"Let the match begin!"
Furcas' horse neighs and charges at Kiba, and within an instant the two of them are going blade to blade with each other. While it is slightly hard to make out, I can tell that the two of them are about even to begin their match. The two of them stop to talk for a second before Kiba uses Sword Birth, drawing a ton of his Holy Demonic swords before pulling out one I haven't seen before.
"Holy Demonic Sword of Lightning!" A lightning bolt comes from Kiba's sword and is aimed at the now midair Knight of Bael, though when the dust settles it's clear that it didn't have much effect. A ton of clones appear in the air and all charge at Kiba, and while it seems like it may be tough for him to keep up, Kiba holds two swords and is able to bat off the imposters while trying to find the real one.
"I need to learn how to do that," I say to everyone. "Especially if it wouldn't be too draining to my power, it would be a wrap." I look back at the match and see a cloud of smoke around where Kiba was standing, but I know he's still standing in there. Kiba starts talking and I can hear him say that we're counting on him and that he's fighting for his family. His two swords disappear and a new one is summoned, and once he calls upon the Balance Breaker I see the secret technique he was telling me about before. A multitude of knights clad in armor stand at Kiba's side.
"I call this one Glory Drag Trooper, a Balance Breaker of the Blade Blacksmith subspecies." It's clear that Sairaorg's Knight wasn't expecting this, and to be honest, neither was I. You would think that with how straightforward Kiba is in battle that his special move wouldn't be anything this crazy, but I guess when you have to compete against the best, you aren't going to hold anything back. If this is what Kiba's got, then I can only imagine what everyone else has in store for this Rating Game.
The group of Kiba and his Knights start running towards Furcas and his clones, and once the dust settles it appears that the only two left are the real ones, though one cut appears on Furcas' shoulder and the blue light takes him away from the battlefield, leaving Kiba as the victor.
"With that Sairaorg Bael's Knight has been retired," the arbiter says.
"The first round goes to the Gremory team," Naud tells the audience, leading to an eruption of applause. The dice are rolled again, and the number that comes out is ten. While Rossweisse and Koneko appear to be the easy choice, I've got my own idea.
"Listen," I say to everyone. "It seems pretty obvious that he's going to send two of his fighters out right now, but I think you should let me take them on. I have an idea on how to handle them, and I'm confident I can win against them."
"Are you sure Y/N?" Rias asks me. "If you get defeated then we have a really high chance of losing this game." I smirk at her.
"You worry too much Rias. It's one against two, not one against one hundred. Besides, I'm the strongest person in this arena as is, there's not a chance in hell that I'll let Sairaorg's two Rooks defeat me before I get my rematch with him." I turn towards the platform and prepare to teleport. "Besides, I need him to realize that there's still a gap between us, but I've turned it into my favor. At the end of the day, it is still your decision Rias." She sighs at me before giving me a grin.
"Okay Y/N, but if you lose you're sleeping on the couch when we get home." I roll my eyes at her and prepare to teleport into the arena. Once I'm teleported I look around and see what appears to be a rundown castle of sorts. Across from me is a blonde man in armor and a guy who looks like he's made out of rocks.
The Knight starts speaking to me. "I'm one of the Knights serving Lord Sairaorg Bael. My name is Liban Crocell. This rocky fellow is our Rook, Gandoma Balam. We shall be your opponents, Red Dragon Emperor." I shrug my shoulders.
"Well I guess you already know my name, but in the spirit of sportsmanship, I suppose I'll properly introduce myself. Some know me as the Renegade, some as Y/N, but you all can call me Y/N Lucifer, the nephew of the former Razevan Lucifer. Of course, I'm also the Red Dragon Emperor, but that's not as important right now." The arbiter appears next to us and raises his hand, sounding the buzzer and signifying the start of the round. I crack my neck and do a quick stretch before preparing to fight. I know the Knight is going to be of more trouble for me than the Rook, and I have to be prepared to do whatever I have to so I can take him out first.
3rd Person POV
"Before we get started," Y/N tells his opponents, "would you guys mind if I spoke in song lyrics for this round?" The two of them look at each other in confusion before ultimately agreeing. The two of them know of Y/N's power, and that it's most likely far beyond whatever they had initially placed it at. Y/N enters his Balance Breaker and teleports behind the Rook, delivering a strong kick to his head. "Out from the ashes, the cradle to the grave." Y/N grabs the Rook and places him in front of him. "Made a deal with the devil, and my debts are paid."
"Say what you will, but it won't save you," Crocell tells the Renegade.
"There was this fire burning deep down inside of me. The price that I paid, I did it all for the glory." Gandoma's tries to defend against Y/N but the attacks from the Red Dragon Emperor are too quick for the rock man to defend against, all while he still speaks in lyrics. "And I know I'm gonna bleed before the day I die. But you'll never see me fall, you're just a witness to my rise. Your knees on the ground and your eyes towards the sky. You're just a witness, watch me as I fly." He throws Gandoma towards the Knight of Bael but Crocell finds his opening, using it as a means to trap Y/N.
Back with Rias and her household they see Y/N trying to stand tall against the attack. "His Sacred Gear gives him the ability to control gravity," she explains to her household. "Y/N knew that going in, but this just makes things harder for him. If he isn't able to escape then he's as good as done."
"I don't think you have to worry about that," Koneko tells everyone. They all look at the little Nekomata and she seems to be pretty calm about the situation. "You have to remember Prez, Y/N doesn't sleep as much as we do. He spends his time either training or thinking about training, except for when he's with us. I know he's going to be okay." Over with Vali, he seems very disinterested in the battle going on right now, but not because of Y/N.
"Something bothering you?" Kuroka asks the White Dragon Emperor. He glances over at her while still keeping an eye on the battle.
"Y/N could have won this battle when it started, but instead he's deciding to put on a show. Honestly, those two from the Bael peerage should have no issues taking him down, at least while he's showboating like this. Think about it, one of them has the ability to control gravity and the other is clearly a very strong physical fighter. I'd bet everything I have if Y/N is sweating in this battle, it's because of his armor." Ravel looks over at her lover's cousin.
"Even if that's the case, I still don't understand why he doesn't want to just take them out right away." Vali smirks and doesn't answer the question. He knows damn well why, and the strategy may end up paying off later.
Back in the battle, the Rook of Bael tries to approach Y/N, but there are no worries from the Red Dragon Emperor. Y/N transforms into his Rook form and catches his arm before Y/N is crushed. Crocell is shocked seeing what is happening.
"How are you doing this? Nobody has been able to escape my Gravity Jail!" Y/N looks over to the Knight of Bael.
"Somebody woke the killer within. This is the sickest I've ever been. There's no other option, I'm gonna win, and I'm gonna do it again and again. Done it before, you better believe, there'll never be one greater than me." Y/N flies to the ceiling of the shrine with the Rook, crashing him into the ceiling. Y/N teleports above Gandoma and sends him back into the ground, switching to his Bishop form and sending a red and green blast towards the Rook. The blue light takes him away and Y/N lands on the ground, his gaze diverting towards Crocell.
"You're quite an amazing fighter Red Dragon Emperor. I see why Lord Sairaorg has such an interest in you."
"This is the legacy I'm gonna leave. All for the glory, so gloriously." Y/N switches to his Knight form and summons Ascalon, blitzing towards the Knight and entering a sword fight with him. While Y/N isn't the best swordsman, his speed is too much for the Knight of Bael to handle and he fails to defend against the attacks that come his way. Crocell falls to the ground and Y/N exits his Balance Breaker. He walks up to the Knight and extends his hand to him. He takes it as he fades away into the blue light, declaring Y/N the winner of the round. Y/N is teleported back to the Gremory group and he smirks at them. "This fire inside me is stronger, we will divide it and conquer."
(A/N: Since I'm sure you're all curious what the fuck I'm talking about. I used this song before but this remix came out a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to do something with it, and this is what I came up with.)
Y/N POV
"You're an idiot Y/N," Rias says as I approach her. I kiss her and she starts blushing, most likely because this happened in front of the entire underworld, not to mention anyone else who is watching this Rating Game. She steps up to roll her die and I sit down, Koneko moving to my lap.
"Good job Y/N," she tells me. I run my hand through her hair and she closes her eyes, clearly enjoying the love that I'm giving her.
"With the defeat of the Knight and Rook of Sairaorg Bael that makes three pieces gone for the Bael team, all while the Gremory team has not lost anyone yet. Now let us roll for the third round."
"You know," Kiba says to get my attention, "you seemed like you were holding back in that battle. I know that you want to win more than any of us, but at the same time, you didn't just end it."
"Of course I was holding back, I can't use all of my energy at the start of the battle. Thankfully I've gotten used to the Triana forms that I achieved in Kyoto, but there is still more I can do beyond that. I did that to show Sairaorg just how much I've improved in such a short time." I look over to where Sairaorg is and his face is still neutral, seemingly not worried about losing the members of his peerage. "I just hope everyone else wins their battles, that way we have a better chance when it comes to facing off against Sairaorg. For my pride's sake, I want to face Sairaorg one on one, but as the Pawn of Rias Gremory, I know that isn't the most viable strategy." I look up to where the die are being rolled and await the results. Rias rolls a three and Sairaorg rolls a five, making the total eight. The dome closes over us and we begin strategizing.
"I think it would be safest if we went with the highest possible total we could for this battle," Rias says. "We can't be sure of what Sairaorg is going to do, and with him already being down three pieces it's safe to say we can't take any chances."
"I say we send Koneko and Xenovia," I respond. "I trust that they can handle whatever the big guy wants to throw our way." The two girls nod in agreement.
"Do you two think you can handle it?" They look at each other and exchange a look that seems to be wondering why Rias is questioning them.
"With all due respect," Xenovia responds, "I have no doubt that Koneko and I will win this battle. Besides, after watching Y/N fight I'm more than confident in my abilities."
"Totally," adds Koneko.
"Well just don't get too overconfident," I tell the both of them. "I'm well aware of your skillsets, but let's not get ahead of ourselves." The two of them step up to teleport and are taken away to the battlefield. Once they're teleported the battlefield appears to be a garden of purple flowers near the edge of a mountain, with a few pillars of rock to stand on as well. Across from them, I see their opponents.
"Sending out both of his Bishops," I note. "Sairaorg must really be worried about what's going to happen in this fight, though I don't remember much to be worried about from the blonde one."
"I don't think she'll be the problem," Rias tells me. "You remember the Sacred Gear the other one had?" I nod in response. "These two could cause a lot of problems for them. I just hope they'll get out of this." I put my arm around Rias.
"They'll be fine, you know that." The arbiter enters the arena and the fighters introduce themselves to each other.
"My name is Coriana Andrealphus," the blonde one starts, "myself as well as my partner Misteeta Sabnock are Bishops of Lord Sairaorg."
Xenovia responds to her. "My name is Xenovia Quarta, a Knight serving under Rias Gremory. This is my friend and partner Koneko Toujou, a Rook in service of Lady Rias. I'm looking forward to this match." The buzzer sounds and the four of them are off. The first thing I note is the screen zooming in on Koneko and her entering her Nekomata mode, though now she has two tails like how Kuroka does. She jumps at the blonde Bishop of Bael but as she reaches her target her ears and tail are gone. The other Bishop is quick to throw a quip at Koneko.
"How do you like that? That's my Sacred Gear, Trick Vanish. It allows me to seal a person's abilities, though it can be quite taxing on my own body." Black and purple marks start appearing on Koneko's body and her movements look extremely hindered. Xenovia jumps in to try to save Koneko but is hit with a fire blast from Misteeta. "She'll be fine. Right now you should focus on yourself." I can see the look in Xenovia's eyes, and it isn't a good one. She closes the distance between herself and the Bishop and is able to land a clean hit with Durandal. The holy power of it causes him to fall to his knees.
On Koneko's end, she can't keep up with Coriana. I'd seen her use this new form of her Nekomata powers before, but it wasn't for a long time. She wanted to spar against me and see how effective it would be, and I already knew that it would be tough for anyone to get out of, though there wasn't any possible way for Sairaorg to know about that. Whenever Coriana is able to get space between herself and Koneko she uses her magic to throw ice spears at the Rook, causing her to end up getting slowed down even more.
"You should give up little girl," Coriana says to Koneko. "There's no need for you to get hurt like this." Koneko is bleeding from multiple places due to the ice spears that have hit her, but she's still standing tall.
"Suck it," she responds weakly. "I'm not giving up while they're watching. I want to be strong, just like how Y/N taught me. I don't care how many times you hit me, I'm not going down without a fight." A bright blue light appears on the battlefield, taking away the other Bishop of Bael. Xenovia jumps in next to Koneko.
"Are you okay Koneko?" She falls to her knees and Xenovia catches her.
"Don't worry about me Xenovia." Blood starts flowing out from Koneko's mouth. "I know you can take her out. Tell Rias and Y/N that I'm sorry." Xenovia holds Koneko as she's taken away, and even I wouldn't want to face Xenovia after what she just dealt with. Koneko and her had gotten a lot closer as time has gone on, and aside from Irina and Asia, I'd say the two of them are pretty good friends. Xenovia stands up and faces Coriana, and I can tell the Bishop is in trouble. Xenovia jumps at her and takes her down in one quick attack, ending the battle just as quickly as it started.
"Both Bishops of the Bael team have been taken down, as well as a Rook of Rias Gremory. That makes five pieces that Sairaorg has lost and only one to Rias, but this match still isn't over yet." Xenovia is teleported back to us and the rage is still ever clear in her eyes. I put my arms around her and I feel her start crying.
"I wanted to protect her Y/N. I wish there was something I could have done, but she got taken out because I didn't act fast enough."
"Xenovia," I whisper. "Koneko isn't blaming you for what happened, I already know. She's going to be just fine and we can go see her after the match, but for now, we need to focus on what's in front of us. Trust me, I'm just as angry as you are right now. That's the third time I've seen her get taken out in a Rating Game and I was powerless to do anything. If I was you in that situation I wouldn't be surprised if I had killed that bitch." Rias and Sairaorg go up to roll their dice again and it's a nine. I feel Akeno put her arms around me from behind.
"Don't worry you two, I'll go out there and get revenge for our sweet Koneko." I put my arms around her and kiss her. "I expect another one of those when I get back."
"Of course. Good luck out there beautiful. Come back quickly." She steps up to be teleported away and once she is I see her opponent, Sairaorg's Queen, Kuisha Abbadon. The area they're in is rather rocky, and if I had to guess it won't have much effect on the outcome of the match. Given as the two of them are elemental fighters there won't be many advantages to using the arena.
"It appears that both households have decided to send out their Queens for this match," Naud commentates. The match begins and I see the two of them exchange words before beginning. Akeno starts channeling her lightning and judging by the overwhelming glow she's going all out. The attack is sent at Kuisha quickly, but the Queen of Bael uses her ability that I've seen before, opening up multiple portals and absorbing Akeno's attack. The portals close and they all reopen around Akeno, sending the lightning directly back at her and taking her out instantly. "The winner of match four is Kuisha Abbadon!"
"That bitch is dead," I accidentally say out loud. "She better hope that she doesn't have to face me." Asia grabs one of my arms.
"Y/N, please, calm down. You're really scary when you're like this." I look over at the blonde Bishop and try to listen to her, but it isn't working very well. I've seen Akeno be defeated before, but this time it's different. It almost felt personal the way that she was taken out. Rias and Sairaorg step up to roll, and with both of them landing sixes the result is a twelve. No surprise Sairaorg is stepping up to fight, but before I can I'm stopped by Rias.
"Y/N, listen to me. I know you're very angry right now, but that isn't going to help you in this battle." She looks around to the others and they nod. Kiba, Xenovia, and Rossweisse step up to go face Sairaorg.
"Hey." They look back my way. "Do your best, okay?" The three of them nod and are teleported away to the battlefield, a grassy battlefield next to a lake. I know the three of them are strong, stronger than I even know, but Sairaorg is in a league of his own.
"Well well," Sairaorg says, "was this Rias' idea, or maybe Y/N's?"
"There's no need to think too hard about it. See, Y/N is quite pissed off about what happened to Akeno and Koneko. Those two mean more to him than life itself, and I already know he's pissed off that he isn't here to fight against you. That's no problem to me though, as I know the three of us have what it takes to take you on." I can't say I expected that level of trash talk from Kiba, but at the same time, I respect it.
"Let the fifth match begin!"
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I completely forgot how short most of the beginning battles are of this Rating Game. I understand it's used as a means for the big fight between Issei and Sairaorg, but as I rewatched them I couldn't help but think it was kind of strange. If you remember how things went in canon things are indeed different, and that's what I wanted to do. It wouldn't be all that interesting if I just wrote out the script for the episode so I decided to do it differently. Next time should be the start of the big battle, but when that part will be up I'm not sure. For those of you that don't follow me, I've started pulling some overtime at work, and once this is published I'll be getting ready to head in early. Hopefully, you all can be patient with me while I get the next part worked on. Until next time I hope you all have a good day, night, or whatever, and I'll see you all then.
-Coop