18 Chapter 18 Don't you dare

"Rias Gremory's rook retired."

Grayfia's voice spoke throughout the arena once more, though this time, there was a trace of worry underlying the professionalism.

"That was disappointingly fast." I said. "I wanted to see how I measured up against her hand-to-hand skills. Belford always kicked my ass and I wanted a win."

"My king." Yubelluna said, her eyes narrowed. She pointed towards the building we suspected Rias to be in and I followed her indication to a black-haired girl flying towards us at breakneck speed.

"Keep hitting the ground until you find the knight, then take him out. The queen is mine." Leaving Yubelluna to continue her wanton destruction, I flew forward to meet Rias's queen.

The queen snarled at me as she flew. "Bastard! You hurt Koneko!" Rearing her hand back, she thrust it forward and sent a bolt of vibrant blue lightning streaking towards me.

It was very likely that such an attack wouldn't be able to outperform the phoenix flames of my Immortality, but if she was allowed to hit me, her defeat wouldn't be humiliating.

Morphing into my fire form, I controlled a gust of Wind to propel me downward to one of my markers, easily dodging the lightning blast. Once there I shifted back and turned to see Rias's queen staring slack-jawed at me. Not willing to waste such a perfect opening, I held my palm up towards her. A bright red magic circle flared into being before me and a two-inch diameter column of compressed flame rocketed upwards. The beam hit Rias's queen square in the chest, at which point I closed my fist. The entire length of the fiery beam exploded, heated flame rapidly rushing outwards and violently tearing through anything in its path. The flame that had connected to Rias's queen exploded and knocked her about like a doll held between the teeth of a hyperactive puppy.

More and more flame surrounded her as I summoned even more Hellfire, detonating everything in her vicinity, leaving her to helplessly flail, unable to control her flight. She'd been thrashed about for almost thirty seconds when she disappeared in a flash of blue.

"Rias Gremory's queen retired."

Grayfia's voice spoke once again, and was that concern I heard in her voice?

I was about to rejoin Yubelluna when I felt a section of the flames I'd summoned to dispatch Rias's queen part unnaturally behind me. My fire had become an extension of myself over the years. I could feel and control it at will, allowing me to feel when it was moved by a force that wasn't my own. The flame that spilled away from me when I'd exited my fire form had just been moved by a force I didn't control.

Spinning around, I saw a blond-haired kid leaping towards me with a long, black, spiked sword held over his head. Moving quickly, I sped towards the knight to close into a gap where his large sword would be ineffective and simultaneously summoned a flaming dagger into my hand. I closed the distance and shoved the dagger up into the knight's ribs, his sword arm swinging harmlessly over my left shoulder.

The knight exhaled sharply as I stabbed him and grasped at the wound, but I'd created a second dagger and already pulled the first free. I began to repeatedly stab into his chest and stomach and was not surprised when his body was quickly covered in a bright blue light.

"Rias Gremory's knight retired."

Yes. That was definitely concern I heard in Grayfia's voice.

I heard a disappointed hum, and turned to see Yubelluna frowning at the space the knight had just disappeared from.

"He was supposed to be mine." she said, disappointed.

"Sorry, Yube. He didn't leave me much choice. I'll make it up to you though. You can have the first go at Rias. I won't interfere."

Yubelluna's eyes lit up, but she quickly frowned again. "But, my king, part of the reason for this Rating Game was to prove your strength. I cannot take the final confrontation from you."

I shrugged. "I defeated Rias's queen in less than a minute with no injury to myself and beat her knight with blades. I'd say I've sufficiently proven myself. You can take Rias herself."

Yubelluna smiled and opened her mouth to say something when we were both buffeted by a great wind. We looked towards the source of the hurricane and saw Rias. Her crimson hair was faintly glowing a blood red and standing on its ends. The space around her warped at unnatural angles as she seethed, furious at our very existence.

"You hurt my peerage. You hurt my family. You want to parade me around as your trophy wife? I won't let you!"

Not at all intimidated by the display, I turned to Yubelluna and said, "She's all yours, Yube." I spun around, showing Rias my back, and shoved my hands in my pockets as I made my way over to the remnants of a tree that had been obliterated by Yubelluna's initial bombardment.

"Don't you dare–"

Whatever Rias had been about to scream at me was cut off by an explosion louder than any that had come before. Intrigued, I turned around and my jaw nearly fell open at the sight before me.

Yubelluna had taken to the sky and now hovered almost ten feet above Rias and was staring down at the Gremory heiress, the features of her face strained in fury. Black, unchained magic flowed around her entire body. Her eyes were hidden behind a glow darker than an opal's core as she glared down at Rias.

"I was nothing." Yubelluna said, her voice taking on an otherworldly echo as she slowly closed the distance to Rias. "I was born to be a slave. I was going to be a slave. My parents tried to keep the truth from me, but I was smart enough to know what would happen. The bastard who owned their debt stank of lust every time he looked at me. I would have been his toy."

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