Lightning Anima Sphere

(A/N: 2/3 chapter of Rias' rating game.)

"So, they put an explosive trap on this path. Pretty clever as it's somewhere we would most certainly have thread on to reach Riser's territory if we weren't any wiser to their scheme. Sadly for them, and lucky for us, Julian already taught us the importance of intel in a combat situation." Rias said out loud as she analyzed the current situation.

"All of Riser's remaining pieces are situated arround the trap or nearby enough. So the most we could do is take out one or two of them before they spot us. The remaining rook and bishops are our priority as High-class Knights would have the reflexes to evade our ambush. After that, an head on confrontation is inevitable, everyone remember their role for that." Rias asked one last time. Seeing everyone nod back at her, a steely glint appeared in her eyes.

"Good, no matter how this end. Let's show the world we aren't to be messed with."

—————

Unfortunately, not everything goes according to plan.

Everyone were currently crouched behind trees just before the forest cleared out to open on flat ground.

They didn't have the time to learn any way to communicate soundlessly in their training camp. So they had to improvise by using faint magic to muffle the sound of their words. But even despite this, they still whispered to each other.

"Do one of you see anyone?" Rias asked everyone present.

Receiving negative answers all around, she frowned. Of course if they themself used the darkness to remain unseen. So could their foes do the same.

"Akeno, could you make a realistic illusion of Issei and Koneko and make them wanders ahead to trigger their trap?" Rias turned her gaze to the queen of her peerage. As did everyone else.

"Hard, many parameters on the magic circle. Very costly." Akeno answered consisely, frowning all the while.

"Never mind then." Gears began turning in Rias' mind. It would be utter foolishness to let their advantage turn into a disadvantage by giving up and going out in the open to force their opponents to come to them. Very possibly by turning the table on them and ambushing them.

Considering this, they would have to use a bait to lure them out. But one person alone would be too suspicious and too little a prize for them to act.

Unprepared, nobody in the peerage could tank a full powered surprise attack by Riser's bomb queen without being directly taken out or at the very least left unable to fight. But if they indeed were prepared...

"Issei, Koneko, Asia I want you both to go out there and trigger their trap. When they will come finish you off. We come in and sweep them out. Can you do it?" Rias suddenly said, always keeping an eyes on her surrounding.

While Koneko immediatly nodded without question, Issei startled. "Wouldn't we be eliminated immediatly? I mean, I don't mind if it's for the team. But I thought everyone had to be alive for the confrontation with Riser."

"Of course you aren't going there just like that, silly." Rias smiled and turned to Kiba.

"Kiba, can you create four defensive type swords? Two against heat and two against kinetic energy? And Akeno-" Everyone eyes lit up as Akeno didn't even let Rias finish her words.

"I can grant them rather strong temporary protective spells of wind arround their legs and lower body to let the sword to their job when the explosion happen. Like this, it's very likely they'd survive without problem an ambush from the bomb queen." Rias didn't mind the interruption as Akeno's suggestion was even better than what she was going to propose.

"Kaichou, this is genius! They don't even know we have inside intel about their strategy. And with this, they'll not even know what hit them." Issei enthousiastly whispered as he chuckled lowly in mischief.

"I had a rather intense and prolonged lesson on strategy and logical thinking recently. But since I was the one who asked for this, I guess I can't really complain." Rias grimaced as her expression became a bit sick. Chess was fine, but doing progressively harder puzzle for hours on end wasn't. And even then, Julian had deemed her as only barely passable after all of that.

Shaking her head, Rias was prepared to go on but paused as a meek voice unsurely proposed. "I- I have something for Issei-Kun and Koneko-Chan too. It's a spell I worked on recently with my twilight healing. It's a sort of latent healing that activate whenever the person I mark is injured."

Before Rias could say anything, Issei beat her to it. "Asia... This is awesome!" Giving her a thumb up and a smile made Asia smile happily in return, happy that her efforts were appreciated.

"Asia, as Issei put it out so well. This is game changing. And I'm happy you spoke up to inform us not keep it to yourself until it was too late." Rias smiled at the nun.

Under all the praise, Asia blushed lightly and touched her index fingers together. "Well, seeing you all work so hard. And as Julian-Kun didn't train me, I wanted to do something and be useful even though I can't fight."

"You did well." Rias nodded.

"Now, Koneko will be on the front while Issei will be three paces behind her. That way, the explosion-"

—————

Koneko and Issei were walking out in the open, warrily surveying the space arround them. A pair of plain swords adorning both of their waist.

"Do you really think attacking Riser's back from the theater will work? There's still ten of them remainings." Issei asked Koneko, not really trying to stay silent.

"Don't know." Koneko shrugged.

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence. You cou-"

A red magic circle appeared beneath Koneko. Immediatly triggering a huge explosion, the wind whipping and the nearby trees bending from the power of it.

"Koneko!" Not acting this time, Issei cried out as he covered his eyes from the bright light, his heart skipping a beat. Heat from the blast singing him and being pushed back from the blast the swords on his waist began to glow a faint light.

"You're still standing from that? Very impressive... It's unfortunate that your toughness will not change anything. You should have let it take you out, spare yourself the pain of being finished off." A voice, firstly surprised, sounded out from above them as it rapidly turned haugthy.

The smoke from the explosion dispersing from a burst of wind. Koneko could finally be seen again, the illusion on her having worn off due to the attack. Bad burns covered her whole form aside from her legs, and her breath came out ragged. Her eyes could be seen peeking out from her crossed arms, gazing out defiantly at the opposing queen loftily floating above her. The two swords on her waist glowing brightly red and white respectively.

"You..." Issei knew it was a match, but he was still pissed.

"Me what? Now please be a good little piece and stay put until your queen come to your rescue. Otherwise I can't say I wouldn't drop another one or two of those on your friend." Yubelluna smirked as she saw Issei fuming, Koneko still trying to get her back in a fighting state. But nevertheless, her injuries wouldn't just go away.

After a couple of seconds spent in tense silence, Yubelluna smirk turned to a frown. "Still not here? Such a shame. Well, it doesn't matter."

Saying that, her expression became dismissive. "Well, have some fun girls. I'm going back to protect lord Riser. You all should come back after that too. They can't hide forever."

"How long are they still gonna hide like cowards? Such an honorless tactic." One girl with black hair came out of the wood and said. After that, six other girls appeared from the woods around the open area one after the other. How far away they were from there just a second ago a mystery because of their speed.

"Eh? Siris-Chan, weren't we hiding too just now?"

"Th- This is different! We're only fighting fire with fire, using their own tactics against them! Nothing cowardly about that!"

"Whatever you say Siris-Chan."

"Stop bickering you two. What I find interesting is how while they lowered our visibility the most they could with these clouds, they also used an illusion to make themselve almost invisible in the environment they created." Ravel came out of the woods too and eyes the ink like form of Issei with a critical eyes.

"What does it matter, Lady Ravel? We still caught them, and this isn't like this make any stronger." One girl asked.

"I guess it don-" Ravel words were cut off as Koneko's body was hidden from view by green glow.

"Stop her!" Ravel cried out but everything happened too fast for anyone on her side to do anything as the green glow that was now Koneko blurred and reappeared above Yubelluna, and in a speed the queen barely could follow. Smashed her into the ground.

The glow fading away, a perfectly healed Koneko dropped lightly on the ground, facing the seven other girls encircling Issei. Not even turning to watch as a yellow magic circle appeared around the now embeded in the ground bomb queen and shackled her with chains of lightning.

The members of Riser's peerage came to their sense rather quickly and immediatly split themselves in two between the melee and ranged combatants.

Issei found himself quickly on the backfoot assaulted by both a knight, a rook and a bishop, the rest going to their queen help.

His sacred gears was since long put to work, but he was still only hanging by a thread merely a second after the start of the fight against three High-Class devils.

He was relieved as the bishop was nearly taken out by a beam of PoD to her back and as the knight incoming deadly blow was fend off by another blade. Feeling a soothing warmth over his body and his injuries disappearing, Issei peeked back and smiled back at Asia who was healing him.

"What!? This isn't fair!" The only opponent left against him, the rook girl. Gazed around her and cried out as she saw him back to completely healed.

Issei grinned as he lifted his gauntlet. "Ah! Suck it! Sixteen against six isn't fair either!"

"Now take this!" Issei snapped his fingers. Making the clothes of his previous enemies explode.

"KIAAAAAA!" x2.

"BOOST!"

"And this!" Pushing his palm toward the flustered girl. Issei unleahed an enormous beam of red energy in her direction. Directly banishing her from this dimension and carving a new trail through the forest.

—————

Koneko stood her ground against the two pawns and the knight with the zweihander. Disregarding most of the strikes from the formers as she could take them and deflecting the slices from the later where she could.

While the pawns were only a bit faster than her, making them not a match for her. The knight was way beyong her own speed, and her strength consequent by her High-Class status. It made her a very tricky enemy that could only be fend off by attacking her at the same time she did, risking for both of them to take damage.

Of course, being a durable rook and her punch packing a lot of power. The worst to come off such an exchange would be the knight. Unless she was cut in a vital area or skewered by her sword, but she wouldn't let it touch somewhere vital either way.

In the end, she was happy to note that if it was in a duel, she could probably win against her by sheer technique. But a three versus one was tricky, and the pawns weren't totally harmless.

A small smile rose on her face as she felt the accumulation of magic powers behind her reach its peak. However, her smile rapidly vanished, her eyes widening as synced with an attack of the knight. A burst of powerfull flame coming from her side swept her off her feet and made her rebound and crash on the ground dozen of meters away.

Barely had she touched it that she regained het footing, way too used of being thrown around. Assessing her injuries, she was surprised to see that she only was mildly burned. But she quickly realized why as she heard two cracks coming from her waist. The protective swords given from Kiba shattering and their handle dropping on the ground.

Glaring at her appearing attacker — Ravel — with her head nothing but a blaze of flame that soon wink out to reveal her perfectly regenerated head.

(A/N: Pure-Blooded devils of the phenex clan have the inate ability to heal from even lethal injuries rapidly, like a phoenix. Though it is not unlimited.)

"I have to commend you, your teams is like a well oiled machine. This fight would have been nothing but lost against anyone else. But unfortunately for you, us Phenex are immortal. Making your divide and conquer strategy useless." Saying that, Ravel sent another bout of fire in Koneko way and walked toward Yubelluna witgout any obstruction. Ignoring the lethal beams of PoD striking and destroying various part of her body as her ability regenerated any damage done to her.

"You're wrong, our plan worked." Koneko, rolling past the attack. Said blankly as instead of trying to stop Ravel and continuing the fight with the two pawns and the knight, jumped away from the position she tried to defend just a moment ago.

After hearing Koneko and freeing Yubelluna and helping her stand up as she was still stunned by the blow and the lightning. Ravel frowned and squinted, a bad feeling developping in the pit of her stomach as daylight suddenly came back to her eyes.

Gazing up at the sky, her eyes widened as she saw that the sky was now clear of any clouds. Or to be clear, all the previously present clouds were still there, just condensed into a ink-black shaped sphere.

Only problem...

The sphere was directly above them.

And it contained a massive amount of magical energy.

"Oh."

"I named it the Lightning Anima Sphere." Akeno's coy voice sounded out as she descended from above the elaborated spell.

"Hope you like it." She winked at Ravel. Making the sphere buz with lightning and power.

A sadistic smile developped across her lips as she pointed down at Ravel. "Because immortality or not, there's no coming back from it."

The world went white as a massive bolt of lightning stroke down.