DxD 0057: Rating Game (2/2)

At the same time as Rias was fighting Riser's Queen and two Bishops, on the other battlefield, Akeno was battling against the two knights— Karlamine and Siris, the rook— Isabela, and lastly, two pawns— Ni and Li, they were twin catgirls.

Akeno had erected multiple large-scale barriers that were there to stall the five people while giving her some advantage in the scruffle. She was stalling for Kiba to be done with his fight so that he would back her up. She knew that Rias would need some time to take care of things since she was dealing with the Queen and the two bishops of the enemy peerage and her best bet was to stall for as long as she could. So that's what Akeno was focusing on.

She kept using her speed bonus as a knight to dodge the attacks while also using her shields as leverage to block some of them. From the last time when she was completely overwhelmed by the attacks of the 7 weak priests that were only comparable to somewhat strong low-class devils, Akeno was easily able to stall the 5 devils who were far stronger, with each having their own unique abilities and firmly having the strength of above average middle-class devils.

Akeno kept stalling them while trying to get some random hits in every once in a while, but she was getting tired. She was outnumbered and each of these devils had enough mobility to dodge her attacks that she didn't have enough time to prepare completely.

Slowly, As the attacks of the knights started breaching through Akeno's set-up shields, things started getting more difficult for her as she had to spend even more effort and demonic power to dodge their attacks while recreating the shields.

"You're slipping, Queen of Gremory." The rook, Isabela commented as her foot brushed against Akeno's arm, "Fufu... You should worry about yourself." Akeno didn't show any weakness as a blast of lightning escaped her fingertips and reached Isabela who was stabilizing herself after just landing.

"Not enough." A scene that had repeated multiple times happened again as one of the two knights interrupted Akeno's attack from reaching Isabela. At the same time, the other knight moved to attack Akeno along with the two pawns. Their coordination had made it particularly difficult for Akeno to hit her targets and she was quickly getting drained.

As Akeno kept being pushed back, she finally slipped up, which allowed the rook, Isabela, to capitalize on the opportunity. She jumped at Akeno with ferocity. Just as her punch landed on Akeno's abdomen, she coughed out some blood but made sure to grab Isabella's arm.

"Fufu… You made a mistake, Rook-san." Akeno taunted as she released a strong blast of lightning that completely incapacitated Isabela who was promptly teleported out of the arena.

"How does a lose-lose situation help you?" Karlamine, the knight, asked, "You still have to deal with the four of us all by yourself." She said before charging Akeno along with the other knight, Siris.

"Ara ara, you seem to be worried about me… But you don't have to, I'm not really alone, am I?" Akeno laughed coquettishly as she looked over their shoulders at the two new people on the battlefield.

"Sorry, we're late, Senpai. Koneko was helping me to finish things with the three pawns quickly…" Kiba said as he jumped in front of one of the Knights and engaged Siris in combat. At the same time, Koneko interrupted the two pawns who were charging at Akeno.

Suddenly, Karlamine found herself alone as she faced Akeno who laughed teasingly and cast multiple lightning spells at the girl.

With the presence of Koneko and Kiba, the situation was instantly reversed and Riser's servants found themselves at a horrible disadvantage. It was to the point where Akeno even took a break and let Asia heal her up while Koneko and Kiba took care of them.

By the time the four of them were taken care of, Akeno, Koneko, and Kiba were in perfect condition and had recovered completely.

Though their triumphant smiles didn't last much longer as they noticed a flaming meteor approaching their position.

…

Meanwhile, a few minutes ago with Rias.

Mihae's attack had already hit Rias' abdomen, but Rias' attack had also hit Mihae with full force, instantly eliminating her to prevent her from ending up dead.

"Riser Phenex's bishop, Mihae has been eliminated," Sona announced.

"You should've been careful, my lovely sister-in-law," Ravel's taunting voice came from the side as she was sure that the attack had dealt considerable damage to Rias.

"I'm not your goddamn sister-in-law, you flaming chicken!" Ravel's address for her annoyed Rias to no extent as she released another torrent of destruction energy, turning to Ravel who finally saw the state of Rias' abdomen only to be baffled. Rias was completely unharmed by that attack that was practically a suicidal finisher from Riser's other bishop.

"Impossible!" Ravel couldn't believe it.

"Nothing's impossible," Rias smirked as she sent Ravel flying. She knew that the girl would come back in a perfect state soon so her focus went to Riser's Queen who was focused on recovering herself.

Rias thanked her stars that she'd been able to form a rudimentary level of the Armor of Destruction. She had covered her abdomen with it just before being hit by the attack.

After getting rid of Ravel, Rias turned her attention back to Riser's Queen and released another torrent of destruction, intending to get rid of her once and for all.

"Not so fast." Yubelluna didn't seem to be done as she quickly grabbed a vial before emptying it into her mouth, all her injuries were instantly healed up and she was back in top shape as she cast an explosion to cancel out Rias' attack.

"Damned Phoenix Tears…" Rias cursed before continuing her assault on Yubelluna. Ravel also came back after a few seconds and joined in the fray taking advantage of her insane regeneration to heal herself from any attack that hit her.

Soon, Rias heard an announcement that made her relieved.

"Riser Phenex's two knights, second rook, and last two pawns have been eliminated," Tsubaki announced the results of Akeno, Koneko, and Kiba's battle.

"I guess it's only you guys now…" Rias smiled with relief as she decide to finish things. She sent out multiple projectiles of destruction energy at Yubelluna and Ravel which forced them to dodge around and counter to protect themselves.

Since Rias wasn't as worried now, she was willing to use a bit more energy than necessary so her attacks were stronger than before, making it difficult for them to counter and they had to dodge around again and again.

Rias noticed something that put a cute frown on her face. She saw a flaming meteor approaching the area where Akeno, Kiba, and Koneko were. They were directly on the path to Rias' home base.

"Riser-sama has made a move." Yubelluna sneered and attacked Rias with even stronger attacks.

"I'm finishing this." Rias decided to finish things quickly even at the expense of being hurt and attacked Yubelluna with full force, even taking some attacks in the meantime.

It didn't take long for Yubelluna to end up in a bad state as she had to use another Phoenix Tear.

"You're out of chances…" Rias smirked as she'd been waiting for her to use the second tear. Since it was such an overpowered item, the usage of Phoenix Tears was strictly regulated and it could be used only twice in a single rating game.

After noticing her brother making a move, Ravel seemed to have been done with the match and sat on the sidelines instead. She was tired of having to heal up from Rias' attacks again and again. This made things even more difficult for Yubelluna as she was alone in facing Rias.

"The Queen, Rook, and Knight of Gremory have been eliminated," Tsubaki's announcement seemed to have turned a switch in Rias and she instantly released an extreme torrent of destruction energy in Yubelluna's direction.

"The Queen of Phenex has been eliminated," Sona announced this time.

Not wasting any more time, Rias disappeared from her spot and appeared in front of Asia. She'd used castling again through her other rook piece that was unused. She'd left it in her home base with Asia. In the spot where she'd previously been on the battlefield, Rias' rook piece was present.

"Asia, heal me, quick! Riser's here." Rias said to Asia, having her heal the scrapes that she had from her previous battle.

"Yes," Her hands quickly glowed with a green light as she healed Rias.

Soon, there was a crackling sound as a burning smell hit Rias and Asia's noses, "Rias-san, is something burning?" Asia asked. Her address for Rias changed from time to time as she was new and wasn't sure whether to call her Buchou like the rest, Rias-senpai, or Rias-san.

"Yeah…" Rias trailed off with an annoyed tone as a loud crackling sound was made right before the entire roof of their home base was burned away.

"Hello, my darling, fiance…" Riser smiled arrogantly while he looked down at her.

"Go fuck yourself, Riser." Rias blasted him with two whips of destruction energy.

***

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