The Player is a Part-Timer

Chapter 11: How to Hunt down an Immortal

"We need to notify her then... Buchou! There is another Phenex in the playfield! Be careful!" Kiba pushed his finger to his earlobe, communicating with the Red Princess.

"I guess... she already sent out Koneko, Issei, and Akeno too... right?"

"Yes, why? Wait? How do you know that?"

"Predictable, and not the best move... No, anything would be better than this — considering the enemy will soon start their bombing run..."

"Bombing run?"

"Yes. Let me explain. Red, are you hearing me? Well then, listen well because I'll only explain once." Gillian cleared her throat. "Riser's psychological and game profile imply he is not likely to care about sacrificing his pieces — I know, he is a piece of shit. But what this man has is pride. A pride I wounded by taking out almost all his group with a single shot. Obviously, he will not let this go without a retort. Considering his previous games, despite his inflated ego and over-reliance on his immortality, he is not entirely a fool... sadist, but not a complete fool."

"Which means..."

"His most likely next step will be hunting you down in groups. Either use one big group to mow through and humiliate you forcefully. Or separating into two — his relative possessing the same "immortal" trait commanding the second hunting party. Red... it was a bad move sending forward two people with little to no anti-air capability. Especially through an open field..."

'Bang!'

'Bang!'

Just as Gillian finished her explanation, a similar red ray that belonged to the Red Dragon Emperor collided with the dimensional barrier. Several explosions can be heard in the distance following the powerful attack.

"It seems the numbers evened..."

[Rias Gremory-sama's rook has been eliminated from the match...] Came the announcement of Grayfia.

"Koneko!" Kiba wanted to move, yet, Gillian's hand stopped him. "W-We need to go! Help Issei! He is...!"

"Issei, please, start to pretend you are too injured to fight, barely standing on your leg..."

[But Koneko-chan...!] from the line, Gillian clearly heard the boy's haphazard breath. He barely got away from that explosion. The enemy completely caught them off guard.

"She is already out. Losing another piece will not help her. If you really want to avenge her, listen to me and win the match. You will see, it will hurt that prick a thousand more times than beating him to pulp..."

[Right!]

"Are you sure they will leave him alone?"

"The chance is there they will not and blast him away. But seeing how Riser mocked him in their first meeting, logic dictates he wants to break Issei by humiliating Rias in front of him — Which means... if he looks too injured to be a real threat. If he looks miserable, they let him go for a while. Of course, that attack most likely lowered the chance they will let him go by a great margin. But... oh well, in chess, sometimes you need to bet your pieces and pretend in order to gain victory. Feint weakness..."

"..." Kiba bit his lips, nodding. Even if conning the enemy was not knightly, they had little choice.

"Issei-kun, another question. Keep it low, so they can't hear you. How many people were there?"

[Two... that damn playboy Yakitori and that busty beauty! Damn! And now they're mocking me by kissing in front of me and laughing! I want to punch his face so hard! Guuuh!]

"Keep it chill, Issei-kun, play the miserable and jealous little Pawn. Try to be small, grouchy, and too injured to fight any further. Try to pretend you can't use that Galick Gun anymore..."