Chapter 170 - Chapter 4 - Part 2 - Team Imperial Purpure vs Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor

Third Person Point of View

— ○ ● ○ —

In the universe of the Phantasma, on the planet of the Resistance, a certain woman was diligently training. She was in the underground section as she launched various spells and attacks at a training dummy provided by Laeronia.

Isatha grunted as she fired another powerful blast of elemental attack at the dummy. There were also numerous others training down here as the life of the Resistance had improved significantly since Cao Cao, his team and Laeronia came. Their members were not malnourished anymore and they had energy to go out and do various missions.

The more fights they won, the more confident they became and they would venture out more on missions. There were no casualties even for the more difficult missions as they were protected by Aaron's [Dragon Tattoo] he provided them as well as Laeronia's own spells he bestowed upon them and the [Power Rangers] that would accompany them.

Of course, the Phumera and the others of the Phantasma were alerted by this new power they had and they started to actively seek their base, but they could never find it—which left her frustrated, so she concluded that it was the doing of the outer god, and she cursed him for his actions, but she couldn't do anything about it. Even her [Reality Manipulation] had no effect, much to her frustration.

"Isatha. I need to talk to you for a second," said a voice. When Isatha turned around she saw Laeronia by the stairway. Her curiosity led her to approach him. "It's about Cao Cao."

Her eyes lit up and Laeronia gestured for her to follow him, so they left the training area and climbed the stairs, they took a left and passed through the canteen which was filled with people having dinner. They arrived at a small room that had six other pathways.

"Are we…going to the dormitory?" she asked.

"Yeah. We're heading to your place; this is a private matter," replied Laeronia.

Isatha was surprised, but decided to take the lead and move ahead of Laeronia. She quickly arrived at her door and waited for him, and they entered together. Her room wasn't anything special, much like the rest of the Resistance.

They had the essentials for a 'bedroom', but the small things they had were things they found in the missions or things from their previous homes that they managed to bring with them. Isatha wasn't different, she had some items she brought from trips like a tire that belonged to a different universe that she stole from a member of the Phantasma to a small gift that Cao Cao gave her.

"Nice place," said Laeronia while looking around her room. "Anyway, this is concerning Cao Cao. If you're worried something bad happened to him…then it's not it, so relax."

Isatha's body loosened up upon hearing that from Laeronia. "So…what is it?"

Laeronia nodded and explained the Rating Game World Cup, along with what Rating Games are. Isatha listened intently and was both enthralled and frustrated by it. In the end she stared at Laeronia a bit annoyed.

"We are fighting for our lives here while they fight over there for fun?" she asked agitated.

Laeronia nodded his head. "While I can understand your frustrations, this is a way for the factions and pantheons of our world to unwind. They can find a bit of fun and sportsmanship in those Rating Games, as well as pull those who have power out of poverty since it rewards its players," he explained.

"My master will be the one providing the prize for it, and it's to grant any wish that the winner or winners want. Of course, there are limitations, but if you wish for food, money, or something like that, he can grant it," added Laeronia.

"…It's still frustrating to know about, but being able to earn a living through it…that doesn't sound bad. So I can assume that Cao Cao and his team are participating in this tournament?" she asked.

"Yes they are and their next match for the preliminary rounds is about to start," he said and clicked his fingers before a floating monitor appeared and showed a certain field. He then explained who his opponents were.

She frowned and was anxious for her friend as the person that Laeronia described was powerful—along with his team as they were apparently helped by his master and creator. Laeronia sat down on a chair while Isatha went to her bed and sat on it. Both eagerly waited and watched as the match was about to start.

'…Win, Cao Cao!' she prayed while intently watching the monitor.

— ○ ● ○ —

In Aaron's home—in a new and different dimension were most of the members of [Team Golden Rakshasa]. They were initially training, but when the match between the teams of Cao Cao and Sairaorg Bael was about to begin, they stopped to watch it.

The two who were most eager to watch this match were Bova Tannin and Ouryuu (Ryuuta) Nakiri. They lost quite badly in their previous match and it left them frustrated. However, they couldn't deny Atsutarou Himejima's power and mastery over both his Flame Manipulation and Artificial Sacred Gear.

Since that day, both of them have been hard at work. Driving to better themselves as individuals, as people, and as warriors. They didn't overwork themselves as they followed their [Kings] instructions and kept a healthy lifestyle and they quickly noticed a difference.

One other thing did change between the two. They had a slightly not-so-good relationship prior to this. They were working on ice with each other. One wrong move and they would have most likely blown up on each other. However, due to losing to Atsutarou Himejima, they set aside their differences and helped each other grow.

Aurelia knew this and let it happen. She wanted them to work it out themselves while also discreetly guiding them there, hence why she asked Ravel to position Nakiri and Bova near each other during the match.

If by a miracle they won their match-up? Great! If not, they could learn from it—those were Aurelia's reckless thoughts. She knew losing now, or more so death since she died to Lapis. It felt her frustrated and bitter, but she couldn't stay like that forever, so she also began to train from the basics.

Lianne and Scathach pointed this out to her and she just laughed at them like usual, but still continued with it. To Aurelia Le Guin now, she believes anyone can keep on improving, regardless of what your power or status is.

'If you think you've hit the pinnacle, then you're wrong! Die once and see, you idiot!' is what she shouted at a certain person during an interview after one of their games.

You could say, death humbled her slightly, although her haughty and intimidating nature still remained.

Apart from those three, there were two more that wanted to improve—Yoru and Haru. They lost against Ezeri, that much was obvious, but they also gained more insight into themselves. Edel, who was also part of the team and Akaza helped them with their training.

Edel with their magic and innate abilities and Akaza with their hand-to-hand combat. Although neither of them got to fight much in their past games, they were fine with it as they saw the budding members growing and getting stronger.

"What say you, former second ranked player?" Aurelia suddenly asked their newest member, Roygun Belphegor. She and her team also joined Aurelia's team, so the rest of her peerage—Akane, Granberia, Oleander and a few others were also in the dimension, participating in the training.

"It's…difficult to say. Both teams have been given the chance to enter such a place and get stronger. The only things left are their individual skill level and mastery of their abilities," replied Roygun.

"Sairaorg Bael is a power-type while Cao Cao is a technique type. Usually, it's the technique that prevails in these match-ups since the power-type relies too heavily on their strength, runs out of stamina or falls to the techniques of their opponent," she explained.

"Also, since it's the [Lightning Fast] game type, so tactics won't matter too much, the field is small and limited too—one or more groups will be forced to fight along with each other, meaning the stronger duo or trio will win their fights. By stronger I mean, the ones who can work together the most effectively since as I mentioned, power isn't everything."

Everyone there listened intently to the former second ranker of Rating Games.

Oleander fixed his glasses and added quietly, "…It also depends on the [Kings] since they have pledge to fight in the center of the field. Both peerages respect their [King] a lot, so they will not interfere nor will they help them in any way…if the either [King] is defeated, the match will end quite quickly."

"So…if one of them had an attack that could cover the entire field then…it could spell disaster for the other team," added Akane. "Although knowing their 'ranks' that Jin-san has, then that might not happen."

After Akane's comment, all of them quieted down as the game finally began.

— ○ ● ○ —

The beginning of the Rating Game between [Team Imperial Purpure] and [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor]. Both teams were transported to the game field and it was a replica of the Underworld. However, it was at a place that were in ruins and it also resembled a sandy desert.

The size was comparable to Kuoh Academy (high school division), and there were no buildings to hide behind, only small pillars, so everyone on the field would be forced to fight each other in close proximity, unless they had an ability or Sacred Gear that could be used to trick their opponent.

[The time limit of this [Lightning Fast] match is one hour! The victor is chosen when the team who topples the other team's [King] first, or the team who has managed to defeat the greater number of enemies in terms of piece value if both [Kings] remain undefeated by the end of the game!]

[With that said…let the match…begin!!!] Naud screamed and a buzzer rang out on the field.

Both [Kings] gave orders to their teammates and they all scattered. Meanwhile both [Kings] began walking towards the middle of the field while glaring at one another. Neither said a word to each other as they did this—in the distance, they heard explosions beginning to occur as the fights between their teammates started too.

— ○ ● ○ —

[A fight broke out between the two [Knights] on the field!]

"I'm the [Knight] of Sairaorg Bael, Beruka Furcas. Let us fight gallantly!" said the man riding on an Underworld horse. After announcing that, he charged towards his target!

"Yo! I'm Perseus, let's fight fairly then!" Perseus shouted and dodged the attack by Beruka by an inch. A piece of his clothing was ripped off and he whistled. "Phew~ you're quite fast, this'll be interesting!"

Beruka along with his horse and lance charged Perseus at a speed that most fans wouldn't be able to follow. However, the monitor that was changed by Aaron made it possible for them. Perseus barely managed to dodge it and both had the same thought after the event occurred.

'He's been trained 'there' and can keep up with me!'

With that both in their minds, Beruka and Perseus disappeared from their spots and with a sword in Perseus' hand, he clashed several times with Beruka. To his surprise, the horse was also able to block and dodge his attacks too.

"Is that horse also trained or something?!" Perseus asked.

"We are both of the same rank!" Beruka shouted back making Perseus laugh.

"Interesting! This makes it more fun then!" Perseus used a sword and shield combo to fight.

He also had his Sacred Gear to turn the tide in a battle. He charged back at Beruka and performed a few faints and thrust his sword towards the man on the horse. Beruka dodged the attack, but noticed a strange spike in energy and looked to his right—he saw a magic circle!

A large fireball flew at him, and Perseus used his shield to bash into his horse! Beruka lost his balance and was hit by the fireball, creating a massive explosion of flames.

Perseus jumped away and looked at his handy work while also waiting for the retirement announcement, but it never came, so he prepared himself again. Once the flames died down, he saw that Beruka had protected himself with a defensive barrier along with his horse.

"Are you okay, Altobrau?" he asked his friend and the horse nodded at him. He turned to face Perseus and smiled. "Not bad, former Hero faction member."

Perseus smiled and shrugged. "Hey, even though I joined the faction, it didn't mean I was part of it during their most active times. But I like that you can keep up with me, even some of those Phantasma bastards couldn't!"

Beruka got back on his horse and they smirked at each other—increasing their speed and power even more, they clashed with each other once again, each time they did the entire game field shook, although they weren't the only ones doing that.

— ○ ● ○ —

Gandoma Balam, [Rook] and Misteeta Sabnock, [Bishop] of Sairaorg were both facing the two new members of Cao Cao's team, the fellow [Rook], Momono Kibitsuhiko and fellow [Bishop] Zhuge Liang.

"Momono-san, let us combine our powers then," said Zhuge Liang.

"I'll be in your care again," replied Momono. He along with all three of his youkai were allowed to participate in this match, so his raven, dog and monkey youkai were fighting together in this match.

"Gandoma-san, I'll support you," said Misteeta.

"Right…let's go!" replied Gandoma as he charged towards Zhuge Liang and Momono. As he arrived near Momono, he fell into…a hole! Gandoma fell into it and landed at the bottom of the hole. "W-what the—?!"

Zhuge Liang has the Sacred Gear called [Strategy Trap]. It has the ability to create various traps such as small holes that can be utilized to transport people and items. This is similar to the Abaddon's [Hole] ability. It can also be used to create blocks that can be used as a means of attack.

Gandoma tried to jump out of the hole that was made by Zhang Liang's Sacred Gear. However, when he reached the top, a box appeared above his head and he crashed into it. To his surprise, he was forced back down and stared in shock.

"How is that box that strong…!?" he asked himself. "I need to use more power then…!" Gandoma with even more power jumped again and this time he destroyed the box and arrived back at the top, but as soon as he took a step towards Zhang Liang, Momono and Misteeta…he slipped on a banana peel and was blown away!

"What kind of joke is thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis?!" he shouted as he was blown away by the banana peel.

"Hehe, how does it feel to be outsmarted by petty tricks? That's my [Strategy Trap], although I can create more dangerous ones if I need to," said Zhuge Liang.

'She's more troublesome than the other one then, he only has those youkai and sword while her Sacred Gear is…I'll target her!' thought Misteeta.

Misteeta summoned his Sacred Gear [Trick Vanish] and aimed the purple staff at Zhang Liang and sealed her Sacred Gear. A mass of purple light appeared around Zhang Liang and moments later, various purple markings appeared all over her body which indicated the sealer of her Sacred Gear.

Misteeta had enormous stamina reserves, so sealing abilities with his Sacred Gear was something he could do quite casually now. Previously before he and the rest of his peerage trained in Aaron's dimension, he could only use it for short periods of time because of the stamina drain.

The Sacred Gear also took a toll on their body and mind, so he also trained in those—he meditated and exercise even more than he used too…while also being tortured by Scathach and Aurelia like the rest of his peerage.

"With that, you can't use your Sacred Gear!" he declared and put his hand forward and summoned magic circles that fired hundreds of elemental attacks at the duo in front of him!

"Oh? It seems I can't use it…nevertheless, I can still function with it," said Zhuge Liang. She then raised her left arm up and summoned a fan. Along with that fan came thousands of magic circles too.

The two's magic clashed and numerous explosions took place in the sky and area around them. Using this chance to his advantage, Momono charged Misteeta along with his three youkai! He swung down his sword, but a figure appeared in front of him and blocked it!

"Petty tricks won't keep me out of this fight," said Gandoma.

He had arrived back to assist his fellow team members! However, the raven youkai flapped its wings and sent power gusts of wind at Gandoma along with blades of wind. Gandoma covered his body with dense touki and blocked the attacks and prevented himself from being blown away.

As Gandoma was about to attack Momono, the monkey youkai appeared and threw some dirt at his eyes, but it was blocked by the touki and it also further annoyed Gandoma. But all of that was a distraction as the dog youkai slammed its head into Gandoma's stomach and blew him away and at Misteeta.

Both [Rook] and [Bishop] of [Team Imperial Purpure] didn't expect such a combination attack. However, they quickly recomposed themselves and stared back at Momono and Zhuge Liang.

"They were definitely trained, though I expected it because they were sent to the Phantasma's universe…shall we use my Balance Breaker?" Misteeta asked while staring at their opponents.

"…It's still early, let's wait a bit before using that. Sairaorg-sama said to use it as a trump card and last resort," replied Gandoma. He took a stance and added, "We'll rely on brute strength for now. Since you can keep that little one's powers sealed, we can deal with them easier."

"…Alright, let's do that then." Misteeta summoned hundreds of thousands of magic circles again and aimed them at Zhuge Liang and Momono. In turn, Zhuge Liang did the same thing and both [Bishops] prepared to bombard each other with magic attacks.

Gandoma charged back in and so did Momono. His fist and his sword clashed creating large sparks of electricity.

"We'll win this!" shouted Momono.

"Sairaorg-sama's dream is our dream; we can't afford to lose!" shouted Gandoma.

— ○ ● ○ —

"To think you'd fight us, well, it was expected in a way," said Georg as he pushed his glasses up.

He was with Leonardo, the lone [Pawn] on their team. In front of them stood the other [Pawn] of [Team Imperial Purpure], Kuisha Abaddon. Beside her was the [Queen] of Sairaorg's team, Silveteela Stolas.

"Well, [Queen] and [Pawn] versus [Queen] and [Pawn] makes sense, right? Although meeting both of you was just a coincidence," said Kuisha.

Kuisha decided to accompany Silveteela because she was her master's lover and [Queen]. She also got along well with Silveteela now that she had moved on from Sairaorg, and the two of them actively grew stronger together during the 100 years in Aaron's dimension.

Likewise, Silveteela trusted Kuisha just as much since she has been with Sairaorg the longest and is his [Queen] in his peerage. Kuisha also told Sairaorg and Silveteela about her feelings about Sairaorg after she entered a relationship with Aaron—she wanted to get it off her chest and be 100% honest with both of them.

At the time, it caused a small strain between the two women. It mostly came from Silveteela, but when they lived together for 100 years, she slowly accepted the facts and they became even stronger friends. Siraorg himself has said that he did not want a harem. However, the reason came from seeing Aaron being hounded by his lovers during their 100-year stay.

In Sairaorg's words: 'It's too much! I already have several roles for me in the future, but I also don't have power like him, so having one lover is enough!' And thus, Sairaorg only ever wants his childhood sweetheart, Silveteela Stolas.

"Shall we start then?" asked Georg as his body and Leonardo's body were covered in powerful auras.

"Let's go then, we'll show you how the women of the Bael team work!" shouted Kuisha.

"It won't just be a two on two, you know?" said Georg. Beside him, Leonardo's body glowed as he pointed both his hands toward the ground. Slowly a black humanoid creature emerged from the ground in front of him.

It slowly shaped itself to resemble a living armor, it was mostly jet-black armor with several tentacles coming out of its back.

"T-that's…!" Both women stood there in shock at the first monster that Leonardo created.

— ○ ● ○ —

In the VIP room where Aaron and his friends stayed—a certain young man stood up from his chair in utter shock.

"W-w-what the hell?! Isn't that my…Balance Breaker's armor?!" Genshirou Saji shouted. The rest of the room was also in shock—Aaron sat there with a smirk.

"Not yet," said Aaron. "Leonardo isn't done yet. He and Georg came to me yesterday, and asked what the limit and restrictions are for [Annihilation Maker] in the tournament."

"…And what are they?" asked Tsubaki.

"He can summon up to six Anti-Monsters using his regular abilities. If he uses his regular Balance Breaker, it's limited to three, but if he uses his X-side…he can only create one monster," he explained.

"Leonardo-kun has an X-side Balance Breaker…?" asked Sona.

Aaron nodded. "Everyone in Cao Cao's team has a new Balance Breaker for their Sacred Gears. They didn't just go to the Phantasma's universe for a vacation trip after all. Although Sairaorg's group also has their own tricks up their sleeves."

"Look! He's making more, aren't those—?!" shouted Kanami as she pointed at the monitor in front of them.

[Oh my goodness! Are those…?!] shouted Naud.

[Fuu…it seems that Leonardo boy just recreated the [Boosted Gear], [Divine Dividing], [Regulus Nemea], [Vritra Sacred Gears], Hirokazu Miller's X-side Balance Breaker, and [Canis Lykaon] armor as his Anti-Monsters? That's quite a power,] said Shiva calmly.

"Are you saying…that's just from his regular abilities…? What can his Crest-side Balance Breaker and X-side Balance Breakers do and create…?!" Rias asked Aaron in disbelief.

"…Dragon God-class to Universal-class Anti-Monsters en masse," he replied, silencing the room. "Of course, if he pushes himself then he can reach Multiversal, but Leonardo will most likely exhaust himself if he does that. He needs more training."

"Don't forget that they are [Anti-Monster], meaning they're going to have advantages against both—which is light and holy attributes, but…since Aaron removed those from you guys, I wonder how it will work?" said Velgrynd as she stared at the monitor.

"They don't have natural weaknesses anymore, but they still have other weaknesses, their own personal fears—the abilities of those monsters will most likely resemble that and attack those insecurities of the mind," replied Aaron.

In other words, more psychological warfare.

— ○ ● ○ —

Back on the field, Leonardo was surrounded by various armor types of six Sacred Gears, four from the original Longinus line-up, one from the [New Longinus] and the other were the Vritra line of Sacred Gears. Each of them also could mimic certain abilities from those Sacred Gears.

"This is just his regular ability, quite terrifying, right? No wonder it's considered to be one of the strongest Sacred Gears out of the original thirteen—one of the biggest bugs of the system…" said Georg while looking at Leonardo with unease.

'No wonder the higher-ups in the Khaos Order and leaders of the alliance wanted to control him and put restrictions on him—if he went berserk, who knows what would happen…at least when Shalba forced the Balance Breaker from a few months ago didn't do damage thanks to Jin and his comrades…' thought Georg.

Without saying another word, Leonardo pointed his right arm towards Kuisha and Silveteela and the six armor-type Anti-Monsters went at them at full speed. All six arrived around them in a flash and attacked them.

[Boost! Transfer!] the Anti-Monster [Boosted Gear] boosted itself once and transferred the power to the other five. The [Regulus Nemea] armor sent a punch towards the two women while the [Divine Dividing] Anti-Monster armor sent powerful energy blasts at them.

At the same time, the Anti-Monster Hiro (Hirokazu's X-side armor) fired powerful energy bullets at them while the [Malebolge Vritra] Saji's Anti-Monster armor sent out several tentacles that were a mix of [Absorption Line] and [Delete Field]—finally, the [Night Celestial Slash Dogs] summoned large distorted blades of darkness at the women.

Both of them created a defensive magic circle that defended against the shockwave punch the lion armor. Kuisha made [Holes] to redirect the attacks from the Anti-Monster Hiro armor bullets, as well as [Divine Dividing] armor aura bullets.

The [Hole] she made forced the attacks at different sections of the field, some of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] avoided the attack and the rest blocked them. Meanwhile, the two women fired blasts of demonic balls at the other attacks send to them.

However, the lines from [Malebolge Vritra] absorbed them, forcing them to dodge, but the distorted blades of darkness followed them as they jumped backwards, forcing them to fire more demonic bullets at them, finally destroying them.

But as they thought they were safe, the Anti-Monster [Boosted Gear] appeared behind Kuisha and threw a punch in front of her. She reacted in time and created a [Hole] that redirected his attack behind himself which forced the Anti-Monster to hit itself, sending itself away.

Kuisha summoned [Holes] around Leonardo's monsters and fired the aura bullets and demonic attacks by Hirokazu's armor and [Divine Dividing] at them. But just like the regular armor, the Anti-Monster Divine Dividing armor stepped in front of the rest, and used its [Reflect] to redirect the attacks away.

"This…will be a tough battle. I heard from Aaron about these [Anti-Monsters]. They work on our weaknesses, but since he removed our weaknesses as devils, we shouldn't have any…theoretically," said Kuisha.

Silveteela looked at Kuisha and smiled. "Then…let's do that—perhaps my house's poison can affect those monsters? If not, then those two, who are still humans, may be affected instead."

'First is the set-up,' thought Silveteela. Both women nodded at each other before they summoned hundreds of thousands of magic circles and fired them at the two.

The armors, blocked and reflected many of them, but some got through. Georg stepped forward and aimed his right hand forward—from them a purple mist shot out and blocked out all of the attacks. At the same time, Georg also fired magic attacks back at the two and they all ranged from different types.

"Leonardo, save 'that' for when we're near the end of the game. Although Cao Cao wants to fight Sairaorg Bael on a one-on-one setting, if I sense we might lose…we'll wipe out the rest of the members of [Team Imperial Purpure], alright?" said Georg.

Leonardo glanced at Georg and nodded. His X-side Balance Breaker were their trump card, as well as combing it with Georg's own Balance Breaker. Two top-tier Longinus' [Annihilation Maker] and [Dimension Lost], in a small space like this, a combination of both Sacred Gears would be devastating.

"For now…let's go with 'that'. Since they lack their original weaknesses, attacking their minds and insecurities would be the next best solution. Use the [Canis Lykaon] and [Divine Dividing] plus [Malebolge Vritra] as a combo. Drain their power with [Divine Dividing] and [Malebolge Vritra], then use the darkness of [Canis Lykaon] to creep into their minds and hearts," ordered Georg.

"Roger that…" replied Leonardo. He then ordered his Anti-Monsters to do just that. First, he sent out the [Boosted Gear] and [Regulus Nemea] to attack the two ladies first.

The [Boosted Gear] Anti-Monster focused on Kuisha while the [Regulus Nemea] Anti-Monster focused on Silveteela. The [Divine Dividing] and [Malebolge Vritra] Anti-Monster hovered further away, waiting for their opportunity. The Hiro Anti-Monster provided both support as it sent out energy bullets at both ladies at set intervals.

Kuisha and Silveteela dodged the continuous attack from both monsters as they slowly and methodically enacted their own plan. Kuisha could control how large the [Holes] she could produce, and the poisons that Silveteela made could be manufactured and removed without the need for an antidote as she had full control of it. She made these poisons specifically for humans—it would kill them, but it would render them incapacitated for the rest of the match.

As this dance continued for the next few seconds, both duos found their openings and acted one it, but the faster pair were Georg and Leonardo. The [Divine Dividing] touched both women and then drained their powers using [Divide]. Next were the lines from [Malebolge Vritra] Anti-Monster that grabbed onto their ankles and began draining them of their power. It also restricted their movements. Finally, a large wave of darkness shrouded both of them.

Georg grabbed Leonardo and jumped away. As they did, a strange green and dark blue mist began covering the area that they were in.

"Poison. It must be from that devil—the Stolas clan. I heard they specialized in poisons after all," said Georg. "Monitor them and I'll send them to a different dimension with more of your monsters we prepared. That'll keep them busy."

[It seems the [Pawn] and [Queen] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] have won their match-up! They've trapped Player Kuisha and Silveteela in some sort of barrier of darkness!] shouted Naud.

[…That technique is something like the technique Dulio Gesualdo used against Hirokazu Miller during their match. If the same events repeat, then they'll give those two powerful power-ups, if not then they'll defeat them right there,] said Shiva.

[A technique that forces negative emotions into the ones consumed by it, Shiva-sama?]

[Yes. One must have a strong will to break out of it—although that's what I can gather from a quick glance. It's also stronger and more refined. I can assume that the young Leonardo had practiced with this more than Dulio Gesualdo. That combination between Cao Cao's team is quite unstoppable.]

— ○ ● ○ —

Jeanne [Knight], Heracles [Rook] and Marisilo [Bishop] fought against Coriana Andrealphus [Bishop], Ladora Buné [Rook], and Liban Crocell [Knight]—an intense three-way battle was underway between them.

Both [Knights] clashed with their swords in the distance as they used their speed and technique to win against each other. They noticed that their strength was nearly on par with each other, with Liban being slightly stronger.

Liban's eyes glowed as he used his Sacred Gear [Gravity Jail]. The gravity around Jeanne increased significantly which also slowed down her speed by a considerable margin. Taking advantage of this, Liban dashed back towards Jeanne as he sent a flurry of attacks towards her.

Jeanne barely blocked the attacks as she was pushed back. She didn't think the intensity of his Sacred Gear was this much, so she was pushed back considerably. Not liking her situation, she created two magic circles around Liban and launched fireballs towards him. Liban, not expecting this, backed away to avoid the attack.

Jeanne also jumped away and swung her holy sword downward creating a large mass of holy swords that quickly formed itself into a dragon. This was Jeanne's Balance Breaker for her [Blade Blacksmith], [Stake Victim Dragoon] however, she further improved it during her time training and in the Phantasma's universe.

Several more waves of holy blades left her sword and created two more dragons. Those dragons made of holy swords also screamed into the sky, creating another mass of holy energy above them which birthed large wyvern-like monsters made of holy swords.

"Goo!! My lovely creations!!" Jeanne screamed as Liban stared at the foes he had to fight.

"Dragons and wyverns made out of holy swords…how troublesome, but I'm glad I don't have that weakness anymore, otherwise I would quickly lose," he muttered to himself.

Liban expanded the range of his [Gravity Jail] and the movements of the wyverns and dragons were slowed down, but it also took a heavier toll of him and he grimaced as he felt the effects.

'I won't have much time with this so—'

"Need help?" a female's voice said. He turned to look to his side and found Coriana, a [Bishop] on his team.

"Wha—how are you here?" Liban asked, shocked at her sudden entrance. Coriana pointed in front of them and saw Marisilo beside Jeanne looking annoyed as parts of his clothes were torn.

"She beat you?" Jeanne asked looking skeptically at Marisilo who looked utterly pissed off.

He fixed his tie with a scowl and said, "No. I was simply gauging her abilities, and I took some damage because of it. I now know some of the things she's capable of and plan to fight back."

"He's just shy, let's wait for—"

"I win!" screamed Heracles as he crashed beside Marisilo. He had various bruises on his face, and the other person who arrived beside Liban was Ladora Buné.

Ladora Buné sighed at Heracles and shook his head. "We are going nowhere with this. A team battle should be the deciding factor," he said and looked at his teammates.

Liban agreed. "I will take the front, you two will take the skies," he ordered.

"Roger that~" replied Coriana as she looked at Ladora who got on all fours and transformed into his dragon form. Once he was done, he roared and Coriana jumped onto his back while firing demonic balls of energy at their enemies.

Jeanne's dragons rushed in front of the attacks and was hit by them, but they weren't destroyed and quickly regenerated. They then roared and began firing out holy swords en masse from their mouths at Coriana, Liban and Ladora.

Ladora responded by breathing out fire from his mouth and countering Jeanne's dragon's attack. Coriana assisted him but firing demonic fire, mixing it with Ladora's breath attack, further amplifying the attack and overpowering Jeanne's dragon.

Meanwhile, Liban fought all three of Jeanne, Heracles and Marsilio on the ground. He had his Balance Breaker activated which essentially gave him [Gravity Manipulation], which he calls [Satans Gravity].

Heracles after being pushed away by Liban charged back at him, but one glanced from the blonde-haired man changed his gravity, and Heracles' face planted to the ground, confusing the man.

Marsilio fired a few magic attacks at him, mainly fire and water magic, but Liban increased the gravity around the spells forcing them to not reach him and he also created his own and fired demonic aura bullets at the man forcing him to defend and be blown away.

"Tch!" Marisilo wasn't the type of man to lose—no, he hated losing. The fact that he was blown away by Coriana irritated him to no end and he had already been plotting to get back at her. The current Marisilo was a lot tamer than how he previously was.

Of course, it was due to a combination of factors, a combination of individuals. Aaron Toole and Gasper Vladi. Marisilo trained in Aaron's home in a different dimension. He also fought against countless other people, forcing him to adapt to each of their styles in order to better prepare for the Phantasma. He hated losing, so each time he lost, his frustrations only grew.

It finally hit a breaking point and he lashed out at two people he was fighting against. His team tried to stop him and calm him down, but he didn't and even threatened to kill them, to which Gasper stepped in as he had threatened to kill one of his lovers, Tomoe Meguri, Sona's [Knight].

The other was Aoife. Although the young woman didn't mind, and laughed it off, Aaron warned him not to say it again. Gasper was the one who became physical and beat him to near death, and Aaron only slowly healed him as a warning and punishment. After that day, he cooled down significantly, or at least tolerated a lot of things more.

"Dammit it all…!" he whisper-shouted to himself then summoned a magic circle in front of him which shot out…a small glowing pink wall.

Liban was confused and tried to cut it down. However, once it touched his sword, it transformed into a fluffy wool sword which confused him greatly. However, seconds later, all of them were consumed in a bright pink light.

— ○ ● ○ —

"…Huh? Where am I?" Liban asked himself. One minute, he was fighting the members of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor], the next he was…in a random street. Liban stood back up and looked around him, but a person on a bike suddenly passed him while shouting 'Sorry!'.

"…Illusion magic? We did have data concerning that, but…I didn't think it would affect me by this much. I have to break free…" he mumbled to himself.

All around him were Japanese-like houses that looked the same, there were street signs too that looked identical, even the road signs and the sky appeared authentic and real. Liban brought his sword back and swung it forward with everything he had. The town in front of him was completely obliterated.

"It's not strong enough to break this curse? How do I get out of here?" he asked.

[I configured it like this, Liban-san,] said a voice.

"…That voice is the [Bishop] of Cao Cao's team! What is this place?!" he shouted and looked around himself—the 'place' he was at began to repair itself and Liban frowned upon seeing it.

[This is my Sacred Gear, [Dreamlike Curse], and it's my Balance Breaker, [Paraselene Utopia]. As long as I control this space, you cannot get out unless special conditions are met…since all three of you are trapped, you must clear those conditions before being set free, fufu. If you don't, time will run out and my team will win. Good luck~]

"Wait!" Liban cried out, but the voice stopped responding to him. "Shit! I heard from Aaron-san that he can also change the perception of time here, just like his own dimensions…I might be stuck here for hours at a time when only a few seconds or minutes passes outside…"

— ○ ● ○ —

Lardon Buné meditated in a field. It had been days since he had been here, but eventually he was approached by…someone from his clan—the House of Buné, one of the 72 Pillars of the Underworld.

His previously extinct clan had been in hiding! Much to his surprise, but his master, Sairaorg Bael encouraged him to interact with him because it seemed his clan that had been hiding now sought him out and wanted to reconnect with him—it seemed genuine so Lardon agreed.

Three months passed just like that. He was reintroduced to several devils that had also gone into hiding and he had built a great relationship with the clan. Recently, he had been asked to participate in a small tournament to determine the next head of the House of Buné that had been revitalized.

He accepted and joined the tournament. It was filled with the missing members of the clan and they had sparring matches against each other to determine who was the strongest, and in the end, Lardon won, was from that day onward he was appointed the next leader of the clan.

—Ladon Buné knew it was all an illusion, but…he decided to play along and enjoy his time here. He was meditating in this field to try to break out of the illusionary world. Lardon believed that to break out of this illusion was to have a strong will and not become attached to the world.

He enjoyed his time, but he never truly became attached, because not once had any of the illusions introduced themselves with their 'names'. They only ever referred to themselves as 'part of the house of Buné' or 'A clan member of Buné'.

"Lord Buné, why are you out here?" asked a member of the clan—it was a female.

Lardon opened his eyes and glanced at her before closing them again. "I am meditating to increased my demonic reserves," he replied. It was an obvious lie to the man, but to them—to the illusions, they believed every word of his.

"I see. I won't interrupt you then, but please come back soon. Everyone is waiting and we're going to have a feast," she replied and walked away.

'…If only it were like this…' he thought.

Because of Lardon's mixed heritage, he was shunned by other devils as well as being a descendant of an extinct household. He also had almost no control over his clan's powers, as well as having small reserves of demonic power. All this mixed together made him isolated in the Underworld…that was until he met his current master.

He explained his circumstances and was invited to his peerage—Sairaorg Bael accepted anyone who was willing to work hard and achieve their dream. To Lardon, he was the light and hope he had been looking for. Everyone else in peerage had similar circumstances which made them bond because of it, further strengthening their relationships.

To him, that was his home…and he needed to go back—as his fellow peerage members said: 'Sairaorg-sama's dream is our dream' and they wanted to fulfill it. He also had many friends and allies now thanks to Team [DxD] and Aaron.

As he sat there meditating, seconds later—a small crack appeared in the sky.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Fufu, how does that taste, Gasper~?" Coriana Andrealphus asked her boyfriend, Gasper Vladi.

"It tastes delicious, Coriana-san. You're quickly improving in your cooking!" he replied enthusiastically.

"Fufu, I've received plenty of help from Grayfia-sama, Raiko-sama and Aaron-sama," she said with a wink.

"…That's why it tastes the same! Great, I can't wait for you to master it. Asking Aaron-nii about cooking as well as Grayfia-sama and Raiko-san was a good choice," replied Gasper as he hugged her from behind making her blush.

"G-Gasper it's dangerous if you do that while I'm still cooking…" she chided him half-heartedly.

Gasper ignored her protests and began feeling her body from behind and eventually grabbed one of her breasts. Coriana had to muffle her moan and continued to cook.

"What the heck are both of you doing?" another voice asked. They turned to their right and saw Tomoe Meguri softly glaring at them.

"Tomoe…c-can you get Gasper off me? I'm trying to cook and this situation's a bit…" said Coriana while flustered.

"Gya-kun, come here, I'll spoil you while Coriana finishes our dinner. Jeez, how many times do we have to tell you not to do this?" asked Tomoe as she huffed.

"Hehe, sorry," replied Gasper. He let go of the woman and she heaved a sigh of relief.

The illusion Coriana Andrealphus was put into was just an ordinary life—a peaceful one where peace was finally achieved and she could live a normal life with her lover, Gasper Vladi. It was a simple illusion, and she knew it was one, but she wanted to indulge in it for a bit longer.

She knew that it was fake because of the things in the home and how those two acted. Gasper showed them affection, but he was not this overly affectionate. He cared about them, he would defend them and would get angry on their part, but this almost 'flirty' Gasper was not the one she was familiar with. That's how she knew it was fake, but she still liked it.

Coriana sighed as she continued to cook their dinner. 'Is this the life that awaits us when our peace is achieved?' she thought and glanced back at the two by the sofa in the kitchen-dining room combo.

'Just a little more,' she thought. 'Just a little more is fine, right?' To Coriana Andrealphus, staying in this peaceful illusion for a bit longer wouldn't be bad, but in her heart and mind she knew she had to leave soon.

To her right—a door had a crack on it already and she knew she just had to break free from there. However, for now, for just a bit longer, she'd like to stay here and enjoy her time with these illusions.

Eventually, she had finished making dinner for everyone. The other two helped set up the table and they began eating.

"The World Rating Game Tournament is happening again. Aaron-nii said that it would take place every five years, so teams and people that want to compete would have a chance of getting stronger and trying to compete again," said Gasper.

In this illusion both Coriana and Tomoe had been traded over to Gasper as his new pieces. Like in Aaron's team, these two fought for the place of [Queen] and in the end, Coriana won, and she was Gasper's new [Queen] while Tomoe was his lone [Knight] piece so far.

"Will you join the tournament, Gya-kun? Or will you be part of Rias-san's team again?" asked Tomoe.

Gasper looked at his food and sighed. "I'd like to play as my own team, but I haven't had much success in having people join it, so I might just join Rias-nee-chan's team this time again. How about you two?"

"If that's the case, then I'll just become a reserve member for [Team Sona Sitri] or [Team Rias Gremory]. If Sona-sama lets me or if Rias-san does," said Tomoe.

Coriana agreed with Tomoe. "I feel the same way. I will ask Rias-sama or Sairaorg-sama, and go from there. Since we're not participating as our own team this year, maybe in the next one? Fufu, why don't you increase your peerage, Gasper? Did you ask your best friend Valerie?"

Gasper smiled bitterly. "V-Valerie doesn't want to become a reincarnated devil. She enjoys her life right now—especially working for the United Vampire faction. She works under Kiss Shot-sama and Carmilla-sama," he explained.

The three of them continued chatting. The crack on the door slowly beginning to widen and Coriana was waiting for the inevitable to happen.

— ○ ● ○ —

In the outside world, Heracles, Jeanne and Marisilo stood watching Coriana, Liban and Lardon as they had frozen in place. A medium sized pink barrier with pink fog was around them and they were forced into an illusionary world, almost reminiscent to Aži Dahāka magic that was used on Vali Lucifer during their death match.

"So, now what? Do we just leave them here?" Heracles asked. Every time Marisilo used this ability, even in the Phantasma's universe, he would always ask the same thing. Marisilo put a hand on his forehead out of annoyance.

"Must you ask me the same question every single time I do this?" Marisilo asked and glared at the hulking giant.

"Yes," replied Heracles as he nodded sagely.

Marisilo felt an even bigger headache coming so he decided to ignore Heracles. Jeanne then pointed at the barrier.

"Hey, is that a crack around the [Bishop] and [Rook]?" she asked. Both Marsilio and Heracles looked at the two that Jeanne pointed at and saw that there were cracks around them, meanwhile Liban's had no change whatsoever.

"Hmm…it seems like those two are strong enough to break free of the illusion soon, but their [Knight] has no change at all. Until he does…none of them will leave that world. All of them need to break free at the same time. As long as there's one that can't—they'll remain trapped there until the game is over," explained Marsilio.

"Can't someone from the other team break it? Or beat you?" asked Jeanne.

"Those are possibilities too, but that's why we're moving as a three-man unit from now and until the game ends. If we can keep these three immobilized, then we can help defeat the others before we come back here and defeat them," he said.

Jeanne had a confused look on her face. "Why not defeat them now?"

A smirk emerged from Marsilio's lips. "These illusions will turn into nightmares given enough time. It will entice them with the sweetest of fake worlds, then turn them into hellish nightmares. If they stay in there long enough, it's possible to break them mentally, like what Georg and Leonardo are attempting with the [Queen] and [Pawn]."

"If we break even just one of them, it will cut down Sairaorg Bael's overall power. His brother's and fiancé's peerage members don't have the experience and power like the rest of us—if we can do that…we'll cripple his overall power for the rest of the tournament," he explained.

"Uwaaa…you really still have the mindset of a villain," said Jeanne.

Marsilio scoffed. "I am no villain; I am just using every advantage I have. As long as we win, it's all that matters. Jin can also just undo the damage done to them, so it doesn't matter."

"Villain…" Jeanne muttered again while backing away from him.

"Villain…!" repeated Heracles and backed away with Jeanne.

This annoyed Marsilio ever more as he shouted at them, "Quit playing around! I will watch over these two with Jeanne. Heracles go help someone else, and make sure to come back when I call you!"

"If I don't get eliminated before then!" Heracles said and ran away.

"Then don't get eliminated you fool!" roared Marsilio. He sighed and looked back at the three in front of them—to his surprise, a small crack had already appeared around Liban. 'Tch, so he's starting to break free too, huh? This won't last too long then…'

— ○ ● ○ —

"Silveteela? Hello?" Kuisha shouted out her [Queen]'s name, but got no response.

She was in an endless black space and she had been walking for a few minutes without a change in scenery. The last thing she remembered was getting ready for the Rating Game between [Team Imperial Purpure] and [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor]. After we left the bathroom, she was here.

"Where am I…? Was this the Khaos Orders doing? An attack then? So…Illusion magic? If so I'm stronger than them and can easily break free," she muttered to herself and tried to do so. She covered her body and mind with a dense and powerful demonic aura.

However, nothing happened which confused her. She tried a few more times with different techniques at dispelling illusion magic, but none of them worked. Frustrated, Kuisha kept walking forward for a few seconds before she began running.

She became worried as she thought the rest of her team was attacked too. She knew that everyone was strong, but she was on guard because she couldn't break out of whatever she was in. To her, even if it sounded arrogant, she was one of the strongest in the peerage, bar her [King], Sairaorg when using his Sacred Gear. If she couldn't break free, how would the rest fair?

As she continued to run, she eventually saw a figure in the distance and she prepared herself for a confrontation, but as she got closer to the figure—it felt familiar. So she lowered her guard a little and once she was inches away from it, she recognized it.

"Aaron?! Aaron! It's me, Kuisha!" she shouted and grabbed Aaron's shoulder. The man slowly turned and what she saw next horrified her. It was the disfigured face of her boyfriend and she took a step back.

"Kuisha? What's wrong? Don't you love me?" the figure asked.

"What the hell is this…?!" she shouted in anger before killing the figure away with a demonic blast of energy. As she continued to run around this pitch-black world, she continued to encounter disfigured versions of her allies and she was forced to kill them.

"This is messed up…if I come across the one responsible for this, I'll—"

"Kuisha!"

Hearing another familiar voice, she turned to it and found her [King] and previous love, Sairaorg Bael. However, this one wasn't disfigured like the rest. Relief washed over her body as she ran over to him.

"Sairaorg-sama!" she shouted and arrived in front of him. "What happened? The last thing I knew was that we were getting ready for our game."

Sairaorg nodded sagely and sighed. "I'm not entirely sure myself, but it seems we're in some kind of powerful illusion—perhaps someone from the Khaos Order?"

"If it is…then did a new threat appear? Someone that's the same power as Lapis?" she asked worriedly. "We should inform Aaron."

Sairaorg nodded and got closer to Kuisha. "But before that," he said and tilted her chin up to face him, "how about we have some fun?" he asked with a grin.

Kuisha froze for a few seconds before she pushed Sairaorg away. She was shocked and horrified. The 'Sairaorg' in front of her frowned—no, he was enraged by what she had done. He took a step forward and powerful darkness covered his body.

"…How dare you!" she shouted and fired a demonic ball at him. The fake Sairaorg didn't dodge and a large part of his stomach was torn away. "My Master and [King] wouldn't do such a thing! He's loyal to his fiancé!"

The darkness around the fake Sairaorg began to mold itself to become a replica of his [Regulus Rey Leather Rex] and dashed towards Kuisha. The fake cocked his arm back and threw it towards Kuisha, who easily redirected his attack with her hands and kicked the fake in between his legs making him stumble back.

She followed it up by using demonic ice to freeze him in place and firing multiple demonic lightning bolts at him damaging him even more as well as stunning him in place—all the while the ice stayed while still freezing him in place.

The fake Sairaorg began to chant his own version of [Breakdown the Beast], but it was muffled and distorted. However, eventually even more darkness erupted from his body and he was in a different armor and he broke out of the ice.

"Will I get out of this illusion if I defeat you?" she asked, but received no response from the fake. It only continued attacking her and she avoided it all.

Kuisha sighed and dodged another attack before covering her body with demonic energy. She dodged yet another punch from the fake which created shockwaves behind her. She quickly twirled and did a downward motion with her right hand that was covered in even more powerful demonic energy—seconds later the arm of the fake was cut off and it groaned before backing away.

Kuisha smirked and scoffed at the fake. "My Master would have dodged that, or blocked it. A fake is a fake and can't replicate the power and experiences he's face." Her body began to glow even more and elemental snakes appeared all around her.

"Die, so I can leave this place," she said, and the elemental snakes rushed towards the fake before it could react and blew up. When the explosion disappeared, the only part of the fake that was present was its head.

The head smirked at her and said, "You cannot simply leave this place just because you defeated me. Part of your memories have been locked, but with my defeat you should have them back."

The head disappeared after conveying those words to her. Moments later memories flooded Kuisha's head and she sighed. "…This is the Anti-Monster [Night Celestial Slash Dogs] world? A world of infinite darkness…I need to find it and defeat it here, though we'll still need to defeat them in the outside too," she said before she dashed around the world.

Kuisha had no idea how powerful this version of the Balance Breaker armor was. She only heard rumors of Tobio Ikuse's battle prowess, and since he's taking time off from the front lines to take care of his recently born daughter, she and many others don't know how powerful he is. However, she saw Aaron use his own version of [Canis Lykaon] a few times, but never in battle, so she could only speculate to an extent.

After a few minutes of running around, Kuisha finally found the source of her entrapment. In the distance stood a figure of a humanoid beast with its eyes glowing red and staring at her.

"Finally found you…!" she shouted and flew towards it with her devil wings.

Thousands of large distorted blades of darkness were projected towards her as the humanoid beast stomped on the ground. Kuisha summoned two balls of demonic energy from both her hands and threw them at the blades which destroyed them and they headed towards the beast.

The humanoid beast summoned a scythe and swung it down at her attacks and cut them apart causing Kuisha to click her tongue.

'Blades that can cut anything including magic, concepts, time and space…but that was Tobio Ikuse-san. What about this thing? It's made from [Annihilation Maker] and by Leonardo. He and the rest of his team have already trained in Aaron's dimension…how much stronger or weaker is this? I'll just experiment…I'll use varying percentages of power…'

Kuisha proceeded to do that. Starting from her lowest percentage, she would attack the Anti-Monster with the same demonic ball over and over again while slowly increasing her power. All of them were easily cut apart, yet the Anti-Monster did not go forward and attack her. It simply waited for Kuisha to attack it.

However, this strange back and forth eventually ended when she increased it to a certain percentage and…instead of cutting it with its scythe, the humanoid monster jumped to its side to avoid it. Kuisha was using around 95% of her power at this point and the monster couldn't cut it anymore.

'So…those things are around 95% of its original's power then? I'll assume it's the same for the other five too…that's troubling, then what about his Balance Breaker…? I'd rather not think about that right now,' she thought and sped towards the Anti-Monster.

The humanoid monster put its right arm forward and large blades of darkness flew from behind its back and towards her. Kuisha summoned [Holes] and absorbed the attacks. She hurled some bolts of lightning at the humanoid monster and it jumped up to avoid the attack. However, Kuisha summoned her [Holes] around it and used its own attack against it.

With even more power and speed, the blades of darkness left the [Holes] and pierced the humanoid monster. But…it didn't defeat it right away, but it did cut off an arm from its body, and to her joy, it didn't regenerate. Perhaps it was due to the illusionary world, or something else, but she didn't care as she knew she'd get out of here when she defeated it.

Kuisha kept up her assault as she exchanged powerful attacks with the imitation of [Night Celestial Slash Dogs]. In a genuine fight with either wielder (Aaron and Tobio) she didn't know if she could win as both of them had mastery of the power. But as long as it was just an imitation, she was confident in winning against it.

The humanoid beast dashed towards her and swung its scythe at her. At the same time various blades appeared out of thin air and flew towards her—just like earlier, she absorbed the attacks with her [Hole] and dodged the scythe's attacks while also firing her own demonic attacks and elemental attacks at the creature.

She froze the humanoid creature with demonic ice, and launched a series of elemental attacks that were shaped like snakes like the attacks he used on the fake Sairaorg earlier. At the same time, she summoned her [Holes] again and sent the blades of darkness towards the imitation of [Night Celestial Slash Dogs].

All the attacks hit which created a powerful shockwave that also blew Kuisha away and shook the illusionary world. She floated there and waited for the dust to settle, and when it did, a small part of the humanoid beast's body remained, its head with only its left eye remained and its right leg.

She was about to continue attacking it when it looked up at her and began to slowly fade away. Kuisha also felt herself begin to leave the illusionary world. As she did, she prepared herself for anything.

"Please…please bring me back outside…!" she said and she passed out.

— ○ ● ○ —

When Kuisha 'woke up' she quickly looked around herself, but—

"Oh come on!" she bellowed. In front of her was an artificial world and there were thousands of black monsters in that had one eye on them. "I'm in [Dimension Lost] and have to fight [Annihilation Maker] Anti-Monsters?!"

Kuisha Abaddon's real body was transported to a small dimension created by [Dimension Lost] and was filled with creatures made from [Annihilation Maker]. She was furious and began to attack everything indiscriminately in sight. However, she quickly composed herself and she began looking around her surroundings.

"Where's Silveteela…?!"

The [Queen] of [Team Imperial Purpure] was nowhere to be found.

— ○ ● ○ —

"…Kuisha? Are you here…?" asked Silveteela Stolas.

She herself was in her own 'dimension' and nightmare. Instead, she walked around a replica of the Stolas territory but it was mostly nighttime/pitch-black. She had been walking around her home's gardens and outer walls but found no one.

Unlike Kuisha Abaddon, Silveteela Stolas' memories were temporarily sealed. She was aware that she was transported somewhere because of Leonardo's monsters' abilities. However, try as she might, she couldn't find a way out, so she simply took a stroll around the place.

That was until she felt a powerful tremor in her territory followed by a large pillar of darkness. Silveteela stared at it with unease, but began to walk towards it. However, to her surprise, someone grabbed her from behind, causing her to pull away and put some distance between them.

When she looked back at who had done that, she was surprised to see her butler to be there. She stared at him in confusion, as he looked like her butler, but something felt off—finally she understood why. Their eyes—they were hollow, no eyes were there, only darkness.

"My lady, why are you heading towards that light? It's dangerous. Lord and Lady Stolas would be worried if you went," said the butler.

Silveteela stared at the butler before she said, "…Because I have to—no, I need to! Please don't stop me, Araniel."

The butler Araniel had been with the Stolas family for two generations. He has watched this family from its highest to its lowest and was very loyal. Araniel was a low-class devil, shunned for his low demonic power, but the kind Stolas household took him in and he became a butler.

Over the years he worked hard and was promoted as the head butler of the house. Many other butlers and maids praise him for his work ethic, as well as teaching them numerous things. He has seen many leave the profession, and others stay—he was a kind and compassionate man, but…

Silveteela Stolas found none of that from the thing in front of her. To her, this fake was nothing short of grotesque. Araniel supported every whim she ever did, whether it was the morally right choice…was left up to the young lady, looking back in her life, she knew that he did it for her own good, so she could learn from it and grow as a person.

Because of that, she met Sairaorg and many other people, so she trusted Araniel with her life, as did many other generations of the Stolas household. But the thing in front of her was nothing like him.

"That's reckless, my lady. You should stay here and send other lowly servants to investigate it," he suggested which made Silveteela's blood boil.

"…Enough," she muttered and fired a demonic blast at him in a shape of a spear. Once it pierced the butler's head, the appearance of her butler, Araniel vanished and was replaced with just a black humanoid shape made of darkness. It screeched before dying and disappearing.

"Why would you do that?" asked another voice.

"That was cruel," added another. When Silveteela turned around she saw her mother and father there giving her looks of disgust and contempt.

"To kill our beloved family butler…the future of our household is in trouble, we must exile you!" her father shouted, and his body was covered in darkness.

"That is too soft, dear. We must get rid of her. If she is no longer part of this world, we won't need to worry about a rebellion from this failure," her mother added while also darkness covered her body.

"…That young child is really trying to bring out my anger…" she muttered before she blasted the imitations of her parents away. "I need too—"

As she was about to move away, a figure dashed towards her and punched the building in front of her, destroying it. With a grin on its face, the figure asked, "Teela, where are you going?"

The dark figure had morphed itself into the figure of Sairaorg Bael, her fiancé. Upon seeing that, Silveteela's face darkened as she glared daggers at the fake in front of her. The fake touched her chin and tilted her head up.

"I've been looking for you, my beloved. Why don't we go to my home and create memories alongside my [Queen] and [Bishop]?" the fake Sairaorg asked.

Silveteela touched the fake's cheek and smiled. Seconds later dark purple symbols and lines appeared all over his body causing the fake to stumble back and fall to his knees. He then started to retch out blood from his mouth and clutch his throat as he began to struggle to breathe.

[Sutanrete], the trait of the Stolas clan. They can create poisons and toxins that are fatal to all kinds of creatures. Devils, Fallen Angels and Angels aren't safe. However, Silveteela wasn't sure if it would be effective against Gods or Buddhas, nor against powerful dragons. Like the Dragon God of Infinity, Ophis.

To the thing in front of her—even if it was an imitation of her fiancé, it was nothing like him and she immediately took the chance of using it against him. She had no idea if it would work on a thing that was made by a Sacred Gear. However, her anger clouded her judgement on that, and luckily for her, it worked.

Seconds later, the poison spread all over his body, and all the dark purple symbols were everywhere. Then, the fake Sairaorg tried to screech but nothing came out and it died. She looked at where the thing was and spat on it.

"I'll need to spank that boy when I get my hands on him," she muttered and angrily walked towards the pillar while killing anything that tried to get in her way.

Nothing was safe, not her other noble devil friends, the pet she had, the other maids and butlers in her territory or even her peerage members. All of them were killed by Silveteela with no mercy. Whatever this Sacred Gear was trying to do to her, it only made her even more angry rather than break her down emotionally.

As she angrily stomped her way to the location of the pillar, she encountered more humanoid creatures made of darkness. The Sacred Gear had stopped trying to trick her by changing their appearances and was now sending the monsters towards her en masse. But like earlier, using her demonic powers and poison, she killed them all easily.

She suddenly stopped. Silveteela was close to the site of the pillar of darkness when she started spreading her poison in the air and ground. She wanted to make this quick, if it was a battle, and she would catch her opponent off guard when she confronts them. After a few seconds of making her poison airborne and had it gone into the ground and spread itself in a wide arc, she began walking forward again.

She quickly arrived at the location where an enormous crater was created. In the middle of it was a black humanoid figure made of darkness and it resembled the Balance Breaker of [Canis Lykaon], and another fake Sairaorg in his Balance Breaker armor.

"This thing is really testing my patience," she whispered to herself as she quickly fired a powerful ball of demonic energy at them using her full power.

When the dust settled, she saw that both were heavily injured and she smirked. The fake Sairaorg ran towards her and began throwing a flurry of punches at her. However, since Silveteela was Sairaorg's fiancé, she was also trained in hand-to-hand combat. She also had access to touki after being helped by him and several others.

So she dodged a right hook and quickly countered with her own punch that landed on the fake's face, throwing him backwards into the crater.

With an angry expression on her face, she screamed, "My real fiancé's punches are faster and stronger! A stupid fake like you can't live up to it!"

The fake charged back and threw another punch. Silveteela covered her own body with touki that glowed a dark blue and purple and she matched the fake's punch! A powerful shockwave rang throughout the area. The fake grinned, but it quickly faded when he saw his arm shatter—before he could react, she fired a point-blank blast at him, killing him.

The black humanoid beast stared at Silveteela, waiting for her next action, but it never came. The woman stood there waiting and staring at it, confusing it. However, just as it was about to move, it felt strange and began to panic. Dark purple symbols and lines began appearing all over its body to its surprise.

"I like being underestimated. Because of my usually haughty nature as well as my frail-looking physique, most would assume I'm a high-class devil in name only. I'm glad it's not like that anymore," she said to the imitation of [Night Celestial Slash Dogs].

Before she started training seriously, Silveteela only had above average demonic power and reserves. However, after she saw the young Sairaorg desperately training to become stronger, she also began training herself to become someone who could beat him. However, that hasn't happened yet at all.

She only became even stronger after she was invited by Sairaorg to go to Aaron's dimension and train for 100 years. Once that was done, she, like everyone else became insanely strong, to the point that she felt strange being around her noble devil friends as they felt so…tiny and weak. But she didn't let the new power get to her head. Maybe her past self, but the current Silveteela wasn't like that.

It was a mix of befriending various other people of all social statuses while in Aaron's dimension, as well as being beaten down by Aurelia, Scathach, Lianne and various others that she was humbled further.

She watched the beast in front of her crumble away from her poison. The beast only looked at her and closed its eyes before disappearing. Once the beast was defeated, she looked around herself as the replica of her home also began to disappear.

"Let's go meet everyone again," she said to herself.

— ○ ● ○ —

As soon as she woke up, she heard explosions and very angry yelling from a familiar voice. Silveteela Stolas stood up quickly and flew over to the screaming woman.

"Kuisha!"

The woman in question turned to the voice and flew to her and hugged her. "Teela! I thought you weren't going to come out of that place! I'm glad you did because…" Kuisha began grating her teeth in frustration, "that little brat is going to get a spanking from me, and I'm going to beat up that four-eyed freak!"

"Ara? I guess we're in the same opinion, Kuisha. I'd like to spank that little boy~ fufufu~"

"Fufufufu~"

Both women were insanely angry, and planned on torturing Georg and also spanking Leonardo once they got out of their current predicament.

— ○ ● ○ —

In the outside both Georg and Leonardo felt shivers run throughout their bodies. They glanced at each other as they had the same look—fear, but not the regular one—it was more specific to…women.

"W-we'll be fine, right?" Leonardo asked as he looked back at the mini dimension. They had put both [Queen] and [Pawn] of [Team Imperial Purpure].

Georg scoffed and fixed his glasses, although he couldn't forget the sudden chill he just felt. "Attacking a team outside of the tournament is grounds for being terminated, if they did so, we can just report them," he explained. 'Yes…we don't need to worry about such things…'

— ○ ● ○ —

As Sairaorg and Cao Cao were about to face off against each other, a hulking man ran towards them, interrupting their confrontation.

[Oh! The [Rook] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] Player Heracles has come running towards both [Kings]!] shouted Naud.

[Kuku, I wonder how both will react?] asked Shiva.

"Waaaaaaaaaaait! I'm fighting him first!!" Heracles shouted as he arrived in front of Cao Cao.

"…What are you doing?" Cao Cao asked, flabbergasted by his appearance.

"Jeanne and Marsilio said I should go and help someone, so I came here! They said they'd be fine!" explained Heracles. "Sairaorg Bael! I challenge you to a one-on-one fight before you face my [King]!"

[Oooooooooooooh! Player Heracles just challenged Sairaorg Bael-san! What will he say?!]

Sairaorg stared at Heracles as the man crossed his arms in front of him waiting for an answer. Cao Cao sensing that Sairaorg may accept backed away and gave them space. Once he was a distance away, he silently watched on as the two large men stared at each other.

"May I ask why?" Sairaorg inquired.

"Because we're in a Rating Game! I also want to test myself," Heracles explained while slowly releasing more of his power.

"I would normally decline, but since, as you say, we're in a Rating Game, I cannot really decline," replied Sairaorg. He himself covered his body with touki and prepared to face Heracles.

A sudden powerful shockwave exploded in the area where Sairaorg and Heracles clashed. They had disappeared in a split second and their fists collided against each other. Sairaorg was surprised that the man in front of him could match his physical strength.

[They're both evenly matched!!]

Sairaorg grinned as they both disappeared again and at every point their fists collided the game's field would be blown away, sand would fly everywhere as well as the pillars that were near them would crumble at the vibrations their fists made. However, none of them directly made contact with any other part of their bodies as they would easily and quickly avoid such an attack.

Heracles sent a barrage of normal powered punches at Sairaorg, to which the latter dodged skillfully while bobbing and weaving. Once the attacks finished, Sairaorg himself closed the distance and sent an uppercut towards Heracles, to which he blocked with his left hand—but to his surprise Sairaorg's other fist was about to right his face when he stopped it too.

But Sairaorg grinned and what Heracles had tried to block was just an afterimage and he was hit on the face by Sairaorg's real fist! Heracles staggered backward but wasn't blown away again much to Sairaorg's surprise.

"Not bad!" shouted Heracles as he charged back at Sairaorg who also did the same thing. Again, the two large men began fist fighting in place. Each time their fists collided the ground beneath them began to crumble away.

After a few clashes, Sairaorg stopped and jumped away. The other [Pawn] of [Team Imperial Purpure], Regulus joined him.

"It seems like I can't defeat you without using my Sacred Gear. Very well, Heracles, former member of the Hero faction and current [Rook] of Cao Cao's team. I will use it!" declared Sairaorg.

"This is what I've been waiting for!!" bellowed Heracles. "Balance Break!!"

Heracles' body exploded in a large orange glow. Heracles wore some kind of helmet that resembled the tip of a missile, on his shoulders were also spikes that also looked like the heads of a missile, they also appeared on his elbows, wrists, knuckles, and knees.

"This is my Abyss-side Balance Breaker! [Ignition Cosmic Detonation]! I developed this while I was away at 'that' place," he said and changed into a stance.

Sairaorg nodded before he shouted, "Regulus!"

"Yes!" replied the Sacred Gear. He vanished and turned into a golden light that hit Sairaorg.

"My lion! King of Nemea! You, who has been called King of Lions! Answer my howl and turn into my armor!" shouted Sairaorg.

The entire field around him shook violently as his form was swathed in a bright golden light.

"[Balance Break!]" both Sairaorg and Regulus shouted. Once the light show was finished, Sairaorg was clad in golden armor with a lion's head in the middle of his chest.

"Let's go, Heracles. Can you keep up with me?" asked Sairaorg.

Heracles did not answer as they disappeared again. Except this time, the entire field trembled violently with each strike that collided.

[Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhh?! T-the whole game field is shaking every time their fist are colliding!] shouted Naud.

[If this field was made by anyone other than Jin, it would have already collapsed. I can tell that each one of those strikes could split this planet in half,] said Shiva.

[S-surely you jest, S-Shiva-sama…] said Naud in disbelief.

[I am not. That's how powerful those strikes are. I also believe that they're still holding back because of their teammates around them, if would be unfortunate if they accidentally knocked them out by themselves.]

Naud couldn't find the words to say as he simply went back to watching the match presented to him.

In the seats of the stadium, various children along with their parents stood up and began shouting.

[You can do it, old maaaaaaaaaaaaan!!]

[Beat Lion-san!! Old maaaaaaaaaan!!]

[Do your best, Heracles-san!]

It took Heracles a while, but after he started his job, not many parents trusted him, but because of his simple and straightforward personality he won them over. Many of the kids in those daycares began praising him and also talking about him a lot, which made the parents of those places reconsider their opinion of him.

The staff also had good things to say about him, and eventually parents began to speak to him over time and they understood that he was truly trying to repent for his past actions by helping children and families all around the supernatural world—to the less fortunate, Heracles donated his money to them, or bought them everyday luxuries.

Back on the field, both men avoided fatal punches by dodging them quickly. If any of them were hit by their punches right now, it would cause severe injury that would leave them stunned—then only needing a single punch to end it.

"It feels good having people support you and cheer you on," said Heracles as he avoided another punch.

"…Of course, that's what I and Aaron work towards! Letting everyone have an equal opportunity to achieve their dreams regardless of their background. To have a world where everyone can smile, a peace that's never been achieved!" replied Sairaorg.

"Heh…even in the Phantasma I saw a lot of suffering, so I want to do the same over there too!" shouted Heracles.

Both their fists collided again. This time however, a powerful explosion left his fists and blew Sairaorg back. The Lion King was surprised, but quickly dashed back to Heracles as she threw a powerful punch at him. Heracles reacted late and was hit by the shockwave sent to him.

He noticed that some of the armor he was wearing began to crack. 'Does that mean I still need more training?! Shit, I can't lose here!' he thought and charged back at Sairaorg.

Even after facing many powerful enemies in the Phantasma's universe, Heracles was still being beaten by the young man in front of him—Sairaorg Bael. He couldn't believe it. As he charged back, he screamed and their fists collided again. However, to his surprise, his armor around his hands were the one to crack and then shatter.

"Seriously—?!" he shouted before being blown away. Heracles temporarily passed out as he landed on the ground and a memory from the Phantasma played in his head.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Heracles, thank you for bringing that toy for my son. He's really happy," said a member of the Resistance.

Heracles had been sitting on a rock after he had eaten dinner. It was currently nighttime in the world as this man approached him.

"Oh? I'm glad then, I just found it during my team's mission, and I thought I might as well bring back some toys for the kids here," he explained and patted his belly.

"…All the children here are happy; we haven't seen them smile like that in a long time. So thank you again, from all the parents here," said the man as he bowed.

"I'm not used to things like that, but I do have a job with taking care of children at a daycare in my universe so I have some experience. I'll try to find other things that the kids may like during our missions, so leave it to me!"

Again, the man bowed. "Thank you…I'll get going then, otherwise my wife will scold me…"

"Right! Take care and good night!" Heracles waved at the man as he left. After the man left, one of the leaders walked up to him—it was Savina.

"For as long as I can remember the only facial expressions I saw on the children here were of fear and sadness. As adults, we should protect the young from things like that, but because of our world, they are forced to see inhumane things from an early age. Most of them can't even act like children of their age…"

Savina who had been staring at Heracles turned to look at their base. "But since you and your team have come here things have improved significantly. First it was from Sekudia and the food that the outer gods provided, then the things you and your team did. We are forever grateful."

Heracles was simple minded, almost dumb even, but he understood that much. When he compared himself from before he was defeated, he was arrogant, overconfident, brutal, stubborn and pugnacious. But now he had changed. Although he could still be a bit stubborn, and still wanted to become strong, he had more reasons for it.

One of them was for the children that he took care of. There were a few occasions when rowdy parents from marriages that ended in divorce tried to take children to certain daycares by force and he had to step up and stop them.

The cries and praises he received after such actions made him…feel good. Having people rely on him made him feel a sense of accomplishment, and it couldn't compare to the previous one he felt. After that, Heracles wanted to improve himself.

He stood up and declared, "Don't worry, Savina, my team and I, as well as Jin, our boss will definitely clobber Phumera, the Eradicators and anyone else that gets in the way of his peace. He hates seeing people suffer after all, and we'll be there all the way too! So before we go back, we'll do as much as we can."

Savina stared at the boisterous and bulky man in front of her before laughing. "Yes…I do hope the outer gods comes here to help us soon. The things that have been said about him makes me want to meet him sooner."

— ○ ● ○ —

[Stand up, old maaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!]

[Heracles, don't give up! Staaaand!]

[Wiiiiiiiin old maaaaaaaaaan!]

"Ugh…I told you guys not to call me an old man…" grumbled Heracles as he stood back up. He grinned at Sairaorg who stood in front of him. "I'm not done yet, oh great lion king-sama." He then pulled out a card from his pocket.

"These kids…gave me these. They're from the playing card game [Oppai Dragon], and this one in particular…is very rare…to me, they're like good luck charms and they boost me in strength," he muttered tiredly and then put it back in his pocket.

As if acting like a true item to boost power, Heracles power increased even more as the game field trembled. "Those brats gave me those cards…and now since they're watching me, I feel even stronger!"

Those cards were normal player cards that the children gave him. They held no real power, but to him, to Heracles they gave him the strength to stand back up in front of a person who had more power than him. It made him pull up more power and energy from deep within him.

Sairaorg stared at him and said, "So those cards give you strength? Quite impressive."

"Also…it pisses me off that these people are accusing you of being a fake! If only they knew how much you trained to attain that power…!" Heracles said angrily. "If only they were hit by those fists of yours! There's no way like a muscle brain like you could ever think of using an item like that to give yourself a power up!!"

Heracles disappeared, reaching a speed that Sairaorg hadn't expected from the man. Heracles slammed his fist into Sairaorg's stomach and knocked him away, but that's all it did. He didn't stop there as his right fist glowed and he sent another punch Sairaorg's way.

To his surprise Sairaorg dodged his attack by mere inches. The Lion King smiled, as he punched Heracles with everything he had—said punch made Heracles puke out blood.

"Thank you, Heracles, the man who inherited the spirit of the Hero Heracles. I look forward to fighting against and with you in the future," muttered Sairaorg as Heracles disappeared and slammed into the game fields barrier.

After he fell down, Heracles began to fade away. "Dammit…I lost again…I need to get stronger…and…I don't deserve such praise…"

[1 [Rook] of [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor] retire!!!!]

The first retirement of the match had happened, under both [Kings] eye. Cao Cao walked back to where Sairaorg stood with his Balance Breaker. He then summoned his new spear [Arredoval]. He spun it around his arms and body before pointing it at Sairaorg while changing into a stance.

"Shall we begin then, Great Lion King, Sairaorg Bael?" asked Cao Cao.

"May the best man win, wielder of the [Spear of the Universe]," replied Sairaorg as his touki increased, and both men charged at each other.

— ○ ● ○ —