Volume 7 – Chapter 5 – Part 2 – Team Golden Rakshasa vs Team Sona Sitri

Aurelia Le Guin's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

Dying. Never once in my existence have I thought such a thing would happen to me. Yet during an event that's of recent memory…it happened. Perhaps it was due to my own arrogance and overconfident nature, but I still died. I can't undo that event, so I have to move on. Although it took me some time to do that, it never crossed my mind that I would ponder these kinds of thoughts for an extended period of time, but here I am.

When I was first brought back to life, Lianne and Elyscia were there for me and shed tears for me which was strange. Even Scathach, upon finding out, scolded me as she lost her sister during that war too. Many of us lost our lives that day. The one who was most affected by it was our master, Aaron Toole.

He put up a strong front so he wouldn't look weak in front of so many people but he was hurting. Even though he gave our group a title—the [Electa], he still cares for us like we're his own family. That idiot's heart knows no bounds. It's his greatest strength and weakness.

Maybe because of that I started to change a little, well, I'm still relatively the same, but…I guess I'm a little more humble? That's what Lianne and Scathach told me, although a few others have pointed it out, including my current team for the World Tournament.

"Aurelia, do you want to come with us to the Dimensional Gap base?" Aaron asked me.

I shook my head. "No, I will be fine here. I plan on reading over Sona's teams' information just ahead of the rest of my team."

He came over to me and put a hand on my head. "Being a reliable [King] and leader is all good and all, but make sure to take breaks, alright? That's both a suggestion from a friend and an order from your master," he told me.

Hmph. He sure knows how to phrase things these days, usually it was just a 'suggestion' before, and not an order, but he's started to force some decisions to be carried out by us, the [Electa] more and more. Although he must be actively looking into the future if he's forcing us to do these things, some seem random and don't make sense. However, they typically tend to work in our favor…

Before our match against Baraqiel, he suggested letting the sister dragons fight separately and then together after a specific amount of time. This was both before and after his sparring match with them.

We, the [Electa] tend to have access to all the abilities he has through [Food Chain]. However, since we mostly use the abilities we have been given, we tend not to take advantage of that ability as often as we should. However, I have seen others using abilities that complement their styles more and more often. I should do the same thing, especially during my match with Sona Sitri.

Genshirou Saji is an opponent who mainly uses his hands and legs to attack after all.

"Or do you want me to come?" I asked and smirked at him. "Do you miss me that much, Aaron-sama?"

Unexpectedly, he gave me a deep kiss. Not one to shy away from affection from him, I kissed him back with the same fervor. Although I'm usually not one that acts like the other women around him, I felt my own cheeks flush when he did that.

"What—"

"If you want to join us at any time, I'm a call away," he told me, then kissed me on the forehead and walked away.

Once he was out of the [Training Facility], I scratched my head. "He's usually not that aggressive…" I mumbled to myself.

"Is the All-mighty Aurelia Le Guin feeling confused?" asked a familiar voice from behind me. When I turned around, I saw Scathach with Lianne and Aífe.

"Aren't you going with Aaron?" I asked.

Lianne shook her head. "I am not, but Scathach and Aífe are, they're reserve members for you after all—shouldn't the [King] of the team also accompany them? Knowing Genshirou-kun he may challenge Aaron today and even show some new techniques to all of you."

With a smirk on my face, I scoffed at the idea. "Whatever new technique or ability he has, it won't work on me. The only time or place I'll concede is on the main stage. That is my plan. After that, the ones on my team can go join other teams if they wish," I told them and they seemed surprised by that.

We won't win the tournament, for that I will need to apologize to Rossweisse. However, it won't stop them from joining the winning team when the time comes as she wants to have her own wish granted. The reason for my participation in the event was to help some of the younger ones grow. That was also one of the tasks Aaron gave me when I told him I was participating.

Akaza and Edel are aware of it, so are Kishku and Ezeri. This generation and the next will be the ones in control of the world, while we, the [Electa] and Aaron himself will watch over them. I don't know what kind of plans he has for the future—especially after he came back from his isolation, but as usual we will follow him.

"You don't plan on winning it all?" asked Aífe.

Lianne stared at me for a few more seconds and softly chuckled. "I see, so it's his will? What team will you lose to?" she asked.

I looked towards the elevator and frowned. "There is no guarantee that they will make it to the main stage, but if they do, I won't let the match be easy for them. They have to prove to me that they can overcome the challenges they'll face after they defeat us. If they can't—I'll win the match myself and lose to another team on the main stage."

"There are stronger enemies this time around after all, so many are faced with tougher opponents, but I believe they can pull it off," said Lianne.

"They are the longest he has trained, even with the new additions." Aífe looked confused by our conversation but listened to it regardless. I looked at her and asked, "Will you and Scathach join another team after we lose?"

Both sisters looked at one another and fell silent. The first one to speak after a minute of silence was Scathach. "I only joined the tournament to be able to fight powerful opponents that I can't normally fight without causing trouble. However, whether we win or lose is irrelevant to me. I have no wish, because the thing we want is revenge and we know it will come soon."

Aífe nodded in agreement with Scathach. "As long as we can kill the original Lucifer along with the other original Satans that were resurrected and destroy the Khaos Order, I don't care. I joined this tournament to improve myself and see how far my skills and power fair against various types of people."

What noble intentions, although revenge is still what they're both after since Aífe suffered through all that torture.

"I agree, I also wish to participate in that attack when the time comes."

All of us turned to the voice and found Lilith and Frida beside her. Those two spent a lot of time together because Aaron asked Lilith to help Frida with her demonic power. For the physical aspect of her training, all three of us take a different day each. So she would be exposed to as many styles of fighting as well as weapons.

Frida bowed to us as they quickly joined us.

"You're not in a team, Lilith, although the devils may have some problems with it," said Scathach.

"I enjoy watching Rating Games, so the World Tournament was a pleasant surprise for me. I do not mind if I don't get to participate. I am not a combatant even if I helped during the war," she said and sighed.

"How are you doing, Frida?" asked Aífe.

"…W-we'll be joining Aaron soon…h-he asked us to fetch Scathach a-and Aífe…" stuttered Frida.

Aífe walked over to Frida and patted her head robotically. "Look at you, being able to say a sentence with a lot less stuttering! Good work!" However, Frida gave a troubled look and timidly took Aífe's hand off her head.

"Ah, my bad, your head is reserved for Aaron's hands only, right?" Aífe teased making the young devil blush to which Aífe laughed at her reaction.

"Do not tease her too much, otherwise she will become grumpy for the rest of the day unless we put her with Aaron," chided Lilith, further embarrassing Frida.

A magic circle appeared before any of us could speak further. "We're waiting for all of you, what's the hold up? Is Aurelia deliberating or something?" asked Aaron from it.

"Go, I will continue with my own plans for the day," I told them. After a few seconds of more deliberation, they left. "Now then…let's get to reading…"

— ○ ● ○ —

That night they came back, with very different moods—especially Venelana Gremory. She seemed completely enamored with Aaron, and he also seemed different towards her. Meanwhile, Zeoticus Gremory appeared indifferent—no, he almost looked like he supported it.

It was strange to say the least, but no one paid it too much mind. However, I was curious, so I planned on speaking to him about it, or her—whichever I decide to confront first. But she wasn't the only one, a few others seemed almost re-energized after coming back, which made me want to visit that new home in the future if given the chance.

But we [Electa] can go to whatever place we want after our jobs are done for the day. An example is Lianne and the Stahlritter. They don't need to continue with their job. Aaron can detect anyone that comes into his Kuoh now, although he still leaves that barrier up. Only the alliance and neutral individuals can pass through it now.

As Aoife Murphy passed by me, I grabbed her wrist. She turned to look at me and I gestured with my head for her to follow me. Without complaint, she did so and we arrived at the top of the home.

"Did you need something from me, Aurelia?" she asked while summoning some marshmallows on a stick and putting them under the open campfire.

"I'll be blunt, did something happen to Aaron and a few women? Venelana Gremory seemed quite happy with herself," I asked.

Aoife stared at me unblinkingly for a few seconds before awkwardly looking away. "Erm…w-well, wouldn't it be better if you asked him yourself? You're also a smart woman. You can probably figure it out yourself!" she proclaimed proudly and put her hands on her hips.

...I can see where Aaron got his enthusiasm for life at times.

"Are you that curious?" When we heard his voice, we turned to the right and saw him. Aoife immediately jumped towards him and embraced him. "It's like Aoife said, just ask me, Aurelia."

Crossing my arms, I flipped the cape behind me. "So? What happened, Aaron Toole-sama?" I asked.

"Well…"

— ○ ● ○ —

Aaron Toole's Soliloquy

— ○ ● ○ —

A few minutes before the game began, I fetched two people who were Kento Saji, Genshirou's father and Manami Saji, his mother. After coming back from my 10,000 years I did a few things. This was one of them. I found where these two were buried, spoke with them and the two grandparents of Genshirou and agreed to bring them back.

Kento was just an older version of Genshirou. He had slightly longer hair, a gruffy beard, and a pair of glasses, all while wearing a plain white shirt, blue jeans and sneakers with a watch on his left wrist. Meanwhile, Manami had long light brown hair, brown eyes and wore a one-piece light blue dress.

However, I also told them that they couldn't live a normal human life after it—but I would change reality to accommodate their sudden resurrection. I did that to Shuri to after I evolved, but before that she was still legally dead.

With the help of Rias and Grayfia, I managed to find these two a place of employment. So these two, for now, are working for the Gremory's industries in the human world. When I expand my own business, I'll employ them there. That's the agreement we had.

For now, they're both normal humans. I haven't asked them about the future, but they'll be the first few humans to know about the lifespan increasing pill in the future. Whether they take some or not is entirely up to them—the same as Kaho and Gengo.

"I'm nervous, Aaron-san…! W-will we be meeting our children soon?" asked Kento. I raised a finger and sent my plans to them. "C-certainly that would be very dramatic…hehe."

"You can meet Kaho and Gengo before the event if you wish. You don't need to follow through with my suggestion," I told them. I looked back and saw the two of them deliberating.

"T-then can we…? I've missed them so much," said Manami Saji.

"Very well, I'll bring Kaho first and we'll go get Gengo after," I told them. After putting them in their VIP room, my next step was locating Kaho and asking her to come with me.

"Oh…Jin-san, we meet again. Did you need something from me?" she asked. She was in another VIP room along with my group.

I nodded and offered her my hand. "Yeah, Genshirou gave me something earlier to give to you—it's quite big, so we'll need to go to another room." This seemed sketchy as hell, but she stared at me for just a few seconds before holding my hand and coming with me.

As we left, Velgrynd joined us, surprisingly enough. She stayed behind us as we walked while chatting about her hopes for the match. We quickly arrived in the room where both parents were waiting.

"Put this on, he wants it to be a surprise."

I brought out a blindfold and handed it to her. Without hesitation, she put it on. It just shows how much trust they have for their older brother. I put my hands on her shoulder and opened the door. I guided her inside and the two parents stood there—tears already streaming down their faces.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Mmm," she replied. I then took off her blindfold and she stared at the people in front of her. Without another word, Kaho ran towards her parents while beginning to cry and they shared a small hug between themselves.

I stepped out of the room to let the family have their moment and came face-to-face with Velgrynd.

"Hey, so, any reason why you followed us?" I asked. She stared at me for a few seconds before looking past me and at the door.

Instead of answering my question, she asked, "Hey, can I go with you for your odd jobs as the Middleman? I've explored most of the human world, but can't enter some supernatural realms since I'm a random unknown person."

"I don't mind since a few others already do that, like Inaie," I replied. She nodded, came closer, pecked me on the lips and walked away.

[W-what the hell?!]

{…Now that was unexpected.}

'Kukuku, it has begun,' said Rudra.

A flash came from my body and Cúntóir appeared before she ran after Velgrynd who seemed surprised. The two of them began talking and bickering with one another as they turned a corner further down the hallway.

Once I knew the crying was done in the room, I stepped back in. The second I did, Kaho ran back to me and hugged me.

"How?! When?! Where?! Why?! Uwaaaa!" she asked then cried again.

I gently pried her off me and crouched down. Patting her head, I said, "Well, the why, when and why doesn't really matter. Genshirou is a close friend and comrade of mine, and he's trying his best at everything to make your lives better. I'd be a shitty friend and 'Middleman' if I didn't try to help him—if he doesn't like it, he can punch me afterward."

Moving my gaze back to the green—it showed both teams staring at one another. The game was very close to starting, the announcer was just explaining the rules to the [One Day Long War].

"Your brother's Balance Breaker…isn't complete," I told them.

I noticed this when I fought Saji here a few days ago. Perhaps it was just to this version of the Draconic Deus, but his X-side Balance Breaker wasn't complete. If I had to put a percentage on it, it was around 80% complete. Perhaps knowing his own parents are alive and well may push him through that last 20%.

Of course, I revived them without knowing this beforehand, so I didn't do it just for him to complete his Balance Breaker. You could say it's a happy coincidence. Since Sacred Gears depend on their wielders' will, feelings, and desire to grow and change, his parents may be that final barrier he needs to overcome.

"It's around 80% complete, maybe after knowing your parents are alive and well, he might complete it during the match…that's why, I'll leave it to you guys to speak through the commentator's mics when the time is right. They're all aware of the situation, so just go in there, alright?"

I got up and sighed. "With that said, I made a small magic circle connected to Kaho's room in their new home. Since everyone is affiliated with the Sitri in the neighborhood, you guys can just get him…although explaining the supernatural will be a bit challenging."

"Gengo will understand. Last night, before we slept, Gen-nii and I spoke about it. We wanted to tell him when he's a bit older, but if all three of us explain, then…he might at least understand it," said Kaho.

Looking at the two parents they nodded. I clicked my fingers and a magic circle appeared. "Three minutes. Come back by then since the game will start," I told them and they hurriedly went into the magic circle.

Two minutes and thirty seconds later, the family came back. Gengo also gave me a hug before I told them to sit tight and watch the match. I also set up a magic circle to teleport them to the booth where the announcers are located in, so when they need to give Genshirou some encouragement, it'll be easy for them to do so.

— ○ ● ○ —

Third Person Point of View

— ○ ● ○ —

"It doesn't seem we retired any of them," said Ravel as she looked at the scenery in front of them. "But now we'll be forced to fight them like in a normal Rating Game. Whatever petty tactics Sona-sama had, we just destroyed them all."

"Ahaha! Is this what you meant by destroying them and not defeating them, Ravel~?" asked Aoife.

The night before, [Team Golden Rakshasa] had a quick strategy meeting, and Ravel told everyone in her team that it didn't matter what field they were on against [Team Sona Sitri], she wanted Aurelia Le Guin to completely obliterate it with a single swing, forcing everyone to fight regularly.

This may not be the most strategic of plans, or the most complicated, but…in a way, it's still a strategy. By completely decimating the field—any strategy the other team would have made is rendered useless because any other obstacle they may have wanted to use is now gone.

"Yes. Sona-sama and everyone else on her team want to defeat us—especially Aurelia-sama, so we'll do our best in completely destroying them. Everyone here doesn't have a specific opponent they want to fight except Aurelia-sama, so please do your best on whomever you come across," she told them.

"Umu. It's as Ravel said. I will make my way to Genshirou Saji, the rest of you…good luck—use the knowledge you gained from your past defeats and learn from them and come out victorious in this game," Aurelia said those words before vanishing.

"Now then everyone, please go!" Ravel ordered and everyone left except Aoife.

"I'm coming with you, right?" Aoife asked.

Ravel nodded and got up. "Yes, let's set off, Aoife-sama."

— ○ ● ○ —

"I didn't think you'd be the one I would face, Rossweisse-sensei, or would Rossweisse-san be more appropriate?" asked Sona Sitri.

The woman she was currently facing was a former teacher of hers, the Valkyrie and [Queen] of [Team Golden Rakshasa], Rossweisse. The Valkyrie couldn't confront the other [Queen] as she was informed that the [Rook] and [Bishop] of her team were facing off against Sona's [Queen] and [Bishop].

"Sona-san, we see each other quite regularly, so refer to me as you usually do. However…" Rossweisse said as she summoned her [Mistilteinn Wand]. "Just because we're comrades doesn't mean I'll take it easy on you."

Sona smiled and gathered demonic water around her hands. "I expect nothing less from my former instructor. As someone who wishes to be the 'fifth', please show me if you can live up to their power."

Rossweisse frowned. Sona knew it bothered her, but she wasn't as affected by it because other teams had tried to do it after they faced [Team Lightning] and they didn't have any effect…for the most part. Some days it did because she was in a slightly bad mood, and whoever she faced was instantly eliminated.

"That won't work on me, Sona-san."

"I know, but it's worth a shot. Let's start," replied Sona.

[A fight broke out between the [King] of [Team Sona Sitri] and the [Queen] of [Team Golden Rakshasa]! Satan Leviathan's little sister and the Middleman's First Valkyrie! Who will win?!]

'…F-first V-valkyrie…?' Rossweisse was slightly flustered by the moniker, but also became confused. "What did he mean by first?! There are more?!"

"…I have seen Brynhildr-san and the other Valkyries of the Norse group of [DxD] become closer to Aaron over the last few months…" mumbled Sona. She knew the announcer had surprised Rossweisse and also slightly irritated her.

In her mind, she could use it to her advantage. She fired countless demonic water bullets at Rossweisse. The Valkyrie, while late in responding, countered with her own water bullets. The two attacks collided and a large and obscure watery mist was created, obstructing both their visions. However, since both could detect each other in different ways, they continued their rate of fire upon each other, further creating the mist.

Rossweisse killed her presence and created an illusion that continued firing her attacks while she made her way behind Sona. Once there she sent a kick towards the heiress, but to her surprise she dodged the attack. When she looked up at Sona—she was even more shocked.

Sona Sitri's irises became silver, but they only glowed for a moment before returning to their normal state. She backed away and grinned at Rossweisse, but also sighed showing signs of some fatigue.

"That was the first time I used that in a real battle. I've trained with it but…not as much as you or Aaron—I guess my stamina consumption is even worse than yours. I believe it fits me…what do you think?" asked Sona.

Rossweisse was in shock, but felt a smile creep up on her face. "I didn't think I'd come across someone else who'd try to learn the technique—[Ultra Instinct], Sona-san."

To Sona, if she used this technique sparingly, and only at very crucial moments, she could avoid the massive stamina drain. To her, such a technique fit her style of fighting as well as her person and personality. She only wanted to learn [Ultra Instinct Sign] and nothing else. She didn't want to master it, but shape it enough to create a purely defensive version unique to her.

"I guess we're both learning our own versions then," said Rossweisse as she dismissed her illusion.

"We are," replied Sona as she created more demonic circles behind her.

The two fired their attacks again, both mixing in illusionary attacks that didn't fool each other as their attacks collided again. Both knew that Rossweisse's magic was much more powerful in terms of strength. However, Sona didn't back down as she was also confident in her own magic and demonic powers. However, what she kept secret was…she had been training in hand-to-hand combat.

She received training from Sairaorg, Scathach, Lianne, Aurelia, and Aaron. She wanted to keep it a secret even from her own peerage to use it as a trump card of swords. However, she hadn't mastered touki yet but could still produce it around her body.

Sona Sitri is considered a Wizard-type who's close to a Technique-type in Rating Games while Rossweisse would also be considered as such if she was a reincarnated devil, so the compatibility of these two are quite close to each other in that regard. However, they recently started to gain some traits as Power-types because of their training in hand-to-hand combat.

Sona dodged an incoming barrage of wind blade attacks that were fired from her left side. As she flew up, another batch rained from above them, forcing her to evade them again. However, they continued on all sides and she quickly avoided the rest. As she dodged the last barrage, Rossweisse appeared in front of her and sent a straight towards her face.

She raised her arms to block the attack while also creating a defensive circle and covering her arms with touki. The defensive circle was destroyed quite easily, and the Valkyrie's punch connected with her arms—or so she thought. To Sona's surprise, it passed through her arms and hit her square in the nose. Sona crashed to the ground with significant force, obliterating most of the ground with it.

The terrain which had been mostly destroyed by Aurelia's earlier attack was destroyed even more by Rossweisse. Beneath that ground was just a pure white layer made of Aaron's barrier, hence why it didn't get destroyed.

Sona looked up at Rossweisse as she wiped the blood from her nose. She then noticed a small glowing gem near her chest area. Upon closer inspection, Sona's eyes widened in shock.

'…How much do you want to be the 'fifth' one, Rossweisse-san…?' she asked herself. "Is that…a gem from the [Boosted Gear]…?" Sona asked.

A smile appeared on the Valkyrie's face, one that chilled Sona to the bone. "Fufu, it is, Sona-san. Do you like it? I was gifted it by Aaron during our date. It has the abilities of the [Boosted Gear], minus its Balance Breaker. [Boost], [Transfer] and [Penetrate] are all accessible to me. Although I did want it…but I can live with using that combination technique with Aaron."

Sona smiled wryly as she stared at Rossweisse and increased her power again. 'This won't be easy it, will it? '

— ○ ● ○ —

"Yo!"

"Yo!"

Ruruko and Aoife ran towards each other and high-fived with both hands before jumping away from each other. In the short time that Aoife Murphy had come to this world, she, like in her previous world befriended everyone around her in a short time. Even in this life, her charm, and optimism drew people in.

Ravel stood at the back as she had been tasked by Aurelia and Aaron to watch over Aoife as she played in this game and tournament. However, she would step in to help if she couldn't handle it and they would fight whoever they came across together.

"Let's start!" said Ruruko.

"Alright!" shouted Aoife.

She summoned a sword that was given to her by Aaron—the [Fragarach]. Just like the sword that belonged to the Irish mythology, it was rumored to be wielded by Nuada the Chief God of the Tuatha Dé Danann and Land of Heaven Falls or the now dead Irish god of the sea, Manannán mac Lir.

The sword itself had a golden circular hilt with a crescent moon on its side. The handle was mostly purple with a golden star at the tip, while the rest of the body was purple too but also looked like a small galaxy could be seen on it.

Once Aoife summoned this sword, both Ravel and Ruruko took a step back. With a smile on her face she declared, "Aaron gave me this as a present! It's called the [Fragarach], like the sword that Nuada and Manannán mac Lir wielded! Or Lugh, hehe!"

'W-what the…the Fragarach? It's not the actual sword but something even more terrifying…to give such a give to Aoife-sama…! She's also quite inexperienced, a-although Ddraig-sama said she was a natural at the sword, and I've seen her wield a training sword quite efficiently,' thought Ravel.

Ruruko grinned and summoned her Artificial Sacred Gear, [Procellarum Phantom]. A set of armor covered her legs. "Ready when you are! You too, Ravel-chan!"

"Go!" both girls shouted.

Ruruko was surprised by Aoife speed as she immediately appeared in front of her and swung the sword upwards. The more experienced fighter dodged the attack due to her own instincts. However, Aoife didn't stop there as she relentlessly began attacking her with fast and precise slashes. She barely managed to dodge most of them as some even grazed her team's uniform.

'What the heck? She had less time to—no, did Aaron-senpai bring her to his dimension to train her?!' she thought while dodging more attacks. "Not bad, but too green!" shouted Ruruko as she began fighting back using her demonic powers, magic, and kicks.

However, to Ruruko's surprise, Aoife began to deflect and parry her demonic and magic attacks as well as her fast and powerful kicks. Each one would create a powerful shockwave that would normally knock out God-class being and up.

Ruruko smirked at this situation. She didn't think someone—Aaron's previous girlfriend from his previous life would be a prodigy. She knew that she was a kind person like her senpai, but didn't think she was a fighter, but today she was proven wrong.

As both women continued their dance, it was clear to Ruruko and Ravel that she wouldn't be able to win or at least have an advantage over Aoife if she didn't use her Counter Balance. Ruruko pulled her right leg back and kicked it towards Aoife. It created a powerful shockwave that blew her back.

"Phew…you're amazing, Aoife. You've barely been brought back to life and you're already this strong. But I do suspect Aaron-senpai doing something about it, jeez," Ruruko said and shook her head.

"Maybe it's overkill, but I am Gen-chan's [Queen] too, you know? I gotta show everyone I improved too! …So here I go! Balance Adjust!" shouted Ruruko.

The armor on the lower half of Ruruko Nimura began to change and also began to add armor to her upper half—it began to cover her waist, chest, and arms. Once her transformation was done, she showed Aoife and Ravel a peace sign.

"This is my Counter Balance [Hyper Procellarum Phantom]! Get ready!" she shouted and Ravel also got ready to intervene. "Get ready!"

As those words left her mouth, Ruruko disappeared. She moved at a speed that Aoife couldn't follow. However, due to her new instincts, she immediately bent her body backwards, avoiding a speed kick that appeared above her. Both Ruruko and Ravel were shocked by her reaction time.

After Ruruko passed Aoife, another powerful shockwave shook the area they were in because of her attack. "Jeez! You can still dodge that?! What did Aaron-senpai make you with?! Fine, I'll keep going faster then!"

Ruruko disappeared again, but as she appeared around Aoife, countless afterimages also began to appear. Each one flew towards Aoife, but the attacks never connected as they disappeared. She waited for the real one to attack and once she felt her, she pulled her body back and avoided another kick from the [Pawn] of [Team Sona Sitri].

"Ah—" Ruruko panicked as she saw Aoife smiling at her as she missed again. With a palm strike to her body, Ruruko flew away into the distance before crashing violently.

Ravel stood there in shock after witnessing their quick fight. 'W-what? When did Aoife-sama become so powerful…? She lost to Ddraig-sama who held back when they first met. That's what he told us!'

"Hehe! First girlfriend privileges! Aaron took me to that [Pocket Dimension] you guys used, so I've aged up quite a bit and I've grown stronger!" she shouted. "I'm on par with Lavinia in terms of raw power—he also helped me train in a lot of things along with Cúntóir and the dragons!"

'O-on par with Lavinia-sama?! W-wasn't she [Omniversal – B] after training even more?!' Ravel looked at Aoife in even more shock after hearing her declare that. 'How long did they stay in his dimension?!'

"Hehe, his mom also joined us. We're not that week anymore!" she added with a peace sign. Ruruko dashed back to them as she dusted herself off.

"Phew, well, I guess I can take this a bit more seriously then. I was being accommodating since I thought you'd be a bit weaker, but it turns out, you're even stronger than me! Alright, let's go!" shouted Ruruko as her body was covered in touki. She also enhanced her body with enhancement magic.

Both women vanished from their spots and clashed in the middle, creating a tear beside them that threatened to suck them in. Their clash was that powerful—however, seconds later, the tear disappeared as Aaron got rid of it.

"I'll win!" they both shouted. Ravel, in the background stood there, unsure if she should get involved or not. They again vanished and began clashing at different points, creating powerful tremors that shook the field.

"Ravel! Go help someone else, I'll be fine!" Aoife shouted.

"That's right, that's right! Let us fight~!" added Ruruko. Both girls were grinning at this point. Ravel sighed and agreed before summoning her flaming wings and flying away.

'I'll join Scathach-sama then, she may be targeted by multiple people,' thought Ravel after glancing back one more time at Ruruko and Aoife. She didn't want to get in the way of the two women.

One was the Great Dragon King's lover, while the other was the Middleman's previous lover from another life—in her mind, they had some sort of strange and friendly rivalry going on.

— ○ ● ○ —

"Ha-ha-ha! Try your best!" said Scathach as she avoided multiple attacks from three people. In the background, Roygun Belphegor watched in astonishment.

Scathach and Roygun came across Momo Hanakai, Tsubaki Shinra and Bennia Orcus, the [Bishop], [Queen] and [Knight] of [Team Sona Sitri]. However, as they began to battle the Queen of the Land of Shadows, they quickly knew that they were outmatched, even after working together and being more powerful than last year.

Even after being trained for 100 years, the experience between them was palpable. This was because any kind of strategy they employed, ability or technique they used, it was slashed and pierced apart by Scathach's spear.

Bennia Orcus, a grim reaper was given a different scythe for the tournament. It was gifted to her by Aaron since most Death Scythes used by grim reapers would kill their enemies, and killing in the tournament wasn't allowed.

<<None of what we're doing is working…>> mumbled Bennia.

All members of [Team Sona Sitri] jumped away and regrouped. Scathach didn't pursue them and waited patiently.

"We should go after them," said Roygun.

"It's fine, let them strategize," replied Scathach.

"…Letting them do that would be unwise. Do not under—"

"I am not. I am simply guiding them in line with what Aurelia and Aaron wants. However, I will still win. This will be a learning experience for them. This kind of scenario has been on repeat with the Sitri peerage for 100 years. It will be fine," Scathach explained while interrupting Roygun.

The former second-ranked player stared at Scathach and decided to follow what she said. She had no say in this as the woman in front of her was much stronger than she was. She tried to have a duel with her during their training sessions, but was quickly and swiftly defeated, rendering her family's trait useless, shocking her.

Not because she was stronger than her, but by pure speed. Roygun couldn't follow her back then, and still couldn't after training with them for quite a bit of time. Even after getting stronger, she challenged her again and her [Crack] ability was still useless since Scathach was still much stronger.

The only ones who were affected by it were the more inexperienced fighters of the team (Yoru, Haru, Bova and Ouryuu) and her own peerage.

In the distance, the three agreed on a plan. Bennia their [Knight] dashed forward and confronted Scathach with Tsubaki supporting her and Momo at the very back supporting both of them. The first year slashed at Scathach who swiftly dodged the attack.

"Bennia Orcus, daughter of the Grim Reaper, Orcus. That scythe, it was given to you by my husband, no?" asked Scathach.

<<H-husband? I wasn't aware you were already engaged to Jin-senpai…>> replied Bennia as she continued her attacks on Scathach who kept avoiding them and continuing their conversation.

"Ha-ha-ha, we are already practically married. Do not mind the details," replied Scathach as she dodged another swing of her scythe and poked the young girl on the head, but as she did, a defensive force field barrier appeared in front of Bennia and it stopped the attack.

Bennia grinned and moved out of the way as a volley of demonic elemental attacks were fired at Scathach. The goddess grinned in returned and spun her spear before poking all the attacks and negating their effects. The young grim reaper stood there in shock before a kick was delivered to her face, sending her back to her team.

"Hmm. Not bad, but try again," said the goddess as she planted her spear on the ground and crossed her arms. Roygun was about to intervene during that play, but Scathach had stopped all of it on her own.

'…She managed to do all that in a matter of seconds. I myself would have suffered an injury if they attacked me like that, although I could have used my [Crack] to disrupt the attacks to some degree and maybe attack the little grim reaper to get her off me, but that Sacred Gear may have gotten in my way,' thought Roygun.

Scathach pulled her spear out of the ground and declared, "If you're not coming, then I'll come to you!"

She rushed towards the trio who immediately reacted to her. Momo used her Artificial Sacred Gear again [Applause Wall] and formed a barrier between them and Scathach. However, with a single thrust of her spear, she created a crack in the barrier. Behind her, Roygun raised her hand and activated her [Crack] ability. Using the already cracked part of the barrier, she further created a tear in it. This forced the barrier to crack without the use of further force from Scathach.

She summoned several demonic attacks behind her and fired them towards the trio to support Scathach. Tsubaki, the [Queen] summoned her Sacred Gear [Mirror Alice] and absorbed the attacks sent to them by Roygun and then sent them back towards them with twice the attack power.

"The new generation certainly has unique abilities," mumbled Roygun before she dodged the redirected attacks.

"I didn't think we'd have a chance to fight the former second ranker in the Rating Games, so this is also an experience!" shouted Tsubaki.

In response Roygun smiled before firing several attacks again. Tsubaki matched her and their demonic struck each other and exploded. On the other hand, Momo and Bennia were forced to fight Scathach as she relentlessly slashed and thrust her spear at them.

The grim reaper was barely keeping up as she was already injured several times, while Momo had an easier time since she was used to this kind of treatment. The two weakest links in [Team Sona Sitri] were Loup Garou and Bennia Orcus, as both are just in God-class after their extended training with their peerage members and Team [DxD].

Compared to Scathach who was much stronger than them at [Multiversal – EX], the same with Momo who was [Universal – EX].

"What's wrong, little grim reaper? Can't keep up with this speed? Shall I slow down for you?" asked Scathach.

<<I can keep going, so please don't do that on my behalf!>> replied Bennia sounding irritated. She in turn slashed her own spear at Scathach's spear, and to both their surprise, it stopped her attack.

"Ho? Perhaps Lord (Aaron) gave it some of its own unique abilities. Tell me, what's its name?" Scathach asked while staring at the sphere.

Momo didn't let this chance slip away and fired several attacks at Scathach who simply negated them and threw a punch toward Momo. Said punch created a shockwave that forced her to defend herself, but she was still blown away by it.

<<He called it [Calagami]!>> shouted Bennia. Steam left the scythe's sides and boosters ignited helping her fight Scathach to both their surprise.

"I see, so gimmicks, or perhaps another unique ability? It appears to resemble the boosters on his [Boosted Gear] Scale Mail," noted Scathach as she moved her spear in a way that forced Bennia to be pushed up into the air.

Bennia herself was surprised by the move but turned around and launched fireballs towards her. Like with Momo, she simply negated the attacks using her spear and blocking a well-timed punch with her free hand from Momo who came back looking disheveled.

"You were not the type to like using close quarters combat, Momo."

"I guess Rating Games force us to use everything we have, Scathach-sensei!" replied the girl.

In the background, Roygun and Tsubaki continued to exchange powerful demonic attacks, and Tsubaki occasionally used her Sacred Gear to reflect the attacks of the former second ranker.

Finally, she decided to use her Balance Breaker. "Balance Break!" she shouted and various mirrors of all shapes and sizes appeared. "Come out, you three!"

From those mirrors came out three demons. One was a large rat, another was a rabbit in a suit and the final one was a slender demon that wore a hat.

The rat ran towards Roygun and began expelling sleeping gas from its mouth—the gas quickly spread in the area, but Roygun created demonic wind and blew it all away while also finding the central point of the gas and expelling it temporarily.

The other two, the [March Rabbit] and [Mad Hatter] also ran towards Roygun. The [March Rabbit] would create ripples as it jumped to make the affected become violent, whereas the [Mad Hatter] would cause those who looked at its eyes to hallucinate.

Both of those demons charged towards Roygun, and they were faster than she had imagined and the [Mad Hatter] arrived in front of her. However, she had already closed her eyes as she knew the abilities of these creatures already.

Roygun also preemptively created a ball of demonic energy as well as surround it with demonic wind before blasting away the [March Rabbit]. While she wouldn't be able to defeat it with a single blast as she herself was only at Satan-class after training with her new team, it would provide enough time to counter [Mad Hatter].

She—Roygun lacked the raw power to fight back on equal terms. However, she had accumulated experience from the Rating Games, and she would use it to her advantage. 'Aurelia-sama, I'd like 'that',' said Roygun telepathically.

In the distance, a bright golden light suddenly erupted, the ones closest to it were nearly blinded, Roygun created several giant icicles, and used them to reflect the light—in turn Aurelia also focused the light into them, increasing the luminosity, in turn blinding both the [Mad Hatter] and Tsubaki who was coincidentally affected by it.

Using a burst of speed, Roygun appeared in front of Tsubaki and used her new technique she developed on the [Queen] of [Team Sona Sitri]. Once she was done applying the newly developed technique, which allowed her to expand the range of her [Crack] ability while making tears on a person—in this case, Tsubaki and it would accumulate over time.

However, since Tsubaki was much stronger than herself, the damage would be next to minimal—if she didn't have help in it.

Aaron's [Electa] have the use of [Food Chain] that's a modified version, earlier before the match started, Roygun told her team of her plan since she'll most likely face stronger opponents than herself. She also learned of the [Food Chain] ability from Aaron—so she requested Aurelia in sharing some of her power to her, enough power for a one time use to win a fight.

Amused by the suggestion and plan, Aurelia gave her a small portion of her power—said power would be used once during the match and it would disappear.

When Roygun used her newly developed [Crack] technique, she used that temporary boost in power. Tsubaki herself was [Universal – SSS]. With that in mind, Roygun, when she used that power, had it enhanced to match the power of a person with [Universal – EX] power.

She quickly backed away after using the technique, because after such an insane boost in power, it immediately took effect, instead of it applying over time. Tsubaki's Balance Breaker—the demons began to distort and the [Dormouse] which was blown away earlier and the [Mad Hatter] then disappeared.

Tsubaki herself fell to the ground and coughed up blood in her hand. She stared at her own hands in confusion and shock. 'W-what…? Is this some new ability? What did Roygun-sama do to me…? I can't activate my Sacred Gear properly.'

Tsubaki shakily stood back up and stared at the second ranker as her breathing became labored. Roygun herself smiled because with this—to her, she had even the playing field. However, she only could do this once, but she was fine with it—as it was done to the [Queen], if she could take her down now then her job would be complete.

"I along with several others here are the weakest in terms of power, so we have to use tactics like this and I had to use my own experience to combat you," said Roygun. "Please do forgive me, Tsubaki Shinra."

"I expected nothing less from the former second rank. While I can't use my Sacred Gear to its maximum capacity, I can still fight," said Tsubaki. She was hurt, but still kept going. She summoned countless elemental attacks behind her and got ready. "Please give me guidance!"

Roygun smiled as she summoned her own attacks. "I really do love the Rating Games, and especially this era."

— ○ ● ○ —

"Dear me, I'm not the type that likes confrontations like this," said Reya Kusaka. She was facing a fellow [Bishop] of [Team Golden Rakshasa], Akane Himura.

"We're already here, we might as well!" shouted Akane as she raised her hand with a wand as hundreds of magic circles appeared. "I'll be in your care!"

"Ara~" Reya put a hand on her cheek as she also summoned magic circles and both of their attacks struck each other. "Well…I can probably use them a bit differently thanks to Aaron."

Reya raised her free hand and countless masks appeared around her, all of them displaying gleeful smiles. This was her Artificial Sacred Gear [Scouting Persona], before Aaron modified it. It was mainly used for gathering and relaying information over long distances. They also acted as a shield for Reya and her teammates.

"I heard about them, they're not an offensive Sacred Gear, right? So you can only rely on your demonic powers and magic!" Akane said confidently.

A smile spread across Reya's face as she stuck out her tongue. She pointed with a finger and the mask began firing lasers of different elements. Akane was shocked and dodged, but she was grazed on her shoulder and she frowned.

"B-but…!"

"Fufu, Aaron changed it for me~" Reya said with a wink. "It still has a few more abilities, you know?"

One of the masks changed, and its face resembled a machine gun. It then began firing bullets of elemental attacks at an increased rate of fire. Akane screamed and created several layers of defensive magic circles and flew away.

"W-what the heck?! This wasn't in the report! D-did she keep it a secret from everyone?!" Akane's magic circles eventually broke and she kept flying away using magic, but eventually she got hit by several elemental bullets.

She felt a surge of electricity go through her body. Parts of her body cut by wind, and some burned by fire. Akane gritted her teeth as she felt all of this, but wasn't taken down, instead she shot back with her own magic attacks.

However, one of the masks floated in front of Reya as it created a large blue barrier in front of itself, blocking her attacks—no, they absorbed them. After absorbing her attacks, all the eyes on the masks glowed and she saw them get stronger.

'Those things are way too unreasonable! What the hell?! How do you expect me to win, Roygun-sama, Aurelia-sama?!' Akane didn't see a way of winning this. She was just above average in magic and everything else.

She looked up to very talented people and always wanted to be like them, but those people were always a cut above the rest. To her, to Akane, they were an unattainable existence that was too far from her.

Lavinia Reni, the Ice Princess and the former right-hand of Mephisto Pheles. Lisa Minci, the Purple Rose, one of the most talented magicians alongside Lavinia Reni, and then someone close to her own age, Fusae Hirawa, her own magic power and mana pool were insanely high and she learned things at a near instantaneous rate.

She couldn't compare—she had to work hard on her own magic and even then, she barely caught up to other people in her own age. But everything changed when she was reincarnated as a devil. She became stronger. She found that her own demonic powers were stronger than her magic, but she pursued both since she wanted to be a master at both.

Akane was reincarnated because Roygun came across the young woman by accident when Akane accidentally teleported to the Underworld and by chance the two crossed paths. After hearing Akane's troubles, she offered the young woman to be reincarnated. Akane was unsure at the start and asked her if she could think about it.

Roygun agreed and the two parted ways after the devil gave her a way to contact her. Roygun saw a bit of herself in Akane—at the time, when she still used the [King] piece, if she hadn't gotten it—she wouldn't have gotten this opportunity to stand up at the top of the game she loved.

She wanted to give Akane that chance in life. To give Akane a chance at standing at the top with her, so with Roygun's guidance, and her being reincarnated with Roygun's only mutation piece, her [Bishop] piece, Akane became insanely stronger.

She won a lot of her fights in the Rating Games, only being outdone and outmatched by other veteran players. However, Akane herself grew in those games. But a lot of that crumbled away after the reality came out about her [King], but they were also given a lifeline after they were accepted by Aurelia.

Not blessed with a Sacred Gear, nor high aptitude for magic, or a large mana pool. Akane only had herself, her hard work and the luck of being reincarnated as a devil—with those things she…

"I also…want to win!" shouted Akane! Numerous hands of different elements suddenly shot out from the ground, surprising Reya.

She flew up and away from them using her devil wings. However, the hands began to violently swing around the area they had appeared from and they also began firing different elemental attacks from their fingertips. They ranged from the usual wind, water and fire, to darkness, light and even fairy, spirit, norse and even rune magic.

Reya defended against the sudden frenzied again with her masks and even a defensive magic circle. She was surprised by the sudden surge in power from the older woman. However, she also smiled since suddenly she became more motivated.

"I won't lose either, Akane-san~," said Reya. She ordered another mask to fly towards the elemental hands and as it got closer it avoided the wild attacks that were sent its way. Once in front of a hand, its eyes glowed and the hand froze and withered away, much to Akane's shock.

"Oh c'mon!" moaned Akane. She raised her arms again and summoned four tornadoes of different elements and ordered them towards Reya.

While the elemental hands and tornado's attacks raged on, Reya sighed and raised her hand too. From them came a singular light. Akane was prepared for anything, but to her astonishment the small ball of light gently and slowly descended to the ground. In confusion, she watched it and didn't do anything about it. As it finally hit the ground—everything in her vicinity turned white.

"White Nova~" muttered Reya. An enormous circular ball of white light blasted forward, consuming everything in front of it. The one hit by it, Akane did her hardest in resisting, but in the end—she was too weak.

Once the attack finished, the rest of the ground in front of her was completely destroyed. Reya smiled to herself as she heard the announcement.

[1 [Bishop] of [Team Golden Rakshasa] retire!!]

[The first one to retire this time is from [Team Golden Rakshasa]! What a powerful attack displayed by Player Reya Kusaka!]

[Hmm. I believe that attack was used on Thor, the God of Thunder from the Norse Pantheon. It was during his and Jin Skyward's duel before he became known. It was the deciding factor in the fight.]

The two commentating today were a high-ranking devil and Lugh, the Irish God of the Sun.

"Fufu, I guess I can help someone else then~" as she muttered that, Reya Kusaka turned around to see Ravel Phenex there. "Ara? I guess I didn't need to go too far to find my next opponent…"

"I need to avenge my teammate, Reya-sama. Please forgive me in advance!" Ravel said as she summoned flames around her body.

— ○ ● ○ —

Like usual, Ouryuu Nakiri and Bova Tannin were partnered with each other. However, since their defeat at the hands of Atsutarou Himejima, the two of them became closer as teammates and comrades. Currently, they were both facing the two [Rooks] of Sona's team, Loup Garou and Tsubasa Yura.

"Not bad, Nakiri-kun. Although I did expect the heir to the Nakiri clan to be above average in strength," said Tsubasa. She had been exchanging blows with Ouryuu Nakiri who hadn't transformed into his [Dragon Man] form.

"I need to be strong so I can lead the clan properly and into a better future, Yura-senpai," replied Ouryuu. Both he and Tannin had already promoted themselves to [Queen] and were still struggling against both Tsubasa and Loup Garou.

"Haha, such righteous and noble words. I guess the generation after us will be in good hands," she replied.

"Are you saying that you'll be married to Jin-senpai then?" Ouryuu asked which made Yura blush.

"Good job! Kouchin! Use psychological attacks to disrupt her flow and mind!" shouted Bova.

"…Focus on your fight, Bo," replied Ouryuu.

Ouryuu and Bova gave each other nicknames, although Ruruko Nimura was the one who started calling Ouryuu 'Kouchin', and Bova followed suit. Meanwhile, Ouryuu decided to call Bova 'Bo' or 'Bobo'.

"Take the advice of your teammate and focus on your fight," said Loup Garou as he threw a barrage of punches and kicks at Bova who dodged and blocked them all.

"Gahaha! I am, and I don't need you to tell me that!" replied Bova who also threw his own punches at Loup Garou.

Bova augmented his speed using enhancement magic and threw a much faster punch which caught Loup Garou off guard, forcing the man to defend himself using both arms. The punch was much more powerful than he anticipated and he was blown back. Bova followed by breathing fire at the man who in turn created a magic circle in front of him and used water magic to counter the breath attack.

A powerful explosion created mist around them, hampering both groups' vision. However, since Ouryuu could tap into the veins of the land thanks to his contract with Huanglong, he sensed where both had moved to. He relayed this information to his partner and they headed their separate ways.

Much to Loup Garou's surprise, Bova appeared in front of him and headbutted him in the stomach, catching him off guard and knocking the wind out of him. Bova followed it up with an axe kick, slamming Loup to the ground. Bova then fired another fire breath towards Loup, but to his surprise, a shield made of light appeared in front of him, blocking the attack.

This was Tsubasa's Artificial Sacred Gear, [Twinkle Aegis], just like Reya's it was modified by Aaron to give it more abilities. Loup gave a thankful nod towards her before jumping away and then charging back at Bova who was ready, but to his surprise Loup disappeared and he felt a punch connect to his back sending him flying.

"[Twinkle Aegis], huh? We received a report that Reya Kusaka-san's Artificial Sacred Gear [Scouting Persona] had strange abilities. I can assume that yours also received upgrades from Jin-san?" Ouryuu asked. Tsubasa smiled in response and that was all he needed for confirmation.

"Then I won't hold back," he declared and quickly transformed into his [Dragon Man] form—becoming a golden humanoid dragon.

Tsubasa didn't say anything else and headed towards Ouryuu. The heir thought it was reckless but said nothing. However, his instincts warned him of incoming danger and he jumped. When he did, he saw the shield that was used earlier fly past beneath him. It was also surrounded by flames and lightning.

Tsubasa caught the shield and began spinning it like a yo-yo. It then duplicated and she spun two shields on both her hands as both were covered in dual elements.

"There's more where that came from!" said Tsubasa as she threw both shields towards Ouryuu who had landed back on the ground. To his surprise, both shields split apart into two smaller shields, so he had to avoid six shields in total.

Ouryuu avoided the shields as they bounced off each other while being occasionally shocked or burned by the lightning and flames. He had also covered his body and fists with touki to punch them away. However, the other shields would be conveniently be at the spot where he punched the shield, forcing it to bounce back at him—repeating the process further.

Ouryuu used earth manipulation to block the shields from bouncing off each other. However, to his horror it also bounced off the elevated rocks he changed. This also increased the speed of the shields, forcing him to dodge even faster.

To Ouryuu right now, Tsubasa Yura was a terrible match-up for him. He didn't think such a Sacred Gear would be so troublesome. However, he also didn't mind since it forced him to fight differently and grow from it.

A grin spread across his face. 'Let's try that! I trained the speed of my molding after all!' he thought and stamped his foot in the direction of a shield.

What came out of the ground was another rock formation. However, this one was more circular in shape, and hollow on the inside. Once the shield hit it, instead of bouncing off it, it followed the curved shape and flew in a different direction and away from the other shields.

Tsubasa was surprised, and the more structures like that appeared, forcing her shields to fly into the distance. She laughed and called them back to herself and began spinning them like a yo-yo again.

"That was pretty creative, Nakiri-kun. I take it that Aurelia-sensei told you to practice that?" asked Tsubasa.

"Yes. At the time it confused me since it usually wouldn't be helpful in a fight, but I guess I was wrong. I'm still naïve," said Ouryuu. He stepped harder on the ground towards Tsubasa before rushing toward her.

As Tsubasa was about to jump backwards, she jumped backward against a large wall made of earth. Ouryuu reached her and punched her gut! …But to his surprise, he hit the light shield again, which also tried to shock him. However, he defended against it using his touki and transformation.

He continued his assault as he readily accepted the damage he would take. Tsubasa remained calm and avoided and blocked his attacks. She knew that Ouryuu Nakiri was desperately trying to improve whilst in the tournament, just like Bova Tannin and many others—she herself also wanted to improve while in the tournament.

Although they had different reasons for it, it also came down to wanting to protect themselves and their close group of friends—to Ouryuu Nakiri, it was his clan. He also wanted to be acknowledged by his [King] and Aaron as Ouryuu was a fan of his.

Tsubasa summoned demonic attacks behind her, but Ouryuu was waiting for this as he created several Shinto magic circles that created talismans. They then flew towards the forming demonic attacks and weakened them. He couldn't destroy or dispel them. He was far too weak for that. However, if he could weaken them enough to survive the attack, he was fine with it.

As he was about to continue his attack, another body slammed into him, throwing them away from Tsubasa who looked surprised by this. When they got up, he saw that it was Bova who had crashed into him.

"Do you remember our bet for this game?" Bova asked his fellow [Pawn] after getting up.

Ouryuu dusted himself off and stood beside Bova. "Of course, I wouldn't forget such a bet."

Loup Garou landed beside Tsubasa as she stared at him. He had transformed into his werewolf form. He stood at the same height, but had ashen-colored fur and glowing yellow eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Never better, I was just a bit surprised by Nakiri-kun, that's all. I was actually winning," replied Tsubasa as she kicked the earth wall behind her.

The two looked back at Ouryuu and Bova as the auras around their bodies increased even more—the expressions on their faces were a mix of excitement and fury.

"I don't want to lose and do that punishment!" they screamed.

The bet they mentioned was stupid. Bova had said it during one of their training sessions, and of course, the rest of [Team Golden Rakshasa] heard it, and because of that, Ouryuu couldn't refuse. If he did, it would be too embarrassing. His pride wouldn't let him.

Their bet was: 'Whoever loses first in their battles will need to work ten times harder in their training sessions and would also be a servant to Aurelia Le Guin for a whole week.' Aurelia herself also added that she would make the work under her even harder than what it usually is. So neither one of them wanted to lose.

"Eh? W-what's wrong with them?" Tsubasa asked, confused by the sudden change in Bova and Ouryuu.

"…Who knows—?" As Loup Garou answered her, both Bova and Ouryuu appeared in front of both of them and they received a punch to their cheeks!

[Two of the [Pawns] of [Team Golden Rakshasa] suddenly powered up and now they're rushing both [Rooks] of [Team Sona Sitri]!!]

"You'd hit a girl?!" Tsubasa asked sarcastically.

"What girl?!" shouted Ouryuu—and that was one of his biggest mistakes because the next thing Ouryuu saw was the sky of the game field.

As anger boiled in Tsubasa Yura's body, a very strained smile appeared on her face. Her body emitted a dangerous aura and she slowly marched over to Ouryuu while spinning her shields like yo-yo's.

"I'm a tomboy, I'm not feminine, I know that—but saying that I'm not a girl—I hate hearing it, Nakiri-kun," Tsubasa said menacingly. "I don't care what or who you are, this—that is one thing you don't call me."

'…Maybe I shouldn't have said that in the spur of the moment,' thought Ouryuu after he got up after being hit away.

In the distance, Loup Garou and Bova idly fought while glancing at the angry Tsubasa.

"What was that about?" Bova asked.

"…I don't know. This was the first time I saw her act like that. But I don't think your friend will win against her now," replied Loup Garou.

"Heh, that works in my favor," said Bova.

Loup looked at him questioningly, but he said that he'd explain it after the game. He agreed, and the two went back to half-heartedly punching each other as they watched the fight unfold between Ouryuu and Tsubasa.

Ouryuu readied himself, but before he could respond, he felt a powerful punch hit him in the stomach. The vibrations of the punch reverberated throughout his body, seconds later he was launched into the sky—this attack by Tsubasa Yura was followed up by her throwing her shields towards Ouryuu who managed to react on time and block them, but the power she used was too much for him, as the flames burnt him significantly and the lightning stunned him completely.

As Ouryuu slowly fell to the ground, Tsubasa appeared above him and was getting ready to kick him down. However, he finally started his counter attack which caught her by surprise. Clones of himself appeared around her and they all fired (including the original) a giant ball of touki towards her.

But in an instant her shields appeared all around her and blocked the attacks that Ouryuu sent. He didn't give up there as he pointed his hand towards the ground and forced the earth beneath him to rise and create a small platform for him and he jumped towards Tsubasa while focusing even more touki into his fist and throwing it towards her.

Ouryuu (Ryuuta) Nakiri in his [Dragon Man] form at his peak is at least a Low-tier God-class being. This was achieved after training with [Team Golden Rakshasa] and being subjected to the [Training Facility]. The same was true with Bova Tannin, as these two young men wanted to grow strong at a quick pace.

However, Tsubasa was even stronger than that, and even though they got to let loose in the tournament thanks to Aaron's barriers on the game field—they still needed to hold back a bit to ensure they didn't immediately end the game. They themselves want to enjoy the game, but they also want the crowd that's watching to enjoy the game. They had to find a balance, but still found enjoyment in it.

"Not bad, Ouryuu Nakiri-kun, but I think this is where it ends!" shouted Tsubasa. "I'm a bit sad I couldn't use my Counter Balance!"

'Ah dammit…I don't want to be a slave to Aurelia-san for a week…' thought Ouryuu as his fist inched closer to her foot that she sent towards him.

Once their attacks collided—a powerful shockwave reverberated throughout the game field—the result of the collision of powers was—

[1 [Pawn] of [Team Golden Rakshasa] retire!]

Ouryuu Nakiri wasn't angry with his loss—he was quite excited because of it, actually. This loss to him, even though he had to do a penalty game, showed him he could still get stronger. Hence, why it made him excited. To protect his two fiancés and the clan, he needed to become strong.

"I wiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!" Bova shouted as he finally used his full might against Loup Garou. To Loup's surprise, he was being overpowered rather quickly.

So he created distance between themselves and began firing a mix of magic and demonic attacks towards Bova. The dragon simply shrugged them off and countered with his own fire breath, before charging towards Loup Garou and hitting him in the chin.

Loup was surprised at his sudden aggressiveness; however, he didn't back down as the two of them began a fistfight near them. Tsubasa watched the two instead of joining in. She knew that Loup Garou, or Rugal wouldn't want his one-on-one fight to be interrupted. Loup hadn't asked for permission, but he also wanted the same thing, it didn't matter with whom.

He understood Genshirou Saji's feelings and backed him up when he asked their [King] to allow him to fight with Aurelia Le Guin. However, Loup himself was quite reserved and a man of few words. However, he still had a warrior's spirit and wanted to experience that feeling in this tournament too. He saw the exhibition match between Aaron and Sairaorg and understood that only some things can only be understood through a fight.

"Don't get…ahead of yourself…!" Loup surprised Bova as he suddenly slammed his fist into his gut, stunning him. He followed it up by kicking him in the stomach and Tsubasa joined him.

"Do you need help?" she asked.

Loup Garou breathed hard but looked at her and shook his head. "It's a man's fight…I want to experience this feeling a little longer, regardless of who wins."

Tsubasa understood his reasoning and jumped away to watch from a distance. Bova's body was covered in flames as he walked back towards Loup. An insanely large smile was on his face—he wanted this kind of battle in the tournament. A head-on collision of fists and wills. He wasn't the smartest dragon around, and he mostly knew how to talk with his fists, so the fact that Loup Garou was willing to do this with him—it made him elated.

As Bova flew towards Loup Garou, he looked back at his life so far and he didn't regret a single decision—because of those decisions, he was here today, because of those decisions he became who he is and met these people.

He knew he had to change, but for now—for this fight, he wanted to act like his old self, and use the new knowledge and power he had.

— ○ ● ○ —

In a certain section of the Rating Game field, two individuals were in a heated exchange of fists and attacks. In one end, was Aurelia Le Guin, who wasn't using her greatsword to fight Genshirou Saji. Even then, the woman known as the [Golden Rakshasa] wasn't losing to the young Dragon King at all—no, in fact, he was losing and she was winning, even though hand-to-hand combat wasn't her specialty.

Aurelia slammed her fist into Genshirou's helmet—sending the young man flying across the game field. However, the woman didn't stop there as she predicted his trajectory and appeared at the very spot he would land and caught his head.

"What's wrong, Great Dragon King Genshirou Saji? Is this all you have?" she asked and threw him to the ground.

Right now, Aurelia looked like a villain. She knew it and played the role well; she wanted the crowd to be in Genshirou's favor before she took away that hope they had. Even after he promoted to [Queen], he still stood no chance.

Genshirou stood up from the small crater he made with his body. With blood pouring out of the crevices of his armor, he balled his fist, raised his arm and pointed it at Aurelia. "I…won't be defeated that easily…bring it…!"

With a crazed grin on her face, Aurelia laughed before dashing towards the beaten and bloody Dragon King. She sent a roundhouse kick towards his face, to which he ducked and sent an uppercut towards her chin, but Aurelia also caught it with her other hand before headbutting Genshirou in the face, blowing him away again.

His technique he came up with Ruruko to wrap his lines around his body was useless because Aurelia was stronger than him. His close quarters combat skills were nothing compared to her—he never saw her using them, so he assumed that she only knew the basic—as of now, Genshirou thought that he was stupid to assume such a thing.

'Not yet…I've only looked pathetic since we started…I can't fall now and retire like this! Think outside the box!' Genshirou shouted to himself.

There were no trees, rocks, or anything else he could use to give himself an advantage—that was blown away by Aurelia earlier. Right now he only had his own body and fists, his power…was weaker than hers, so what could he do?

'Even when I fought Aaron-senpai in the Dimensional Gap…I lost quite badly. If we make it to the finals and win, won't it be a repeat?' he thought then charged towards the woman again.

He performed several faints while also launching his lines towards her. To his surprise, Aurelia let the lines grab her and drain her of some power. However, she simply recovered the lost strength, rendering his line useless. Even still, Genshirou threw several straights at her, but Aurelia ducked and avoided all of them.

She copied his own move and he avoided them too. He fired some [Blaze Black Flames] from behind him and Aurelia didn't dodge to his confusion, she let the attack hit her. With the flames on her, he used them to restrain her to the ground. However, to his utter horror, she began moving and the earth beneath them shook violently.

[W-w-w-what?! Player Aurelia is—! S-she's moving the entire field with her own body weight?!]

"You gotta be kidding me, Aurelia-sensei. What are you, a gorilla?" Genshirou asked in disbelief.

"A golden gorilla," replied Aurelia as she broke from her restraints and blew away the flames with a single breath from her mouth before appearing in front of Genshirou and elbowing his stomach.

To her surprise, Genshirou stood his ground as he tethered himself to the ground with his own lines. With a grin on his face, he punched Aurelia on the cheek sending her away!

[He got a hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit! Player Genshirou Saji finally got a hit on Aurelia Le Guin!!!]

In the stadium, the crowd went wild as they saw this. During their fight the vast majority of the crowd were cheering for Genshirou. He was the clear underdog heading into the fight and the crowd wanted him to win—if not, then at least hit her, and he just achieved that.

"I…I hit her!!!" he screamed which earned a roar of laughter from the stadium. However, he celebrated because not once in the 100 years he spent in Aaron's [Pocket Dimension] had he ever got a clean hit on Aurelia.

Today of all days…he finally got it—a clean hit on her. When the rest of [Team Sona Sitri] heard this, they cheered along for Genshirou's 'win'. To them, it was a monumental achievement. But the fight didn't end there. Aurelia got up and smiled at Genshirou.

"Ha-ha-ha! So you finally landed a clean hit on me? Well done, Saji. You're the first to graduate from there. Now then, let's continue!" she shouted and arrived in front of Genshirou who threw a punch at her.

She purposely punched his fist—completely shattering his armor, to his surprise, but he quickly regenerated it all with the help of Vritra. As they vanished from that spot, and continued to collide at various points in the game field—Genshirou's armor—his arms and hands in particular, that part kept breaking and being repaired over and over by Aurelia.

[Genshirou. If this continues, your stamina will deplete at an even greater rate. You must—]

'I know! But I can't back down—no, I can't really stop, can I?! If I run, she'll just hunt me down, if I give up, she'll be disappointed in me, everyone one will be! I challenged her in front of everyone. I can't be uncool now and run away!'

Vritra who was inside of Genshirou felt conflicted. He was his strongest host in history and he would be stuck with him for a long time. At the start, he thought he had found a semi-competent host. Genshirou was book smart, while he wasn't the best fighter, he slowly became better as he watched him grow.

He along with his comrades, the Sitri peerage grew in power and as people. As he watched them grow, he started to think differently. This was amplified even more when Ddraig, Albion (Aaron's), and the other Albion (Vali's) would sometimes visit him in Genshirou's Sacred Gear and just talk about the most mundane of things.

At first, Vritra was confused, and sat along with them listening to their stories. The adventures both Heavenly Dragons went on sounded fun. However, he also began telling them about his hosts' adventures. While they were few and far between, the others listened to him without making fun of him.

'It's fun, right?' He remembered Ddraig's words.

'Fun?' repeated Vritra, confused by his words.

'This generation—this Era, with Partner—with Aaron leading it, a lot of changes have happened right? Just imagine the places we'll all get to visit in the future, the strong enemies we'll get to face! Why don't you ask our Partner to be revived, Albion, Vritra?' said Ddraig.

Aaron's Albion nodded in agreement. 'Being brought back to life isn't terrible, and you'll also have a second home in your Sacred Gears. We can even ask Aaron to modify it like ours.'

Fun. Those words kept on ringing in Vritra's mind—his heart and soul. He lived as a powerful dragon, as one of the Dragon Kings and as an Evil Dragon, but then his life ended. For years, he drifted from host to host, his consciousness only remaining in one part of his Sacred Gear. However, in order for it to awaken, he had to have all gears combined again, which would 'partially' revive him.

All this was possible thanks to Grigori and his host. Even though he was far from being perfect, Vritra was content with his life. He didn't mind being stuck there, but the new world, the new era that he and the rest entered was too enticing.

He wanted to live and experience it alongside his host—his…friend.

[Genshirou, I'll fully support you, so let's do our best!] shouted Vritra.

'Hell yeah! Let's go, Partner!' replied Genshirou as black flames shot out of his back and he headbutted Aurelia in the chin with the sudden burst of speed.

A small change occurred with Genshirou Saji's armor—it was the beginning of something new. His previously 80% complete armor changed to 85%, as small boosters appeared from behind his armor that shot up black flames, as well as—!

Genshirou aimed his fist at Aurelia and powerful black-purple flames shot from small holes that had appeared on top of his knuckles! Surprised by the change, Aurelia swiped away the flames. However, Genshirou had closed the distance again, and this time, he headbutted her on the head, sending her away!

[Another clean hiiiiiiiit! The Great Dragon King Genshirou Saji is on a rooooooooooolllllll!!]

Genshirou retracted the helmet around his head and stared at Aurelia with a smile. "I'm far from done, Aurelia-sensei!"

Aurelia got up and smiled at him back. "Hoho? Then keep on evolving in front of me, Saji! Show me and the supernatural world what you can do!"

— ○ ● ○ —

Kento Saji stood up while clenching his fist and shouted, "Gooooooooooo!! Genshirou!!"

"Onii-chan!! Fightttt!!" shouted Gengo.

Both Kaho and Manami Saji stood there with their hands together praying for their older brother and son. All of them were worried about him as he was being beaten one-sidedly.

The Saji family were cheering hard for Genshirou right now.

— ○ ● ○ —

In the VIP booth with Aaron's group, Aaron himself sat in his seat and leaned forward. "It's coming…" he muttered. His eyes briefly glinted while he eagerly watched the match continue.

"Hmm. So Genshirou Saji will also evolve during this match?" Sairaorg asked. Various other people were in this room as they watched the match. This included [Team Rias Gremory], [Team Imperial Purpure] and even [Team Spear of the Draconic Emperor].

"Well, more like he'll finish his evolution. He was only 80% there when he attained his Balance Breaker," explained Aaron. "Just now, it increased to 85% with those boosters and flames from his fists."

— ○ ● ○ —

"Haaa…haaa…haaa…" Ruruko Nimura was panting hard. She herself couldn't achieve any kind of new evolution as the current Artificial Sacred Gear she possessed only had her regular Counter Balance.

Counter Balance is the Artificial Sacred Gear version of a Balance Breaker. It allows the user to evolve their Artificial Sacred Gears and use their full abilities.

Unlike the normal Balance Breakers, which is merely the unleashment of power that destroys the balance of the world, the Counter Balance is the opposite. Compared to genuine Sacred Gears, which are already stable by nature, this state is attained by the possessor's power being used to forcibly stabilize the Artificial Sacred Gear.

"Is this as far as you go, Ruruko?" asked Aoife. The two had been battling nonstop, but it was clear to both of them that Ruruko Nimura was running out of stamina. Meanwhile, Aoife Murphy was still full and ready to go.

"J-jeez, what's with your stamina, Aoife-chin? D-does Aaron-senpai fuck you senseless every night or something…?" she asked while panting.

As she crossed her arms, Aoife stabbed her sword into the ground. "Strangely enough, we hadn't done anything lewd yet since I came back, though I did tell him to let me approach him about it. Also…" she glanced in Aurelia and Genshirou's direction. "Are you sure about going down now? Your boyfriend is still changing and evolving even now."

Ruruko increased her own power and coughed up blood. With a grin on her face she proclaimed, "I ain't going down here yet! If Gen-chan is doing his best against Aurelia-sensei, then I'll keep going against you!"

Aoife smiled and pulled her sword out and pointed it at Ruruko. "That's what I like to hear! After this, let's go have a lot of food. It's my treat!"

"Jeez, you're as crazy as Aaron-senpai!" shouted Ruruko as the two charged at each other again.

— ○ ● ○ —