Ch 100: It’s time to pluck the grilled chicken.

After the incident with Grayfia's trespassing, the rest of the week passed in a flash. Reina did more dates with Noah and finished each day having sex with him. After their first time, she signed a slave contract, binding her soul to him, and Noah spent most of the following days convincing the sweet girl to consider Noah not only as her lover, but as her Master as well, repeatedly making her do small things for him and rewarding her with kisses, pleasure, and praises. He had managed that on the fourth day, allowing Reina to share his abilities, and permanently solving the issue of her malfunctioning magic core eating away at her lifespan.

Noah hadn't been idle on his preparations for the Rating Game either, as the current appearance of each member of Rias's peerage attested.

Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Kuroka, Suzu, Kaede, Irina, Xenovia, Yuuto, Tosca, Gasper and Noah himself all wore the sets of armor he had created. Their equipment consisted of one black leather bodysuit covering their bodies from the neck down and serving as the under armor. Noah had made it especially resistant to heat and puncturing, and it offered a very minor boost in strength. Black gloves made of a thinner leather protected their hands without penalizing their dexterity. Over the bodysuits, they wore crimson red metal greaves, bracers, chest plates and segmented pauldrons.

And Noah had indulged himself a bit by making boob plate armor, suffering Akeno's teasing for it. For aesthetics only, he also added a black cape. Overall, Rias and her peerage looked like they came straight from some fantasy Knight's Order.

Noah had used ancient legionary roman armors, minus the helmets, for inspiration, and while the metal armor parts didn't cover the whole body of the wearer, they protected the torso and abdomen, where the vital organs were, and the extremities of the limbs, most likely to be stuck. More importantly, the total weight of the armor was very tolerable, and the weaker members of the peerage like Gasper, Rias and Akeno were just barely slowed down by it. Stronger members like Noah, Yuuto or Kuroka were completely unaffected.

In addition to their armors and normal weapons, each of them had a short sword hanging from their waist, whose blade was engraved with Stop runes, and a small pouch containing beads engraved with small magic arrays using the Light rune, who could be used as flash bangs.

"Good luck, everyone!" smiled Asia, quickly echoed by the others. Every member of Noah's household who weren't going to fight, had been invited to watch, and would sit in the VIP section of the huge arena.

Unlike the Arena in Hagun Island, this one wouldn't magically reconfigure the fighting area according to its managers wishes, but would instead create dimensional pockets, replicas of some real areas where the contestants would be able to fight however they wanted. Some kind of advanced observation magic would allow the spectators to individually watch any part of the Game they wished without interfering with each other, and any contestant injured past a certain point would be automatically teleported out of the dimensional pocket and directly into the infirmary.

There was a knock at the door, and Venelana entered, Grayfia at her side.

"The game starts in five minutes, are you all ready?" she asked.

"Yes, Mother. I can't wait to punch his arrogant face!" confidently smiled Rias.

Venelana smiled as she looked at Rias's gallant appearance.

"Do me proud, my daughter."

Rias nodded, and Venelana looked at each member in turn, ending with Noah.

"Noah, please give my daughter an opportunity to shine."

"That's the plan, Venelana-sama." smiled Noah. "Unless our strategy goes off the rails, I'll only use my far sight ability to locate the opponents for my team mates to deal with, and Rias herself will deal with Riser."

"Oh? I would have thought you would deal with him yourself, to showcase your strength."

"There would be little for me to gain doing it, and I am trying to keep a low profile, until Aizen and Yhwach are dealt with. Besides, by taking a passive part in the game, I'll be dangling a bait in front of a certain person. I don't want to scare him off."

"A bait?" asked Venelana with interest. She enjoyed scheming, and considered her future son in law's cunning to be a definite plus.

"Well, technically, the bait is Asia."

"Me?" asked Asia in astonishment.

After a lot of pondering and procrastinating, she finally had asked Noah for a talk in private, and blurted out with a flustered face the details about the mission Father Clemens had saddled her with, asking her to marry him to bring him closer to the Church. Noah had smiled, not really surprised that the Church would attempt this angle, and told her that they could start as friends for now, and that he would court her when they would be more comfortable with each other, much to her relief.

"Yes. Remember the devil that almost got you excommunicated when you healed his wounds?"

"Yes? What about him?" she asked in confusion.

"His name is Diodora Astaroth, and his wounds were self-inflicted. He's not only a traitor associating with the Old Devils' faction, those who want to take over the underworld and restart the war against the Angels and the Fallen, but also a pervert who loves to get nuns like you into trouble, get them excommunicated, and pick them up into his peerage, only to break their minds with torture. His peerage is full of such unfortunate women, and I intend to both save them, and give that guy some well-deserved retribution."

"Such a terrible thing!" exclaimed Asia in shock.

"Isn't that guy even worse that Taro Aoyama?" frowned Rui, looking at Hisui, Alice and Claire for confirmation, and they nodded.

"Yes." said Alice. "Aoyama was bad enough, but he used torture as a tool for enforcing obedience, not just for the fun of it."

"Yeah, definitely worse." nodded Claire.

"Do you have any evidence I could use to take action against the Astaroth family?" asked Venelana intently.

The Astaroth family had been a thorn at the side of the five Great Satans, working against them while not giving them quite the opportunity to bring the hammer down on them.

"Not right now." admitted Noah. "It would be my word against his. Which is why I want to bait him into challenging me or something."

"He's going to die, right?" asked Alice.

Instead of answering immediately, Noah turned to Venelana.

"Venelana-sama, as far as I'm aware, demonic healing magic can cure gashes and punctures well enough, but regrowing limbs is beyond its capabilities. Am I wrong?"

"That is correct. It would take something like your own healing magic or Asia's Twilight Healing to reattach severed limbs." She smiled with a cold smile. "I can guess your intentions, but you'll have only a second or two before he is retired and brought to the infirmary during a rating game.

Noah smiled equally coldly.

"A lot of things can happen in a second or two, and I will make sure this guy can still be interrogated afterwards. As for getting evidence of his involvement with the Old Devils… Hopefully, I'll find something incriminating on him."

"Venelana-sama, it is time." reminded Grayfia.

"You're right." nodded Venelana. "Good luck, everyone."

"Members of the Gremory Peerage, please gather in the middle of this array. It will activate in a minute and transport you on the battlefield." asked Grayfia, pointing to a large magic circle engraved on the floor, at the back of the room.

"Asia and the others, follow me, we will accompany you to your seats. Asia, you will sit close to me. That will increase the odds Diodora will spot you."

"Yes, Venelana-sama!" nodded Asia with determination. Discovering that Diodora made a mockery of her willingness to heal him filled her with fury, and she was grateful to have been offered an opportunity to play a role in his demise.

Grayfia and Venelana left the room.

"This is our moment to shine!" smiled Rias.

"Ufufu, as long as I get a piece of Yubelluna, I'll be happy."

Yubelluna was Riser's Queen, and specialized in explosion magic. As a fellow Queen, she was Akeno's chosen prey.

"We'll crush them." nodded Koneko.

"Eheh, I look forward to seeing you in action, Shirone." laughed Kuroka, calling her little sister by her real name. In Japanese, Koneko translated as Kitten, a name that would have been quite inappropriate for a person. But Rias was young when she chose the name as her family took in Koneko, and the little white-haired girl had decided to keep the name, as recognition for Rias's kindness.

"Do we still stick to the plan? That's overkill if you ask me." said Irina.

"Yes." said Rias. "It may be unnecessary against the Riser team, but let's not…"

The magic array at their feet started shining, and Rias fell silent. Seconds later, they all appeared on the third floor of a building, in a large room. Looking through the windows, they saw that the battlefield was a modern city.

"Lots of vertical locations and limited fields of view. An ideal location for ambushes." nodded Noah.

"A good thing we have you, Master." smiled Xenovia.

They were looking at the streets and buildings when they heard Grayfia's voice.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to this rating game, between Rias Gremory and her peerage, and Riser Phenex and his peerage! I am Grayfia Lucifuge and will act as the referee. The usual rules will apply, with one team being defeated when their King admits defeat, is too injured to keep fighting, or is knocked unconscious. Instantly lethal strikes are forbidden. Pawns reaching the enemy's base will be able to promote. Lastly, this rating game is the object of a bet between the participants."

"Should Riser Phenex win, Rias Gremory will be engaged to him, and Gasper Vladi, Yuuto Kiba and Noah Enfield will be expelled from her peerage. Should Rias Gremory be victorious, Riser Phenex will forever lose the right to claim her hand in marriage, and Ravel Phenex as well as two other members of Riser Phenex's peerage, chosen by Rias Gremory, will be transferred to her peerage."

"I now declare the game to start in Three. Two. One. Start!"

Rias smiled to her team members.

"Let's go, everyone!"

"Yes!" they answered in sync.

Gasper was the first to make his move, transforming himself into a small swarm of bats. One bat landed on everyone's left shoulder, while the others spread through the opened window. Vladi was in charge of communications.

Noah took a seat and sat on it, starting to use Promise to locate the members of Riser's peerage. Every other member, save for Rias and Akeno, jumped through the windows, landing on the streets and spreading out by pairs. Koneko and Kuroka, Irina and Xenovia, Kaede and Suzu, Yuuto and Tosca.

"Found Ile and Nel." said Noah, his eyes closed as he focused, referring to the twin girls armed with chainsaws. "They're headed for the school on the western sector."

"Found Yubelluna. She's creating a magic array on the first crossroad on the most direct path to their base. She's alone."

"Found Mihae and Xuelan, they're headed east together..."

Gasper relayed his words to the rest of the team, and they reacted accordingly.

…

Yuuto and Tosca walked carefully on the school's gymnasium, vigilant of their surroundings. According to Noah, the twins were the only enemies in the immediate vicinity, and they had spotted them, and were waiting inside. But they didn't want to grow careless, or overly dependent on the unfair advantages their teammate gave them.

Yuuto carefully opened the door, ready to react instantly to any trap or incoming projectile, but there was nothing. He slowly looked around as he stepped inside, Tosca following close behind, and the twins casually walked out from a side door.

Ile and Nel were both young women with shoulder-length pale green hairs and blue eyes, dressed in school gym uniforms, white t-shirts with blue accents, black leggings stopping mid-thighs, and blue sneakers over white socks. The only difference between the two were that one had a small orange ribbon to the left side of her hair, while the other had one on the right side.

"Onii-san and Onee-san, have you come to play with us?" asked one with a grin, raising her chainsaw and gripping the handle connected to the chord, ready to pull it to start the engine.

"Thank you, but I'll pass." smiled Tosca, surrounding herself with a white translucent barrier.

Yuuto nodded to the twins.

"I'll play, but before we start, can you tell me which of you is Ile, and which is Nel?"

"Nice of you to ask, pretty onii-san. I am Nel, and she is Ile." said the one with the left-side ribbon.

"Now let's start's playing together! We'll cut you to pieces!" laughed Ile, starting her chainsaw.

"To pieces!" laughed Nel, doing the same. They both activated the Stride and Maximize demonic magics, and ran toward him, spreading apart as they intended to pincer him.

Yuuto smiled as he used Stride, Optimize and Armored on himself, and used his sacred gear to create two demonic swords, a generic flame sword in his left hand, and the Dainsleif demonic sword in his right hand.

Then the dance started. Tosca watched with interest, but to her, the outcome was obvious. Ile and Nel obviously had experience working together, but they weren't that strong or fast, due to them being Pawns, while Yuuto benefited from the speed enhancement of a Knight Evil Piece, and had trained himself hard for years. And chainsaws weren't exactly nimble weapons. He had no issue dodging everything the twins tried.

"Onii-san! You're no fun! Stop moving around so much and get cut obediently!" called out Ile in frustration. Nel, who seemed equally irritated, took opportunity from the fact she was close to Tosca to swing her chainsaw at her, but the barrier protecting Tosca showed no sign of weakening. Sparks flew as the metal teeth of Nel's chainsaw suffered damage.

"That's enough. Sleep for a bit." said Yuuto as he deflected Ile's chainsaw, stepped in her range and delivered a strong punch to her stomach.

"Gafu!" gasped Ile as she folded into his fist, dropping her chainsaw and losing consciousness. As Nel was distracted by what was happening to her sister, Tosca created a shield just outside of her spherical barrier, and caused the shield to explode outward, creating a shockwave that lifted Nel and projected her into a wall.

Nel, unprotected by the Armored magic she had never bothered to learn, impacted the wall with enough force to lose consciousness as well.

"Riser Phenex's Pawn is retired. Riser Phenex's Pawn is retired." announced Grayfia, signaling for both team that Riser had lost two members.

…

"Ara ara… That was fast." muttered Akeno as she listened to the announcement. She was almost done with her own preparations. She was flying high in the air, mobilizing her holy magic to attempt a decapitating strike on Yubelluna. Using the holy magic that she inherited from her father felt very unpleasant to her, but for this time, she was willing to make an exception.

During their previous meeting, Yubelluna had looked at her with obvious arrogance, no doubt thinking that Akeno would soon occupy an inferior position to her in Riser's harem. Akeno wanted to teach her a lesson.

"I'm ready, Gasper-kun. Please ask Noah for the location again." she said, her power ready to be unleashed as the clouds above her were rumbling ominously.

"She's hidden on the top of the Nokia building, on your two, three hundred meters away, just behind the roof's access to the stairway." came the answer instants later.

Akeno smiled as she looked at the direction Noah had pointed her to, and spotted part of Yubelluna's face, watching her as she was hidden behind the corner.

Akeno's smile widened, and she unleashed her holy lightning at Yubelluna, who was just starting to realize that she had been spotted. Riser's Queen didn't have time to erect a magic barrier before the world exploded in white light around her, and she felt great pain as she was projected out or the rooftop and fell into the street bellow.

Her eardrums had burst, and she suffered severe burns on the left side of her body. She fought to remain conscious, but already was too injured to try to use her explosion magic in retaliation.

"H-How…" she croaked, staring at Akeno. She didn't hear the answer, only seeing Akeno's lips moving for a few seconds before a weaker follow-up lightning strike took her out of her misery.

"Riser Phenex's Queen is retired." announced Grayfia's voice over the battlefield.

…

Ravel Phenex couldn't believe her ears. Her teammates were being slaughtered left, right and center, judging be Grayfia's repeated announcements, and the Gremory Team had yet to lose a single member! Even if her brother…

"Riser Phenex's Knight is retired." came the emotionless voice of Grayfia, and Ravel paled. Only her and Riser remained. Even if they won this rating game, a pyrrhic victory like this against Rias, who had never participated in a game before, would still be a disgrace they would never live down!

She looked back at the building she was guarding, seeing her brother's face through the window. He was beyond furious, as could be expected.

They exchanged a glance, and Ravel returned to watch her surroundings, ready to react to the first attack. She started hearing footsteps, coming from several direction, and the members of Rias's peerage appeared, coming from her right, left, and above. But they made no move to attack, and Rias herself appeared in the street facing them, that man following her.

Seeing her, Riser seemed to go mad, and he jumped from their base's window, landing behind Ravel.

"Ravel! You defend the base against any Pawn! I'll deal with them myself!"

"Onii-sama, are you certain?" hesitated Ravel.

"Do as I say!" he ordered, not letting his eyes drift away from Rias and the hateful man standing behind her.

"Understood." sighed Ravel as she retreated, keeping a vigilant eye on the opponents that were waiting on the side.

Riser laughed madly.

"Rias! You coming here to face me in person was a mistake! Not that it would change anything in the end. You may have defeated my peerage, but I am invincible! I alone am enough!"

Wings of golden flames appeared on his back.

Rias snorted.

"Hey, Riser. Has anyone ever tried pummeling some sense into you? I want to give it a try."

She stepped forward a few steps, and activated her Booster Gear.

Riser's eye widened as he recognized the red gauntlet that overlapped the metal bracer Rias wore on her right forearm.

"That's… That's impossible!" he blurted out in shock.

"Is it now?" smiled Rias as she lifted her right hand.

"Balance Break." she muttered.

In seconds, additional pieces of armor extended from the gauntlet, spreading over Rias's body. When the transformation was done, only her head was uncovered by the crimson plate armor, and the aura emanating from her body was multiplied many times over.

"Boost!" said Ddraig's voice, coming from the gauntlet, and Rias's power was further doubled. She activated Stride, Armored and Maximize.

"That's impossible!" screamed Riser in denial as he launched a large fireball at Rias.

Rias leaned to the left and let the fireball pass her by harmlessly, then rushed toward Riser.

He threw more fireballs and created arrays on the ground that would erupt in pillars of golden flame, but Rias was too fast, and she reached him. Her armored fist impacted his jaw, dislocating it and sending him flying to the side.

Riser got to his feet, livid at the humiliation while the pain in his jaw subsided. The Phenex bloodline magic, his greatest advantage, allowed him not only a great affinity for the fire element and use of the Phenex Flames, but also a regeneration of any wound in seconds. Even decapitation wouldn't kill him, as a new body would grow from his severed neck while the original body would go up in flames.

His thoughts came at a stop when Rias reached him again, punching him away, breaking his nose and cheekbone in the process. More pain, more humiliation, but still, Riser was confident he would emerge victorious at the end. He activated his own Stride and Maximize. He had never bothered learning Armored, since he was immortal anyway.

Even if Rias was stronger and faster than himself in her current state, all he had to do was endure until she grew exhausted. And from the little he knew of her, Rias didn't have much endurance. She likely would last at most two or three minutes.

"I'm going to make you pay, Rias!" he angrily yelled.

"Keep dreaming." came the answer, as Rias kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying away into a building, again.

Again and Again, Riser was thrown around like a ragdoll, making him feel humiliation like never before, and his fury reached his peak. He was so blind with anger that he charged at Rias, giving up on trying to use fire magic as he wanted to tear her apart with his bare hands. He didn't pay any mind as he saw her draw a sword black sword from the sheath strapped to her waist.

Ravel tried to interfere, But was quickly stopped by Akeno, Kaede and Suzu.

Riser wanted to punch Rias so badly that he didn't try to evade as Rias counter-charged him, impaling the sword on his right shoulder and throwing him off balance. he found himself laying on the ground, Rias straddling him, and with a fist, she struck the hilt of the sword like a hammer hitting a nail, driving the blade into the ground and pinning him like a fly on a wooden board.

Riser screamed, both because of a pain he had never suffered before, and in rage, but as he inhaled air again, he noticed something was wrong. The pain wasn't going away. In fact, it was getting worse!

He tried to summon flames to get Rias off from him, but his flames didn't respond to him!

"W-What have you done to me!" screamed Riser, watching Rias smiling at him.

Rias smiled and punched him in the face, careful not to exert too much strength. Riser lost some teeth, and his jaw was dislocated again.

"Arghhhh!" he screamed, twitching. Each of his movements making the agony coming from his right shoulder worse.

Rias punched him in the solar plexus, breaking it and a few ribs. She punched his head another time, breaking his nose again. She was lifting her blood-covered gauntlet another time, aiming at breaking his left arm, when Grayfia's voice sounded through the battlefield.

"Riser Phenex isn't able to fight anymore. Team Gremory is victorious."

Rias nodded and stood. She seized the hilt of the black sword and pulled it off, eliciting another scream of pain from the weakened Riser.

As soon as the blade left his body, his regenerative power was back, but before he could do anything, he was teleported out of the battlefield along with Ravel.

Rias unsummoned her sacred gear and smiled as her teammates gathered around her. It had felt so refreshing to beat up Riser.

"Good job, everyone!" said Akeno, as Gasper gathered his bats and retransformed into his human body.

"Everyone did great, I'm proud of you!" grinned Rias as she started hugging everyone in turn.

As they were congratulating themselves, they started being teleported back into the preparation room.

Noah and the others changed out of their armors, took a quick shower, and dressed into gala dresses and tuxedos. Now that the rating game was over, another kind of fight awaited. Socializing with the Underworld's elites.