章 88: The battle of the devil youths finally begin! Team Gremory vs. Team Sitri! Part 5 [FINAL]
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"…"- Speaking
'…'- Thoughts
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[Rias Gremory's [Pawn] has retired.]
The cold and neutral tone of the announcement echoed off the walls of the mall, reaching every combatant on the field. Not soon after did they barely register the Sitri Pawn's retirement that the next immediate announcement only hit harder. The suddenness of it astonished everyone in the match earning various reactions from the three young women in conflict.
'…H-How di-? Michael, no…' Eyes wide, Rias' legs nearly gave out on her as she blankly looked to the sky above, hoping that what she had just heard was just her mind playing tricks with her hearing.
Michael, retiring? She told herself many times before the match that such a possibility would happen. But the thought of him suddenly dropping out after finally gaining the upper hand after nearly losing him before with Sona and Saji's cinnamon ploy, consecutively losing the majority of her servants throughout the whole of the match and being pressed by Tsubaki.
Now should have been the moment where he barreled through the hallway and helped turn the tables against the rest of Sona's peerage. Except, he can't, not anymore. The number of enemies left on the field were Sona, Tsubaki, and Reya, Sona's [Bishop] while what remained of Rias' team were herself, Akeno and probably Kiba. Though this stalemate in numbers was the only comfort afforded to her since she has yet to hear anything from Kiba, and Sona's remaining [Bishop] has yet to be seen.
Not to mention that there apparently was another player on the field based on Koneko's incomplete findings. The problems just kept piling on with Michael's sudden retiring being the stick that broke the camel's back. Up until now, she's been keeping it together, almost faltering as soon as she caught wind of Michael's cinnamon allergies almost claiming him.
Her hopes were soon restored once recovered, but that in hindsight was the signal for the glancing blow that absolutely crushed her. Her balled up hands slowly loosened, as the tension from the current fight began to ebb away along with her determination faltering at the way side.
-"Nothing, nothing. I mean for someone, who's the king of their own peerage, I expected you to be much more dependable especially with your power, but I guess that's why High class devils usually rely too much on their servants. Jesus, you lot sure have fallen, huh?"-
Rias angrily gritted her teeth, a voice that made her blood boil resurfaced from a hated memory that she begrudgingly held close to her heart.
-"Its fine to get mad, but its honestly the truth. When you're alone with none of your servants here to help you, you're just an average devil who's too weak to do anything but carelessly throw around some special attack that's as threatening as a cocker spaniel."-
The eerie voice of the Nekomata-Kitsune hybrid derisively laughed, and Rias was picturing that arrogant look on the girl's face in her head as if she was back to weakly groveling beneath her in the ruins of the carnival.
The Gremory [King] clenched her fists.
-"You're so pathetic, but it wouldn't surprise me if you get off on it though. Being this lowly princess, who could never do anything herself and has to wait for her hero to save the day as always."-
'No, never…' Rias pulled herself together, the last month of training was to change that part of herself. Though it sickened her, she replayed Natsuru's words everyday while training under Grayfia's tutelage just to remind herself why she needed to improve. She didn't just want to rely on her servants, she wanted to become someone worth being relied upon in case there's something that they can't handle.
Though the point of her words were to break her, Rias was able to grasp the meaning nonetheless and was a bit grateful for it but she'll never find it in herself to ever thank her fellow third year.
'As [King] my duties should be focused on actually winning. I can mourn my losses after the match is over and get my ratings.' Rias wistfully sighed, 'And here I wanted to you see how much I've improved too, I guess, being victorious will be an apt proof of my progress.'
Her mind momentarily lingered to Michael's retirement and yet again questioned: How? She felt more than assured of his victory against Saji, not to doubt Sona's [Pawn], but for him to suddenly drop out of the match just a few moments later doesn't make any sense. Something Saji did must have really hindered him.
"Why so wound up Gremory-san, Himejima-san? I suppose that last announcement must have touched a nerve, hm?"
Though Rias' current thought process was necessary, she then reminded herself that the enemy in front of her was wearing the most confident of smiles and Rias would even dare say that Tsubaki was beaming with a bit of pride. She narrowed her eyes, it was obvious why she looked that way and Rias wasn't about to let her enjoy relishing her adorable servant's retirement for very long.
'Saji, you did it. I'm so glad, your hard work really paid off.' Tsubaki joyfully prepared her stance and locked eyes with the [King] and [Queen] enemy in front of her, but mostly, she locked eyes with Rias. It was difficult to see Akeno's through the shadows that her bangs casted over her eyes. In fact, she found the opposing Queen's silence to be rather unsettling.
Rias too sensed unease as she watched Akeno motionlessly stand in place. She noticed her shoulders and general body posture deflating like she was after the announcement was made. At first, she felt nothing but sympathy for her best friend, who's hopes were just as high as hers if not more.
"Ak-."
Rias reached out to her friend, then was suddenly met with a powerful surge of electrifying holy light bursting forth from her motionless [Queen]. On wobbly legs, Akeno took a shaky step towards Tsubaki and held out her arms where furious streams and sparks of holy lightning gathered. The sheer output was staggering, stray bolts were beginning to destroy the surrounding area with one bolt barely daring to almost strike Rias.
"Akeno! Stop, your releasing too much! At this rate you'll wreck the whole mall!" Rias screamed through the loud chirping and screeching the Lightning Priestess' aura made. The transferred power that Michael gave to her already stacked on considerably more fire power to use. One misstep, and the entire mall would be utterly decimated.
"…I don't care anymore…"
'What?' Rias gasped.
The crimson haired Gremory heir was taken aback by her queen's sudden cold words, her tone lacked the usual polite, playfulness that she'd been accustomed to ever since their childhood. Her words even lacked the edge that her S-side carried. Her [Queen] sounded tired and absolutely broken. It just the occurred to Rias that maybe, when compared to Akeno, her own dashed hopes weren't too high after all.
The dark, lusterless look that Akeno's violet eyes tossed in Tsubaki's direction lacked any anger or sorrow only a frigid, empty stare that had managed to give Tsubaki goosebumps and a momentary aversion to locking eyes with her.
Taking a deep breath, Akeno heaved out a heavy sigh of resignation, "If he's not here to see my determination, then what's the point." Raising her lightning engulfed hands at Tsubaki, she watched as the Sitri [Queen] raised up her guard at the obvious sign of attack, but Akeno couldn't force herself to care anymore about anything. All she had pushing her was her barebones duty to ensure Rias' victory, and even her motivation for that was waning.
"Fuka-Kaichou…" Akeno used as much as the gifted power that her body was able to push out and just allowed the floodgates to burst open. Both figuratively and…
A single tear fell. "Please disappear…"
"Akeno, no!"
*BAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKA!*
Rias' pleading cries fell on deaf ears as the violent lances of holy light infused lightning demolished everything in front of Akeno in its path towards Tsubaki. The sheer mass of lightning radiated a burning light that filled the room and blinded both Rias and the guarding Tsubaki, who only tightened her guard after the harsh light element seared its way into her eyes. She was a sitting duck, and even if she were to move, the blast radius of the lightning was sure to reach her in the hallway behind her anyways.
A coy smile etched itself onto the momentarily blinded Sitri [Queen]'s lips as she roared, "Mirror Alice!" Materializing out of thin air in front of her, a large full-body mirror screened Tsubaki from the incoming squall of holy lightning. The brunt of the attack shattered the fragile mirror in seconds, as the residual output of the lightning proved to be too much for the mirror to full redirect, Tsubaki received grave injuries putting her on the brink of collapsing.
Thankfully for her, the mirror had already redirected the worst of the thundering storm back to its unmoving origin point. The raven-haired woman known as the "Priestess of Lightning" had all but given up, not even deeming to look her inevitable defeat in the face.
"Akeno? Akeno!" Rias panicked once she realized Akeno wasn't even putting in the effort to acknowledge her attack was being redirected at her, so the thought of actually dodging it must not have been her main priority either. Her cries to reach her best friend seemed to fail until a response in the form of a vacant teary-eyed stare over her shoulder.
"Rias, I'm sorry…"
*BAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKABAKA!*
In an instant, the light infused lightning engulfed Akeno, her screams of agony defeaned by the rumbling of her own attack violently shaking the area and causing the surrounding mall structures to crumble. No longer feeling the harsh rays of the lightning's harsh light element, Rias quickly opened her in search for her friend.
The only thing that came to her line of view though was a twitching, bleeding Tsubaki on a single knee, and between the both of them a crater in place of where Akeno once stood. Remnants of green light faded over it as the impartial announcement from above echoed throughout the building.
[Rias Gremory's [Queen] has retired.]
To say that Rias wasn't as crushed to hear that announcement moments after Michael's retirement would be a lie. The weight on her shoulders was getting heavier, she had to keep pushing herself to see things through otherwise, she'll end up the same way as her fallen friend. Placing her anger on Sona and by extension the weakened Tsubaki, she raised a hand prepare to eliminate the haggardly breathing Sitri [Queen].
"I guess its time for me to go as well, huh?" Tsubaki panted.
"…" Rias silently glared at her.
"That look in your eyes proves our success in getting you ready for Kaichou. You're the only one left who's around to fight." Tsubaki tiredly laughed, "She'll be the one to finally snuff out your pride, Gremory-san."
"…Nice last words…I hope that you find them satisfactory once you recover after my victory." Rias coldly responded, ready to retire the exhausted [Queen].
"If I were to be honest, yes, I would be, but that's only if these my last words." Rias was puzzled by her enemy's words but gasped once she heard the sound of glass breaking in Tsubaki's hand. A small radiant trickle of violet liquid poured down her arm and immediately, all of the damage from Akeno's attacks, no, all of the damage that she had sustained from their long battle had been healed in the blink of an eye.
"Phoenix tears…" She knew the other side had them but blamed herself for acknowledging to speak with her while she snuck the item into her hand.
Rejuvenated, Tsubaki stood back up and turned to face the dark confines of the hallway as she made her leave.
"Tsubaki, where are you-?" Rias called out and received a passive stare from the opposing [Queen].
"As of now, our side currently holds three pieces on the field over your two. It would be foolish for me to give up the advantage and potentially get retired by you, so my course of action is to wait thing out until game is over. Or you can confront Kaichou and determine the victor that way. Don't worry, I have no intention on interfering, but even then, that's if you can confront her. Also, to be frank, with Hanamura-kun out of the picture there isn't any need to rush your retirement anymore."
Rias bit her lower lip, she hated to be underestimated like this but knew there was a sliver of truth in Tsubaki's words.
"There's also the matter with Yuuto-san being occupied as well, so-." Tsubaki paused as the loud sound of a distant engine revving reached both her and Rias' ears, and it sounded like it was getting closer too. "What?"
*BOOOOOOOOM!* *SKIIIIID~!* *VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOM~!*
Was all she could say before massive amounts of chopped up rubble blasted out the side door beside the now ruined food court. Launched into the air and making violent landing, a pair of black tires grinded against the tiled flooring and propelled the vehicle right past Rias and barreling at an astounded Tsubaki who was at a loss for words.
"Impossible, how-!?"
Jumping off the seat of the beaten up, salvaged motorcycle, Kiba politely laughed, "Its been a while, Fuka-Kaichou, I see you and yours have been getting wild during my absence." His laughter didn't match the look of unyielding rage in his eyes as he hopped off the bike and grasped the hilt of his ominous crimson edged black katana and releases a wide arc of demonic energy at the spear wielding woman.
*ZAAAAAN!* *CLAAANK!* *GIIIIIIIIN!*
With some ease and using a bit of what was left of Saji's given flames, she bisected the motorcycle and dispersed the wave of demonic energy with no major damage besides a bleeding cut to the cheek.
Landing by Rias' side, Kiba deeply bowed to his master as a way to apologize for very late arrival to aid her.
"Yuuto." Rias couldn't describe how she felt, she just swallowed the fact that she lost both her best friend/[Queen] and her boyfriend/[Pawn], so actually having something go right for once was like a whiplash of conflicting emotions. Though she wouldn't deny that it was a refreshing change of pace.
"Buchou, please forgive my late entrance. I was preoccupied with digging my way out of the parking lot and removing the blockades that Fuka-Kaichou left in the stairways." Kiba still had to roll the crick out of his neck after getting smothered by two floors of solid concrete. He had to admit that Tsubasa's sudden last resort was effective in delaying him. He began his escape slowly but ramped up the pace once he started to hear of his comrades retiring at an alarming rate.
It was after his escape from the rubble that he attempted to find a safer way to go through the rubble blocking the staircase without destroying the whole thing. Then the announcement for Rias' Gremory's [Pawn] retiring reached him, and at that point he decided to throw caution to the wind, salvaged the least destroyed vehicle that he could find and recklessly drove through the staircase; destroying anything that blocked his path. So basically, he took a page out of Michael's book.
It wasn't until he was close to reaching the food court that he heard of Akeno's retirement, next. First, Xenovia, who right in front of him, then Asia, Koneko, and even Michael. The tides of battle couldn't be predicted so easily, he knew that, but still could not forgive himself for missing a major portion of the battle. So, throwing further caution to the wind, he blindly charged at Tsubaki as a way of expressing his growing anger for not being there to protect his comrades.
"Yuuto, its fine." Rias warmly smiled and gestured for him to stand up straight, "I'm actually glad that you showed up late than not showing any at all." Taking a deep breath, she seriously graces him with a stern look. "I assume that your already aware of our predicament, yes?"
"Yes, Buchou." Kiba nodded, at this point it was three to two, and they were sorely on the losing side at this point.
"Good, then that also means you know about…" Rias paused to bite her lip, not even trying to bring up Michael's sudden elimination.
"Yes…" Kiba looked downcast, he couldn't believe it either despite knowing the obvious disadvantages that his best friend had when faced with Sona Sitri's technical peerage. Him retiring wasn't an impossibility, but the chances of it happening to him was rather disheartening.
"…Since its only the two of here then its only fair that we put in triple our share of the work to make up for our losses. By the end of this match, I swear, I will be the one to best Sona and claim victory for all of my fallen adorable servants!" Lighting a fire in herself, Rias regally proclaimed her intentions for both her [Knight] and the enemy [Queen] to hear. As [King] showing any signs of weakness, even when dealt with such a bad hand this far into the game, would be a mockery to the effort that those she led put in to ensure her a win.
"Hai, Buchou! And as your Knight, I'll be sure to protect you on your path to attain an undisputed win."
Comforted by her spirit, Kiba smiled out of relief, her lowest point when dealing with Natsuru's schemes really emboldened the [King] to be better at not cracking up under the pressure. Now emblazoned by his master's words, Kiba directed his attention back to Tsubaki who was carefully observing the pair. It really must have thrown a wrench in her plan that such a skilled member of Rias' peerage was able to recover and return to the fight.
"Buchou, allow me to handle this. While you rest and prepare yourself with your confrontation with Kaichou." Kiba smiled as he offered to Rias a small bottle similar to the one Tsubaki had crushed, Phoenix Tears. He was given their only bottle when venturing off to enemy territory with Xenovia, and he would have used it on either of them had their situation not escalate as quickly as it did.
"I could do a little more than rest if your offering…" Rias still had to figure out Koneko's warning about there being two of the same presence on the field. She doubted that it could be an extra player, all teams were set the moment each side was gifted the compiled information from the RG Officials. So, something just didn't add up until she heard of Tsubaki's last comment before Yuuto's arrival.
'What did she mean by if I find her?' With something to latch onto, she felt closer to unraveling the mystery of the supposed extra Sitri member. The thought of pushing Tsubaki to tell her did cross her mind, but figured it to provide less results, 'Based on today's match, they're too loyal to give up information that easily, so it all lies on me to solve that quandary.'
Looking thoughtful to Kiba, she asked, "But Yuuto, are you sure that you at least don't want support?"
"I appreciate the thought, Buchou, but I believe its only right for me to do most of the work for my absence. Besides…" Rias shuddered a bit as she could have sworn to see her gentlemanly [Knight]'s pupils angrily shrink for a split second, "I won't be long."
With a relaxed smile, he made his towards Tsubaki and stood a great deal across from her with his ominous katana in hand.
"Now shall we get this fight underway, or do you wish to try and retreat?" Kiba noticed Tsubaki's indecisive step back.
"Right now, I'm split between the two. Retreat would benefit our victory as we wait for the timer to go out, but your arrival only adds more danger to Kaichou's wellbeing and I'm exceedingly aware of the danger that's posed by your newly acquired [Blade Blacksmith]. The holy water that I use won't even compare in damage to your holy swords." Tsubaki bitterly explained.
'Not to mention, I can't use Mirror Alice to redirect any of his attacks back at him.' Its barely been even a minute for the cool down period to end, and Tsubaki wasn't too keen on starting a fight half-cocked.
"[Blade Blacksmith]?" Deciding to be kept in the dark about it at their meeting, Rias was both surprised and happy with her servant's growth in power as to accomplish such a feat must have been really taxing. A nod from Kiba reassured her that he'll explain the specifics of it later.
"But still Fuka-kaichou-san, either choice will result in conflict. You could run, but I'm more than confident with my speed to keep up with you. Or if you yourself feels reassured in your skill, we could simply cross blades and see if you have a chance at coming out on top." Kiba lowly offered as he slowly sheathed his katana.
"Excuse me if my ears are playing tricks on me, Yuuto-kun, but it almost sounds like your trying to say any altercation between us would be an easy triumph for you." Tsubaki narrowed her eyes, the two didn't interact much besides a few moments here and there, but from little she gathered, she always took Kiba to be quite humble as a knight. Because right now the [Knight] was on the verge of sounding cocky or at worst, arrogant.
"Huh, oh, no! Please forgive me if it sounded like I offended you. Its just that I'm…" Kiba's hand tightened on the half-sheathed blade and quickly crouched, a deed that forced Tsubaki to react and put up her own guard. The veins on Kiba's hands dilate and pop out as he gave Tsubaki the fiercest yet calmest of glares just before his arm vanishes in a flash.
"Very livid…"
"…!"
*FWOOOOOOO-!* *ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!*
*SPRAAAAAAAAAAY~!*
"H-How did you-!?" She chocked up as pain filled her now crimson soaked abdomen and chest.
Before Tsubaki could erect even a thought to reassure herself, she had found the barrier of Saji's infernal flames that she had conjured up to be utterly useless in the face of the spiraling, sharp demonic wave that was headed her way. The attack didn't blow away the attack or even tore through it, it just phased right through the barrier and her naginata before imprinting onto her a large massive gash on her being.
*THUD!*
Almost as if lead filled her legs, Tsubaki weakly fell back from the excruciating pain coursing through her. She's felt the full force of demonic energy before, but none like what she felt at this moment. It was as though she felt centuries of malice in one stroke of the [Knight]'s attack, and it had even bypassed all of her defenses.
Panting and wheezing, she curiously looked to the katana in Kiba's hand and examined its blade and make. It looked to well crafted to be made on the spot, and it would be impossible to accumulate that much negativity in a blade with just his anger alone. Wincing, she took notice of her stamina ebbing away at her, only adding more to exhaustive and beaten state. It was like watching her blood turning into smoke and getting sucked into the black crimson-edged sword.
Then it hit her as soon as she made the observation. It was…!
"Sorry, Fuka-Kaichou-san, I had intended to go all out but this "Wild Child" has a mind of its own sometimes and just loves to amp its power up even though its me paying the cost." Kiba sighed as he looked at his katana in a bit of annoyance.
"Yuuto-kun, is t-that-?" Tsubaki didn't even have the strength to push her upper body up by her elbows as she craned her head to look at the smiling [Knight].
"Hm? So, you figured it out, well, it was my intention to use this sword on you because of your Sacred Gear, but if your going to ask if this is the Cursed Demonic Sword, Muramasa, then yes, it is." Kiba relished the astonishment on not just Tsubaki's face but Rias' as well.
"Yuuto, do you mean the actual Muramasa? The same cursed blade crafted by Sengo Muramasa himself?' Rias tried her best to not be left speechless. It didn't surprise Kiba that his master knew of the tale considering her obsess-interest in Japanese culture. Kiba nodded as he intently gave the eerie blade a reminiscent look.
In legend, Sengo Muramasa was known as one of the most skilled blacksmith during the Sengoku Era, but like most who dedicate their lives on a single task, he was a violent and ill-mannered man who only sought to create the strongest blade in the world with no equal, with an edge that could cut anything that it desired. He dedicated his entire life just to perfect this single weapon until his mortal limits naturally resulted in a major roadblock away from reaching said perfection.
So, he decided to make a pact with devil to provide a more otherworldly touch to his blade to make it more perfect. The devil, who agreed, also requested a fair price in return, the cursed blade itself. Muramasa was obviously against the thought of parting with his life's work and masterpiece, but suspiciously gave in and accepted the terms.
Imbuing and weaving his magicks into the blade, its original black edge transmuted itself into a blood red crimson as an ominous aura that could kill even the most skilled of spiritualists from trying to dispel it, dangerously flowed from the blade. The devil then insists for Muramasa to test it out on himself to prove that his life's long work has borne fruit. The cut that Muramasa made to himself remained, yet his blood had disappeared without a trace.
Overjoyed with the success, Muramasa then decided to thank the devil by cleaving him in twine with his new blade but found that he couldn't. Each swing didn't miss its mark but simply left the devil unfazed. Until devil laughed and mocked Muramasa by explaining that he had foresaw the smith's treachery and instead placed a curse on it. Whatever the katana sinks its teeth in shall get a taste for its victim's blood and until its quench is satisfied, it will never harm another.
Flabbergasted, Muramasa intended to keep trying no matter what but found that both of his arms were moving on their own and directing the blade for his vulnerable stomach. Gracing the smith with another explanation one last time, the devil gleefully revealed that he had granted Muramasa's wish for the blade to cut anything that it chose and if its not satisfied, it will gladly do the deed for itself.
Sadly, for the devil, his words fell on deaf ears as Muramasa had already ran himself through on his perfect masterpiece. His first master, Souji Okita told it to him when he was still in training. A cautionary tale to many, to be careful about they wish for, and also a troublesome Aesop for many craftsman to avoid seeking absolute perfection through unsavory means.
Kiba had no idea how the blade had landed in the hands of the Sword Dancer during his month of training, but he did know that it in the hands of that monster was a trial to avoid getting hit by. And just as Zethyr said, it would be next to impossible to eliminate the monster with inadequate skill alone, but through days of effort, he managed to destroy the hand that grasped the katana around just five days before he returned to the Gremory Residence. For Kiba that was his best accomplishment for the month beside unlocking [Blade Blacksmith] and learning to refine creating his swords.
"The very same, Buchou. Once the condition was met, the battle was already mine." Kiba pointed at Tsubaki's cut cheek, "Until its satisfied, the blade will directly cut the prey whose blood its teeth has sunk into." He reassuringly looked to Tsubaki and said, "The blade will feast upon the energy in your blood indefinitely, but thanks to the Rating Game, you'll retire before it even comes close to killing."
"…" Tsubaki gritted her teeth once before calmly breathing in and out, "Even after all of that I still lose…" They had the number advantage, Michael Hanamura was retired, there was even the bonus of Akeno retiring herself, and their ratings were sure to be phenomenal. But despite all of that she still lost.
Looking back at all that had happened during the match, an image of a nervously smiling Saji flashed through her mind. It comforted her as a smile formed itself on the lips of the usually ice-cold vice president of the student council.
"I'm fine with this…" Like he did, she gave it her all and with limbs now heavier than before, she couldn't even bring herself to stand and continue fighting even if she wanted to. The green light signifying retirement began to enshroud her fallen form.
"Tsubaki." Tsubaki looked to the Gremory [King] and received a deep bow out of respect.
"You were a daunting opponent until the end."
"I agree." Kiba follows suit, even admitting the effectiveness of their tactics to delay and trap him in the ruins of the parking lot.
"…" No words needed to be said, Tsubaki nodded to them in acknowledgement of their words of respect to their enemy, but her mind couldn't stop lingering back to Saji and especially Sona as she moaned out as the light began to take her, "Do it, Kaic-Sona… Show them your resolve for your dream…"
[Sona Sitri's [Queen] has retired.]
As soon as the words of her Sister-in-law announced itself, Rias let out a comforting sigh of relief. They'd been so hard pressed by Tsubaki the entire match that she hasn't had the chance to really breathe. Looking gratefully to Kiba, she was about to praise her [Knight] for his help and development this past month, but found the blond strangely shaking as his arms struggled to position the blade in a morbid fashion towards his chest.
"Y-Yuuto!" Rias worriedly called out.
"No, don't worry, Buchou. T-This-ngh!" Kiba struggled to gain control of his arms as position the katana to roll up his sleeves and reveal one of his bandaged arms. Unravelling the white wraps, he flinched once Rias gasped at the multiple scars the covered his arms.
'Its only the fair price to pay to use such a formidable weapon.' Without even wincing, Kiba stabbed the tip of the katana into his arm, spraying his blood out as it converted into an eerie red mist that the blood happily consumed. Now able to sheathe the blade, Kiba does so with gusto before quickly applying his healing magic to cut arm.
"Forgive me for showing you something that unsightly, Buchou." Kiba tried to laugh it off but Rias was not having any of that.
She already had to go through that with Michael and she will not do that wit-!
'Wait, could that have been the reason why…' Rias' mind was clouded at the remembrance of Michael's large chest scar, but decided to think of it later to focus on Kiba then the mystery regarding Sona's extra player.
"Yuuto, what just happened? Why did you harm yourself?"
"Muramasa feeds on its prey until its satisfied, Fuka-Kaichou retired before that condition could be met so the only way to satisfy it would be to consume the blood of its current master." Kiba rolled his arm and tested it out to see that its still fully functional though he was a bit lightheaded from the blood loss, "If I don't willingly give my blood up, then it will force my body to just give it away like in the legend."
"Oh…" Rias worriedly glowered at his arm scars, "So is that…?"
"Yeah, I tried to use it on Sword Dancer a few times as training but since it was composed of mostly bone there wasn't much blood to feed it, so I fed it myself." Kiba explained, realizing that he was only making his master that more worried for him.
"Yuuto, remember, if you're having trouble controlling it, then don't hesitate to ask for help, okay? I wouldn't want you to end up li…I mean end up hurt beyond repair." Michael's scar resurfaced in her head, her curiosity for answers dealing with retirement just wouldn't stop.
"Yes, I understand and thanks, Buchou." Kiba gratefully bowed his head.
"Don't mention it." Now back to the matter at hand, Rias rubbed her chin in deep thought. Now things were even, two pieces on the field for both teams, and if she remembers right, the last [Bishop] and servant on Sona's team would be Reya Kusaka. Knowing the odds of facing the two of them alone, she doubts that her enemy's servant would recklessly attack and break the tie in the event of time running out.
Thus, it all leads back to the two same energy signatures on the field, which gave Rias a simple answer that led to a more troubling thought.
'If. Tsubaki worded that in likely possibility of me not facing Sona. Meaning, she must have been moved her location to some other area of the mall besides the third floor and projected herself in the same place as her base.' Rias bit the nail of her thumb, 'But that still only leaves more areas to check in the building, and I'm not keen on seeing if Sona left any more surprises in any of the stores.' Using Kiba's speed to check the areas could've already ran through her rival's thoughts so Rias made sure to forget telling her only servant to do that.
'She isn't one to hide either, if she was that dead set on breaking my pride just to prove herself then waiting until the match was over shouldn't completely be her objective. So, it has to be someplace that's obviously overlooked yet easy to reach.' She looked to Kiba for any input.
"Yuuto, you've been a regular here at the mall, yes?" Rias asked.
"I wouldn't say a regular. I only purchase the essentials and perhaps join Michael-kun whenever he's off on another one of his gaming runs." Kiba shrugged.
That's good enough for her. She just needed to see if he knew of an area that wasn't walled or could avoid seriously damage the mall in the likelihood of a magic battle occurring. Going outside the entrances/exits were forbidden since the mall itself was replicated for the match. So, it had to be a location that's still in the mall, but not in the mall.
Once she asked that of Kiba, the young knight answered, "Well, in that case, the main roof would be just what you're looking for, Buchou."
"Perfect." It matched her description to the mark, it may have been outside, but the roof is still an integral part to replicate for the match. With no infrastructure to damage the mall's integrity, it would most likely be the perfect area for the two engage in an all-out battle of magic.
"Then let's make our way over there and see if we're keeping Sona waiting." And if they're wrong, they could simply tread back down to the third floor and search for her in her base.
"Yes, Buchou." Kiba bowed and followed along, taking a more proactive pace in front of Rias. He constantly kept an eye on the surroundings with high alertness. It could be looked at that he was making up for his absence and wanted to make up for it, but to him, he was only doing his utmost best to uphold his duty to protect his master, especially in place of his retired friend.
The [Knight] had looked forward to seeing the results of Michael's training in action and properly work together to secure their team a win after his own sudden retiring against Riser's [Queen] in the last Rating Game. The trip to the roof was slow and careful especially around the dark hallways and the escalator area where Michael and Saji fought. Thanks to their senses as devils, the air was knocked out of them as soon as they noticed the ravaged state of the hallway. The interior was on the verge of collapsing as jagged claw marks and blood stained the once pristine interior.
Taking a closer look at a considerably large pool of liquid on the floor, Kiba had a bit of trouble discerning the amount of blood spilled due to it vaguely looking a bit too black to classify it as that.
[One hour and fifty minutes have passed.]
With the time ticking, they eighty-sixed their slow examination of the aftermath and hurried along to the roof by flying up past the second floor and landing on the third to reach the nearby rooftop stairs. They were met with no resistance from the enemy's remaining [Bishop] on their way there, but as soon as they opened the door and reached the stairs, they were met with their answer.
*SWOOSH!*
Kiba immediately swung his pure white holy katana at the visage of a smiling Reya Kusaka patiently waiting for them but found that his blade had cut nothing but air as it went through her. Narrowing her eyes, Rias detected no presence of the [Bishop] standing right in front and deduced the one they saw right before them to be nothing but a less complex projection than the one they were using on Sona.
"Gremory-senpai, thank you for arriving and excuse me for not personally being here to relay this message to you. Kaichou had planned for a victory by holding more numbers in her favor, so I've hidden myself away in the mall." The gentle brunette politely smiled, "I was sure my contribution would hold some weight to earning Kaichou the win, but Kiba-kun was able to free himself and defeated Fuka-kaichou." Reya sadly sighed.
"The heart that you all put into executing your tactics were well thought and difficult to overcome. Everything you all threw at me really kept me on edge, and even what your doing is making our job harder, so take pride in that because you all have definitely been amazing opponents." Kiba consoled the girl with one of his handsome smiles which drew a light pink blush from her cheeks, which he failed to notice.
"T-Thank you, Kiba-kun…" Reya bashfully bowed her head before shaking it off to face Rias, who's attention was focused above them.
"So, since you're here then that confirms…?" She asked.
"Correct, Kaichou is indeed on the roof. She's been awaiting your arrival since the start of the match, but only Gremory-senpai is allowed to go up." Rias nodded at the girl's instructions but paused once Kiba decided to voice his own thoughts against the statement.
"Why would Buchou need to go alone? Are you saying I can't accompany her and watch her match?" Kiba asked.
"Exactly. Kaichou wishes to defeat Gremory-senpai alone and wants to earn her victory without any interference or support. It certainly wouldn't look good to the officials rating the game to see that she had a loose end that could've resulted in her immediate retiring. So we've precautions to avoid any unwanted servants joining you up there." As Reya clapped her hands, multiple large shining magic circles covered the walls of the staircase leading to the roof as they radiated a dangerous glow.
"These won't go off should Gremory-senpai be the only one to climb up, but should anyone other than her choose to do so, then not only the staircase, but the support pillars of the third floor will explode and bring the entire mall down on top of everyone."
Both Rias and Kiba gasped at the news with Rias more apprehensive about it than Kiba, who was quite confused.
"But demolishing the mall means the Kaichou's immediate loss." Kiba just couldn't comprehend why the risk was made at all.
"That's true, but since it's a trap that I've truthfully and willingly given you a heads up about it; half of the responsibility now lies with your master." Reya politely explained with a satisfied smile.
"…She's right…"
"Buchou?" Kiba looked to his sighing master for answers.
"Though not explicitly told in the rules before the match started, the officials may see this in that way. Were I have gone with you, Yuuto, with no knowledge of this trap, then Sona would automatically be deemed the loser. But with this information now in hand, anything I do now will keep me just as accountable as Sona for making any irrational moves just as reckless as her's."
"I see…" Kiba bitterly shook his head, it wasn't beyond his understanding as to why that could be a result. Were a real situation with an actual enemy doing this, the leader resolving it would undeniably be accountable for any damages or loss of lives.
"So Gremory-senpai will y-?"
"Of course."
Reya didn't even need to ask as Rias already made her way up the steps. It was already her intention to confront her childhood best friend on own from the start. This trap of Sona's only solidifies that whoever emerges the victor would be the unquestioned better of the other for this entire match. Before she could fully prep her mind for the fight underway, a call from her [Knight] had her stop her ascent.
"Buchou, I understand that you want to do this alone, and it really pains me that I can't do much to quell your selfishness to fight the Kaichou one-on-one, but…" Kiba hardened his expression and gave her a reassuring smile, "I'm not at all worried, I'm sure that you'll defeat, Kaichou. I really do." Kiba bowed to her once more earning a sincere smile from Rias.
'Yuuto, I'm sorry for being such a selfish master…' Rias thought, but she did make a mental promise just to win in order to stop her loyal [Knight]'s worries.
"But should you change your mind, I'll still run to your aid if you call." Even if he had to crawl out from under the destroyed mall itself, he won't ever let his master suffer any torment or suffering alone and will rend anything causing her misfortune with his blade.
"Thanks, Yuuto." One appreciative smile later, and Rias continued to climb the stairs, steadily her making her way up to Sona.
"As for you…" Kiba looked to the projected form of Reya, who curiously tilted her head at him, "I'll begin my search for you right away." He may not be able to follow Rias to her battle, but himself useful while he waited would distract him from the danger that his master was getting herself into. Plus, his speed would be invaluable for his search for the hidden [Bishop].
"And I certainly wouldn't complain if you did find me…" Reya blushed a bit but coughed as her satisfied smile only grew, "But I believe you'll have a much harder time finding me than you'd expect."
"Oh, really?" Kiba raised an eyebrow at that. It may take time, but he was at least confident that he'd be thorough in his search.
"Of course because just as Saji-kun was rushing to regroup with Nimura-chan in her fight against Michael-kun and Koneko-chan, he told me that you all were unaware of his and Michael-kun's own "innerworkings" inside of the building." Reya's smile only grew as realization dawned on Kiba's face, "You'll be surprised about how and where they made a secret hatch to avoid mall security's capture."
*SMAAAAACK!*
And to that Kiba hand made the loudest of smacks against his forehead.
XXX
So many things that she wanted to say swirled around in her head as she took each step. Excitement, anger, hesitancy and joy began to conflict inside of her.
The time for the two [Kings] to clash and assert their dominance to decide the match was going to begin. Pushing open the door, Rias willingly walked out into the heavy pouring rain where her rival resided. Finding no discomfort from it, she pushed aside a wet lock of her hair to get a better look at Sona.
"…" The Sitri [King] was silent, her back to Rias as she looked quite tranquil as she watched the once empty space of white sky above release a heavy downpour of rainwater from the dark clouds that surrounded the building.
"So, you finally arrived, a bit late than I had expected, but that goes to show how substantial everyone's efforts have been." Rias had to really focus and listen to Sona; her words were surprisingly soft and difficult to hear under the rain shower.
"They all fought with everything they had and even risked their own lives just to afford you victory." Rias exclaimed through the heavy downpour, "They were even successful in even retiring Michael." She had to bite some spite as she revealed that, carrying that around would only hinder her. Yet as she told this to Sona, she received no reply back only a difficult to discern shaky sigh.
"Their efforts have been…acceptable." Rias narrowed her eyes at that but allowed the comment to slide. From all their years together as friends from infancy, she knew just how Sona ticked. Once she heard the rainstorm during her climb up the stairs, she had already realized Sona's feelings on the matter.
"So, shall we begin?" Sona turned around to face her rival, though her eyes still carried that calculated and cold stare, it was evident from her puffy eyelids that she had tears that were washed away by the rain.
Her servants' sacrificial efforts had truly gotten to her, but Rias wouldn't say this out loud to her frenemy; both out of respect and sympathy for her and because there were generally more pressing matters to attend to.
"So, you've chosen the roof? A proper place to stash a [King] while all of the hectic battles preoccupy the floors below. Nice strategy." Rias commended the Sitri heir.
"The plan was a bit shaky after I heard of Toujo-san learning the art of Senjutsu. Nii-sama was of course her teacher in the past so I had my worries that she might've picked up something worrisome from him." Sona sighed, she had tried to pry information from Kai before the game, but as typical, the fickle man would always tell her that its way more fun for her to figure things out for herself.
In a moment of honesty, she had expected Koneko to figure things out sooner and tell Rias, but the fact that she was too late to relay the information was another testament to her own servants' fruits of labor.
"That is to be expected, your servants aren't the only ones who've been working hard for this match." Rias smiled, proudly to herself, but the rising crimson aura around spoke otherwise. It was dangerous and carrying a sharp killing intent. Her once grateful gaze soon hardened to restrained fury. The rain drops that once soaked her were now disappearing under the erasing properties of her destructive aura.
"But I cannot excuse the turmoil that was brought from their sudden ejections from the match. As they fought tooth and nail, I wasn't there for each of them to make a difference. Even after I worked so hard this past month just to avoid this, I still have to endure this frustration. Sona, for them, I can't lose to you."
"As a fellow [King] I have to agree." Sona's own aura pulsed in a vibrantly deep blue radiance resembling the harsh waves of the ocean matched Rias' more destructive, raging aura, "To help me achieve my dreams, everyone followed my plans to a T and worked past their possible limits. All of that just for me, as a master I couldn't be more proud, so in order to show that I earn their gifted efforts, I'll use everything I have to defeat you, Rias."
No more words needed to be said. The two women ready themselves as pools of water began to form around in Sona in the form of knightly lances and spheres of large spheres of pure destruction began to form behind Rias. Both sides fired and the collision created a massive magnitude that shook the very roof itself.
Running across from each other as the emerged from the smoke of the clash, the two rapidly fired blasts of their individual magic at each other. Rias' destruction magic was potent but was fired too powerfully without great maneuverability to really hit Sona. While Sona's water lances had a bit of difficulty reaching Rias as each of the Gremory heir's blast would annihilate it.
'Have to hold her still.' Focusing, Sona used the rainwater that drenched the ground in puddles.
"What?" Rias cried out as she tripped and fell in one of those big puddles and as she looked down, she found that a hand of water had been conjured to grasp her leg.
"Now!" With a wave of her hand, a massive spear of water formed and came barreling down at the fallen Crimson haired princess.
"Ngh!" Struggling just to stand up, Rias didn't bother to run and formed a circle barrier composer of destruction magic to absorb the blow and disintegrate the falling spear.
"Your open."
"…!"
*WHAAAAAM!*
Before Rias could catch her breath, Sona had used the time that she erected her barrier to close the distance and slam a devastating demonic power infused palm strike to her chest. This sent her tumbling across the ground, coughing up a bit of her blood.
Though it wasn't her forte to engage in hand to hand combat as she found her magic to enough, she was still trained by Son Kai in the art of Self-Defense when she was young and that entailed learning how to strike at the most opportune moments even moments that you have to create. As she watched Rias try to pick herself up, she decided to push on the pressure and overwhelm her by summoning forth powerful tidal waves to engulf her.
Eyes widening at the incoming rush of crushing waves heading her way, Rias unfurled her devil wings and took flight, but even then, Sona had a contingency for that too.
*stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!* *stab!*
"Aaaugh!" Rias cried in pain as the once harmless raindrops became wet needles digging into her skin through her black uniform that was beginning to look a tad bit red from her blood. He pain was so sudden that she fell back to the ground and got engulfed in the massive tidal wave as it painfully pinned her to the ground and kept his entrapped in the surrounding water.
'Success.' Sona smiled as she clenched her outheld hand into a fist and soon the rushing water formed into a bubble of stationary, pressured water that imprisoned a drowning Rias.
Kicking in place as she held her mouth and nose closed to prevent any water from entering her body, Rias struggled in vain to push herself out of her watery prison. From trying to fly up or sending a blast of her demonic energy at Sona, who easily dodged her desperate attacks. Nothing seemed to be working.
Nearing the end of her rope, Rias struggled to form a thought as her brain was getting deprived of sweet, sweet oxygen, 'Have to…use…it…" The magic forming the water was too potent and her power of destruction wouldn't erase enough of it before she drowned.
'Checkmate, Rias." Raising another hand, Sona summoned forth more of her lances and directed them in every direction that surrounded the enfeebled Rias.
As Rias began to cloak herself in her demonic energy, Sona had already prepared to lunge her attack through her rival.
"Bloody Maiden!"
*STAB!* *STAB!* *STAB!* *STAB!* *STAB!* *STAB!* *STAB!* *STAB!* *STAB!* *STAB!* *STAB!* *STAB!* *STAB!* *STAB!*
*BUUURST!*
The attack had connected as the lances stabbed through the sphere of the aqua prison which exploded from the added pressure. Intently looking on with a serious look, Sona remained vigilant despite her victory almost coming so pre-maturely.
'It connected, but it didn't do anything…' There was no call from the announcement, no gargled screams from her opponent, and the most obvious factor would be the fact that there's a sphere the size of Rias that pretty much erased the blades of her aqua lances.
"Just what is th-?"
*PULSE!* *PULSE!* *PULSE!*
Sona stopped mid-sentence as for the first time since the match started that she began to panic. Just now, she felt a stark rise in Rias' demonic energy levels. She was aware that like her, her rival had trained just as hard to better control her magic and increase her reserves since she was naturally more inclined to make her magic overwhelmingly powerful than technical like her.
But this was more than just simply boosting her power, the very nature of her demonic aura was changing. It was if Rias was including the properties of some other power due to some outside influence. She had felt this form of energy before down below as Saji and Michael were interlocked in their bout.
The demonic sphere began to crack open as crimson-red light shines through the cracks. Then in a burst of energy, Rias emerged from the sphere, dispelling the destroyed aqua lances around her, and took off soaring into the air. Her once pitch-black devil wings were now enshrouded in black-crimson energy transmuted to resemble a large pair of dragon wings that span out across to almost shade over the entirety of the roof itself.
Shocked, Sona managed to at least at to retry making the rain as sharp as needles to harm her foe and take her down from being airborne, but the intense demonic aura surrounding Rias was now erasing the harmful droplets before it could touch her skin. Getting a much understanding as to why she felt her rival's change in demonic aura properties, a bead of sweat dripped down Sona's face as she remarked, "Considering your relationship with your [Pawn], I'm not that surprised you'd figure something like this out."
In myths, dragons have always been regarded and feared for being beings who are masses of sheer power. Anyone who's related or anyone who comes into contact with them either through draining their energy, using weapons related to them, or do *AHEM!* intercourse with someone who possessed a dragon within them would obviously earn unpredictable gains.
"Crimson Dragonar Annihilation Armament: Level 1." Rias slowly exhaled some steam from the sudden taxing transformation. That last attack was too close, so she couldn't properly get in the right mindset to use this technique, but she felt confident that her last checked time limit remained the same.
'1 minute. If I can't finish things, then the match will automatically go to her…' She could already feel the incomplete form burn away at her reserves of demonic energy by the second.
In a flash, Rias disappeared in Sona's eyes. No longer playing it careful as she nose dived after the Sitri [King]. Retaliating, Sona made use of the flooded rooftop flooring to fire columns of pressurized water at Rias, who nimbly flies past the basic attacks. Smiling, Sona used her technical prowess over her water magic to transform the blasts of water that went past Rias into the shape of serpentine cobras that snapped back and lunged at Rias in multiple directions. She was trapped.
Clenching her hands, Rias still kept fly down after Sona despite her about to be entrapped by the nest of aqua serpents. With a bat of her large transmuted dragon wings, they released a powerful gale of wind imbued with the power of destruction that eliminated the of the water cobras before they could even touch her.
'Incredible that destructive power can even affect the windforce from its wings?' Sona gasped at that and the massive sphere of demonic energy that Rias was creating as diving down at her.
If the wings can destroy anything from flapping its winds at her attacks, she didn't want to see what an actual charged attack from her rival would like in that states. But before thoughts of evading could enter her mind, the levitated Rias right in front of her, holding the sphere right in front of her.
The crimson haired princess smiled at her rival's eyes widening in horror as she cutely tilted her head and giggled, "Checkmate, Sona."
*DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!*
The sphere bursts into a massive wave of demonic energy that obliterated half of the rooftop and only continued travelling past it, luckily missing the rest of the mall, and into the void of white space crafted for the Rating Game. There was nothing out there for the beam to come in contact with as its travels seemed almost endless.
But the resulting shockwave of it did blow away the once cloudy skies that ailed her and gave Sona the advantage. Now there was nothing but the white void above them too. Panting, Rias flew a bit higher to see the wreckage of her attack and sighed in relief at the least costing damages made to the mall. That was sure to deduct some good rating for her, but the effect was still as potent as she liked.
'No announcement meaning…' A loud series of gagged coughs reached her ears as she spun around to spot one of the remaining large puddles that were pouring off the side of the destroyed rooftop.
Emerging from it, Sona spewed out mouthful of water and held a hand to her chest to regulate her breathing. The [King] counted herself thankful for practicing to use teleportation magic in tandem with her water magic, she still wasn't too well versed to master it, but using the puddle underneath her to teleport to the puddle on the other end of the roof proved satisfactory for evading Rias' devastating attack.
'That would have been an instant elimination if I hadn't thought of that…' Sona coughed, she was so close to losing and she needed to fix that with one last attack, 'To use so much power must come at a cost. So making you use all of it will be my chance to end this.' But to do that, she'll have to make a price herself by completely go all out just to draw her friend's entire reserves.
"Rias!"
"…!"
"This will end this…" Raising her hand in the air, Sona summons a growing blue magical circle that filled the sky above them once more, crafting more rain clouds to supply her with enough water for her final attack. She wasn't so prideful to expect to having a larger energy supply than Rias, so through any means necessary, she'll even the playfield by making use of all of the water on the field.
Converging all of the water into a massive sphere over her head, Sona began to condense the orb into a basketball sized impacted sphere of radiant energy. Her hands shook from the exhaustion of concentrating the attack in a dangerous single point and from keeping it all packed up together without it blowing up in her face.
'I-I can't hold onto this form for very long…' Rias panted, she kicked herself for going a bit too hard with that last wave. Now she's sure that her limit was close to being up. Grunting from the burn of exhaustion, her draconic wings of demonic energy flickered on and off between it and her devil wings.
'I'm really close to reaching my limit.' Hating to be so desperate as to take Sona on in a head on collision, 'But what other choice do I have besides this…' Roughly thrusting her hands down at her opponent, Rias conjured up as much demonic energy her body could muster and enhanced it with her transformation. Now holding a compressed sphere of pure destruction energy to match Sona's in size, she was ready to meet her rival halfway.
"As I expected of you, Rias. This battle truly is the struggle that I predicted it would be from beginning to end. But just know this, I have every intention on beating you and crushing your pride. Don't hold back!"
"I would never dream of doing so, Sona! I'll be sure to unload all of my frustration and anger at the loss of my precious servants on you!"
*DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!*
Both blasts of water magic and destruction magic collided and caused an even more violent tremor than Rias' last tremendous blast. At first, neither attack was pushing the other back, but as Sona expected from Rias' earlier enhanced wave, the Sitri [King] found her compressed wave of water magic steadily being pushed back. A few seconds later it wasn't even needed explaining that Sona's attack was losing out to Rias'.
*DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!*
"*SIGH!*"
*BOOOOOM!*
Overpowering the compressed aquatic blast, Rias' attack made its way to its intended target, who calmly closed her eyes as she stood in the puddle reflecting herself, and became engulfed in a massive explosion that destroyed another half of the rooftop, leaving only a third of the area left. All that remained was the Entrance/Exit, but Rias didn't care as she tired flapped her now normal devil wings after falling out of her transformation to take her to the untouched portion of the roof.
*Flap…!* *Flap…!* *Fla-!*
*THUD!*
Too exhausted, she collapsed on the hard cement. She was spent with no more reserves of her demonic energy to protect herself with. Breathing hard, she wore a troubled expression as she looked to the rainy sky above them, expecting the announcement to dub her the winner of the match. The blast wasn't held back so the officials should've pulled Sona before it hit her.
But after a few seconds of nothing by the heavy rain pouring down on her, she clicked her tongue in and cursed to herself at another possibility for the lack of the announcement.
*SPLASH!* *SPLASH!*
"…!" Rias scowled at the puddle a few feet away from her as a pair of shaky arms popped up and panicked as they scratched at the concrete ground to try and properly get a good hold despite their exhausted muscles. Finally getting that good hold, they began to pull up the body its connected to and out pops a gagging and water vomiting Sona, who's uniform was in tatters, and covered in most of her blood from her wounds. Her trademark glasses were gone and probably destroyed as her eyes were red from the constant submerging in water and lack of oxygen.
The Sitri [King] looked as pitifully exhausted as Rias, once she pulled herself up out of the water and laid on the ground cough and gagging, trying to really catch her breath.
If she thought last time was cutting it close, she would refer to this time by barely get through by the skin off her teeth. Haggardly taking breaths, Sona let out a few extra coughs before glaring at the equally exhausted Rias, who could only glare back in her powerless state.
"I'm su-su-sur…mmph! *COUGH!* Ooough!" Unladylike, Sona vomited more water as she slowly raised her hand at Rias, "Ex-Excuse me…" She forcibly groaned, recovering from the expulsion of the liquid from her system, "I'm sure your wondering how I could've possibly escaped that, but…" Sona's eyes nearly fall shut before she shook herself off, "I'd rather just enact my real last attack."
*GRAB!*
"Urck!"
*CLEEEENCH!*
"Urk…ngh…" All the needed air to supply Rias' thinking faculties were cut off once a hand of water was formed from one of the puddles of water that Sona expelled from herself. She would found it disgusting were she not attending to stubborn water hand strangling her. In vain, she tried to at least erase it with what energy she had left of her destruction magic, but it was all gone.
Now she was at the mercy of her rival.
"Checkmate, Rias… I…win…" Sona legitimately smiled as she waited for the retiring system to kick in once the Crimson-Haired Princess was close to falling unconscious, "See? I did it…are you watching…everyone? I. Did it…!"
'S-Sona?' It was hard to tell with everything starting to turn black, but Rias could've sworn that through the rain that Sona was shedding tears.
"To all of you, who laughed. To Onee-sama, Nii-sama and especially…Shura. Especially, you my dear nephew, you can rest. I'm one step closer to making a proper school for you." Sona laughed rather dizzily. This surely won't immediately get her the school, but such a victory was the grandest of first steps that she could take alleviate her cherished young family member of his silenced suffering.
XXX
Flashback (3 years ago)
XXX
A young fifteen-year-old, Sona tiredly strode her way down the aquamarine carpeting of the Sitri household's hallway in her nightgown. She was thirsty and decided to make her way to the kitchen for a glass of water. Calling any of the residence's servants would have been a bit much since she was particularly too tired to deal with anybody at moment.
There's also the personal quandary that she's going through in regard to a choice of hers: Should she go to high school in the human world or stay and learn in the Underworld?
Ever since she recently graduated from the prestigious academy, she was torn between continuing as she was or seeking out more knowledge in the human world. Her dream was simply to one day headmaster a Rating Game school like her old headmaster at the academy, who demanded respect and knew when to be serious and stern.
The complete opposite of her sister, who goes around playing as a magical girl.
That dream won't be impeded by either choice since she'd be able to pursue anyways, but the choice itself still felt as weighty since both choices offered their own perks. As she finally arrived in her family's extravagantly long tabled dining room, she was shocked to see that someone was already in the kitchen as evidenced by the lights.
Walking until she was hidden by the edge of the door, she peeked in to spot a gaggle of books strewn against the floor along with multiple worksheets that looked odd to her. But the target of her usual stern stare took precedent as she approached the massive fridge where her gluttonous five year old nephew Shura was stuffing his face with all of their cakes and sweets.
Crossing her arms, Sona tapped her foot and loudly coughed, "AHEM!"
The young black-haired child coughed, his monkey tail jolting upwards in surprise before shakily looked back up at his aunt before sighing in relief.
"Sonah-neechama!" Shura happily smiled at her, unaware of her scolding expression, he happily held out the clump of cake to her, "Did you want some, too?"
"Shura, what did your Onee-sama told you about sneaking out at night to fill yourself up with sugar?" Sona groaned.
"Mama said that if I'm a good boy, I can eat all of the cake and cookies I want~!" The devil-monkey youkai hybrid cheekily laughed as any child would.
"At night?" Sona questioned her sister's lack of discipline for the child but remembered how the lack of time being a Maou must prevent her from always being there to parent him, full time.
"N-No, but I've been a good boy, I've been doing my homework ever since I got back instead of playing!"
"Still?" Sona's eyes widened, it was two o' clock.
"Uh-huh! I was getting sleepy so since I was a good boy, I can eat the sweets to stay up and ready to continue." Shura chuckled, "See!?"
"Oh, Shura, wait, you d-!" Sona winced as Shura dragged her along using the hand filled with his clump of cake, she winced at this, and groaned, "Perfect…"
Being led to the pile of books and worksheets, Sona was now given a closer look at the material that Shura was working with.
"See, see!? I've been doing my work all night long!"
Grabbing a nearby rag to clean her hand, she looked at the worksheet at immediately grabbed it from her nephew's cake frosted hands. These spell formulas were way beyond Shura's grade level, heck, she was doing this work when she was twelve.
'W-What kind of teacher decided to give this work to a five year old?' Sona worriedly bit her lip as she examined Shura's answers. She was surprised that the boy was able to at least answer half of them correctly, but it was obvious that the other half was filled with reasonable mistakes that are result of the boy not having been the appropriate age to be taught the full lessons of these spells yet.
Something didn't seem right.
"Shura, I…let me clean this up…" Sona found the boy's cake frosted face to be distracted and wiped the residue off of the giggling child's face, "Shura, do you mind if I see the rest of your work?"
"Okay, and can I-!"
"No, you can't eat anymore cake." Sona put her foot down.
"Boo!" Shura pouted but happily obliged his aunt by giving him the rest of his work. Just as she thought, the worksheets and assignments were way beyond Shura's grade level, and despite the boy already being a prodigy, there was a limit to how much knowledge he would exert to just struggle to answer these advanced questions.
Then something peculiar came up, she found another stack of assignments all with the different names besides her nephews.
"Shura, are these your classmates' names?" Sona questioned and received a rather subdued nod from Shura, who let out a rather sad laugh.
"Y-Yeah, our teacher put us in groups and assigned us these assignments, so they gave it to me to finish." Shura explained.
"…Why, shouldn't it also be their responsibility to do this work, too? If they decided to push everything on you then just do your own work and let them fail." Sona couldn't describe how angry she felt, she could never tolerate bullies especially when its against her own family.
"I-I can't because if I don't do it, the teacher says we'll all fail the class." Shura timidly looked to the side avoiding Sona's shocked expression.
"Your teacher said that? Why would he suddenly-?" Sona paused at this, "Shura did your teacher threaten you to silence about this, about all of your other assignments before this one that were just as hard?"
"…I…" Shura fidgeted, "…Mmmm…"
'So that's how it is…' Sona narrowed her eyes as she felt something snap inside after finally breaking things down,
"Shura…" Sona placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder and reassuringly smiled, "If your teacher told you to never tell us or else about this you'd be in trouble, then don't worry. Just tell me I'll make sure that you won't be in trouble and still be a good boy, okay?"
"…" Looking hesitant, the child held out his pinky, "Promise?"
"Promise." Sona smiled and wrapped her pinky around his, "Now while you tell me about this? I don't see the issue why we can't indulge in satisfying you and I's sweet tooth with a little bit of cake."
"Really, yay~!" Sona could realize why her sister was so lenient on her son at times since it was a joy to see absolutely excited.
"But only one piece each and nothing more, understood?"
"Boo!"
But unlike her sister, she had no qualms with setting limits to make sure his happiness won't overload.
As the pair indulged in her graduation cake, Sona found herself losing her appetite as her chatterbox of a nephew spilled the beans on not just the teacher, but the school itself. Sona realizes that her Brother-in-Law, Kai didn't have much love in high devil society besides a few close friends for basically being a War Hero in the Old vs New Satan Faction War, being one of the first Reincarnated Devils and instantly being awarded the title of a Super Devil and given the task of being the Maou Lucifer's advisor, and marrying into one of the remaining Devil families and baring a child with the new Leviathan, her sister.
Those accomplishments and his "respectable" behavior towards the other old sods would obviously make the other high class families a bit bitter that an Outsider had dwarfed any of their own achievements that spanned for centuries. So instead of going after him, which they know is impossibility at this point, they went after his offspring, Shura, the first devil-hybrid to ever be deemed worthy to be the heir of a devil household.
Apparently, one of those stuffy high society devils has pockets in Shura's Rating Game School and influenced the staff and headmaster to do everything imaginable to impede his education and get him expelled as a failure. All of this just to get back at Kai, and arbitrarily prove a point about how pureblooded devils are the only ones suited for being heirs to the noble devil households.
Sona didn't even hesitate to contact her sister of the situation despite their clashing personalities usually making it difficult to communicate, but she was just as surprised that she was able to contact Kai, who was usually so aloof somewhere doing who knows what, and actually arriving as quickly as Sona had ever seen him.
The issue was quelled without much deliberation from the school or the devil noble responsible for the trouble in the first place. The punishment wasn't too severe but a swift warning to shut down the academy and stripping away the noble devil's rank was a fast way to deal with the problem.
As for Shura's teacher, well, Kai handled that and she doesn't really remember much about what happened to the poor soul that was…hm, she remembered Shura telling him the teacher's name, but she's appeared to have forgotten about whoever they were.
But that little incident was only the beginning of the struggle that Sitri household had to endure to ensure that the next-next heir would be properly brought up to lead the Sitri family in a society that frowns up the lower class, reincarnated, and non-pureblooded halflings. To this day, they still have to keep an eye out for any inner dealings between the petty devil nobles and sometimes purist teachers.
After seeing the cruelty that the upper echelons of the Underworld was willing to go just snub out the future of an innocent young child, Sona gladly took up the chance to go study the educational system in the human world and prepare herself to face opposition in order to craft herself an academy free of any prejudice and upper class manipulations.
That was a promise that she made not only to herself, but also to her mischievous little nephew of hers. She doesn't know if she'll be able to make an academy like that before he's old enough to become an adult, but she at least wanted to try and give him a perfect taste of a comfortable learning environment that's not out to get him.
XXX
Present
XXX
"Shura…I did it…Nii-sama…I-I kept my…" Sona wheezed, her eyes growing heavy as a memory of better time warmed her chilled body.
XXX
Flashback (8 years ago)
XXX
"Nii-sama…?" A curious mop of black hair poked out into the confines of the newly reconstructed nursery in the Sitri residence. It's been nearly a week since the young ten year old Sona's sister returned with the new addition to their family, and she'd been really nervous about meeting her new nephew, Shura-chan. As a new Aunt, she had to be punctual and give her nephew a proper introduction and show just how much of an adult she is.
"Hm? Sona-chan?" Sona nervously fidgeted under the tired gaze of her older brother-in-law. Currently, he was lazing around on a rocking chair beside a rocking cradle. A brown tail extended from the back of his waist to rock the cradle and the cooing child in it.
Sitting up, Kai wore a mischievous smile and waved her away, "What's wrong because if you want someone to play with, then you should really find somebody else, I'm busy right now. Shoo, shoo~!"
"Hmph! Nii-sama, I'm not a kid anymore, so stop teasing me like one." Sona pouted and pointedly looked away from the chuckling Kai.
"Right because ten is the age where all children grow up…" Kai sarcastically chided.
Sona's cheeks puffed out, for as long as she remembered Nii-sama was always there to play for her and protect her whenever he was free from his duties as Onee-sama's [Queen]. She always admired his confidence and fickle attitude when she was younger, but that started to wear on her the more she grew up. She wanted to him to treat her more seriously like an adult and not like a baby.
"…Nii-sama, I love you!" Sona seriously confessed as she rushed over and grabbed onto the tan skinned man's grey sweatpants leg. Her cheeks flushed red as she made the proclamation.
"Hm, oh… I mean, awwww!" Kai had to snap himself from his lazy relaxation to give a half-hearted response to the girl, "Thanks, Sona-chan, you're the best. Now make sure not to trip over your shoelaces when you leave, okay?" She had attempted that before and received a less than sincere response all just because he couldn't take her seriously.
"Nii-sama, I haven't done that since I was-whoa!" Mid-sentence, Sona fell over said shoelaces but found her fall to the ground interrupted by Kai onehandedly pulling her by the back of her dress' collar and bringing her face to face.
"You were saying? Shishishishi!" Kai laughed much to Sona's behavior as the girl's pouting and cheeks only grew. Sighing, the man made a peace offering to assuage the little girl's frustration by placing her on his lap. She used to love that when she was younger so he figured that she would cool off.
Sadly, this earned mixed results from Sona, who still pouted but more out of embarrassment and a tinge of happiness rather than frustration for not being older, you know, kid stuff. She offered no complaints as she relished sitting in one of her favorite places in the world just before sitting on her older sister's lap. What would've made this a lot better would be a pat to the head from the man, that would be heaven.
"Guess who's in a good mood now then, huh?" Kai teasingly leant his head against hand and watched as Sona broke out of her stupor to stubbornly look off in another direction. Laughing it off, Kai decided to offer another "olive branch" to soothe the girl. His tail wrapped around his and Serafall's bundle of joy and brought over to Sona's lap for the girl to properly see the healthy baby boy swaddled in a blue blanket.
"N-Nii-sama?" Sona quietly exclaimed as she held the baby up in her arms.
"You came in here because you wanted to meet him, yes? Things were so hectic when we returned that you haven't really gotten a chance to introduce yourselves." Kai placed a hand on her head and playfully smiled down at the giggling baby boy, "Shura this is your aunt Sona, she's a big girl now so make sure to listen to her! She used to be just like you, soft, pudgy and would poo her diaper so many times that you'd have to carry a whole bag of pampers in case the first accident wasn't the last"
"Nii-sama, ugh!"
Kai laughed as Sona smacked his hand away as he toyed around with her. She had more complaints to say but fell silent as Kai's raucous laughter soon became gentle and caring.
"But in all seriousness, Shura, you'll have a kind person to help watch over you as grow up. Not everyone gets a family so concerned over the wellbeing like that trust me. Your auntie may grow up to be an uptight Nancy but just realize that she loves you as much as your mother and I do. So at least try not to make as much trouble for in the future, okay?"
"N-Nii-sama…" Sona sniffled.
"And that goes for you too, Sona-chan, promise to watch over him, okay? I'm depending on you and that requires a lot responsibility for a real grown up. Do you think that you can handle it?" Kai gently tapped the tip of Sona's nose and received sniffling giggle.
"U-Uh-huh, I promise…" Sona wiped her tears away and happily looked up at her smirking older brother-in-law.
"Perfect because I'm not going to be around as much as should for a while. It could take weeks to months what I have planned for my travels around the Underworld and human world, and I just needed a set for life babysitter. Thanks, Sona." Kai winked but winced a bit as he was surprisingly harmed by an elbow from an unamused little Sona.
Okay, he deserved that.
Shura's laughter filled the room at the apparent pain that his father witness. Sona could only laugh with the baby while Kai gave a resigned smile and shrugged. If the baby found violence that enjoyable than it definitely was his kid.
"Hey…Shura." Sona cooed as the baby happily smiled at her, "I-Its nice to meet you. From now on, let's get along okay?"
"…K…" Sona's eyes bulged out as she could have sworn that she just heard the infant just agree with her, but like always Kai was paying attention. Apparently, he had fallen asleep just as she began talking to baby.
Or was he? The older man peeked through an open eyelid once before finally settling down to rest and leave the new aunt and nephew to their business.
There was nothing to worry about, unlike him, his son will actually have a stable family relationship that didn't involve having to live with a bunch of impulsive monkeys on some mystical mountain. Monkeys like him.
XXX
Present
XXX
"M-My promise…I'm k-keeping it, see?"
"Ngh…auuuugh!" Rias gagged and choked as her eyes were close to vanishing back past her eyelids and embracing the numb embrace of unconsciousness.
"I d-did it…" Sona relished the moment for as long as she could as her eyes fell and imagined the moment of her victory play itself in her head as her mind echoed the announcement, she so desperately wanted to hear.
*THUD!*
*SHIIIIIIINE!*
A bright light enveloped a portion of the ruined roof as only one [King] was left remaining on the field.
[The game is settled. Sona Sitri-sama has resigned. Rias Gremory-sama is the victor.]
Sadly for Sona, her mind's imagination was so much crueler than harsh reality.
クリエイターの想い 
Retribrutus
Retribrutus Next Chapter- The Aftermath! Recovering, networking with gods, and returning home to witness a special proposal…
Now before I get into things let me just say this.
FUCK THIS ENTIRE RATING GAME!
I'm sorry but I have to get this off my chest. I started this part of the arc years ago and had to slog through just finish it and make it perfect enough to update.
So, you'll all be surprised how relieved I am to be done with this and actually move on to the other meat and potatoes for the story. But first how did you guys like how this chapter was more fast paced than the others. I decided against padding things out just to make things more dramatic but I'm sure the message got across either way.
Like me giving Sona more of a reason to create her own Academy. Just because her hybrid nephew was a victim of petty Underworld politics trying to ruin his chances of a future to be an heir to the Sitri family. Personally, I felt like I needed to express more of this fic's version of Sona and how she's affected by Kai and Shura's presence.
Also just because I know people will ask just read Chapter 23 and you'll be reminded who Shura is. I'll even include the title: "Red vs. White Round 1, and Open House Madness!"
There. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to write a Sekirei fic and plan for DxD's fics new chapter where I introduce the demi-gods, the cast finally meeting with Rossweisse and addressing the BIG elephant in the room concerning Michael's attempted use of "that" Drive.
I'm Out so Peace Out and have a lovely day!
週次パワーステータス
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