Chapter 37 - Extras Begone!

"Before we plan anything, wait a moment." Cebrail said and a silver seal of Solomon appeared under all four of them.

Instantly each of their outfits changed due to her dress change magic.

Gadreel was in his normal toga, a light golden wreath, biker shorts which hugged his butt tightly, and sandals.

Latia was wearing an elegant western styled dress that was primarily blue like the tips of her hair and her eyes with black frills on the edges.

Sona wore a long fluffy cape, with a golden scepter, and a large magnificent crown.

Compared to all of the others Cebrail simply now had on a western styled maid outfit.

"We have to get into the proper mood. Rating games are just as much about showmanship as they are about fighting." Cebrail said confidently.

"U-Um, Cebrail…"

"Yes?"

"Why do you have a pair of my clothes in your dimensional storage?" Gadreel asked rather reasonably only to get a confused look from Cebrail.

"Is that… important?" Cebrail questions him seriously, as though she really couldn't see what the problem was.

"Y-Yes… I think?" Seeing how confused Cebrail was, Gadreel actually second guessed himself.

"I think more importantly Cebrail, why do you know our sizes? I mean for Sona and Gadreel I get it but the two of us haven't even spoken before and you managed to get all of my measurements right…" Latia says a bit worriedly, hiding her mouth with her fan.

"...Is that also important…?"

"Uhh, YES!"

"Guys, we can talk about Cebrail's strange habits and knowledge later." Sona said, stopping the conversation from tumbling further away from their objective.

"That's right. If we want to impress Roygun we need a plan for victory. Good job with putting the odds against us by the way Sona, it'll really help when we win." Cebrail complimented Sona, causing the girl to push up her glasses embarrassedly.

"Right about thattttt… Sona, was that really such a good idea? I mean it'll be the four of us against around 16 students." Latia questioned Sona's judgment. Though she along with most people at the school knew how smart she was it didn't change the fact that no one was infallible, Latia could very easily tell the Sitri heiress was running on some high emotions even if she was hiding it pretty well.

"Yes, it's fine. Since this castle is sectioned into multiple area we'll spread out the flags and have each of us defending one." Sona began explaining, "Gadreel do you think that you could beat Azril?"

"N-No not really…" Gadreel admitted a bit sadly.

"...Mmm… Can you beat Puriel?"

"Oh! I should be able to manage! I can at least hold her off for a little while!"

"I'm certain that I can beat up Rias before Gadreel takes a fisting." Cebrail said confidently however Sona shook her head and chose not to question her odd wording.

"Maybe it's a bit selfish but I wish to fight Rias this time."

Cebrail stared at Sona who stared back, indeed Sona had something to prove in some sense and Cebrail didn't understand it, however she at the very least could see the girls resolve so she relented.

"Latia. You may have to fight Azril." Sona said.

"Is he really so strong that you have to be so worried about it?"

""Indeed."" Both Sona and Cebrail responded at the same time.

"I'm certain that I could beat him in a one on one fight however, so why not simply have me fight him?"

"I'm sure he knows that he can't beat you, it's likely he won't allow himself to end up in a one on one confrontation between the two of you."

Sona didn't exactly know him personally but she could tell he was at least somewhat reasonable and intelligent.

"I see."

"Latia, is there anything you need that might be able to help you in the fight?"

"W-Well… if I had a strong serpent then perhaps I could make do." Latia says clearly unsure. "Of course getting something like that on such short notice-"

"Cebrail you have five minutes."

"Five minutes won't be enough time to get a serpent that's too strong. As you know Angels are somewhat weak to them."

"That's fine."

Cebrail hearing this walked out of the door to the throne room and left.

"Eh?" Latia said a bit dumbly watching the girl leave. "Are you serious?"

"It's Cebrail, she can probably figure something out." Gadreel said getting a nod from Sona.

"W-Well, if you say so…" Latia relented, based on how the other two were speaking obviously she was the one who was weird in this situation. She also couldn't exactly say no to such a free gift. Though she could tame serpents, unfortunately she didn't have the resources to get anything besides a simple house pet since she was just a member of the branch family, she had to look for something on her own but lacked the strength to actually go for anything worthwhile.

Indeed she had to take this opportunity and ask Cebrail if she could keep it once this game was over. If she was lucky she could and if she was doubly lucky it would be a serpent that could boost her power significantly.

"Now let's set everything up properly!"

–

As the ten minute timer rang out signifying the defender preparation period being over Rias was up and ready already though upset about her unfair advantages she was still going to strive her hardest to win.

"So how are we doing this?" Seekvaira asked though she was already capable of guessing what the red head's answer would be.

Her blue eyes shined with confidence and she exclaimed, "We'll just bust through the front door!"

Azril looked at her with narrowed eyes filled with annoyance but didn't make any comments.

"I like the way you think!" Puriel yelled and the two began their march with everyone in tow.

It wasn't long before the group made it to the entrance of the castle however as they got there they found the bridge had been brought up leaving a moat between them and the main entrance.

"Now how are we-" Just as Seekvaira was about to begin pondering, the bridge fell down, roughly opening the pathway for them to go down.

(This is obviously a trap.) Azril thought with a scoff, he thought they couldn't be so stupid as to simply step into such an obvious play however to his disappointment Rias and Puriel stepped forward without even a hint of suspicion.

(Are they actually morons?) Though he thought this he still followed them, at the very least if he was nearby he could keep Rias from being taken out instantly.

Looking down at the water he narrowed his eyes as he saw 16 wooden stakes on the side of the bridge.

Puriel too noticed it and frowned. "I think our first obstacle is gonna be a pretty big one…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Rias questioned as they all went through the front door.

Puriel didn't answer and instead raised her metal bat facing forward.

In front of the group was a blue flag waving on a long metal pole in the middle of the large main room.

Even Rias wasn't arrogant or stupid enough to just go charging into such an obvious trap, she knew Sona would never just leave a flag at the front entrance completely unguarded and she was proven correct.

Cebrail stepped out of the shadows under the staircase in a western maid uniform that looked slightly worse for wear, as though she had just finished fighting a bear or something, and stood in front of the flag.

"Welcome to the Demon Lord's castle." Cebrail greeted them with a polite bow as she grabbed each side of her skirt.

"All extras may exit the stage now." She continued clearly mocking all of the Devils besides Rias.

"Ha! You're really arrogant huh Cebrail! Well it's impossible for you to beat all of us at once so that flag is as good as ours!"

"I will only warn all of you one last time. It's time for all of the extras to exit the stage." Cebrail warned her voice turning as cold as ice.

"Not happening!" Rias stepped forward boldly with this exclamation.

"I see…" Cebrail lowers her head letting the shadow of her bangs go over her eyes.

"H-Hey wait she doesn't speak for us!" One grunt yelled from the crowd though no one paid him any mind at all.

"Cebrail isn't stupid, she knows she can't beat all of us at once so what is she planning?" Puriel mumbled, gripping her bat more tightly.

Slowly Cebrail reached into her dimensional storage and pulled out a small hand fan which she opened dramatically. A barrier enveloped them and both Puriel and Azril attempted to back up to avoid her Sacred Gear however the barrier stopped before it reached them.

"Property, 100% Power." With these words Cebrail waved her fan producing such a huge gust of wind that it began blowing everyone back.

"Ahhh!" Rias yelled as she was lifted and pushed back. The only thing that saved her from being sent out the front door with all of the mobs was Puriel and Azril each grabbing one of her legs.

"My skirt! My skirt!" Rias yelled as her skirt threatened to be ripped off of her body from the force of the wind.

Seekvaira too seemed to be having quite a bit of trouble as her feet began sliding backwards, if the wind didn't stop she would likely have been blown away as well.

"OOF!" Rias grunted in pain as her back hit the ground due to her falling and the two Angels letting go of her.

"Owww…" Rias groaned on the floor in pain, looking towards the doorway from her position her eyes widened as she saw all of the other Devils besides herself and Seekvaira were floating and trapped in bubbles outside.

Cebrail had attached water barrier spells to each of the stakes planted in the moat. As they used the water from the moat itself it would take no energy at all to maintain.

"Damn, you really got us good." Puriel complained, brushing herself off.

Azril stared at Cebrail and took note of the fact that she dropped the fan and instantly it cracked and turned to dust. It seemed regular items and weapons wouldn't be able to stand the power of her Sacred Gear making them only good for one attack.

"Hmmm…" Cebrail looked at Seekvaira a bit confused. She didn't know who this person was at all and had assumed her to be an extra like all of the rest of them, though of course she could tell the girl was stronger than Rias by at least a little she shouldn't have been able to stand her ground.

"How tedious." Cebrail's barrier enveloped the entire room, this time teleporting the doors closed and teleporting Puriel into the right hallway at the top of the steps.

"Huh!?!?!" She yelled as the hallway was suddenly locked by an earth wall leaving her alone on the other side.

"Tsk! You, red head! Get up already!" Azril yelled at Rias who had been in a daze.

"Don't order me around!" Rias exclaimed as she scrambled to her feet.

Before she could react Azril grabbed her and pulled her out of the way as a wooden sword zoomed past her head producing a strong gust of wind and embedded itself into the door behind her, its tip smoking.

"A-Are you insane! That could've killed me!"

"What? No. It's a wooden sword, it has no edge." Cebrail reasoned.

Rias was going to say something else but was stopped as another wooden sword was thrown towards Seekvaira's abdomen.

Azril was too far away to save her and Rias could barely even react to the speed however much to their surprise Seekvaira caught it with one hand just before it hit her.

Her eye twitched as she felt a throbbing pain in her hand but still her expression did change as she tried to appear composed and elegant.

"Perhaps I was mistaken for thinking of you as just another extra. Though you are still weak." Cebrail commented and Seekvaira's eye twitched with irritation.

"You can't possibly be referring to me right?" Seekvaira she said in a forcefully calm tone.

"Who else would I be talking about?"

A vein bulged on the pike eyed Devil's forehead and she crushed the wooden sword to pieces, still however she did her best to control her expression.

"You two go on ahead, I'll teach this arrogant kid a lesson before catching up." She said dropping the splinters of wood onto the floor.

"Your best move would be leaving Azril here you know." Cebrail pointed out. She was correct, if even two of them decided to fight her at once it was unlikely that she could win while protecting the flag at the same time. However Seekvaira was resolute. She felt the need to defeat Cebrail.

"Alright Seekvaira we'll go on ahead!" Rias said. She understood something that both Cebrail and Azril couldn't possibly due to them being Angels. She understood the pride of the Devils and the feeling of wanting to keep the honor of one's clan intact.

Cebrail and Azril both didn't have this kind of pride in any way shape or form. Cebrail was a person who fought only with efficiency in mind and Azril was a person that only fought with victory in mind.

Unfortunately for Rias, Sona had planned exactly for this. It was the only make or break moment in her plans, if Rias and Seekvaira had thrown away their pride she would have had to order Cebrail to retreat giving the attacking team a free flag. She had made a bet that Cebrail wouldn't take anyone besides Puriel and Azril seriously and it had paid off.

Cebrail had a way of unintentionally pissing people off after all.

Rias grabbed Azril and the two ran past Cebrail up the stairs to the left most hallway. Cebrail didn't make a single move to stop them as obviously she would easily defeat the girl in front of her and could chase them down later.

Though Sona did want to fight Rias so she would have to keep that in mind as well.

"Hey, brat!" Seekvaira called out to Cebrail whose mind was clearly elsewhere.

"Is there something that you need?"

"I just wanted to let you know that you'll regret underestimating me."

"That line is usually something a bad guy says just before they lose. It's a death flag." Cebrail pulled out two wooden swords and prepared for battle.