Chapter 45

"Master!"

Freya, Kuroka, Cleria, Mito, Erza, Guts, Ban, and Moka all greeted him with a bow when he entered the Hall with Ingvild by his side.

Raizel smiled at his Peerage and Aradia, who had been given the responsibility to act as their Manager.

She was the one tasked to deal with all the official procedures, and she was the one who had applied for the License Match for Team Morningstar.

Perhaps, if any other person in the Devildom had dared use this name, they would have been crucified, but he was someone who could use it. And the Audience's response was great.

Their ratings were off the charts even though this was only their first match, and they were tipped as the hot favourites against Renly Vassago's Peerage.

"Only go easy when we have victory secured and the opponents deserve some mercy. Be careless, overconfident, and reckless, and I promise you I will keep you out of Rating Games for a year or two " He sternly said to them, and they all obediently nodded to him.

None of them dared to disobey his commands.

"We understand," Freya spoke on their behalf.

"Good. Cleria, you will be our Team's Strategist. I, Ingvild, and Kuroka won't be participating in the Match, at least, not actively."

"Understood."

"Hey, why me..."

Raizel sternly looked at his Kitty, and she stopped speaking and pouted.

"I don't want you to reveal your powers," He lightly said to her, and she understandingly nodded her head, feeling better in her heart.

Raizel then turned to look at Erza and smiled.

"Do not use your Sacred Gear in the Battle."

"I won't need it." The Dragoness confidently grinned at him.

"Mito..."

"Yes, yes, I will not make any ostentatious moves during the match," She rolled her eyes and folded her arms on her chest.

"Good Fox."

She narrowed her eyes at him but remained quiet.

"Guts, Ban, Moka, Erza, and Mito are the Main Force. Freya is their backup, and you will only participate if it becomes necessary," He informed Cleria, who nodded her head.

"Master Raizel. It is time," Aradia, who was holding a pocket watch in her hand, informed him.

"Erza," He ordered, and the Drgaoness immediately used her Sacred Gear to create Armours and outfits for all of them, bearing the Sigil of House Darcaedes on them.

Aradia then activated the Magical Circle by clicking the button on the stopwatch, and the next they blinked was inside the Coloseum of Pride, in the massive arena, under the eyes of a million spectators.

This Colosseum had been built in the last few months since the news about the Treaty between Asgard and Devildom was announced. It was built for the sole purpose of hosting today's matches and the future Rating Game Matches.

The deafening cheers of the crowd made them all grin, and they soon heard the voice of Underworld's famous Master of Ceremonies and Announcer, Naud Gamigin.

"The Team Morningstar has arrived! Let's spin the Wheel!"

Raizel glanced at Team Renly Vassago, who were standing opposite to them, on the other side of the Arena.

Renly met his eyes and politely bowed to him, and he smiled and nodded to him before looking up at the large screen.

The Wheel which was spinning had 27 slots in it, and it was going to decide which Rating Game they would be having.

However, since it was their First Match, a License Match, some Game Options were not available for them right now.

"Ding!"

A loud sound resounded in the Arena, and on the screen, the result was displayed.

"The Dice Figure! Six Rounds!" Naud's voice was soon drowned in the sea of cheers.

Both the Peerages walked to the centre, where a pedestal appeared with a Crystal on them.

"One by one, members of both Peerages will place their hand on the Scanner, which will assign them a Value..." The Announcer informed the crowd what was going to happen next.

Raizel and Renly placed their hands on the Scanner first, and on the screens, numbers started flickering.

A couple of seconds later, the result appeared.

"12! Looks like we will only be able to see Prince Raizel in action today if the two Kings later roll two sixes on the dice..."

The crowd had mixed emotions after hearing Naud's words, but the two teams ignored their reaction.

Team Renly was quite relieved to see that Raizel had been assigned the highest Value, which meant that the chances of him taking part in the match were the lowest.

On the other hand, Renly had been assigned the Value of 9, which meant that he or his Queen had greater chances of taking part in the Match.

And then the members of both Peerages stepped forward together and one by one placed their hands on the Scanner.

Once they had scanned their hands, they stepped away and the system assigned the relative values to minimise the unfairness in the matches.

[Ingvild Leviathan: 11]

[Kuroka Zyminiar: 6]

[Cleria Belial: 3.5]

[Erza Scarlet: 6]

[Guts: 4.5]

[Mito: 7]

[Ban: 2]

[Moka Akashiya: 2]

[Freya Lucifuge: 2.5]

The result of Kuroka shocked her fellow Peerage members as the value broke the threshold of regular Knights and Bishop Pieces. Unless the Piece was Mutated, the highest value that would be given to the Knight or Bishop was 4.5, which was what Guts received.

This clearly meant that the Evil Piece inside Kuroka had Mutated. Now she had the same value as the Mutated Knight Piece of Erza.

Mito's Mutated Rook Piece had a value of 7. It had always been 7.

The Maximum relative value that a single normal Pawn could receive was 2.5, which was what Freya had received. If that value touched or crossed 3, it would have meant that her Evil Pieve had Mutated as well.

On the other hand, Renly's Peerage all had their Standard Values. And though they were clearly the weaker side, they still had an advantage as they could send 2 Pawns each to fight Ban and Moka, and 3 Pawns to fight Freya.

It was numbers vs strength now, allowing both teams to work for their victory.

"Let's roll the dice for the Six Rounds! Please note that in this Game, the survivors of each round can be sent again by the Kings, but not in the very next round unless there is no other person in the Peerage who can take part in it. The Kings themselves are exempted from this rule," Naud explained the rules to the audience, building up their interest. "In these six rounds, unless a team secures victory beforehand, both teams are required to have, at least, a Pawn, a Knight, a Bishop, and a Rook participating in the match. If the Value allows it, they can all participate in the same round as well to fulfil this criterion. If all six rounds are played and a Team fails to start a Pawn or a Bishop or a Knight or a Rook in the match, they will be disqualified."

Raizel and Renly picked up a dice each when the Crystal Scanner opened like a shell and revealed them.

Both rolled the dice together, and the total value for the first round came out to be 5.

[Second Round: 6]

[Third Round: 9]

[Fourth Round: 9]

[Fifth Round: 4]

[Sixth Round: 7]

Mito's left brow twitched as she cursed Raizel's luck in her heart, but outwardly, she was grinning.

Neither he nor Ingvild could take part in the Match.

The results heavily favoured Team Renly Vassago, but none of them were worried. Instead, they were all pumped up, ready to go up against multiple opponents.

Both Teams returned to their Grids, and they were given three minutes to make up their strategies.

Raziel did not say anything and left the task to Cleria, who shared her plan with the Team.

"Ban, Moka, both of you are up for the first round."

"Erza, the second round is all yours."

"Guts and Ban will take part in the third round, but depending on the situation, either I or Freya will replace Ban."

"The fourth round will be Mito, and if she needs support, Moka will enter the battle with her. But it all depends on the result of the Third Round."

"Our Main Threat is Renly Vassago. He can enter the Third and Fourth Rounds. The Vassago Clan Trait: Foresight, once activated, allows them to see a second or more into the future. According to the intel, Renly can see up to 3 seconds into the future. However, whether that is his true limit, we can not know for certain. So, stay alert. If you can not beat him with raw strength, tire him out. Excessively using his Clan Trait will drain him faster. If he does enter the third round, we can win the match by defeating him then and there. Once the King falls, the game is over."

Everyone seriously listened to her instructions.

They were the favourites to win this Match, but still, they could not help but feel some jitters.

It was their first Rating Game, and they wanted to finish it with a perfect result. None of them wanted to lose even a single round.

The bell in the Arena suddenly rang, indicating that the time was up, and a ten-second countdown started.

Moka and Ban slowly walked out of their grid, and from the opposite side, Renly, strangely, only sent out one person, a Pawn, Half-Devil, who was only twelve years old.

As soon as all three participants entered the field, a transparent, dome-shaped barrier was activated, and a red light was flashed.

Moka and Ban readied themselves, but what happened next shocked them.

"I surrender!" The young Pawn raised his hand and announced.

The crowd turned silent, and then, jeers and boos were hurled at Team Renly's way.

"Renly Vassago's Pawn, Atticus, has surrendered. Team Morningstar wins the First Round!" Naud Gamigin announced.

"Looks like it was a strategic call from Team Renly. Now, Moka Akashiya and Ban can not participate in the next round. They can only enter the Match again from third round onwards."

From the Commentary Box, Benella Valefor's voice sounded out, and with her was the Heir of Valac Clan, Doran. Both were in the Top 50 of the Rating Games Leaderboard, and they were serving as the Commentators of this match.

After hearing the commentators speak, the crowd finally calmed down and soon looked forward to the next round.

Cleria smiled when she saw the unsightly expressions of Moka and Ban.

"We won the round and that's all that matters. Relax." She gently said to them, and though they nodded, it was clear that they were angry at what happened. "Relax." She advised again. "Do not let them play with your minds."

Both of them froze when they heard her words and turned serious again, nodding their heads and taking a deep breath.

A thirty-second countdown began, and the Belial Princess telepathically told Erza to not jump into the field until the very last second.

On the other side, Team Renly was using the same tactic, and the tension in the arena rose.

As soon as the time on the clock was about to run out, four figures from Team Renly's side, and only Erza from Team Morningstar's side rushed in, and the Barrier was activated.

"Second Round is between Raizel Darcaedes' Knight, Daughter of Bahamut, Erza Scarlet, and Renly Vassago's Knight, Derrick, his Pawns, Vigo, Bara, and Deco!"

The crowd roared in excitement.

To the confusion and curiosity of those who felt that Erza was at a disadvantage, they saw the Scarlet Knight lightly smiling and watched her pupils change to draconic slits when the cameras focused on her face.

And then her Demonic Power burst out of her body, wild as her Beastly side, and her opponents felt chills run up their spines.

"Erza. Don't kill them."

When they heard Raizel's words, the opponents tensed up even more, and the Old Devils in the stands grinned as they watched Team Morningstar win the Psychological War before the start of the round.

Then again, Dragons were known to be intimidating. It was in Erza's Blood to scare her enemies and relish the sound of their trembling hearts.

Bahamut was just like that... she had clearly taken after her Father.