Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi.
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-Kuoh-
The ten days training period was over and the day for the decisive battle had finally arrived.
After concluding and reviewing everyone's progress during these last few days, Azazel was more than satisfied with the result. The Red Dragon Emperor had unlocked the true [Boosted Gear], Saji Genshirou became accustomed to his new artificial sacred gear and the girls had reached a satisfactory level.
As for Rias' team, unlike the Sitri's peerage, were in fact quite ahead of the rest. Akeno had fully embraced her Fallen heritage from the beginning, allowing her to make leap and bounds on her Holy Lightning, making them far more devasting against Devils. The Nekoshou was able to conquer her fear of her natrual powers, or at least, able to use Senjustsu without freezing up. She seemed to push her fear of her powers down after the Paris incedent.
Kiba was an interesting case, his biggest roadblock is his blind rage towards the Holy Swords. Being a survivor of Valper's 'Holy Sword Project', it's quite understandable why the boy would harbor such intense hatred for them. Though hatred was a powerful tool for Sacred Gears, who fed off of emotions to grow stronger with there wielders, but they shouldn't allow their emotions to control them.. It would explain why Kiba wasn't able to unlock his [Balance breaker] even though he was already strong to achieve it. Azazel assumes that it might be because of emotinal blockage that prevents him from obtaining.
Gasper… well the boy was just too shy for his own good. Just making him leave the box was a challenge in itself—that is until Koneko started to chase him around with a bunch of garlic in order to get him out. Maybe he should leave it to Hachiman, the boy can work wonders on others.
And finally Rias—since that night with the little Fallen—she's been actively avoiding eye contact with her Queen, he had to restrain himself from laughing the whole time at how the red head tried to avoid her.
'I should have taken a video or photos back then!' Coming across such potential teasing material was extremely rare, and he missed his chance!
Fortunately, she looked better, less stressed, and worried about the fight.
Woosh!
The room inside the Occult Research Club was lit in a deep crimson light as the main group for today's fight arrived.
"Oho? Still wearing your school uniforms for such a fight?" He asked the group.
"If my group has a uniform, then it has to be the uniform of Kuoh academy. We are the members of the Occult Research Club after all." Rias replied, showing her pride for her group's assembly.
Though there was some extra equipment for some of the members.
Kiba was equipped with a gauntlet on his hands and shin guards for leg protection. He had his swords mounted on his belt, even though he didn't need to do it due to [Sword birth].
Koneko-chan was sitting on one of the chairs in the room and began reading a book. On her hands, she was wearing tactical fighting gloves that allowed her fingers to be seen with metal covering on the knuckles. It was one of those gloves that martial artists wore. It looked pretty intense when a girl with a loli face put it on.
"I'll go make some tea in the meantime," Akeno said, heading out of the room.
Asia and Kalawarna came along with him, the nun put the sinful nun cosplay Kalawarna gave her, somehow still oblivious to its true nature behind the outfit. Kalawarna had told her that it would make Hachiman happy to see when he came back from his mission, which Asia believed at face value. Azazel was sure that she and Gabriel would get along quite well, remembering the times he nearly tricked his sister into wearing several outfits… before Michael stopped him that is. He went to sit on the chair, thanking Akeno for serving a cup of green tea as she went to hand some out to the rest of the group.
"So do you have a plan in mind? Or are you just going to go in, guns blazing?"
"Of course I have a plan, I am aware of the numerical disadvantage on our side. Riser may have a full set, but he is arrogant to the point of being blind. He is convinced in his victory, so much so that he most likely didn't prepare much for this fight."
"You do realise that the main strategist of his group is his little sister, Ravel, right?"
"I am aware, knowing her, she must have prepared a few plans of attack against us," Rias said calmly while drinking her tea.
"So what difference does it make if it's Ravel or Riser who made a plan of attack?"
"No matter how many plans Ravel prepared, preparing to use the most brutal of tactics—she still needs her brother's final approval to enact them. I am convinced that Riser told her to not be overkill and go easy on us. Another point of discussion is that Ravel was present during the day Hachiman was in the room, she may suspect that our main trump card is him, so most of her plans revolve around him."
Now Azazel understood, "So you believe she still sees your group as weak and incapable of winning without an outlier…" An interesting idea, though a risky one as well. "What if you're wrong and she ends up going for the kill immediately?" This possibility existed as well, one can never be sure of the thinking of others.
"Then we go on the offensive. Koneko will clear out the pawns and Yuuto will go for the Knights and Bishops, while Akeno will take care of Riser's Queen."
Azazel frowned, "That's an awful lot you're asking from your Knight. Taking on another Knight or two is understandable, but all of the pawns as well? I know of his progress, but growing too overconfident will be your undoing, Gremory."
Kiba was strong and quite the capable Knight, that was true, but going up against so many people can prove to be fatal. Not to mention he would have to go up against Ravel, who possessed the same abilities as her brother.
Rias understood that point as well, "If the battle proves to be too much for Yuuto, I have tasked him to retreat to Koneko or distract the enemies as long as possible till Koneko can join him in his objective. His end goal is not to defeat all of them, he just needs to stop them from gathering back to their king."
Kiba chimed in, "Don't worry Buchou, I promise to defeat my opponents in no time!" His dream was to destroy the shards of Excalibur and he couldn't do that if he wasn't strong enough to defeat Riser's piece.
"I believe in you, Yuuto." She gave him a warm smile, causing her knight to smile in pride.
"And what of the king himself? Are you honestly telling me that you'll confront him yourself?"
"Yes and no." Rias said with a smile, but he could see the dark mischievous in her eyes. "I have two secret weapons." She was confident that her plan would work and Azazel trusted her with that.
"Ano… Azazel-san," Asia spoke, she was too shy to talk the entire time, despite wearing such a lewd outfit.
"Yes?"
"Do you happen to know when Hachiman-san is coming back?"
At that question everyone's head turned towards him, waiting eagerly for an answer. Ever since the incident with Saji, everyone was worried sick for Hachiman as such a reaction would only mean that something happened to him. But the next day, Azazel got a notice from someone that Hachiman was fine. Though he refused to elaborate on who it was aside from a troublesome witch, they all sighed in relief at that piece of information. Though it didn't stop the others from missing him.
"Hahahaha! Don't worry kid, the boy will be here today, I got word from his caretaker that she'll drop him by." It's not every day you get a message from the immortal witch, she rarely talked to anyone outside and even back then he met her by accident.
Shudder
That was the closest he ever felt to dying.
"Did his mission go well?" Akeno asked while narrowing her eyes, she wanted to know what exactly had gone wrong back then.
Azazel was trying to make up a lie when he was saved by a red glowing magic-circle glowing on the ground, from there the familiar figure of Grayfia appeared in her usual maid outfit.
"Is everyone ready? Ten minutes before the match."
Everyone stood up after Grayfia's arrival. The maid then started to explain the rules of the battle.
"When it becomes the time to start the match, you will be teleported to the battlefield through this magic-circle. The location of the place is in a different dimension used for battles. It's a disposable space, so you may fight with all your power."
Understandably, if they fought somewhere in the human world or Underworld, they won't be able to avoid destruction or the attention that will come from it. So it meant that they needed a place where they couldn't harm anyone or anything outside the designated team no matter what and still keep the supernatural a secret.
"Gasper, it's time to come out." Rias called out, the door opened a large box with two holes cutted out where an eerie-looking red light came inside the room. The box was shaking as if it was experiencing a tremor.
"B-b-b-but I'm sure if I can be of help during the battle! And I don't want to be hurt!" He shouted in fear.
"Gia-kun is a coward." Koneko said with her monotone voice, still reading her book.
While the rest just sweatdropped at the display.
Rias came close to the box and knelt in front, "Everything will be okay, Gasper. I know this may seem to be too much and dangerous for you but we will protect you. Answer me honestly, do you trust me?"
"Y-y-yes I do, Buchou!"
"Then don't be scared, everyone here will protect you from any sort of danger. I know this might seem too daunting for you at first, but I trust your resolve. We don't want you to engage in any sort of fight, just stay by my side, okay?"
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"Okay…" He whispered, the shaking from the box diminishing.
Graifya decided to continue her speech.
"This 'Rating Game' battle will also be viewed by members of both households from a different location through broadcast. I advise you all to be on your best behaviour in front of our guests. Even if this is a battle, do not tarnish the name of the Gremory."
Rias was just about to retort with Riser being the one who needed to hear that, not her. In the end, she decided to let it go.
"Maou Lucifer-sama will also be viewing this battle."
'Oh no…' Rias grew horrified at that revelation.
The last thing she wanted was for her brother to raise a flag with her picture on it and wave it in front of the whole Underworld to see! Granted, Grayfia was around to keep him from doing anything stupid or embarrassing. 'Maybe,' But there's only so much Grayfia can do to stop her King/husband! The last time she was the center of attention, her brother literally set off thousands of fireworks displaying her name, 'Happy Birthday, Ria-tan!', in the sky that lasted for hours! She went to hide in her room for the rest of the day, too embarrassed to show her face in public.
"Onii-sama is here? ...I see, so Onii-sama is also going to view this battle." There was nothing she could do about this. Brother or not, he was still the Maou and such events between major households made his presence very important and necessary. She prayed for whatever being that would listen that her brother wouldn't embarrass her or at least give Grayfia the strength to stop him.
"It's about time. Everyone, please head to the magic-circle."
They gathered at the magic-circle after Grayfia urged them to.
"Also, once you get transported, you cannot use the magic-circle until the game ends."
{Break}
-Phenex team Building-
Just like Rias had expected, on Riser's side, no one seemed worried about the match. In fact, to them, this was a guaranteed victory.
Riser was sitting on the sofa with his Queen around his arms as he enjoyed the quiet atmosphere with his harem.
"The possibility of the Rias-sama to use such a tactic is quite possible, so I should send…"
Though he wouldn't admit it, Riser did enjoy traveling to the human's world from time to time. After all, he wouldn't have discovered the majority of his peerage if he hadn't traveled all around the world at some point. Granted at that time he was accompanying his brother Ruval, but still.
"...[Sword birth] is a wild card as I'm not sure if it can forge Holy…"
He was enjoying life, after all of this drama was done and he finally gets to marry Rias, he planned to travel with her around the world as well. Her peerage was sorely lacking and thus battle will only open her eyes to the truth. He will show her all the beauties this world had to offer, there was no shortage of them around the world.
Despite being very intimate with his Queen, he's never slept with any of his peerage members, yet. So that was another point he was looking forward to with his soon-to-be wife after this fight.
"Oh! I can't forget about the Fallen—"
"—Ravel, I appreciate your effort dear sister, but I believe that you are just wasting your time. This fight will be over in less than five minutes, don't waste your efforts against these amateurs." Riser interrupted Ravel's muttering as she was too focused on planning out the upcoming battle.
'Note to self, make sure to keep Ravel far, FAR away from our orgies' thought Riser, not wanting to traumatize his innocent little sister. He had been a virgin for too long, a bit of fun would be most appreciated.
"But Onii-sama, we can't underestimate our opponents! She is still the sister of Lucifer-sama and her Powers of Destruction are not to be taken lightly." She insisted, still trying to get her brother to understand. Ravel didn't like how her brother was taking this fight lightly, sure the Gremory's team was weak, seeing that they have yet to have Peerage under their belt but they could still eliminate some of their pieces if they were not careful. If that were to happen, it would leave a bad image on themselves.. The daughter of the Phenex family wanted this to be an overwhelming victory.
This just made Riser burst out laughing, "Hahahahahaha! Oh, Ravel, you're overestimating my wife too much. Ever since our childhood, Rias had never once shown any interest in exploring more of her family's heritage. Every time it was human that, human this, and just an unceasing amount of interest in those weakling's cultures. How unbecoming of the Gremory heir to indulge in such senseless rubbish, she and the Sitri heiress have brought shame to the Devils as a whole!" He shouted, annoyed at his soon to be wife's hobbies and obsession.
On this day, he will finally teach the heiress the truth, he will show her the error of her ways. As both a Phenex and Gremory, she and he belonged to a higher status than these puny humans.
"For all we know, the Black Dragon King might have even joined her peerage!"
"Oh, I certainly hope so, Ravel. That trash needs to pay for his past actions!"
Riser was glad that he saw no trace of that damnable worm, Hikigaya Hachiman. That good for nothing weakling dared to stomp on his face and sully his girls in front of him! "I will kill him. I SWEAR TO LUCIFER THE NEXT TIME I SEE HIM I'LL BURN HIM TO DUST—Crash!"
In the middle of his rant, the ceiling of his room broke into pieces as a large object with a black figure on top of it landed in the middle of their room, breaking the floor.
Catching everyone off guard, all of Riser's peerage members came to shield their king while he himself brought his sister behind his back.
"What the hell!?"
"Intruder!"
"Is that a sleeping mask and a bed!?" Ravel asked, flabbergasted, finally getting a good look at their assailant.
"Ravel! Get behind me!"
Someone dared to attack the heir to the Phenex household when the Maous were so close by!?
{Break}
-Hachiman POV-
These last few weeks have been nothing short of a personal hell for me.
First I got an incompetent Fallen dumped on me with a soul contract binding her to me. Of course, there was no way I was taking advantage of such a thing. Then I get a 'warm' welcome from our guide who brought us to the village—which I first thought to be empty.
The first night went as smoothly as one would expect when accompanied by a drunk Raynare.
But it all went straight to hell when I got to face Sétante. Honestly, I don't remember much after literally nearly dying from having my insides be used as a reversed pin cusion with that accursed spear.
The next thing I know, I wake up in a castle with Vritra talking to someone.
Everything after that was another fever dream in itself. I don't think I'll ever forget my time spent there with that woman. I hoped that I wouldn't see her again, even in my nightmares.
Speaking of which.
I think I crashed through the roof of a house, and for some reason, it smelled like burning wood inside. Pretty sure that a moment ago I was sleeping on my comfortable bed, dreaming about living a normal life. Ahhh, the good old days, when you wouldn't encounter a broken character who wanted to kill at the turn of a street.
At least I still have my comfortable bed.
"What the hell!?"
"Intruder!"
"Is that a sleeping mask and a bed!?"
"Ravel! Get behind me!"
Too noisy!
Can't they see that I was just rudely thrown away from my nap? Aside from random voice number three, you have a bright future ahead of you, at least you have better eyesight than everyone here combined if they can't even see the obvious.
'Did that she-brute really just teleport me in hostile territory on purpose?' I wouldn't put it past her, she's a crazy freak of nature.
"Uuurg, there goes my peace and quiet." After spending days trying to escape and dodge the point of a deadly spear without any rest in between killed me spiritually. I wanted to go home, grab an entire fridge filled with SUPER Coffee and just slowly drink it all while watching TV or reading my books. That has become my definition of paradise seeing that I have yet to have a moment of peace since the school year started.
Honestly, what the hell is up with this year?
I groggily stood up from the destroyed but still comfy bed, stumbling a bit because I was still asleep, and slowly removed my eye mask, showing off my dead fish eyes.
"YOU!!!!????" An angry voice screamed so loudly that my head nearly split from the pain of the annoying shrill.
Argh, it hurts! Is this how hungover people feel? No wonder they get all grumpy in the morning. After my eyes adjusted themselves to the bright light, I came to recognise my surroundings. 'I'm back to Kuoh?'
Well, now I didn't have to worry about being dropped in the middle of a monster den or my enemies.
"I'M GOING TO BURN YOU!!"
I spoke too soon.
My eyes were once again assaulted by a bright flash of an angry inferno of red burning flame coming towards me. Scorching the wood black and burning the entire room, the fire condensed into a fireball and headed directly towards me.
But I was too tired to deal with it.
"Vritra…" I said with a yawn.
"Got it." My left eye turned black signifying the activation from one of my Sacred Gears.
[Blaze Black Flare]
Shrrrr!
Black fire with a hint of purple on the edge of the flame, combusted in the space in front of me, forming into a shield which effortlessly blocked Riser's fire. It devoured the Phenex' flames as if they were an afternoon snack.
"What!?" This of course startled the heir of the Phenex as he watched Vritra's flame grow closer to him and the rest of the girls and restricted them from its presence alone. "My body!" Riser tried to summon more of his flames but they all got consumed by the purplish-black fire.
After my senses finally returned to me and I woke up from my half-asleep state—I finally got to see the face of my attacker.
"Ri…ser?"
Oh…
"I will kill you human!"
"..."
Nope, nope, I'm not dealing with this right now. Not paying any attention to his non-stop shouting and many death threats, I casually walked out of the room and didn't bother looking back. I was too tired and my eyes stinged from the lack of sleep.
Bam!
I quickly shut the door and sighed as I was once again in the familiar halls of Kuoh's abandoned building.
"Good morning, Hachiman-sama." The unexpected greeting made me nearly have a heart attack, but I was still too tired to care at the moment. I turned to see the maid I met before leaving Kuoh, Grayfia. "Please follow me to the main lounge, Sirzech-sama has been waiting for your arrival. And the match between Rias-sama and Riser-sama will soon begin."
She bowed again before moving in the opposite direction, while I just dumbly followed her. Just how did she know of my arrival? Must've heard the crash and death threats from Riser.
'Ah, who cares… I'm finally back and away from that witch.'
"Before we arrive at the lounge, I would advise Hachiman-sama to have a quick wardrobe change. Your current apparel leaves much to be desired."
Oh right, I was walking around with my regular sleeping clothes that weren't exactly in their best state.
Sigh
This was just not my day.
{Break}
(10 minutes later)
"Are you trying to kill me, woman!?" I said as I tried to pry off the cold hands near my neck with all my strength. I thought that I had grown somewhat stronger but this scene once again proves otherwise.
It didn't help that Vritra was laughing at my plight!
'Will you shut up and help me!'
'Hahaha! You really get yourself into interesting situations, partner. Your dragon host luck seemed to have grown tremendously since the last time I was awake.' He said in my head. 'And to be honest, this woman does scare me. You are on your own.'
'Not helping!' Like seriously, I will die in the next few seconds if he doesn't do anything!
'Hey partner! Look down!' Vritra said suddenly, surprising me with the sudden shirft of tone.
Yeah, I'm not falling for that. Lately Vritra has been doing these 'pranks' on me, just because he felt bored. Honestly, I felt like the old man was losing it. 'Not happening buddy, I ain't your gullible and easily flustered MC.'
'Aye, such a prude attitude you have.'
'Since when did you become a pervert?'
'Since being stuck in a confined space inside a Sacred Gear for millennias couple with the fact of having to live through the state of having my soul separated into many pieces and only recently having them back.'
"..." I didn't have any rebuttal for that.
"You are being overdramatic, Hachiman-sama," Graifya said as she straightened up my tie. Though her face remained stone cold, there was a trace of helplessness as she looked at me as if I was a big baby. "You should always be presentable to your peers, yet you act as if you have never worn such clothing."
"For your information, I have indeed worn a suit before but I didn't need YOU to barge in and manhandle me like a toy. I do prefer having my own personal space while I'm changing and just about anytime in general."
"You were talking too long, the fight is soon about to start. We can not have the Black Dragon King be late for such an occasion." She said as she passed her hands around the suit to remove any wrinkles. "There, you look more presentable."
"Thanks… I guess."
After Graifya nearly choked me to death, I followed her through the halls leading up to the main lounge. I didn't know what to think of her, even for someone proclaiming to be a maid, Graifiya Lucifuge was still the current Lucifer's wife and his Queen. Why did she take on the role of the family's maid? Was it a fetish? After spending so much time in this world and its messed up hentai logic, I wouldn't put it past her or Rias' brother.
"Here we are." She waited near a large door which I don't remember being here before and slowly opened it.
I took a deep breath and slowly made my way inside.
{Break}
There weren't as many people as I first waited for initially. I was prepared for hundreds of nobles all gathered around like a banquet, but here, I found less than a dozen people mingling in the room.
"Aken—No, Shuri… -san?" I saw the familiar face of who I first thought to be Akeno, but upon closer inspection, I was surprised to find someone I hadn't seen for several years.
"Ah! Hachi-kun!" Why was THAT the first thing she called me after not seeing each other for years!? It doesn't help that her face looks so much like Akeno that I can't help but reminisce about our night together! Oh god! Get a hold of yourself, Hachiman! This is the world trying to instill its twisted logic inside my head, but I won't fall for it!
For a grown woman who still looked like she was in her teenage years, she sure did move fast—like a black blur. Before I knew it, Shuri-san was already hugging me.
Bad feeling, need space!
I slipped away from her grasp before the situation got too uncomfortable. Despite how much I tried to burn such thoughts from my head, Shuri-san was a very developed woman, especially in some areas. Like seriously, why did she need to hug me so tightly?
"Oh my, you've grown taller since the last time I saw you!" She began checking my every corner, even pinching my cheeks like a baby. "You even lost your cute little baby fat. Even though your eyes have become smaller, but you still look cute and mean, Hachi-kun." Looks like she still has a weird taste in what is cute and I can't change the way I look.
Still, there was one thing I wished to say to her.
"I missed you, M—Shuri-san." I nearly called her mom there. It wasn't a lie, she indeed became like a mother figure to me despite my current mother still being alive. She babied me so much that I sometimes forget that she isn't my mother.
I wasn't that good with touchy moments so I just stayed standing there, it was becoming a bit awkward as she kept staring at me with a smile.
"You haven't changed much."
I would disagree heavily with that. My past self would probably die from despair if he saw how I became in the future.
"I would argue otherwise, so… how was the Underworld?"
The moment I asked her the question, her eyes brightened up considerably as she began telling me about her stay in the Gremory manor and her immediate friendship with Rias' mother, Venelana Gremory; a former member of the Bael house.
"At first I felt out of place, talking to anyone was a challenge in itself. I grew used to my secluded life with Akeno and Baraqiel, but to suddenly be surrounded by hundreds of maids and new people was a bit overwhelming at times. Not to mention that being away from my little girl and my dear husband made me feel even more lonely at times." I could relate to her on that front. "I met Venelana when I was strolling around the Gremory's garden. We hit up instantly and became friends. After that point, she and I became inseparable best friends, there wasn't a single day I didn't feel lonely with her by my side."
For that point alone, I was once again grateful to the Gremory house. I was glad how the situation with Shuri-san turned out in the end.
"By the way, there is someone who is waiting for you." She told me while pointing the finger at the person standing in front of the glass windows, looking at the soon-to-start rating game from a special screen.
Draves in red and gold armor with red silk robes covering his body, it was none other than Sirzechs Lucifer—the Maou I met on a plane.
"Ah, Hachiman-kun, I have been waiting for your arrival." He said with that same polite smile that made me extremely uneasy around him. "Come join me, we can spectate the battle together."
It was not like I could say no to the most broken of all devils in the world, so I followed my instincts and obeyed his words. We both had our gaze locked into the screen of the match.
{Break}
I watched Rias' group teleport inside the dimension.
[Hello everyone. I am Grayfia, a maid from the House of Gremory, and today I will be the arbiter of the Rating match between the House of Gremory and the House of Phenex.]
The school broadcast system was heard with Grayfia being the announcer, allowing everyone in the area to hear her.
[In the name of my Master and King, Sirzechs Lucifer, I will be keeping my eye on this match. By using both Rias-sama and Raiser-sama's opinions, we created this battlefield which is a replica of the school, Kuou academy, which Rias-sama attends to in the human world.]
The ability to create another separate dimension for rating games should be a Sacred Gear on its own, in my opinion. The sky was white inside the dimension. While outside, the night was soon about to fall.
[The location where both teams were transported will be their "base". Rias-sama's "base" would be the Occult Research Cub's clubroom located in the old school building. Raiser-sama's "base" would be the Student Council's room located in the new building. For the [Pawns] to use "promotion", please head to the enemy's base to do it.]
Too bad Rias didn't have a pawn to take advantage of that rule. She should have listened to my and Sona's advice and take Issei as her pawn. She could be very stubborn at times, I wonder where she got that bad habit…
[The Rating Battle will begin…
.
.
.
… Now.]
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The next 5 chapters of Snafu and Fate are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter.