บท 128: Opening ceremony
Rias stood in the stadium looking out at all the other teams, amazed at who was participating. There were several gods attending as kings, Indra and Mahabali for the most extreme example, plus those who were participating as pieces, like Typhon's team that had Apollon, Vidar, and Artemis in it. There was even Sun Wukong's team, that was filled with the the original members of the story "Journey to the West". She then heard some of her team members talking behind her.
"There's a lot of people here, right president?" The new addition just for the tournament, Ouryuu Nakiri asked Xenovia. He was a temporary pawn of her team, that was also part of the new student council under Xenovia. He was the next head of the Nakiri clan, while he also inherited the sacred beast Huang Long, and surprisingly he took five pawn pieces. Xenovia nodded to his question and said,
"Indeed, but I can see some people we know, there's the former president over there, as well as Ravel, and I can see Sairaorg and Vali over there." As she spoke someone else spoke up,
"Theres also the trump card of heaven, Dulio, over there president." This speaker was the noble pure breed vampire also on the student council, Millarca Vordenburg. Similar to Nakiri, she was also a temporary pawn, however she only took one piece. This left Rias with only two pawn pieces missing for the tournament. Then Akeno spoke up,
"But I don't see Alex anywhere, also I don't see anyone who could be his queen present either." Rias was silent, as she was aware that her sister was most likely going to be Alex's queen, but didn't share that information due to the current circumstances. It had been a week since she and Millicas disappeared, and the higher ups were still looking for both of them. Then Kiba spoke up,
"But it's amazing that they changed the rules so much for this tournament, we can even change our pieces if we wanted." Rias smiled at him and asked,
"Does that mean you want to be a rook Kiba?" The handsom knight grimaced while he shook his head and said,
"I'm fine, with my instincts I don't think I could just stand there and trust my defense." Rias smiled again, and looked around once more for Alex. It wasn't much longer when people started pointing at something in the sky. When Rias looked up as well, her face started twitching when she saw what was coming.
Flying in over the stadium was a giant ship with the figurehead of a dragon as well as a scale-like pattern on the sail. Several people were standing on the deck, and they all jumped off when they were over the stadium, while the ship shrank to the size of a toy. As they all landed, whispers spread throughout all the participants when they saw it was Alex. Standing to his side was what seemed to be a woman, who was wearing both a mask and a cloak, so it was hard to see her identity. Behind him was a group of four people and a giant dragon.
"Hey, sorry we're late." Was all Alex said as he walked up to them. Rias glared at him slightly for showing off, but smiled after a moment, before asking,
"So what was the point of arriving while riding here on Zenith?" Alex smirked at her question. By Zenith she was obviously referring to the familiar he got from Surtr before. He then replied,
"I simply wanted to make a flashy entrance. Theatrics and performance can go a long way, now people would remember us simply because we stood out during the opening ceremony." Rias groaned when she heard his reasoning, but didn't say anything more. At that moment several people walked over.
"Of course the one I want to beat would make this kind of entrance." Cao Cao said as he arrived.
"I'm looking forward to our rematch, this time it won't be so one sided." Sairaorg declared. Vali also made his way over with Kuroka behind him,
"If you lose to either of these two then I'll be sorely disappointed in my rival." Alex laughed at Vali's words and replied,
"I'll expect to see you in the final round, and we'll settle the fight we started before." Hearing his words Vali had a giant smile, as he was filled with anticipation. Everyone then dispersed as they waited for the opening ceremony to start. Alex looked back at his team, confidence in his eye.
Out of his eight team members, six were present. The other two were his hidden cards, so he didn't bring them as only the king or queen was needed for the opening ceremony. His queen was of course Grayfia, but she wore a mask and had the alias Bina Lessthan. Since the government was currently looking for her they also turned her hair brown for during the games.
His rooks were Bova, the son of Tannin, and Vasco Strada of the church. Bova was practically weeping with joy when Alex confirmed him as part of his team, and swore to follow him forever. Strada was hesitant at first due to his age, though he actually wanted to help Alex as thanks for resolving the negative feelings of those in heaven without any bloodshed. Then Alex asked Valerie about regressing his age a bit as that was the way Rias convinced him, but found out she was part of Ravel's team. She was more than happy to help him though, and Ravel said since she wasn't Valerie's master she couldn't stop her.
Then his knights were the possessor of incinerate anthem, Lint Sellzan, and the ace of Michael, Irina. As reincarnated Angels they were both users of light attacks, and with their training they were both capable sword users. However Lint also used a gun that fired light bullets, while also possessing the purifying fire of incinerate anthem. Irina had also gotten a promotion from heaven to a four winged angel, even if she couldn't be considered a powerhouse, she was still strong compared to the average person.
Then his present pawn was Elmenhilde, the pure blood vampire. His other pawn, who was currently going as Mister Black, had taken six pawn spots compared to the eight he originally thought, so he gave one of the extras to Elmenhilde and was left with one more.
Finally left was his only bishop, who was using the alias Miss Sapphire for the time being. From what Alex understood in the rules, the idea of one person using two pieces had been abolished, and they would only use one spot unless they were God class beings. The main example of this was Kuroka, who originally was worth two bishop pieces, but for the tournament she was worth only one.
The exception to this was the pawn pieces, as it would be a disaster if the powerful people only got put into pawn positions, and they all promoted to queens. For example Ouryuu took five spots as he was worth that much, instead of just one to make room for four more equally powerful people.
They could also switch current servants to another position for the duration of the match. For example Kiba could register as a rook, and once the match started he would have his knight traits removed and they would be replaced with the power of a rook. Once the match ended they would be switched back.
Alex was thinking about this and other rules when a voice echoed out,
"WELCOME ALL TO THE OFFICIAL START OF THE AZAZEL CUP!"
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