Chapter 18: Magic Duels
"Welcome to the first match in the Kingless Game between Diodora Astaroth and Damocles Sagan! I am your announcer, the beautiful Sera-tan!"
The Satan's voice sounded out through the Arena, but it was mostly ignored by the members staring each other down. They were too busy sizing each other up to care about the whole routine.
"For the Sagan, we have his two Bishops! The bubbly blonde Naomi Randall and the cool Princess Shiro Sagan!"
The red haired nun grinned at that, a manic look on her face. The other who shared her attire merely looked ahead placidly, acting more like a puppet than a person.
"For the Astaroth, We have the fiery Vivian "Witchpyre" Wren and her fellow Bishop, the cool collected Isolde "Iceberg" Juliana."
It was common for Rating Game participants to earn nicknames, but for the lower tiers the names were like these, backhanded compliments. Witchpyre because she uses fire, yes, but also because she gets herself burned more often then not, that sort of thing.
The Rating Game scene had a simple rule: 'If you didn't want people to make fun of you, you should have been stronger.'
Of course, these two were still Rating Game veterans, going up against the Sagan Peerage who had yet to participate in even one. The bets were flowing fast and fierce, the nights entertainment proving an entertaining diversion for the watching nobility.
"Normal Rating Game rules apply. Sera-tan better not see any che~ati~ng!" The Satan's teasing voice did little to diffuse the tension between the four combatants.
"Ready? Begin!"
In typical fashion in duels between magic users, the four rapidly broke up into pairs. Having space to cast without worrying about getting allies caught in the radius of your spells was important. Vivan followed after Shiro, whereas Isolde had Naomi as her dance partner.
After gaining enough distance, Shiro turned back to her opponent, who's obvious excitement had not abated in the least.
"I love getting to burn you heathens." Was the first words out of Vivian's mouth, "It's a pity that the wards recall you before you can actually die."
Flame blossomed in her fists as she threw them at the younger girl, who slid backwards and dodged them. The small devil had her wings out and was using them to skim just above the ground, allowing her to move and dodge nimbly.
Rather than being angry however, her opponent laughed, "I've never got to hurt one of you Devil Princesses before. Scream for me!"
The bolts and jets of fire that followed after her words were fast and accurate, but Shiro dodged them all. She touched down a few times in the barrage, but swiftly took flight again.
"What's wrong?" Taunted the nun, "Your brother not teach you any offensive spells? If you aren't going to fight just give up and get this over with!"
As she stepped forwards, advancing after the Sagan Bishop, a spell circle flared to life beneath her, as shields materialized in a sphere, blocking her into standing in the spells area of effect.
The Astaroth bishop cursed, reacting quickly by leaping into the air and forming her own shield beneath her, attempting to block the effects of the spell circle. Effects that failed to materialize, besides the area inside the sphere feeling strangely dense.
After realizing that nothing happened, she dismissed her shield and landed down on the ground over the still active circle, a smug look on her face, "What's wrong Princess? Tried something a bit too complex for you?"
Indeed, Shiro looked winded, on the ground outside of the spell she conjured breathing heavily. The nun clicked her tongue, "Man, what a disappointment. Oh well, I'll amuse myself once I blast my way out of here."
She was interrupted by Serafall's announcement, "One of the Astaroth Bishops has been retired! What a display of speed!"
Vivian looked up, before cursing under her breath, "I'll finish up here and go clean up Isolde's mess."
Her signature flames flickered to life in her hands, springing the trap. The first magical spark ignited the Hydrogen and Oxygen mix that the spell circle had been filling the shielded area with, causing a massive explosion that bounced off of and was contained by those same shields, amplifying its power exponentially.
Thanks to the magical flame that started the reaction, not even the innate durability of Devils saved the Bishop. She was instantly crushed by the intense explosive pressure, the sphere turning into a brief ball of bright, colourless flame.
In contrast to the destruction inside the sphere, outside all Shiro heard was a muted 'thwump.' Looking at the soot smeared area the other Devil had occupied, she stopped pretending to be winded and stood up, speaking for the first time.
"Idiot."
I watched the game from the private room that was granted to my peerage, thankful for the distance it granted me from all the eyes that came with being the subject of a Reveal. Currently I was preforming a rhythmic breathing exercise, trying to a get a handle on my anger.
I had just come from the negotiations over the prize for the Rating game, which was an exercise in frustration. Diodora of course wanted to take CC from my Peerage for the 'insult' against him, but surprisingly Serafall vetoed that. Likely due to the optics of the situation, but the agreed upon prize was not much better.
Diodora wanted money, and a lot of it. About half of what was remaining in the Sagan vaults when I awoke, which was a significant amount more than a Baron could be expected to pay. Likely that was the point, to cause a debt that could be cleared away through trading something, or someone else. I didn't even have the liquidity to pay him, due to the agreement with the Yokai requiring a lot of capital to set up.
The point was moot however, as my peerage will win this sham for sure. For my prize, I demanded a large industrial area from the Astaroth, that was used as a brewery for the family. My plan was to convert it to storage for the Yokai trade, but that would require remodelling and security. A problem for Future Me.
The main reason why I chose that large property is that it was the oldest brewery possessed by the Astaroth, so taking it from them would be a significant insult. Not as bad as what Diodora had done to me, but he would get what was coming to him soon enough. Already plans to make his death look an accident were half formed in my head. The only issue is most of them would not be nearly painful enough.
Before I could get too consumed by future thoughts, I attempted to refocus on my breathing, an attempt that was interrupted by a knock on the door. I kept my eyes closed as I heard Kasane open the door and speak to whoever was on the other side.
"Damocles is not accepting visitors at the moment." Her statement was greeted by a familiar voice.
"Oh. I'm sorry. I just wanted to speak to... I just... I..." I sighed, and spoke loud enough for Kasane to hear me, "It's fine, let her in."
Kasane clicked her tongue and moved aside, allowing my visitor to enter the room and going back to watching her sister's battle intently. I opened my eyes and saw the red hair I expected, the Gremory heiress looking distraught as she fidgeted in front of me.
"Damocles... I'm so sorry. I don't know what my brother was thinking." She looked at me, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, "Forcing you into this was wrong! I..."
"It's fine Rias, I don't blame you. You're my friend right? You shouldn't have to apologise for your brother's actions." My words seemed to reassure her, the tension draining out off her shoulders.
The screens behind her continued to show the game, displaying my bishops handily dismantling their Astaroth counterparts. Rias looked back, seeing the victory being announced and straightened up.
"I'll be rooting for you Damocles! I know you can win!" I privately thought she was likely drawing comparisons between this and the Rating Game that lies in her future.
Regardless of that, a announcement of support deserves a response, so I smiled happily at her, "Thank you Rias. Your support means a lot to me. It looks like they are going to call up Kasane next, make sure you watch closely okay?"
She smiled back at me, happy that I wasn't angry with her, "I definitely will!"
After a bit of small talk, she left the room obviously happy at how the conversation went.
Leaving me to the tender mercies of my Queen, "My my, you are certainly calm about this."
I lazily looked over at where she lounged, "Is that the way it looks? You of all people should know better than that."
"I do." Came the response, "Which is why I know you are suppressing your emotions."
"You disapprove?"
"Bottling it up will make it explode. That's a lot of pressure you're under."
I frowned, "I know. But I'm not in a position to act on my emotions."
She smiled her devious smile at me, "You're 'young', Damocles. You're allowed moments of petulance."
I shook my head, "I wish that was true, CC. I wish that was true."
"Yes what is it? I was in the middle of an experime..."
"Ajuka, what the actual fuck?"
"...What?"
Serafall blew air out of her nose, "Your fucking nun fetishist of a nephew! What part of 'leave the Sagan alone' wasn't clear to you?!"
"...Serafall, I have absolutely no idea what you mean."
"Oh don't play coy you..."
"Serafall." Sirzechs spoke from where he was watching the conversation the other Satan was having on the phone, "Ajuka might be telling the truth. I told you this doesn't seem like him."
Serafall took a deep breath, before letting it out slowly. "Ajuka. Do you know what Diodora did?"
"No. The last time I spoke to him was at a dinner I had with my brother."
"Did he say anything about Damocles or his queen, or his plans for the reveal?"
"No. Well he was interested that the Sagan Queen used to be a nun, but nothing besides that. Why, what happened?"
Serafall had her eyes closed, having put the phone down at the Beelzebub's answer. She put her head into her hands and groaned, a long, exasperated sound of suffering.
Sirzechs picked up the phone and spoke into it, "Diodora challenged Damocles to a Rating Game. The Prize he wanted was Damocles' queen, but we managed to make it into a large sum of money instead. It would look better to do it through debt instead forcing it through."
"Ah." Came the reply from Ajuka, "Is this not a good thing?"
"In what way?" Was Sirzechs' response.
"If Diodora wins, we remove the influence of CC from the young Sagan and if Damocles wins, it will allow us to deflect accusations of favouritism if we give the Sagan what he asked for. This could all be chalked up to a spat between young Devils."
"It could." Serafall said tiredly, "If we didn't make the Rating Game happen due to thinking that this was a plan of yours."
"What?"
"Damocles refused the game." Sirzechs explained, "Zekram Bael and I persuaded him to accept. I thought it was some sort of long reaching plan that you had failed to inform us about."
"Well it isn't. That is a problem though... I thought Zekram was on good terms with the Sagan. Why did he force the Game?"
Sirzechs narrowed his eyes, "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."
Serafall sighed and hopped to her feet, "Good luck with that. Meanwhile, I'm going to introduce the next round. I thought that Damocles was just sacrificing his knight to win the other two rounds but after that performance..."
"Yes, The Sagan Peerage is stronger than we thought. Ajuka, I'll send you the recordings later, would you mind taking a look at them? I'm not even sure what Shiro did in her battle."
"That sounds interesting, I'll be glad to." For the first time in this conversation, genuine emotion entered the Satan's voice.
Naomi breathed deeply, excitement filling her. Ever since she could remember, Kasane had protected her. She wasn't helpless, of course, but compared the prodigy that was her sister it was a no-brainer who was more suited for battle.
It always rankled her. Her power, although strong, was so wildly inconsistent that it hardly helped her at all against the Others. The only thing that she could rely on was her own body and the skills she built using it, which compared to the strength of her enemies was almost pathetic in comparison.
Things were different now though. Thanks to CC and Damocles, she could now access her Foresight at will. Along with her Magic, she was now no longer as weak as she once was. She had been training hard, absorbing all the knowledge and magic that Damocles shared with her, desperately wanting to prove herself useful as more than a home-maker and maid.
Originally she only came with to make sure that her dear sister would be treated well, but know that she had gotten to live this life of safety and ease she was going to defend it with all she had. Things were still dangerous and difficult, as this current situation proved, but compared to where she came from and what her fate would have been this was like a paradise.
And it was all thanks to Damocles.
He saved them, not just from her Otherization, not just from the Others themselves, but from the dark, depressing world that was all they had ever known.
It was the least she could do to pay him back for that.
The warm feelings that her new family brought out in her filling her with confidence, she focused on the one who was to be her opponent. The poor woman who reminded her of a broken doll.
"I'm sorry." Was all Isolde said before raising her arm, a blue Magic circle forming in front of it.
Naomi activated her Foresight, seeing the wave of ice that the other Bishop would cast towards her. She quickly formulated a plan and activated Foresight again, seeing how the woman would react.
Acting immediately on what she had learned, she raised her own arm, a burning sapphire glyph appearing inside the magic circle of her opponent. Isolde's eye's widened at this and shot herself backwards away from the spell, panicked. Interfering in the casting of another's spell was highly dangerous and could cause all sorts of unpredictable effects, from fizzling it to massive, city destroying explosions.
Unpredictable, that is, for those who could not see the future. The glyph destabilized the spell, causing the water that would have turned to ice to instead super heat and turn into steam, causing a large scalding smokescreen to explode out of the attempted attack. Isolde, still close enough to be in the area of effect, screamed as she was burned by the white mist.
Thankfully for her, she had managed to gain enough distance that she was only lightly burned, allowing her to catch her breath under the cover of the the mist that now filled the battlefield. That was, if not for the expertly aimed bolt of brilliant blue lightning slamming right into her forehead, taking the Bishop completely off guard and unshielded, burning a hole straight through and dropping her to the floor.
On the other side of the smokescreen, Naomi waited to see the effect of her attack, using Foresight again to see where her opponent would attack from next. Instead she was surprised as the words of the announcer sounded out just as her power told her it would.
"One of the Astaroth Bishops has been retired! What a display of speed!"
She sat there for a moment, stunned that she had won with her first attack. She had seen it happen with Foresight, of course, but all her spars with the other members of her Peerage were never as easy. As soon as the others saw what she did, they always reacted in new ways and pressured her to make sure that she didn't have time to look ahead.
Is this the results of the large amount of training Damocles had insisted they went though?
Feeling new gratitude flow through her towards her saviour, she beamed up at the sky.
"Did you see that, Kasane?" She spoke softly to herself, "Your big sister is strong now. You can rest easy. It's my turn to protect you."