. "I hope you're having a wonderfully magical day my lord!" a very good impression of Serafall's voice came out of the statue's lips. Only the wrong inflection on certain words was off. That thought was interrupted by the sound of a soft click and the bust shifted. The chest split down the center and opened to reveal a red button.
Click.
The shadow grabbed the globe of light and stepped back as the bust silently receded into the pedestal, then the entire pedestal receded into the floor. The floor itself split open to reveal a small metal platform. It lit up as she stepped atop it and as silently as everything else the platform descended down into darkness.
If one good thing could be said about Gregorious it was that he kept everything well maintained.
When the platform finished its descent, the shadow found herself in a room quite unlike the rest of the estate. Rough hewn earthen walls surrounded her on all sides and a small, pitiful circular rug the color of fresh blood was the only attempt made to add a splash of color to the otherwise barren room. It was barely large enough to feature the low table that sat between two simple wooden chairs.
The room branched off into three directions, left, right, and straight ahead. The poorly made archway to her left led off into an open room that was positively barren. A cursory glance showed nothing of interest which meant there had to be something. It didn't take long for her to notice the engravings upon the floor. It was very similar to the teleportation grids she had seen devils use before, although she didn't recognize any of the insignias engraved in the center.
Putting that room from her mind for the time being she opened the door on the right. It opened into a large natural cavern. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, mineral water dripping off their tips onto the stone floor below where the droplets of water ran along together, collecting at a small stream that meandered its way out of the cavern.
In the very center of the cavern, towering a good twenty feet into the air, was an enormous statue of a devil. It didn't look like Gregorious, but there were similar features. Unlike the other statues above, this one was not well taken care of. It was badly damaged, like it had been used for target practice or to test new abilities.
Whatever the reason, this room held nothing of use for the shadow.
She left the cavern and tried the last door.
Her eyes went flat the moment she stepped into the room. "This is… disgusting."
It was a shrine to Serafall Leviathan. There was no other way to describe it. A statue of Serafall Leviathan dominated the room towering from floor to ceiling. The beautiful Satan was captured in an artistic pose and with the same perfect detail as the bust above. Everything was there, even down to the perfectly manicured pubic hairs. The statue itself was a work of art. Even the shadow, who had no true artistic sense, could appreciate the beauty and emotion captured in it. Joy and happiness almost seemed to radiate from the statue's face.
What made it disgusting was the thick layer of semen that coated the entire thing.
Before the statue was a black marble altar with a deep impression, cushioned with the softest of fabrics, along with a pair of foot rests. The altar was set up like a chair where someone could sit and masturbate. The shadow could almost envision Gregorious sitting there whacking off to the statue of Serafall Leviathan.
It made her stomach churn in disgust.
The rest of the room wasn't much better. The walls were completely covered in pictures of Serafall Leviathan. There wasn't an inch of wall that didn't have her in this or that pose. There were pictures of her from her TV show, pictures of her from official meetings where she presided over elders, but most of the pictures were of the sexual variety. In particular, all the shopped images Sona Sitri had spread of her sister for revenge.
Interestingly enough, the shadow noticed that the photoshopped images that had Tatsumi in them were no where to be seen. She'd heard he'd been in a few of them.
What caught her interest the most was something most would not even notice. There was an almost invisible outline of a small panel near the base of the altar. A quick knock on the altar confirmed her suspicions. It was hollow. If there was going to be anything incriminating it would be in there. At least she hoped so. The shadow brought the light near the panel and the light shifted colors, changing to a dark blue. It confirmed another suspicion.
It was warded. There was no opening it without help.
She reached inside the collar of her shirt and tapped the pink brooch three times.
Nothing happened.
The shadow frowned and tapped it three more times. Was she asleep?
The answer came moments later as a loud boom momentarily deafened her. Blue and green lightning entwined together and arced from the floor to the ceiling, writhing and twisting around… something. Runes the shadow hadn't noticed before, glowing a deep blood red, flared into life, fighting back against the lightning only to die just as quickly as they appeared as the lightning scoured the energy from them.
It didn't last long, the two brilliant streamers of lightning, blue and green, made short work of the runes in the place. As the lightning beat the runes further and further back, a magical runic circle appeared just in front of her, shining the same color as the blue lightning that destroyed the red runes.
"I won't let some stupid ward get the best of this magical girl!" Serafall cried out as she popped up through the teleportation field. "Me and Akame-chan make the best team—WHAT IS THIS PLACE?!"
"Your shrine," Akame said dryly as she watched with some amusement as Serafall stared at the room in abject horror. "Congratulations. Gregorious Abaddon worships you."
Her wail of horror pierced the heavens.
"I believe we need to do this quickly and quietly, Serafall Leviathan." A second person rose up from the teleportation circle. Akame frowned. She'd never seen this person before. A tall, handsome man with light green hair and blue eyes. He held an air of authority similar to that of Sirzechs and Serafall, when one could manage to get the latter to be serious. "We must not raise suspicion that we have been here so do not touch anything."
"But… but…!" Serafall reached out towards the pictures on the wall. It must be horrifying to see so many pictures of your self enshrined by that man.
"She hasn't seen the statue yet," Akame murmured.
"Statue?" Serafall asked, whirling around to stare at the enormous sculpture of herself. Her eyes lit up for a single, brief instant before she noticed that it was covered in white goop. "It's a very good statue of me but… please tell me that's not covered with what I think it is."
"It is exactly what you think it is," the handsome man said.
"Noo! Say it ain't so Juka-tan!"
"You needed us?" The man asked, doing his utmost to ignore the sobbing Serafall.
Akame nodded and softly padded her way across the room to the altar. She reached down and pointed to the almost invisible panel. "Warded."
"Ah, I should be able to do something about that." The man was all smiles as he knelt down before the altar. "Hm-hmm, a complex ward, interesting. Definitely not something Gregorious Abaddon could create. In fact, I've seen work like this before." He let out a little satisfied noise as the wards about the panel flashed into life and then disappeared like so much smoke in the air. "This feels like the work of a certain Shalba Beelzebub, a known leader of the Old Satan Faction of the Khaos Brigade."
"Teleportation room outside," Akame said, pointing out the door. "Didn't recognize insignias."
"I'll have a look before I leave," the man said. He pressed his fingers against the panel and it swung open. "Perhaps we shall find what we need in here?" It was a question to himself. The man reached inside without hesitation and pulled out a number of documents. Some bound loosely, others rolled up tightly in scroll cases. "Gregorious Abaddon is meticulous if nothing else. He never agrees to anything unless its on paper. More so that he is able to modify it later." The man stood and nodded, he was already flipped through several pages. "And that ultimately makes it easier for us to find incriminating information on him." He held out a document for them to read.
"Can't read it," Akame said as she stared at the utterly alien letters. She couldn't read, write, or speak any of the devil's numerous languages.
"I got it Akame-chan!" Serafall said cheerfully. "It's the outline of an agreement between Gregorious Abaddon and agents of the Khaos Brigade, specifically…" Serafall's cheerfulness suddenly disappeared and the temperature dropped. "Rizevim Livan Lucifer." Serafall shot the handsome man a sharp look. "Isn't he supposed to be dead?"
"Apparently not," the man replied. "But it does answer some questions. Regardless, it appears that Rizevim Lucifer is allied with the Khaos Brigade, even if the manner in which he is allied is still shrouded in mystery. If Gregorious has dealings with that man, and we have proof right here that he is, then it automatically means he's guilty of treason against devilkin and with the simple approval of at least two Satans, he can have his rights and privileges stripped."
"And we just happened to have two right here!"
"I'm certain Sirzechs would be in agreement with us as well."
"What is the agreement about?" Akame asked.
"Oh, I never got that far," Serafall said, letting out a little laugh. She turned her attention back to the document and quickly scanned the contents. "In exchange for privileged and confidential information pertaining to devil society that only a member of high standing can obtain, Rizevim Lucifer will use his vast network of informants in the human world to notify Gregorious Abaddon of young humans that have been born with promising Sacred Gears."
"I always did find it odd that his Queen was so adept at finding such unique and interesting individuals to add to her King's peerage," the handsome man said grimly. "It seems we now have the reason behind that."
"He's been using the Khaos Brigade to help him forcefully acquire individuals for his peerage," Serafall said.
"Yes, he is, and I do believe that according to current rules, not even the new one's we're going to be implementing as per the results of Peace Accord, that invalidates his legitimacy as King and any rights he may have on the pieces in his peerage."
Was that good news or bad news? Tatsumi would need to know what that meant. "What happens to them afterwards?" Akame asked.
"It means that they become free pieces," the handsome man said, "not bound to anyone or anything. Up to be grabbed by anyone that can convince them to join their peerage over another."
"Usually there's a lot of backroom dealing, threats, bribes, blackmail," Serafall said, "but in this case it might be a bit different. There will be too much scrutiny on the pieces on account of Gregorious' ties to the Khaos Brigade for much of that to happen. Of course, the offers for the better pieces will probably reach astronomical levels." Serafall brightened visibly. "Do you think any of them are interested in becoming magical girls?"
"You'd have to ask them," Akame said carefully. She knew Tatsumi intended to kill most, if not all, of them so the likelihood of that happening was very slim. No need to let Serafall know that though.
"I think I will!"
"Leave that for later," the man said as he held the documents before him and let go. They floated there as he held one palm beneath them and another out to the side. A green circle appeared above both hands and before Akame's eyes the whole lot of them were copied. "We have what we need. Proof enough to utterly ruin Gregorious' standing in society and strip from him the right to own a peerage." He returned the originals back to their spot inside the altar and closed it up, redoing the seal that had been on there before. "I don't think I need to take a look at the teleportation room. I have a feeling I know whose insignia we'll find engraved upon the dirt."
"Lucifer."
"Yes," the man said as he beckoned for Akame and Serafall to come close. "It's time for us to leave."
Akame stepped up beside Serafall before the man as he created a green teleportation circle beneath them. A moment later they were gone, leaving that disgusting shrine.
All that was left to do now was return to Tatsumi with the good news.
~o~
The secondary promotional point was different from the rest of the volcanic landscape. Effort had been made to clear some of the ash away and beneath what was left wasn't the cooled remains of a volcanic lava flow, but soft dirt, grey rock, and sparse once deep red grass that had taken on a darker tone from the ash fall.
The ash stained grass smoke and charred as Hikaru stopped at the secondary promotion area. Arcs of brilliant golden lightning flashed from the tendrils of energy that had once been her feet to the ground, creating a fantastical lattice of electricity that spread out across the ground. With a thought the flows of electricity that were now her arms came up about her creating a spherical barrier of golden lightning all about her.
She glanced back.
The air was split, rent asunder by a long streamer of golden electricity that annihilated the air particles along its immediate path creating a superheated tube of plasma. It was only now in the process of collapsing back upon itself.
With a motion akin to taking a deep breath, Hikaru let go of the power raging inside her and pushed it back down into the depths of her soul. As the lightning dissipated back inside, her arms and legs reformed, flesh and blood like she was used to. Her gauntlets and boots were gone now. Everything below the shoulders and her thighs was simply bare skin. She still had the black latex body suit and breastplate that covered the important parts.
If she wasn't careful the lightning form would reform her entire body causing her to be naked when she returned to her human form. Her thought process returned to normal as well and time sped up to its natural speed.
Behind her a deep thunderclap boomed across the mountain side.
[Ruval's Knight has retired.] [Ruval's Bishop has retired.] Sirzechs' voice rumbled across the battlefield with the results of the fight.
Having a billion volts of electricity rammed through your heart was a good way to guarantee that the system would retire you. There had been countless ways she could have finished them off, some final enough that the retirement system couldn't recall them before their lives were ended but there was no need to go that far. Irritation wasn't reason enough to kill someone. She wasn't Gregorious Abaddon.
"Well, since I'm now here," Hikaru said as she turned to stare up at Ruval's base. Even now she could see a pair of Ruval's pawns racing towards her. "Far too late."
She pulled out Syura's marker which she had kept tucked beneath her breastplate and dropped it on the ground. The moment the marker hit the slope a large, complex runic grid erupted about it. It shone a brilliant blue and a moment later Lilian and Sakuri jumped from Gregorious' base to her side.
"Promotion: Rook!" Sakuri shouted happily. There was a surge of energy as the system recognized the promotion request and boosted Sakuri's abilities accordingly. There wasn't a moment hesitation in her actions. The moment the boost was finished she turned and bolted back down the volcano.
"You're to attack Ruval-san, I take it?" Hikaru asked.
The little girl nodded, her head bobbing awkwardly. "…wish I could be like… you. You're strong…"
"You can be too," Hikaru assured her.
A single tear dripped down her cheeks as she shook her head and turned away. "…just a… toy. Always… a toy." And then she was off, her little legs pumping hard as she pushed herself up the slope towards Ruval's base.
Hikaru sighed and looked away. She wanted to do something for the little girl, but she couldn't even do anything for herself. It was taking all she had to stay just useful enough that Gregorious would tolerate her dismissals of his advances.
"Maybe I can convince Tatsumi-san to save her too," Hikaru whispered to herself. Or perhaps she'd save her, herself once she was free from Gregorious. She shifted her gaze across the volcanic slope to the various forms making their way across the battlefield. Her eyes focused on a particularly swift individual that was most likely Ruval's second Knight. "In the mean time, I have a Rating Game to win for…" that sick monster that held all their leashes in an iron grip.
~o~
"They made her use it, I see," Syura spat out as Lilian and Sakuri disappeared through his teleportation circle. "It pisses me off every time I see it."
Because she could counter his teleportation even after he had already left. Having yet another tool to keep the rebellious Syura in check was wonderful.
"Now everyone knows just how great my peerage truly is," Gregorious said, letting the pride well up inside and flow through his veins like a soothing balm. "Seeing her so effortlessly defeat Ruval's brilliant Knight/Bishop combination warms this old heart of mine to no ends."
"Makes it worth tolerating her quirks," Kurenai said.
Gregorious snorted roughly. "Quirks? She's already falling into my trap and just doesn't know it yet." He gave Kurenai a wicked grin. "I need to thank you for pointing out to me the attachment she's beginning to feel towards little Lilian. I can't risk having her talents ruined by… bending her mind a little but there are other means of convincing her. I may not have anything she desires personally but she may be willing to make certain… concessions, for Lilian's sake." Gregorious said as he stared at Hikaru in the distance. It was too far to make out any details but he could envision all that naked skin. He knew what the lightning form did to clothes. It made him want to rip off whatever she had left and take her right then and there. "I don't mind treating Lilian well if it means I can finally take that woman to bed. And if not, well, I still get to see Lilian writhe in agony beneath Champ's touch. I know how much of a knife that'll twist in Hikaru's gut, what with her believing Lilian's increased suffering is the result of her own stubbornness." Gregorious barked out a sharp laugh. "No matter the outcome, I get what I want."
Syura let out a dark chuckle. "I knew I liked you for a reason. I thought you were getting soft in your old age."
"Never."
But that was something to focus on tonight. For now, beating Ruval and throwing wide the door to the top of society was all that mattered.
~o~
"That got people's attention," Tatsumi noted as the murmurs from the spectators filtered in through their viewing screen. Everyone was talking about whatever it was Hikaru had turned into, microseconds before she completely decimated Lucina and Clarine. He could completely understand their surprise. Even he was a little awed by what Hikaru had just pulled off. That Sacred Gear of hers was no joke. It packed some serious power. To simultaneously shatter two powerful demonic spells, defeat a Knight, a bishop and reach her ultimate destination all within the blink of an eye…
That was speed few could follow, let allow actually do anything about. Tatsumi had only barely managed to follow her with his eyes, and he never would have managed that had he been any closer than he was.
Trying to stop Hikaru when she was in that form was akin to stopping a force of nature. Tatsumi wasn't sure he could. The Tyrant was resistant to lightning, sure, but there was a limit and Hikaru was capable of far surpassing that limit.
"I heard from Akame that Hikaru is quite taken with you," Najenda mused thoughtfully. She rested her elbows on the back of the circular couch and leaned forward, staring at Tatsumi's friend intently. "What are the chances of getting her to join Night Raid? Someone with that sort of speed would be invaluable."
"I'll ask," Tatsumi said. "But I'm not going to force her." It would be nice to fight side-by-side with an old friend, righting the wrongs the were done to them and against the world. But what they did wasn't nice, and it wasn't clean. After living with Gregorious for three years she might not want to even look at that part of the world anymore.
"You'll have to fight a lot of other people," Ravel said, equally intrigued by Hikaru as Najenda was. Everyone in the room was. "I know my people. There are a lot of peerages, powerful peerages, that would see her as a valuable addition."
((Probably won't be that much trouble)) Bennia said lazily. The little Grim Reaper had already shifted her sight away from Hikaru and was watching the rest of the Rating Game unfold. ((If Hikaru is even half the girl Tatsumi and I remember from before, she's not someone that chases fame or fortune and there's not much else those old devils can offer her.))
"Power? Men?" Mine suggested.
((I think she already has her sights set on someone.))
"And Hikaru was never one to accept borrowed power," Tatsumi added. "If she doesn't earn it herself, she's not interested."
"Good food?" Xenovia asked as she munched on a slice of pizza.
((Then she'll definitely pick Tatsumi! I doubt those shitty devils can match his cooking very easily!))
"Glad you enjoy my cooking but I think she'll pick Sona," Tatsumi said.
((Oh, right, that message. Totally forgot about that. Probably right. It gets her away from the worst of the Rating Games, close to someone protected by a Satan and close to Tatsumi. It's a win-win-win for her.))
The room was suddenly filled with a soft blue glow, momentarily drawing Tatsumi's attention away from the screen to a teleportation circle appearing on the floor. He recognized the insignia as Serafall's and smiled, turning back to the Rating Game in time to see Gregorious' Rook, Lilian, run straight past Ruval's two pawns, completely shrugging off their attacks like they were nothing more than annoying little gnats.
"How did things go?" Tatsumi asked when the light dimmed.
"It was a piece of cake for this magical girl!"
((Didn't Akame do most of the work?)) Bennia called out from Tatsumi's lap.
"Serafall got me into the estate, and assisted in breaking through the last few wards protecting the necessary information," Akame said in her usual, stoic voice. She didn't make any effort to hide her presence as she walked up to stand beside Najenda. Tatsumi accepted the document proffered to him by Akame. It was completely written in some devil language that Tatsumi couldn't read. "This document is really all we need to destroy Gregorious Abaddon's societal standing. It's proof that Gregorious Abaddon is working with the Khaos Brigade, and that much of his peerage, including your sister and Hikaru, were located for him by said terrorist organization."
Ravel gasped in surprise, her eyes wide with understanding. She knew the implications of that. "That makes his peerage invalid!"
"Yes it does!" Serafall said happily. "He's done for! Levia-tan will be going now! She needs to visit a particular statue where hopeful Kings swear to their respective Satans and go through the ritual of divesting Gregorious of his rights to be a King! Once that's done he no longer has any control over Hikaru, magical or otherwise."
Tatsumi could only smile as he stared at the document he held in his hands. This was everything he could have hoped for. "Then we have everything we need."
"We do indeed," Najenda agreed. "We simply need to finish analyzing the abilities of Gregorious' peerage so that there's no surprises when we move on them and trust in Ruval to do the rest."
The rules for this Rating Game were put in place not to make the Rating Game more unique or challenging for one side or another.
It was entirely to make sure that Gregorious' peerage and the man himself were far too exhausted by the time night rolled in to put up a real fight when Tatsumi and Night Raid struck. When Ruval had learned of the true reason Tatsumi had wanted the man to accept Gregorious' challenge to a Rating Game, he had been very willing to help. Him and his peerage.
It was about time something actually went as planned.
Note on Hikaru's Sacred Gear: Any similarities that it may or may not have to a special magical trump card of a certain 10-year old magical boy that teaches at an certain magical academy teaching a giant class of wacky girls that all seem to want his dick, merged with the incredibly cool and detailed form of a certain Level 5 Esper on her path to being forcefully pushed to a Level 6 is purely coincidental.
Note on Clarine's Spell: Any similarities that it may or may not have to a certain badass individual kicking a gigant's ass in a safe zone turned not safe zone inside a giant tower that hates Gods is coincidental as well. (You may also notice certain… artistic adjustments to fit character/setting. Also coincidental.)
*Whistles innocently*
Author's Note: I had originally wanted to do the entire end to the arc in one chapter, but there was just too much to cover. Chapter was long enough as is. I Even had stuff planned for Gregorious' peerage. Wanted to do more coverage of the actual game itself but... Word constraints didn't give me that luxury.
Anyways, leave a review and let me know what you think! The Gregorious Arc comes to a close next chapter!