Chapter 55 : "Falon Oriax's

I parried the desperate stab from the terrified knight, batting away her blade and allowing for a perfect opening to impale her with my own sword. The knight was quickly swallowed by a blue light.

"Falon Oriax's knight retired." the announcer said, his voice booming through the arena prompting another cheer to rise up from the crowd.

Unlike our previous four matches, there was a sizable crowd in the arena to watch this, our fifth match – my fight against Rias excluded.

After our previous matches where Yubelluna and I tore through entire peerages arrayed against us without Clarissa,

Valerie or Kalawarner so much as leaving our base, we'd gathered enough of a following that the organizers thought they could rake in more earnings by pitting us against pillar devils again.

We were still scraping the bottom of the barrel, but with each win our popularity grew. A few members of the press had taken the opportunity to question if the 'Fallen Phenex would rise from the ashes of disgrace'.

I thought the journalist was an idiot, but their coverage led to more reward money from winning each Rating Game – something I was in desperate need of since losing out on the seemingly limitless funds of the Phenex family.

An explosion rocked a granite formation to my left, sending three devils spinning away.

Yubelluna touched down on the ground next to me as the announcer relayed the defeat of three pawns.

"It is just the king left, Riser."

Nodding, I said, "Yes, it is. Would you like the honors or shall I?"

"He is yours, my king. Please do not take too long."

Grinning, I shifted into my fire state and used a gust of Wind to propel myself to a marker I'd placed when we were first transported to the arena.

Appearing in a burst of flame, I stabbed towards the shocked Oriax with my sword. Moments before my blade would have connected with his chest, a blue light swallowed the wide-eyed devil.

"Falon Oriax has retired. Riser is the victor."

The crowd surged at the announcement, shouting out congratulations and applauding. My popularity must have been growing faster than I thought.

I felt myself being pulled away as I was enveloped in a blue light and arrived back in the waiting room. A quick glance around the area showed my peerage in the room with me.

"That was even faster than last time." Valerie said, walking over to check Yubelluna over in case she needed to be healed.

"I thought this one was supposed to be harder?" she said with a tilted head, her new, scarlet dress with gold trim swaying with her movements.

"It wasn't supposed to be harder." I said to clarify. "This was just more politically charged because he was a Pillar devil. That doesn't necessarily mean he's strong, just that he has money."

"I don't see the point of bringing me to these battles if I am not allowed to partake in them." Kalarwarner said, skulking irritably away from us.

The rags she was wearing when Serafall brought her to my manor were replaced with a sky blue blouse and dark silver trousers. She crossed her arms and said, "I thought I was to fight in your peerage?"

"You are an unknown quantity." Yubelluna answered before I was able to, stepping up to Kalawarner and looking her in the eye.

"No one except Satan Leviathan and us knows who you are and where you came from.

You will likely be underestimated when you do appear in a Rating Game, allowing you to use your light weapons to overwhelm anyone arrayed against you. We must save that advantage."

I allowed myself a proud smile as I watched Kalawarner accept Yubelluna's words with only a minor amount of grumbling.

Yubelluna had grown into her role as queen quite well since the addition of Valerie and Kalawarner.

Clarissa had never really needed anything Yubelluna had to manage. The witch was self-sufficient, and more than willing to follow orders.

Our new members, however, were lost. Both had escaped horrendous fates, solitude and were unused to feeling safe around others.

Yubelluna had done exceptionally well in acclimating them to their new lives and making them feel like a part of the peerage. Not for the first time, I was glad I'd chosen her to be my queen.

"What's this I hear about secret advantages?"

We all turned to find a grinning, blonde-haired man in a simple black suit walking lazily towards us with his hands resting easily in his pockets, a silver-haired woman following close behind. "Would you care to share, little brother?"

I smiled brightly as I walked forward to hug Ruval. "Afraid not, brother." I said into the hug. "How else am I supposed to surprise you with them when I'm finally allowed to face you?"

Ruval laughed and pulled away, placing a hand on my shoulder. "On that fateful day, you will learn the true disparity in our strength, little brother."

His gaze shifted as he looked over my peerage. "All jests aside, I daresay you've done well for yourself, Riser.

Has anything interesting happened since your last match?" Ruval had been to all but my fourth Rating Game, always stopping by to talk with me once they were concluded.

"More training and a few furnishings added to my home, but otherwise no. How are you?"

"I'm well fed, well fought, and well fucked. Who could ask for more?" he said, releasing me to pull Zissa against him.

His queen blushed furiously and gently extricated herself from his grasp. "Ruval, we are in public." she said scoldingly, her eyes narrowed despite the clearly amused smile tugging at her lips.

Laughing jovially, Ruval leaned in to plant a quick peck on her cheek, causing Zissa's blush to deepen.

Turning away from his queen, Ruval slapped me on the back and said, "So when will you finally invite me to this new home of yours? I've heard so much yet seen so little."