A/N:
" " : Dialogue,
' ' : Thought,
"Italicized text" : Telepathy,
[ ] : Spells, Techniques and Sacred Gear Casts,
"Bold text" : Ddraig & Albion.
I am so sorry for this one being so late. For some reason, a way to properly end the chapter continued to evade me, so it took some time me to recalibrate.
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Narrator POV
Tsubasa, Tsubaki and Tomoe peppered the pair of Gremory Knights with attacks, with Tsubasa and Shinra keeping their wits about them, ready to counter any attacks that Xenovia or Yuuto would have attempted. However, this did not mean that the pair were helpless. On the contrary, they were putting up quite the fight, with Yuuto sending most of his attacks to Tsubaki and Tsubasa, while Xenovia mainly focused on trying to retire Tomoe.
As their battle raged, Yuuto seemingly slipped, and Tsubaki seeing this as an opening, brought down her naginata with force. But right as her blade impacted Yuuto's head, a shiver of danger ran through her body, but she was too late to stop her swing. Unlike what she expected to happen, Yuuto didn't counter or deflect her swing.
Rather, her swing went through Yuuto's body with ease, as if she was merely slashing through air. This caused alarm bells to ring in her head as she began turning her head to look for Yuuto. But before she could even finish turning, she caught sight of three copies of Yuuto that had gotten through Tsubasa's guard, stabbing and slashing her with holy demonic draconic swords.
"Sona Sitri's Rook has been retired." Grayfia's voice rang out as Tsubasa's body disappeared in a flash of blue light.
One of the Sitri group's counters had been removed from the Game. But even then, the pair of Gremory knights weren't unscathed, as Yuuto had sustained damage from blocking Tsubasa's blows and Tsubaki's slashes, while Xenovia had gotten a few scrapes and cuts from Tomoe's swordsmanship.
Yuuto's Speed Clone technique was one that was known to every member of the Gremory and Sitri groups, but was also one of the few things that Sona couldn't properly plan for. The only strategy that she could make for it was simply to prevent him from using it at all. And Tsubaki had now seen exactly why Sona had said that, as not even a moment later, the number of Yuuto's she saw increased to seven, with three going to join Xenovia against Tomoe, and four heading for her.
Gritting her teeth, she dug into her demonic power reserves as she actively enhanced her body. She put forward her attention to taking down the Speed Clones, hoping that the original Yuuto would be among them. But had she not done this, she would have noticed that Tomoe was now only fighting two of Yuuto's speed Clones, while he and Xenovia were charging up a joint attack.
During their training sessions back at the Natsuhiko residence's training room, Haruki would every once in a while call for a group spar, where all the Gremory and Sitri peerage members would face him. First, as a peerage, then as one collective team. In one of the more recent training sessions they had with Haruki, Issei and Yuuto had combined their powers in an attack that Yuuto had aptly named Sword Burst.
Yuuto channeled the power of his Sword Birth into Issei's Boosted Gear, after which Issei Boosted a few times, then slammed his fist into the ground, Transferring the Boosted power of the Sword Birth into the ground, causing a myriad of swords to erupt from it. Although the attack didn't work against Haruki, Yuuto felt that doing something similar with Xenovia's Durandal would work here.
As his Speed Clones continued to keep Tomoe and Tsubaki at bay, he told Xenovia of his idea, and she opened a tear in space to the pocket where Durandal was kept, letting its holy aura flow towards him. As the aura flowed to his body, Yuuto controlled his Speed Clones to move Tsubaki and Tomoe closer to each other, albeit with greater difficulty than when he spawned them, as he had little experience with holding the technique for longer than a minute nonstop.
When the clones had gotten the Sitri Queen and Knight close together, Yuuto channeled all of Durandal's aura into his sword, then stabbed the ground. "[Durandal Birth!]" He shouted out, and multiple blades bloomed from the ground as deadly flowers carrying powerful holy energy and headed straight for Tomoe and Tsubaki.
The girls were caught off guard by the attack, as the Speed Clones continued to pressure them without giving them any space to breathe, leaving them vulnerable to the blades. Multiple holy swords pierced through Tsubaki and Tomoe's bodies, and shortly after, their bodies glowed as Grayfia announced their retirement from the Game.
Sona received a bout of shock as the announcement went out, not expecting that her Queen would be taken out, putting a damper on her plans for the Game. "First Saji-kun, now Tsubaki. Damn it!" She said, biting her nails in frustration, as the two of them were pivotal to the integrity of her plans for the Game.
Saji was meant to attach a Line to Issei that would drain him of his blood, which would weaken him overtime, eventually causing him to pass out from blood loss by the time the final battle would start, and be retired from the Game. But with Issei using his Balance Breaker to destroy the line that was attached to him, that plan went down the drain.
As for Tsubaki, her Sacred Gear, Mirror Alice, was as pivotal as the artificial Sacred Gear that Tsubasa and a few others had gotten from Azazel, Reverse, as they would help them the most against Rias' peerage, as most of them were power-type fighters that had great destructive power. But with the addition of Haruki's training, they had mostly become a mix of power-type and technique-type fighters, which led to the drastic subversion of Sona's expectations.
While all of these were worrying for her, the worst of it was that she knew that they would all converge while being healthy, thanks to the fact that Asia was still very much in the Game. And just as she expected, Rias contacted her remaining peerage members to converge at a shop that was a good distance from the Sitri group's base, and each of them that had taken part in battle received healing from Asia.
After the round of healing, they rushed to the central plaza of the mall, where Sona was waiting with Reya Kusaka and Momo Hanakai, her two Bishops, or so it seemed. Although they had practically been cornered, Sona and her two Bishops seemed to be unfazed, and Issei wanted to find out just why exactly they felt like that. So, he walked up to Rias, with an uncomfortable grimace on his face.
During his time training with Tannin, Issei began to fall back into his lecherous tendencies, which he noticed. And to combat it, he tried pushing himself into mental training. During those personal training sessions he had apart from Tannin, he eventually developed a technique that had a great level of utility, but due to the fact that his trait as a devil is Lust, the technique was also absurdly perverted.
If he used it against any girl or woman, regardless of their race, he would soon be pelted with great animosity. And since he felt that now was a time when he would need to use the technique, he didn't want to do so while risking his life. So, before he and his fellow members of Rias' peerage went their separate ways, he privately told Rias about the technique, then asked for her permission to use it.
When she heard the details of the technique, her face scrunched up a bit, but she eventually gave him permission to use it, with the condition that it would be used in a pivotal moment to seal their victory. And that had led up to this point where he told her that he was going to deploy the technique. In as much as Rias definitely felt like it was unpleasant, she decided to allow it as it could very well be the one thing they'd need to finish the Game.
"My lust, my worldly desires, burst forth. Spread out, world of my dreams! [Pailingual!]" He shouted out, and everyone felt a pulse of energy spread out, with Issei as its center. A second later, all the girls in the area covered their bodies, the feeling of an intrusive gaze hounding them. Meanwhile, Issei felt a chill travel up his spine at lightspeed.
"What in Satan's name has he done now☆? " Issei heard from Sona as he focused on her. "This is a trump card of mine, Kaichou. It allows me to hear, not the voices of people's hearts, but the voices of breasts!" Issei said, and the feeling of the Reaper's scythe that he was feeling grew more vivid.
Even with that, he smiled defiantly. "Now, tell me Kaichou's strategy!" He said, ignoring the creeping grip of danger he was feeling. "This special barrier made by the two Bishops is a decoy☆. Only my spirit has been placed in the barrier, and my body is just a holographic image☆. Since my spirit has come here, it's possible to make the presence of my body disappear and to make it look like my aura is inside the barrier☆. My true body is on the roof☆. It's a strategy to make you attack the me inside the barrier and weaken you guys even a little☆. I know it's desperate, but what can I do☆?" Sona's breasts told Issei, essentially revealing the last bits of her plan.
After hearing that, he told everyone of Sona's plan, which without her heaviest hitters, was a lot easier to work around. As for Reya and Momo, they knew that they were basically done for. And so, they got into fighting stances, ready to fight desperately to take out at least two of the Gremory group's devils. Unfortunately for the duo, not only were they outnumbered, they were also outmatched
"Sorry, girls. But we can't have you taking any of us out, especially when we're so close." The pair heard Akeno's voice from behind them and turned, only to see her body fully cloaked in her thunder magic. Reya and Momo immediately let off blasts of demonic energy, but Akeno moved too quickly for them to hit, and before either of the girls could even notice, Akeno had fired light spears into their bodies.
The pain hit them a few seconds later, but they hung on, albeit to no avail. As shortly after, Akeno hit them with bolts of thunder magic. "Both of Sona Sitri's Bishops have been retired." Grayfia announced, sending another surge of heartache through Sona. Seeing her strategy to take advantage of weaknesses and opening was being so thoroughly crushed, she almost felt like breaking into tears.
Meanwhile, in the VIP room where the Satans, Azazel and Odin were staying, a complicated atmosphere hung in the air. Azazel was somewhat impressed with Issei's ability to create abilities that were apart from the norm, but he felt a bit guilty for giving Sona's peerage members the Artificial Sacred Gear Reverse, as it shaved off a bit of their lifespans.
Odin expressed his intrigue with Saji, as he knew that Issei would very likely have been defeated by him, if he didn't use his Balance Breaker, that is. Although Sona's peerage had all been defeated, Serafall still praised their efforts, despite knowing that their overwhelming loss was going to be a hindrance to their advancement.
As for Haruki, he was silently cycling through the multiple methods he wanted to use to punish Issei. His future brother and sister-in-law noticed him stewing in his anger, and began to feel pity for the Red Dragon Emperor. While he didn't let out any killing intent or senjutsu aura, Sirzechs, Azazel, Serafall and Odin all knew that Haruki was the angriest they had seen him since he became a dragon.
Haruki let out a breath, calming himself. "I'll let it slide this time." He said, breaking the silence in the room. "It was a Rating Game, and the girls agreed to anything that wasn't mind-altering or outright fatal." He said, using his senjutsu to override his emotions and forcibly calm himself.
"Yes, that's right, Haru-boya. He just did what was needed to bring home the win. So, don't hold it against him too badly now, okay." Azazel said, his voice holding a knowing tone. "Sure." Haruki replied curtly, but his eyes showed that he still held the thought of giving Issei some heavy punishment for using Pailingual on his fiancée.
Back in the Rating Game field, Sona had now been cornered by Rias and her remaining peerage members. With her plans having crumbled, she had nothing and no one else that she could rely on but herself. Herself… that word rang in her ears with a single message; You weren't capable enough, and you failed them.
Her planning that she had so much pride in – overturned. Her efforts behind the scenes to ensure her and her peerage's victory – wasted. Her hopes to use this Rating Game to boost her chances of getting her school established – although Haruki was going to make sure that happened, she felt that they were dashed.
But even through the anguish that was writhing in her mind, her face appeared calm, and she even had a smile. "Why the roof, Sona?" Rias asked her. "It's the King's duty to survive until the end. If I got taken out first, it'd have been game over. Or had you already forgotten that?" Sona said, as an aura of water magic began to emanate from her.
"I see. Makes sense." Rias said as she kept her focus on her childhood friend. Although Sona was keeping a stoic façade, Rias was familiar with her, and could see the desperation and frustration she hid. It seemed that Sona also knew this, as she sighed, with her presence seemingly becoming weaker.
"You know, I hoped that Saji would defeat Issei. But due to my own mistakes, he was the one who was defeated instead. It pains me that this was all that my… our desperation amounted to." Sona said, her voice holding the heavy tone of self-depreciation. "Then carry it to the end." Rias said sharply. "That desperation, don't let it die out. Let it burn until there's truly nothing left." She said, and Sona became speechless for a few seconds, until she began laughing.
"Yeah, you're right. I can't let it just end there." Sona said, as her water magic began to flow in rapid streams around her body. "Good. So, let's settle this here and now, Sona." Rias said as her Power of Destruction began to coalesce into armor. "Come on then, Rias! Give me your best shot!" Sona shouted as the streams formed a dress. But not just any dress, it was a magical girl outfit formed from concentrated, high-pressure water magic. In her right hand, a wand of sorts formed, with its head turning drill-like.
"I'd have it no other way." Rias said, just as her face as covered in a helm of PoD. A second later, the two Kings dashed at each other, causing a considerable shockwave to burst from their collision. Rias' PoD deteriorated Sona's water magic, but Sona proved to be no slouch, as she continued to create more and more water in the face of Rias' PoD, keeping their clash in a stalemate.
Rias dashed away, then fired a beam of PoD at Sona, who dodged the blast, then dashed at her in a twisted manner reminiscent of a winding river. Rias immediately lashed her arm forward to punch Sona, but was gobsmacked as Sona created a mirror of water, from which an uncanny duplicate of Rias dashed out, its body copying Rias' movements with eerie precision.
Even after seeing this, Rias pushed forward, clashing against her clone and causing an explosion of PoD. Sona quickly moved away from the epicenter of the explosion to gather her bearings, but Rias was already onto her, her right arm practically oozing out PoD. Sona swung her drill wand, and Rias simultaneously punched out.
The clash between them set off an explosion of demonic power that kicked up dust and let off smoke, obscuring the two heiresses. But this didn't stop them, as the sounds of their clashes continued to ring out, clearing and kicking up more and more dust. Their battle continued for some time, until suddenly, the only sound that could be heard from them was exhausted panting.
As the dust cleared, Sona and Rias' figures became clear for everyone to see. Sona's water dress had been broken through, with her clothes underneath having taken damage as well. All over her body were bruises, a clear indication that she was in a bad matchup with Rias, whose PoD armor had been cracked in multiple spots, with the helmet having taken the most damage, what with the part covering the right side of her face having been broken open.
Even though her armour had far less damage than Sona's, Rias hadn't come out of their collision unscathed. Some parts of her uniform had tears, and she had cuts on her upper arms and thighs. "You see it now, Sona? Your desperation was never small or inadequate. So don't you ever think like that again." Rias said, her tone filled with respect for her friend, despite her victory.
"Hehe. Yeah, you're right." Sona said, as her body began to glow in that familiar blue light. "Thank you, Rias." She said as she vanished completely. With Sona's defeat, Grayfia's voice rang out in the same calm tone as always: "Checkmate! Sona Sitri has been defeated. It is Rias Gremory-sama's victory." With that announcement, the Rating Game came to an end.
Chapter End.
Word Count: 2,952
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Thanks for reading.