Chapter 98: Game Over

Chapter 98: Game Over

The students cheered at the chaos, some chanting and making small bets on who would win against who.

The pretense of achieving victory was gone, only room to have fun testing against each other in random one-on-one battles.

Practice swords clashed between Yuuto and Tomoe. Fists and claws clashed between Koneko and Loup Garou. Lint and Tsubasa brawled, all of them with wide, excited smiles on their faces.

Saji, however, was nervous in facing the son of the current Lucifer though calling Sirzechs a 'Lucifer' might not be the right title to use these days. He did not want to be cursed by the Demons and their Overlord's overpowered Wish Magic.

"So" Saji awkwardly readied himself. "Your dad won't erase my existence if I hurt you a little, right?"

"No, of course not!" Millicas was actually horrified at the prospect, "This is a rating game, Saji-senpai! People get hurt all the time here! Please don't hold back on my or my father's account!"

Saji looked a bit relieved as Sirzech's love for his family was infamous to the point that he would start wars for their deaths. He readied all of his Vritra weapons, grinning with excitement. He almost never got the chance to test all of his powers.

"Well, that's good to hear. Alright, kid, here I come!"

He whipped the ground with the gecko tongue for momentum before he whipped at Millicas. The tongue multiplied by ten, Saji ready to see if Absorption Line could devour Bael's Power of Destruction.

However, Millicas covered his frame in a thin, yet dense Power of Destruction that immediately disintegrated the lines thrown at him. Saji yanked back the line and inspected the damage, seeing not a single speck of dust leftover, his tentacles shaved clean.

"Well at least I know. Okay, how about this?!" Saji then used his other arsenal. Covering the tendrils of Absorption Line with black flames, he launched at them again at the young Gremory.

Millicas' bat wings unfurled, and he took flight instead of letting Saji entangle him with unknown techniques as he fired slicing waves of destruction, cutting off the tentacles before more sprouted in their place.

The tentacles did not yield to his destruction energy as they chased after Millicas like a bouquet of ravenous hydras snapping for their meal.

OxO

Meanwhile, Koneko and Loup faced off, both in their awakened state.

Koneko's cat ears twitched as Loup sniffed. The werewolf showed his true form, grew fur sprouting from skin and his face elongated, a hybrid of human and wolf standing on his digitigrade paws as his claws clenched with arcane fire.

In return, Koneko also tapped into her Ki and chakra, her body glowed in a soft blue hue.

"...Let's have a good match." Loup spoke as he huffed fire from his mouth.

"Mmmm." Koneko nodded.

The two regarded each other for a few seconds, before Koneko took the initiative by charging towards the werewolf with a surprising speed by Rook's standards.

Loup roared and responded with equal celerity, magic and ki clashing with their fists and claws.

It was Koneko's first time facing a werewolf. On top of his towering height compared to hers - his speed was formidable, his strength was abundant, seemingly limitless stamina seemed to ooze from every attack, bestial instincts, and coupling such physical traits with the power of magic, Loup proved himself a good foe for Koneko to exercise all she had learned.

Two flaming streaks clawed for her head, fangs filled with fire snapping at her head, followed by lycan ferocity stampeding towards Koneko.

Koneko countered fire with water, the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist redirecting Loup's feral flaming strikes as she ducked his biting fangs before blocking and enduring his full-body tackle. The werewolf's reach was longer and his weight was heavier, and he could move that mass like a feather.

She hissed, her hands singed from the heat of Loup's fire, the stinging worse when she and Loup locked hands, pushing against each other in a test of might. Despite having Rook's super strength, Koneko was gradually overwhelmed by Loup's heavier weight as the werewolf lifted her body and slammed her to the floor, knocking her air out.

He was not done.

He lifted and slammed down, lifted and slammed - back and forth, Koneko hammered ad infinitum like a child trying to break the toy he just got, Koneko coughing and battered before she was thrown at Lint.

"Oof!" Lint did not expect Koneko's frame to drop on top of her, sending both girls sprawling to the gym floor.

"...Hah! How's the bite of our 'dog,' kittens?!" Tsubasa snarked at Koneko as Loup joined the bluenette, the two facing the Knight and Rook of Gremory as the latter slowly got back up with a scowl.

"Tough time?" Lint asked with an exhale.

"I'll manage. How about you?" Koneko returned.

Lint eyed the lycanthrope for a second before whispering, "...Y'know, I fought my fair share of werewolves before."

Koneko's ear perked up, catching what Lint was implying, "I haven't seen a werewolf before Loup, but the one we're looking at knows magic."

"I'll figure something out." Lint replied with a smirk.

The two exchanged sidelong glances and nodded. On the other hand, Loup and Tsubasa tensed and raised their guard.

Lint and Koneko charged towards them, but Tsubasa did not expect Koneko to run towards her while Lint leapt at Loup.

Loup ducked under Lint's practice sword, seeing her landing behind him and taunting him with a middle finger his way. He turned to Tsubasa, seeing her exchanging fists with Koneko.

"Go get that female Freed! I got the catgirl!" Tsubasa shouted.

She initiated the steps, one foot stomped forward generating shockwaves into her system, channeling the ki into her heart, and as her heart pulsed, she threw her fist at Koneko - the Explosive Heart Release Fist.

But Koneko only saw Tsubasa collapse and clutch her chest as she rolled around the ground.

Tsubasa writhed and coughed on the floor in pain. She messed up the steps and got a heartburn instead.

Koneko was worried at first, then again - it was also kind of Tsubasa's own fault to practice a technique she had yet to master. After hesitating for a second, Koneko quickly charged and mounted Tsubasa. Considering Tsubasa was still taller than her, albeit not as tall as Loup, Koneko could wrestle her if she were to negate Tsubasa's strength by keeping her on the ground.

"So we're doing this, huh?! Right when I got heartburn for trying to look cool?!" Tsubasa grinned at Koneko's challenge.

"It's time we settle this rivalry, here and now." Koneko responded coolly with an equally dorky reply.

"Well said. Let's do this!" The two Rooks wrestled each other on the ground while Lint danced with Loup, the former's experience in dealing with werewolves showing as she maintained her distance from the flaming wolf.

Lint, however, ended up inwardly berating herself for not having any silver equipment at the moment. She did fight and slay several werewolves back in her exorcist days, but most of her lycan hunt was contributed by silver armaments.

Not to mention, Loup's movements, despite having some influence of Lycan's feral state - were way too coordinated compared to the feral werewolves she slew. This one was not a savage beast, but a warrior with fire magic in his claws and teeth.

With only a dummy sword in her hands, Lint had to improvise. A lot.

"Fuck me, I shouldn't have agreed to face a magic werewolf with a training sword." Lint cursed as she backed away from the werewolf.

"Hmph. Perhaps you regret sealing your weapons?" Loup stated the obvious.

"You bet I do; you have any idea how hard it is to get silver." Lint trailed off as her mind remembered something.

Silver silver

"...Shit." Lint cursed. The size of the silver ain't up to standards, and chasing after it would make quite a stupid plan on her part Fuck it - stupid plan was still better than no plan. It was stupider as she had no idea if they were made with silver.

Lint turned around and spread her devil wings.

"...Hm?" Loup watched Lint fly away from the battle. "And you're leaving your comrades behind."

"Your mom's a stupid furry!" Lint shouted.

"...Is that the best you can come up with?" Loup merely raised an eyebrow at Lin't attempt to rile him up.

"I bet she would've fucked a dog if your dad didn't come along!" Lint doubled down.

Loup merely blinked at Lint with confusion growing on his expression, "...I've heard worse than that a few times before."

"Agh, just follow me so I'll have a better chance of taking you down! I can't fight you like this!" Lint stopped midway and confessed.

Loup stared at Lint and digested her pitiable expression. His comrades were doing well against Rias' forces, and he could tilt the odds by joining one of his teammates

But he decided against that as he followed Lint.

Mostly because he pitied her situation, a fencer was forced to fight with safety tools. Sona should have allowed Noud to use real weapons instead of this, but he was interested to see how his opponent planned to deal with him.

"...You're actually following me?"

"I feel sorry for you."

Lint bristled as her face gained a deep red hue. Out of all of the things that hurt her, those words damaged her the most.

"Ugh, you're so gonna regret this!" Lint barked as she flew away, through the glass window, with Loup jumping towards the window, chasing after her outside.

OxO

A conclusion fell between Tomoe and Yuuto, the scales tipping massively towards the latter. Yuuto pushed against Tomoe back step by step, Tomoe's grip on her weapon trembling to hold on.

"This isn't fair!" Tomoe puffed her cheeks as Yuuto pushed forward another step. "This is my time to shine, and I'm already losing!"

Yuuto could only smile in apology. This was probably her first debut, and she was already looking bad in front of the audience.

"If you want, Tomoe-san, I can tutor you after this." He offered it to the sword girl.

"Ugh, don't patronize me!"

"But weren't you absent sometimes in your training?"

"I have a life, okay?!"

"Then why didn't you ask for supplementary lessons?" Yuuto added as he forcefully knocked the sword out of her hands and let it clatter to the side, the tip aimed at Tomoe's throat to her frustration.

The girl fumed with reddened cheeks at the sight of Yuuto's calm smile. Then his smile disappeared when several tentacles wrapped his arms and legs.

"...Eh?"

They yoinked him towards Saji as he held his entangled victim before Millicas, Saji grinning at Millicas as if daring the young boy to unleash the large sphere of erasure he held over his head.

"Behold! One of Black's strongest secret techniques!" Saji dramatically presented a bound, squirming Yuuto to Millicas' befuddlement.

"The human meat shield," Saji grinned, maintaining his hold on the struggling Knight.

"Ugh! How cowardly, yet cunning at the same time!" Millicas remarked with gritted teeth, now conflicted in his next choice of action.

Yuuto struggled, pulled his arms and legs, only to find his strength unsuitable to break out of these bindings. He prayed that this wouldn't disqualify him, so he attempted to use his Sword Birth to summon blunt swords to shoot at Saji

But he found something foreign suppressing his sacred gear.

"And the cherry on top, you can't use your Sacred Gear, pretty boy!" Saji smiled in triumph.

"Young master Millicas! Don't worry about me, just do what you must! Attack!" Yuuto shouted.

Ironically, Yuuto was held like Jesus on a cross, in a forced T-pose, a reference to his time in Black's training camp before Rias' match with Riser.

"Oh, but you can't, can you, little boy, kekekekekekekeke!" Saji almost cackled as if Black's evil had tainted his noble soul, taking sprout in this moment. "I mean, what kind teammate would erase his own comrade? Someone that doesn't deserve to be in a peerage, that's what!"

"Oh uh, wow. I wanted to thank you for saving me but aren't you taking this a little too far?" Tomoe asked, picking up Yuuto's dummy weapon.

"Maybe, but I saw a chance, and this guy ain't Hyoudou. No way he can break out of this." Saji stated with confidence.

"I am afraid to confirm that as the truth." Yuuto admitted, grimacing with acknowledgement in his lack of physical strength.

"So why not have some fun along the way?"

"...Mhmm, yep - I think Black is corrupting you."

Tomoe nodded numbly as she sent Yuuto and Millicas an apologetic look.

Surging water broke from the pipes in the walls and flooded the halls, bleeding into the new school building, shifting and flowing towards a crimson-haired devil as if it gained sentience to consume her.

Frustrated, Rias broke out of the door, drenched from the water filling the room behind her.

Her Power of Destruction might be superior in power, but quantity and versatility favored Sona using the water from the new school building as her extra ammunition.

As Rias considered her exit, a large body of water, in the form of a giant serpent, burst through the wall with Sona floating behind; more torrent of water floating around her taking various shapes from simple spheres, tendrils, to different animals like canines, birds etc.

She could erase them, but that would consume a lot of her power and leave her open to Sona's attacks.

"Since we took the mantle of kings, many of our peers would conjecture which of us is the superior of the rookies." Sona pushed up her glasses, her smile taking a sinister form, almost reveling in her overwhelming advantage. "Many would say that the Bael's Power of Destruction is far superior than the Sitri's hydromancy. Many would use my sister's being weaker than Sirzechs as an excuse to put me below the Gremory Heiress."

Kuhuhuhuhuhu.

Sona's smile widened as she announced, "Today, I shall change their misconceptions with your downfall, Rias."

"Is that so? I'm afraid that all of that confidence has gone up in your already small ego. I don't think it can take any more before it pops," Rias smiled in defiance despite her disadvantage.

"Oh, big words coming from a tomboy that's afraid of a simple haircut," Sona shot back.

Rias only response was a scowl before she hurled several basketball-sized Power of Destruction to Sona, but volumes of water swirled and crashed into them, negating each other.

"I am afraid that my resources surpass yours. This is checkmate."

Rias heard the walls behind her break.

Water bled from the cracks and formed into more creatures, hounds. Though looking at them, they look a bit like Rover judging by their size and shape.

Surrounded by all sides, she glared at Sona in silence.

"I'm afraid you forgot about one thing." Rias said.

There were no rules against plagiarizing tactics from others. Kiyome appeared in Rias' mind when she fought against her.

"And what's that?" Sona asked with a hint of curiosity.

"A two-dimensional game is a faulty reference to a three-dimensional world."

Rias said as she placed her hands down. She erased the ground and disappeared into the floor to Sona's slight shock as this was the ground floor. Was she heading for the basement?

But a crimson-black stream shot from the ground to Sona's left, piercing through a water creature and flew towards her head.

She jerked her head aside out of pure reflex, but the shot erased a small lock of her hair, as well as a chunk of her glasses, allowing them to slip off her face and clutter to the ground below.

"I hope you like your new haircut!"

Rias' voice shouted from below as Sona looked down. She caught her distorted reflection from her water creature. She stilled the reflection and gazed at herself. Her right eye twitched as she threw her head back to the hole Rias shot from.

"This. Means. War."

Rias' response was a beam erupting from behind Sona, angled from below.

Sona ducked swiftly as she moved back from the ground as she tracked Rias' magical signature. It was muffled through the solid matter, but she could sense it moving?

Wait, was Rias moving underground like a mole using her Power of Destruction to drill through solid matter? Sona never thought that a Bael could use the Power of Destruction that way.

Many more crimson beams rapidly fired from the floor, forcing Sona to move while sending her water monsters through the hole Rias made and chase after her.

Rias should have thought of this earlier when she was under all of that sniper fire. She should have dug herself underground and hid from the sniper in the first place, but then again realized that she did not have the sensory equipment to navigate through solid matter like Kiyome could.

Her technique involves a large sphere in the direction she was flying to erase the walls, ceiling, or floor while she uses her hands to fire at Sona, using her magical signature as a tracking point to fire at her, albeit the more matter was between them, the harder it was to sense.

At this point, Rias thought about investing in some detection and sensory magic when using this tactic against others in the Rating Games - and to avoid another sniper hell situation.

And if she mastered this, she could dominate the battlefield, making Rias smile with anticipation as she flew out of the ground and positioned the orb above her, erasing the ceilings overhead while firing more sniper shots at Sona's magical signature, using that bastard Noud's tactics.

However, the problem arrives when it comes with distance, as shooting through too many obstacles would dissipate her penetrating shots, Rias making a mental note on fixing that in the future, and the shots get weaker with distance.

Thinking about it how the hell did Noud manage to track them across such vast distances with all of that cover? It was too accurate for him to use their magical presences as a locator.

Sona was cursing at herself as she was a sitting duck in the middle of the pond. She could not break through the walls and ceiling to move as freely as Rias, and the pressuring fire from Rias from unpredictable angles was taking much of her concentration to strategize. Her water could not move fast enough to catch Rias as well.

She needed an edge, a way to avoid Rias, she could barely sense Rias at this point, other than that she was above her.

However, that momentary moment of distracting thoughts costed Sona - as she was a second too late to notice that Rias' presence was dropping atop of her at high speed.

Sona moved her water creatures to defend her, but Rias broke through from the ceiling with such accelerating momentum she landed behind Sona and grabbed her before she knew it.

Wrapping her arms around her childhood friend's neck, Rias tugged down as she caught Sona in a rear choke-hold.

"Checkmate." Rias grinned as Sona gagged and tugged at Rias' arm, glaring at her.

Sona then proceeded to drive her elbow against Rias' side, eliciting grunts from the latter, who remained steadfast in her hold as the former struggled and thrashed around to break free.

Rias' arms slacked slightly when Sona drove her elbow for the third time, allowing the latter to have a better hold on Rias' arm and giving herself more room to breathe. However, Rias immediately wrapped her legs around Sona's torso, something Koneko taught her to tighten her position as Sona tried to throw her overhead.

Sona's focus on maintaining her water dimmed, unable to sustain the shapes of her familiars as they fell into puddles of water.

"Come on! Give in!" Rias encouraged Sona to choke out.

"Fuck. You" Sona managed to retort with the little oxygen left in her.

She was going to lose. She was going to fail her Peerage, fail in front of her students the worst way to show a first impression.

And worse, she was going to lose to Rias in a one-on-one.

Rias was reveling in her victory, but her revel was cut short. A familiar sharp whistle flew from the wall and something struck her butt, stinging it with the pain of a thousand wasp stings as her eyes widened.

"Kyah!?" The sudden pain caused her legs to buckle, and her arms to slacken, giving Sona another opening as she gasped, yet managed to throw Rias over her shoulder.

Rias fell on her back to the ground, groaning in pain as she rubbed her backside while Sona was busy wheezing and coughing on her fours.

Sona looked up at Rias, seeing her rubbing her butt frantically.

Rias grimaced as she got up. Sona saw the cause when she saw a beam erupting from the wall and striking Rias in the butt a second time.

"KYAAAAAAAH!?" Rias jumped, shrieking louder.

"Don't tell me" Sona looked to the direction where the sniper shot.

She received a call through the messaging spell. She grimaced as she summoned the telephone magic circle and brought it to her ear.

[I hope that this makes up for what happened before, Chief.]

Noud called from the other side.

Sona gritted her teeth. Her ass was saved by the one she detested the most as her heart burned with indignity.

[Oh, and next time, hide your presence. She doesn't have the eyes to track you behind so many obstructions.]

Noud hung up.

Rias hissed as she rubbed her tush, scowling at Sona with two times the hate she had for the sniper.

"And I thought you wanted me to try and single him out." Rias reminded.

"...And now you know why." Sona shot back. "Do you regret not listening to me?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Though I'll regret things more if I don't beat you now." Rias said as she got back on her stance, preparing to attack again.

"...I as well, even if my victory is soured by his intervention." Sona then used her magic to gather more water in the building.

However, Rias could see that coming, so she came up with her own tactic - flapping her wings, Rias charged towards Sona as fast as she could and tackled her body to hers, carrying the shell-shocked Sitri through the wall and windows until they were flying out of the school building.

They eventually fell and stumbled on the unforgiving ground quite far away from the building. As she rolled and returned to her feet, Sona clicked her tongue as she checked on the amount of water she could gather during the brief transition when Rias was carrying her away from the building.

Nowhere nearly enough - the amount of water she had around her was only enough to fill a few bottles. Rias was evening out on the playing field.

Watching Rias' smirk, Sona subtly activated her telepathic link, planning to ask Noud to give her a few more cover fire. She had already received his support, so using her pride as an excuse was no longer an option from this point.

"Noud, I need you to give me one or two more cover fires."

Sona waited for a reply - she knew better than expecting the problem child to willingly help her out, but when he did not even give him any sarcasm, she knew something was off.

"Hehehehehe!"

The boy possessed by the evil of the black imp cackled.

Streams of black flames warred against crimson erasure and elongated tentacles lashed at the son of the strongest satan, chasing after the elusive young devil. The youngest Devil circled around his foe, but whenever he tried to attack Saji, he raised his Yuuto Shield in his direction, forcing Millicas to move as the tentacles threw barrages of black flames at him.

Millicas could see that his opponent's posture was firmer than his, someone raised on the martial path, and his training warned him that his foe had no openings he could exploit.

"It's time I show you the difference between us a second time. Hatred for the mentor is a great motivator in my experience with my students."

"...Noud? Do you copy?" Sona asked again.

When she received no reply, her opponent caught on.

"What's the matter, Sona? Is your ace in a hole not around to save you?" Rias taunted.

Sona clicked her tongue.

"I suppose that relying on him to act is out of the question. He might be considerate of my rivalry and decided to stay out of it."

"Or he is watching me kick your ass for his amusement." Rias remarked.

"Oh, believe me, it will be your ass that will suffer in this round." Sona rebuked.

"Believe this, then!" Rias then threw several spheres made from Power of Destruction towards Sona until water flowed and blocked the spheres. Several torrents chased after Rias, striking the dirt she stepped on by a hair's breadth before she took flight.

Sona summoned a pack of water hounds to chase after Rias, using Rover as a base, the water dogs pursuing Rias throughout the trees with more speed compared to the rest of her creations.

Rias weaved through the terrain, around and in between the trees under the cover of leaves, circling Sona while avoiding her slow water creations. She aimed her hands at Sona's direction, knowing that Sona's range wasn't as good as hers from her previous exchange.

But a dark presence flew towards her like an arrow. Rias swiftly turned to see a face she didn't expect to be in front of her - the streak of cherry red across her short black hair, the girl now in a Auros schoolgirl uniform, staring at her so close that she could kiss Rias if she moved forward.

"Sorry." She poked Rias between the eyes, a sharp pain forcing Rias to blink. In that blink, Lelez was no longer there.

Rias blinked some more as a sudden headache bled into her like an infection invading through the wound, through the point between her eyes, the world around her blurring into disfigurement, shapes distorted and undone into something unrecognizable and nonsensical. She lost her balance in the air and landed on her feet, wobbling as her sense of balance could not maintain her straight posture.

When her vision cleared, she suddenly found herself no longer in the Rating Game field. Her surroundings were replaced by a dimly lit tunnel - a tunnel that was awfully familiar to her.

Before she could have even made any sort of hypothesis, she was suddenly slammed against the wall by a massive frame, causing her to gasp at the grotesque looking bear-like monster pinning her against the wall. She looked around and recognized several faces in clerical outfit, all smiling with sinister intent, not like Black's smile, genuine malice directed at her.

Then one of them pulled out a syringe. Memories resurfaced at the sight when she remembered during the Excalibur Incident, caught by exorcists nearly turned into Chimeras by the unknown alchemical liquid within that needle.

And that exorcist approached her with that needle, sending a chill down her spine.

OxO

Sona stared at the sight of catatonic-looking Rias who had collapsed to her knees, her eyes dazed, her mouth was moving like a fish out of water with a small trail of drool trickling. Her body was slightly shaking as cold sweat was pouring out of her forehead.

The student-council president then noticed the culprit who landed next to her.

"...There, she's all yours."

"Lelez What did you do?" Sona asked with a careful tone.

"A little trick I learned from my dad. It is supposed to bring up her worst fears, but I don't know what she is seeing. It seems serious" Lelez skewed her lips.

"...Is she going to be alright?" Sona asked with concern towards her friend/rival.

"Knock her unconscious or let her break out of that nightmare. It is not dangerous, though she will be very livid afterwards."

"I see Isn't this advanced magic?"

"Uhhhh, my dad is very learned in the unorthodox as well as traditional." Lelez replied, and immediately switched gears, "...Well, I think you got it from here. I'm gonna check on Noud and others, see if they need my help. Good luck, prez!"

"Hey, wait-!" Sona could not finish her sentence as Lelez flew away. Her hand barely reached out and Lelez was far in the distance already.

"...Hah"

Sona sighed - this match was a mess, she could not get a clean victory over Rias and her team with her leadership and skills. It only showed the problematic Noud's prowess in the battlefield as a sniper able to sow unparalleled terror in the enemy and she was saved by him, which was infuriating.

And now, Rias was at her utter mercy. Sona grimaced as she weighed her options, between finishing Rias off or helping her there was a small part of her that wanted to finish Rias off here.

Sona slowly approached Rias, gathering the little water she managed to bring along from the school building. small slow steps drawing closer to Rias. Foam still frothed from her lips.

She crouched and her hands reached out to Rias

The redhead then let out a loud gasp, as clarity returned to her eyes. Sona flinched and retracted her hand back, watching Rias frantically looked around until her eyes settled on hers.

"...Rias?" Sona could not help but ask, "Are you-"

Sona's question was interrupted as Rias engulfed her in a big hug.

"You're real. You're alright" Sona could swear Rias was sobbing as she whispered those lines almost like a mantra.

Sona could not help but soften her expression, the water pooling above her head gradually lowered itself until close to the ground. She was about to return Rias' hug when the latter suddenly stood up with her arms still wrapped around her frame; Sona's world was turned upside down until her back was slammed to the unforgiving ground, knocking the air out of her, causing her control over the only water she had left to dissipate as the said water fell and splashed on the ground.

Sona then found herself being yanked up before she found herself being caught in a rear naked chokehold by Rias - both of them were seated on the ground with the redhead's legs wrapped around her torso, using her weight and gravity to bereft Sona any strength and momentum to break free.

"What the!?" Sona gagged as she began to choke. She glared incredulously at Rias, "You bitch!"

"If it means anything, I was genuinely happy that you were safe a few seconds ago." Rias countered, maintaining her hold around Sona's neck. "...But at the same time, I was, and still am thoroughly annoyed at what that little girl did to me. Forcing me to relive the worst moments of my life, by Ise's words - so not cool; so forgive me if I'm a tad vindictive at this moment."

"And I thought. I should've placed our friendship over our rivalry I was about to help you!" Sona replied in between wheezes, chokes and gasps, still wriggling her body and kicking her legs around to find any leeway or opening to slip free.

"Your sentiment is appreciated, Sona. I'll definitely make up for this later." Rias' smirk widened as she tightened her hold, intending to end the match now.

Sona felt even harder to breathe, it was only a matter of minutes or perhaps seconds until the Rating Game's fail-safe system to retire her. However..

"You left me no choice" Sona uttered with regret.

Rias then felt Sona's body slackened around her arms. For a moment, she believed victory was hers as she waited for the announcement for Sona's retirement, until Sona's body suddenly felt as if she deflated.

No, Sona felt wet, no sweat, Rias feeling drenching water soaking into her clothes. She looked down to see Sona to be nowhere, while her clothes and glasses were on the dirt.

In Rias' confusion, water suddenly converged around Rias' head, Rias' gurgles bubbled inside as it flooded her lungs. Her hands immediately lashed out, clawing away at the water, futilely trying to dismantle the intangible cage off her head.

Her eyes looked up, and saw the visage of smirking Sona hovering above her.

"Surprised? I assume you are." Sona's voice was muffled with the entire water also covering Rias' ears. "To be honest, this technique is something I came up with not long ago, I'm still not sure if I've gotten the hang of it yet, but considering the situation, I'd say it's working just fine."

To put it simply - Sona's final trick was to transform her body into water itself. She came up and worked on the idea after incorporating Issei's teaching into her signature water magic.

Read the flow of the energy and become one with the flow - luck also played a factor after Sona's constant attempt to get a better reading on the flow of her own demonic power.

Rias' reply was only gurgles as she began to suffocate.

"Don't worry, Rias. I'll definitely make up for this later." Sona smiled triumphantly as she returned Rias' previous words.

Rias screamed-gurgled at Sona in her fury, the last thing she could do before she finally drowned.

Soon enough, Rias' struggles lessened until her body vanished in motes of light.

[Rias Gremory has retired - by the elimination of the King's team, the victory goes to Sona Sitri's peerage!]

Upon hearing Baraqiel's announcement echoing in the air, Sona sighed as she returned to her feet. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her hands balled into tight fists. She was doing her best to keep herself calm and composed as she relished the taste of victory. A few seconds later, she exhaled as she finally calmed down.

With the clarity came after the calm, Sona blinked and looked down, only noticing that she was in her birthday suit. It was a transmutation technique that brought her affinity with water closest she could physically, becoming that one element, an attempt to surpass her sister but it was incomplete - as in, she could only transmute her body.

Her face began to pale and blush at the same time, fearing if the live recording of the Rating Game was still running.

When the final confrontation between Sona and Rias was about to reach the climax, the rest of the combatants were in the middle of their own battles.

Noud danced lazily around the young boy's attacks, his gaze locked on somewhere else, not on Millicas.

"Your form is improving, but not as much as I like." Noud tilted diagonally, avoiding a crimson slash of erasure, his sidelong glance seeing the projectile felling the trees in its wake.

"Ohhh. Make it horizontal. It'll cover more ground that way, if you're willing to kill your opponent," Noud suggested. "Like this!"

Millicas felt great danger. He ducked as low as he could as Noud swung hand like a claw, a long horizontal wave of silver cutting Millicas' red hair along with the trees behind him, an widened arc reducing the forest of trees into stumps as the decapitated plants rained behind Millicas, the boy looking back to see Noud's handiwork.

Millicas stared at the devastation done by a single attack for a few seconds, then he returned his attention to Noud who simply looked back, as if he was waiting for him to do something else.

"...Well? I'm waiting." Noud taunted Millicas with his finger.

Millicas knew what his foe wanted. He smiled as he gathered his power into his right hand.

"Like this?!" Millicas swung.

A wide crimson wave replicating the destructive force spawned, widening with every inch towards Noud.

Noud swiped up, cutting the crimson save in half as he stared at Millicas, unflinching as the trees behind him were bisected, the stumps and the wooden bodies corroding into nothingness, consumed by the crimson power.

"Interesting application of decay. Not as good as the one I'm used to, though."

However, as soon as Noud was done with his assessment, Baraqiel's voice was heard.

[Rias Gremory has retired - by the elimination of the King's team, the victory goes to Sona Sitri's peerage!]

"Hoh, She finally did it." Noud commented.

Millicas was aghast on the other hand, "E-EHHHHHHH?! Big sis lost?!"

Millicas' answer was him and Noud being teleported away from the battlefield.

OxO

When Noud returned to an office room where he was reunited with his teammates, the first thing he registered was the sight of Sona Sitri still in the middle of buttoning her shirt.

Her skirt was nowhere to be seen, along with her undergarments - and with some of her buttons crooked, it was as if she was in a hurry to clothe herself that she immediately went for her dress-shirt instead of her undergarments first; revealing her legs and nearly her entire pelvis. The shirt that had yet to be completely buttoned also revealed her collarbone to the cleavage of her modest breasts.

Adding the fact that her shirt was still soaked, everyone in the room - Noud and the rest of Sona's peerage, could see through her shirt and her nipples were poking out against the fabric.

"So.. Did you seduce your opponent with your sex appeal or something?" Noud accused. "Or did you go in for the sex? I could use a good story to bring back home how did she taste?"

Sona bristled yet she reigned herself by taking a deep breath; at this rate she could not care less about her state of undress, at the very least some members like Loup Garou had the decency to look away, while the girls scrambled around to find something to cover her modesty.

"Just Don't ask. How is everyone faring?" Sona ignored the problem kid and addressed what remained of her peerage.

"Ahem." Bennia coughed into her hand. "...We are fine, President. Some of us are quite banged-up, but - Whoa! Rugal What happened to you?"

Everyone was slightly taken aback at the sight of Loup Garou - back in his human form, who just pulled out a fork out of his thigh. His body was littered with what appeared to be silver cutleries stabbed in various places - thighs, shoulders, back area, even on his rear.

"...Nothing I cannot handle." Loup replied with a small grunt as he proceeded to reach at a silver cutlery embedded in his shoulder, which happened to be a knife. He then proceeded to pull another fork embedded into his rear.

Sona - who had covered herself with a blanket courtesy of Tsubasa, nodded.

She looked for the other student Noud brought, seeing Tahari the girl looked happy for some reason. Something to look into later.

"I see Well done everyone. Despite some" Sona threw a dirty glare at Noud, "Misgivings, I believe all of you have done wonderfully today. Even if there were some uncalculated accidents, we have done enough to demonstrate a proper Rating Game. For now, we will check on the others."

When the others were filling out the room - with Loup pulling out the rest of the silverwares off his body with Bennia's help, Sona addressed her interim members, "Noud, Lelez and Tahari - you three may join the rest of the students."

Noud merely replied with a casual salute, with Lelez nodding at Sona before they walked away, Tahari looked hesitant at first before she replied, "T-thank you for the experience, Lady Sitri! Please tell Ms. Tosca, I'd like to see her again!"

The low-class devil gave one last bow before running after the problem child pair. Sona and the rest eyed the retreating juniors before they exchanged smiles and went to their next destination.

The defeated were in the infirmary where the healers and nurses tended to them post-defeat.

Many of them were in bed, Ruroko was under more care with IV bags injected into her veins because of her burns and other wounds courtesy of Akeno. Momo and Reya were with her, their injuries not as serious as Ruruko, but still suffering some anemia.

Saji was in his bed, his face soured with his arms crossed, his eyes leering at Millicas with a massive frown. The younger devil was looking sheepish as he was sitting on his bed, having lighter wounds, bruises inflicted by his bout with Noud.

Tomoe was also pouting with her eyes leering at Koneko.

Rias was out of bed, lightly bandaged and healthy enough to walk since her wounds were minor.

She leered at Sona with a puffing pout.

Sona smugly smiled back while pushing up her glasses, "I suppose it is time that you make it up to me." Sona giggled.

"Yeah, sure - after you nearly drowned me alive, of course it's I who has to make it up to you." Rias scoffed.

"You betrayed our friendship for a, crudely put, 'cheap shot at victory'. A very cheap shot. Of course you're making it up to me." Sona giggled.

"Oh, right after I was caught off guard by one of your 'problem students'. Did you know what she made me go through?! I was I was" Rias could not finish her sentence in her frustration.

"Alright, alright, how about if we say we both are even?" Sona decided to put an end to their argument before escalating.

"Hah" Rias exhaled all of her stress as she rubbed her forehead. "...Who are they? Those two? They do not belong with the students. Their individual abilities placed them amongst even the greatest veterans of the Rating Game."

"That's the 'hundred-million dollar question,' isn't it?" Sona replied as she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "Against my better judgment - I'll let them enroll in my school for the time being until I finish my own investigation on them."

"They shouldn't be in this school in the first place, but I have never heard of any Devils with such skills outside of the Rating Games." Rias creased her brows, unable to understand what those two were.

"I am still not convinced that they are Devils in the first place." Sona added. "Their bodies react to silver like Devils, but everything else about them screams anything but I just need evidence that they are hiding their true origins through advanced, unknown magic."

"...And then what?" Rias asked. "Will you expel them? They are still popular with the students. And they aren't doing anything harmful"

"The only thing that prevents me from pulling any definitive action against them." Sona sighed as she took her glasses off so she could massage her eyelids, "...For now, I will keep an eye on them. I also need to address the rest of the student-body since this entire match is still meant to be part of their curriculum."

Silence returned as the two heiresses contemplated the situation.

"...Do you have plans for another mock Rating Game?" Rias asked.

Sona regarded her childhood friend for a few seconds before she gave a small smile, "I'll let you know when I do."

Sona stood on a podium on top of the stage in the auditorium - her peerage along with Rias', as well as Noud, Lelez and Tahari were standing behind him.

The founder of Auros Academy was facing the student body who was still cheering and applauding her.

[Lady Sona Sitri~!]

[Lady Rias~!]

[We love you, Akeno~!]

[Kyaah! Kiba~!]

[We love you, president~!]

[You guys rock~!]

[Thank you very much for the wonderful sights~!]

"At ease, at ease, students." Sona spoke into the microphone as her voice filled the room through the speakers.

The cheers quieted as the students watched her expectantly.

"First, I hope that we have provided enough reference for what a Rating Game would entail. Many errors and mishaps occurred since the start."

"Miss Sitri, can all Rating Game veterans be as good as Noud? Like can they all hit the other side like that from the start?" One student raised his hand, asking a question Sona would rather not want to answer.

To her credit - Sona was able to keep a calm expression before she replied, "While I cannot speak for other Rating Game veterans out there, I believe that kind of skill is possible with enough dedication and hard work - your enrollment in this school will be a good opportunity to prove your worth and how much you are willing to work to achieve your dreams."

The students clamored amongst themselves with excitement to learn such a skill which only Noud seemed to possess a talent for.

"It is my turn to ask the questions. Did you learn anything from our fights?"

"Will we get to see naked bodies all the time?!" One student asked.

Sona's eyes turned sharp, "I will not answer that. It is a purely accidental miracle that it even happened. Do not ask that question again."

Sona nearly flinched when Noud wolf-whistled behind her.

"What about the problem with Phoenix Tears?" A girl raised her hand. "We cannot afford them. They are too expensive, and well, seeing the upper class use them while the lower class cannot seems like a pretty unfair advantage."

"Rest assured, once you are eligible to join official games, Phoenix Tears will be provided to both parties for every game free of charge. Of course, once the game commences, it is up to you how those tears will be utilized."

"Is that an official statement or something in the works? I don't see that happening for some reason." Another student raised his hand.

"It is a recent policy suggested by the members of Phenex Clan themselves. However, allow me to add that Phoenix Tears are not easy to produce; each team in a Rating Game will be only allowed one vial, in order to ensure integrity of the Rating Game itself."

"But there will be a lot of peerages in the future. What will happen if it runs out of stock?" Another student asked a question regarding a possible sellout situation.

"Let us and the Phenex Household worry about that. The Research and Development division is in the middle of perfecting other alternatives for Phoenix Tears. Not to mention, those who participate in Rating Games are encouraged not to be dependent on Phoenix Tears or other healing arts."

This time Sona was bluffing. She needed to have Ravel introduce her concoctions to the Phenex Household and petition her pharmaceuticals to the Satans for licensing.

"Why not just steal the other party's items?" Noud asked.

Sona was about to retort but she paused before answering, "...You are free to try that, but take note the other party will not surrender without a fight, and I've never heard of anyone attempting such a reckless action."

"So it's legal?" Noud asked.

"As long as you attempt it at the start of the match." Sona agreed.

The students murmured amongst themselves, some finding mid combat theft a valid idea, some finding it impossible to attempt other than Noud.

"If you have any more questions, please speak before we move on-"

"Holy shit!" One of the students jumped from his seat, he was on his phone and held it to Sona. "Everyone, check this out! Two big noble clans got axed by an epic scandal! We're talking Diodora level here!"

Normally, Sona would have reprimanded the student who rudely interrupted her speech, but when she heard the words, her mind went into a brief halt as the rest of the students also checked on their phones, before their expressions shared various degrees of shock.

"Sona!"

Sona turned to see Rias who was sporting an apprehensive expression - her hand was holding her own cell-phone. Taking it as a cue there was something happening, Sona followed the lead and checked on her phone.

Belphegor and Abaddon Clan Exposed - Part of Khaos Brigade!? Mordax Bael Waging War against the Traitor Clans!

"...Did you guys hear about our newest client's latest project?"

In the dimly lit room, several figures were discussing over a large table filled with papers, reports, and holograms. The one asking was looking over a phone, one pocketed from one fishman devil.

"About how he cut his allies off like a lizard to its tail? Gotta say, that takes balls to pull off."

"Crazy bastard." One of the females leaning against the wall grunted, sipping her shot glass of tequila.

"No matter. He's going to get his due in the end, all we have to do is finish this job clean before all eyes turn on us." The leader of the Zygotes brought everyone's attention to him.

"Let's review our current status before we depart. Bigsley, report. How is the testing of our newest shipment?"

In the background, a cry of agony whispered in the halls, begging and pleas from one Gragg Forneus.

"Exorcism weapons have been tested on our dear guinea pig. Seems effective enough." Bigsley nodded.

"How goes the jury rigging? Can we do it?"

"Our sponsors took care of it; modified light pistol chambers attached to the clip and barrel of our favorite guns, assault rifle, shotguns, you name it. It should have some extra kick, but they said to avoid the veterans."

"Veterans?"

"Our sponsors warned us about some old Devils that fought in two wars. Apparently, they said this so we can understand what we're dealing with - they're like walking nuclear disasters compressed in humanoid forms, and actual nukes won't work on them. Meaning, we might need to use some of our bigger guns to even do shit to them, and they won't let us use them for good reason. This is as much as we can get away with."

"So we don't test our luck and be careful. We got a list of names for them?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Now, onto the plan."

The leader brought the meeting forward by pinning a knife on top of the picture of Rias Gremory.

"We start with the most dangerous one first."

To be Continued