~Devil Ninja~
Koneko frowned at her opponent. Katrina had brown hair and a lithe figure, similar to Koneko herself except she was taller. It made her appear lanky instead of proportionate like her. Unlike the high level angels who wore white robes, this one wore regular human clothes, jean shorts and a white sleeveless shirt. She also had several wristbands of varying color.
"Don't feel too bad about losing to me," Koneko said, cracking her knuckles.
"I don't know how you can say that when you haven't won." Katrina brandished her light spear with two hands. From her stance, Koneko determined that she was well-versed in combat.
"You will," Koneko told her.
Without waiting for an opening, Koneko threw herself at Katrina. Her attack, a powerful left jab, was blocked by the light spear in Katrina's hand. Thanks to her durability as a Rook, the attack didn't hurt. Even so, steam rose from her hand as her opponent was sent flying backwards.
"So this is the strength of a Rook," Katrina mumbled. "I can see how that would be troublesome to deal with."
"That was only a taste of what I can do," Koneko said before leaping into the air. She descended toward Katrina, who decided not to defend herself again and threw her spear at Koneko instead. Sadly, the spear shattered as Koneko, twisting her body around like an acrobat, landed a heel drop on the weapon. She then descended the rest of the way.
Katrina leapt back as Koneko slammed into the ground. The earth shook as large cracks spread across the surface. Perhaps sensing an opening, Katrina tossed the spear at Koneko again, but it broke upon her fist when she punched it. Koneko then launched herself into a sprint and threw another punch that was dodged.
Her fist plowed into the pillar that Katrina had been standing behind, causing the entire thing to shake. Grunting, Koneko yanked her arm out of the hole it had made and slammed a kick into the pillar's surface. Cracks spread before the entire base shattered.
Several fragments nearly hit Katrina, but she spread her wings and took to the sky. So did Koneko. She followed the angel. Her ears popped out of her hair, twitching as the cool air hit them. A tail extended from behind her. With a "nya" of concentration, Koneko created several dozen orbs that surrounded Katrina.
She closed her fist.
As though the action was some kind of signal, all of the orbs enclosed around Katrina. She tried to cut them apart, but every orb she sliced into exploded, sending her into another one, which also exploded. Koneko landed back on the ground and watched as explosion after explosion engulfed Katrina. When the attacks finally ceased, her angelic foe was nowhere to be found.
"Katrina has been retired."
"Boo ya," Koneko said, pumping her fist into the air.
~Devil Ninja~
"Gravity Error!"
Kiba grimaced as his forward rush was halted. His opponent was a young man of Italian descent. With olive colored skin, brown hair, brown eyes, and… highly eccentric fashion choice, he reminded Kiba a lot of a bull rider. His matador outfit looked kind of ridiculous.
His powers were not.
"I see," Kiba grunted as he dodged a light spear. His body felt heavy. "You have a Sacred Gear that lets you manipulate gravity."
"I do indeed," Phillipe said in a thick Italian accent. "Gravity Error allows me to manipulate gravity within a limited area. I can make gravity lighter or heavier, and there's no real limit to the area affected beyond how much power I put into my attack."
"That's a pretty neat power," Kiba admitted.
While Phillipe had said that his power had no limited, Kiba knew that his words weren't necessarily true. He didn't think the angel was lying. Angels couldn't lie or they became fallen angels. Still, Phillipe probably didn't realize that his Sacred Gear had some kind of downside. It made sense. Most people who possessed a Sacred Gear didn't know everything there was to know about their power.
Kiba planned on finding out what that weakness was.
"I see that a Knight's speed allows you to keep ahead of my gravity," Phillipe said. "That won't save you in the end."
Kiba darted across the battlefield, his enhanced speed letting him to keep from being squashed by the increased gravity field. He moved in close to Phillipe and created a sword of darkness. His idea was to attack Phillipe while he was busy manipulating gravity. That plan didn't work out as he expected. The moment Kiba got within a few feet of his opponent, the gravity around him suddenly increased and his sword stabbed into the ground.
"I forgot to mention that I can also create a gravity field around myself for protection," Phillipe said. He launched a kick at Kiba, but it was avoided when Kiba leapt backward. The darkness sword disappeared and reappeared in Kiba's hand.
"You're a troublesome opponent, I'll give you that," Kiba said. "But I think you'll find that I can also be pretty troublesome."
"Undoubtedly."
Rather than rely on close-range sword skills, Kiba created several dozen swords that jutted from the ground beneath Phillipe's feet. The attack was dodged. Pinions spread from Phillipe's back, and with a flap of his wings, he soared into the sky, avoiding the spiky death. Kiba clicked his tongue and threw several swords at Phillipe, but none of them reached the angel, who manipulated the gravity to make the swords fall back to the ground.
Undeterred, Kiba flew upward, high over the head of Phillipe, There he attacked with even more vigor than before. Dozens of swords appeared all around Phillipe. They attacked in mass, flying forward with unerring accuracy. Kiba watched carefully to see if he could discover anything about Phillipe's power that might be useful to him.
Is that…? It is!
When several small cuts appeared on Phillipe arms, legs, and face after several swords flew down at him from above, Kiba knew what Gravitor Error's weakness was.
All right. Here we go!
With a plan forming in his mind, Kiba landed back on the ground, bent his knees, and kicked off the dirt. He flew high into the air again and attacked Phillipe with a relentless pace. His first attack came in from the front. Nothing happened. The blades dropped to the ground. Landing back on the ground, Kiba disappeared as he put on another burst of speed and attacked from behind. Then he attacked from the left. Next the right. The left again. The right. Front. He kept disappearing and reappearing, only to attack Phillipe from another angle. Phillipe tried to keep up, but he didn't have a Knight's speed. All he could even see were after images.
"Above you!" Kiba shouted as he reappeared above Phillipe. He could feel the gravity from the Phillipe's Sacred Gear taking effect. It dragged him down, toward Phillipe, who only had enough time to look up before Kiba sliced into his back. Phillipe's scream disappeared along with him as he evaporated into particles.
"Phillipe has been retired."
Kiba landed on the ground. Dusting himself off, he wandered off in search of his comrades.
~Devil Ninja~
"Ara, ara," Akeno giggled as she and Erica danced through the air, trading strikes like a pair of bitter enemies. Every bolt of lightning she sent at her angelic foe, the attack would splash off of what appeared to be an invisible wall. "You're quite talented. I hadn't realized the angels had such a unique Sacred Gear user on their side."
The Sacred Gear that Erica used was not exactly rare, but it wasn't what she would have considered common either. Element Zero allowed its wielder to create invisible barriers and attacks. The barriers could block just about anything, which meant Akeno's lightning did next to nothing, since it never came close to hitting her opponent.
"And you… I've heard that you were a hybrid between devil and fallen angel," Erica said. "That's next to unheard of."
"Don't mention that to me," Akeno said, her smiling face morphing into a scowl.
"I see that you do not like your fallen angel blood," Erica murmured. "I do not know why this is, but it means little to me."
Lightning sliced the air, but it was blocked by a large, invisible wall. Akeno quickly swerved away from her previous position. Seconds later, an invisible attack slammed into the pillar that had been behind her, toppling the entire thing like a house of cards being kicked by an angry child. Akeno grimaced. It was hard dodging an attack when she didn't even know when, where, or which direction it was coming from.
Akeno randomly flew through the air as several more attacks crashed into the ground below her, denting the earth as though a giant, invisible fist was punching the ground. So long as she kept this up, Akeno was sure she'd be fine. Unfortunately, this meant she had no chances to counterattack.
Her flight must not have been as random as she thought. Pain exploded in her skull a second later when she smacked into something. That wouldn't have been so bad, but then something akin to a sledgehammer crashed into her stomach. Akeno could do nothing but release a soundless scream as she hit the ground hard.
Gritting her teeth and ignoring the blood trailing down her mouth, Akeno rolled along the ground as something slammed into the spot where she'd been lying. She scrambled to her feet and launched a lightning bolt at Erica. It was blocked. Again.
"That sort of straightforward assault won't work on me," Erica said, and Akeno moved out of the way as several more attacks came at her. This woman was easily the worst opponent a person could have. How was Akeno expected to defeat this woman if she could use attacks and defenses that were invisible?
Since it was clear that she couldn't win in a straight out fight, Akeno rushed behind the nearest pillar. Her cover didn't last long. Something slammed into the pillar with the force of a hurricane, which sent the entire thing crumbling. This just forced Akeno to run to another pillar.
Keeping up the game of cat and mouse, Akeno tried to think of a way out of this mess. If Erica could block any attack she sent, then it meant she either needed to overwhelm her defense with a massive offense, or she needed to attack her when Erica wasn't looking. There was also…
I wonder if she can block attacks coming from more than one direction?
Akeno wanted to test that theory. To that end, as she stepped out from behind her pillar, she created several magic circle that surrounded Erica on all sides. The angel stopped whatever she'd been doing and looked at the circles. For perhaps the first time since this fight, Akeno thought she saw apprehension on her opponent's face.
For some reason, that look wasn't as delicious as it normally was.
"I don't know if you can block this, but I hope for your sake that you can," Akeno said right before she unleashed several dozen lightning attacks.
The air was split with a thunderous roar.
~Devil Ninja~
"Erica has been retired."
Naruto backflipped away from his opponents as they each launched their respective attacks. The heat from Michelle's Sacred Gear washed over Naruto, though her attack was too far away to hurt him. Likewise, Lawrence's light spears kept missing their mark as Naruto continued backflipping until his feet met the pillar behind him.
With chakra at the bottom of his feet, Naruto burst forward. The two angels leapt away as he struck the ground. A cloud of dust rose all around him like plumes of smoke from a fire. Like the ninja that he was, Naruto darted out of the cloud seconds before the area became perforated with holes. He shook his head when Michelle set the cloud on fire for good measure.
He pondered the best way to defeat these two. Naruto was sure that he could do so easily, but he didn't want to just destroy them like they were a couple of newbs. This goal was to foster friendship. If he defeated them without putting any effort in, their pride would be hurt. Of course, if he made it look like he wasn't trying, then they would probably get upset too.
What to do. What to—ah!
"Found you!" Michelle shouted as she flew down from above like a, well, like an avenging angel. "Take this! Blazer!"
Naruto's wings spread wide as he flapped them, soaring above Michelle as she crashed into the pillar. The area where her fist struck disappeared as her fire-coated fist melted the rock. Her attack had actually created a large hole, which she flew straight through. That was some impressive power. It might have actually hurt Naruto if it hit.
"You've got to be packing some serious heat to melt through stone like that," Naruto said.
Michelle came back through the hole that she had blasted into the pillar. She landed on the ground several meters from Naruto. "My Sacred Gear, Blazer, can produce heat up to four-thousand degrees celsius. Just so you know, that's the same level of heat required to melt diamonds."
"That is pretty hot," Naruto said, grinning as he sensed movement behind him. So she was trying to distract him with idle chitchat? That wouldn't work. He was the master of distraction! "Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not an easy target!"
Naruto spun around and thrust out his hand. There was a rasengan already formed in his palm. When it met the light spear that Lawrence had thrown at him, it exploded. Naruto used the kinetic energy that their clashing attacks caused to launch himself at Michelle, who needed a moment to realize that their plan had failed.
"Blazer!"
She launched her attack at him. It was a powerful blast of fire so hot that Naruto could feel it burn his face despite how far away it was. Not wanting to get hit, Naruto used shunshin, the basic teleportation jutsu, to move far away from the attack. He reappeared barely a meter from Michelle. It was a short distance, a distance that he closed in a split second. Michelle barely had time to realize that he'd already entered her guard and no time to defend herself.
"Sorry, cutie, but I'm gonna have you sleep for a bit!" Naruto shouted as he thrust his palm into her jaw. It was done at a precise angle. The attack rattled Michelle's brain and caused her to immediately lose consciousness. Since he didn't want her getting hurt anymore, he caught her and lowered her to the floor. Not that it was necessary. She disappeared a second later.
"Michelle has been retired."
"You're going to pay for that!" Lawrence shouted as he charged at Naruto. It wasn't a sound move. Since he was the only person left, he wasn't much of a threat. Naruto put on a burst of incredible speed, rushed at Lawrence, and took him out with a swift blow to the temple. The man flew through the air. Then he struck the ground hard and rolled across it like a ragdoll. He only came to a stop after hitting one of the pillars, and then he disappeared.
"Lawrence has been retired."
With the feeling of victory overflowing from him, Naruto cracked his neck several times and grinned.
"I guess I should meet up with the others," he said to himself. As he began walking off, another thought occurred to him. "I wonder how Rias and her team are doing?"
~Devil Ninja~
Rias had finally figured out how to defeat the group that she and her team were fighting. Thanks to Naruto and the others defeating their opponents, Rias had realized why she and her team couldn't defeat their opponents.
"I've figured out how to counter that huge cannon attack they launched at us before," Rias told the others. The angel team had retreated to a safe point far from them after launching their attack. Rias assumed that the cannon attack was their trump card.
"If you've figured out how we can counter that huge attack, I'm all ears," Issei said. He, Gasper, and Asia were crowding around her in a circle.
"That huge attack is similar to the special abilities that our Evil Piece system has," Rias informed them. "Instead of chess moves, their special abilities are based off card games like Blackjack. The Brave Saints system is based off of card hands. There's the King, Queen, Jack, Ace, and the card numbers two through ten. Much like a regular hand of cards, the Brave Saints can acquire special attributes based on what hands they produce."
"Like having a royal flush in poker?" Kiba asked.
Rias nodded. "Yes, though I imagine they'll need their king to unleash that kind of power. More than likely, the power they used on us was based on Blackjack. I'm almost one-hundred percent positive that the four who fought against us would have made twenty-one if you combined the number amount each of their Brave Saint cards are worth."
"So, how are we supposed to counter that attack?" asked Issei.
"Simple." Rias gave him a victorious smile. "You separate them. It's clear that in order to use their power, they have to be close together. If they're spread out, they can't activate their power. Why else would they bother putting themselves so close together when they know that a single shot from your gauntlet can wipe them out?"
"Huh… that makes sense, I guess."
"Do you have a plan?" asked Asia.
"I do."
Rias's plan called for Issei and Gasper to act as a distraction; they would bring the attention of their opponents onto them while Asia would use her new ability to heal from a distance, which was the skill she had learned during her training, to keep them alive. While this was happening, Rias would use her Powers of Destruction to take out as many of their opponents as she could.
She technically only needed to take out one of their foes. That would be enough to keep them from using their special cannon attack. However, if possible, she wanted to decimate all of them in a single attack.
They found the four Brave Saints lying in wait for them several kilometers from their previous position. Like before, they were standing on a ledge. Since the ledge was halfway between the top and bottom, this allowed them a great view of the surrounding area, though much of that view was blocked by more pillars.
Gasper and Issei darted out from their hiding spots. Since they were on opposite sides of a pillar, this meant the Brave Saints's attention was split two ways.
"Hey, you four!" Issei shouted. "I hope you're ready, because Gasper and me are going to double team you!"
Gasper paused upon hearing Issei's words. He blushed several seconds later, his face bright red. "Ah, Ise-senpai! I don't think I'm ready for that kind of commitment, but I guess it's okay if it's you."
"Huh?" Issei just looked confused.
The Brave Saints seemed to decide that Issei was the bigger threat, probably because of his Dragon Shot ability. Its destructive power was second to none among Rias's current team. While Issei did his best to boost his Sacred Gear's power, he was also forced to dodge massive blasts from the cannon attack. Even Rias, who stood about a dozen meters away from the primary battle, could feel the resulting shockwave from each successive attack reverberate through the earth. She could only imagine how that felt up close.
Time was of the essence here. Rias knew that, and so rather than worry about her comrades, she decided to trust in their abilities. While Issei, Gasper, and Asia did their jobs, Rias charged up her magic.
As a high class devil, Rias was blessed with a large well of magic to draw from. Her demonic powers might not have been close to her brother's level, but she also wasn't a fully matured devil. Even so, Rias was quite proud of the power she wielded. When fully unleashed, she probably had enough to destroy an entire city block.
Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate. She focused her magic into her hands, drawing out her reserves of power. The idea was to compress all of her magic into a sphere of energy, which she planned to unleash on their opponents. It would be more than enough to retire them.
It was too bad she wouldn't get the chance to use all that power.
Barely a second into her charging, Rias's instincts screamed at her to move. She did. Leaping to the side, Rias almost screamed in surprise when something exploded right next to her. Heat seared her skin and scorched her eyes. It was not the kind of heat that came from fire. She recognized the pain. It was light magic. Angelic magic.
Looking up, Rias saw who had attacked her. It was Reuel. With long hair the color of glimmering silver, blue eyes that were more clear than the sky, and a fragile appearance reminiscent of a glass doll, the angel before her appeared more ethereal than anybody she had ever met. She didn't want to underestimate him because of his appearance. Even so, it was hard when the aura he gave off was so sporadic. His powers flickered in and out as though they were unstable. Rias didn't think that was natural.
"I hadn't expected you to come out yourself," Rias said.
Reuel smiled. "My Brave Saints had convinced me not to fight, but after five of them were retired, I decided that it would be rude of me to remain idle while they were risking themselves for my sake."
"I can accept that." Rias nodded. "A good leader is one who is always there for his or her people."
"On that we can agree."
Since she had never faced an angel in combat before, Rias did not know what to was why she decided to test the waters by sending several small attacks at Reuel. She launched a total of twelve spheres. The dark crimson energy was deflected by a shield that sprang up in front of Reuel. She narrowed her eyes as her own powers bounced off the shield and detonated against numerous pillars.
"That is an automatic defense," she declared.
"It is indeed," Reuel admitted. "I do not have any control over this power. In fact, I'm not very good at using my powers at all."
"Then I was right," Rias muttered to herself. "Your powers are unstable."
Reuel wore a kind smile. "Yes, though not for the reasons you might think—and it's not like I can't use my powers. I just need to be careful."
As though he wanted to emphasize his point, Reuel raised his hand above his head. Light particles gathered in the air, coalescing together, taking shape. Rias gawked as a spear appeared in Reuel's hand. It wasn't shock that he could create a spear. It was shock at the spear's size. She remembered the spears that Kokabiel had created. Those were large, but this… this was massive. It was easily ten times the size of a person.
"I apologize in advance," Reuel said, "but I have no real control over my own power, so this might hurt a bit."
And then he brought the spear down. Rias launched herself to the side, using her wings to gain extra speed. The heat from the massive spear as it was swung down burned her, the light blinded her, and when it struck the ground, it created a massive shockwave that slammed into her with all the force of a raging horde of bulls.
Rias gritted her teeth as she tried to keep herself from being thrown around, but it was so difficult. Fierce, hurricane-like winds slammed into her, pushed her. Dust flew everywhere. It stung her eyes and rubbed her skin raw. She did her best to cover her face with her forearm, but that just meant her arms were taking the brunt of the damage instead. She could feel the skin as it was peeled away by several thousand grains of sand moving at speeds faster than most sports cars. It was unimaginably painful.
The attack finally died down. Rias lowered her arms. She gasped upon seeing the extent of damage done by Reuel's attack. A gigantic trench had been carved out of the ground. While Rias couldn't judge just by looking at it, the trench had to be at least a kilometer long, and it was wide enough that several dozen people could stand lengthwise across it. If that wasn't enough, then the pillars that had been standing in the attacks path were gone. Annihilated.
"What incredible power," she muttered.
"This power is more of a curse than a blessing," Reuel said. He was still floating in the air, though it looked like he'd been thrown backwards by his own attack. With his hair in complete disarray and his eyes drooping, the angel looked worn, as though his last attack had damaged him more than her.
"I could imagine why," Rias muttered. "It looks like you can't control it very well."
"No, I cannot," Reuel agreed. "That is why most of my power has been sealed. What you just saw was the minimum amount of power I have at my disposal. The rest is locked away."
Rias was sure her eyes were bulging. That was the minimum amount of power that he had? What kind of monstrous strength did this angel possess?
"Now then," Reuel began, creating another massive light spear. "Shall we try this again?"
He brought the spear down once more, but this time, Rias didn't know what to do. She could flee, of course, but it wasn't like running would help. That attack had hurt her despite getting out of the way in time. Of course, there was no way she could block it, so fleeing was really her only option, but…
Before she could come to a decision, another massively powerful aura entered the battlefield. It was familiar. She recognized this power.
Appearing seemingly out of nowhere, a giant clawed hand reached out and grabbed onto the spear, stopping it in its tracks. Reuel was so shocked that he nearly dropped his weapon. The clawed hand squeezed down on the spear, shattering it into millions of tiny fragments that rained onto the ground. Some of those fragments would have hit Rias, but another hand flew forward and covered her.
The remnants of Reuel's power slammed into the hand. They didn't ground through. Rather, it was the many light shards that broke, shattering against the clawed appendage as though they were flimsy glass fragments striking a cement wall.
"Damn, that was some power,"a voice said behind her. The hands retracted. "I had no idea there was an angel among the people participating who had that kind of power."
Rias turned her head. A person was walking toward them, Naruto, his orange jacket blowing in the wind, his blond hair swaying as he moved. Sky blue eyes were grinning up at the angel who floated several dozen meters above them.
"Naruto…" Rias muttered.
Grinning with a vibrancy that couldn't be faked, Naruto greeted her. "Hey, Rias. I felt this guy's power skyrocketing and thought you might want a hand."
"I could definitely do with some help," Rias admitted. "I had no idea Reuel would have that kind of power."
"I don't think any of us did," Naruto said. "Go help your team. I'll keep Reuel busy."
"Okay. Thank you, Naruto."
Rias flapped her wings and headed off in the direction that Asia, Gasper, and issei were at. Since no announcement had been made about anyone retiring, it meant they were still fighting. She could only hope they would still be there when she reached them.
~Devil Ninja~
Looking up at the angel floating in the sky, Naruto had a strange sense of deja vu. It wasn't the kind he got from having seen this situation before. Perhaps it was due to the expression on his opponent's face, or maybe it had something to do with the lonely aura surrounding the other boy, but as Naruto looked at Reuel, he felt almost like he was staring into a mirror and seeing his past self.
"Since you've already attacked twice, I think that means it's my turn to take this battle to you," Naruto said, grinning as he knelt down. His muscles bunched together. With a boost of chakra, Naruto launched himself skyward.
Naruto quickly created two clones. One launched him further into the air. The other created a rasengan. As he soared above Reuel, the rasengan Naruto clone tried to slam his jutsu into the angel's sternum. It didn't work. Reuel had been able to see the attack coming and reacted more quickly than the clone. The attack was dodged.
This didn't mean much, though, as the other clone used the rasengan Naruto as a stepping stool. He leapt off of that Naruto's back and flew up to the real Naruto. With a rasengan already formed in one hand, he allowed his clone to grab the other, spin him around, and throw him at Reuel.
Wind swirled around his rasengan. Cutting blades formed the shape of a shuriken, and a loud shrieking emitted from the attack. As he flew toward his adversary, the Naruto clone stretched out his hand as though attempting to thrust his fuuton rasengan into Reuel's chest.
It was dodged.
That was okay.
Spinning around, Naruto threw the rasengan at Reuel. Thanks to his devil magic, he could control it without using sage mode. Once more, the rasengan was avoided when Reuel swerved out of the way. The rasengan flew into the air, only to be caught by the other clone, who had used his wings to fly after it. After catching the rasengan, clone Naruto threw it at Reuel's exposed back.
The angel's ability to detect danger must have been extraordinary indeed. Reuel spun around and thrust out his hand. A massive spear of light emerged from his palm, piercing the fuuton rasengan. Naruto didn't know what Reuel thought that would accomplish, but he doubted the angel would have tried to destroy his attack like that if he'd known what was going to happen.
Because the fuuton rasengan was nothing but a ball of swirling energy combined with wind chakra, it was extremely volatile. Even the lightest touch would cause it to explode. The light spear was another volatile attack. When the two forces collided, it created an explosion so massive that Naruto worried about the dimension this Rating Game was taking place in breaking.
Howling winds pushed everyone back. Naruto and Reuel were sent soaring backwards like pieces of toilet paper trapped in a fierce wind. The world around him spun. Everything blurred past his eyes in streaks of brown and gray. He felt more than saw his body as it plowed into and then went straight through one of the large pillars, and it wasn't just one. His back soon slammed into another pillar, went through that one, and then slammed into another pillar and another.
His momentum eventually slowed enough for him to flip his body around. The next pillar that he hit, it was with his feet, and he used chakra not only to cushion the blow, but also to keep himself from falling off. He surveyed the area in front of him. It looked like he'd been sent flying for at least a couple dozen meters. Numerous monolithic towers of stone were now nothing but rubble. They must have collapsed after he had struck them.
Launching himself forward, Naruto quickly searched out his foe. Reuel was buried in a crater about ten meters wide and six deep. Unlike Naruto, whose body was sturdy enough to withstand such punishment, Reuel seemed to be having trouble getting up.
This was a good chance to end the Rating Game. Jumping into the crater, Naruto walked over to his opponent, pulled out a kunai, and placed it against the struggling Reuel's jugular.
"That… wasn't the best move you could have made," Naruto told him as Reuel froze. "It would have been better if you'd dodged that last attack. The explosion would have still been quite a sight, but it wouldn't have been that destructive. Combining two such volatile and powerful attacks is the only reason you're in this position right now."
Reuel looked at the kunai against his neck, and then he peered up at Naruto. "I guess this is the part where you tell me to surrender."
"You can keep fighting if you want, but I wouldn't recommend it."
"Justine, Augusta, Floa, and Octavia have been retired," a voice announced.
"It seems I have no choice," Reuel said, sighing. "I didn't really want to battle anyway. I'm more than willing to give you this victory."
~Devil Ninja~
When Rias arrived at the place where Asia, Issei, and Gasper had been distracting Reuel's Brave Saints, it was to discover that Issei and Gasper had already split the group up. Each of them was battling against two of the Brave Saints at a time.
Her pawn was fighting against a woman with long blonde hair and a large bust.
"Come on! I just want to touch them! Let me fondle those titanic tatas of yours! Let me touch your tumbling titties!"
"Noooo!" the girl screamed as she covered her chest and ran in the opposite direction. "Get away from me, you pervert!"
"How can I get away when those massive mammaries are sucking me in?" Issei asked, his hands outstretched and his fingers making creepy grasping motions.
Rias almost sighed at her idiot pawn. While his "pervy" act did an excellent job of throwing the women he fought off balance, it wasn't always the best strategy to take. Though it seemed to be working well against this female. Unfortunately, the girl—Justine, Rias thought her name was—wasn't his only opponent.
"Get away from Justine, perverted trash!" the male, who was flying overhead, shouted. He threw several light spears at Issei, but most of them were dodged by her pawn quickly leaping backwards from one foot to the other.
"I resent being called trash," Issei said. "I am merely carrying on the legacy of a great man."
"What kind of man tries to grope a woman's b-b-b-b—"
"What's the matter? Can't say breasts?" Issei taunted. "Well, I can. Breast. Boobs. Oppai."
"You're shameless!" the man shouted. Rias thought his name was Octavia.
"Damn right I am!"
Coming up behind Issei was Justine. Equipped on her hand were a pair of gauntlets. Rias at first thought they were a dragon Sacred Gear like Twice Critical, but she soon learned otherwise when a pair of swords jutted from her knuckles.
"I finally have you!" she shouted, thrusting both hands out to skewer Issei. It was too bad she shouted that. If she hadn't, Issei might not have realized he was in danger and therefore not reacted as he did.
Rias almost winced when Issei suddenly went down on his hands. What made her wince wasn't the action. It was how he kicked his legs up and mule kicked the poor woman in the chest. He must have already boosted himself quite a bit, because the woman went flying.
"Justine!" Octavia shouted, taking his eyes off of Issei. That would prove to be his downfall.
"Dragon Shot!"
Just like before, Issei created a tiny ball of energy in front of him, and then punched it. A massive beam of crimson energy was discharged. It slammed into Octavia, who was engulfed in a fiery explosion and disappeared.
"Octavia!" Justine shouted.
"Dress Break!"
"Kyaaa!"
Her shout turned into a squeal as, quite suddenly, all of her clothes flew off. She went down to her knees and tried to cover herself as much as possible. In that time, Issei went up to her and pressed Ascalon, embedded into the Boosted Gear, to her neck.
"Please surrender," he said seriously. Despite the poor girl being butt naked, there was, surprisingly, no lust in his eyes. "It may sound sexist of me, but I'd rather not hurt a girl if I can help it."
Justine glared at him, but with a holy sword pointed at her neck, she really didn't have much of a choice.
"I… I surrender." As she spoke those words, Justine suddenly disappeared in a glimmer of light particles.
Ascalon receded back into his gauntlet, and Issei, releasing a massive sigh, sank to the ground. "Man, I'm so tired. Shit, this is worse than that time when Akeno—" he stopped, a grimace appearing on his face.
Seconds later, a voice announced, "Justine and Octavia have been retired."
Since Issei didn't need her help, Rias flew over to Gasper, who was struggling with his opponents. The two, Floa and Augusta were firing light spears at the screaming Gasper. Her Bishop was trying his best to stop their time, but he couldn't concentrate. Unlike her other peerage members, Gasper did not have any experience with battle, even if he was abnormally powerful.
"Get back here!" Augusta screamed.
"Nooooo!" Gasper screamed.
Rias sighed. She had hoped Gasper would be ready for a rating game, but it looked like he was still not at the stage where he could fight against opponents.
Shooting forward on her devil wings, Rias charged the Powers of Destruction into her hand. She had to give the two angels credit. They reacted to her presence the moment she started channeling energy. It wasn't enough.
Rias sent several disc-shaped projectiles at the two. They dodged, of course, swerving out of the way, but her intention hadn't been to hit them. It had been to lure them into a surprise attack. While the pair of angels did what they could to avoid the projectiles that she continually sent at them, Rias manipulated the Powers of Destruction that hit the ground, making them combine into a single entity. Then she drove the two angels into position above the giant circular shaped sleet of energy.
She snapped her fingers.
It erupted from the ground like a crimson tower, engulfing the two in its radiant light, burning them before they had a chance to scream. The towering mass of Rias's power rose into the sky. It dispersed, but not before slamming into the ceiling of this dimension.
"Floa and Augusta have been retired," a voice announced.
Rias flew down and landed next to Gasper, offering him a hand. "Are you okay, Gasper?"
"Rias-Buchou…" Gasper sniffled. "RIAS-BUCHOU!"
Not quite sighing as Gasper buried his face in her chest, Rias wrapped her arms around his head and held him. Her Bishop really was quite the fraidy cat. While she didn't mind him like this, she did hope he would eventually grow mentally stronger. She wanted him to overcome the scars that had made him like this.
While she was hugging Gasper, Asia and Issei walked up to them.
"It looks like we won somehow," Asia said.
"Yeah," Issei muttered. "Big whoop. I just want to go home and sleep now."
"We'll be able to get some rest soon," Rias said. "Good work, you two. I'm sorry I wasn't much help."
"What are you talking about?" asked Issei. "You were fighting that Reuel dude, right? It's thanks to that battle that we were able to separate those four and take them on."
Rias blinked. "Really?"
"Yes," Asia said, nodding several times. "They had pinned Ise-san and Gasper down. We couldn't get past their strange cannon fire. Then there was this massive explosion that knocked everyone off balance. That was when everyone saw you fighting against Reuel. Those four were so distracted that it allowed us to separate them."
"I still don't feel like I did much," Rias confessed. Even if they were correct, they had done more during this battle than she had, and Naruto had taken on the lion's share of the fight. It made her feel slightly useless.
"At least you did something," Asia said, trying to cheer her up no doubt. "All I did was heal Gasper and Ise-san, and I didn't get to heal them much since they didn't need it."
"You shouldn't say things like that," Issei countered. "I would've been a goner if you hadn't healed my shoulder when it became dislodged. I couldn't have won with only one arm."
"Ise is correct on that," Rias said. "Besides, the healer is the most important person in a Rating Game. We need you to stay safe. If you're not around to heal our wounds, then our chances of victory drops significantly."
"I guess…"
It didn't look like Asia was convinced, and unfortunately, Rias wouldn't get a chance to convince her. Mere seconds later, the same announcer voice spoke up. It said, "Reuel has surrendered. Winner by surrender is Rias Gremory."
"Wait. We won?" Issei asked.
"Seems like it," Kiba muttered.
"But how? Who made Reuel surrender?"
"That would be me," Naruto said as he landed on the ground next to them. His clothing looked a little singed, but there didn't seem to be so much as a scratch on him. "I took on Reuel so Rias could back you two up. After you guys defeated the remaining four members of Reuel's Brave Saints, he surrendered."
"Oh…" Issei needed a moment to think about that. "I can't believe we won."
"Try not to think too hard about it," Naruto said.
Rias smiled. "Well, regardless of anything else, we won, and since we survived without a single loss, it can be considered a great victory on our part. Thank you, all of you. I couldn't ask for a better peerage."
"Hey, Rias, since we did so well, can I get a reward?" asked Naruto.
Giving him a suspicious look, Rias asked, "what kind of reward?"
"The kind that involves you, me, and a bed."
"Perv."
"Are you saying you don't want to?"
"I didn't say that."
"If Nyaruto wants a reward, then I'll give it to him," Koneko, speaking in a very odd accent, said as she ran up to them. Rias barely had a moment to realize what was going to happen. She used that moment wisely.
She stepped out of the way.
"What the—brrggleee!"
Rias watched as Koneko, who looked like she was suffering from an overdose of catnip, tackled Naruto to the ground and liberally shoved her tongue down his throat. Asia gasped and covered her eyes, though she peeked out between her fingers. Issei had no such compunctions. He stared at the scene with blood dripping down his nose. Gasper looked like he wanted to look away, but much like a train wreck, his eyes remained glued to the pair as Koneko played tonsil hockey in Naruto's mouth.
"Ara, ara." A giggling Akeno flew in through the air and landed on the ground. She hid her smiling mouth with her hand. Kiba was also with her. "It looks like those two are having fun."
"She's raping his mouth," Rias stated, her tone deadpan.
"She's totally raping his mouth," Issei murmured in a lustful voice. "Ouch!" At least, it was lustful until Asia grabbed him by the cheek and pulled.
"I-it's not right to watch these two while their kissing, Ise! If you want someone to rape your mouth, then I can do that too!"
"Dat nah someshing a hun shoof be faying," Issei said—tried to say. Rias couldn't actually tell what he was trying to say. His cheek was stretched so obscenely it looked like his skin was made of rubber.
"Shouldn't you stop them?" Kiba asked.
Rias looked at Naruto and Koneko for a bit longer. This was happening on live TV, so she probably should stop them…
"Let's allow Koneko to get it out of her system first," Rias said. "I don't want her trying to have sex with Naruto in public."
"Uh…" Kiba had no words for that.
Still on the floor, Koneko continued making out with Naruto, who was too surprised to do anything.