[Rating Game] Board
"Good job Issei." Rias said happily after hearing the latest announcement. "Continue to guard the old school building. Once the last two [Pawns have been dealt with, you can reconvene with the rest of the team."
"{Okay, Got it.}" Issei said with disbelief in his tone.
"He's grown much more than he expected." Rias said with a smile. "It's hard to measure your own growth when you're always training with people who are improving with you."
"Issei is so strong now." Asia said with a smile on her face.
"You seem happier than I do, Asia." Rias said in a teasing tone. "I wonder why that is?"
Hearing Rias' teasing, Asia began to blush. Then, she lowered her head.
"Okay, I'm sorry for teasing you, Asia." Rias said with a smile. "But you're really cute."
"{Akeno, Yubelluna is almost there.}" Gasper said through the transceiver.
"{Thanks, Gasper-Kun.}" Akeno said while preparing herself for a fight.
After hearing Gasper's warning for Akeno, Rias' expression turned serious.
"Come on Asia, we need to meet up with Yuuto as fast as we can." Rias said while starting to move toward the athletic field again.
"Yes, I'm coming." Asia said as she followed Rias closely.
Meanwhile, Akeno and Koneko were standing near the rubble of the gym. In the distance, they could see Riser's [Queen] Yubelluna flying in their direction.
"Okay, Koneko. We'll do it just like we planned." Akeno said with a slightly sadistic smile on her face. "I'll draw her attention. When the opportunity presents itself, you hit her hard."
In response, Koneko simply nodded. Then, she lowered her posture and hid behind some of the larger pieces of rubble while using [Senjutsu] to mask her presence. At the same time, Akeno spread her wings and flew to meet Yubelluna in mid-air.
"Ara, ara, and here I thought you would be spending the whole [Game being felt up by your master." Akeno said while covering a graceful smile with her hand. "That's what the rumors in the underworld would suggest, anyway."
Hearing Akeno's mockery, Yubelluna's anger quickly grew. However, as a veteran of the [Rating Games], she knew better than to lose her temper from a few words. Instead, she decided to fire back with her own taunting.
"Once your master is married to Lord Riser, I'm afraid the role you described will be yours." Yubelluna said disdainfully.
"Fufufu." Akeno giggled while still covering her mouth. "A bit of friendly advice, never let my man hear you say that."
"Your man?" Yubelluna asked with an eyebrow raised.
"James Alaverus." Akeno stated proudly. "If he ever heard you say that, there would be hell to pay."
"Hmph! Just a half-devil, what could he possibly do to Lord Riser?" Yubelluna questioned disdainfully.
"Don't say that I didn't warn you." Akeno said with a smile while shrugging her shoulders.
"Hmph! If Lord Riser wants something..." Yubelluna began to speak of Riser in a proud tone. Unfortunately for her, she was rather rudely interrupted.
*Boom!*
"Don't talk bad about James-Nii!" Koneko said angrily. "He's much better than that Yakitori man."
While Yubelluna was talking, Koneko quickly lost her patience after hearing her speak ill of James. Although this was not how the plan was drawn up exactly. Koneko did take the opportunity to attack Yubelluna while Akeno drew her attention. However, Koneko's sneak attack was supposed to come while Akeno and Yubelluna were fighting.
"I suppose that's one way to handle a sneak attack." Akeno said while looking down at Yubelluna who was now laying in a crater caused by the impact from hitting the ground.
"No one is allowed to talk bad about James-Nii. Hmph!" Koneko said unhappily before turning her head away as if even looking at Yubelluna was irritating.
"Okay, your part in this fight is over, Koneko." Akeno said with a chuckle. "It's time for you to meet up with the others."
Nodding in agreement, Koneko glanced at the injured Yubelluna one more time before dashing off toward the athletic field. Shortly after Koneko started running, both Akeno and Koneko felt movement from the bottom of the crater. However, Koneko did not stop running. A few moments later, Yubelluna flew into the air. With displeasure clear in her gaze, Yubelluna followed Koneko with her glare.
"I'd suggest you pay attention to the opponent in front of you." Akeno said with a smile.
Hearing that, Yubelluna shifted her attention back to Akeno and spoke in a clearly unhappy tone.
"Using a sneak attack, I see this is all Rias Gremory and her peerage amount to." Yubelluna said disdainfully.
"Wow, the pot called the kettle black with such disdain." Akeno said with an expression of mock surprise. "You fight the seven of us with a total of sixteen, and you make us seem like the dishonorable type. I guess the saying is true. Like master like servant, huh?"
"Enough! It's time to end this farce." Yubelluna said angrily.
And with that, the mid-air battle between [Queens] began. The exchange of magic was dazzling. While Akeno used only her thunder magic, Yubelluna used what she refers to as explosion magic. The use of this powerful form of magic has gained Yubelluna the moniker of The Bomb Queen, which she is not very fond of.
Human World, Japan, Kuoh.
"It looks like Yubelluna's words really angered Koneko." Sona said, amazed at the force behind the white-haired cat girl's sneak attack.
"Yeah." James replied with a smile. "More importantly, that must have forced Yubelluna to use up one of the team's two allotted Phenex Tears."
"That's true." Sona said while adjusting her glasses. "There's no way she should be able to fight at that level after taking a hit like that."
"True. The real question is, who has the second Phenex Tear?" James asked while stroking his chin.
"Indeed." Sona said while nodding in agreement.
Underworld, Satan Territory, Capital City, Lilith.
After seeing that Riser had already lost seven of his [Pieces], Lord Phenex was in disbelief.
'How is her peerage so strong.' Lord Phenex thought to himself as he watched the ongoing [Rating Game] between his third son and the heiress of the Gremory House. 'Didn't our reports say that she and her peerage almost never train? This is ridiculous.'
Seeing the sour expression on Lord Phenex's face, Zeoticus and Sirzechs could guess what he was thinking, more or less. And seeing that expression of dismay on his face after he used the council to pressure the Gremory House into this marriage brought a feeling of catharsis.
"It seems Rias has grown quite a bit since moving to the Human World." Zeoticus said with a proud smile on his lips.
"Yes, Father, it seems like a dose of responsibility was good for her." Sirzechs said with a similarly proud smile on his face.
Hearing the vailed mockery in Zeoticus and Sirzechs' tone, Lord Phenex was finding it harder to control his emotions.
'Calm down, calm down.' Lord Phenex told himself over and over. 'Even if they can defeat those useless girls, there's no way they can defeat the Phenex bloodline.'
Meanwhile, Lady Phenex was also surprised by Rias' peerage. Their performance was simply marvelous, considering this was their first [Rating Game].
"I must say, they are truly a talented group of youngsters." Lady Phenex said with a smile. "Where did Rias find all those talented children?"
"Honestly, Rias was just lucky to find all of them." Venelana replied with a smile. "It was James who unlocked their potential, though."
"Is it just me, or is this James at the center of everything?" Lady Phenex asked while watching the ongoing magical battle between Akeno and Yubelluna on the monitor.
"Well, he is the most talented child I've ever seen, aside from my son." Venelana replied with a smile. "On top of that, he works harder than anyone I've ever seen in my long life."
After hearing Venelana's assessment of James, Lady Phenex was becoming interested in finding out what the boy was like for herself.
'Perhaps he could be a good influence on Ravel.' Lady Phenex thought to herself. 'If he's like what Lady Gremory described, he may be able to help Ravel grow as well. Unfortunately, being part of her brother's peerage has caused her growth to be stunted.'
[Rating Game] Board.
With the battle between Akeno and Yubelluna raging on in the distance, Rias and Asia were able to meet up with Yuuto. A few minutes later, Koneko also joined up with them. With the four of them together, the next stage of the plan could begin.
"Good thing you were able to make it here without issue, Koneko." Rias said while smiling at her [Rook]. "We know they're hidden around the athletic field, but we can't sense them. Koneko, can you sense them with [Senjutsu]?"
"I'll try." Koneko replied in a simple manner and closed her eyes. A moment later, her Nekoshou traits appeared. After a few more moments, Koneko opened her eyes and began pointing. "There, there, there, there, and the last two are over there."
"Good job. Now, leave the next part to me." Rias said while cupping her hands above her head.
In her hands, Rias began to gather her [Power of destruction] into a ball. Finally, feeling the fluctuations of demonic energy, the six members of Riser's peerage began to stir. Unfortunately, some of them were too late.
"[Scattered Destruction]!" Rias cried as she fired the ball of [Power of Destruction] into the air. When it flew high enough, the ball divided into five smaller balls, with one bigger than the other four, and flew toward the five locations Koneko pointed out earlier.
Without any flashy explosions, the five balls of [Destruction] fell to the ground and simply erased everything they touched. By the end, only three of the six members of Riser's peerage that were hiding around the athletic field survived the attack.
"{Two [Pawns] and one [Bishop] of Riser Phenex have retired.}"
After that announcement, a few things happened in short order. First, Yubelluna was surprised. Her lapse in concentration caused her to be late in dodging a thunderbolt Akeno called down from the sky. Second, Issei rose from the shadow of one of Riser's [Knights]. Using the [Shadow Claws'] ability to manipulate shadows, he used it as a fast travel point. Then, he manipulated all the enemies' shadows to immobilize them. As soon as they were immobilized, Yuuto and Koneko moved in as fast as they could to eliminate the bound foes.
A moment later, Grayfia's voice was broadcast once again.
"{Two [Knights], one [[Rook], and the [Queen] of Riser Phenex have retired.}"
Seeing such a well-executed plan, James, Sona, Tsubaki, Zeoticus, Sirzechs, and Venelana were thoroughly impressed. At the same time, Lord and Lady Phenex were amazed. There were some veteran [Rating Game] teams who would not have been able to execute a plan of attack the way Rias and her peerage just did.
Several moments after Grayfia's announcement, Akeno flew over to the rest of the group. Although her clothes were tattered a bit and she had a few bruises, Akeno was still in shape to fight. Fighting with those minor injuries was completely unnecessary, however.
"Akeno, let me tend to your wounds." Asia said as she made her way over to Akeno.
Smiling in return, Akeno graciously accepted Asia's healing. As Asia tended to Akeno's wounds, Rias addressed the members of her peerage.
"We've already eliminated most of Riser's peerage." Rias said excitedly. "Now, only the Phenex siblings remain. As long as we stick to the plan, our chances of victory are high."
"Yeah!" Rias' peerage cheered excitedly.
"Remember, this fight won't be easy." Rias said sternly. "But as long as we all do what we have to do and trust in our comrades, we can do this. We'll do what everyone in the Underworld said was impossible for us. Then, we'll make not only Riser, but everyone who dared to underestimate us understand the outcome of such actions."
Meanwhile, as Rias motivated her peerage for the last battle of this [Rating Game], Riser was still seated in the Student Council office relaxedly.
"Ravel, I want you to stay out of this last fight." Riser said to his sister while smiling savagely.
"But Big Brother..." Ravel said, before being interrupted.
"No buts... I need to show my fiancée what happens when she defies my wishes." Riser said as his smile grew more unhinged. "She needs to be made to understand the difference between us."
"*Sigh* If that's what you want, Big Brother." Ravel said while lowering her head.
'I've got a really bad feeling about this.' Ravel thought to herself as the decisive battle was on the horizon.