190 James Vs. Sairaorg III

[Rating Game Board].

After Regulus took his true form, Misteeta and Ladora approached the southern entrance to the plaza where the east [Defense Point] was housed. After seeing Regulus in his true form and Scathach confronting him, they both had second thoughts about entering this particular battlefield.

"I think we should turn back and take the center pathway toward the north [Defense Point]." Misteeta said quietly. "Getting involved in a battle between monsters like that isn't a good idea."

Ladora nodded as he kept an eye on the situation on the plaza. Then, without alerting anyone, they turned around. However, before they could begin moving, Misteeta was covered in pale blue light particles before being teleported off the [game Board] shortly afterward.

"Damn it." Ladora exclaimed as he sprinted into the east-most plaza.

"{Sairaorg Bael's [Bishop] has retired.}"

Upon hearing the announcement, Scathach looked toward the new arrival and smiled at Ayame, who she was able to perceive even when in stealth. Meanwhile, without alerting anyone to her presence, Ayame slipped back into the shadows and waited for her next opportunity to strike.

At the same time in the north most plaza, Mizore, Dante, and Shion were standing around, bored out of their minds.

"Is this some kind of punishment?" Dante asked while stomping around the plaza. "I mean seriously, there are clearly fights going on and we aren't involved at all."

"And if I guess right, we won't be." Mizore pouted. "This isn't fair."

"If this is a punishment, why am I being punished?" Shion asked. "I mean, I don't destroy things without thinking about the consequences, and I have never disobeyed orders. I just don't get it."

After hearing Shion's complaints, Mizore and Dante glared at her, which she did not even notice. Instead, she kept on complaining while swinging her sword over and over again. At least she decided to get some training done while keeping herself warmed up for whenever the battle makes it to the area they were defending.

"*Sigh*" Mizore and Dante sighed simultaneously after realizing that Shion was paying neither of them any mind.

Meanwhile, the battle near the west most [Defense Point] was heating up. The three members of each team had broken down into three one on one fights. Cu Chulainn vs. Beluga, Flora vs. Liban, and Shuna vs. Gandoma.

Firing a barrage of blood-red fireballs, Shuna attacked Gandoma relentlessly. Unfortunately, her [Youjutsu] was doing little to no damage. Gandoma either tanked every spell or swatted them aside with his hands. While remaining unbothered by Shuna's attacks, Gandoma slowly made his way closer to Shuna, who was forced to retreat toward the [Defense Point].

At the same time, Flora was continuing her melee with Liban, finding it hard to land a solid strike on the much faster foe. Meanwhile, Cu Chulainn was doing his best to deal with the extra force behind Beluga's attacks thanks to the charging speed and weight that his mount added.

"Why is a mount even allowed in a [Rating Game]?" Cu Chulainn asked while deflecting a strike from Beluga's lance.

"Because he is a summoning." Beluga replied while thrusting his lance from atop his nightmare steed. "And summoned creatures are allowed, according to the rules."

"That was rhetorical." Cu Chulainn replied as he deflected one of Beluga's thrusts upward, creating an opening in the process.

"Oh, no!" beluga said as he also noticed the dilemma he found himself in.

Like the seasoned warrior that he is, Cu Chulainn did not miss the opening. Even though he could not finish off Beluga, Cu Chulainn was able to sweep his spear and knock the opposing [Knight] from his mount.

*Bang!*

Thanks to the force behind Cu Chulainn's sweep, Beluga was not only thrown off the back of his mount, but he was smashed into the wall surrounding the plaza.

"*Cough!*" Beluga coughed up a mouthful of blood after he slid down the wall which was now marked with several spider web like cracks that originated from the point of impact. When he raised his head, he saw his nightmare steed galloping toward him. At the same time, he saw Cu Chulainn holding his spear in one hand and pulling back that arm.

"Damn!" Beluga said as he tried to quickly move from where he sat.

Unfortunately, due to the injuries he sustained, his movements were slowed significantly. Then, a moment later, Cu Chulainn launched his spear with his full strength. AS the spear flew forward, it pierced threw the nightmare steed without losing momentum. Then, it pinned Beluga to the wall, piercing him just to the right of his heart. Although Beluga was not retired immediately, he knew that he would be teleported soon.

Cu Chulainn, walking leisurely to retrieve his spear, looked over his shoulder and shouted to his teammates.

"You two need to switch opponents, those are bad match ups for you!"

Hearing Cu Chulainn's instructions, Flora began to back away from Liban who began to attack more fiercely as he knew what Cu Chulainnn said was right. At the same time, Shuna spread out her barrage of blood-red fireballs to encompass Flora and Liban as well. However, thanks to her excellent control of her [Youjutsu], Flora did not have to worry about being hit by friendly fire. Instead, Liban was forced to defend himself against both Flora and Shuna's attacks.

Unfortunately for Shuna, the pressure on Gandoma was lessened when she spread the range of her attacks, which resulted in his speed increasing as he approached Shuna. Luckily, Flora was able to land a solid strike on Liban. And just as Gandoma was about to reach within an arm's length of Shuna, Flora was able to land a thunder charged strike on the back of Gandoma's leg, causing him to stumble momentarily. That moment, however, was all Shuna needed to escape from the giant's pursuit.

Underworld, Sitri Territory, Sitri Estate.

"Lancer's battlefield awareness is impressive." Sona said after Cu Chulainn directed his comrades.

"Yes, he seems to be able to keep everything that's going on, on the battlefield in his perception." Tsubaki said with a smile.

"It must be thanks to all those expeditions he went on with James when they were younger." Sona said as she fidgeted in her sister's grasp. "Hey, do you think you could loosen your grip a little, my arms are starting to fall asleep."

Hearing Sona's request, Serafall pouted a little before loosening her hold on Sona slightly. As she felt Serafall's grip loosen, Sona sighed with some relief.

"The more interesting fight is still master Scathach against the Nemean Lion, though." Tomoe said with excitement in her tone.

"Yeah, but without Sairaorg, Regulus can't bring out his full power." Reya replied.

"Yeah, a [Sacred Gear] without its wielder is incomplete." Momo said with a nod.

"I would be terrified to have Vritra moving around on his own." Genshirou said with a slightly scared expression.

"Well, Vritra was one of the evil dragons before he died, right?" Ruruko asked while subtly closing the distance between her and Genshirou.

Everyone, except Genshirou who did not even notice, smiled when they saw Ruruko's slight movements.

[Rating Game Board].

As Beluga was retired, the fight between Scathach and Regulus began. Regulus made the first move, charging toward Scathach, Moka, and Lady. Instead of trying to assist Scathach, Moka split herself into many bats and flew around Regulus while Lady fired at his eyes as she distanced herself from the battlefield. Occasionally, she would shoot down the spells Coriana cast at her as well.

After flying past Regulus, Moka continued to fly toward Ladora as a flock of bats. Seeing the incoming bats, Ladora decided to attack preemptively. Charging toward the flock, he swung his arms and legs in an attempt to injure even one of the bats. However, since they were all Moka and shared their senses as well as field of vision, she found it simple to avoid the strikes from Ladora.

Eventually, one of the bats was able to bite Ladora on his neck from behind. Then, all the bats converged with that bat and Moka reformed behind Ladora with her fangs sunk into his neck.

'I'd much rather be biting James, but I don't have time to complain right now.' Moka thought as she began to move her arms and legs.

After taking her human form again, Moka snaked her arms under Ladora's arms and locked her fingers together behind his head. Then, she kicked the back of his right knee, causing him to kneel. After that, she kicked his left foot out from under him and forced him to lay face-down on the floor. The whole time, she continued to consume his blood.

"Damn, this is bad." Ladora muttered to himself as he struggled to free himself.

Unfortunately, even with his long arms, he was unable to grab hold of Moka and pull her off him with his hands forced away from his body by Moka's full nelson.

"*Sigh* I guess I have no choice." Ladora muttered.

As a member of the Balam Clan, Ladora had two specialties. First, the ability to tame dragons. And the second, to transform into a dragon and take on all its qualities. Unfortunately, just as he made up his mind to transform, Moka released her fangs from his neck and her full nelson, which left him confused for a moment.

Taking advantage of Ladora's momentary confusion, Moka channeled her demonic energy into her hands, clenched them into fists, and began to rain blows on the back of Ladora's head and shoulders. Then, after about forty seconds of beating Ladora one sidedly, he was covered in pale blue particles of light and retired.

"{Sairaorg Bael's [Rook] has retired.}"

Underworld, Gremory Territory, Gremory Estate.

"Damn that was brutal." issei said as he winced from imagining taking a beating like that. "But it might be worth it to get Moka-San's boobs pressed on my back like that."

"I'm definitely going to tell James-Senpai about that, you disgusting pervert." Mio said in a disdainful tone. "I hope he kills you a hundred times!"

Immediately, Issei paled. Then, he began to beg and grovel to Mio. He knew that the beating he would receive after a comment like that would be worse than his usual beatings. Mio, on the other hand, completely ignored Issei's entreaties. Instead, she focused on the [Rating Game].

"*Sigh* Issei-Kun never learns, does he?" Akeno asked as she smiled sadistically at Issei who was performing a splendid dogeza in front of Mio.

"If nothing else, he sticks to his beliefs, I guess..." Rias said in response.

"Oh, Issei, I'm right here if you want to feel breasts on your back." Asia said as she stared at Issei with a sad look in her eyes.

"Huh?" Issei said as his head popped up from the floor and his eyes landed on Asia. "Really?"

Not thinking that Issei would hear her, Asia blushed furiously as Issei asked his question. However, with determination in her eyes, she nodded her head. Then, she fainted.

While everyone looked at Issei with helplessness or disgust, they all looked at the unconscious Asia with gentle gazes.

"I wonder if James like breasts on his back, too?" Xenovia muttered to herself.

[Rating Game Board].

While the other battles were raging on, James and Sairaorg were once again engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Unlike last time, however, James was using his superior martial arts to parry or avoid most of Sairaorg's strikes while landing the majority of his own.

"Things aren't looking good for your team, Sai." James said with a smile as he tilted his head to avoid a right straight from Sairaorg with enough force to send a ball of compressed air into the wall behind him and make a fist shaped mark in the stone it was made of.

"Haha! That may be true, but I know that they are giving it all they have." Sairaorg said as he threw a flurry of punches. "And that is all that I can ask of them. Of anyone real... Urgh!"

Finding an opening in Sairaorg's onslaught of punches, James landed a left hook into Sairaorg's ribs, stopping his barrage cold.

"[Burst Upper]!" James shouted as he began to throw his own barrage of punches.

James consecutively struck Sairaorg with a flurry of uppercuts starting at the abdomen and gradually rising in height. Two to the belly, one to the sternum, three to the chest, and one, at high speed that produced flames around his fist to Sairaorg's chin. At the same time, James jumped into the uppercut to add extra force behind the blow.

As a result of James' last strike, Sairaorg was launched into the air, his eyes rolled back in their sockets, and his [Touki] dispersed. A moment later, Sairaorg was covered in the familiar pale blue light particles and was teleported off the [Game Board].

"{Sairaorg Bael has retired. The winner of this [Rating Game] is Team Alaverus.}"

"Damn, I thought he would survive that and then call for Regulus." James said with a wry smile.

Shortly after that, the remaining members of each team were teleported off the [Game Board] while the crowd in the arena cheered wildly.