Ragnarok Tournament Part 1 of 5 - Quarter Finals Begin

Volume 005: Ragnarok Tournament

"Loki has challenged Issei to join a Rating Game tournament, to which he agreed. Now, it is time for the supernatural world to witness even the smallest, terrifying portions of the Sekiryuutei and his peerage's power."

Table of Contents:

Chapter 28: Ragnarok Tournament Part 1 of 5 - Quarter Finals Begin

Chapter 29: Ragnarok Tournament Part 2 of 5 - Quarter Finals Fin

Chapter 30: Ragnarok Tournament Part Part 3 of 5 - Semi Finals Begin

Chapter 31: Ragnarok Tournament Part 4 of 5 - Semi Finals Fin

Chapter 32: Ragnarok Tournament Part 5 of 5 - Finals

Issei's Dragons:

('Ddraig speaking telepathically')

("Ddraig talking out loud")

|'Vritra speaking telepathically'|

|"Vritra talking out loud"|

Other Dragons:

['Albion speaking telepathically']

["Albion talking out loud"]

{'Bahamut speaking telepathically'}

'A character's thoughts'

Chapter 28: Ragnarok Tournament Part 1 of 5 - Quarter Finals Begin

Sixth Heaven

Gabriel could sense the life force growing in her daughter's womb. Despite having the role of leader of the Angels that came with many responsibilities along the way, her mind was preoccupied with the fact that she was soon going to be a grandmother. Raynare is four months pregnant. Such a pill is still not easy to swallow.

She hadn't seen them in days, months for the graduates, so now is a good time as any to neglect her duties and go visit them. She teleported away.

. . . . . . .

Kuoh Academy, Japan

"What? Issei, can you say that again for me?" Sona wasn't sure if she heard him right.

"I asked if you would please add Mira into your peerage?"

Mira stood there, squirming shyly under the calculating gaze of the Student Council President while Raynare held her shoulders to comfort her. The rest of Issei's peerage was there too.

"How do you feel about this, Mira?"

She looked up at the President and smiled shyly. "I... I would be honored to join you, if you would have me."

Issei grinned. "Mira is a great replacement for Saji. Unlike Saji, she isn't a pervert, she's been training very hard on her own, is a hard-worker in all aspects of her life, a cute girl, kind, honest, loyal, oh, and did I mention she's cute? That's pretty much everything you could ever want in a peerage member. What do you say, Sona?" Mira blushed hard at Issei's complements.

Sona looked at Issei. "What's the catch? What's in it for you?"

"I'm glad you asked. All I want is for Mira to continue being in my club and living with me under the title of a 'servant.' Of course, in the end, I just want her to be happy."

"Why?" Mira asked. "Why are you doing this for me?"

He smiled warmly. It was embarrassing for him to say it in front of everyone, but he's an honest person. "Because I have a crush on you. I like you romantically." It just so happens that right as he said that, Gabriel teleported in while completely invisible.

"EHHHHHHH?!" All the girls in the Student Council Club exclaimed in shock at how easily he said such a normally embarrassing thing.

Mira blushed but smiled shyly. "I like you too, Issei." She walked up to him, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him right on the lips. From Issei's peerage, most of his girls simply blushed at the display except for Raynare, Akeno, and Kuroka.

"H-How shameless..." Arisu choked out.

Akeno placed a hand on her cheek and decided to tease the newest harem member. "Ara ara, a first kiss right after the confession? How bold. Fufu."

Mira blushed even more. "W-Well, where I come from, such a thing is part of my culture."

Issei felt a shiver of fear go down his spine. After a few seconds, they broke from the kiss, and he slowly turned his head to see a smiling Gabriel with a threatening aura.

"Issei?" Her overtly sweet tone frightened him.

"Y-Yes?!" Mira got scared and hid behind him. "What may I do for you, Gabriel?"

"I thought you were with my daughter, Raynare?"

"I am! I still am!"

"Then do you want to explain why you knocked her up and are now cheating on her?"

"G-Gabriel, I'm not cheating on Raye! She's the girl I love the most!"

"Heeeeeh? Is that so now?"

"Y-Yes." He gulped. The others watched nervously as the Seraph went yandere mom interrogation mode.

"Issei. I am going to have to punish you."

"W-What?!"

She burst out giggling. "I'm kidding! Ufufufu. You should have seen the look on your face."

Sona had a look of admiration on her face for the Angel. "Who knew Angels could be so scary! Gabriel, if I ever have children with Issei, I want to learn to be like you."

Issei ignored that. "Wait, so you're fine with me having a harem?"

Gabriel nodded. "Yes."

"Why? I thought God said to only be in a relationship with one person, and that you would follow his every order."

"Fuck God." This shocked the Devils to hear such a thing from an Angel. "I never liked him. He always forced his beliefs on other people. The world was never a good place with him in it. He's the reason why my brother Lucifer fell, and why my little Raye..." She trailed off sadly at the end of her sentence, making Issei's eyes widen.

'Is Satan's exile from Heaven related to Raye becoming a Fallen Angel?!' He thought.

Raynare felt uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was headed towards. "Mom, now isn't the time to talk about this."

Akeno was worried for the Seraph. "Won't you fall if you say such things about Him?"

Gabriel shook her head. "No because I am the leader of Heaven. Only the leader of Heaven, the one in control of Heaven's System, can express their thoughts on such matters, mainly because He is dead. If He were alive, He would silence anyone who would do such a thing. So much for being all loving and forgiving, huh?"

"Issei," Sona interrupted. "I accept your earlier proposition. I shall take Mira into my peerage. Don't worry Mira, I will treat you very well."

The younger girl smiled. "Thank you, President! I won't let you down!"

Sona came up to her. "I will now turn you into my Pawn." They watched as she was forced to use all four of her remaining Pawns that used to belong to Saji, much to their surprise.

Suddenly a new magic circle appeared in front of Sona, and out of it came a letter, smacking the Devil in the face, much to her irritation. She pulled it off her head and opened it.

"What is that, Sona?" Issei said.

"A letter, it reads the following." She began reading it out loud. "Sona Sitri, you and your peerage are hereby selected and required to participate in the Annual Rating Game Tournament."

"EHHHHHHHH?!" Her peerage shouted except Tsubaki.

She glared at them. "Let me finish. Anyway, it says there will be this tournament, like all rating games, does not allow death and uses the same system the Devils use to prevent any. However, this tournament is different as people from all Three Factions will be allowed to attend as well as deities from the following pantheons: the Norse, Greek, Shinto, and Hindu. Even the participants will surprise many. I have also sent you a pamphlet in the same envelope that contains the information on the dates of each match, as the opponents for the First Round have already been decided. By the way, you can consider this letter a direct challenge to your pathetic loser of a lover, Issei Hyoudou. Sincerely, Norse God of Mischief Loki!" Her voice raising in volume towards the end. She crumpled the paper as her eyes widened in fury. "That bastard! Has he been spying on me?! How dare he insult Issei!"

Issei was enraged too, but with a much greater control over his emotions than Sona. He didn't care much when others insulted him, but this was Loki, and to Issei, he's the same piece of shit who dared to raise a hand against one of his kin. He promised himself that he will make Loki pay.

"Us?! In the Annual Rating Game Tournament?!" Ruruko was nervous. The idea of fighting in front of so many people in attendance, much less those watching from a TV, was enough to frighten her.

Raynare stepped forward, unable to hold back her curiosity. "Sona, what does the pamphlet say?"

Sona pulled it out and read it.

Annual Rating Game Tournament

Eight judges, one from each of the Three Factions, one from the Dragons, and one from four of the trustworthy pantheons. All judges have been chosen by the Head Judge who also made all the rules:

Dragons- Bahamut (Head Judge)

Devil- Grayfia Lucifuge Gremory

Angel- Raphael

Fallen Angel- Azazel

Norse Pantheon- Odin

Greek Pantheon- Athena

Shinto- Tsukuyomi no Mikoto

Hindu Pantheon- Shiva

Commentators:

Judge Odin (Main Commentator)

Judge Azazel (Color Commentator)

Head of Dice:

Grayfia Lucifuge Gremory.

Rules:

Rule #1- Tournament Format. A total of nine groups will participate, eight in the First Round. Each match is a winner moves on, loser is eliminated from the tournament. The First Round is the Quarter Finals in which eight groups will participate except the guest of honor, Loki, a tradition that is done every year. Loki being the guest of honor means he has chosen who faces who in the First Round and who the winners will end up facing in the Second Round. The Second Round is the Semi Finals in which the remaining four will participate. The Third Round is the Finals between the last two standing. Each match can take anywhere between as little as 30 minutes to several hours.

Rule #2- No Killing. Due to technology, the participants in each fight of a match will be teleported away to another dimension to fight where death is not allowed. If, for any reason someone manages to bypass the measures put in place to prevent death, then the perpetrator will be immediately disqualified regardless of whether it was on purpose or accident; if a murder somehow happens, the criminal will be arrested by the victim's faction and tried by their court.

Rule #3- Fight Selection Via Dice. The fights that take place in each match will vary. If both groups facing each other are peerages, Evil Piece system or not, then their fights will be selected randomly using dice numbers that correspond with the minimum value of each side's chess piece.

In this case, the value of chess pieces works like this:

One Pawn is worth 1. If a person is in possession of eight Pawns, they're worth 8.

Bishops and Knights are worth 3 each.

Rooks are worth 5 each.

The Queen is worth 9.

Usually, the King does not have value, but in this tournament, each King is worth 12.

If one side's worst piece is a Knight and has no Pawns, the minimum value rolled will start off as 3 for that match, and it will keep going up as more weak pieces get eliminated from both sides, forcing the minimum number to change to the next lowest piece's value until the King is forced to play.

Both peerages will have three minutes to decide who to send out. If time runs out, the fight will be forfeited.

Rule #4- Individual Non-Peerage Fight Selection via Groups. If at least one of the two groups facing the other is not a peerage, the judges will come together before each fight and decide who will face who, regardless of each or chess value. Each individual's group format value will play a factor into the judge's decisions.

Every group participating that is not a peerage will be assigned numerical values between 1-12 for every member based off the current power level of each individual person rather than a chess piece. So someone who isn't the leader/King can still hold the value of 12. For example, if a Pawn has a 12 next to their name in the participants section, that means they're powerful enough to be a King and have their own peerage. However, not every group will have equal value, and this system is only to help the audience understand how powerful a person is. In Dice Selection, each person will always be sent out based off the value of their chess piece regardless of how powerful they really are.

Rule #5- Repetitive Fight Participants. Participants will not be allowed to enter a fight more than once unless they are given no choice but to do so due to most of their teammates being eliminated or if the judges decide the next fight shall allow consecutive participants.

Rule #6- Hail To The King. In Dice Selection matches, the King of each group decides who to send out when given the option while still having pieces not eliminated that can match the minimum value. They can send multiple pieces and only have to stay below or meet the minimum value of the dice rolled, meaning being exact is not necessary. For example, if a 5 is rolled but a peerage does not have any available Rooks, the King can choose to simply send any one Knight or Bishop alone or combine said Knight/Bishop with pieces that equal to no more than two Pawns to meet the value of 5. Another example is that if a 12 is rolled, the King could come out but choose not to and instead send any weaker piece.

Rule #7- Should any final deciding fight in a match require a vote from the judges to decide who won, the decision will need to be majority rules by the judge committee. However, regardless of who the other judges say won, even in a majority rules or tie in votes, the Head Judge has the final say in all matters.

Rule #8- The Stakes. The winner of this tournament will be given lordship as ruler over the Uhlerian Federation, or in Human terms, all Demihuman territory. This land lies in the Underworld but is beyond the territory of the Devils along with the other three Mutant Demonic Species, the Valerians (Elves), the Ainitians of the Empire of Ainitis (Witches), and the Vrell Empire (Goblins). Such a reward is a high-risk, high-reward gambit that may decrease increasing tensions between these four Mutants Demons if the Demihuman's new ruler is kind and authoritative. These tensions have been increasing too close to Devil territory recently, which is the reason why this rule was created.

Participants: Nine Groups Participating, strongest to weakest based on value number assigned at the end of each person's parentheses. Note that the value only determines the betting favorites to win it all, not the actual likelihood to win:

Peerage Issei Hyoudou (King 12), Arisu Yamauchi (Pawn 6x all mutated 12), Raynare (Queen 12), Akeno (Knight 12), Kuroka Toujou (Bishop 12), Irina Shidou (Rook 9), Rossweisse (Rook 9), Ravel Phenex (Bishop 5) Tsubasa Yura (Knight 5), and Natsuki Murayama (2x Pawn 5). 10x members with a value of 79.

Peerage Loki (King 12), Baldur (Queen 12), Magni (Rook 9), Modi (Rook 9), Rizevim Livan Lucifer (Knight 5), Indra (Knight 5), Shalba Beelzebub (Bishop 3), Creuserey Asmodeus (Pawn 1), and Katerea Leviathan (Pawn 1). 10x members with a value of 57.

Group Atlas (12), Mars (12), Jupiter (12), Pluto (9), Kronos (9). 5x members with a value of 54.

Group Crom Crauch (12), Trihexa 666 (12), Yamata no Orochi (9), Grendel (5), Aži Dahāka (5), Apophis (7 equivalent of Pawns), Niðhöggr (3), and Ladon (1). 8x members with a value of 54.

Peerage Cao Cao (King 12), Heracles (Queen 9), Georg (Rook 9), Jeanne (Rook 5), Siegfried (Knight 5), Arthur Pendragon (Knight 3), Le Fay Pendragon (Bishop 3), Leonardo (4x Pawns 4), Perseus (2x Pawns 2), Connla (Pawn 1), and Marsilio (Pawn 1). 11x members with a value of 54.

Peerage Sairaorg Bael, Kuisha Abaddon (Queen), Regulus (Pawn 7x), Gandoma Balam (Rook), Ladora Buné (Rook), Coriana Andrealphus (Bishop), Misteeta Sabnock (Bishop), Liban Crocell (Knight), and Beluga Furcas (Knight). 9x members with a value of 50.

Group Poseidon (12), Hermes (12), Ares (9), Athena (5), Artemis (5), and Apollo (3). 6x members with a value of 46.

Peerage Sona Sitri, Tsubaki Shinra (Queen), Mira (Pawn 4x), Xenovia Quarta (Knight), Kiba Yuuto (Knight), Momo Hanakai (Bishop), Reya Kusaka (Bishop), Tomoe Meguri (Knight), and Ruruko Nimura (Pawn). 9x members with a value of 41.

Peerage Thor (12), Kratos (12), Sif (Queen), Hervor (Knight), and Geir (Bishop) 5x members with a value of 39.

Schedule decided by the guest of honor, Loki:

Quarter Finals:

Day 1- Crom Crauch vs Atlas. 8 vs 5.

Day 2- Thor vs Poseidon. 5 vs 6.

Day 3- Sairaorg Bael vs Sona Sitri. 9 vs 9.

Day 4- Issei Hyoudou vs Cao Cao.

Loki gets a First Round bye and automatically advances to the Semi Finals due to too many opponents.

Semi Finals Schedule:

Day 5- Loki fights the winner of Thor vs Poseidon. Winner advances to the Finals.

Day 6- Winner of Issei Hyoudou vs Cao Cao fights the winner of Sairaorg Bael vs Sona Sitri to decrease the five groups down to four. Immediately afterwards, the victor has to battle the winner of Crom Crauch vs Atlas, and whoever wins advances to the Finals.

Finals Schedule:

Day 7- Finals between last two standing groups.

...

"Dammit! Why am I not allowed to fight?!" Vali grit his teeth in visible frustration, making Irina pat his back in comfort.

"Having two Heavenly Dragons on the same team would be unfair, meaning we would likely win before it even started," Irina reasoned. "This may be a sign of weakness on Loki's part, that deep down, he fears Dragons, especially Ddraig and Albion."

["You're goddamn right."]

Sona muttered, "So, looks like Bahamut decided to have Xenovia and Kiba fight for me without asking Rias, huh. I feel like this means we're not strong enough for Sairaorg."

Issei's hands trembled in rage when he saw the schedule. "So that's the way Loki wants to play this, huh? He's hoping my peerage will get too tired from having too frequent matches so that he or someone else can finish us off. Fucking asshole, I'll show him!"

|"Well Issei, you are powerful enough to take them all on at once now."|

("Exactly. The difference between you and them is too great. However, don't let it get to your head, partner. Arrogance is the reason God fell.")

He calmed down. "Also, I have never heard of these Mutant Demons. Are they, by any chance, related to Satan Lucifer?"

"Yes, they are." Bahamut appeared out of no where, startling them.

"B-Bahamut! What are you doing here?" Issei said, shocking the others that they are staring at the strongest Dragon God.

Bahamut smiled mischievously. "I was waiting for you to read the pamphlet. As for why I created Rule #8, those Uhlerians are very poor people that are treated unfairly by the Vrell and Ainitians. I made it because I am gambling that you will win and become their lord so that their situation can improve."

Issei's expression turned serious. "What can you tell me about these Mutant Demons? I want to know everything."

Bahamut took out a notebook and began writing down the basic information for Issei. "Well, a long time ago when God first kicked the Archangel Lucifer out of Heaven, he descended to the Underworld in search of a home and a people who would be his subjects to raise an army, a banner of rebellion. These Mutant Demons descended from Satan Lucifer who created them from his flesh. They're called Mutants because they were not supposed to happen genetically speaking. His first children were the Devils, who looked the most Human, but some of the Old Satans, the ones that are all long dead, mated with wild creatures. In short, beastiality happened, one of the grave sins of the Bible, I believe. Thus, Mutant Demons were born as the children of the Devils.

As for their characteristics, the Vrell Empire's capital city is called Inob. They're Goblins, and they have no single ruler, as they are ruled by large secret societies of Goblins who put two of their enemies, the Valerians and Uhrelians, into financial debt, as the Vrell as a whole are all very financially successful. Financial debt is a legal way of enslaving people. Vrell are a male only species that is said to be immortal. Their allies are the Ainitians.

The capital city for the Empire of Anitis is Geistenovia, which is ironic because they're Witches but the capital's name means "succubi," something that coincides with their disgusting behavior. The Ainitians are a female only species capable of self-reproducing as well as having kids with males of any species, and their offspring always turn out as an Ainitian. They openly practice enslavement of their enemies, the Valerians and the Uhlerians, especially sex slavery because they are very horny. The only important figure of Ainitis is their current Ainitian leader, Queen Ainitia V. (Note- Ainits is pronounced I-Nih-Tis, and Ainitians is I-Nee-Shuns.)

The Kingdom of Valeria's capital city is Labny, which means "beautiful." These are the Elves. They are enemies with the Vrell and Ainitians while remaining neutral towards the Uhlerians. Their current important figures are King Erz Valeria XIII, Queen Muri Valeria, Prince Ure Valeria, and Princess Marupa Valeria.

And lastly, we have the Uhlerian Federation, whose capital city is Dhimaz. They're the Demihummans, beings who look or talk like a Human but have one or more parts of their bodies that are mixed with other animals, such as dogs, cats, foxes, etc. Because of this trait, they're discriminated against by the Vrell and Ainitians, making them the poorest of the four Mutant Demons. They are governed by a group called The People's Council. (Note- The U in Uhleria is pronounced with an Ooh sound, Dhimaz is Dih-Mozz.)

The only thing these four Mutant Demons have in common is that they are all capable of magic due to their ancestry."

Issei stood up, his hair covering his eyes, flaring his aura a little, scaring the others a tad. He was very upset. "You want me to win for Uhleria, right? Well then, I'll go beyond just that. I will establish an alliance with the Valerians since you never said they're evil. Once this tournament is over, I do not intend to let Loki live. Just one thing, though. I do not want anyone in this room to talk to the Doom Slayer about this. Who knows what he will do if he finds out that they're all Demons."

"Understood."

. . . . . . .

Underworld

Tournament Day 1 of 7

Crom Crauch vs Atlas

A couple hours later, they arrived at the stadium. It was huge, and to Issei, it was like at least half of Tokyo crammed into one spot. The seat capacity is a total of 175,000, and they could already hear the excited chattering of the audience, which made them feel nervous, some more than others in particular. Kiba and Xenovia joined Sona's peerage temporarily.

Each participating group got their own hotel inside the stadium and could choose to share it with no more than one other participating group, so Issei chose to share with Sona's peerage.

On their way there, Issei saw someone who made his blood boil.

Loki was in the middle of an argument with Thor and Odin.

"You poisoned father, didn't you?!"

"Yes, I did. What are you going to do about it?" Loki lied, something he normally wouldn't do to save anyone but himself.

"Loki..." Issei growled.

"Ah, well if it isn't the Shittyruutei! I thought you would chicken out of this tournament and run away like the coward you are."

Issei glared at him. "That's funny coming from the pussy who beats innocent women who have nothing to do with you, ugly pig. I'm going to gouge out your eye balls for what you did to my girl."

Murayama blushed, but she was slightly turned on by Issei's willingness to fight for her.

Loki smirked condescendingly. "Really now?! I would like to see you try!" He turned to Odin. "King Odin, I am so confident that I am going to win this tournament that I will make a bet with you."

Odin blinked. He didn't like where this was going. "Hm? What kind of bet?"

"If I win this tournament, you have to unleash Ragnarok on Earth."

"I ought to beat you silly!" Thor tried to lunge at him but was held back by a beautiful buxom woman with curly blonde hair and beautiful emerald eyes, his wife and Queen Sif.

Odin frowned. "What's in it for me?"

Loki turned to Issei. "The question is what is in it for the Shittyryuutei?"

Issei, much to the Norse god's surprise and annoyance, smiled maniacally. "If we meet in this tournament, then let's make it a fight to the death between only the Kings while everyone else doesn't die. If I win it all, I get to take you as my prisoner so that I can interrogate you before I kill you." Not that he was going to give Loki a choice.

"Agreed," Odin and Loki said.

Issei scoffed as Loki held out his hand to shake, ignoring the now enraged god by walking past him. "Let's go, everyone."

Sona and everyone else nodded.

"I-Issei, isn't this too risky making a bet that puts the lives of everyone on Earth at risk?" Ruruko asked nervously.

"No because I am confident that I can win and that he won't. Unlike Loki, I am not cocky."

"Eh?"

He sighed as he placed a hand on the girls head and pet her, making her blush. "Let's just say that this will be an easy victory since we trained harder than anyone ever has. Will it be clean? No because I am sure that some of my pieces will be eliminated at some point, but it won't matter. Even if they manage to force me out early, I will still win."

Before they could go, a voice stopped them. "Hey, wait!"

Issei turned around to see a beautiful girl with long hot pink hair that can only be described as wild since it's all over the place as strands of her hair curved in all directions. She also has amber eyes, looking no older than her early 20's."Can I help you?" He said politely.

"I'm Hervor, the Knight of Thor. I just wanted to say what most of us participating in this tournament won't say, and that's that we are all rooting for you, Sekiryuutei! Well, at least some of us are. Cao Cao, Atlas, Crom Crauch, and that Loki probably aren't." She smiled and winked at him, earning a blush.

Sif pouted. "No fair, Herv! Sekiryuutei is like a cute son to me. Good luck in the tournament, Issei! Go get 'em, boy!" She gave Issei a thumbs up and wink.

"What am I, a dog?!" Issei shouted with a blush, making them giggle. 'She's Amaterasu 2.0!'

Ddraig cackled. ('Indeed she is.')

"I'm Sif, by the way. Nice to meet you."

He shook her hand as they smiled at each other. "I'm Issei Hyoudou, the Sekiryuutei. You and Hervor can just call me Issei."

"Sorry about these two idiots. They can be quite the handful," A third girl said with an amused smile. She is wearing a mage's long robes that conceal her sizable chest and only show her face and hair. She has shoulder-length black hair and red eyes. "My name is Geir, Thor's Bishop. Good luck out there!"

He nodded. "Thank you."

They all brought a takeout meal for dinner and all filled Vali's bedroom to watch the first fight.

. . . . . . .

A/N: Odin and Azazel's dialogue will be italicized

"Welcome everybody to the Annual Rating Game Tournament!" Odin's voice boomed over the stadium speakers as well as the TV microphones of those watching from different locations, surprising many with how much energy the old man has. Those in attendance cheered excitedly. "This is a historic moment as this is the first ever Rating Game that isn't exclusive to the Devils only. We have Angels in attendance as well as Fallen Angels, members of the good pantheons such as the Norse, the Greek, the Shinto, and the Hindu. Of course, because we are at war with the Khaos Brigade, only those we think we trust were allowed in, but this is still huge, isn't it, Azazel?" He turned to the leader of the Fallen Angels who sat next to him in the front row of seats reserved for the judges.

"Indeed, it is. This is a good step in the right direction in the name of peace, an idea that certain despicable rogue individuals of the Three Factions do not support such as Kokabiel, who was murdered in self-defense by the Sekiryuutei a few months ago, as well as the Old Satans. Unfortunately, there are still Rogue Fallen Angels out there who either followed Kokabiel or the Khaos Brigade, but regardless, let's just forget about them for now, focus on this tournament, and above all, have a good time. And speaking of this tournament, I have heard many people voice their concerns regarding the choices made for those given the important role of a judge in this tournament, you and I included, to which I have to say that Bahamut and the people he has chosen are strictly very unbiased and fair."

Odin turned to the camera. "Agreed. And now, join us as we will now begin the first match between the Dragon known as Crom Crauch and the... Greek Titan known as Atlas."

A few among the crowd know the schedule and who's participating since they were able to see the pamphlet, but the vast majority did not, so they gasped in surprise.

"Atlas?!"

"That name's familiar. Isn't that... Zeus' brother or something?"

"Yeah, his half-brother."

Issei got up as Odin explained the rules. "Be right back. I'm going to get another slice of pizza." He poured himself some Dk Pepper, earning a weird look from Sona.

"That drink is disgusting. It tastes like cough syrup."

"Silence! I will not allow you to slander the name of this holy concoction!"

"Calm down, Okabe." Vali joked.

First Fight

"And now, the first fight of this match has been determined by the judges. No, this isn't scripted as we quickly talked telepathically. This one will be between the Dragon known as Ladon and the Greek Titan Kronos."

More tumultuous conversing.

"Kronos?! Zeus' father?!"

"Why is he here?!"

"I thought he was frozen in the Cocytus!"

"He was!"

Both participants, as according to tradition, walked up a staircase, onto a platform, and respectfully shook each others hands. Then, they told the judges that they're ready, teleporting away.

The location was a version of the Arctic Circle. The ocean waters were completely frozen, and the enormously tall glaciers they stood in had a few narrow paths and caves.

Ladon summoned a barrier. "Let's see if you can get through my barrier!"

He set up a massive vanilla-white colored barrier, but before he could strengthen it, it shimmered as it suddenly died when Kronos lunged forward and punched it, his blue hair flying backwards in the wind, his blue eyes wide with excitement.

"I'm gonna get ya, Ladon! It's over!"

The barrier broke, and before the Dragon could react, he was punched hard and sent flying into a glacier, causing a landslide from the resulting explosion.

"Fight over! Kronos wins!" Odin announced.

Kronos smirked as he was teleported back, calmly walking back to his group.

"That was amazing, dad!" Atlas praised, despite being their King.

"Hmph. It should be expected. Your praise is unnecessary, but thanks."

Odin: "Azazel, what did you think of that previous match?"

Azazel: "Well, with all due respect, Kronos is far more powerful than Ladon, so it was to be expected. At least he tried."

Odin: "Indeed. The next match has been decided! From Crom Crauch's group is Apophis and Niðhöggr vs Pluto from Atlas' group!"

"EHHHHHHH?! The Grim Reaper?!"

Second Fight

This fight took place in a fiery landscape. As soon as they teleported, Niðhöggr began attacking. His body oozed corrosive clouds, the stench forcing Pluto to hold his breath, unable to attack.

"What are you trying to pull?!" Pluto shouted.

Niðhöggr grinned sadistically. "Nothing. Just trying to buy time for my partner."

"Hm?!"

Apophis was transforming into his Dragon form.

His true goal was to prevent Pluto from moving while Apophis transformed into his Dragon form, and he succeeded. Apophis turned himself into a 100 meter black Dragon with silvery gems all over his body.

"Shadows, attack!" On Apophis' command, hundreds of dark silhouettes appeared and launched themselves at the Grim Reaper.

Pluto didn't see it, but he felt it. A sudden wetness under his shoes forced him to look down. "What?! I can't move!" The black water held him in place and slowly rose, continuously damaging the Reaper. Pluto was annoyed. "This is getting no where." He tapped his stick onto the ground, unleashing a shockwave of a powerful aura, making the shadows retreat. "Surrender now, and Hades will have mercy on your soul when you die."

"Tell him to goooo tooo HEEEEELL!" Niðhöggr, now also transformed into a 20 meter long Dragon, lunged towards the Grim Reaper with a war cry. "Huuuaaaaaahhhh!"

The Grim Reaper sighed. "So be it. Perish." He swung his scythe, causing a blinding white flash of light.

Odin: "Both Niðhöggr and Apophis have retired! Pluto wins!"

The crowd cheered.

"I'd expect nothing less of a Grim Reaper!"

"Yeah!"

Azazel: "I think they were able to inflict some damage on Pluto before he managed to finish them off."

Odin: "Indeed. Now, we will step aside for a commercial break. Stay tuned."

Issei scoffed. "Man, is that all they got? What a let down."

Vali agreed.

In the audience, specifically a booth for each upper class family, Sirzechs was fuming. "Why would Loki allow Evil Dragons to participate?"

Serafall looked at him curiously. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that this whole thing feels so weird. If there are any Khaos Brigade affiliates here, all they're trying to do is gather information on our fighting capabilities."

"Are you saying you suspect Loki?"

"Odin does. I don't see why I shouldn't."

Third Fight

"And we're back! For those of you just joining us, we are now about to start the third fight of the first match. This one is going to be good, ladies and gents! I give you Grendel and Aži Dahāka vs Jupiter and Mars!"

"Jupiter?! Pluto's brother?!"

"What are you, some kind of mythology nerd?"

"This is a big deal! Mars, too! That's the Roman God of War!"

This battle took place in the foot hills of a mountain range. The landscape is grassy without any snow.

"Hey, mushroom beard. Why do you look exactly like Zeus?" Aži Dahāka insulted.

Jupiter felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance. "Because I'm Zeus' long lost twin brother."

"EHHHHHH?!" Practically everyone in the stadium screamed.

Athena was shocked. "My father... I wonder how he is going to react."

Somewhere in a booth, Zeus was speechless and incomprehensible. "I thought the Greek and Romans never mixed."

His wife Hera said, "Well, the Cocytus was made by Uranus, so..."

Grendel hissed. "Enough talk. Let's fight!" He had a psychotic smile on his face as he transformed into his Dragon form and tried to lunge at them.

However, a stoic Mars, a young man with golden eyes and red hair, simply launched a massive blast of dark explosive magic. "Disappear," His deep voice said without emotion.

Odin: "Grendel and Aži Dahāka have retired! Mars and Jupiter win!"

The crowd was in a frenzy.

"Loki decided that Crom Crauch would face Atlas, but seeing this..."

"Yeah, seems pretty unfair."

"Is he trying to make a statement by humiliating the Dragons?"

"Evil Dragons, let me correct you."

"Who cares? They're all the same to me."

"Idiot! You're going to get yourself killed! It's not just the Sekiryuutei and Hakuryuukou here. So are Bahamut, Great Red, and Ophis!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

"Hmph. Arrogant Devil."

The crowd was right. Issei just about fell asleep throughout the rest of the fight. To him, it was a snooze fest in which Crom Crauch was getting his ass kicked despite outnumbering Atlas 8 to 5. The only Dragons who put up a decent fight were Yamata no Orochi and Trihexa 666, who the crowd was scared of for some reason unbeknownst to Issei and co.

Tournament Day 2 of 7

Thor vs Poseidon

It was time for the 2nd match. This is one that Issei and co attended, sitting near the front seats.

"Welcome back everybody! I'm Odin sitting here with my partner, Azazel. We've got a good one for you tonight between my son, the Norse God of Thunder, Thor, vs the Greek God of the Seas, Poseidon."

"Yeah, this should be a great battle, magnificent even. Now this is going to be treated as a group battle again because even though Thor has a peerage, Poseidon doesn't. For those of you who didn't watch yesterday's match between Crom Crauch and Atlas, here are the rules." Azazel began explaining the rules while Odin then introduced the members of both groups.

First Fight

"And now, for our very first fight, we have the twin gods of Greece, brother and sister, Apollo and Artemis!"

"BOOOOOOOO! Artemis, you suck! Fuck you, bitch!" All the male Fallen Angels, who were somehow not being pervs for her, booed Artemis since she's known for her hatred of men. The Angels looked at them with disapproval due to their over-the-top reaction while the male Devils found themselves staring at them with awe and admiration but then had some female Devil pull their ears, whether it's their wives or someone else.

The clergymen, on the other hand, hated seeing the look in the male Devil's faces, absolutely loathing the idea of any kind of peace between the Three Factions, especially between the Devils and Fallen Angels who they wanted to see tear each other apart. They had already been not allowed to wear a cross out in the open.

Gabriel already knew these priest's disgusting thoughts, which is why she watched from her own booth instead of sitting with the likes of them.

Azazel snorted. "Damn, this crowd sure hates Artemis."

Athena let out a giggle she stifled at first. "I can't say you didn't have this coming, sis."

Artemis glared at her. "Shut up! What would those mindless chimps know other than to sit there and screech?!"

"That... Your behavior, your hatred of men is exactly the reason why they hate you."

Some of the men sitting closest to the front who heard her looked at Athena with admiration. "Athena truly is an Angel!"

She smiled at them. "Well, Goddess, but thank you! I appreciate the complement."

"Versus the Knight of Thor, Hervor!"

The smiling pinkette received raucous applause, which pissed Artemis off.

"Go Hervor!" Issei cheered. She smiled at him and blew a kiss his way, making many men around Issei glare at him while he blushed.

They were teleported to the middle of a jungle, except they couldn't see each other, so they quickly realized that they must be far from each other and have to hunt one another.

Artemis being the Goddess of Hunt would normally give her an advantage if her target didn't know she was coming, but they do know and are actively trying to kill her as well. She held out her bow and arrow while moving forward as quickly and quietly as she could. A good camping spot was exactly what she found, so she decided to wait for her opponent to come to her.

Suddenly...

"Apollo has retired!"

'How?!' Artemis thought. Her twin brother was so pathetic that he died off camera. 'Brother, you idiot!'

After several minutes, she heard a twig snap in the direction she was looking. Pulling her bow string, she waited for the enemy to come into view.

Hervor showed up with warm smile on her face, her large black sword Tyrfing in hand. It has a large light blue gem on the guard, but most notably, it was slathered in blood. Apollo's blood.

Artemis felt her blood boil. 'This bitch... How could she be so happy to murder my brother?!'

Hervor had the urge to hum as she usually did when she was out in the wilderness and found a rather beautiful place, but she didn't want to alert the enemy. Her thoughts were cut short when she was heard something whizzing towards her. Sensing danger, she didn't have time to react when the arrow hit her in the head and stuck into her skull. She collapsed.

Odin was about to call the fight over, but...

'No. This isn't over until either Hervor's head comes off or Athena suffers a fatal blow.' Bahamut said to him.

"What? Why hasn't Hervor been teleported out of there already? Something isn't right here..." Issei muttered.

Artemis smirked. "You aren't so special now, are you, bitch?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Zeus frowned seeing this, knowing he would have to have a talk with Artemis later about preferably not trying to make the Norse, mainly Thor, his enemy.

"What's so funny, child?" A voice startled Artemis. She was horrified to see Hervor stand up, pull the arrow out of her head, and look at her with a sinister smile. "Stupid daddy's girl. You really think you could kill me? I'm an Einherjar! I'm immortal!"

"W-What?! Impossible!"

"What a wonderful observation. How astute of you," was the sarcastic response. Hervor suddenly jumped up a tree and leapt from branch to branch towards the Goddess of the Hunt, who was terrified, rapidly aiming her bow back and forth, trying to find her target's position. For the first time in Artemis' life, she was the prey. The pinkette threw herself at the Greek Goddess and drop kicked her before she proceeded to stab her in the chest. "28 stab wounds! (78)"

"Artemis retires! Thor's Knight Hervor wins!"

"YEAH!" The fan boys cheered and chanted Hervor's name over and over.

Second Fight

"The next match is Athena vs Thor's Bishop, Geir!"

The environment for this one was the sky, both floating in the air as Geir had her wings out. She was the first to attack, lunging from a hundred meters away, quickly covering the distance, sword in hand. The Valkyrie's slashes were inhumanly fast, earning gasps of surprise from the audience at how quick she moved to the point where they could barely keep up, but Athena dodged all of them casually, which only served to infuriate the Bishop.

"Sorry about this, but I am going to counterattack you now. It's nothing personal," Athena said softly as she suddenly blasted Geir with a surge of freezing wind, sending her flying back.

Geir rubbed her eyes from the cold only to be met with a scorching fire.

"Thor's Bishop Geir has retired! Athena wins!"

Issei deadpanned, "Well, that was anti-climactic."

Third Fight

"This next one is between Athena, who the judges have agreed to send on consecutive fights, and Sif, Thor's Queen!"

When the battle started, both fighters launched spell after spell at each other, primarily fire. Athena was forced to block since Sif attacked too fast.

Sif blew a large volley of fire, but Athena countered it by using wind to blow it away. However, Thor's Queen anticipated this, and created a blue worm hole that sucked up all the fire.

Athena's eyes widened. "Aw crap!" She was forced to summon her Aegis shield, a circular-shaped shield with Medusa's face engraved in the middle.

However, she wasn't quick enough to react. A purple worm hole appeared just behind her and unleashed the flames directly onto the Greek Goddess of Wisdom. It then turned blue and cleared out all the smoke once the flames settled.

Athena groaned in pain. "A-Aaugh." She heard Sif's footsteps from behind as the Queen placed both feet onto her arms to prevent her from getting up. Athena winced. "F-Finish me..."

Sif nodded. "Very well. It was a good fight, Athena." The buxom, more mature-looking woman than her opponent smiled at her, making Athena blush but then briefly yelp in pain when Sif trapped her into a cube of ice that shattered, making the Goddess disappear.

"Athena has retired! Thor's Queen, Sif has won the fight!"

The crowd's reaction was mixed to be expected.

"No! Athena-sama!" All the fanboys yelled.

"Well, at least Sif made it fast."

"I want her to hurt me, too!" That last one earned small glares from Thor, who didn't appreciate people sexually fantasizing about his wife openly, or at all for that matter.

Azazel grinned. "Well, I can't say that I expected Thor's Queen to beat a Goddess as powerful as Athena. I guess it goes to show to not judge a book by its cover."

Fourth Fight

"Agreed. Some fights in this tournament are going to be obvious who wins before they even start, but others will have close battles and upsets. Anyway, let's move on to the next fight, which will be between Hermes vs Kratos, Sif, and Hervor!"

The crowd was in an uproar of surprise, and Issei agreed with them. "A 1 vs 3? Seems a little unfair, especially with Kratos with those three."

Raynare shook her head. "Hm. I don't know about that. I've met Hermes before when I once served under Azazel and Hermes needed to see him for something. Even though I have never seen him fight, he kept his power hidden which means that he must be really strong."

Meeting on the stage, they shook hands.

Kratos stared at the young-looking Hermes with a stoic but battle-ready expression. "Hmph. Get ready to die, boy." Suddenly, Kratos smiled, something he's infamous for not doing, and this one was maniacal.

Somewhere in the bleachers, Atreus facepalmed.

Hermes wasn't scared of Sif or Hervor, but Kratos... He was someone that the Greek messenger god would prefer to avoid unless they fight on the same side. Seeing him smile sent shivers down his spine.

When they teleported, this fight took place on a large beach.

Kratos barked orders to the other two. "Sif, Hervor, provide support for me while I deal with this boy."

"Understood!" They began firing fire, ice, and lightning while using wind to try to keep Hermes at bay.

The crowd laughed.

"He sure loves saying b o y!"

Kratos' threw his battle axe, but Hermes ran out of the way at inhuman speeds that were impossible to follow for everyone but Kratos. The axe flew back to the hands of its possessor mid-flight.

"Fear my Symbol of Hope, Caduceus!" He summoned his golden spear-like staff.

Before Hervor could react, Hermes was already in front of her. He did a full 360 spin as he swung the staff and decapitated the Knight.

"Thor's Knight Hervor has retired!"

Hermes pocketed the spear-staff and pulled out his sword. "This is Argeiphontes. It's not the prettiest blade, but it will do." However, he would never be able to use it.

He casually dodged a lunging Kratos while using telekinesis to lift Sif off the ground. As Kratos, who was using his two chained Blades of Chaos to attack, Hermes threw Sif in the way of her ally and used her as a shield right as Kratos swung the fiery blades downwards, instantly taking out Sif.

"Thor's Queen Sif has retired!"

Kratos roared, putting his Blades of Chaos away. He activated his Spartan Rage mode, making him far too quick for the messenger god as the God of War pummeled him with his bare hands and a war cry of, "Boy! Boy! Boy!" with every strike. "BOY!!!" Kratos roared as he forced Hermes off the ground with an upper cut and then proceeded to slam him down with both arms, causing massive cracks to appear in the sand.

"Hermes has retired! Dad of B o y wins!"

After much cheering, Odin announced the next contestants.

Fifth and Final Fight

"Now, onto the final fight of this match. We have Thor and Kratos vs Poseidon and Ares!"

The four competed in a very large dark blue colored circular arena.

Ares wanted revenge for his half-brother Hermes. Despite being a 'good god' to an extent, he was still a psychopath. "Kratos! This is for-"

He was cut off by Kratos' axe, the blade cleanly chopping his head off. "You will not interfere with their battle, boy."

"Ares has retired!"

Seeing this, Zeus facepalmed. "Their fighting skills are so rusty! The only one of them worthy of my praises is Athena! Hopefully, brother can do better."

His hopes would come to fruition as Poseidon put on quite the display, but could he get the results they wanted by winning?

As Thor pulled out Mjolnir, pointed it to the sky, and charged up a lightning attack, Poseidon was already onto him. He pointed his Trident at Thor and suddenly dropped a large maelstrom of water onto him while using his wind magic to try to keep his opponent trapped in it, hoping to drown him.

Thor was having none of it, however, and shot the lightning at Poseidon. The Greek God of the Sea had no time to block due to being occupied with his offensive. The bolts traveled along the moisture in the air that originated from Poseidon, hitting him right in his Trident and traveling to his arms, shocking him.

"Oh my. Thor nearly retired due to a lack of oxygen, but he was able to get out of it. He's far more cunning than people give him credit for," Azazel stated.

Thor gasped and coughed for air, falling forward onto his hands and knees at the same time Poseidon did, but he recovered much quicker. Grabbing Mjolnir and slowly walking over to Poseidon, who summoned dozens of water spirits and mermaids. They attacked Thor, but seeing how the god kept pushing forward, shrugging off any hits, Poseidon panicked.

Thor dropped the hammer onto the god's chest, who tried to lift it off but wasn't able to.

"You are not worthy of Mjolnir," Thor pulled out his axe, Stormbreaker, swung it down, and killed Poseidon while Kratos watched.

"Poseidon has retired! Thor has won and will be advancing to the Second Round to face Loki!"

The crowd cheered. At the end of the day, despite liking some of the Greek gods, they found themselves rooting more for the Norse, at least Thor, because unlike Apollo, Artemis, and Ares, Thor wasn't nowhere nearly as arrogant as them. They like Athena, who is very popular for her kindness and wisdom, but the Greek fandom ends at that.

Issei sighed. "I can't say I didn't see that coming."

Tournament Day 3 of 7

Sona vs Sairaorg

A couple days later, it was time for the second match of the tournament in which Sona would face Sairaorg, yet another seemingly unfair match, at least at first glance. Issei felt insulted. Was Loki putting them together like how he did Crom Crauch and Atlas to send a message to him about Dragons as a whole, thinking that they're inferior? About the people he cares about?

Currently, Sona was in the locker room with her peerage and Issei. He could tell tell they were nervous judging from the way Kiba tightly gripped his sword, how Momo paced back and forth, how Ruruko and Mira were freaking out, and how Sona tapped her foot repeatedly, so he felt the need to say something. They all looked at him when he spoke.

"Guys, chill out. Forget about what the media is saying about how Sairaorg is the heavy favorite. Forget about the crowd. Just focus on yourself, your teammates, and your King. If you want to win, go out there and take it from them. This is your time to shine!"

They all stopped trembling and breathed a sigh of relief before they smiled at him with determination.

"Thanks, Issei." Sona nodded.

Their nerves were still on edge, but they were more focused as they walked down the tunnel with Odin introducing them all one by one. Sona looked to a corner of the audience to see Issei and his peerage near a front row as they cheered them on.

Issei stood up and cheered, "Go Sona! Give it your all! If you need any encouragement, I'll give you lots of kisses and hugs later!"

'What are you, Great Red?' Raynare sweatdropped.

Arisu buried her face in her hands in chagrin. 'He's reminding me of dad! Not good!'

Sona blushed and glared at him. "Stop embarrassing me!"

The Devils in attendance began murmuring to each other about this.

"EHHHHHH?!"

"Kisses and hugs?!"

"The Sitri heiress is dating the Sekiryuutei?!"

"Why is that such a surprise to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Dragons are known for having harems, too. At least in that sense, they're like us."

"Hey, doesn't that make him allied with us Devils? Perhaps he can work for us!"

The Angels and Fallen Angels glared at the High Class Devil who said that, not liking the idea of the Devils recruiting the Sekiryuutei's, whether by force or loyalty.

"No, you idiot! He has no loyalty!"

"Yeah, he left the Gremory because they were using him, remember? Plus, he killed all those corrupt nobles."

"If you want to die, don't bring that up!"

"Why not? They deserved it. I say good on him, he did the right thing."

"I agree."

"Me too."

"I as well."

Odin's voice interrupted any further discussion of the Red Dragon Emperor.

"This is the first Dice Selection match! The person in charge of rolling the dice is judge Grayfia Lucifuge Gremory, and the process is all electronic. It's not really a dice, but you get the point. Hehe. All she has to do is press a button on the laptop in front of her, and the numbers will show on the jumbotron. Whenever you are ready, Grayfia."

She nodded. "Yes, Lord Odin." Pressing a button, the randomized numbers moved on the jumbotron like a slot machine within a range of 1-12. Eventually, it landed on 3.

"The value is 3! You also have 3 minutes starting now to discuss before you tell us, the judges, who you wish to send." A countdown appeared on the screen.

Both sides turned to each other and began discussing, huddled closely so they can talk and no one can read their lips. The judges had already cast a magic barrier between the audience and participants as well as the two groups to prevent any eavesdropping. Only important information was automatically blocked. Trash talk and other conversations weren't. The only ones who could hear absolutely everything being said by both teams are the judges.

Sona said, "Listen, Sairaorg is very likely to send his worst Knight or Bishop. We should do the same and hope we can win. If we manage to somehow take out their pieces with ours when they have the clear advantage over every single one of us, then we have a chance. It's like Issei said, Sairaorg may be powerful, but the only way we can win is if we believe in ourselves. We're the underdogs, so let's make this work!"

"Yeah!"

"With that being said, I'm choosing Reya..." Sona stood from her collapsible seat. "Judges, I have decided to send out my Bishop Reya Kusaka."

Bahamut nodded. "Very well. Lock that in. Team Sitri has chosen Bishop Reya Kusaka."

Sairaorg stood up with a dead serious look. "I have chosen my Bishop Misteeta Sabnock."

First Fight

The two walked onto the stage, shook hands, nodded at the judges to let them know that they're ready, and teleported to the battlefield. It was a flat desert landscape with a few cacti.

Reya held her hands above her head, charging up a black orb that increased in size.

"What is that?" Tsubasa said.

"She will try to drain his mana," Raynare responded.

Reya launched the attack at the small light green-haired boy. However, the orb disappeared mid flight. "What the hell?!" She was confused. Suddenly, she was surrounded by a circle a of purple flames. Her body began feeling weak as she fell on her hands and knees.

Misteeta walked forward. "This is my sacred gear, Trick Vanish. I have sealed your abilities including all your magic. You are about to go to sleep. Hmph. It's too bad that you're such a pathetic little weakling."

Her eyes felt heavy as she looked up at him. "Damn you..." She collapsed and fell asleep.

"Bishop Reya Kusaka has retired. Misteeta Sabnock is the winner!"

Sona felt her breath hitch, but they tried to move on. However, the person most hung up on Reya's loss was her best friend Momo, who was enraged.

"That little shit!" She shouted, frightening Ruruko and Mira.

Tsubaki put a hand on Momo's shoulder. "Hey, we'll get our chance for revenge later. For now, stay focused."

Momo heeded the Queen's words and bit her tongue with a simple nod.

Second Fight

The dice was rolled, landing on a 3 again.

"This time, I'm sending out Tomoe." Sona announced.

"What?!" Momo protested.

Bahamut spoke into his microphone. "Team Bael has chosen their other Bishop, Coriana Andrealphus."

Sona sighed. "Listen Momo. That anger you feel, hold onto it for later down the match. Right now, you're too emotional and won't be able to fight with a clear mind, but if you are able to control your rage and turn it into a vengeful wrath, then the wait will be worth it. I know you're frustrated, but as your King and your friend, please have some patience."

Momo was surprised. It wasn't often that her King made such a speech. She reluctantly nodded. "Fine."

After the subsequent announcement and teleportation, the fighters immediately began attacking.

"Take this!" Coriana launched a wave of ice at Tomoe, who flew upwards using her wings. She pulled out her sword which was infused with fire. Seeing the Knight headed straight for her, Coriana shot projectile after projectile of ice. "Are you insane? Fire cannot beat water!"

Tomoe smiled and calmly responded, "It can if the amount of water used isn't enough."

"You're suicidal."

She moved to Coriana's right, who began shooting ice in that direction only to miss.

"What?!"

Coriana felt an enormous deal of pain. Her eyes widened when she looked down and saw her right arm was missing, the socket spewing blood. She howled in agony.

"Of course, she wouldn't lose any actual body parts since this is just a simulation..." Tomoe said from behind the Bishop, holding a flaming sword to her neck. "You won't really get hurt... But if only you did..."

"H-How did y-you-"

"get behind you? Simple teleportation. Now then... This is for my friend, Reya. Hmph. It's too bad your middle-school looking Bishop had to taunt us. If only he kept his stupid mouth shut, none of this would have happened." She swung her sword and decapitated Coriana, making many Devils and Fallen Angels cheer at the gory blood, making the Angels present feel a little uneasy, mainly because even their Church representatives were also smiling at the sight.

The Bishop would later wake up in the stadium's hospital wing.

"Sairaorg's Bishop Coriana Andrealphus has retired! Knight Tomoe Meguri wins!"

Misteeta glared daggers at Tomoe as he stood up when she teleported back, stomping his feet on the ground repeatedly. "I'm not in middle-school, I'm 17! Ugh, everytime!"

Tomoe, who heard his voice, giggled. "Pish posh, those are little irrelevant details, little boy. And it's not good to lie about your age, you know? You're probably no more than 12." His screams of rage brought her much joy. "What's important is an eye for an eye."

Sairaorg, who had his eyes closed, hummed. "Hm. It's best that we do not insult them, Misteeta. You have provoked their wrath. I suggest all of you do not do it again."

Third Fight

The dinging sound of the numbers rolling made them turn to the jumbotron as it landed on a 10.

Sona frowned. "That complicates things."

Mira stared at her with confusion, being one of the girls newest to the peerage alongside Ruruko. "Eh? How so?"

"Now, there are multiple possibilities. This is where the two Kings try to outsmart each other. How do I anticipate Sairaorg's next move? What will he do? That sort of thing. I could use the input of my peerage here since I'm pretty smart, but I don't think I'm as intelligent as him. What do you guys think?"

The judges briefly cracked small smiles at Sona, knowing she said the truth. If the King does not lead, then their subordinates will not follow (79). However, it's also good to ask for help from the followers when they need it while not being overly reliant.

Tsubaki pushed her glasses up her nose. "I think you should send out Kiba, Xenovia, and Mira."

Mira squeaked. "E-Eh?! Me?! This early?!"

The Queen grinned. "Mira, I can tell you're nervous, but the longer you sit there, the more anxious you will get. The more anxious you get, the higher the chance that you will perform poorly due to stage fright. Don't think of it as getting this over with, but rather an opportunity to prove yourself and get the results you want. As for Sairaorg, it's too early for him to send out his seven-piece Pawn. The only other possibility to worry about is if he sent out his Queen, but at such an early stage, that's very risky."

Sona nodded. "That's what I thought as well. Alright then. Kiba, Xenovia, and Mira, you're up."

The judges announced the picks. Issei rubbed his hands together, feeling a bit anxious when he saw Mira go up.

Five people were brought to another dimension. The three Sitris were fighting Sairaorg's two Rooks, Gandoma Balam and Ladora Buné. Both were very muscular older men who silently stared down their opponents.

"Kiba, give me a sword."

He looked at Xenovia. "I thought you had Excalibur?"

She shook her head. "Not anymore, no. It disappeared from my hands that day when Issei came and rescued Koneko and you from Kokabiel before it merged with Issei's five Holy Swords."

The crowd was in uproar again, mainly the Devils and clergymen, glaring at the Sekiryuutei.

"Five Holy Swords?! He's going to kill us all!"

"Give back those swords, thief!" A clergyman demanded.

An Angel slammed a hand onto the priest's mouth before nervously chuckling at Issei. "S-Sorry. You can have them."

The Devils were enraged. "Are you trying to get us killed?!"

They all shut up when they suddenly felt a threatening aura coming from Issei, who leaked only a very small bit of his full capabilities. "All of you... Shut. up. I have six Holy Swords now, but I do not plan to use them on Devils who aren't a threat to me. As for the church... Well, you are very corrupt and have caused enormous suffering in the Human world, so I will have to kill all of you as well. Not that any of you will ever be able to stop me, just giving you a heads up so that you can continue shitting yourself. Now let me watch this in peace."

The priests trembled in horror.

The tension slowly dipped as everyone looked back at the screen.

Kiba was the first to strike. "Sword Birth!" He created swords from the ground headed in two different directions, both after the opposing Rooks who merely slapped away the attack much to Kiba's shock.

Seeing this, Xenovia charged from Ladora's side and attempted to strike with a winding attack only to get kicked away. She coughed as she landed several feet away. Ladora grabbed the Gremory Knight by her collar and tossed her into a canyon wall, resulting in a small explosion.

"Xenovia Quarta has retired. What do you make of that, Azazel?"

"She's very slow. Both of Sairaorg's Rooks are capable of wielding two Holy Swords each."

"T-Two?! Oh wow. Well, she can certainly wield my sword any day if you know what I mean heh heh heh. Ahem, anyway, back to the fight..."

Kiba grit his teeth in anger. His speed increased tenfold, and Ladora had barely any time to react as the Knight charged at him, cut off his right arm, and stabbed him in the stomach. He had to let go of the sword and jump back when the Rook swung at him, missing.

Ladora grabbed the sword by the bottom of the blade, pulled it out, and crushed it with his bare hands.

Seeing Mira all alone, Gandoma charged forward to attack her, throwing vicious punch after punch, forcing her to dodge.

Mira's eyes widened as her focus increased. 'Crap! This guy is fast! Luckily, his technique could use work. If he punched lower, he might hit me, but maybe he doesn't want to risk me flanking him if he does so? Hm. I'll just have to do what I can to tire him out.' Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ladora spitting out blood, looking disoriented while fending off Kiba's sword birth. A smirk played at her lips.

She jumped back to gain enough distance from Gandoma. "Promotion Knight! Kiba-senpai! I have an idea!"

He grit his teeth and answered her back without looking, busy fighting. "What kind of idea?!"

"It involves friendly fire!"

This confused the two huge men. They thought, 'Friendly fire? What's that?' Having never heard the term, they imagined a bonfire with people holding hands and dancing around it happily.

Kiba smiled. "I see. Let's do it, Mira!"

Gandoma charged forward. "Hold still, little girly! Let me kill- OW!" He was cut off when Mira hit his nether region with her staff, which made all males watching wince, and proceeded to run towards Kiba and Ladora. After grabbing his sacred jewels in pain for a moment, he turned and ran after the bluenette. "Low blow, girly! Taste my Sprint of Loyalty!" Gandoma ran at inhuman speeds.

Mira decided to taunt him, her smirk still present. "Low blow? What are you, some lame Knight? There's no such thing as dirty in a fight, and you can't honestly be shocked from a girl like me who is clearly weaker than a guy as big and chunky as you now, can you?"

"Wha- I'm not chunky! Take that back right now!"

"Why don't you make me? Catch me if you can, slow poke."

"Sword Birth!" Kiba did the same attack again at point blank range, but Ladora somehow blocked it again. This time, however, was different. It deflected back at Kiba. The Knight was sent flying backwards towards Mira, whose eyes widened. He would use his wings to move away, but it was too weak.

Mira yelped, "Kya!" when Kiba's uncontrollable body slammed into her.

He coughed to the side as he lay on top of the Pawn, perpendicular to her. "Crap!"

Suddenly, an excruciating pain struck both of them. One of his swords that deflected stabbed through Kiba's heart from behind and into Mira's stomach. They both coughed blood, but they turned to see what happened.

The rest of his Sword Birth attack was stopped, and no more debris rained on them, but as for the two Rooks, Gandoma was going too fast to stop.

"Ladora, move!"

"Wha-"

He slammed into the bald Rook, sending them both flying into the face of a wall with an explosion.

Odin was in shock. "Sitri Knight Yuuto Kiba and Pawn Mira, as well as Sairoarg's Rooks Ladora Buné and Gandoma Balam have all retired! This fight is a draw!"

The crowd cheered.

Issei was in disbelief. "Mira... strategized on the fly?! Not that I ever doubted her, but wow! Seeing someone do something like that in action is amazing, and it's especially satisfying if it's someone who you care for. I owe her some major praise!"

"And head pats, nya." Kuroka added.

Fourth Fight

The next number of the dice had already been rolled. "7!" Odin announced.

While Momo, Tomoe, and Ruruko cheered for their moral victory, Sona and Tsubaki weren't satisfied.

Sona clicked her tongue. "Tch! I was hoping that at least two of my three pieces would come back unscathed, but now I have less to work with."

Momo looked at her. "Eh? But now both sides have the same number of pieces."

"... True, but that just means that Sairaorg has a more powerful set to work with than me. If we had the advantage in numbers, things could look different. At least one of us is going to need to give us a miracle."

Issei sensed her unease and decided to give her some encouragement. 'Don't give up, Sona. Keep at it!'

Sona smiled at his words and began . "We're not giving up, though! Momo, I'm sorry, but I will need you to wait a little longer and sit this one out." The white-haired Bishop nodded in slight disappointment. "I'm sending Tomoe and Ruruko. It's a gamble since the dice rolled 7 while I'm sending out a value of 4, but go give them hell."

Bahamut made the announcement. "What's this? The Sitri is gambling with less to work with here by sending out a value of 4 in Knight Tomoe Meguri and Pawn Ruruko Nimura! Sairaorg has opted to send a value of 6 in both his Knights, Liban Crocell and Beluga Furcas!"

This battle took place in a flat landscape of dirt with mountains far in the background.

Liban unsheathed his sword and placed a hand on his hip. "Tell you what? Because you're girls, how about I give you a ten second head start?"

Tomoe and Ruruko exchanged looks. "That's so sexist, but okay. We'll take whatever you give us." Ruruko used Promotion Queen.

Sairaorg narrowed his eyes in disappointment. "Liban, you fool."

The Sitri Knight and Pawn charged at Beluga at the armored Beluga, who rode a horse made of steel. This surprised Liban since he thought they would go after him, but apparently, they didn't take his word for it.

"Ten..." Liban began counting.

Beluga's horse neighed and galloped as he pulled out his lance and held it straight, as if about to joust. His speed astonished the two Sitri warriors. They ran a semi-circle around him just as he passed.

"Nine."

Tomoe swung her sword, sending a blaze of fire at the Knight which torched the horse's ass. The horse proceeded to panic and buck its master off of it.

Beluga screamed as he flew and landed. "No! Why, Pale Horse?! Why now?!" He jumped back to dodge a haymaker from Ruruko. 'This is bad!' "Replication!" He floated upwards as he created a second lance and dozens of images of himself.

"Eight."

Tsubasa's eyes widened. "This is a very advanced Spirit magic technique!"

Issei was surprised. "Then I take it you also read about it in Asgard?"

"Yeah. The images appear to attack the user's target while not actually doing any physical damage, but mental. It's also apparently a great way to torture someone into submission or to leave their mind broken."

Liban gained tick marks on his forehead. "Seven. Hey, whoever's monologuing, stop! This isn't how time works!"

The images of Beluga swarmed towards Ruruko, attacking her, but she simply stood in the same position as before, her eyes never leaving the original. She smiled right as Beluga charged towards her to attack, only feet away. "I still see you," she stated, startling the Knight.

"Six."

Tomoe ran besides Ruruko and jumped high in the air. "I see him, too." She dropped down and stabbed Beluga in the head right as he stabbed Ruruko in the chest.

Beluga was shocked as he spat out blood. 'How is that possible?!'

"Sitri Pawn Ruruko Nimura and Bael Knight Beluga Furcas have been retired."

The crowd was stunned.

"One Pawn sacrificed herself and managed to make it count?!"

"They actually successfully baited a Bael house Devil!"

"Unbelievable!"

Issei clenched his fists, feeling amazed at the bravery of his precious kouhai, but also angered at Beluga for her loss. "Ruruko..."

Liban panicked as Tomoe began charging towards him and quickly counted down. "Fivefourthreetwoone! Gravity Jail!" His eyes turned from silver to golden.

Tomoe suddenly collapsed on the ground, her body suddenly feeling heavy. "W-What's happening... to me?!"

Liban came up to her, his face half-grimacing, half-smiling to comfort her. "Sorry about this. I increased your sense of gravity. Don't worry, I'll make it quick." Tomoe's body was quickly enveloped and frozen in a large sheet of ice which suddenly shattered, making her disappear.

"Sitri Knight Tomoe Meguri retired! Bael Knight Liban Crocell wins!"

Fifth Fight

Sona furrowed her eyebrows. "Dammit."

Tsubaki sighed. "So it's just you, me, and Momo left."

"9 is the number!" Bahamut said.

"Looks like that's my call. A Queen vs Queen battle." Tsubaki waited for Sona's confirmation, to which the King nodded.

"Good luck."

Bahamut shouted, "Oh! This next one is going to be really good! Ladies and gents, the two Queens, Kuisha Abaddon and Tsubaki Shinra will face each other! This will be a match of offense vs defense."

Both Queens were transported to the same canyon that was the stage two fights ago.

"Ms. Shinra, before we fight, my master would like to apologize on behalf of the impolite behavior that some of his other servants have shown to your comrades." Kuisha offered a brief bow while making sure to not take her eyes of Tsubaki. "He hopes to finish this match as respectfully as possible for the sake of keeping as much of his honor intact, and he also will apologize to your King himself later."

A small grin played on the corner of Tsubaki's lips. "I see. In that case, I accept his apology."

Kuisha nodded. "Humu. In that case, shall we begin our fight? I am ready."

"I'm also ready, so let's do this."

Tsubaki summoned a large spiraling aura of light blue to signify her water while Kuisha did the same with the Power of Destruction. Launching their attacks, both powers collided and struggled against one another for several moments before they let out a repelling wave of energy that made both Devils skid backwards and cover their faces from any possible debris, digging their feet in the ground.

Simultaneously, they both jumped backwards while unfurling their wings and began flying upwards till they were a couple dozen feet off the ground. Kuisha launched a massive wave of the Power of Destruction, but much to her shock, Tsubaki didn't move or try anything until suddenly...

"Mirror Alice," Tsubaki said.

It happened before Kuisha could blink. Tsubaki had summoned not one, but five large floating mirrors. From the perspective of the audience, they were positioned in the shape of a pentagram with Kuisha right in the middle under them. The attack she launched hit one mirror and destroyed it before it reflected to another, bouncing between them all until the last one was positioned to reflect upwards. One more mirror appeared above Kuisha which reflected the power it received to her, engulfing her in a massive explosion.

Again, the audience was shocked.

"What was that?!"

"Did she get her?!"

"I don't know! We'll have to wait for all that smoke to clear out!"

When it did, Kuisha was revealed to be lying with her body downwards, her head facing the side in an uncomfortable position. She slowly got up with a pained groan, holding her left shoulder in pain while panting, accentuating her large breasts while making them jiggle. "Ugh... What... What was that just now?"

Tsubaki answered, "That was my sacred gear, Mirror Alice. Every mirror destroyed reflects double the damage on the attacker. You received your own power but twelve times stronger due to the six mirrors I used."

"I see... Well then. It's time for me to get serious." She took up a pose to fight but didn't do anything.

After half a minute of not moving, Tsubaki broke the silence. "Aren't you going to attack?"

"You first."

'What's she planning? I sense this is a trap, but forced to make the first move, I have to do something.' Tsubaki summoned dozens of water spirits in the shape of wet, almost slimy-looking blue spirits. The spirits lunged towards Kuisha.

"Hole," Kuisha softly said.

The spirits were violently sucked into several black holes around Kuisha. Suddenly, they reappeared surrounding Tsubaki and attacked her, clawing, biting, scratching, the whole shebang. Her clothes partially tore off, revealing most of her bossom, making many men nosebleed except the Angels who had the decency to not look.

"Tsubaki!" Sona yelled in concern , seeing her friend bleed. Even though no one on the other side could hear her, she instinctually called out.

Tsubaki, having been caught off guard by the reverse hit, found the strength to fight back. She broke free of the spirits by kicking one and punching the other before she destroyed them with a large burst of water that she drowned them in before retracting the magic, the water being sucked into her fingers.

Kuisha teleported behind her and threw a sucker punch which connected, but not before her arm was grabbed as Tsubaki dragged her down with her.

Tsubaki rolled over until she was on top of Kuisha, pinning her arms to the side, making many men whoop and holler at their suggestive position. "If I can't beat you magically, I'll just have to do so physically." Kuisha was still struggling too much for either of them to get a hand free from the other. "Hold still, dammit!"

Kuisha smiled. "Then I'm taking you with me. You have earned my utmost respect, Queen of Sona Sitri." The burning hot Power of Destruction began gathering in Kuisha's right hand which Tsubaki was holding onto, making Tsubaki wince in pain.

They both screamed at the same time.

Kuisha: "EXPLOSION!"

Tsubaki: "REVERSAL!"

A massive reddish black explosion of the Power of Destruction engulfed the area. The camera lost its transmission to those watching in the stadium and beyond.

Odin felt a bead of sweat roll down his head. "I-It seems that both Queens, Tsubaki Shinra and Kuisha Abaddon, have retired!"

While the crowd reacted in various ways, Issei looked at Raynare and thought. 'If we end up fighting Sairaorg and there is a Queen on Queen battle, I hope you win against something as powerful as that.'

Sensing his thoughts, Raynare smiled at him and kissed him briefly.

Sona sighed as she turned to Momo. "That leaves us two vs Sairaorg, Regulus, and Liban against you and me."

Sixth Fight

"The next number is... 12! 12 has been rolled! The Kings can come out if they wish to do so!"

Sairaorg huffed. "Hmph. Sona will have no choice but to fight here. Judges! I am sending Regulus to fight!"

Bahamut nodded. "Sairaorg has chosen his seven-piece Pawn Regulus for this battle. Will that be all? You can still add your Knight Liban if you wish to do so."

"No, that will not be necessary."

"Very well."

Sona stood up. "In that case, I will have to fight by myself."

"A fight between the King Sona Sitri and the Bael Pawn Regulus, then."

Azazel smirked. "Now the stakes are very high. If Sona wins, the match continues, but if she loses, the match is over and her peerage is eliminated from the tournament because she's the King."

The two were teleported to a copy of the Roman Colosseum.

Sona adjusted her glasses. "So you're the Longinus Regulus Nemea? I have never heard of a powerful sacred gear acting of its own free will other than the Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing due to the two Heavenly Dragons in them." She didn't want to give away the fact that Issei now has the Dread Maker housing Vritra.

Regulus smirked. "Yeah, well. This isn't even my final form!" He began transforming, his body growing into a large, golden lion about 14 feet tall. "This is. Oh, and Promotion Queen!"

He lunged at Sona with a roar. Sona figured that using her water to create a weapon of ice wouldn't work, but she had to fend him off, so she quickly created a large hammer of ice and stuck it into the lion's mouth, holding him off with all her strength, trying to support his enormous weight, making him growl. He used his paws to try to claw her, but she was too far out of his reach for a fatal blow and he only managed to scratch her shoulder closest to him, making her bleed profusely to which she winced.

'I have to end this fast, or else I won't have a chance against Sairaorg, even if I win here!' She thought. She was trying not to show her pain but ended up grunting, and the pain was only increasing more and more. At this rate, this beast could take off her arm if he clawed hard enough.

Pulling the hammer back, Sona pushed it forward while dropping down to kick regulus in the belly as hard as she could with both her legs, sending him back several yards as she finally was able to get some breathing room, gasping for air while jumping back onto her feet. It was only only temporary since he would attack again a mere four seconds later, but it gave her enough time for her countermeasure.

Reaching behind her, she pulled out something she never thought she would need: a toy pistol. She began shooting him with water right as he lunged again, making him fall over in agony.

"OW! What is that?! Stop!"

"It's holy water. Let's just say I have a friend who has a friend who has a friend who used to be a part of the church."

'Thank you Issei for getting this from Raynare who got this from Asia,' Sona thought.

Sona was doing this to keep him occupied while creating a massive sea monster, a water leviathan. The beast roared in a gurgly voice as it grabbed the lion by its head and lifted him up.

"No, wait! Stop! Please, no! Not like this! Auuuuugh!" The leviathan chomped on Regulus and ate him.

"B-Bael Pawn Regulus has retired! Sona Sitri wins!"

Sona breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled out a vial of Phoenix Tears that Issei gave her and carefully poured a drop of it on her arm, making her wounds and fatigue instantly disappear before she teleported back. She was met with awkward cheering and some malicious looks.

Some of the High Class Devils glared at her.

"How dare she use such an underhanded trick!"

"It's the same as getting the Angels to help her win!"

"Agreed! Judges, this shouldn't be allowed!"

"Yeah! She should be disqualified!"

"Yeah!"

The Angels opted to remain quiet and not say anything.

The Fallen Angels looked at the Angels with sympathy, knowing how the Devils are easily the most annoying of the Three Factions due to this type of behavior.

Bahamut roared as he suddenly transformed into his massive Dragon form, flew up to the section of where the Devils are, sat on the railings that he crushed under his huge talons, and growled at them, making them scream in terror as many tried to back away from him as far as possible, fearing for their lives. "This is a rating game. What she did was not against the rules I made. You whiny losers who are complaining need to shut up before I let Ophis eat you. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!"

This was the first time Issei had seen Bahamut get angry. "Woah..."

"Y-Yes!"

"I'm sorry!"

"I-It's not like I meant it!"

"Yeah, we were just kidding, see? Tee hee!"

"Hmph. That's what I thought."

Arisu leaned forward to look at Issei, who was blocked by Raynare sitting to his left. "Are ya okay, Issei? It's rare for dad to get mad, but when he does, it usually don't bode well for the world." She thought, 'I hope he doesn't break up with me just because dad scared him away.'

Issei, who was sitting on the opposite side of the Devils and in a section reserved for his group in the front, simply chuckled. "I'm fine. They really thought this tournament would be all fun and games for the sake of their entertainment just because they're Devils, didn't they? Like, not all of them are like that, but wow are they annoying. Just another reason why I left that childish immature Gremory bitch."

The Devils in the audience heard him and looked at him with caution.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!"

They all looked away.

"Hmph. That's what I thought."

Odin cleared his throat awkwardly. For a moment there, he had to stop the trembling in his legs, feeling actually terrified of Bahamut. "W-We'll be right back after this commercial break."

The atmosphere was tense despite the music and commercials playing in the background.

Vali, sitting to Issei's right, cackled loudly. "Issei, I think you and Bahamut broke them."

Issei half-groaned, half-sighed. "Hah, it is mainly most of those pure-blooded douchebags that cause most of the trouble, as always. At least certain former Devils and a Devil King aren't so bad."

Vali and Kuroka smirked while Ravel blushed, knowing what he's implying.

Seventh Fight

Odin's booming voice suddenly interrupted any of their train of thought. "And we're back! Last time, Sona Sitri managed to defeat Regulus Nemea. Now, the dice is being rolled, and it... is... 6!"

"Good luck, Momo." Sona said.

Bahamut smiled when the participants already came up to the platform, not having any discussion. "It appears both sides have already decided. From the Sitri, we have Knight Momo Hanakai. From Bael, we have Bishop Misteeta Sabnock and Knight Liban Crocell."

When they were transported, Misteeta and Liban looked around in confusion. It was the backyard of a dojo and a shrine. Surveying their surroundings, their faces paled when they saw Momo meditating with her eyes closed under a water fall, letting the liquid pour down her figure. With water being the strength of the Sitris, this put them at a major disadvantage for the opponent to be in direct physical contact with said substance.

Momo calmly opened her blue-green eyes, her white hair now soaking wet, making her look like an Angel, ironically enough. "I've been aching to fight throughout this match, and now I finally have my chance. So... Which one of you should I kill first? Will it be the sexist bigot and closet pervert of a so called Knight, or perhaps the little 10 year old boy who still needs his diaper changed and looks like a girl? Oh wait, you are a girl."

Liban sighed. "Look I'm sorry about what I said to-"

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" Misteeta interrupted. "I'm 17, not 10! Get it through your thick skull, you stupid bitch!"

Sairaorg narrowed his eyes. "Oh brother... She's totally out for revenge now."

Momo's hair covered her eyes as a terrifying aura surrounded her, sending killing intent towards the greenett. She began cackling maniacally. "Heh. Hehehehe. Hahahahaha. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOW YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO REYA!"

Misteeta and Liban trembled and turned around, trying to run away, but they suddenly stopped to prevent themselves from slamming into a barrier.

SLOOSH!

Drip

...

Rattle

Hiss!

They slowly turned their heads to see a water snake... It is massive.

"AHHHHHHHH!" They screamed in horror.

Momo cackled. "I'm going to torture you now. This here is my familiar. It's a water basilisk. Too bad for you since you're so stupid that you didn't realize its only weakness, which is that it's blind and relies on sound to hunt its prey. Well, it's too late anyway. Soon, you will be dead."

Misteeta stood still as the basilisk, from its eyes, heard his heart beat and labored breathing. He rubbed the back of his head. "Eheheheheh. You know, I actually think you're pretty cute, basilisk-sama, now that I have a good look at you (80)."

...

"Kill him. Kill him now (81)," Momo ordered with a strange sense of satisfaction in her voice.

The basilisk lunged forward and took both Bael servants into its mouth, making them yelp briefly before they were munched on followed by the ensuing silence.

"Bael Bishop Misteeta Sabnock and Knight Liban Crocell have retired! Momo Hanakai wins!"

Azazel whistled. "Wow, that was brutal! Is anyone not able to stomach blood? If so, I don't care. Here's how it happened."

An instant replay was shown much to the horrified audience's disgust.

While some of the crowd was vomiting except Issei's group, who were all laughing, Momo teleported back. As soon as she reached Sona, she fell forward and into Sona's arms.

"Are you okay, Momo?! Do you need some Phoenix Tears?!"

"Wha... No... I just... Summoning my familiar takes a lot more out of me than I thought. As a matter of fact, that's the first time I have ever done so."

Sona blinked at her with scrutiny. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Phoenix Tears are rare and hard to make, aren't they? You may need them later, so don't use them so much without care. I'm only a little tired, but I'm fine now."

Sona sighed. "If you say so..."

Eight and Final Fight

"Because Sairaorg is all alone, he must now fight against Sona Sitri and Momo Hanakai, meaning there will be no dice roll this time!"

They apparated to the same colosseum that Sona fought Regulus in.

Sairaorg gave Sona an apologetic look. "I must apologize for the very disrespectful behavior of some of my servants. As a matter of fact, for those who were rude, I am thinking of trading them away after this tournament is over."

Sona shook her head, knowing he is being sincere. "It's alright, I accept your apology. Well then, shall we?"

Sairaorg nodded and began surrounding himself with a white aura.

Issei was shocked. "He knows Senjutsu Touki?!"

Kuroka nodded. "It seems so, nya."

Momo and Sona, knowing they wouldn't even be able to lay a scratch on him, decided to play defense and enforce dozens of magical barriers around themselves. Much to their shock, Sairaorg punched through them, and all it took was one punch, making them fall back.

"Surrender, and I won't hurt you, Sona."

"No!"

"Why? Are you afraid of being ridiculed by those other fat ass Devils sitting in the audience, judging you? The nobles are dead, and with Sirzechs in charge of our faction, there is nothing any of them can do."

She sighed, knowing she wouldn't stand a chance. "... Fine. I surrender." Sairaorg smiled and leaned down to help the two girls get up.

Momo looked at her King in disbelief. "President?!"

Sona smiled at her. "It's fine. Besides, I think Issei will put up a much better fight in my stead."

Sairaorg's eyes widened with excitement. "Issei Hyoudou, huh. Now there's an opponent that I wish to battle. Tell me, the rumors of you dating him are true, right?"

She blushed, but she shyly nodded.

"Then is he strong? Would he have a chance at beating me?"

"Very."

"Sona Sitri has retired! Sairaorg Bael has won this match and advanced to the Second Round!"

Vali sighed as he leaned back with his hands in his hair while looking at Issei whose face he couldn't see since he stood up. "Well, that certainly was interesting. The Student Council sure put up a helluva fight there, don't you think?"

"... Yeah." Issei turned to look at them with an eager smile. "I'm excited! Tomorrow, we fight Cao Cao. Not only that, but we have now seen what Sairaorg's peerage is capable of. We have the information we need, and soon, it will be our turn to rock the world. Let's make sure that not a single person watching our fight will ever forget what they saw, of what the Sekiryuutei and his friends can do!"

"Yeah!" The ten girls in his peerage shouted.

Vali groaned. "Too bad I can't fight, but I'll at least cheer you on from here."

To Be Continued

Holy fuck, that was a lot to write, and I wrote it in two days! If you're reading this on Wattpad, please vote on every chapter you read. If you're reading on Fanfiction, please favorite and follow. It really motivates me to continue writing. I'm also writing this story on AO3 and webnovel.

References:

(78) Detroit: Become Human

(79) Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Episode 1. Lelouch also says this in R2 when he appears as Zero and plays chess with Schneizel.

(80) Inspired from a certain scene from Kono Suba.

(81) Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Issei's Harem From Peerage (same as peerage members, most to least powerful):

Issei Hyoudou (Mutated King)

Arisu Yamauchi (OC, Six Mutated Pawn Pieces)

Raynare (Main Girl, Queen)

Akeno Himejima (Knight)

Kuroka Toujou (Bishop)

Irina Shidou (Rook)

Rossweisse (Rook)

Ravel Phenex (Bishop)

Natsuki Murayama (Two Pawns)

Tsubasa Yura (Knight)

Non-Peerage Harem Girls:

OC yet to be introduced

Sona Sitri

Mira