DxD - Game Master - Chapter 11 (Patreon)

Ryuji flopped onto his side and slapped his alarm clock. He really didn't want to roll out of his bed. It was the single most comfortable bed in all of existence. At least, he was pretty certain it was. It was something new he'd realized about his abilities. He was constantly learning about new things to do with them and the creation of this ultimate bed was the most recent.

He already knew he could make pretty much anything he wanted within his scenarios as long as he had enough demonic power to make it. Obviously a bed would take very little power to make, not even worth mentioning really. Hell, the city scenario he kept sending Rias to had hundreds of beds inside of it alone.

After his discussion with Serfall about his newly changed status, he'd had a thought. What would happen if he put more than the minimal amount of magic needed to make something? So, he experimented. The result? The more magic he put in above the minimum required amount improved the quality of the end product. So, he wondered, if a normal bed that was as comfortable as any modern bed only took a sliver of power, how much better would it be if he used all of his power?

The answer? GODLY.

The first time he lay on that bed he'd been unable to keep in the moan of sheer pleasure he felt as it perfectly cradled him. It reminded him of old commercials where they claimed sleeping on their mattress was like sleeping on a cloud. It felt like he was being cradled in a fluffy warm cloud. But... An intrusive thought made him get off of the bed and dismiss it. After all, if a bed made with his full power was that comfortable, how much more comfortable would it be if he doubled his power and made a new one?

The answer? He didn't even remember falling asleep. He slept through the entire night without waking to change positions once. He'd still be sleeping if the alarm hadn't woken him up.

Ryuji climbed out of the heavenly bed, still fully dressed and yet feeling the most rested he ever had, and looked at his creation, “You're very dangerous. You've also completely ruined every other bed for me. I don't think I could ever sleep in anything else again.”

He was actually a little scared of what might happen if he used even more power to make the bed even more comfortable. It might turn from a boon into a curse. He could end up making a bed so comfortable that anyone who fell asleep on it would never awaken, not for anything short of being dragged out of it.

The very idea of something like that sent a shiver down his spine. Though... well, it could make for an interesting trap in a scenario. Something to keep in mind. Enhanced items of comfort could also make good rewards. A futon as comfortable as the bed he made would make any person exceptionally happy. After all, who didn't enjoy being comfortable?

He nodded to himself and made his way out of the small bedroom scenario and into his Home Base. He didn't feel safe sleeping inside of his apartment anymore. Not with how easily he believed the devils could let themselves in. It would still function as his address and 'home' but he wouldn't do anything inside of it but enter and exit his Home Base.

Granted, with his power he didn't need an actual home. He could open his Home Base anywhere at any time and make a scenario within it that met any needs he had. He could live in the most opulent mansion in existence made of nothing but pure gold, if he wanted. He didn't. He considered himself a man of simple tastes. Aside from a monstrous craving for anything that will give him more power, he didn't need anything extravagant. He was the kind of man that could be a billionaire and would still live in a modest house while driving a nice, non-super, car.

Speaking of having anything he wanted, he opened his closet scenario. Within it he could make any clothing he needed or retrieve clothing that his Tailor NPC had made for him. In this case it was for the latter. He had a plan for today, one he knew was driven by his greed, and a small bit of fear. Regardless of the drive behind it, he had a goal to accomplish and he needed to dress properly for the role he intended to play.

He would prefer to go watch the rating game wearing a comfortable outfit of jeans and a t-shirt, but that would be insulting to Rias. Possibly insulting to other people too but he didn't care about their opinions. So, to show his support, he dressed nicely, in a custom tailored version of his school uniform made out of high quality materials. He couldn't remember exactly what the material was. Something like Fire Cotton, maybe? Either way, the important part was that it was flame retardant.

Well, it was actually fire proof against mundane flames, something he was sure firefighters would give their eye teeth for. It was only fire retardant against magical flames. Which were the only kind of flames that really mattered to Ryuji anyway.

Once dressed, and after eating a hearty breakfast, he left his apartment and made his way toward Kuoh Academy like a normal person. He might be a part of the supernatural world now, but he didn't feel like taking a short cut to get there faster. His wonderful nights sleep had put him in a great mood and he wanted to enjoy the fresh air.

Sadly, the walk ended all too soon with him arriving at the gates of the school. This was just the meeting place, the rating game would take place elsewhere. Unfortunately, that meant heading to the one room on the campus he had been doing his absolute best to avoid, the Student Council offices. He would much rather hang out in the ORC rooms, but Rias had said he wasn't allowed back there until the rating game was over.

He, unwillingly, made his way directly to the student council rooms. As a minor show of petulance, he didn't knock and just directly opened the door. His actions earned him some disapproving looks, but he just brushed them aside and walked into the room. Sona pushed her glasses up causing the lenses to flare. Instead of reprimanding him, she said, “You're just in time Okane-san. We'll be moving to the venue shortly. Make yourself comfortable. While we wait, would you like some tea?”

Ryuji kept his face carefully blank as he declined the offer of tea. Sona was still coming off as weird to him and he didn't like it one bit. The silence quickly became awkward as Sona clearly struggled to find some topic to fill the silence. Ryuji didn't mind the silence, he preferred it honestly, so he did and said nothing to encourage conversation.

Thankfully the moment didn't last long. A look at the clock on the wall had Sona standing and moving to one side of the room. A quick spell revealed a well hidden teleportation circle. Everyone in the room carefully stepped onto the circle, trying not to crowd each other. In a flash of blue light they all teleported into the Underworld.

When the blue light of the Sitri sigil faded away, Ryuji found himself staring at an eclectic group of individuals. He only recognized two from personal experience but could guess who some of the others were. The older man with long red hair and expensive looking robes was very clearly Sirzechs Lucifer. He had no idea who the man with slicked back green hair next to him was though. Grayfia at Sirzechs other side was easily recognizable. There was also a bald man off to the side sleeping that he had zero clue about. The older man and woman with golden blond hair were most likely Riser's parents. He assumed the two people standing deferentially behind them were members of their peerages.

As he looked over the people within the lounge, he was also receiving quite a few looks in return. Especially from the pair that were likely Riser's parents. He could understand their slight surprise at his appearance. After all, standing so close to Sirzechs he could see that there was a fair resemblance between them. Both their hair and skin tone were a perfect match for each other and he was nearly as tall as Sirzechs as well. Even more, his physique had rapidly developed with the combination of gravity training, regenerative healing magic, and stamina potions. He'd gone from somewhat athletic to a very well muscled young man clearly brimming with strength.

The man Ryuji assumed to be Lord Phenex spoke up, breaking the silence that had descended as everyone awake studied Ryuji, “Lucifer-sama, who is that young man? His resemblance is...”

He trailed off but it didn't take a genius to figure out where he'd been going with the statement. Sirzechs laughed lightly, “Just a coincidence, I assure you. The young man in question is Okane Ryuji-san, Rias's contracted Magician.”

“He looks...”

Sirzechs cut Lord Phenex off, “I am aware, but his past has been fully vetted and I can assure you there is no relation between him and the house of Gremory. His looks are pure coincidence.”

Lord Phenex still didn't look convinced and Ryuji couldn't blame the man. Standing there even Ryuji himself would wonder if he was somehow related to Sirzechs. The similarities between himself and Rias were there but seeing Sirzechs up close and in person... Well, he honestly wouldn't be surprised if there was some ancestor of the Gremory Clan that got it on with one of his own ancestors.

Of course, the phantom laughter he could swear was coming from deep in the depths of his mind meant that's exactly what the Bartender had intended when he'd made Ryuji's new body and life. He really wondered what that Bartender was thinking giving him such specific looks.

…

It also made him realize that he really needed to hide the fact that he was a half-devil capable of using the Power of Destruction a secret, big time. A single wisp of the PoD and he would find himself labeled as Sirzechs bastard son and nothing he could say or do would make people think otherwise.Thankfully, that didn't mean he had to change any of his plans for today. He still had plenty of tools at his disposal.

Lord and Lady Phenex didn't look convinced, but Ryuji's modified cloaking spell was currently hiding his race as well as his true power. It had only taken him a few minutes to modify the base spell after his chat with Serafall the night before. He was exceptionally happy that he'd taken the time to do so. Having everyone in the room sensing he was a devil, or half-devil, would definitely make things even more awkward than they currently were.

Thankfully, the moment was interrupted by a massive screen lighting up and showing a view of the Kuoh Academy grounds. Unlike how it was when he left, the grounds on the screen were as dark as they would be at midnight. A moment later the single image split into three. The left showed Riser and his entire peerage, all fifteen members, the middle continued to show the school grounds, and the right showed Rias sitting in the ORC room with her three peerage members.

Grayfia spoke up, “I must depart to begin my announcements.”

After she gave the room in general a polite bow, she teleported out of the room. Everyone focused on the screen in front of them. Moments later they could hear Grayfia's voice coming from the speakers around the room, “Welcome everyone. I am Grayfia, servant of the House of Gremory, and I have been assigned to be the referee for the House of Gremory and the House of Phenex.”

While she spoke everyoen began finding spot to sit and watch the match from. Ryuji could see that the Phenex couple didn't seem even the least bit worried or concerned over the match. He couldn't get a read on Sirzechs or the still introduced man with green hair. Serafall... was focused on the snacks that had been provided. Well, it wasn't like she had a stake in this match. While Rias was Sona's best friend, it was only Sona that mattered to Serafall.

Grayfia's voice continued her pre-game announcements, “For this battlefield, I took the suggestions of Lady Rias and Lord Riser, and prepared a replica of Kuoh Academy, the educational facility that Lady Rias attends in the human realm. The places to which both sides have been relocated will serve as their home bases. Lady Rias your home base is the Occult Research Club in the old schoolhouse. Lord Riser's home base will be the principal's office, in the new schoolhouse. As such, promotion will become possible for pawns once they make their way into each others' schoolhouses.”

Ryuji felt a flash of guilt at the mention of pawn promotions. Due to his actions, Rias had no pawns. He still didn't feel guilty about what happened, and questioned if he should or not at times. For the moment though, he did feel a little guilty about making things that much harder for Rias. On the other hand, he'd spent the last ten days working with her and her peerage to make them as strong as he possibly could over those few days. He just hoped it would be enough for her to win this match.

He was drawn back to the present by Grayfia's voice, “Alright then, Game Start!”

As soon as the last word fell, the massive screen split into over a dozen screens, each showing a different person participating in the game. He focused on Rias as she began giving out directions to her peerage, “Kiba, trap the woods around us. I don't want a single person to be capable of getting through them without at least alerting us. Return here when you've finished.”

Kiba nodded seriously and took off at his top speed. Ryuji smirked as he heard gasps of surprise from a couple of the people watching. He was surprised when it was Lord Phenex who spoke, “Well, this might not be as completely one sided as expected. That knight of hers is at least High Class from that speed alone.”

Ryuji smirked but kept any comments to himself. His eyes practically glowed with mirth as the next moment there were sounds of confusion as Kiba ran through the woods constantly making copies of a weird looking sword with a bulbous handle that would be completely annoying for anyone to even attempt to hold. When a camera zoomed in on one and showed the sword Kiba was stabbing into the ground blade first in detail, there was a grunt from the green haired man next to Sirzechs. Lord Phenex, looked over and asked, “Do you understand something about what we're seeing Lord Beelzebub?”

Ryuji looked over at the green haired man in surprise. Beezlebub? So there were three of the four Satans in charge of the underworld in the room with him? If he didn't have Serafall's word on his safety through their deal, he'd leave right then and there, screw his plans.

Ajuka Beezlebub nodded, “Yes. The handles of those swords are based on a human weapon known as a grenade. It's an explosive device specifically designed to send out shards of shrapnel. Though the design of those swords is different from anything I've seen in the human world.”

Lord Phenex scoffed derisively, “Human weapons? How worthless.”

Ryuji had to fight hard not to smirk at Lord Phenex's ignorance of the human world. Just as Ajuka had said, those grenade handled swords were not just simple explosive devices. They were something Ryuji had helped Kiba come up with by questioning him about Sword Birth, Kiba's kick-ass Sacred Gear. The blond knight might have thought it wasn't really anything special, but Ryuji had seen limitless potential within the seemingly simple Sacred Gear.

Honestly, he didn't know what people were thinking when they classified a Sacred Gear as broken as Sword Birth as 'mid-tier'. The goddamn thing could literally make any kind of bladed weapon that could be recognized as a sword and give those weapons inherent magical abilities. The only limitation was the creators imagination and magical power. Kiba had a distinct lack of imagination, so Ryuji happily supplied him with many suggestions.

In this case, the Grenade Blade. It was just a sword with a magically enhanced explosive device for a handle. Oh, and it was proximity triggered. Anyone not recognized as an ally by Kiba would trigger them by getting too close. The explosions produced by the swords were massive and filled a huge area with deadly shrapnel. By the time most people would notice the forest green bulbous handle sticking out of the ground, it was too late.

While Kiba was setting up their defenses, Riser had sent out his group of pawns, and only his pawns, to take out the three pieces of Rias's peerage. He was completely ignoring any advice that his sister Ravel attempted to give him. He was clearly convinced that he could easily win due to the sheer difference in the number of members between their peerages. Just his pawns made it nearly a three to one fight against Rias's peerage. Then he literally had twice the number of Rooks and Knights as Rias. His thoughts on his chances weren't necessarily wrong, and his thoughts on how little strength they could have gained from training weren't either.

He just failed to take into account how much help Ryuji had provided the group. The benefits of the gravity training could not be underestimated. Frankly, the gains for them under the gravity circle had been ridiculous. They weren't Goku on his way to Namek, but it was damned close!

Kiba returned to the ORC room before Riser's pawns were even half way there. The Pawns were clearly taking their time and not taking the match very seriously. They were confident they could handle themselves in an eight on three battle.

Eleven days ago, they would have probably been closer to right than wrong.

Rias's next move was pretty simple, she didn't have enough pieces for complex plans unfortunately. She sent Akeno out as air support while Kiba and Koneko would move out on the ground together. Koneko would be acting as the scout to hunt down anyone sent out by Riser so she and Kiba could take them out together. Akeno was to provide backup and keep an eye out for Riser's Queen. Out of all of his peerage members, Yubelluna the 'Bomb Queen' was his most dangerous.

Meanwhile, Rias herself climbed onto the top of the old schoolhouse roof and looked over the battlefield. She had assigned herself as the base guard and additional backup.

As the eight pawns of Riser got closer to the old school building they split into four pairs to cover more ground and up their chances of slipping past any opposition. Their goal was to get promoted to Queens as soon as possible. No matter what tricks their opponents might have, they figured they could overcome it with the sheer power that up to eight additional Queens could bring to the table.

Ile and Nel, twins sisters with light green hair wearing an outfit that mimicked a school students gym clothes, white shirts and blue bloomers, while wielding chainsaws as weapons, took the most direct path toward the old school building. They didn't even notice the handle of the Grenade Blade hidden in the darkness and camouflaged by its color. They didn't even have time to comprehend what happened as the sword detonated.

Everyone in the rating game froze as they all heard the explosion within the woods. Those nearby even felt it as the shock wave traveled through the air.

“Lord Riser's two pawns have been retired.”

Grayfia's announcement brought everyone back into the present. Rias had a small smirk on her lips at the announcement. In her mind it was just one more thing the owed to Ryuji. Kiba had been to single minded and straightforward with his Sacred Gear. Just a few questions from Ryuji had him thinking of different possibilities that had greatly increased the arsenal Kiba could bring to their fight.

Riser, meanwhile, just chuckled lightly at the loss of two of his pawns. He expected he would lose a few pieces in the match. He didn't completely dismiss Rias's peerage as entirely useless. Akeno, after all, was nearly as famous as his own Queen and hadn't participated in a single rating game yet! He knew that the 'Thunder Priestess' would become even more famous in a year or so when Rias could participate in ratings games officially.

Risers six remaining Pawns began to move once again. Unfortunately, the two dressed as maids, Marion and Burent, triggered another one of Kiba's Grenade Swords. A massive explosion shook the area once and was soon followed by Grayfia's cold voice, “Lord Riser's two pawns have been retired.”

Riser arched an eyebrow but still wasn't bothered. He casually waved his hand toward his younger sister, Ravel, “Call back the others. Clearly Rias has her base well protected. There's no point in risking the others.”

Ravel nodded and quickly called for the retreat. Riser smirked and wondered what Rias's next move would be as he sat comfortable in his highly fortified position.

Rias, using a magical communication device, addressed her team, “Akeno, what's it look like out there?”

“The remaining Pawns are retreating. It appears they're being directed to the gym rather than back to their main base.”

“Excellent. Yuuto, send Akeno her tool. Akeno, once you have it, destroy the gym.”

Kiba and Akeno acknowledged their orders. Kiba's was pretty simple. Before their training he'd already been capable of making swords that could create or eliminate elements. For example, his Flame Delete could, well, delete flames it came in contact with. When he learned that, Ryuji had asked Kiba if he could make swords that amplified specific elements. That one question led Kiba down a road of self questioning and opened up the possibility for the creation of the sword he was now summoning into existence. In a flash of light he was holding a sword that looked more like a stylized lightning bolt made of gold and silver.

With the sword created, he focused on where Akeno was and threw the sword directly at her. Already well prepared to receive the item, Akeno was more than prepared to catch it out of the air. Even if she hadn't been completely ready, the sword wasn't all that dangerous by itself. The edges were dull and only the point was remotely dangerous. It wasn't a sword meant for slashing as Akeno was very much not a swords-woman. As soon as her fingers curled around the handle of the sword it began to ominously spark with electricity.

With a deafening crack of thunder that shook the entire rating game arena, a massive pillar of blinding light descended on the gym and wiped it from existence. By the time anyone looking in that direction blinked the spots out of their eyes, there was nothing left but a smoldering crater. Akeno was giggling perversely as the Sword of Lightning, so named by Kiba, disintegrated in her hands.

“Lord Riser's four pawns have been retired.”

There was dead silence in the room filled with observers. Lord Phenex looked the most surprised out of everyone present. He, like his son, had expected the Gremory Heiress to put up a bit of a fight. What he had not expected was the, so far, one sided beating that his son was taking. He grit his teeth and looked over at where Ryuji was calmly sitting with a knowing smirk on his face. Lord Phenex did not approve of the weak little human being allowed, but he could say nothing against it as the boy was Rias's contracted Magician and here at her request.

He'd heard of the boy from Riser when he'd returned home from scheduling the rating game. They had both agreed that one pathetic human magician couldn't do anything to change the odds of the rating game. After all, if the magician was worth anything then he would have surely been recruited into Rias's peerage.

Now he was no longer so certain. He turned his attention away from the human and focused back on the game. Even if the girl had defeated all of Riser's pawns, he still had all of his more powerful pieces. There was still no chance for the Gremory girl to get out of the engagement.

Ryuji smirked as he watched a heavily panting and flushed Akeno fish a mana potion out of her uniform and drink it down. By his estimates she hadn't used all that much power to level the building, but clearly she planned to keep her reserves topped up at all times.

Lord Risers voice broke through the silence of the room, “What did Rias's Queen just drink? That wasn't a Phoenix Tear.”

Serafall was the one to answer him, “From the looks of it, I believe it was a Mana Potion. Though I am unsure of what tier it was.”

“Minor.”

All eyes in the room turned to focus on Ryuji. He smiled, “I was around when they got it.”

Lord Phenex narrowed his eyes as he ground out, “And just what, exactly, is a Mana Potion?”

Serafall fielded that question, “It's a potion that restores Demonic Power when consumed. They've been studied and found to be harmless by Ajuka-chan.”

Lord Phenex looked like he'd sucked on a lemon but was smart enough not to protest. It wasn't against the rules as there were no rules for anything potion-like but Phoenix Tears. Until new rules were introduced to regulate them, they were free to use. Any complaint he made would be dismissed and there was nothing he could do about that. Better to remain silent then make a pointless gesture and waste his time and breath.

On one portion of the screen Riser actually looked a little annoyed at the complete loss of all of his Pawns without them taking out even a single member of Rias's peerage. Losing four at once in a single attack was also not a good look for him. He still wasn't worried, just mildly annoyed that Rias was putting up much more of a fight than he was expecting. It was time for that to change, “Yubelluna,” He addressed his Queen, “go take care of the Thunder Priestess.”

Yubelluna was a voluptuous woman with long, wavy purple hair that fell all the way down her back and matching eyes. At the front, the right side of her hair fell over her breast and covered her right eye, while the left side fell near the top of her skirt. She gave her King a nod and a confident smile as she made her way out of the building.

Riser turned to his remaining pieces, “I want the rest of you to take out her other two pieces.” His gaze focused on his two Kinghts, Rooks, and Bishops, “Do not play around with them. Just finish them off so we can end this farce.”

He got nods all around from them before they swiftly left the room and made their way outside where they split up into three groups. Oddly enough, the groups were split along their piece types. The two Knights split off to hunt down the enemy Knight. The two Rooks split off to find the enemy Rook. Lasly, the two Bishops looked for a good spot they could use to quickly come and reinforce whomever ran into an enemy first.

Yubelluna flew through the air making directly for her target. It wasn't exactly difficult to spot Akeno when she was flying in the air wearing an eye catching outfit with a bright white top and bright red bottom. She definitely stuck out. It made Yubelluna's job all the easier. Without a warning of any kind, she attacked. Akeno didn't have time to react as a purple magic circle appeared directly in front of her and immediately detonated with the power of a large bomb.

Ryuji noticed the slight smirk sported by Lord Phenex when the bomb magic detonated and covered the screen in smoke, hiding Akeno from view. He bit his tongue to keep from laughing at the look on the mans face when the smoke cleared shortly after to reveal a slightly ruffled, but otherwise unharmed, Akeno.

Akeno, like all Queens, had all the properties of the other pieces in a peerage. More specifically, she had the durability of a Rook. However, she, like many Queens, had previously neglected her physical attributes to focus almost solely on her magical abilities. This left her with a defense that, proportional to their strength, was weaker than Konekos. The only thing making Akeno more durable than Koneko had been her greater Demonic Power.

At least, that's how it was before their training session. Once more, the gravity training came to her rescue. As she grew physically stronger and more durable from the strenuous strength exercises they all participated in. Now, at the same level of power, she would be just as durable as Koneko making her even more durable at her current peak power.

The defensive trinkets she had from his scenarios need not be mentioned as they weren't all that great, just a little bonus on top of what was already there.

If Lord Phenex looked put out by Akeno barely being scratched, Yubelluna looked downright flabbergasted. All things considered, Yubelluna figured that she and Akeno should have been near equals, despite the difference in age and experience. She'd even put more into that explosion than she usually would in case it was necessary. Clearly she should have put in even more power but it was too late for regrets.

Akeno lifted her hand to her lips and giggled in a rather perverse way, “Ara ara, what a lovely hello. Let me return your greeting!”

Yubelluna didn't even have the time to register what Akeno had said before a lightning bolt ripped through the air and slammed into her chest. The powerful spell poured through her body setting her nerves on fire. Her eyes opened wide as she silently screamed in agony. Akeno gave her no quarter as she continued to rain painful blasts of lightning onto her over and over again. Yubelluna's eyes rolled up into the back of her head as she fainted from the sheer agony of the attacks.

“Lord Riser's Queen has been retired.”

Ryuji grimaced a little at what he'd just witnessed. He felt a little bad for Yubelluna being the first target of Akeno's Nerve Lightning, a creation of his specifically for her. He'd designed a lightning spell that targeted the unlucky person's nerves and lit them on fire with pure pain. It dealt some damage, but it was more of a torture spell than any kind of attack spell. He'd designed it with overcoming Phenex regeneration in mind, not torturing Yubelluna into passing out. Despite it being a not so nice spell, he found it kind of rewarding to see it in effect. It probably helped that the spell didn't leave any lasting damage on the body, just bad memories.

His gaze moved to a section of the screen where he saw Kiba being confronted by Riser's pair of Knights. Kiba drew the simple sword he always carried as his default, his Sword of Sharpness. He'd swap it for something else once he got a feel for the two he was fighting and could create a proper sword to counter them efficiently.

Karlamine a young woman with light brown hair and green eyes, stepped forward first. Her outfit consisted of a full set of silver armor with black accents that appeared to be a cross between a European Knight, her chest plate, gauntlets and greaves, and a Japanese Samurai, her hip plates and shoulder guards, and wore a headband that went across her hair and forehead. She was equipped with a broadsword and a dagger, both of which were held with brown belts slung across her hips. With a look of confidence she drew her broadsword and pointed it at Kiba, “I challenge you as a fellow Knight!”

Kiba, honorable warrior that he was, would have accepted the duel challenge regardless, but in this case it worked in his favor as it turned his two-on-one fight into two one-on-one fights. He slowly drew his sword and held it in both hands, “I accept.”

Siris, a tall young woman with long black hair with a dark blue tint and brown eyes, stepped to the side with her arms crossed under he breasts. Her hair featured five thin ponytails going around her head, which are held up by a golden hair accessory on top of her head. Her outfit consisted of a white top with black accents that is modeled after a Chinese cheongsam, red shorts, and armored, knee-high boots with matching gauntlets. The top featured a diamond shape on the chest area, giving view of her breasts and cleavage which suddenly looked more prodigious with her arms supporting them. A little temptation aimed at Kiba that could possibly give her partner Karlamine better odds of winning.

Kiba, holding his sword steady but aimed at Karlamine spoke, “I am Kiba Yuuto, a Knight of Gremory Rias, who do I have the honor of facing?”

Karlamine puffed up a bit and smiled happily as someone going along with her for once, “I am Karalmine, a Knight of Riser Phenex. The honor is mine.”

The next moment both of them became barely more than moving blurs as they used their speed to fight. With both of them being Knights, it was to be expected. Siris could easily keep track of the fight due to being a Knight herself. She found herself giving Kiba some silent approval for his skill with a sword. It was soon clear that he was better with a blade than Karlamine was. However, Karlamine was just as obviously faster than Kiba. It made the fight between them rather even.

Their blades clashed together and with a sound like glass breaking, Kiba's sword shattered into pieces. The two combatants came to a stop with Karlamina pointing her broadsword directly at Kiba, “It looks like this will be my win.”

Kiba, clearly unconcered with the loss of his sword, tossed the handle and remains of the blade away where it broke into little motes of light, “Is that what it looks like?”

The next instant there was a flash of light as a new sword appeared in his hand. The new sword was clearly very different from the first one. The new sword looked similar to his previous one, being a long sword with a handle long enough to grip with both hands. Even the coloration was similar. The main difference was that the sword gave off a light buzzing sound.

“Lord Riser's Rook has been retired.”

The end of that announcement turned into the starting signal as the two Knights dashed toward each other and swung their swords. The outcome of the clash was nothing like the previous ones. This time Kiba's new sword sliced through Karlamine's blade as if it were made of tofu. There was hardly any sound as his blade easily sheared through her sword, destroying it. Karlamine was too shocked by the easy destruction of her sword to put up a defense when Kiba's blade came to rest at her throat. The edge of his sword just barely touched her skin yet the sharpness of the blade still easily gave her a small cut that let a drop of blood trickle down her neck.

Kiba calmly spoke to her, “I believe that is my win. I would appreciate it if you would retire now so I don't have to become more violent than necessary.”

Karlamine didn't get a chance to answer as Siris took that moment to attack. Siris came charging in from the side wielding a giant Zweihänder with a black blade that had a silver edge, black hilt, and red handle. While Karlamine was a noble Knight, Siris was more willing to just do what her master ordered her to do. However, she was friends with Karlimine and was willing to let the other girl have her noble match. At least, she was until it became clear Karlamine was going to lose and be retired. She couldn't allow Riser to lose any more pieces in a match that should have been a complete one sided slaughter.

Kiba, glanced at Siris as he felt her coming. He sighed in his mind. He much preferred a one-on-one battle as Karlamine gave him, but he was more than capable of handling both of them at the same time. Since Siris wanted to join in, it was time for him to stop holding back. Kiba instantly vanished from Siris' vision as he moved at a speed more than double what he had previously shown.

Siris only had enough time for her eyes to widen in shock before she felt a cold sensation coming from her stomach. She looked down only to see the point of a blood covered blade sticking out from her stomach. To a human, such a wound would be fatal without immediate medical attention. For a devil, it was definitely debilitating, but wasn't life threatening on its own. What it was though was enough for the Rating Game system to kick in. Siris began to glow blue before she vanished and Grayfia's voice echoed over the field, “Lord Riser's Knight has been retired.”

Kiba flicked his sword to the side relieving it of Siris' blood. He focused his blue eyes on Karlamine as he asked, “Will you be retiring yourself, or shall I do it for you?”

Karlamine looked at where Siris had been just a moment before, the sight of her being run through still crystal clear in Karlamine's minds eye. She shuddered at the thought of being skewered herself and recalled she'd already lost to him once. With reluctance clear on her face, she quietly called out, “I retire.”

As she vanished in the same blue light as Siris, Grayfia once more announced, “Lord Riser's Knight has retired.”

Kiba turned to continue the battle by looking for another opponent when a massive wave of fire came from his side. He barely had time to notice it before the powerful flames slammed into him and sent his body through the air. When he crashed to the ground he rolled to bleed of the momentum from the attack. He slowly pushed himself up, his sword lost in his tumble, with his clothing still smoking from the heat of the attack.

There, standing across the small clearing he'd been fighting in were two more opponents.

“Lord Riser's Rook has been retired.”

Well, at least it seemed like Koneko was doing good.

-----Line Break-----

Koneko moved off on her own looking for opponents just as Kiba had. It didn't matter to her who she would be facing, she would fight to the best of her abilities to protect Rias from Riser. It didn't hurt her motivation that getting Rias free of Riser would mean her own freedom as well.

She came to a quick stop when she picked up an unfamiliar scent near the tennis courts. It didn't take more than a moment for her to pinpoint the two girls walking across the courts, clearly looking for a fight. Koneko knew who they were, Isabela and Xuelan, Riser's two Rooks. Rias had made them study his peerage extensively to know who they were facing when the time came. Che could tell they were pretty strong, just not as strong as her. Fighting both at once might be more difficult though.

The first of her opponents to spot her was the one in the blue Cheongsam that specialized in Chinese Kung Fu, Xuelan.

Xuelan was a well-endowed young woman of Chinese descent with shoulder-length black hair and blue-green eyes. Her hair had two Chinese-style buns on both sides of her head, while the front featured bangs that form a slight V-shape across her forehead. Her outfit consisted of a navy blue qipao with gold accents, a white sash around her stomach, and black, low-heeled shoes. The qipao was open at the chest area, giving view to Xuelan's breasts and cleavage. She also wears black armguards over her forearms.

For some reason Ryuji referred to her as 'the Chun Lee knock off'. None of them understood what was clearly a reference of some kind. The woman next to Xuelan was Isabela, a voluptuous woman with short, light brown hair with three red highlights scattered along her brow, and gray eyes. She wore a plain white mask which covered the right side of her face. Her outfit consisted of a black jacket and matching jeans. The jacket had wide shoulders and a wide collar, and featured three leather straps on both her arms. It was also slightly open, revealing her rather-large breasts and cleavage, and it was cut off at her midriff. Her jeans had a section, on her right pant leg, cut off, revealing some of her thigh and rear end, and also featured three leather straps on her calves, just below the ankles, and two extra straps on her right pant leg to keep it in place. She also wore black fighting gloves and boots to enhance her blows.

Xuelan quickly called out to Isabela while pointing at Koneko, “There!”

Both women swiftly charged in Koneko's direction. Given how things had been going and Riser's no doubt growing ire at the situation, they both had no intention of holding back. Even Isabela, who normally preferred one-on-one matches like her close friend Karlamine, planned to fight side by side with Xuelan against the much smaller and younger Rook of the Gremory peerage.

Koneko saw the two coming directly for her and didn't show any real reaction to it. Rather, she maintained her stoic appearance as she tugged gently on her new gloves to make sure they were properly seated on her hands. She took a simple, but well grounded, stance as Xuelan closed in. As soon as she was withing range, Xuelan lashed out with her right leg, her foot catching fire as she kicked directly at Koneko's head.

Koneko didn't dodge the kick, rather her arm snapped out and redirected the kick down from her head to her ribs where she caught Xuelan's leg in a tight grip. This caused Koneko to get a small burn and some damage to her school uniform. Wasting no time as Isabela was close behind Xuelan, Koneko punched Xuelan's knee with about half of her strength and jumped back to dodge a downward kick from Isabela.

Xuelan fell to the ground with a sharp gasp of pain from the blow to her knee causing Isabela to hold back for a moment to make sure her partner was able to recover. It was at that moment that a loud cracking sound erupted from Xuelan's knee. After a brief moment of shock Xuelan screamed in agony as her knee was now bent in a direction it wasn't meant to. Isabela gaped at the terrible damage, not understanding what had just happened at all. If the knee had broken from the blow, that would be on thing. But it breaking a few seconds after the blow had landed? That didn't make any sense!

She was violently brought back into the moment as Koneko reversed her short retreat and launched herself forward to slam her fist hard into Isabela's exposed stomach. Isabela bent over and gagged from the force of the blow. She didn't have any time to do anything when she felt an even stronger blow slam into the exact same spot just a second later. The force of the second blow was so strong her mind whited out for a moment. When she recovered, she was laying on the ground curled up into a ball and holding her heavily injured stomach.

She managed to focus through the pain of the hit to see that Koneko had mounted Xuelan and had her fist raised into the air. With a soft, “hup” coming from her, Koneko's fist fell like a meteor and slammed directly into Xuelan's head with enough force that her head slammed into the ground with enough force to create a small crater. A second later her head hit the ground even harder and made the crater larger and deeper.

Xuelan glowed blue and vanished as Grayfia's voice rang over the area, “Lord Riser's Rook has been retired.”

In the time it took Koneko to knock out Xuelan, Isabela had recovered enough to climb back to her feet and get herself set into a fighting stance once more. A bruise was already forming on her stomach but she needed to ignore it. At the rate things were going... Well she didn't want to imagine how upset Riser must be right now with their poor showing against the much smaller peerage.

“Lord Riser's Knight has been retired.”

Isabela didn't want and charged at Koneko, she decided to avoid kicking attacks, not wantingto fall into the same trap as Xuelan, and instead focused on throwing punches. Her blows were blocked or deflected by the much shorter, much smaller, Rook without too much issue. Isabela was a whirlwind of blows while Koneko was a sturdy rock weathering the storm. Isabela only became more desperate when Grayfia's voice once more announced, “Lord Riser's Knight has been retired.”

Isabela became even more desperate after the second Knight loss was announced. There were only three of them left now and she was very worried that she was about to lose her own battle. She knew Riser must have been absolutely furious right about then. It drove her to attack Koneko furiously. It led to her downfall. She threw a haymaker at Koneko, the smaller girl easily ducking under the blow and causing Isabela to overextend. She paid for it dearly as Koneko's fist once more slammed into her already damaged stomach.

Isabela clutched her stomach, barely keeping herself from vomiting, when a second invisible blow slammed into her stomach even harder than the original blow had. Isabela fell to her knees as blood and bile burst out of her mouth. It was too much for her body to bear as she passed out. The expected blue glow surrounded her as she was removed from the arena. Grayfia's voice announced the result to everyone else, “Lord Riser's Rook has been retired.”

Koneko allowed herself a small smile. With her job taken care of there were only the two Bishops of Riser's peerage left to deal with. She turned and started jogging toward the new school building, specifically toward where the Student Council offices were located. As she reached about the half way mark she heard Grayfia's voice once more, “Lord Riser's Bishop has retired. Lady Rias's Knight has retired.”

She paused and looked around wondering what had happened to Yuuto.

-----Line Break-----

Kiba stood across the clearing from his two newest opponents. He recognized both of them and knew he might be in a bit of trouble. The first was likely the most dangerous, a beautiful young girl with dark blue eyes and long blonde hair tied into twintails with large, drill-like curls and blue ribbons keeping them in place. The front of her hair had several bangs hanging over her forehead, with a V-shaped fringe hanging over the bridge of her nose. Her outfit consisted of a light purple dress with dark purple accents and a blue bow at the front.

The one and only younger sister of Riser Phenex, Ravel Phenex. She, just like her older brother possessed the power of Immortality, something he had no way to overcome. Not for a lack of trying. He simply didn't have the mental disposition to learn the magic that would allow him to overcome her regeneration. He was a swordsman and couldn't really do much more than the basics necessary for a devil, teleportation and minor hypnosis mostly. Ryuji had given him the idea of making a sword that could overwhelm the senses, pain specifically, but he hadn't been able to complete it before the match.

In short, there was nothing he could do to Ravel that would amount to anything.

The second girl was Mihae, Riser's second Bishop and a beautiful young girl who was wearing a Kimono with a colorful patterns of purple, orange and pink with her black hair tied back. She glared at Kiba with her large brown eyes and an annoyed sneer on her lips.

Ravel glared at Kiba, her usual haughty attitude nowhere in sight as her voice came out harshly, “I don't know what kind of tricks you all have been using, but it's over now. I cannot allow you to embarrass my brother any further!”

Under normal circumstances, Ravel wouldn't participate directly in combat. It simply wasn't her thing. She was only meant to help her older brother with his strategies while gaining some of her own experience at Rating Games in preparation for her building her own peerage. She really wasn't a fighter, but that didn't mean she couldn't throw out waves of flames to burn her enemies to a crisp, she was a Phenex and a High-Class devil to boot!

She pointed her hands at Kiba, her palms facing him. Mihae did the same thing from next to her. Ravel scowled, “Just give up! Everything you've done so far means nothing! No matter how much that cow struggles, she'll never be able to defeat Riser!”

That seemed to be the signal as both she and Mihae unleashed massive waves of fire at Kiba. The two attacks came together and became a massive wall of fire too wide for him to dodge to the side. His back was completely free though so it was easy enough for him to dash backward while dismissing his current sword and calling up one he'd designed with this match in mind, Flame Delete. The sword did exactly what the name suggested, it deleted flames from existence by absorbing them. If they were just going to mindlessly throw fire at him in the hopes that it would stop him, they would be in for a rude surprise.

With his sword in hand the fire before him no longer posed a threat. He dashed forward using his sword to clear a path through the flames. The fire split around him, his sword eating the fire and making a clear path with nothing in his way. He allowed himself to smile a little as he closed in on the two Bishops, in just a few moments he would take down at least Mihae. He wasn't sure what to do about Ravel, he'd have to leave her to either Rias or Akeno.

He never even noticed the small shift in the ground as a small lump pushed up from the ground. His foot barely brushed it, yet it was enough. With an undignified cry, Kiba tripped. Even so, he was skilled enough to recover. As he started to fall, he held his left hand out and prepared to catch himself on it with the intention of doing a hand spring to regain his footing.

He never got the chance. While he was still falling, surrounded by bright flames that his sword continued to try and consume, he didn't even notice the massive boulder that came crashing down on him in mid-fall until he was well within its shadow. Kiba was fast and strong, but his durability was the lowest of the peerage. Not to say he couldn't take a hit, but a boulder possibly weighing several tons was more than he could hope to handle.

He wasn't one to give up though. Neither Ravel nor Mihae were the athletic sort. He didn't believe they'd taken to time to change their positions given the flames were still coming at him. He aimed at where he could sense the two Bishops and remembered that Mihae was standing to the right of Ravel. He didn't want to go down without at least trying so in a desperate Hail Mary, he cocked his arm back and threw his Flame Delete with all his might.

Ravel smirked as she felt the ground shake from the impact of the boulder Mihae had conjured and hovered in the air. Her plan had gone off flawlessly. It only made sense that their enemies would prepare for attacks made of fire. One would have to be a fool not to when the peerage was led by a Phenex and many of the girls used fire magic. They'd used the flames as a blinder and once they felt the knight charge in head first, they'd sprung their trap. It was one they'd used once or twice in real Rating Games.

“Lady Rias's Knight has been retired.”

She smirked to herself, and now it had been used to take out one of Rias's peerage members, finally! Ravel was so busy gloating she barely had the time to notice as a sword came flying out of the flames and pierced through Mihae's chest. Mihae flashed blue as Grayfia announced, “Lord Riser's Bishop has been retired.”

Ravel threw her head back and let out a shriek of sheer annoyance and frustration while stomping her foot on the ground petulantly.

-----Line Break-----

Ryuji looked away from the split screen after Kiba's defeat to take a peek at Lord Phenex. The man was not looking good. He looked both constipated and pissed off. What was supposed to be a one sided slaughter had turned into a curb stomp, for the 'wrong' side. As it stood, Rias and her peerage were leading a fourteen to one score on peerage members retired. Riser's side only had himself and his sister left standing. It was... not a good look.

When he focused on Riser, he could clearly see the anger on the man's face as he clenched his hands into fist. With a roar of rage he unleashed his full power. Flames roared to life and detonated around him completely demolishing the entire building that held the Student Council offices. Wings made of flames erupted from his back allowing him to take to the air.

As he reached the apex of his flight he threw his head back and shouted at the top of his lungs, “THAT'S IT! THIS FARCE IS OVER WITH! I'M PUTTING AND END TO THIS NOW!”

As he finished screaming into the wind, he threw both of his hands up over his head and instantly conjured up a massive ball of fire so intense it looked like a miniature sun. With a shout he threw it down at the ground. It only took moments for the small sun to slam into the ground where it violently detonated into a massive conflagration. The entire Rating Game arena shook from the power of the detonation that whipped up powerful winds so strong that trees were shattered and sent flying about.

“Lady Rias's Rook has been retired.”

Ryuji grimaced slightly. It looked like Koneko had gotten a little unlucky and been too close to where Riser had attacked. There was no telling if Riser had done it on purpose or accident. Either way, Ryuji didn't view it as much of a loss for Rias. As it stood only she and Akeno could actually deal any damage to Riser.

Rias frowned as she lost Kiba and Koneko in quick succession. She was proud of them, they had done the majority of the work to whittle down Riser's peerage to just him and his sister. It was beyond her wildest hopes and a slap to Riser's face, something she greatly enjoyed. It was down to just her and Akeno, who had just flown over and gently landed next to her. Rias looked over at her Queen, “You know what to do.”

Akeno giggled while lightning crackled around the hand she used to demurely cover her mouth to hide her wicked smile, “It'll be my pleasure.”

With a flap of her wings, Akeno took to the air and flew toward where she could feel the only other presence within the Rating Game arena. Her job was to keep Ravel busy and away from the fight between Rias and Riser. She could retire Ravel if she desired, but she felt like playing with the little girl. The air was filled with her perverse giggles as she hunted her prey.

Rias watched her Queen and best friend fly off while giggling and felt a small pang of sympathy for Ravel. The poor girl was about to gain some mental trauma. She dismissed those thoughts quickly though. She had something much more important to deal with, Riser. Her wings snapped out and she took to the air casually flying in his direction. It would be near impossible for her to miss him thanks to the huge wings of fire lighting up the area.

As Rias flew closer to him, Riser's dark blue eyes locked onto her and narrowed. When she came close enough to speak without shouting and stopped, Riser gave her a slow, sarcastic, clap, “Well done Rias. You've managed to eliminate almost my entire peerage. You should be proud. Now, it's time for you to put an end to this farce and stop your petulant temper tantrum! Everything you've accomplished so far means nothing! You simply can't beat me, the Immortal Phoenix!”

Rias stared at him with a confident smirk, “I won't know that until I try.”

Riser growled at her, “There is nothing you can do to beat me! Not even your vaunted Power of Destruction can stop me!”

Rias wanted to laugh, and it must have shown if the clear look of rage on Riser's face was anything to go by. Still, she didn't. Rather, she lifted her hands up and loudly cracked her knuckles. Riser was so infuriated at the mere idea of her wanting to fight with her hands that he completely missed the dull flashes of dark green light, nearing on black, that covered her hands for a moment before fading away.

“Really Rias? You want to brawl like some unsophisticated... GURK!”

Right after he began to speak, Rias blasted forward at her top speed with her right arm cocked back. She didn't hold anything back as she slammed her fist into Riser's nose with as much physical strength as she could. Her fist impacted his nose with enough force to cause a blast wave. More importantly, to Rias, it shut him up as his nose was completely decimated from the blow.

Riser spiraled through the air leaving a trail of blood to fall through the air behind him as his regeneration refused to kick in and heal what should have been a paltry wound. His back slammed into the ground sending up a cloud of ash left over from the trees his attack had incinerated. He lay on the ground, stunned, as his entire face throbbed with pain that he was wholly unused to. He knew, theoretically, that he wasn't actually immortal and thus invincible. If that were the case his eldest brother would be number one on the Rating Games leader board, rather than stuck at number nine.

He gave a start when Rias calmly landed in front of him and held up her right fist where he could see bloodstains from the blow she'd just landed on him. His eyes widened in shock, and not a little fear, as he finally realized that she could actually hurt him. If she'd used her Power of Destruction to hit his head, he would have died in a single blow. His whole body shook as Rias calmly walked toward him with a smile that he suddenly found rather scary.

He scrambled to his feet as she continued to walk toward him. His mouth opened to try and talk to her but she clearly didn't plan to let him speak any further. With just the barest hint of a warning, she lashed out with her left fist, aiming to once more pound his face in. Knowing she could hurt him, he didn't hesitate to throw up his own arm to try and stop her blow with his forearm. He almost sighed in relief when he managed to stop her punch.

That relief quickly turned into pain as her right fist buried itself into his stomach with enough force to bodily lift him off of the ground and send out yet another shock wave from the impact. He gagged on bile as his body felt yet more unaccustomed pain. His arms instinctively wrapped around his abused stomach giving Rias free reign to nail him in the face again. To Riser the next few moments became a blur of agony as Rias vented all of her frustration and anger out on him.

Rias stared at the battered, bruised, and blood covered face of Riser with a feeling of pure vindication. Ryuji had been right. A single powerful blow had completely throw Riser off balance and left him vulnerable. Her first instinct after learning how to overcome Riser's regeneration was to combine Ryuji's magic with her Power of Destruction and use it to win the battle. Ryuji had convinced her otherwise and she was glad he had. Pounding the snot out of Riser had been exceptionally cathartic. Still, the stubborn turkey hadn't fallen yet. He still stood on unsteady feet even though he could barely see through his swollen eyes and could barely breath due to his shattered nose and swollen face.

Rias, almost, felt the slightest bit of pity for the damage she'd done to his face. Until she'd remembered how happily he'd talked about making kids with her, even through she was clearly against it. Rage filled her at the thought of losing her virginity to the piece of trash in front of her, let alone having to bear his children. She cocked her fist back once more and declared, “If I ever see you again Riser, I will remove what makes you a man. Consider this the closest you will ever get to sexual contact with me.”

She dropped down onto one knee and launched her punch nailing Riser right in the crotch with as must strength as she could possibly muster. Riser let out a long high pitched squeal of sheer agony as he collapsed onto the ground. He was quickly covered in a blue glow and evacuated from the Rating Game arena. Grayfia's voice, still as calm and collected as ever, echoed over the area, “Lord Riser has been retired. Lady Rias is the winner.”

Only those closest to Grayfia could hear the slightest hint of amusement at Riser's expense in the tone of her voice.

-----Line Break-----

Ryuji turned to look at Lord Phenex, who was glaring at the now black screen in pure rage. Throughout Riser's beat down the room had slowly grown hotter as Lord Phenex's anger grew. Now the temperature in the room was downright stifling enough to bother Ryuji, even through the comfort enchantments on his clothing. Ryuji felt sweat beading around most of his body and decided he didn't want to feel uncomfortable. He lifted his hand and conjured a blue magic circle and cast a spell to chill the area around him.

He light of the spell seemed to gain Lord Phenex's attention as his head snapped to the side so swiftly that it was a surprise they didn't hear bones breaking, “You.”

That single word contained so much venom it could possibly have been used at an attack. Lord Phenex glared balefully at Ryuji, “This is your fault! I don't know what you did or how you did it, but until you came around this match was a foregone conclusion!” Lord Phenex climbed to his feet as he continued to glare, “Do you have any idea what your interference has done boy?!”

Ryuji knew that it wasn't a real question. He also knew that answering it would definitely infuriate the head of the Phenex family further. He also didn't care in the least. Lord Phenex didn't scare him, not with two of the four Satan's in the room, once of whom was probably extremely thankful to him right then. So, he opened his mouth and flippantly said, “Saved a friend from a loveless marriage filled with a lifetime of her husband raping her?”

That was something no one seemed to talk about. Rias was very clearly unwilling and Riser was fully gung-ho to have a kid with her, even against her will. Even if she didn't fight and just lay there like a dead fish to 'do her duty', it would still be rape due to her unwillingness. If there was one thing that Ryuji couldn't stand, no matter who it involved, it was rape. It was an act performed by the lowest of the low and Ryuji, personally, felt any rapist should be castrated or killed. He smirked a little as he realized Rias agreed with him on that particular front!

It became very clear that Lord Phenex did not appreciate Ryuji's comments as an aura of fire wrapped around his body and the temperature within the room rose drastically. The heat didn't last though as Serafall finally had enough and countered the heat with her own icy aura of power, one that clearly eclipsed Lord Phenex by a large amount. Her voice was as cold as her aura when she addressed the Phenex patriarch, “That's enough Lord Phenex. Okane Ryuji is a contracted magician in the service of Rias Gremory. Attacking him is the same as attacking the Gremory family.” Her eyes not to subtly shifted to look at Sirzechs, reminding the Lord who else was in the room, “Stand down.”

Lord Phenex grit his teeth and was clearly still very enraged, even if he pulled in his aura and allowed the temperature of the room to return to normal. When he spoke it was clear that he was forcing himself, “Of course, you are correct Lady Leviathan. I merely lost my temper at years of effort being turned into a waste.”

Anything further from him was cut off by Rias walking into the room with Akeno by her side. Neither of them had suffered any injuries so they were free. Rias spotted Ryuji sitting by himself and gave him a bright smile as she came directly up to him, “Ryuji! Thank you so much for all of your help. I know I've said this before, but if there's anything I can do for you, just let me know.”

Ryuji smiled brightly, “I didn't want to say anything while you were still engaged, but now that you're single... Would you like to go out on a date?”

Dead silence filled the room.

-----Line Break-----

AN

11.2k words. Not too shabby.

I expected to finish the Rating Game and what I have planned for after it, but this chapter got long enough and with my hand hurting, I didn't want to make you all wait any longer for it. I expect what I had planned will make up at least half of the next chapter, if not the entire thing.

How do you all feel about the Rating Game? Did I do a good job or did it come off too one sided? Keep in mind, with weaker training, though there was Issei and Asia, they still managed to decimate Riser's peerage and ended up losing to him, personally, in the end when Rias gave up to protect Issei. Given how good they did, I believed a stronger, better trained, peerage would do significantly better. Add in Ryuji giving at least Rias and Akeno ways to harm a Phenex and it would become more of a one sided beat down than the close match it was in the original material.

Anyway, my hand is killing me and I still need to upload, reread, and edit chapter 5 for Fanfiction.

I look forward to all your comments!