Volume 7 – Chapter 3 – Part 2 – Team Phantastic Dragons vs Team Trump Card of Heaven

Alternative Title: Youth because of youth.

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Third Person Point of View

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That man had always been average at everything. Whether that was in looks, his income, or the things he did, he always came out as just average. That man couldn't help but compare himself to the greatest of his country. As someone born from American and Japanese parents, he was slightly more different than others.

Yet, he did his best in what he did, from school, to his hobbies, or just in his everyday life. He wanted to become someone that's beyond average—he wanted to be someone who mattered, he wanted to leave some kind of lasting impression on someone—a legacy.

"Hiro, why don't you try out for baseball?" his mother asked.

So the young man tried out for his school's baseball team, and he was average at it. He tried out for his basketball team, he was average at it, he tried out for various other extracurricular activities and as usual he was only average at them.

At one point this young man began to question his very existence.

'Am I cursed to be average—cursed to be mediocre for the rest of my life?' he asked himself.

But that young man didn't want that—he didn't want to be average, so he sought out something different, something that would change his life forever…and he did—he found it.

The supernatural—the paranormal—magic was real! When he found out about it, he quickly joined an organization that specialized in it. He had trouble learning magic though, but he didn't give up. The chairman of the organization, Mephisto Pheles told him that magic could be learned by anyone, they just needed to work hard.

This man—Hirokazu Miller had always been average, but he worked harder than anyone he knew, so he already knew that very well. So he worked, and worked, and worked, and worked…but nothing.

Disheartened and mocked by his fellow magicians, he recklessly saw an assignment that was meant for beginning-to-medium level magicians and took it…without informing his chairman, and he nearly died from it.

But in turn, his life changed even more. For when he was at death's door, a miracle happened—he felt a burning sensation all over his body and from his arm, a light blue gauntlet appeared.

It reminded him of a certain man who had been making waves in the supernatural scene—a man he looked up to and wanted to replicate his feats. The fact that his own power—his Sacred Gear he was born with awakened and looked like his, to Hirokazu Miller, it was nothing short of destiny.

With his new [Twice Critical] he defeated the monsters on that assignment, but he didn't go back to the Grauzauberer. He would let them presume he was dead and from that day forward he would train with his new power, gather allies with the same mindset and become something.

Over time, his name spread, and his newly formed team's name also started to be recognized—Team Giichi Stars. He also learned magic during that time—he had one teammate who was a natural at it, and he learned from him and slowly all of them became more and more powerful, that was until they met her…

A woman so powerful that they thought they were staring at a goddess. She boasted about her power, called them weak, and said they should give up on their dreams. Hirokazu and his team didn't like that, so they challenged her to a fight…and lost badly.

In spite of this, none of them stayed down during it. Even after numerous attacks that should knock them out, numerous attacks that should destroy their spirits and prevent them from standing up…they got up, and kept on fighting.

This confused the woman, and she asked them, "Why do you keep standing up? Why do you keep fighting?"

With a bleeding face, Hirokazu smiled and gave his one and only answer. "Because I can't fall here, I have a dream—I have a man I want to catch up to, and someday, I wish to work for him! He's amazing! So…even if I have to face gods, I won't let my dream and my journey end here!"

His teammates felt the same. They were still near the starting line—their lives, their goals, their journey had only started. When that woman heard that, she was stunned, so stunned that she forfeited the match and gave them the win. Only then did they collapse. The next time they woke up, they were in a room with beds, and the woman was gone. However, everything was paid for.

That woman that day also changed—she started thinking more about life, thinking about what those impressionable young men said to her, so unknown to them, she started to observe their journey. She also began to research this universe—this world more.

She was intrigued by it, she saw the beauty it had. It was unlike her universe where only darkness and suffering existed. As more time passed and as she watched the team spread their kindness because of the man they idolized, this woman's heart thumped in a strange way for the first time in her life.

It was an unknown feeling to her, but it felt pleasant, and for the first time in her life, she smiled and cried.

"If such a world existed—if such people existed…I would like to stay here," she muttered to herself. She hadn't expected such words to leave her mouth, but they did. After that day, the woman named Caeda approached Team Giichi Stars again and requested to join their team.

She expected to be rejected, she expected to be ridiculed, but to her surprise, not only did their leader, Hirokazu smile, but all of them did and accepted her into their team—their small little family. Again, she was touched by their kindness and wholeheartedly helped them from that day onward.

She trained them, taught them more about magic and how to utilize them to their maximum potential. Caeda became a full-fledged member in a very short time and thus their team became even more powerful…that was until a fateful day came.

When they were in New York, a man approached them with a few companions—of course, they recognized him. Who wouldn't at that point? He had saved various factions and pantheons already.

Jin Skyward, the Middleman and Oppai Dragon had approached them and their lives changed that day.

Hirokazu's dream became even closer, but when he requested to spar with the Middleman, it became apparent that he was nowhere near reaching him. However, he told the man in front of him of what he wanted.

"Get stronger, and challenge me at a different time, and I'll give you an answer then," he was told. Those words only ignited Hirokazu and his teammates more, and from that day onward they trained like their lives depended on it.

They felt themselves grow—even more when the [Hyper Regenerative Chambers] came to every alliance pantheon and faction. They used it, and with Caeda they abused it. Their peaceful lives were just eat, train, sleep and repeat. At the same time, they kept up with what the Middleman was up to—he had done numerous things that only ignited them even more.

That was until the 'war' started, and their home—the Abenaki realm was attacked. Team Giichi Stars along with the warriors and gods of this realm defended it the best they could. With their new strength, techniques, and teammates (his cousin Daiki and his group joined them), they successfully defended their home.

The one who did a lot of the work was their strongest member, Caeda. But…tragedy would soon strike them as strange pink lines started killing people everywhere. They couldn't defend themselves against it and had to watch their teammates die.

Hirokazu—the man who put this team together had to watch his cousin die, his best friend, the hybrid Yowanaku and the women he loved die in front of him. No one was safe…not even him. Hirokazu had many regrets as his life ended, but not too long after all of them came back to life and they cried and hugged each other.

"The miracles of the Middleman," Caeda muttered. The rest of her teammates agreed. They could only think of one person responsible for it—but they couldn't stop there. They knew they still lacked many things, but another thing happened that further ignited their passion.

[The World Rating Game Tournament! Everyone can participate! Even gods! This tournament is based on the Rating Games of the Devils! The grand prize? A wish granted by the Middleman himself! The man who saved the world! Come one, come all and join the World Rating Game Tournament!]

They saw the news in a magic circle provided by Tabaldak, the Chief God of the Abenaki realm.

"Heh, are you guys planning to join?" asked the god.

"Isn't it obvious, sir?! Of course we'll join! I—no, we want to become even more known! I think it's also time to challenge Jin-san again!" shouted Hirokazu. His teammate agreed, so Caeda and Hirokazu traveled to his home in Japan and they were told that he'd visit them again to fight.

…And that day came. It was a hard-fought battle, but in the end, even with all of them working together, that man defeated them again.

"You've all improved a lot. Hirokazu…your Sacred Gear, it's close, very close to a change, but I can't classify it yet as a [New Longinus]. However, if you can evolve it into your own unique Sacred Gear, then I'll definitely add it," said the man in front of him.

Evolve. He had to evolve his Sacred Gear. Hirokazu had heard of the many unnatural occurrences with the Sacred Gears in this generation—in this era, so he decided to focus on that.

[Twice Critical], it was regarded as a very common Sacred Gear. When he first found his power, he felt like he was chosen. However, that quickly faded as he found out the true name of the Sacred Gear, but he didn't let it get him down as he continued on his path.

One night, as Hirokazu thought about this Sacred Gear, his team, the tournament, and his life so far, Caeda approached him.

"We've registered successfully. We'll be relying on you more now, Mr. [King]," said Caeda.

"We have our first game in two days. Let's do our best," said Hirokazu. "Let's go as far as we can, and if we can make it to the main stage…" He grabbed Caeda's arm surprising her and making her blush.

"U-um…Hiro?" she asked, unsure of the situation.

"…It's nothing. I'll wait until then or a better time," he said and kissed her forehead, shocking her.

"…O-o-okay…" she muttered, completely shocked, but at the same time very happy.

Hirokazu understood that you could gain power in various different ways during his journey so far. But the one he wanted to replicate was none other than the Middleman—his boss and superior, Jin Skyward.

One day, he contacted Jin about his upcoming match against [Team Trump Card of Heaven]. They spoke at length over the phone and he mentioned that he was pursuing and following in his footsteps. But Jin became silent for a few seconds.

"Hiro, I'm flattered that you think so highly of me, but I'd like to suggest you follow your own path. Even if it's just a small deviation from mine—if you do, you can make it your own and your Sacred Gear will definitely respond to it. You know how they work, right?" Jin asked over the phone.

"Yes, of course! They respond to their wielders' feelings, will, and desire!" he replied enthusiastically.

"Right, it's also a journey of self-discovery. Do you notice how each [Twice Critical] differs in appearance? They usually manifest themselves like that because of their wielder's desires, so as long as you want that change, and it's strong enough, it'll evolve to accommodate your feelings and power."

Hirokazu stood there, thinking about what he had said. 'My own path…my own desires…' he thought.

"I'll get going, and set that up for you, so come over in a day," he heard Jin say through the phone before he hung up.

"My own path and my Sacred Gear will evolve with me…" muttered Hirokazu. He remembered the fight between Jin and Sairaorg and saw for the first time his [Queen] form, it was unlike his regular Balance Breaker, or his Illegal Move Triaina.

"I'll do it!" he shouted. "I'll evolve in a different way, I'll go down a different path but I'll keep on chasing you, Jin-san!" Hirokazu had no idea on how to do it, but he would just follow his heart and how he had done things so far.

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"Hirokazu, we have two of these devices that'll locate the area where the goal will appear at," said Caeda as she walked over to him and gave it to Hirokazu. He noticed that Caeda had worn hers already—they resembled a watch.

"Thanks. Both teams will know where the goal is at all times. We only have to worry about their strength and our own stamina management," said Hirokazu.

"Since we can't rely on beating them for retirement, we'll have to rely on stamina as the deciding factor," mused their [Bishop] Mason Walker. He was a slim fellow with a spiky brown mohawk, piercings all over his body and tattoos. The clothes he wore were typical of biker gangs.

"The most important thing right now is stamina management. Compared to the other games that simply involve defeating the opponent, this is an even more taxing game. Even for players with incredible strength, if they don't possess the necessary stamina and plan their energy usage, opponents can come from behind to win if they become exhausted. I'd guess this is the same problems in the devil's Rating Games," said Daiki Himura.

[Before the match begins, we will provide both teams with two devices which are capable of projecting a full view of the field.]

"So we have two, let's try to split into groups then. I'll lead one half and Caeda will lead the other." Hirokazu fiddled with the watch-like device and a full projection of the field was displayed. The entire field had been divided into eight-by-eight regions. The goal would appear at random in any of these areas.

If the goal appeared at any of the far ends, then each team would have to expend a vast amount of energy to reach it. This was a rather terrifying and unpredictable type of game. In a space that had absolutely nothing, anything could happen in this space. On the contrary, it was impossible to hide anything because there were no obstacles. There were advantages and disadvantages to this.

[Very well, the match between [Team Phantastic Dragons] and [Team Trump Card of Heaven] will now begin! The time limit is two hours! There will be water replenishment stations at various points as hydration is also an important part of this! Now, start!]

A buzzer rang out across the field to mark the beginning of the game. Hirokazu and Caeda used their projection device to confirm the first goal, and it had appeared in E4.

Right in the center of the field. Their current location was D1. Dulio's team was currently in E8. They were exactly opposite it. The entire field was spaced out like a chessboard, so players would have an easier time locating the goal.

"Yowanaku, Nathan, Lance and Minato you're with me. The rest will be with Caeda. Let's go to E4!" shouted Hirokazu as he quickly entered his fully body Scale Mail that was now white-light blue in design and resembled the [Boosted Gear] Scale Mail.

Thrusters appeared behind him and he along with the rest of his team dashed towards E4.

"I'll increase our speed with some magic!" shouted Mason as he put his hands forward and their speed increased.

As each team neared the goal, the weather condition all around the field suddenly changed. A vast number of rain clouds appeared in the sky and it began to rain heavily. This was Dulio's Sacred Gear in play. Then some of the rain clouds turned into thunderclouds and they were accompanied by lightning strikes aimed at Hirokazu's team!

However, his team dodged the lightning strikes with ease, but they also saw that Dulio's team were covered in bubbles, meaning they weren't affected by these changes in weather at all. Near the goal was also the golden ball they needed to shoot to get points.

"Mason, we'll do that!" shouted Minato.

"Roger!!" shouted Mason. A magic circle appeared in front of them and Minato jumped on front of it. Suddenly he was torpedoed towards the ball at an unbelievable speed!

[Ooooooooooh! Player Minato was launched towards the ball and he…got it!] the announcer screamed.

"No you don't!" shouted Nero Raimondi, one of [Team Trump Card of Heaven]'s [Rook] as he also arrived beside Minato.

Nero Raimondi was Uriel's [Ace]. He also had a Sacred Gear called [Sturdy Saint]. Which strengthened his defenses each time he's attacked, continuing to stack up as long as he isn't knocked unconscious. Due to his enhanced physical abilities as an Exorcist and [Brave Saint], their effects are also greater than average.

"Nah, I'm good," said Minato calmly as he threw up a kunai and disappeared from Nero's sight, shocking him.

Minato had appeared beside Caeda and touched her shoulder. "I'll let you score, Caeda-sama~" he said before both of them teleported back to the thrown kunai and Caeda threw the golden ball with her strength and into the goal!

[Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal! The first to score is [Team Phantastic Dragons]!! The [Queen] also scored, meaning they gained nine points!!]

The score had now become [9 – 0] in favor of [Team Phantastic Dragons].

"They got us," grinned Dulio. "Don't sweat it! Focus on the next area!"

The ball had appeared on one of the members of the team that scored, so the [Knight], Lance Katz had the ball. The next goal had appeared in…C7! So both teams rushed towards it, while also battling each other. Lance had the ball for [Team Phantastic Dragons] so he was a VIP in a way, so the team protected him.

"Amen!" shouted Irina as thousands of light spears rained down on Hirokazu's team. Caeda turned around and countered with swirling pink ice and purple flames in the same quantity, and both attacks collided!

A powerful explosion occurred high above them creating a large smokescreen.

"Minato, go with that plan, since we're expected to need to traverse all around the map…let's go with that, but keep it subtle! Caeda, can you make some illusions and clones?" said Hirokazu as he deflected some attacks aimed at them.

"I can. Are you ready, Minato?" asked Caeda.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" replied Minato. A few clones of Minato appeared along with several illusions. Caeda and Mason made a magic circle which launched Minato away to enact their plan.

"I made sure those spells of his will be protected, so they won't easily be destroyed," said Caeda. As they did that, the smokescreen cleared and everyone could see who was the closest to the goal and it was Dulio's team.

[It seems like there are several Minato's now! Are these illusions?! Why did they do this!?] asked the commentator.

[Perhaps they have a plan that involves Player Minato. If so…it would be wise to hinder him as much as possible,] said Ajuka Beelzebub.

[Right. He seems to be able to teleport quite quickly. They might have a plan about that,] said Aaron.

Half of Dulio's team defended the goal and the other attacked Hirokazu's team to try get the ball. A struggle immediately began, as various light attacks and magic were thrown around. All of them were empowered by Griselda's light technique, so Hirokazu's team was overwhelmed.

While they had Caeda in their team…she was the only one who had power levels that could keep up with Griselda and Irina who were both the strongest in [Team Trump Card of Heaven], after that were Dulio himself as he was Heaven's [Joker], the rest of the [Brave Saints] ranged from True Satan-class to God-class thanks to training in Aaron's home and as members of Team [DxD].

Caeda herself was Dragon God-class, Hirokazu was True Satan-class (in his Balance Breaker) and the rest ranged from High-class to Ultimate-class. Nero Raimondi and Ryuu Heikan both of Dulio's [Rooks] rushed towards Hirokazu, but both of his [Rooks] interacted with them.

Nero gathered holy energy around his fist and punched towards Nathan Lewis, Hirokazu's [Rook], but blocked the attack with a magic circle, although it shattered right after.

"You can block that, huh?!" shouted Nero in joy.

"Barely!" replied Nathan as both men grinned at each other before they started a brawl, but what he forgot was Nero's Sacred Gear.

"One more time!" shouted Nero as he sent another [Holy Fist] at Nathan who tried to block it again with the same defensive magic circle. However, this time it was blown away, the same as himself.

"Where are you looking at?" asked Ryuu Heikan. As he powered his strikes with his fist and legs with light powers. He faced against the other [Rook], Ryo Fujita.

'These guys are active members of Team [DxD], we can't let our guard down around them!' thought Ryo as he dodged another strike from Ryuu, but also noticed his cheek bled slightly.

"Jeez…you guys are crazy powerful," commented Ryo as he changed into a boxer's stance. "But I can't bow down now!" Ryo rushed back at Ryuu as he sent fast, powerful and precise straights at the Chinese martial artist.

Ryuu easily dodged the attacks, but also noticed something strange about them, so was cautious of the young man in front of him. Ryo smiled after he sent around fifteen straights at Ryuu and then he finally sent a normal straight right at Ryuu who became confused at the slightly deliberate slow straight punch, but—

"?!" Ryuu Heikan suddenly felt several punches land all over his body and he was blown away. It didn't do any significant damage to him, but he was shocked by the sudden action.

"I hope you don't underestimate me," said Ryo Fujita.

The man stood at 5'7", short black hair and brown eyes. He was an amateur boxer before he became part of the supernatural, and he wanted to center his fighting style on boxing, so he developed a technique that's mixed with magic. He calls it 'Delayed Phantom Dynamite'.

Every time he sent a punch, a jab or any type of attack, including kicks towards his opponents it would create a 'phantom strike'. He could also stack those attacks over time, and then unleash all of those stored 'phantom attacks' on his opponent. Ryo compared it to racing games where there are ghosts of cars that had the best time. He just made it into reality with magic.

Ryo Fujita's current limit was 100. He could store 100 phantom strikes and then unleash it on his enemies.

"Hmm. I never did young man, but I like this match up—"

[Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!! [Team Trump Card of Heaven] has scored a goal! [King] Dulio Gesualdo scored a goal! Now the score is [9 – 10] with Dulio-san's team in the lead by one point!]

Before either of them could continue a team had scored, forcing them to stop their battle.

"Let's continue if given a chance!" shouted Ryuu Heikan as he flew away with his team. Ryo turned around and ran away with his team too. The new location of the goal was in G3.

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Yumi Kira's Soliloquy

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The match between Hirokazu-san's [Team Phantastic Dragons] and Dulio-san's [Team Trump Card of Heaven] has been going on for about an hour now. The score was currently [72 – 70] in favor of [Team Phantastic Dragons]. The fighting has been fierce and a lot of everyone's stamina has been drained by a significant amount.

I, along with [Team Rias Gremory] were in a VIP booth with Rudiger Rosenkreutz, the [Upsetting Sorcerer] as we watched the match. He was Dulio-san's teams' advisor and he watched with interest the entire time. He had made a comment during the one hour that had passed, but the smile on his face only grew bigger.

Currently, Kiyotora Shinra, Dulio-san's [Knight] had the ball and he was being protected by several angels of his team, while Hirokazu-san and a few of his teammates were chasing after them while the rest protected the goal. In the lead of the other team chasing down Kiyotora Shinra-san was Lance Katz.

He was of mixed heritage descent, but he wasn't American. He was European but was raised by foster parents in the USA. Kiyotora Shinra-san suddenly threw the ball to someone else and faced Lance-san. He pulled out two katana's that emanated powerful light.

Lance-san also summoned his own sword and the two clashed. They struggled for a few seconds before Kiyotora-san pushed Lance-san away, his teammates rushed past both of them as they began to battle, as they did—Rudiger-sama slowly leaned forward.

"It's about time…" he muttered, confusing all of us. Two people suddenly appeared above them. It was…Griselda-san and Irina-san!

Both had their angel wings out and Griselda-san fired an arrow made of light at Lance-san, while Irina created multiple hoops of light and threw them at him. They then disappeared and various [Brave Saints] had gathered in a formation in front of the goal!

Diethelm-san, Mirana-san, Nero-san, Dulio-san and Irina-san shouted in unison, "Five Card!"

A dazzling light consumed the area, blinding everyone.

[[Unbelievable! The Angel team's bodies are emitting light! Could this be the rumored combination attack of the reincarnated Angels!?] the commentator shouted.

Before the light stopped emitting Rudiger Rosenkreutz-sama chuckled. "I'm glad Jin-san helped modify the [Brave Saints] system in heaven not too long ago. He's also given his lovers strange abilities that we experimented with, so…"

When the light stopped—

[Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!! [Team Trump Card of Heaven] scored again! And it was done by [King] Dulio again! The score is now [72 – 80]! The angels are in the lead! B-but what is that?!]

The camera focused on one individual, and it was Lance Katz, behind his back…were white feathered wings!

[Ho? Now that's interesting…it seems like Lance Katz-san was an angel too?] mused Ajuka.

[I see…Lance Katz is what you call a 'Miracle Child'. A child born from a union between a pure angel and human. There are very few of them around the world, and it seems he's one of them, but…it doesn't look like he was aware,] said Aaron.

The face that Lance Katz-san was making was of pure disbelief. He looked at his own wings and was confused.

[Haha, now I see why Michael asked me to make some changes in the [Brave Saints] system, as well as both Griselda and Irina asked me about various things concerning their powers when the tournament started,] added Aaron.

"We researched them all—the only one with no background was their [Queen] Caeda. But everyone else can be exploited. Their weaknesses, their insecurities…" said Rudiger Rosenkreutz-sama as he stared at the screen.

"However, from what little that I found out about her, she can still be exploited. She has grown a human heart after all," he added. "But…it didn't seem to work, unfortunately."

We looked back at the screen and saw the [King], Hirokazu-san comforting Lance Katz-san and he grinned before powering up his angelic-based powers and flying off towards the next goal. It didn't look like that part about him bothered him in the slightest.

"He was shocked, but not enough to hinder him mentally, which is unfortunate," he said and sighed.

This was the [Upsetting Sorcerer]…! He'll exploit everything about you and use psychological warfare in a match to win. That's how he's able to win so many games! If your mental health suffers, so does your performance. Having a healthy body and mind is key to winning Rating Games—no, fights in general. The fact that he's using those things against them…how terrifying.

I could only imagine if someone was adopted or worse, had ties to the terrorist and it was revealed during this—would that be a misconduct? I'm not sure, but depending on you as a person, it would have different effects on your psyche. The crowd may also turn against you—both in the stadium and the ones at home watching…

"Do you plan on having Dulio-san's team do that more in the last half of the match?" Rias-nee-san asked him.

He revealed a smile and said, "Well, it's difficult for that to succeed a second time. Even so, once is enough. So long as that seed of anxiety has been planted in their minds. Mental stress can deeply penetrate into the performance of the body. Carrying that anxiety until the end of the match. I'm sure it'll be difficult."

Looking back at the screen in front of us, even though Lance-san seemed unaffected by what had just happened, his movements were strange. Not only him, but the rest of the team's movements had become weirdly strained. The only exception to this is Caeda-san since she was covering for the rest of the team. Even Hirokazu-san's movements seemed a little strained, but not as bad as the rest of his team.

[Another goal for the angels' team! This time it was scored by their [Bishop] Mirana Shatarova-san! Earning them [3] points! The total score is now [83] for the [Brave Saints] of Heaven!]

"Lance Katz is close friends with Minato Hayashi, and he's covering for his friend, but he himself is also full of doubt and anxiety, so he's not performing to the best of his ability. If I recall, Minato has around five siblings who are still quite young. They range from the ages of nine to thirteen," said Rudiger Rosenkreutz-sama.

"He's a responsible person, and he also looks after them and provides for them since his parents are both dead. Although he has them staying in their grandparent's home as he makes money in various jobs in the supernatural world. He sees Lance as a younger sibling too, hence why he's covering for him even more than the others," he added. "Because of that, looking from my perspective, I could exploit it, and hinder them both at once."

"Though…it's especially recognizable in their [King]. He's putting up a very impressive façade right now, but to the trained eye…he's the most anxious of them all," he said and we all looked at the [King] of [Team Phantastic Dragons].

"He's sweating more than he should be," said Akeno-san.

"Hirokazu Miller idolizes Jin Skyward. He wishes more than anyone in that field right now to demonstrate his growth and strength, he told me as such in our meeting. He also wants to prove himself in another way." Rudiger Rosenkreutz-sama smiled when the camera switched to Caeda-san.

I see…so that's what he meant? Hirokazu Miller-san is most likely in love with Caeda-san and wants to impress her. She's known as one of the Eradicators and is at rank 8, so she's quite powerful.

"For someone like Caeda who has power and status from another universe, even if it's obvious, Hirokazu-san finds it hard to believe that Caeda feels the same way as he does," added Akeno-san. "So he wants to prove himself in this game to her—or perhaps in every game they've played so far."

"Love is a strong emotion after all. It can be used in more ways than one—especially to exploit someone," said Rudiger-sama.

Hirokazu-san rushed around, helping defend from attacks and also gave his teammates reassuring words. The sweat around his face was way too much for someone with a lot of stamina and power. Also, when I used [Appraisal] on him earlier, he was at least Satan-class in his Balance Breaker.

Caeda-san is being held by back both Irina-san and Griselda-san, so she can't go rampaging with her power since they're both stronger than her…it seems like [Team Trump Card of Heaven] has all their bases in check…it seems like the other team was nearing a checkmate.

"He is the [King], the leader and one of the strategists for his team. The other is the [Queen], Caeda. If both are preoccupied and both are under mental stress, they can't give out commands leading to chaos within their own team."

Hirokazu-san suddenly used his boosters to their highest speed and pushed their [Bishop] Yowanaku Shima-san out of the way. As he did, a large spear of light came out of the ground. In the distance stood Mirana Shatarova-san had her hands clasped together. It seemed like she was the one to use that attack.

[It missed…] she muttered sadly.

[You okay?!] Hirokazu asked his teammate and they quickly nodded before they got up and dodged several attacks aimed at them.

"Heh, even Ultimate-class devils would be vaporized by Mirana-san's light powers. She is Gabriel-sama's [Ace] after all and is quite close to Jin-san himself. Both the [King] and [Ace] are close to the Middleman, meaning…much more special treatment."

"Every member of the team has their own way of living, their own opinions, and their own personality. And that's why each person has a dream that they wish to embrace, and a darkness that they carry within them. Even if they polish their techniques and strengthen their bodies, they'll simply collapse if they lack mental strength. If this situation expands within the team, then that will lead to a collapse," said Rudiger-sama as he leaned back on his chair.

Many of the members of [Team Phantastic Dragons] seemed to be nearing both their mental and physical limits. However, there was one exception: Caeda-san. Meanwhile, [Team Trump Card of Heaven] seem to be doing fine—that's the difference in their overall abilities, huh?

"All of Hirokazu-kun's team, with the exception of Caeda-san are amateurs at best. They don't have enough experience, but because of the miracles that Jin-san has produced all year round, it also influenced them, but it will take more than guts and will power to overcome situations like this…"

"However, they are strong, no doubt about it. You guys are as well. But regardless of whether it's them or you, you all still have human emotions such as joy and worry. All I'm doing is aiming for these things. I've never thought of myself as a flawless person, nor as a talented strategist," he said. He pulled out a chess piece from his breast pocket.

He began playing with it, a bishop piece. "I'm able to win in a lot of games because high-class devils are immersed in rationalism and high society that they cannot extricate themselves from. They treat pieces as mere pieces, and even the field is nothing more than a checkerboard."

He turned his head towards Rias-nee-san and added, "You should be able to understand, Princess Rias. How foolish it is to look at your own pieces as mere pieces on a chessboard. Unlike chess pieces, your servants—reincarnated devils are alive."

"Everyone has their own way of thinking, their own heart, and their own feelings. That is especially so for those who used to be humans. Humans have a culture that doesn't lose to the devils, and there is a limit to how much you can try to deny their ideas, deny their culture, and try to order them as chess pieces. "

"It might be debatable when it comes to non-humans, but they're still creatures with emotions. That's how simple and logical the situation is, yet the aristocratic devils are unable to understand. No, perhaps it would be better to say that they've never wanted to understand it."

Rudiger-sama then asked me, "Yumi Kira-chan, you're also a former human. From your point of view, do you feel the same way about what I just said? When you realize that the opponent you're fighting against has the same feelings as yourself."

"These kinds of things are natural. But it's such an obvious thing that doesn't exist in the professional Rating Games. Players who are high-class devils simply regard it as an extension of chess. With their own servants, the chess pieces are simply treated like live versions."

Rudiger-sama placed the piece on top of the chair's armrest, and then declared, "Devils are conceited because of their superior existence in the supernatural world, and this arrogance is exposed in the Rating Games."

"And the one who painted that image is…Rudiger-sama," said Rias-nee-san. Rudiger-sama showed a sorrowful expression when he heard that.

"Regarding that…I don't think it's flattering, nor something worth feeling proud of, Princess. I just want to compete in an ordinary game. Of course, the top players such as Diehauser are well aware of this when they stand on the field. Even so, there are many others who make it into the top ranks. But when it comes down to the bottom line, all I want to do is enjoy a pure game."

Rudiger Rosenkreutz's expression became rather solemn when he recalled Diehauser Belial, but he also seemed a bit proud. All of a sudden, a change occurred in the game. A mysterious bubble appeared on the field. Hirokazu-san was actually inside the bubble, he had been trapped by the mysterious bubble. Seeing this, Rudiger-sama smiled with an eloquent expression.

"And for one of our greatest acts for this game…I will destroy their [King], and end the game," he said. The way he said that made me shiver. Someone as smart as Rudiger-sama…I wonder what he has in store for Hirokazu-san…?

— ○ ● ○ —

Third Person Point of View

— ○ ● ○ —

"Hiro?!" Caeda shouted as she tried to rush towards her [King], but was kicked away by Irina.

Dulio kept Hirokazu in the bubble, however, this bubble was different from his other two that he had created, a new technique that Rudiger asked Dulio to create. While he was hesitant at first, he eventually conceded and started the development of this bubble. It was the complete opposite of his [Speranza Bolla di Sapone] or [Bubbles of Hope].

This new technique was the opposite of it. It incited negative emotions. It would cloud the ones trapped in it with various negative emotions that it would force them to become depressed and very negative, currently, Hirokazu Miller was being subjective to such things.

For every failure he had, every doubtful thought he had, every mistake he made, all of it was being relieved by the young man. This was all in an attempt to break his will and have him lose the will to fight for the rest of the match. If the original technique was called the [Bubbles of Hope], then these were the [Bubbles of Despair].

"I'll leave the it to you guys to score!" Dulio shouted. He had to watch over the technique himself, and put his concentration on it, otherwise it would deactivate, freeing Hirokazu.

"Get out of my way!" Caeda shouted as she charged at Irina and fired several attacks at her. Irina countered by launching her own balls made of light at them, inciting another explosion to transpire.

"I'll be your opponent, Caeda-san!" Irina declared as she summoned [Hauteclere] and slashed at Caeda. Caeda herself summoned a sword and it collided with Irina's. "You use one too?"

"…I learned how to, but I typically don't," replied Caeda. "What does that bubble do?"

"It's the opposite of Dulio-san's [Bubbles of Hope], he dubbed it is [Bubbles of Despair]…you can probably understand why I'm implying," said Irina with a sad smile.

[Goal! The angel's team scored another point! It was done by their [Queen]! So another [9] points go to them! The score is now [72 – 89]! The goal has moved again!]

Caeda looked at Dulio and the bubble. Dulio was being guarded by Griselda as the man himself pointed his hand at the bubble. Any attempt at interrupting Dulio, it was shut down by Griselda, meanwhile the rest of the [Brave Saints] kept the others busy with the game. None of the [Brave Saints] liked this, but it was due to their advisor's advice that they used the plan and it proved to be effective.

Suddenly, the [Pawn] and cousin of Hirokazu—Daiki Kimura shouted into their transceivers. [Stop fucking around! You guys want to win right?! Aren't we here to prove ourselves?! Hiro will get out of that, and it doesn't matter who put him there, so pull your sissy asses up and beat them!!!]

He continued. [Minato! Let's do that already! We can't keep losing now!]

Minato who had been waiting for this grinned. [Kenji!! With me!!] shouted Minato and the other [Knight] of [Team Phantastic Dragon] appeared beside Minato. "Let's kick ass."

"Hell yeah," replied Kenji. He brought out his katana and a green aura covered it. That aura slowly turned into the shape of a dragon's head.

"The goal is in F5…directly under my teleportation circle," Minato said while grinning. "Tear anyone apart who gets in the way!"

"To the one with the ball!" shouted Kenji as they teleported towards Jessica Lagerkvist who was in possession of the golden ball. She noticed that they had arrived and was about to run away with it when she was fired at by several bullets!

The one who had fired bullets at him was…Lance Katz! Earlier it was revealed he was a 'Miracle Child', a human and angel hybrid, but what people didn't know was—

"Don't mess with me! I'm not just some angry European that lives in the USA! Because of that I—!" he shouted and numerous guns appeared out of thin air and slammed into the ground.

"If [Sword Birth] exists…then [Gun Birth] does, doesn't it?" he asked with a grin. He flicked his hand and the guns that had slammed into the ground floated up and began firing their bullets towards Jessica.

"E-e-eeeeeeehhhh…?" she said very tiredly. "I don't like being a [Knight] when I'm always tired…" Jessica countered by throwing several light balls towards the bullet and blocked them.

"Heh, I'm an angel with a genuine Sacred Gear! Rejoice! I'll become the most powerful angel hybrid to exist!" he shouted and started channeling light bullets through his [Gun Birth] and they started firing normal bullets, magic bullets and light bullets.

One of the bullets hit Jessica's hands that was holding the golden ball and she dropped it! Another bullet blasted it away, on cue, Minato and Kenji appeared in the trajectory direction and caught the golden ball!

Minato and Kenji teleported away at various points in the field at a rapid speed. Earlier, Minato had left to engrave various teleportation circles around the entire field. Minato had two types of teleportation circles, ones that would be used for long distances, like traveling to different parts of a country—an ordinary magic circle, and a different one.

Where he would flicker at shorter distances, at the cost of his magic depleting quickly. However, he trained to increase his magic and stamina, as well as maximize those magic circles by modifying it over time.

"F5!!! Throw it, Kenji!!" shouted Minato, and the [Knight] did, earning his team [3] points.

[Gooooooooooal! [Team Phantastic Dragons] scored a goal! They earned [3] points!]

The score was now [75 – 89], but Hirokazu's team was still behind by [14] points. But since Kenji and Minato were the closest, it meant one of them would receive the ball…and the goal had just reappeared.

"Next!! We'll catch up just like thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!!" roared Minato.

"Leader better get out of that before we overtake them!!" added Kenji. Both of them blinked away again and arrived at the new goal, it was at D7! Again, with no one near them, they easily scored another [3] points.

[Oh my goodness [Team Phantastic Dragons] is at [78] points now! This tactic…was this their aim earlier with the clones?! Has Player Minato put various teleportation circles all over the game field?!] asked the commentator.

[It seems so, and it looks like it's a different kind of teleportation circle—it may be unique to that man,] said Ajuka Beelzebub.

[Yeah. It's nearly instantaneous teleportation, but it works at short distances, hence why he needed so many drawn on the field. I can also feel some powerful barriers protecting them, so they won't be destroyed so easily by Dulio's team,] added Aaron.

Both the [Pawn] and [Knight] kept this up until their team was at [87] points. That was when they were interrupted by Kiyotora Shinra and Mirana Shatarova, the [Knight] and [Bishop] of Dulio's team.

"That's as far as you two go!" declared Kiyotora.

"I-I won't let you go any further…!" added Mirana. Both angels prepared themselves and the two humans also knew they couldn't run away like this since these two caught up to them rather quickly.

"I'll take on the [Bishop]," said Minato. "I'll leave the fellow [Knight] to you, Kenji."

"Hell yeah! Let's dance, old man!" shouted Kenji as he rushed with his sword towards Kiyotora. Their blades clashed in the distance, creating various and powerful explosions.

Both Kiyotora and Kenji arrived at a spot that was away from Mirana and Minato.

"What kind of power is that, young man?" asked Kiyotora as he looked at the green eastern dragon around Kenji's blade.

"I dunno, it's just like that. I learned swordsmanship from our other [Pawn], Daiki, and I just manifested it one day. Maybe I have some kind of old family lineage that could help with this? But as far as I can tell, both my parents are normal humans," replied Kenji.

"I see…very well, I shall challenge you as a fellow swordsman," said Kiyotora as he duel-wielded two katanas and they were covered in holy light.

"Heh, let's do it then! The dragon fucking becomes me!" shouted Kenji as he jumped towards Kiyotora. Both their blades collided creating a powerful shockwave, the green dragon flew towards the older man, but he pushed Kenji way, forcing the dragon to miss him.

Kenji didn't stop there as he dashed towards Kiyotora and slashed his sword down at him. The older man stopped his attack with one of his katanas and thrust the other towards him. Kenji moved his body in time and it grazed him, meanwhile the green dragon had flown towards Kiyotora and he was blown away by it, while also slicing him at various parts of his body.

"One win for me!" shouted Kenji.

"Hohoho, the youth sure is energetic today. I'll take you a little more seriously, young man. We were warned not to use too much of our power against weaker than us, but you'll be fine," said Kiyotora. He spread his wings and the aura around his blades shone even brighter.

At a speed that Kenji could barely keep up with he was pierced in the shoulder by one of Kiyotora's blades and was pushed backwards. He let out a pained groan as he tried to attack with his own katana, but was blocked by his other one.

"Stalemate, huh?" asked Kenji. Kiyotora smiled but shook his head, and summoned various light balls behind him and they began to take the shape of countless weapons. "Shit! Let me go old man!!"

Kenji tried to shake Kiyotora away, but he couldn't the man had pierced his body with his swords quite deeply that they had come out the other side of his shoulders. Kiyotora finally released his light attacks at Kenji and he separated from him at the last second.

A large and powerful light explosion consumed the young man as Kiyotora watched from a distance.

[Uh-oh! Is this the temporary removal for [Team Phantastic Dragons] [Knight]?!] shouted the announcer.

However, once the enormous ball of light faded, Kenji stood there shakily with his clothes ripped, but still standing. This left Kiyotora stunned, but Kenji grinned at him.

"I ain' hear no bell, you geezer! I can keep going…!" he said in an accent and gritted his teeth before rushing back towards Kiyotora.

"Marvelous! This is…youth!" said Kiyotora as he prepared himself for Kenji.

— ○ ● ○ —

Mirana stood still as she watched Minato Hayashi teleport around her at incredibly fast speeds, but she could still follow it. Minato looked for an opening to attack Mirana, but found no such opening as he had been circling her for the last few seconds. He was worried about his friend since he heard and saw the explosion, but decided to trust in his abilities and survivability.

Mirana glanced at the location where the other two fought and Minato took this as a sign to attack her. Her quickly promoted himself to [Queen] and teleported behind her and swung a kunai downward!

However, he sensed danger and quickly teleported away. As he did, a large light spear came out of the ground. He would have been pierced by that if he kept going with his attack.

'She seems shy and a bit of a ditz, but she's really sharp when fighting…those were my first impressions when we spoke to each other yesterday! She even fell when she got up to shake our hands!' thought Minato.

Minato suddenly teleported away again as several light spears appeared around him and attacked him! They pierced the ground, creating large cracks on them, but it didn't end there as they kept appearing around him, forcing him to teleport again.

He…was going to reach his limit soon. He had modified these magic circles to an extent that he wouldn't feel much drain when using them. However, at the rate he's used them during the game, he was going to eventually reach his limit…and he understood that the woman he was facing understood that too!

"Can't be helped," he muttered and created illusions and afterimages of himself and ran around Mirana. Each illusion and afterimage tried to attack Mirana, but the woman didn't flinch as they disappeared after they reached her. She kept an eye on the original the entire time.

Another 'illusion' appeared behind her and it thrust its palm forward. A magic circle appeared and a large ball of flames appeared from it. Mirana created a shield of light behind her and it blocked the attack.

"You can see through that too?!" he asked in disbelief. But he was suddenly punched in the gut and sent flying and crashed onto the ground.

Minato had mixed his illusions and afterimages with himself while creating a single clone. The one that Mirana was watching was a clone. The real Minato had appeared behind him and tried to attack the woman…which failed miserably.

To Minato right now, this woman was too strong and she had barely moved from her spot. "I…I want to win…because Jin-san helped me and my family…" she muttered and looked at Minato with determined eyes. "I have my own…wish," she said with a blush.

'Women in love are terrifying! But at least I can keep her preoccupied! Hirokazu, you better get out of whatever shit you're in!!' he shouted in his mind while staring at Mirana.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Hahaha! Keep on trying!" laughed Nero as he defended against the attacks of both [Bishops] of [Team Phantastic Dragons]. Mason Walker and Yowanaku Shima fought against the man as he also defended Griselda and Dulio.

Griselda had further amplified Nero Raimondi with her arrows. Along with the man's Sacred Gear, he only kept on getting stronger as he took each attack from both [Bishops].

Yowanaku was a hybrid of human and spirit. He also during those few months honed and practiced his innate ice manipulation. He had become quite proficient at using it, but in front of this man it meant nothing.

He summoned several icicle spears around him and threw them at Nero. The man was already in his Balance Breaker state, [Sturdy Saint Withstand], which only amplified his normal abilities and he stood there fearlessly as Griselda also healed him from time-to-time, but it wasn't needed as the attacks from both [Bishops] did no damage to him.

Mason fired countless elemental attacks at him, but again, it did nothing. Both of them were only doing this to buy time. Everyone was waiting for the [King] and [Queen] to settle their fights. Suddenly a rain of bullets was fired at Nero as he held his hands up to block them.

"Comin' through!" shouted Lance Katz as she arrived with Ryo Fujita. Both [Rook] and [Knight] had joined them, but they also brought Ryuu Heikan, Dulio's other [Rook].

"Oh? You're joining me, Ryuu? Let's defend Dulio together then!" said Nero.

"That was the plan…Lance-san's [Gun Birth] and Ryo-san's unique fighting technique was giving me a headache…haha," replied Ryuu.

"There's more where that came from!" shouted Lance as he summoned an unfamiliar looking rifle that was a mix of a sniper rifle and submachine gun. He began firing at them and they both produced a defensive magic circle.

High powered shots that fired at the rate of a sub-machine gun hit the barriers and to their surprise, after around the 57th shot, cracks started to form on them, so they restrengthened them and his bullets had no effect afterward.

"It'd be great if I could achieve a Balance Breaker or something right now!" shouted Lance. However, he kept shooting his weapon, and ordered the other guns that were with him to continue firing at the four angels in front of them.

— ○ ● ○ —

In the distance, Irina Shidou and Caeda fought hard. Everywhere they clashed, powerful shockwaves shook the area. However, they didn't use enough to accidentally retire their own teammates since that would just force a stalemate. Caeda knew that the end of the game was slowly coming and she wanted to end her current fight, but had no idea how to since Irina was much stronger than she was.

Caeda jumped back and summoned millions of golem-type monsters that were 30ft in height and ordered them to attack Irina. The angel in question blew them away with light attacks and sliced apart some with her [Hauteclere].

"Are you sure—"

"That won't work on me, so give up." Caeda cut Irina off. She tried to use the same move that Baraqiel had used on Rossweisse, but Caeda wasn't having any of it.

She flew back at Irina who blocked her attack—Caeda's hands were glowing, and small diamonds appeared around her, and then targeted Irina. The young angel dodged them but saw that they were locked onto her and began following her around. She quickly created lassos around her and caught the diamonds and threw them back at Caeda who stopped them.

"I control these you know…"

"S-shut up!" Irina quipped back while blushing. However, Irina's blush didn't stop there as she looked around and stared at one of the cameras in the field confusing Caeda. "I need a different kind of power!"

Caeda became even more confused as she flew towards Irina and tried to attack her. However, she was quickly blown back by the angel with extra force, shocking her.

'Was she holding that much back the entire time…? Also, what did she mean by—' As Caeda's thoughts were forming, Irina's face became even redder.

"Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin Skywaaaaaaaaaaaard-senpaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiii!! Please make me your briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiideeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!" she screamed, and her entire voice echoed throughout the Rating Game field.

Caeda was stunned as she stood there on the ground—the angel above her—her face had turned so red that it looked like it was bleeding.

[Now that was unexpected…] mumbled Ajuka Beelzebub through the mic, sounding surprised.

[Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhh?! Irina Shidou, Michael-sama's [Ace] and [Pawn] of [Team Trump Card of Heaven] has just done a reverse-proposal!!! How will Jin Skyward-sama respond?!] the commentator screamed.

[Pfft—ahahahahaha!] Aaron's laughter was heard from the mic!

[Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?! He's laughing?!] the commentator became even more confused.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Irina you bastard!!! I wanted to do that during our upcoming match against a team!!" Xenovia shouted in irritation in their VIP room. The rest of her team were also equally stunned by her anger and annoyance.

"Awawawawa! I want Aaron to propose to me too!" Asia added, further confusing the room!

"Hahaha! Now this…is youth!" Vasco Strada said while laughing. Crom Cruach, who came with them, stood confused at the back of the rooms with his arms crossed.

[I don't get it,] said Crom Cruach.

"An Evil Dragon like you who has only had fighting and training in mind won't understand it, but if you learn more about it, you may, how about it? I believe Jin's library has many books on the matter," said Vasco.

Crom Cruach stared at Vasco Strada and nodded. He still didn't understand the entire situation but agreed to the old-young man.

"Fufu, I didn't think Irina-chan would go through with it," said Akeno as she giggled to herself.

"…That was unexpe—wait what?! You knew?!" Rias asked as she looked at her best friend and [Queen] in shock.

"Ara? You didn't know, Rias~?" she asked with a mischievous grin.

"N-no…"

"Ara, ara, ara, a-r-a~" Akeno put a hand on her cheek as she continued to tease her [King].

"…Will he propose to me too…?" Yumi asked herself as she stared at the screen.

Rudiger Rosenkreutz stared at the screen, waiting to see if something would happen—he waited for Aaron's answer. As he continued to watch the screen, Aaron's words from the day before echoed in his mind.

'This era is full of changes. Common Sacred Gears become uncommon, rare or unique.'

'Even during the other matches that weren't widely covered, humans who entered them with innate abilities, magicians, or even the ones with Sacred Gear changed and evolved during them. The prize I can grant—a single wish that can change everything for them, I know they desperately want it.'

He remembered his own words. 'Are you saying that during the match, Hirokazu-san and his team will evolve and overcome the team I'm supervising?'

'…I never once said that it was only Hirokazu's team.'

Rudiger Rosenkreutz eagerly waited for both teams to evolve and grow during the game…he was on the edge of his seat.

— ○ ● ○ —

[Haha. Sorry for laughing, but…I'll accept this proposal, Irina Shidou! Follow me to the end of time!!] Aaron shouted back. This caused the crowd in the stadium to go wild.

[He accepted!!!!!!! Now what will—] As the announcer was about to continue, a powerful golden light shrouded all of Irina Shidou's body! [Eeeeeh?! What's happening now?!]

"…Yeeeeeeeeeeeeees!!" Irina shouted in joy—her wings that were previously white had changed into a mix of silver and gold! She radiated a different kind of power and Caeda looked at all of this in complete disbelief!

— ○ ● ○ —

In another part of the field—a group of people that were fighting were also laughing now.

"What in the world was that?!" shouted Nero as he howled in laughter. "Irina Shidou has guts!"

Dulio laughed heartily as he stared at everyone having fun while the game was ongoing. He then looked at his [Bishop], Griselda Quarta. "Hey, Griselda-nee, what about you?" he asked.

Griselda had been silent up until that point as she gained a headache from Irina's recklessness, but at the same time…the cameras were aimed at her too!

With a blush on her face, she looked up at the camera and asked, "Will you take me too?"

[The [Bishop] of [Team Trump Card of Heaven], Player Griselda Quarta has also proposed to Jin Skyward!!!!!!!!!]

[I'll take you all! So please marry me too, Griselda!] Aaron shouted happily. Another round of screams echoed in the main stadium from both angels and other races!

On the field Griselda smiled and a few happy droplets of tears fell from her eyes. "Yes!" and the same phenomenon happened to her too! The wings on her back had turned into a mix of silver and gold!

[Dear me, what in the world is happening?] asked Ajuka as he also let out a chuckle at the absurdity of it all.

— ○ ● ○ —

Xenovia fell to her knees and hands. "Y-you're kidding me…G-Griselda became engaged with Aaron before me…?"

Asia walked over to Xenovia and patted her back in order to comfort her. The rest of the room laughed or cheered at the strange development, but Rudiger Rosenkreutz smiled and then laughed.

"Was this…" he muttered as tears spilled from his eyes. But he didn't get to continue his sentence as the bubble that trapped Hirokazu Miller…had just exploded.

[The bubble that trapped Player Hirokazu Miller has just brokeeeeeeeeeeeeen!!]

— ○ ● ○ —

On the outskirts of the Astaroth territory were around 2000 fallen angels that belonged to the Khaos Order. They had also brought a few Battle Gods with them and some Divine Beasts and Cryptids. With Chazaqiel leading them, they were about to interrupt the Rating Game between [Team Trump Card of Heaven] and [Team Phantastic Dragons].

"Fufu, so we're really doing this today, Chazaqiel-chan~?" asked a fallen angel.

"We are, Asbeel. I'll leave Ramiel, Zaqiel and Bezaliel to do their own thing…no doubt Gabriel will be here today," replied Chazaqiel.

The fallen angel called Asbeel nodded. She then looked back at the stadium and said, "It's strange though…it's a lot more quiet than I thought it would be…"

"It doesn't matter, we'll just go!" a fallen angel shouted. Chazaqiel agreed and raised her right hand and summoned a sword made of light.

"Today the angels have gathered here, as well as some fallen angels—Azazel himself is also watching the game today. We'll go tell him ourselves—our goal and take revenge because…he took too long to enact it," said Chazaqiel.

The fallen angels around her roared in unison before they left their hiding spot and flew towards the stadium. However, the closer they got…each and every single one of them began to have a strange feeling in them—their own anxiety was rising.

The fallen angel Asbeel flew beside Chazaqiel and said, "No one's here…it's like there's no event happening…"

"…He got us…" Chazaqiel gritted her teeth as she started looking around them. She finally spotted a young man with brown hair and glasses. "You are…!"

The young man smiled and pushed his glasses up. "How do you do, fallen angels of the Khaos Order, I'm Georg of the previous Hero Faction. Today…you will face the organization called [EXE]," he said with a bow.

Chazaqiel clicked her tongue and 15 Battle Gods were summoned to the territory.

"Please, you don't need to worry, go all out if you must, for this dimension was created by my Sacred Gear and also strengthened by Jin." Georg looked back at them and clicked his fingers. Countless magic circles appeared around the territory and out came several members of [EXE].

From one of them walked out a knight with flaming purple hair, glowing purple eyes cloaked in jet-black armor and a long smoky black cape. The man stopped in front of Georg and retracted his helmet, revealing it to be—

"Jin Skyward…the Middleman, so you set us up?" asked Asbeel.

"Set you up? …Well, something like that. Don't worry though, we'll let you vent out your frustrations here," he said. A white blur slammed into Chazaqiel and she disappeared into the distance. "Shall we get started? I'd like to see the end of the match myself and not just through my avatar."

As he said that…the entire dimension created by [Dimension Lost] was instantly turned into a snowy white world with numerous large ice pillars appearing all over the place.

"Tch…" Asbeel clicked her tongue and touched her ear. [Kill them! Hunt down the wielder of [Dimension Lost] too, so we can leave this place!] she ordered the rest and the rest of the 2000 fallen angels flew higher up into the air. On the ground the Divine Beasts and Cryptid joined them.

"Fufu, I get to fight, that's pretty rare, right?" a woman asked and Aaron looked at her.

"Just do your best, Prithvi Mata," replied Aaron.

— ○ ● ○ —

[Why can't you do more? Is it that difficult?]

[He struck out in the last inning with the bases loaded. We weren't looking for a home run grand slam, but a hit to bring home one or two would have been nice. I guess this is the curse of the mediocre and average.]

[Hiro, with every test you take you only get between 50% and 60%, why can't you get more? You're a smart young man. Your father is an engineer. You should have some of those smarts and brains, right?]

Hirokazu Miller was on his hands and knees as countless voices echoed all around him—each and every single one of them representing the innumerable failures of his life so far.

He did his best at not constantly thinking about them. However, he knew that such thoughts were in the back of his mind, and were just a few short sentences from coming to the surface. He tried to cover his ears so he wouldn't hear them, but he could see and hear them regardless of what he did.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" he shouted back.

[Hirokazu…why can't he learn magic? We've been teaching him as slowly as we can, but he still can't pick it up. Is he incapable of learning it? Is that even possible?]

[Some have a natural affinity for magic, but I guess the opposite is true. Some are probably just born with very bad compatibility with it.]

"…You're wrong, I already learned it, see?!" he shouted back and tried to summon a magic circle but nothing appeared. "Eh? W-why won't it work?"

Hirokazu kept trying to summon a magic circle but he kept failing and not a single one appeared. He sat there in disbelief. "W-why…?"

[If you can't even summon a magic circle, then I have no use for you—maybe it was a mistake in making you my subordinate?]

Hirokazu looked up as he heard a familiar voice—this time it was a figure of Jin Skyward as he glared at him. "J-Jin-san? What do you mean by that?"

The apparition of Jin only glared at him and didn't say another word. Another figure appeared and stood beside Jin. This time it was Caeda. She had the same cold expression on her face as she glared at Hirokazu too.

[I'm starting to re-think why I even joined this team. We're only known in the USA, we barely won our other matches, except for when we faced the team of Oni's, all the other ones we just won by the skin of our teeth.]

[Do you really expect me to fall in love with someone so weak? The difference in our status would also embarrass me. You, who is comparable to a commoner and I, who's basically royalty. Hah,] said the apparition of Caeda.

[Why do we even follow you…? We barely make ends meet, and I have a family to feed,] said Minato.

[All this harsh training and we barely win games? And now we're about to lose to a top contender. Aren't we meant to be the underdogs who rise up? Hey, we're cousins, right, Hiro? You look up to him, so why haven't you evolved and become something else?] his cousin Daiki asked in despair.

[Do you seriously think you'll ever become successful and become my subordinate? What kind of wish would you even ask me if you win?]

More of Hirokazu's teammates crowded around him as well as other people that he's met in the one year and started to berate him, question is leadership, his failures, and his dreams.

"Ugh…" Hirokazu groaned in despair as he covered his ears in desperation. He knew that it was fake, but at the same time it still hurt him. He had been subjected to this for what seemed to be hours already, and he was nearing his limit.

[You let me die…you let all of us die…you didn't save us…why? Why? Because you were and are weak…] muttered the apparition of Caeda.

This was one of Hirokazu's biggest regrets and failures. Even if he knew from Aaron that no one could have survived it unless they were the same existence as him, Hirokazu still felt regret for being weak. As he was about to succumb to despair—

A light suddenly illuminated this strange place. They were both gold and silver. Hirokazu looked up and saw that there the lights were in the shape of wings. It confused him, but the negative emotions that were building up inside of him were cut down by half.

The light enveloped everything around him and he felt a warm and happy feeling bubble up inside him.

"What is that…?" he asked and stretched out his hand. However, the voices began to berate him again and he closed his eyes.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Haaa…haaa…we…lost…again…!" said Hirokazu as he kneeled down in front of Aaron.

He and his team had their second sparring match against Aaron Toole again and they lost. However, this time around they did a lot better than the first. With their new teammates, more experience under their belt and as well as a power teammate like Caeda, they made the match last for at least an extra four minutes!

"You guys are amazing, you know that? To improve this much in such a short amount of time, and even finish your incomplete Balance Breaker…you did well, but…I can't classify this as a [New Longinus] yet. You need to reach an Abyss-side or X-side Balance Breaker, Hiro."

Aaron looked at him seriously and said, "You need to evolve and go on your own path. I'm flattered that you think so highly of me that your Sacred Gear changed to copy my [Boosted Gear] Scale Mail, but…you need to be your own unique person."

Hirokazu stared at Aaron unable to answer him. Aaron put his hand forward and healed them all.

"I'm not saying do it right away, hell, it took me a long time to do it myself, but you saw my [Queen] form, right? That was my own direction," he said and offered his hand to Hirokazu who accepted and was pulled up.

Aaron then balled his hand into a fist and put it against Hirokazu's chest—his heart. "Follow your heart, follow your own desires. That's when change naturally occurs. Whatever path that is, it's the right one for you—so for now, mull it over."

Aaron turned around and began walking away. "But for now, this is fine! You guys have become my official subordinates starting today! Go out there and make me proud! I'll contact you guys if I need help with anything big," he said while waving at them.

'My own path…' Hirokazu looked at his own hand and closed it.

— ○ ● ○ —

[Why can't you—]

"Shut up!" Hirokazu screamed after he remembered his second sparring match against Jin. A powerful aura enveloped his body as he stood up.

"My teammates, Caeda and Jin-san wouldn't ever say those words to me!" he shouted. His aura pulsated and calmed down the negative emotions that surrounded him.

Hirokazu felt a new power rising from within him. He also felt a warm feeling enveloping his body. He clenched both his hands and stepped forward and smiled.

"…This is the future path I'll follow!" A powerful burst of blue-silver aura erupted from him.

"Watch me, Jin-san!"

"Watch me, Daiki!"

His eyes glowed and he shouted, "Watch me, Caeda!!" and then, his aura burst open, blowing away every negative emotion around him.

— ○ ● ○ —

[The bubble that trapped Player Hirokazu Miller has just brokeeeeeeeeeeeeen!!]

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhh!!" Hirokazu roared as the area around him exploded and a silver-blue pillar of aura burst from his body.

Once the dense aura subsided, Hirokazu stood there in his brand-new armor—it looked futuristic. The main body was mostly white with black accents around him. In the middle was a circular gem that glowed blue just like his eyes. Behind him were light wings of blue-silver color and a sword floating behind him.

[W-w-w-what is this?! Player Hirokazu's armor has changed!]

[A phenomenon occurred…Hirokazu Miller has reached another Balance Breaker,] said Ajuka Beelzebub.

[It's…an X-side Balance Breaker, something completely irregular,] said Aaron A (Avatar).

"Hahaha! I knew I shouldn't have used that! We just helped him achieve a new power!" Dulio said happily.

"This match isn't oveeeeeeeeeeeeeer!! Everyone let's win thiiiiiiiiis!!" shouted Hirokazu. He brought both of his arms to his side, and retracted his helmet. Hirokazu sucked in the air and bellowed out, "Caedaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! I love yoooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuu!!"

[Another love confession! What in the world is happening in today's game?!] shouted the commentator.

In the location where Irina Shidou and Caeda were, the woman known as rank 8 of the Eradicators stood there with a blank expression.

"Hehe, so many confessions today~" Irina said and rubbed the back of her head.

Seconds later, Caeda's aura skyrocketed! A pink-purple-blue aura covered her body and the woman looked up at Irina with a massive smile.

"I feel like…I can take on the universe right now…!" she shouted and flew towards Irina and their auras clashed!

"I feel the same way!" shouted Irina as the [Pawn] and [Queen] started a fierce battle in the air! Their new auras clashed and made the sky quake. However—

[G-goooooooooooal?! W-wait what?! The [Pawn], Daiki Kimura-san has scored a goal! The score is now [88 – 89]! [Team Phantastic Dragons] is just one point away from taking the lead! The goal has reappeared and is in E8!]

During the commotion, Daiki Kimura, Hirokazu's cousin had dulled his presence as much as he could and let everyone run with their emotions. As they did, he picked up the golden ball that Minato had thrown away and he slowly made his way to the goal and scored. He made sure to create an illusion of himself so it would fool the other team's players.

"Dulio-san…the ones winning this match is—"

"Us!" they both said in unison. Both [Kings] slammed against each other and blew each other back! "Go to E8! We need that point!" both [Kings] shouted again.

Dulio quickly activated his Balance Breaker and he gained twelve golden wings and four halos above his head. He then fired several elemental attacks towards Hirokazu which consisted of lightning, ice, water, wind and flames!

Hirokazu brought the floating sword behind him and grabbed it. It quickly transformed into a gun and he fired silver-blue aura bullets at the attacks Dulio aimed at him. He managed to destroy some, but Dulio was a much higher power level than himself, even in his new X-side Balance Breaker, and a few still hit him!

"Khh! I'm still far from your level, Dulio-san!" shouted Hirokazu as she changed her gun back to a sword and dashed towards Dulio while activating his boosters.

"I'm enjoying this!" Dulio replied and created a sword made of light. Both men's weapons slammed against each other and created powerful shockwaves.

Their other teammates also ran towards the objective, and also battled against each other—all of their stamina was slowly reaching their limited and they all panted heavily as they fought one another.

"Haaaaaaaaaaa!" hollered Nero as he sent another [Holy Fist] towards Nathan Lewis, Hirokazu's [Rook]. But much to his surprise, Nathan blocked it and grinned.

"You're running out of steam, old man!" Nathan threw his own punch.

But Nero blocked it with his other hand and grinned. "I still have stamina left, young man!"

In the distance, near E8 was Daiki who was slowly making his way to the goal. However, suddenly, Minato appeared beside him with bruises and cuts all over his body as he bled profusely. His yellow hair was disheveled too.

"Wha—M-Minato?! What happened to you?!" asked Daiki.

"I can't teleport too many times," replied Minato as he coughed up blood. "Give me the ball…we can take the lead now!!!"

Daiki nodded and handed the ball to his fellow [Pawn] and they both teleported near the goal.

[Oh! Both [Pawns] of Hirokazu's team have appeared above the goal! Are they about to tie the game?!]

As Minato prepared to throw the ball a powerful gust of wind that seemed more like a hurricane hit both of them and blew them away! A woman in a nun's attire with gold and silver wings appeared and caught the ball!

[It's Dulio-san's [Bishop]! Griselda Quarta!! She just stopped them!! And—goooooooooal!! The score is now [88 – 92]! [Team Trump Card of Heaven] widens the gap even more!]

"Fuck! Shit!" Minato shouted and then coughed up more blood. "I can't teleport anymore…dammit…!"

"Then run!" Daiki shouted as both of them began running towards Griselda who flew away at a much faster speed. As she approached the new goal at F4, she sent a light ball to her side to block an attack that was thrown at her.

Griselda looked to her side and saw two people floating on a large silver-blue sword. The ones on the sword were Yowanaku Shima and Ryo Fujita, the [Bishop] and [Rook] of Hirokazu's team. She was surprised to see them on it and when she looked at Hirokazu, he was having an all-out fist fight with Dulio instead.

"I'll support you, do it!" Yowanaku shouted and they flew towards Griselda while the [Bishop] fired several ice attacks at the angel who countered with her light spears.

Griselda kept flying towards the goal, when she suddenly turned around and summoned orange fire and fired it at the two men.

"Jump!" shouted Yowanaku. Ryo jumped forward and the [Bishop] created a large icicle and threw it towards Griselda, Ryo landed on it and shot towards the angel, it quickly approached her and Ryo used his [Delayed Phantom Dynamite] technique.

Griselda easily dodged the punches that Ryo threw at her, but—!

[Griselda-san, it's a trap, don't let your guar—] Ryuu Heikan tried to warn her but it was too late.

Ryo Fujita had been storing his technique for a crucial time like this! He had stored around 82 phantom attacks and they were all unleashed on the unsuspecting angel! However, since Griselda superior speed, she blocked all of the attacks except for two of them, which were aimed at the golden ball and Ryo had successfully knocked it out of her grasps!

[Player Griselda dropped the baaaaaaaalll!!! It's on the ground, who'll reach it first?!]

Griselda furrowed her brow as she flew down to get the ball, but a sudden and powerful explosion interrupted her. Once the dust settled—they saw both Irina and Caeda lying on the ground and the ball—

[G-g-g-gooooal! Player Caeda knocks the ball into the goal! [Team Phantastic Dragons] earns [9] points!!!! They take the lead! And there are only 10 minutes left!]

It seemed like a comeback was imminent. The scores had turned around. [97 – 92]! Dulio's team was now behind by [5] points.

"I win!" Caeda said with a maniacal grin.

"Damn you!" Irina shouted back, smiling.

[Do your best, Angel-samasssssssssssss!!]

[Ooooooh!! Go Caeda-sama!! Hirokazu-san!!]

The crowd was equally fired up as the cheers only kept getting louder and louder. The new goal was in H6!

"Get—"

"—The ball!" both [Kings] screamed.

Everyone scattered toward the location again. As all of them scattered towards it a symphony of attacks flew around the field. People were blown up and knocked down, but not a single one of them stayed down, they only got up.

But one thing was for certain—all of the players on the field right now had smiles on their faces. They were enjoying this match to their hearts' content!

Both [Kings] clashed against each other again! Powerful silver-blue and golden light auras slammed against one another.

"Ooooooooooooooh!!"

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"

Dulio's punch landed on Hirokazu's abdomen and it shattered the armor! But he quickly repaired it and Hirokazu's fist landed on Dulio's gut. Both [Kings] felt pain throughout their bodies. Dulio was much more durable than Hirokazu. Even though he achieved his X-side Balance Breaker, he could only maintain it for so long and his time limit was nearing its end. At a minimum, he had around 8 minutes left of it.

[The two [Kings] entered into another fist fight!! It's almost reminiscent of Jin-sama versus Sairaorg-sama's fight from a few months ago!! The entire stadium is in a frenzy right now!]

[Fufu, it certainly is,] said Ajuka Beelzebub.

"We're both fighting for our dreams, Dulio-san, but—!" Hirokazu grinned behind his helmet and Dulio sensed it too.

"The ones who'll win is us!" they both shouted in unity as both their fists hit each other's cheek.

From the mic of Aaron's avatar, he chuckled. [This is…youth, and an amazing show at that.]

— ○ ● ○ —

"Fufufufu…"

Rudiger Rosenkreutz suddenly stood up, and everyone was shocked as tears were streaming down his face.

The entire room was tense as they watched in suspense as neither team backed down with a few minutes left on the clock.

"…How do I say this…it's just as Jin-san said…both teams are really unbelievable. Even though I expected something to happen because of what he said. But all of them actually threw it all out like this without any hesitation; I have no words left to say. Their greatest weapon is youth. I had also perceived it as a form of weakness, but it's true that it can be turned into a weapon. The youth is always full of surprises. It's because of this that my tactics were defeated, Princess Rias."

"…Diehauser, are you seeing this? The things that we lack are right here. The things that we were longing for…are right here. Hey, Diehauser…"

Rudiger Rosenkreutz wasn't speaking to them anymore, he was speaking to himself and the Champion of the Rating Games who was currently locked up.

With only a few minutes left on the clock, both teams scored a few more times, leaving the score at [109 – 109] with the scores tied…the next goal would be the deciding one and the last battle would be fierce.

— ○ ● ○ —