The dust which covered the Sporting Ground scattered and a huge crater was revealed with Riser laying in the middle without his head, but soon enough it regenerated like nothing happened. He stood up and dusted himself and gazed at his assailant.
Koneko is currently in her Sage Mode, but with some additional physical features from when she last transformed in Kisuke secret training ground. The white flames are clearer, the blue pigment around her eyes extended a line to her cheeks. Her claws extended by an inch. Her pupils are still golden but her slitted irises are blood-red which gives anyone who stares a chill. And the most striking addition is the third tail which is purely made out of her white flames.
"... What's this?" Riser couldn't help but frown at this sight. As experienced as he is, he never saw or even heard of something like this. What he is sure of is that, as she is now, Koneko is a real threat to him.
Koneko didn't speak and used Flash Step to instantly appear in front of him. With a swipe of her claw, Koneko obliterated Riser's left arm and leg instantly. Riser reacted late but his flaming wings materialized and brought him away with an ugly face. After a few seconds, he returned to his former state.
Riser flew at high altitudes to escape her pursuit. He knew that his advantages are in an aerial battle, especially against a Low-Class Devil who can't utilize their wings effectively. But to his dismay, Koneko didn't need her wings as she created invisible footholds to jump several times in the air. And within just a few jumps, she instantly reached him again and smashed her tiny fist to him. Riser tried to block it with both of his arms but that was futile as even his arms exploded into mincemeat doing almost nothing to the force behind it. Riser got his head destroyed yet again and the force sent him towards the old school building, demolishing it and creating another large crater.
This happened for a few more times making the whole battlefield, the artificial Kuoh Academy, unrecognizable. Asia and Issei has long been retired by Rias because she has a feeling that Koneko right now is a different person and she might prove to be dangerous to those around her. She suddenly remembered her history and her elder sister who is currently wanted, "... It can't be... That Urahara... just what did she do to her?" Rias couldn't help but crumple her face.
Sona and Tsubaki are staring blankly at the screen and the destruction the rampaging Koneko made, "This... She's pushing back a High-Class Devil... An immortal Phoenix at that..." Tsubaki muttered in awe.
Sona didn't voice out her thoughts. She is, nevertheless, shock at Koneko's performance, 'She's overpowering Riser, but it's far from actually defeating him. Although Riser is getting haggard from repeated use of his regeneration, Koneko is also in bad shape herself. Her body is bloodied from ruptured veins due to overexerting herself and she is already struggling to breathe. But what's this? She getting wilder and wilder...'
In the Gremory Mansion, Sirzechs commented, "This is more amazing than I initially thought..."
"Isn't she going out of control? She'll just be killing herself instead of defeating Riser." Venelana voiced out her concerns because Koneko is like a daughter to her along with Akeno as Rias' first servants and live in the Mansion for a while.
"Should we stop it, Sirzechs?" Zeoticus asks his son.
"... Maybe we should watch longer. Something is still bothering me." Sirzechs replied.
Back to the battlefield, Koneko is wheezing and staggering. Even though she is attacking him wildly, she still has a bit of her sanity remaining. Koneko observed her enemy and although he's a bit pale, he is still relatively fine. She is sure that his regeneration skill is getting slower and slower each time he 'dies', but even then, she's already reaching her limit, 'Kisuke-senpai lied... It is not enough to defeat him... What should I do?'
Riser is very tired from countless regeneration, but he knew that she wouldn't last long, and just as he expected, she stopped moving. Riser used this chance to counter-attack. He used his fastest speed to fly towards her and clad his right arm with a large swirling flame. Koneko wanted to dodge, but her leg gave up in the most unfortunate timing and could only block his attack head-on with her frail-looking arms.
With a flaming punch, Riser sent Koneko downwards like a flaming meteorite crashing down to the ground creating a crater large enough that five big elephants could fit.
But Riser is not the only one in this game. After their initial shock, Yubelluna and Ravel recovered and attacked the downed Koneko, Yubelluna with her charged explosion magic and Ravel's three-meter wide ball of flame.
Koneko, after crashing, couldn't move anymore and started coughing blood. As if her situation isn't dire enough, two magics of great strength hit her burning and aggravating her already serious wounds. Koneko can hear her master calling out to her in grief as she slowly fell into a stupor, 'In the end... I wasn't able to do anything to change the result...
'I've failed Buchou...
'I've failed Yoruichi-san...
'I've failed Kisuke-senpai...
'...
'...
'...
'No... I haven't done everything yet... There's one last thing that I can still do...
'...
'Strange... Now that I've come to this point, I think that being fearful of my own possibilities is very stupid...
'I should just let it go and see where will it take me... Just like Kisuke-senpai said...
'...
'Yoruichi-san, Kisuke-senpai, I'll be troubling you...'
With that, Koneko's last bit of reason went into slumber as she lets go of every hesitation she has.
"Rias Gremory-sama's Rook has been... " Grayfia's voice was heard again but she suddenly stopped when she noticed something strange. She didn't expect that the retirement system didn't activate after taking those heavy hits.
From the crater, a heartbeat echoed. It's very faint but it was heard by everyone who is watching. They knew it came from Koneko but are confused as to why she suddenly produces a sound like that. Grayfia was reminded of the birth of the dragons but shook her head as it is very different from what she felt and heard that day.
With all of them focusing their sights on the crater, they kept hearing a faint heartbeat as dust and soil started to settle revealing Koneko's real condition. But what they saw isn't Koneko but a ball of white flames. The ball is five meters in diameter completely enveloping Koneko and hiding her from their visions and as the heartbeats echo, it grows larger and more turbulent. Ravel is not liking where this is all going and initiated another attack.
Throwing a big ball of Phoenix fire, Ravel shouted at both Yubelluna and Riser, "Don't let finish whatever she is doing!!!"
Riser and Yubelluna followed her steps and also started attacking the white flames, while Rias tries to stop them with her own Power of Destruction disrupting their attacks in midair. But even then, more than half of the attacks went through and touch the white flames. Against their expectation, however, the white flames extended towards incoming attacks as they neared and 'devoured' them.
Witnessing this scene gave all the players a chill, including those who are awake and currently recuperating at the medical facility.
Even those old and experience people watching on Gremory Mansion had their eyes wide open, "What's that!?" Zeoticus asks both Venelana and Sirzechs. But both of them failed to give him an answer.
Feeling their Demonic Powers disappearing, Riser, Ravel, and Yubelluna retreated and didn't continue attacking.
After a few minutes, the ball's size increased to ten meters and suddenly started shaking. It then receded towards the center revealing the figure in the middle of it. All of them gasp in shock at her appearance.
The 'Koneko' standing in the crater is a 5'8" tall woman which is as tall as Rias. She has a flowing white hair that extends up to her waist. Her bosom is ample enough that they are only smaller than Rias and Akeno. She also has her white cat ears but her the number of her tails became 8 which are swaying gently around her. Her pupils are mesmerizing wine-red in color but are cold and unfeeling. She still has the blue hue around her eyes that supplements her beauty more. And the most eye-catching of all is her dress which is made out of beautiful white flames that also covers her limbs.
The encompassing bleak scenery contrasted her almost divine-like appearance, ironic for a Low-Class Devil like Koneko. And a single sentence went through their minds, 'A Goddess descended.'