DMAW Chapter 90: The Sum of Choices (Patreon)

Nearly unbidden, Ichigo’s steps carried him forward, and as he approached the café, the ordinary bustle of New Lilith seemed to recede into a high-pitched whine in his ears. Everything around him practically melted into one primal ooze, all the colors and sounds, all the movement and stillness – the only thing that fully held his attention was the pit of nothingness that sat pristine with a cup of coffee in its gentle fingers.

And as his feet came to a stop, the sudden dichotomy was not lost on him. He towered over her – what with her soft and demure form and delicately cut features. And yet, he was under no illusion: the Divine Dragon utterly dwarfed him in presence, the sheer weight of its being pressing down on Eternity itself and causing possibility and reality to warp around it.

It was almost painful to perceive.

Almost.

Ophis’ serpentine eyes remained fixed upon him, glowing softly beneath the shade of the café umbrella. But rather than reacting with any form of hostility or surprise, the eldritch Dragon smiled with such calm warmth that one might have thought she was greeting an old friend.

“Please, my Lord,” she said in elegant Japanese, her choice of pronouns placing herself deferentially beneath him, “this humble woman is named Kikyo. Nothing more, perhaps something less.”

Ichigo frowned down at her. This was Ophis, there was no doubt about it to him. There was no one else who could ever make him feel that slight tremor of caution in his soul. Even after he had traversed the darkest depths of Hell… well, the Void was its own kind of horror.

And when he extended his perception toward her, he encountered neither soul nor magic nor any definable interpretation of reality. There was merely an absence which had, for some reason, chosen to dress itself in black and yellow silk, paint its lips pink, and spend an otherwise ordinary afternoon drinking coffee.

But then, the memory of Set’s voice returned to him from their last conversation, carrying all the gravity of a truth of the impossibility before him.

By its very nature, the Void has no unified mind, only innumerable impulses and ephemeral notions.

Was that what Kikyo was? An incarnation?

“You’re a fragment of the Void?” he asked. “A different Ophis from the one standing behind Khaos Brigade?”

Kikyo’s expression softened with what appeared to be genuine fondness, as though she found his blunt attempt to define her endearing. She rested one pale hand beside her cup and answered, “Within Nothing is found the possibility of everything.”

His frown grew heavier.

However, as Ichigo stared into those emerald eyes sparkling with amusement and endearment, they suddenly seemed to swell and pull him. Quite suddenly, another voice – much harsher and filled with patronizing laughter – whispered into his thoughts.

The Blank Canvas of Creation.

He felt a cold touch on his lips, an almost familiar sensation, and the laughter receded from his mind. At the same time, he understood her enigmatic words. Ophis was nothing… which meant it could be anything. There was nothing to define, nothing to limit it. Ophis was simultaneously nothing while existing as everything.

Possibility into reality.

And it was a testament to how far above the limitations of mortal thought he had transcended that Ichigo could begin visualizing such an impossible phenomenon in his mind.

Ophis was something akin to a diamond; but every facet of the jewel represented a unique perspective. And as light struck those facets, they refracted into innumerable colors, splashing endless possibilities across realities. The facets were never stationary; they were never static. They were constantly shifting and changing, endlessly birthing new edges.

Like an ever-mutating jewel.

Of course, that did leave the question: where did the light come from? And Ichigo could only surmise that was the role of the Illusion of Dreams, the Great Red. It was the origin that splashed color onto that blank canvas, giving birth to endless possibilities within the nothing.

But still… out of all of those possibilities, out of all of the things Ophis could choose to be…

He looked at her with confusion. “The possibility of being a prostitute?”

A fine and delicate eyebrow rose. “Does my Lord disdain this humble woman and her profession?”

He reflexively went to say ‘no’, only for the denial to die upon his tongue.

Kikyo waited without accusation; her raised eyebrow and knowing gaze were enough to hold him in quiet scrutiny.

And Ichigo exhaled through his nose and glanced briefly toward the street, recognizing that, yes, some part of him had cast judgment on her. Faced with an entity that had no limits to its power, he had regarded its choice to become a courtesan with a certain level of contempt.

But then, what was society to something that superseded eternity and transcended reality? Every hierarchy by which civilizations arranged themselves existed entirely within Creation. But from the perspective of the Infinite Ouroboros, emperor or beggar, paragon or prostitute, they were equally finite possibilities born from the same blank beginning.

Ichigo had imposed his own assumptions upon a being to whom such distinctions possessed no inherent meaning.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and he meant it sincerely. “That was unfair of me to say.”

Kikyo’s eyebrow lowered, and her lips curved into a pleased smile. She extended one hand toward the empty chair across from her.

“Would my Lord care to join me?”

He hesitated for a moment.

His peerage was waiting for him, and he had a war front to command in a matter of hours. He really did not have either the time or the luxury to be sitting around drinking coffee at leisure. But considering who was inviting him… with a silent sigh, Ichigo tentatively reached out, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Instantly, a clay teapot and two small cups appeared upon the table without any flare of magic or disturbance in space. One moment the polished surface between them had been empty; the next, an immaculate tea service had always been resting there. Kikyo retained the porcelain cup of coffee she had ordered from the café, yet she took the clay pot in both hands and poured steaming green tea for him with practiced grace.

A part of him did hesitate; this was ultimately Ophis – should he really be readily accepting what the Void offered him? And yet, beyond his own supernatural prescience, his trusted gut instinct told him that it was just normal tea.

As he politely accepted the tea, memories of Yasaka and Kunou drilling the proper etiquette into him emerged at the forefront of his mind. The cup’s warmth seeped into his palms, and the clean aroma rising from it dulled some of the edge of the tension he felt. He was having tea with Ophis.

How bizarrely surreal.

“A painter,” she said so suddenly that his gaze jerked up, “a farmer, a soldier. All paths begin in the same blankness of a newborn. All things begin in Nothing. This humble woman, too, started with nothing, but choice is the impetus of change.”

“And every choice is a possibility,” Ichigo said quietly.

She smiled at his words and accepted them with a nod. “When last we spoke, my Lord declared that happiness is what we make of it.”

Their last conversation had taken place just after he had recovered from being near-fatally wounded by Tsukiyomi, when he, Yasaka, and Tiamat had had a heart-to-heart conversation about where they stood and how they would approach the future. Also, it had been the single greatest night of sex of his life…

“I remember,” he said as he coughed into his hand and banished the memory of his two girls and their flushed faces and lust-hazed eyes.

“All life yearns for something, and it is from that yearning that possibility gives birth to reality.” Kikyo lifted her coffee, pausing with its rim just beneath her lips. “We are but the sum of choices. Even if not always ours.”

Ichigo watched her take a dainty sip, and he understood.

Lucifer, he understood.

Just as he told Set he would be the one to define who Satan was, he would be the one to decide his future and his identity. He wouldn’t let others do it for him, not anymore. Why would it be any different for the woman before him?

And yes, he decided, she was a woman. Not just the Void. He would give her that much respect, at least.

Kikyo had chosen her name, her speech, her profession, and the cultivated elegance with which she moved through the world. Whether she had existed for centuries or first become self-aware but a year ago was utterly irrelevant. At this moment, she was Kikyo because she had chosen to be.

It was an oddly comforting realization, because it was something he could definitely sympathize with. Having choice, having agency, it was such an intoxicating freedom. 

At the same time, though, his gaze hardened as his thoughts returned to the other possibility now casting its shadow across reality.

“What choices led to another Ophis deciding to make Thu’ban the pole star again?”

“Not necessarily a choice, my Lord,” she said with a soft smile. “Within that which is me, even a thought may become self-aware. And with awareness comes…?”

Ichigo let out a grim sigh as he finished for her, “Yearning.”

She dipped her head in acknowledgment.

Ophis was so alien, so incomprehensibly powerful that even a stray thought from the Void could grow to become something that could overshadow all of Eternity. Set was absolutely right, the Infinite Ouroboros was just a bundle of ephemeral notions. But then, how many iterations of Ophis were there? How many countless thoughts, ideas, and self-actualized fragments were traversing around the omniverse doing who knows what?

He looked at the gentle woman before him again, taking careful note of her elegant and refined movements. She moved with such care and fluidity that Ichigo’s knowing eye could easily pick up the tell-tale signs of practiced experience. And for all the delicacy and softness of the woman before him, he knew with certainty that she could crush the entirety of the Underworld with the blink of an eye.

He reached up and rubbed his eyes tiredly. How was he supposed to fight this?

With a soft sigh, he said, “Set said I could stop the other Ophis by continuing the Oldest Myth, but how? I can’t even begin to imagine myself defeating you.”

Kikyo lowered her sleeve and gently took another sip of coffee before asking, “How does one defeat that which is not real?”

He rolled his eyes, because yes, of course, he wouldn’t be getting a straight answer.

And a silence settled between them as Ichigo stared into the faint ripples crossing the surface of his tea and searched his thoughts for an answer. Ophis was something beyond extant reality. And no matter how powerful he had become, his strength remained rooted in that very same reality. His demonic powers, his magic, his Sin and even his nascent divinity – all of it existed.

Only his powers from Hell reached beyond reality, yet he knew with absolute certainty that he could never use them against Ophis.

He balked.

Wait…

Why did he know that?

A sudden chill entered his lungs, and for a single disorienting second, he felt something… malformed behind him. A coiling and writhing shadow wrapping itself cold around him, and he saw the palest hands reach from behind his head and cup his cheeks. And there was something in Kikyo’s emerald eyes, something that was not her looking at him.

But just as quickly, the sensation disappeared and Ichigo shook his head, forcing his thoughts back into order. “Why does the other Ophis even want to restore Thu’ban? What could it possibly have to gain?”

“Want?” Kikyo repeated, tilting her head. “No, my Lord. There is no want. Merely a simple whim, an idle fancy, a rhyme without reason.”

Ichigo gave her an incredulous look.

He had expected some buried design behind the return of the ancient Dragons, even if that design operated according to principles he could not understand. But the idea that countless lives and civilizations might be destroyed because of an errant whim? A mere… fancy?

“That sounds…” Ichigo searched for the right word and disliked it as soon as he found it. “Childish.”

Amusement flickered in Kikyo’s gaze. “Children can be surprisingly cruel in their innocence, would you not say?”

“I don’t think I’d ever equate the Void with a child,” Ichigo replied, his scowl fierce.

She offered no rebuttal, but nonetheless, a faint smirk remained on her lips, as if she knew something he did not. But then, Ichigo was well aware she absolutely knew many things he did not. All of Eternity lay within her gaze, and even more beyond it.

And again, he was left with the startling reminder of just how monstrous this soft and demure woman before him was.

“And you?” he asked. “Do you have any interest in restoring the reign of the ancient Dragons?”

Kikyo released a melodious giggle and concealed it behind her sleeve. “Such grand matters are far beyond a humble woman such as I.”

He gave her a flat look, a tinge of annoyance creeping into his thoughts. Well, whatever, if she wanted to fully commit to the part of a courtesan, he wouldn’t begrudge her.

Considering what the other Ophis was getting up to, this was significantly more desirable.

“Still,” he said, “how am I, or anyone else, supposed to stop it all? I know Set said that the Oldest Myth can work, but I still feel like I’m missing something significant.”

Kikyo gingerly set her cup down and gave him a pointed look.

“How does one defeat that which is not real?” she repeated.

Ichigo resisted the urge to let out a dramatic sigh. Set had told him that stopping Ophis required them to continue the Oldest Myth. The Red Lord had also warned that if Ichigo pursued apotheosis through that myth, then his serpent would be one of far greater consequence than Katerea Leviathan’s paltry little performance at the Summit.

Nonetheless, the myth required conflict. A Stormcrown who would battle a serpent of chaos… but the myth doesn’t work if the Serpent doesn’t exist! And even then, Ichigo was simply not capable of defeating Ophis itself! Did that mean his potential counterpart in the myth was not Ophis?

He didn’t exactly have any other conflicts with Draconic entities. Quite the opposite when one considered his relationship with Tiamat. He and his familiar had gone and turned the myth upside down on its head, completely subverting it.

…Vali Lucifer?

That current White Dragon Emperor certainly held Ichigo’s enmity… but for the Lucifer descendant to be his mythic other? Well, to a certain extent, there was a poetic parallel. Lucifer was his own mythic serpent in certain myths, and, ironically, Ichigo was one of the usurpers to his mythic throne.

Still… Ichigo wasn’t entirely sold on the possibility. There just seemed to be nothing there. And in that moment, both of Ichigo’s eyebrows jumped up when he had a sudden epiphany.

Nothing there…

His gaze flashed back to Kikyo’s eyes, and she wore an expectant look, having read Ichigo’s expression and realized he had come to a sudden understanding.

“I have to make Ophis real?” he asked, uncertainty lingering over the dawning realization.

She brought her hands together in one small, delighted clap. “Well done, my Lord,” she said with a bright cheer.

Ichigo leaned back into his chair and let out a heavy breath. He needed to draw that particular Ophis into the myth, forcing an impossibility into a reality, to define it to the extent that it could participate in the Oldest Myth – and thus reach the story’s conclusion.

“And I suppose it would be too much to ask exactly how I’m supposed to accomplish that?” he asked wryly.

“Yes, it would,” Kikyo answered happily. “All things will be revealed in time. Trust in your instincts; they have not failed you yet.”

“The same instincts that got me stabbed in the back by the White Dragon Emperor and blasted to ashes by Tsukiyomi,” Ichigo reminded her dryly.

“Defeat has visited my Lord before and shall doubtless do so again.” Kikyo regarded him with quiet tenderness. “What matters is that each time, he rises beyond the man who fell. That is what makes your tale so endearing to all who come to know you. In this, or any other reality.”

Ichigo pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh but nonetheless silently nodded to himself. Yeah, it was better than nothing. Perhaps he would bring it up with Set next time he spoke. His friend was an expert on the subject, given he was still an active participant in the Oldest Myth.

Kikyo finished her coffee and rose with effortless grace, smoothing one hand over the front of her kimono before giving him a formal bow. “With your permission, my Lord, this humble woman shall depart.”

Ichigo blinked with a frown. “You’re leaving?”

“Yes.” She straightened, and her serpentine eyes gleamed as her smile acquired the practiced allure of a courtesan. “Unless my Lord deigns to be this humble woman’s patron for the evening?”

Despite himself, Ichigo couldn’t help but feel the tips of his ears grow unnaturally warm. He coughed awkwardly into his hand and averted his gaze. “Uh, no. That’s not what I was – I mean, have a lovely rest of your day.”

A low, dark chuckle escaped Kikyo, its timbre eerily reminiscent of his Tiamat. And even as the comparison entered his mind, her eyes brightened further.

“Do give dear Tiamat my love,” she said. “And remind her to hold tight what is hers, lest she find it snatched away.”

Ichigo looked back at her in confusion. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Kikyo stepped around the table before he could react. She leaned down, black hair falling around the pallor of her face like a curtain of ink, and she pressed her lips briefly against his.

Ichigo froze stiff even as he tasted the cold of the Void.

When she drew away, Kikyo’s green eyes held neither mockery nor mischief. There was only a bafflingly tender affection, a gaze filled with longing, as if she were looking through countless years’ worth of memories and fondness.

“It means I like you.”

She turned and entered the passing crowd, her black-and-yellow kimono disappearing among the citizens of New Lilith.

And he slowly raised the tips of his fingers to his lips…

=======

Ichigo stood upon the precipice of a cliff with his arms crossed, the valley before him stretching vast for miles upon miles as it hosted a full forest along its edges and a great raging river on its floor. Beyond its distant mouth lay the territories of several Pillar Houses, making it a vital strategic choke point into the lands of the Empire for Khaos Brigade and the Old Satan Faction.

Falbium’s Legions, hidden by spatial magic, had transformed this place into a waiting grave.

And yet, despite the total view of the future battlefield, the cold of Kikyo’s lips remained vivid against his own. The sensation still tingled on both his skin and in his mind.

He didn’t get it; he didn’t understand.

Despite her confession of liking him, he couldn’t help but suspect that the kiss had some ulterior motive behind it.

There had been moments during their conversation when her serpentine eyes softened with an affection that went far deeper than their few encounters could elicit, as though she was looking through him toward someone else. How very peculiar.

And perhaps that strange fondness in her eyes explained why Kikyo had offered him even the hint of guidance toward defeating her counterpart. He honestly couldn’t think of any other reason why one expression of Ophis would thwart another. But once again, he was left wondering if there was even a point in trying to discern the logic of her actions. How many times had he been told now? There was no logic when it came to the Void.

But he was taken from his musings on Ophis when Gremory approached him from behind, and even without turning he could sense her lower herself onto one knee behind him. He had to resist the urge to scowl. Never mind his own distaste for the continuous show of veneration and submission, didn’t she get tired of falling to her knees every time they spoke?

“Everything is in place, my master,” she said plainly. “The Lord Sloth’s armies are lying in wait; we need but join them in the adjacent pocket realm.”

Ichigo nodded to himself with a soft sigh, utterly pushing his encounter with Kikyo away from his thoughts.

One problem at a time, he told himself.

Whatever cosmic games involved the Infinite Ouroboros and the Oldest Myth could wait; his immediate responsibility was to end the Second Civil War and protect the Empire’s citizens. Letting his arms fall to his side, Ichigo turned around and found Gremory still kneeling, a faint smile upon her lips as she bowed at an angle that deliberately displayed her ample cleavage.

He rolled his eyes in exasperation. Well, he supposed that was one reason for all her bowing and scraping; Gremory did enjoy showing off her tits and trying to bait him into ogling her.

Off to the side of the two of them, Saviġuk stood in all her majestic glory. A light glow of gold traced along her paws and legs as she stood looking out into the valley, just as he did. And he knew his Knight well enough that she was mapping the terrain in her eyes, ensuring every advantageous nook and cranny would be hers to use.

Farther still, the gale whipped into a towering storm of black wind, and from within he could see his Rook, the legendary Humbaba, standing perfectly still and silent. The ancient giant had his gaze firmly fixed upon the sky. And Ichigo knew well enough that he wasn’t looking far off through time and space or peering into the depths of the future. No, the quiet giant was utterly engrossed in cloud-gazing.

Because he literally had nothing better to do.

Sometimes he really envied the giant. 

Turning his eyes back towards the ground, Ichigo looked at Gremory and said, “Rias’ Rating Game will start soon.”

His Bishop gave a gentle smile, well… what passed for a gentle smile anyway, and she said, “Yes, I am most eager to see how my darling granddaughter performs after so much has been invested into her. I have sent an avatar to witness the event.”

“Same,” he replied nonchalantly.

Gremory rose and clapped her hands together, looking immensely pleased. “Then we should watch the game together, my master. What is it that the children call it? A date? Shall we make of it a date?”

Ichigo regarded her with a flat look. “Uh-huh. Nice try.”

A discontented growl rumbled across the cliffside before Saviġuk released a distinctly childish huff. Ichigo glanced toward the legendary Amaroq and found her enormous glacial white eyes fixed reproachfully upon him, her ears drawn back and her colossal body lowered into a posture of wounded indignation.

He sighed at her overdramatic display. “Sweetheart, I’ve already told you, you can’t watch them.”

Saviġuk shook her massive head, causing golden light to scatter from her ivory fur, and answered with an accusing, “Awoowo!”

Ichigo pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, I’m not playing favorites. If you could make avatars, I’d let you and you know it. But since you can’t and I need you here, you can’t go and watch.”

The wolf responded by lifting both front paws and stomping them against the earth. A small earthquake rolled through the entire valley and the lands adjacent, and loose boulders tumbled down mountains as she punctuated her tantrum with an angry, “A-ghruff!”

“Yes, I know you put more into their growth than anyone,” Ichigo replied, struggling to maintain his patience. “And I acknowledge and appreciate everything you’ve done. But my point still stands: you’re needed here.”

“Wowowoo!”

Ichigo gave her a look of censure. “Okay, now you’re just being rude.” Saviġuk lifted her muzzle without the slightest trace of remorse, and he released another exasperated breath. Why did she have to be so argumentative? However, Ichigo never could say no to his adorable ball of fluffy murder.

“Fine,” he sighed with resignation, “you’re not entirely unjustified. Luckily, we have an entire two weeks of matches to watch. So, I’ll tell you what: we kill all our enemies as swiftly and brutally as possible, and then we can go and watch the kids. Okay?”

Her ears immediately rose. The tail which had been lying stiffly behind her began sweeping back and forth, flattening bushes and sending gusts of wind across the cliff. Nevertheless, Saviġuk dipped her head and peered at him with shameless expectation.

“G’awoo?”

Ichigo found himself smiling in the face of her childish demands. “Yes, yes. I’ll have a box of your favorite buttered Yeti nuggets ready.”

Saviġuk bounded upward with enough force to shake the ground again, releasing a delighted gruff as she landed. That would be enough of a bribe for her, then; she had been complaining for days that she wouldn’t have the opportunity to watch the hopeless pups she had trained for months. Hopefully, with this, he wouldn’t hear of it again.

“How cumbersome,” Gremory suddenly remarked from the side, her expression arranged into perfect innocence even as she idly examined the nails of one hand. “If my master wishes, I can conjure a muzzle to spare all our ears?”

Saviġuk’s happiness vanished instantly as her lips peeled back to reveal fangs larger than swords, and a vicious snarl rolled from her chest as the air around her became deathly cold.

Ichigo thrust a warning finger toward Gremory. “Hey! Don’t you start anything!”

He then turned that same finger toward Saviġuk, whose growl had transformed into a stream of deeply insulting lupine noises. “And excuse me, missy, but we do not use that kind of racist language! I’m a Demon too, remember?”

The legendary Amaroq merely huffed and turned her enormous head away, offering neither apology nor any indication that she regretted the slur.

Ichigo sighed and dragged both hands tiredly through his hair. It would be his luck that the two women in his peerage could barely tolerate one another. Saviġuk was territorial enough to regard affection as a finite resource that required aggressive guarding, while Gremory was simply a black-hearted bitch toward everyone who was neither related to her nor Ichigo himself.

His gaze moved toward Humbaba’s gargantuan form, his immensity shrouded beneath the ceaseless black haze of his Aura. The legendary giant had remained silent throughout the entire exchange, seated near the cliffside with his attention directed toward the clouds drifting overhead.

“What about you, big guy?” Ichigo asked dryly. “Any complaints?”

Humbaba slowly blinked twice, shook his head just as gradually, and then returned his gaze to his cloud-watching.

Ichigo would never admit it where Saviġuk could hear him, lest she hound him without mercy, but Humbaba might be his favorite person to deal with in all of Infernity. The giant never argued, barely ever said a word, and never deliberately provoked anyone for his own amusement. He merely lived contentedly within the forest Ichigo had created for him, spending his idle days watching nature until Ichigo pointed toward something that needed to be smashed.

And smash it he did wonderfully.

“Well, time to join the army,” Ichigo said rather casually.

Humbaba rose, the cliff groaning beneath his weight, while Ichigo turned toward the entrance of the adjacent pocket realm where Falbium’s troops waited.

=======

Rias stood near the center of the stadium’s waiting chamber with her arms folded beneath her chest, listening to the distant roar of thousands of spectators bleeding through the enchanted walls. Every fresh swell of noise sent another nervous flutter through her stomach, and although she kept her chin raised and her expression composed, the heel of one shoe had begun tapping softly against the polished floor.

This would only be her second official Rating Game, yet it would be fought before one of the largest audiences assembled in the Underworld in decades. Noble families from across the Empire would be watching, as would the Pillar Lords who had stripped her of her inheritance and cast her from Gremory lands. More unsettling still, Lord Ichigo would be watching.

And yet, her nerves could not entirely smother the excitement burning beneath them.

At last, she would have the opportunity to display everything she and her peerage had learned over the preceding months. She could measure herself against the strongest young Kings of her generation without politics, family privilege, or her brother’s overwhelming reputation obscuring the result. Victory upon this stage would belong to her peerage alone.

The thought sent a vindictive thrill through her.

Rias still carried immense shame over the actions that had led to her exile. Her title as heir, her authority, her wealth, and nearly every material privilege she had once taken for granted had been scoured away in a single judgment. She had been left with little beyond her peerage, her name, and the mercy of those willing to offer her another chance.

Perhaps those who claimed she had received everything on a silver platter because she was Sirzechs Lucifer’s younger sister had spoken more truth than she had once cared to admit. Even Lord Ichigo’s personal attention had only been extended because of her brother and whatever backroom deals the Satans had cut behind doors with the Pillars.

And though that truth stung, Sirzechs had not been there to shield her from the grueling days in Infernity under Lord Ichigo’s pitiless thumb. Her brother had not been hunted through murderous swamps, battered senseless by ancient beasts, or forced to rise again while every muscle screamed for respite.

That suffering belonged to her.

So did the strength it had cultivated.

“We’ve been given a troublesome opponent from the get-go.”

Rias turned toward Kiba. Her Knight stood with one hand cupping his chin in thought, his usual pleasant smile absent as he studied the information displayed across an enchanted screen upon the wall.

Akeno leaned against the wall nearby with her arms folded loosely beneath her chest. “Fellrix Oriax,” she said, twirling one dark strand of hair around her finger. “He is definitely one of the stronger Kings of our generation.”

“We can beat him!” Issei declared, striking one fist into his palm with enough enthusiasm to make Asia jump beside him.

Kiba inclined his head, though his grave expression remained unchanged. “We can, but it won’t be easy.”

Xenovia sat upon one of the benches with a whetstone in hand, calmly polishing the edge of the Holy-Demonic sword Kiba had forged for her. Sacred and infernal light glimmered together along the weapon’s edge with each measured stroke. “According to the information we gathered, Oriax is a talented blood mage and illusionist.”

“He is also proficient in empathic magic,” Akeno added. Her finger ceased circling through her hair, and the playful softness vanished from her eyes. “One of his favored tactics, used in concert with his Bishop, is to trap an opponent inside a powerful illusion and amplify their anger until they can no longer distinguish friend from foe.”

Kiba’s fingers tightened around the pommel of his sword.

Rias’ heart clenched at the small motion. She remembered the hatred Lord Ichigo had once dragged from the deepest recesses of her Knight’s soul, tearing open wounds that Kiba had hidden beneath smiles and unfailing courtesy. She remembered the wildness in his eyes and the terrible, nearly insane grief that had twisted through his rage.

She would never allow another person to use that pain against him.

“One Queen, one Rook, one Bishop, two Knights and four Pawns,” she muttered to herself in thought. Like most of the more capable Kings, Fellrix Oriax hadn’t filled out his peerage immediately. He had the wisdom and foresight to consider each piece and patiently wait to come across the right person who rounded his team and matched his own ideals and ambitions.

“Issei will handle the Bishop,” Rias decided.

Her Pawn blinked at her in surprise. “Eh? I will?”

“Yes.” A smile touched her lips as she met his uncertain gaze. Issei’s mental defenses lacked refinement, but his emotions were direct, honest, and fiercely anchored to the people he cared for. More importantly, once Boosted Gear began compounding his strength, he possessed the explosive power necessary to overwhelm the Bishop before any elaborate illusion could ensnare his mind.

Issei’s surprise disappeared beneath a confident grin, and the boy gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up. “Leave it to me, Buchou!”

She returned his confident smile and then said, “Like Lord Ichigo taught us, we will first get a proper understanding of the battlefield.”

Rias raised one hand and swept it gracefully through the air. Crimson magic spiraled from her fingertips and gathered into the plump shape of a bat, which manifested hanging upside down from her index finger.

“Maya will perform reconnaissance for me,” Rias continued, fondly brushing one thumb across the familiar’s head. “She will also help me perform a useful little trick Grandmother taught me.”

Akeno regarded her with amusement and pity; she was the only member of their peerage who genuinely knew how much Rias had suffered while being trained by her cruel and monstrous ancestor. The others merely looked at Rias with varying degrees of surprise.

“As for the rest of Oriax’s peerage, he tends to deploy his Queen aggressively. Akeno, I want you to occupy her. Draw her toward the outer perimeter and kite her away from the rest of the fighting. If an opportunity presents itself to eliminate her decisively, take it. Otherwise, maintain the engagement until Issei finishes with the Bishop and comes to reinforce you. But don’t take any unnecessary risks and get hurt.”

“I thought you said you wanted me to take on the Bishop?” Issei asked, scratching at the side of his head.

“No, Issei,” Rias replied sweetly. “I want you to crush the Bishop, quickly and ruthlessly. Once you’ve done so, go help Akeno.”

Understanding dawned across his face. “Right on!”

Akeno regarded him from the corner of her eye, her lips curving faintly. “Do try not to take too long, Issei-kun. It would be terribly embarrassing if I finished all by myself.”

His face reddened at the obvious double entendre, but before he could rise to the bait, Rias continued.

“Gasper, Koneko, and Yuuto will hunt down Oriax’s two Knights.”

“Eh! M-m-me?” Gasper squeaked.

The dhampir sat rigidly upon a bench, both hands clutching the hem of his shirt as his knees trembled. Koneko, seated beside him, calmly reached across and placed one small hand atop his head. The trembling diminished, although it did not stop entirely.

“You’ll do fine,” Rias assured him. “Yuuto and Koneko will do most of the direct fighting. Stay behind them and reinforce them by hindering the enemy Knights with your curses. Just stick to the shadows and stay mobile, and you’ll do fine.”

Gasper swallowed and looked from Koneko’s impassive face to Kiba’s reassuring expression. “Y-yes, Buchou!”

Rias shifted her attention to Xenovia and Asia. “Xenovia, you will take Asia and eliminate his Rook. Be careful though, Fellrix spent both Rook Pieces to reincarnate him, so you should assume he possesses strength and durability well beyond those of an ordinary Rook.”

Xenovia ran the cloth down the length of her weapon one final time before rising. “Then I will cut him down before he can make use of either.”

Asia smiled nervously at the certainty in her voice.

“Asia, you will maintain enhancement magic upon Xenovia throughout the fight while remaining far outside the enemy Rook’s reach. But don’t become too focused on supporting Xenovia. Make sure to maintain an awareness of your surroundings.”

“Y-yes!” Asia answered, pressing her hands together before her chest.

“Go full White Mage, Asia-chan!” Issei exclaimed excitedly.

Rias let out a quiet chuckle and said, “Quite.”

“And what about his Pawns?” Akeno asked. “Based upon his previous matches, Oriax prefers to retain two Pawns near himself while sending the other two to hunt the enemy King. His other Pieces create enough commotion that they can usually approach unnoticed.”

Rias’ smile widened. “I’m counting on it.”

Akeno raised one elegant eyebrow. “You intend to use yourself as bait?”

Kiba’s frown returned immediately. “Buchou, that is unnecessarily dangerous.”

“It would be dangerous if I intended to stand alone and wait for them,” Rias replied. Maya released a quiet chirp as she lifted the familiar closer to her face. “They will believe they are pursuing me, but Maya will be tracking them from the moment we identify their position. Grandmother taught me several powerful curses suited to territorial defense, and I intend to prepare the area before allowing them anywhere near me.”

Kiba remained visibly dissatisfied, so Rias gave him a reassuring smile. “Trust me, Yuuto. I’m going to be casting blatant dark magic, and it works best if none of you are around to get caught up in it by accident. Grandmother’s magic wasn’t designed for the Rating Games; it was designed for war and mass murder.”

A disconcerted look passed over the faces of her peerage, though Yuuto’s shoulders eased slightly. “Then I have no objections.”

She shook her head slightly, knowing full well that was not entirely true, but she appreciated his concession.

“As you finish your battles, locate the nearest allied group and reinforce them. Nobody wanders alone, and nobody pursues a retreating enemy beyond the boundaries we establish. Oriax is an illusionist. If something appears too convenient, assume that it is.”

Her peerage answered with a collection of solemn nods. Even Issei’s exuberance had settled into concentration as he rolled his shoulders and stared toward the sealed doors leading into the transportation chamber.

Rias looked across them one by one. Akeno stood poised and confident, though Rias could see anticipation sharpening her violet eyes. Kiba had mastered his earlier unease and now carried himself with calm readiness. Koneko remained outwardly impassive, one hand still resting upon Gasper’s head, while Xenovia held her newly forged weapon with open eagerness. Asia breathed slowly in an effort to settle her nerves, and Issei could barely remain still as the Boosted Gear responded to his rising excitement.

They had suffered together. They had bled together. Infernity had stripped away every comfortable illusion they possessed concerning their own strength and then rebuilt them through hardship.

Whatever happened beyond those doors, nobody could take that from them.

The magical formations lining the chamber suddenly ignited, bathing the room in brilliant light as an announcement echoed overhead.

“Both Kings and their peerages will proceed to the transportation platforms. The preliminary Rating Game between Rias Gremory and Fellrix Oriax will begin in five minutes.”

A hush settled over the room.

Rias allowed herself one slow breath, savoring the nervous energy racing through her blood before she unfolded her arms and stepped toward the doors. Her peerage moved with her without needing to be called, falling naturally into place around their King.

She glanced back at them, her crimson hair shifting over one shoulder as a fierce smile spread across her face.

“Let’s get this show on the road.”

=======

Tall grass whipped against Issei’s legs as he ran across the rolling hills. The landscape reminded him of the savannas of Infernity, although the grass here lacked the teeth, hidden tentacles, or habit of spraying paralyzing spores that had made every single step a potential life-threatening decision!

That being said, he was kind of irked by their randomly generated battleground. Of course that idiot Saji would luck out and get an urban zone while Issei was forced to tread through steep hills!

Nevertheless, he faithfully followed Buchou’s magic marker, a light haze of crimson in his eyes which guided him in the general direction of the enemy Bishop. He wasn’t exactly sure how her spell worked, but he trusted her ability through and through. Honestly, it kind of reminded him of quest markers in open world RPGs.

And on that note, Issei realized he should look into the possibility of acquiring Gamer powers, like in those mass-produced isekai slop manga! How dope would that be? He could totally use favorability dating-sim mechanics to score tons of chicks!

‘Focus,’ a deep growl said into his mind.

He laughed with some embarrassment. “Sorry Ddraig, just excited and nervous at the same time!”

‘Continue bringing magic to your eyes,’ the Welsh Emperor said, brushing off his words. ‘It should allow you to perceive through most rudimentary illusions. Though if the enemy succeeds in directly assailing your mind, you must remain focused and trust your instincts.’

“Got it,” Issei murmured as he crested the nearest hill.

A small farmstead lay just past the slope, consisting of a weathered house, a broad barn, and several smaller buildings enclosed behind leaning wooden fences. And as far as he could see, nothing moved among them. There was no livestock in the pens, no smoke rising from the chimney, and no windmill turning despite the steady breeze bending the surrounding grass. Which was pretty normal, given how all of this was just simulated reality. He’d be super freaked out if there really were people living here!

Issei slowed as he approached, keeping the Boosted Gear low in the grass so the crimson glint of the gauntlet wouldn’t give away his position. And instead of passing through the open gate, he went around and climbed over the brick wall; carefully studying the apparently deserted buildings. After everything that Satan guy and his giant bully of a wolf put him through, Issei knew all too well walking through the front door without cover when an enemy was hiding inside was just plain stupid!

As the barn offered the highest vantage point, Issei circled around its rear and found a stack of rain barrels beneath one of the lower windows. He climbed onto them carefully, caught the edge of the roof, and hauled himself upward while trying not to scrape his Sacred Gear against the old wooden shingles and make too much sound. It would have been faster and easier to use his wings, but flying would have made him visible from every direction.

In a low crouch, Issei crawled toward the roof’s crest and peered across the farmstead.

From there, he could see every approach to the farmhouse, the empty animal pens, and the narrow spaces between the outbuildings. The grass surrounding the farm swayed in gentle waves, yet nothing appeared to be moving against the wind. And Buchou’s marker continued to insist that the Bishop was somewhere nearby, although it could not provide an exact location.

‘Well done,’ Ddraig said, and Issei heard the snapping of jaws to mark his approval. ‘Take the high ground in a hunt, know the shape of the land so that you may anticipate your prey.’

Issei grinned. Praise from someone as ancient and powerful as Ddraig felt pretty damn good, especially since the legendary dragon usually spent his time endlessly critiquing everything he did wrong. Positive affirmation was a thing, people!

“Yeah, I’m getting pretty good at this strategy stuff!” he said proudly.

‘Don’t be arrogant.’

He instantly scowled. “Can’t you let me be happy for five seconds?”

Receiving no answer, Issei sighed and slipped down the opposite side of the barn, continuing through the farmstead as he ducked and hid behind whatever cover he could manage. He checked the smaller buildings first, moving carefully around corners and pausing to listen before entering each one. The crimson marker shifted whenever he changed direction, gradually drawing him toward the main house.

The front door stood slightly ajar.

Issei approached with Boosted Gear held before him and nudged it open with one foot. The hinges released a long creak that seemed deafening within the silent farmstead, and Issei instantly felt like banging his head against the wall as he lost whatever element of surprise he may have had.

This was how the funny, good-looking friend always dies in horror movies!

He stepped into a narrow entryway, where dust-covered portraits lined the walls, and they immediately gave him pause. He blinked twice in disbelief because all the pictures were of Kaichou’s super-hot big sister. Why were there pictures of her here?

Shaking his head clear, he continued on and looked through the house; a staircase rose along one side, while several open doorways led toward the kitchen and adjoining rooms.

His heart began hammering as he moved deeper inside. Every groan of the floorboards sounded like an alarm announcing his position, and the pounding inside his chest became so loud that he wondered whether the enemy Bishop could hear it from the other side of the house.

He heard faint rustling coming from the living room, and Issei stopped immediately.

Something struck a piece of furniture, followed by a muffled curse and the hurried shuffle of feet. He crept toward the doorway, gathering power into the Boosted Gear as he prepared to attack whatever waited beyond the corner.

And then, much to his astonishment, Buchou stumbled into view.

Her crimson hair hung disheveled around her face, her clothes were torn along one shoulder, and panic filled her blue eyes as she nearly tripped over a low table. She caught herself against the back of a couch and looked toward Issei with startled relief.

“Issei! Thank goodness! Oriax’s Knights found me and have been chasing me! I ran here to hide from them!”

Issei stood perfectly still for two seconds.

Then the Boosted Gear roared as he launched himself across the room and drove his armored fist directly into her face.

The impact hurled her over the couch and sent her crashing into the opposite wall. Plaster cracked around her body before she slumped to the floor, her head hanging limply against her chest. For an instant, the image of Buchou flickered like a faulty projection. Her crimson hair dissolved into mist, her curves narrowed, and a young man in dark robes and a deep hood appeared in her place.

The Bishop wiped a trace of blood from his mouth as he struggled upright, staring at Issei in complete disbelief.

“How did you figure it out?”

Issei pointed at him with righteous fury. “Buchou’s bust size is two centimeters bigger! As if such blasphemy could ever fool my eyes!”

The Bishop’s mouth fell open.

“How the fuck could you even see the difference?!”

Issei drew breath to explain the countless hours of dedicated observation required to cultivate such flawless judgment, but then the other Devil’s body abruptly dissolved into silver mist.

Ddraig snarled dangerously in his mind. ‘You should have struck him down instead of humoring him, whelp.’

Issei winced. “Right. Sorry.”

The silver mist spread rapidly through the room, crawling along the walls and pouring through every doorway until the entire farmhouse disappeared beneath its haze. A snarl arose behind Issei. He spun and found an enormous werewolf crouched upon the dining table, saliva hanging from its exposed fangs. Three tusked orcs emerged from the kitchen, while scaled monsters dragged themselves down the staircase upon hooked claws. More shapes gathered beyond the windows until dozens of baleful eyes surrounded him.

Issei raised both hands hesitantly. “Uhh... I’m completely caught in his illusions, aren’t I?”

‘Evidently’ said the dragon with caustic bite.

One of the orcs charged and Issei ducked beneath its axe and drove his fist into its stomach, only for the creature to burst into smoke. A werewolf struck him from the side before dissolving beneath his counterattack, and two more monsters immediately took its place.

‘Stop wasting time; you were told to crush him. There is no need to humor his paltry tricks,’ Ddraig reminded him.

Issei blinked as the answer suddenly became obvious.

“Oh, yeah…”

Red power erupted around him and Issei felt his strength and energy increase severalfold.

“Balance Breaker!”

Crimson armor swept over Issei’s body as the Boosted Gear’s Scale Mail manifested, its green jewels blazing through the red haze of draconic power. His wings snapped open and Issei launched himself upward with little care. He smashed through the farmhouse ceiling, tore through the floor above it, and burst from the roof in a storm of shattered timber and tiles until he was high in the noon sky.

And with little ceremony, he gathered an abundance of power.

“Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!”

Power multiplied through his body with every declaration, gathering within his chest until heat burned between the plates of his armor. Issei spread his wings above the farmstead and threw his head forward, releasing an enormous torrent of dragonfire.

The flames descended in an ocean of burning orange and yellow.

The farmhouse vanished first, instantly swallowed beneath the inferno before the blaze spread across the barn, fences, and surrounding fields. Illusory monsters briefly appeared within the fire, their silhouettes twisting and howling before they dissolved into smoke. The inferno continued expanding until the entire farmstead burned beneath Issei, leaving no refuge in which the Bishop could conceal himself.

Several seconds passed before an announcement echoed across the battlefield.

“Fellrix Oriax’s Bishop has been eliminated!”

Issei thrust one fist triumphantly into the air with a cheer. “Woohoo! Who’s the best Dragon Emperor? I’m the best Dragon Emperor!”

‘Are you not forgetting something, whelp?’

He lowered his arm and blinked. “Eh?”

Ddraig remained silent, apparently content to let Issei arrive at the answer himself. And for several seconds, Issei floated there in confusion as he replayed Buchou’s commands one by one.

And Issei’s eyes widened inside his helmet as he recalled her final order.

“Oh shit, Akeno-san!”

His wings snapped open, and he rocketed away from the burning farmstead toward where he could vaguely sense his Queen’s presence.

=======

Akeno twisted through the air as three dark-red missiles screamed past her, their radiance washing her face in a sickly crimson before they struck the hillside behind her. The first impact tore open the ground, the second ripped through a stand of trees, and the third exploded within the exposed soil, sending shards of stone and uprooted trunks tumbling over the hills around.

Her black Devil wings folded close against her back as she dropped sharply beneath another volley, allowing gravity to carry her toward the winding river below. Wind tore at her hair and clothes, yet Akeno continued to smile as she glanced over one shoulder at the woman pursuing her.

She recognized the woman from their reconnaissance files—Ellinda Oriax, Fellrix’s cousin and Queen.

There were rumors that the two shared a relationship beyond the familial and might soon be married, though she didn’t particularly care to follow up on that brand of gossip. Marriage between cousins was hardly remarkable among pure-blooded Devils, particularly within families whose inherited magic had become sufficiently rare to inspire an almost pathological obsession with preserving their bloodlines.

And yet, judging by the spells chasing her, House Oriax had certainly preserved its versatile blood magic.

The missiles possessed the dark, almost rust-colored glow characteristic of blood curses, and Akeno could feel their malice scraping against her skin whenever they passed nearby. Being struck would be excruciating. Blood magic seldom contented itself with superficial wounds; not when it could invade the body, ignite every vein, and make the victim feel as though their own heart had turned against them.

It was an excruciating and powerful form of dark magic, which made it highly respected in the Underworld.

Luckily for Akeno, Ellinda had yet to prove herself capable of overcoming Akeno’s sheer athleticism in the sky. She did so enjoy flying; there was an unfettered freedom it gave her, one that allowed her to forget most of the worries that came when walking on the ground below.

Nevertheless, Akeno swept one hand behind herself and discharged a branching arc of lightning. Yellow and white radiance split across the sky and collided with the next cluster of blood missiles, detonating them far enough away that only a warm gust of corrupted air brushed against her back. Though she was careful to keep the lightning entirely elemental in nature, refusing to allow even the faintest spark of Holy power to rise with it.

She was Rias’ Queen, and she perfectly understood the reasoning behind ordering her to keep Oriax’s Queen occupied instead of directly engaging and trying to eliminate her.

The Gremory peerage possessed little experience in official Rating Games, having participated in only one before the tournament – the disastrous loss to Riser—but that inexperience granted them an unusual advantage. Their opponents possessed very little reliable information about them, and virtually none of what they did possess included anything about them after their months of training within Infernity.

They were essentially nobodies in the Rating Games, unknown factors. And Rias wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible, to preserve the element of surprise.

Of course, there was no hiding Issei.

It was basically public knowledge that Issei wielded Boosted Gear after their match with Riser. And everyone knew what to generally expect from a Longinus, there were literal millennia of history written about the Welsh Emperor and his exploits throughout the cosmos.

Akeno, however, remained known primarily as a lightning sorceress with Fallen Angel heritage. But if Rias could conceal the full extent of her Queen’s abilities through the preliminary rounds, then later enemies would have little to prepare aside from the barebones display she would give.

As such, it was only natural to allow Issei to shine and overshadow Akeno, allowing her to remain a mysterious but very tangible threat.

But she had to admit, there was a part of her that rebelled at Rias’ strategy. Not because it was a bad one, quite the opposite, but because…

Akeno wanted to show off!

The desire writhed inside her every time she suppressed the Holy element from her lightning or allowed an opportunity to pass without demonstrating one of the techniques she had learned from Diana. She wanted the audience to witness everything she could do. She wanted the judges to remember her name when they chose the tournament’s finest Queens and ranked them accordingly.

Most importantly, she wanted that man to look at her.

His rejection of her confession still stung, and her heart still trembled with grief and ache whenever she thought about those soulful brown eyes. But regardless, she still intended to force her way into the top three before the tournament ended!

She wanted to show him everything she was capable of; she wanted to shout through her actions, ‘Look! I’m worth your time! I exceeded your expectations!’

She wanted, no, she needed his affirmation. His acknowledgement. That he didn’t share his story and pain with her for nothing. That she wasn’t just a silly teenage girl with mommy and daddy issues.

She could already imagine it: his warm eyes following her across the battlefield, measuring every spell and movement. And, after the match, he would approach her with that boyish and roguish curve to his lips and reach out to stroke the top of her head. He would tell her she did a good job and that he was proud of her. And he would then lean in close and whisper -

Good girl.

A delightful shudder ran down her spine and she bit her lower lip.

A lance of blood magic streaked past less than a foot from her head.

Akeno’s eyes widened before she rolled violently to the side, the lance clipping a single strand of black hair before descending into the river. The resulting explosion hurled thousands of gallons of water into the air and sent a violent wave surging over both banks.

Fuck, she thought. That was careless of me.

“Will you stop running and fight!” Ellinda screamed from above.

Akeno steadied herself and looked back at the other Queen. Ellinda’s dark brown hair had escaped its elaborate arrangement and now snapped wildly around her increasingly flushed face. Dark-red magic gathered between her hands as she glared with undisguised frustration.

Akeno smiled sweetly. “Sorry, honey, but I’m trying to get away from your cheap perfume. It reeks to Hell.”

Ellinda’s expression went perfectly blank, but quickly enough, her mouth then fell open in outrage. “Cheap?”

The blood magic around her erupted.

An immense pool of crimson fluid manifested across the sky, rolling above the valley like a suspended sea. Its coppery stench immediately saturated the air, and Akeno raised one eyebrow as dozens of tendrils descended from its surface.

Apparently, the perfume had been a sensitive subject for the woman?

Ellinda swept both arms downward, sending the blood-whips lashing toward her. Akeno accelerated along the river, weaving between the first strikes as they tore through the banks behind her. One tendril struck the water and carved through the riverbed, displacing the current in a tremendous burst that flooded the surrounding grasslands. Another swept horizontally across the valley, shearing the crown from a hill and filling the air with pulverized stone.

Akeno turned upon one wingtip and brought both palms together. A circular barrier of demonic power formed before her an instant before three blood tendrils converged upon it. The collision drove her backward through the air, her wings straining as cracks spread across the barrier’s surface. With a sharp flick of her wrists, she angled the shield downward and allowed Ellinda’s attack to slide aside, where it struck the valley floor and opened a trench through several dozen feet of earth.

“My,” Akeno called as she rose above the dust, “such enthusiasm. Did I touch a sensitive nerve? I mean, not that I don’t understand – imagine being surrounded by the stench of blood. I bet the boys just run from you.”

Ellinda answered by compressing part of the suspended pool into a storm of crimson blades. Akeno flew directly toward them, her fingers dancing through the air as she released a web of lightning. Blood and electricity collided in rapid succession, filling the sky with bursts of red and violet radiance. She slipped through the openings between each explosion and passed Ellinda closely enough to observe the thick foundation beginning to crack around the woman’s mouth.

“On the subject of a lady’s vanity, have you considered investing in a good mirror, dear? Your makeup is atrocious,” Akeno commented offhandedly.

Ellinda released an inarticulate shriek and swung one arm after her. A crescent of blood magic cleaved through the air, forcing Akeno to dive sharply. The attack missed her and continued into the distance, slicing through two hills before dissipating. Their upper halves shifted upon themselves and collapsed with tremendous crashes, sending avalanches of earth and stone into the flooded valley.

Silently, Akeno was impressed with the other Queen. That kind of magical firepower would have been an immense boon for their peerage. It was a shame that sweet Asia had little inclination toward offensive power and Gasper… well, most of Gasper’s limitations were self-inflicted.

A part of her winced at the idea that one day Lord Ichigo would turn his brand of brutal therapy on the shy boy.

Akeno continued keeping Ellinda away from the center of the battlefield, kiting her around the outer edges of the perimeter as she evaded every bit of torturous magic thrown at her.

However, it seemed that the Oriax Queen finally tired of being led around by the nose.

For several breaths, the woman floated motionless above the ruined valley, her shoulders rising and falling as blood magic rolled around her in increasingly violent waves. The remaining crimson sea expanded above them until it covered several hundred meters, smothering the sunlight beneath a dark-red canopy.

Akeno’s smile faded slightly.

The immense blood field began to churn. Spears emerged from its underside one after another, each larger than a tree and dripping thick crimson fluid upon the devastated earth.

Ellinda lowered her hand and nearly one hundred spears fell.

Akeno shot forward as the first struck behind her. Its point buried itself in the valley floor, glowed brilliant red, and exploded with enough force to tear open the earth. Another descended ahead of her, forcing her to bank left before its detonation hurled a wall of superheated soil into her path. She formed a barrier and crashed through the debris, only to find more spears already falling around her.

The entirety of the small valley disappeared beneath successive eruptions. Hills collapsed, the displaced river abandoned its shattered banks, and incandescent fissures spread through the ground as blood spears detonated by the dozens. Akeno flew at breakneck speed through the blood storm, folding and spreading her wings in rapid succession while barriers flashed into existence around her.

Okay… this is getting a little dangerous.

There were limits to how defensively she could fight without actively jeopardizing herself. Ellinda might have been crude, vain, and painfully easy to manipulate, but she was still a High-class Queen wielding dangerous Pillar magic. Akeno gathered lightning between her fingers, allowing slightly more power to bleed into the spell as she searched for an opening.

But then an announcement rolled across the battlefield.

“Fellrix Oriax’s Bishop has been eliminated!”

Akeno rolled her eyes. “Finally.”

Given the amount of magic she and Ellinda were releasing, even Issei should be capable of finding them within the next minute. Akeno only needed to continue preserving the secrecy of her abilities until he arrived.

She darted between two descending spears and released a narrow bolt of lightning. It struck Ellinda across the shoulder and spun her halfway around. A second bolt clipped the woman’s thigh, burning through her clothing and leaving an angry red wound beneath it. Neither attack was serious, though the humiliation of finally being struck appeared to injure Ellinda far more deeply than the lightning itself.

“You filthy little—!”

Ellinda threw both arms upward and the blood field contracted.

Hundreds of meters of suspended crimson rushed toward a single point, spiraling together and compressing into one enormous lance. It continued growing until it rivaled an eighteen-wheeler in size, its surface covered in pulsing veins and elaborate curses that made the air scream around it.

Akeno blinked with genuine concern.

She could not stop that with a basic barrier… or any barrier that she knew. The lance carried enough force to erase a small village, and countering would actively require her to use her powers seriously. She would be forced to push back offensively and not just in a teasing way.

“Any day now, Issei,” she muttered through gritted teeth.

Ellinda’s lips spread into a vicious sneer as she fixed the immense weapon upon her.

“I’m gonna enjoy this, you Fallen bitch.”

Akeno’s expression went flat.

And though the other Queen had never managed to touch her with her blood magic, that one word was enough to undo all the self-imposed control Akeno had put on herself. Rage and hatred roiled in her chest and she could hear it thunder in her ears. Her magic responded in kind, lacing through the air and causing arcs of lightning to spark around her, and the sky above their heads darkened against the red of Ellinda’s blood magic.  

Both Queens’ auras clashed, and a ripple of magic pushed the wind violently in all directions away from them, creating a sort of vacuum that tore the ground beneath their wings.

Akeno was half a second from unleashing her rage, even as she felt the other Queen was about to do the same. And yet, quite suddenly, a surge of heat washed over both of them, accompanied by a loud exclamation from above in the sky.

“Red Emperor Entry!”

And Akeno could only watch with utter amazement as Issei crossed the distance within the blink of an eye and slammed into Ellinda Oriax like a meteor descending from the heavens! And in the next second, the two crashed into the earth and there was a tremendous flash of white light that blinded her completely.

Oh shit!

Akeno’s eyes widened as the expanding dome of fire consumed the surrounding landscape. She turned and fled, pumping her magic as hard as she could while the blast raced after her. Heat licked across her back and engulfed the lower edges of her wings. She conjured a barrier behind herself just as the kinetic force arrived, and the collision hurled her forward amid a storm of superheated earth, shattered stone, and ashen dust.

Her barrier fractured.

Akeno poured more power into it and climbed desperately, escaping above the explosion as the roiling cloud spread across several thousand feet of the battlefield. Flaming debris fell around her, and another announcement sounded over the thunderous collapse of the valley.

“Fellrix Oriax’s Queen has been eliminated!”

Akeno hovered high above the devastation and stared down in mild disbelief. The casual, monstrous force of a Longinus truly was awe-inspiring. As she looked down at her clothes, she noted the dirt and ash covering them, as well as some of the scorch marks on the hem of her skirt.

She let out an audible sigh. Naturally, Issei would manage to do more damage to her than the enemy Queen did.

But then, a crimson figure emerged from the cloud below. Issei flew toward her in his Scale Mail and raised both hands, offering her two enthusiastic thumbs-up.

“Mission accomplished, Akeno-san!”

Akeno regarded him for a moment before shaking her head with a disbelieving laugh. “You sure took your time, Issei. Don’t you know it’s not polite to keep a lady waiting?”

Issei reflexively reached behind his head, only for his armored fingers to scrape uselessly against his helmet. The familiar gesture stirred a warm thread of fondness within her. Despite his eccentricities, Issei remained a sweet and earnest boy who would hurl himself into danger without hesitation for any one of them.

She really was rooting for Asia to finally get through his dense skull that she liked him. She thought they would make for a cute couple. Ah, and not to mention his recent half-Dragon sorceress admirer. She withheld a dramatic sigh; how was it that Issei of all people had better luck in love than she did?

“Sorry, Akeno-san,” he said sheepishly. “I’ll do better next time.”

She shook her head. “No, you were perfect, I’m just teasing. But let’s go find our King.”

“Yes! Let’s go find Buchou!”

Akeno turned and led the boy away towards their master.

=======

Rias sat atop a broad boulder fixed into the crown of a grassy hill, her palms resting against the sun-warmed stone as she idly kicked her legs through the air. Golden grass rolled around her in gentle waves, stirred by a breeze that carried the distant thunder of explosions from across the battlefield.

And yet, despite her carefree appearance, she was quite aware of all that was happening in her immediate vicinity. One of the things she had focused on during her months in Grevex was strengthening and enhancing her senses.

Which was how she knew, somewhere behind her, one of Fellrix’s Pawns was creeping through the grass toward her. His presence had been suppressed so thoroughly that most Devils would have sensed nothing at all, but Rias could still follow the faint distortion moving steadily toward her. Every time he advanced, the ambient magic in the air bent around his physical form, faintly betraying the enchantments granted by his stealth-oriented Sacred Gear.

In fairness, it was a subtle and intricate ability and would have worked on most Devils at her level. Sadly, for the enemy Pawn, Rias had spent months playing hide and seek with Saviġuk, and Satan’s Knight had abilities that far outstripped those of a run-of-the-mill Sacred Gear.  

Based on recordings of Fellrix’s previous Rating Games, this Pawn specialized in close-range assassination, and he was generally paired with another Pawn whose Sacred Gear was an archery-type Sacred Gear that could fire all sorts of elemental and kinetic arrows. The usual method for the two was for the assassin to approach the enemy King from behind while the archer waited for the perfect moment to strike from afar. If the King defended against one, the other exploited the opening.

It was one of Fellrix’s favorite methods for eliminating inexperienced Kings.

Nonetheless, Rias continued kicking her legs until the presence behind her stopped within striking distance. She turned at the waist and smiled brightly toward an apparently empty patch of grass.

“Hi! I can totally see you!”

She received no answer, but she could still feel the magic in the air swirling around one empty spot, which clearly showed her he was there. And with a bit of magic in her eyes, she could see a rough outline of a frozen and low figure.

Rias tilted her head, watching the invisible Pawn remain perfectly still, refusing to acknowledge her. She could barely sense waves of confusion and a creeping fear coloring his aura.

“Yes, you, with the knife in your hand, crouching still and invisible!”

Several seconds passed before a disembodied male voice finally replied, “You’re awfully bold sitting defenseless by yourself, Lady Gremory.”

Rias blinked innocently. “You think I’m defenseless?”

Light flashed across the field.

An arrow tore through the air from somewhere beyond the surrounding hills and struck the space inches from Rias’ head. Blue, crystalline radiance flared around her as the projectile smashed against the protective barrier she had woven at the beginning of the match, and ripples spread across its otherwise invisible surface, revealing dozens of interlocking magical formations layered around the boulder.

At the same time, the arrow fractured and dissolved into glittering motes.

Rias looked toward the distant hill from which it had originated, although she could sense that the archer was already on the move, trying to avoid her gaze.

“I’m assuming that’s your partner? The one with the archery Sacred Gear?” Her smile broadened as she returned her attention to the assassin.

She could not see the man’s expression, but she could sense his fear sharply rise and begin to disturb his magic. His confidence receded beneath the slow realization that Rias had been waiting for both of them from the beginning.

“But no,” she continued pleasantly, “I am certainly not defenseless.”

Rias tapped one finger against the boulder and dark magic erupted from her body.

The curse expanded at hypersonic speed, racing outward as a low wave of shadow that swallowed the hill and everything around it. Golden grass withered the instant it touched the darkness. Every blade curled inward, blackened, and collapsed into ash as the curse poured across the countryside. Flowers rotted upon their stems, shrubs crumbled into lifeless husks, and the few scattered trees lost their leaves before their bark split and they disintegrated into a lifeless pile of dust.

Within a heartbeat, thousands of feet of vibrant grassland became a desolate expanse of black sand and death.

The invisible Pawn had no opportunity to flee. His concealment vanished as the curse overtook him, briefly revealing a black-haired man clutching a narrow dagger before the Rating Game’s protections removed him from the battlefield. Farther away, the archer materialized atop another hill, his luminous bow falling from nerveless fingers an instant before he disappeared as well.

Two announcements followed one another across the battlefield.

“Fellrix Oriax’s Pawn has been eliminated!”

“Fellrix Oriax’s Pawn has been eliminated!”

Rias let out a small cheer before spreading her black Devil wings, and she floated quickly off the boulder and into the sky. With a touch of curiosity, she looked down upon the death field with some admiration.

It was a withering curse her grandmother had taught her, having claimed it to be one of her favorite spells. The dark magic killed all living things within its reach, down to the microscopic level. And death was instantaneous for anyone whose magic was weaker than Rias’. It was truly a frightening spell.

However, its inability to distinguish friend from foe made it dangerously impractical whenever her peerage was nearby. And as Rias only grew stronger as time passed, the spell only grew all the more dangerous.

Thankfully, she had ensured that she would be far away from her children, so that they wouldn’t be affected by her own magic.

Rias then flew beyond the edge of the blighted field before facing toward the distant magical signatures scattered across the battlefield. Fellrix’s Bishop had swiftly been eliminated by Issei, and his Queen’s elimination by Issei’s and Akeno’s combined efforts significantly shifted the advantage in her favor. With both his Bishop and Queen gone, Fellrix had lost the two members most capable of supporting his blood magic and controlling the shape of the battlefield.

Fellrix relied too heavily upon his Bishop’s illusions to confuse enemy formations and sow chaos while he worked from a distance to augment said chaos. He would then use his Queen to exploit the resulting disorder, attacking whichever Pieces had been separated from their allies.

But with his strategy of attacking the front with illusions and the back row with stealth now entirely removed from play, Fellrix would have no choice but to enter the fray directly if he hoped to compensate for those losses.

Logically, Rias knew the smart thing to do would be to take his remaining two Pawns and rendezvous with that monster of a Rook of his. They could eliminate Xenovia and Asia and then split up to reinforce the Knights currently engaged with Yuuto, Gasper, and Koneko.

But Rias had no intention of allowing any of that.

She accelerated across the sky, leaving the dead grasslands behind her. The wind pulled her crimson hair into a long banner as she followed Fellrix’s magical signature, adjusting her path whenever his movement shifted. Two familiar presences raced toward her from the opposite direction, and within seconds Akeno and Issei took their places upon either side of her.

“Buchou!” Issei called excitedly through the fierce winds.

Rias smiled toward the crimson armor of his Scale Mail. “Did you have fun?”

“No way! They were super weak!”

Akeno released a soft giggle from Rias’ other side. Her clothes were dusted with ash and dirt, while several scorch marks marred the hem of her skirt.

“Oh my, our Pawn certainly is brimming with energy. We may have to find an… outlet for him.” She turned a sultry smile upon Issei. “Shall your onee-sama give you a hand?”

Much to Rias’ amusement, the poor boy somehow stumbled midflight.

His wings flared unevenly, and he dropped several feet before hurriedly correcting himself. Rias could not help giggling to herself. For such a tremendous pervert, he possessed remarkably little resistance to a girl flirting with him.

But their moment of levity ended as three figures appeared ahead.

Fellrix hovered above the rolling grasslands with his remaining Pawns flanking him. One was a broad-shouldered man with reinforced metal wrapped around both forearms, while the other held a long, curved blade in each hand. The six Devils slowed to a halt, arranging themselves into two opposing lines within the sky.

“Fellrix.” Rias dipped her head politely. “It’s been a while.”

“Rias,” he replied curtly. His dark robes shifted around him as blood-red energy smoldered behind his eyes. “I see the rumors of your downfall and exile have been greatly exaggerated.”

“Not in the least,” she answered with a truthful smile. “But when you find yourself at the bottom, up is the only direction to go.”

He studied her in silence, his expression growing progressively darker. Whether he was looking for some trace of the spoiled heiress he remembered or measuring the strength she had displayed, Rias could not tell.

“I underestimated you,” he finally admitted.

She gave him a playful wink. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“But you’ve not won yet,” Fellrix continued as his aura rose around him. “I am older, stronger, and far more experienced than you. Before me, you can only be at my mercy.”

“If you say so.” Rias maintained her polite smile before glancing toward her companions. “Issei, Akeno.”

Her Pieces moved instantly.

Issei accelerated so violently that he appeared to teleport. His armored fist crashed into the Pawn on Fellrix’s right and launched the man down through the sky. The Pawn hurtled toward the ground before striking the earth with such a thunderous boom that it sent soil rising in a wide ring around him.

Fellrix reacted immediately, thrusting one hand toward Issei and releasing a concentrated beam of blood magic. The attack struck the Scale Mail across the side and blasted him away, but Issei twisted free of the beam, protected by the armor of red dragon scales, and he dove after the fallen Pawn, intent on finishing him off.

At the same instant, Akeno swept both hands forward. A branching surge of lightning engulfed Fellrix’s other Pawn and drove him away from his King. He tried to defend with his curved blades, but Akeno followed him relentlessly, each fresh bolt pushing him farther from the confrontation.

Sadly for Fellrix, he could not reinforce his two Pawns as Rias unleashed a sphere of crimson destruction that erupted from her palm.

He crossed his arms before himself and conjured a circular formation of blood; Rias’ attack collided with it before exploding and filling the sky with violent fireworks of crimson and scarlet hues. The detonation tore through the clouds overhead and flattened the grass across the hills below, but Fellrix emerged from the fading light with no visible damage to himself, having clad his body in protective magics.

The corners of Rias’ lips curved.

Well, it would have been somewhat disappointing if someone as experienced as Fellrix went down so easily.

Bloody mist poured from his hands and spread through the air between them before hardening into hundreds of narrow needles. They converged upon Rias from every direction, each carrying curses designed to enter through even the smallest wound. She wrapped herself in the Power of Destruction and released it outward in a crimson pulse. Every needle disintegrated before reaching her, but Fellrix had already hidden his next spell inside the mist. Bands of blood erupted from beneath her and coiled around her ankles, tightening as their curses attempted to invade her body.

Rias destroyed the restraints with a sharp flare of power and drove forward. Fellrix met her advance with a spiraling torrent of blood, its surface filled with grasping hands and distorted faces. She punched directly through its center with another blast of destruction. Their magic collided between them, producing an explosion powerful enough to throw both Kings apart as red lightning arced through the sky and struck the ground below.

Rias recovered first. Her wings snapped outward, arresting her flight before she immediately launched herself back toward him. Fellrix formed several rotating shields of blood and layered them across her path, but she struck each with a precisely measured sphere of destruction. The first shield shattered, the second collapsed into vapor, and the third detonated against his chest before it could fully form. Fellrix tumbled backward, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, yet he recovered with the practiced speed of someone who had fought more Rating Games than Rias had witnessed.

He swept his injured hand through the air, scattering droplets of his own blood into a complex magical formation. The circle expanded beneath Rias and attempted to seize control of the blood within her body. Pressure clenched around her heart, and pain lanced through her veins as Fellrix closed his fist.

Months ago, the attack might have frozen her in pain, but she had pulled through numerous excruciating sessions of being physically beaten into the ground by Saviġuk in the harsh frostfields of Infernity’s icy mountains.

Not to mention, the week with her grandmother made her intimately familiar with the sort of agony magic could inflict.

No, Rias Gremory was no stranger to pain.

She poured demonic power through her entire body and overwhelmed the curse from within. She then unleashed a broad wave of destruction that erased the formation, the surrounding blood mist, and a considerable section of the hill beneath Fellrix. He fled upward as the terrain vanished into crimson light, but Rias followed him through the explosion, emerging close enough to drive a condensed blast into his side. The attack sent him spinning across the sky and shattered the defensive reinforcement woven into his robes.

In truth, Rias could have ended this battle already with any number of vile magicks that had been beaten into her by her grandmother, but she was intent on keeping as much of her arsenal as hidden as possible. Let her future opponents focus on her being a Power-type who hurls vast amounts of magic at her foes. The more versatile and dangerous spells should be stowed away for when an enemy least expected it.

Once more, she threw herself and her Power of Destruction against Fellrix’s blood magic.

Blood became spears, serpents, blades, and grasping chains, while Rias answered every creation with concentrated destruction. Explosions rolled across the sky until the clouds were torn apart and the air became saturated with demonic energy. Red lightning crawled through the atmosphere, struck the earth, and ignited the dead grass around the remnants of nearby hills.

Fellrix possessed greater experience, but experience could not compensate for the disparity gradually becoming apparent between them. Every clash forced him farther backward. Every shield required more of his concentration to maintain. Rias continued pressing forward with enough apparent aggression to conceal the careful rhythm beneath her attacks. Each blast limited the direction in which he could retreat, steadily driving him away from his Rook and deeper into territory controlled by her peerage.

Two announcements rang through the battlefield in quick succession.

“Fellrix Oriax’s Pawn has been eliminated!”

“Fellrix Oriax’s Pawn has been eliminated!”

Rias smiled grimly even as Fellrix’s face tightened and Issei and Akeno returned from opposite directions. Issei struck first, releasing a blast of draconic power that forced Fellrix to raise another blood shield while Akeno’s lightning descended from above before the barrier had finished forming, tearing through its upper edge and driving Fellrix directly into the path of Rias’ next attack.

As he tried to break away from the onslaught, she caught him sending her an incredulous look.

What? Did he think she would tell her peerage to stay back while she fought him one-on-one, King against King? What was she? Some sort of virtuous knight? She was the sister of Lucifer! Daughter of the Demonic House of Gremory! She had no shame in using numbers to her advantage if it meant securing victory!

He roared as blood magic erupted from his entire body and created a blood field that was over a mile wide, his magic surging to the upper ends of High-class. A storm of crimson blades, thousands of them, exploded in every direction, forcing Akeno to retreat behind a barrier while Issei crossed his armored arms before his face. But Rias continued forward through the barrage, surrounding herself with destruction and allowing every blade that approached her to unravel beneath her overwhelming destructive might.

Fellrix saw her coming and gathered the remnants of his power into both hands. Blood compressed between his palms, arcing with red lightning, until it became a dark-red sphere so dense that it warped the space around it.

“You are still beneath me!” he shouted.

He hurled the sphere with a fierce cry.

Rias responded with a concentrated blast of her own, a dense orb of crimson destruction flung out with both hands.

The two spheres collided halfway between them with a deafening crack, and the sky buckled beneath the pressure. A circular shockwave ripped outward from the point of impact, flattening the hills below and sending hurricane-force winds screaming across the battlefield. Grass was torn from the soil, trees snapped at their trunks, and loose boulders tumbled across the ground like scattered pebbles.

At the center of the collision, Blood and Destruction ground violently against one another. Space began to split around them, opening into thin black fractures as the opposing powers tore at the fabric of the artificial world. Enormous bolts of red lightning erupted from the struggle and struck the earth below, blasting apart hillsides and carving incandescent trenches through the landscape.

Rias kept both hands raised and poured more of her magic into the attack. Her crimson sphere surged forward, forcing Fellrix’s spell back several feet before he roared and answered with another violent flood of power. The balance shifted between them repeatedly, neither attack yielding as the air became too charged to breathe.

Then both spheres collapsed into one another, and the resultant surge exploded in a magnificent blast that spread across more than a mile.

Akeno and Issei flew in front of Rias before the blast could reach her, and Boosted Gear thundered repeatedly as Issei multiplied his power and thrust one hand against Akeno’s back.

“Transfer!”

Akeno spread both arms, using the newly received power to conjure an immense multilayered barrier around them, and the explosion crashed against it with earth-shaking force, burying all three beneath an ocean of fire and crimson light.

Hovering steadily behind Akeno and Issei, Rias drew several measured breaths and forced her frantic magic back beneath her control. Beyond Akeno’s barrier, fire and red thunder churned through a suffocating storm of dust, the contaminated debris crawling with traces of dark magic. She searched through the inferno for Fellrix, as no announcement had declared his elimination.

He was definitely still in play then.

As the force of the explosion diminished, Rias sensed his presence through the fallout in the opposite direction. She placed one hand upon Akeno’s shoulder, and her Queen immediately understood. The three flew forward together and Akeno maintained the shield as they pierced the burning haze.

They found Fellrix hovering unsteadily beyond it. His robes hung in scorched and torn tatters, blood streamed from numerous wounds, and his entire body was hunched over as he took in ragged breaths. Nevertheless, he remained airborne, staring at them with open defiance.

A worthy descendant of Oriax, Rias thought to herself. Had she still been living in Kuoh, it would have been impossible for her and her peerage to defeat such a powerful King.

Fellrix met her eyes and gave a humorless laugh. “I’m not surrendering, Rias.”

Unbidden, Issei and Akeno moved as Rias flew forward and stopped directly before him. And though she didn’t consider him a friend, he was still an acquaintance, belonging to the shared younger generation all born within the same one hundred years. She gently cupped his battered face between both hands, her touch almost tender.

“Good-bye, Fellrix,” she whispered softly, even as her eyes glowed an eldritch green.

And crimson Destruction erupted point-blank from her palms.

=======

Ichigo sat in a private booth, one leg over another as he leaned into his fist and watched Rias’ Rating Game unfold. As before, his ward’s older sibling sat with him, but unlike before, Sirzechs had decided not to behave too egregiously.

They both sat on thrones, even as their attention was on the stadium below. Grayfia-nee and Gremory were also at their respective Kings’ sides. Well, Grayfia-nee stood poised and graceful next to Sirzechs. As for Gremory…

Ichigo’s eyes fell from the stadium to his Bishop sitting at his feet, her head resting rather cheekily against his knee. Because Ichigo decided to watch Rias’ game with Sirzechs, Gremory had managed to worm her way into the booth, citing some sort of nonsense about it being a family event they should all enjoy together.

Of course, Sirzechs blinked twice and then went on pretending she wasn’t even there. He was still struggling to accept the reality that his grandmother was now a servant for his former Pawn.

Grayfia-nee took it all in stride, of course.

“She should have sent little Akeno after the Bishop and Issei after the Queen,” Sirzechs commented lightly.

Ichigo hummed in agreement. Akeno was far more magically capable and would have just as quickly finished off Oriax’s Bishop. Meanwhile, Issei, with his Balance Breaker, had the overwhelming firepower to take out the enemy Queen just as quickly. He understood her ploy to try and keep her Queen’s abilities as unknown as possible, but…

“She overthought it,” he muttered. “At the very least, everyone now knows Akeno has high evasive abilities and survivability. Future opponents will focus on speed and blitz tactics to take her out in the future.”

Sirzechs nodded along.

“Fellrix committed quite the blunder,” Grayfia-nee then said. “As soon as he lost his Queen, he should have castled while commanding his remaining Pawns to reinforce his two Knights. He could have easily taken out Xenovia and Asia, then moved on to overwhelm Rias’ other Pieces, forcing her to also castle to protect them, thereby isolating her from Akeno and Issei.”

“Yes,” Sirzechs murmured in agreement. “He played too defensively. He was too committed to keeping his remaining Pawns by his side.”

Ichigo then turned to the Demon at his legs. “Nothing to say?”

Gremory looked up at him with a soft smile. “She performed well. Though the withering curse was not the most effective choice. She should have captured the two Pawns instead of eliminating them and used their bond with their master to engineer a soul-bound curse.”

“Tampering with the Evil Pieces is illegal,” Sirzechs said dryly, the first time he even acknowledged Gremory’s presence since she had arrived.

She merely smiled in response.

Sirzechs then sighed melodramatically and wiped a tear from his eye. “Ria-tan’s first Rating Game victory! I-I’m so proud! We should go and have a celebratory feast!”

“Participants aren’t allowed to meet their families for the duration of the tournament,” Ichigo pointedly reminded him.

“Bah!” Sirzechs said childishly. “Who set that stupid rule in the first place?”

“We did, you moron,” Ichigo shot back. “Anyways, she’s done a fantastic job. Far better than she did with the peerage she previously had—the one that just suicidally threw itself face-first into every battle. They have some kinks to hammer out, sure, but that’s what the tournament is for.”

“Yes!” Sirzechs exclaimed. “I’m so proud of her!”

Gremory then moved from her seat at his feet and kneeled before Ichigo. “Thank you for guiding my child, my Lord. Rias’ growth is entirely your merit.”

Sirzechs then turned to him with a sour look. “While I sure as Hell am not going to kneel, grandmother is right. You’ve done a wonderful job in guiding Rias. Thank you, Ichigo. It means a lot to me.”

He gave a careless shrug; he did enjoy being a mentor to Sona and Rias, it was an eye-opening experience for him. It made him consider things he never had before.

“Don’t thank me yet,” he said with a soft laugh. “She’s still got more than nine years under me to go.”

But then, Ichigo rose from his throne and so too did Sirzechs. Gremory straightened and submissively stepped behind Ichigo. And it was a good thing all four of them were avatars, as four immensely powerful Demons in one spot would have caused quite the surge of demonic energy.

Ichigo exchanged a look with Sirzechs and Grayfia-nee and said, “Well, this is it. I guess the next time we see each other, the Civil War will be over.”

“Hopefully,” Sirzechs said with a chuckle. “Good hunting, brat.”

“Right back at you, asshat.”

And they all vanished without a trace.

=======

Cao Cao sat upon the edge of a narrow cot and pulled the laces of one boot tight, feeling a deep thrum of anticipation reverberate through his chest. The hours before battle had always possessed a peculiar clarity. Every doubt became distant, every distraction fell away, and the world narrowed into the simple certainty of the spear waiting beside him.

Footsteps approached from across the dim chamber, and Georg stopped a short distance away with his hands buried inside the pockets of his coat. “Are you sure about this, Cao Cao? It’s not too late to change plans. It would be so much better for us if we all went to face Ajuka Beelzebub together.”

Cao Cao chuckled as he began lacing his other boot. “You have three Longinus on your team. Three weapons that were specifically designed to kill Satans.”

“I would feel much better with a fourth, particularly the strongest of them.” Georg’s gaze drifted briefly toward the True Longinus resting nearby. “And it’s not just the weapon. It’s the man wielding it.”

There was no flattery in his voice. Georg had never been one to soothe another man’s pride, which made the concern behind his words all the more meaningful.

Cao Cao tied the final knot and rose to his feet. He clasped Georg firmly upon the shoulder and fixed him with a confident smile. “I appreciate the words, but from my perspective, you’re the man for the job. Your mind and wisdom are our true greatest weapons.”

Georg held his gaze for several seconds before his expression softened into a rueful smile. “All the best, then, my friend.”

“All the best. And look after Leonardo.”

Cao Cao released him and turned toward the others. Jeanne leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, her smile sharp with anticipation. Hercules rolled his immense shoulders as if already eager to test them against demonic flesh, while Siegfried stood apart from them, calmly examining the edge of one blade.

They were descendants of legends, inheritors of the greatest names humanity had ever produced. Tomorrow, they would prove themselves worthy of those names.

Cao Cao swept the True Longinus into his hand and struck its base against the stone floor.

“Come, friends! This is our last night of respite! Come the morning, there will be two fewer Evils in the world!” Their eyes turned toward him as his blood surged with exultation. “It’s time for the Heroes to vanquish the Demon Lords!”

Their answering cheers filled the chamber.

=======

A/N: Well, this is officially the second longest chapter of DMAW I've written, sitting at 15.7k words. It was a fun chapter to write - as always, Issei is such a goof and I can juxtapose him with Ddraig to make it all the more funny. Getting to showcase Rias and Sona's growth has been very enjoyable. I also had fun showing the differences between the two.

Kikyo was a character in the works for quite some time - she has quite the history, one that even Ichigo would find baffleing and surprising. Overall, a very solid chapter, in my opinion. Also, because of how long this chapter was, I did use AI to proofread it. Let me know if there are any eggregious errors in the text, and I'll fix them as soon as possible, please and thank you.

Now for the bad news. For those of you who may remember, some six months ago, I had my wisdom teeth taken out. Well, that was just one side for stupid insurance reasons. The time for me to do the other side has come. This Wednesday I'm heading to my Oral Surgeon to get 'em cut out. I am hoping it won't interfere with my writing and upload process, but we'll see. It's part of the reason I burnt sleep to get this chapter so long, just so you guys have extra content.

Anyways, wish me luck and have a lovely weekend!