Beyond the Outer Gates Lies... Win, Lose, or Draw?

"The Gremory King rolls a six," Naud called out in anticipation, "Is it finally time? The Bael King's roll is… four."

I rolled my eyes. Even if they got a twelve, Sairaorg probably wouldn't go out. Especially when he could still send out his Pawn and remaining Rook. Then again…

Kuisha Abaddon stepped forward before the concealing dome could be raised. She glanced at Sairaorg, who nodded. She then raised one arm, and pointed imperiously at Akeno.

"Hmm, it looks like the Bael Queen is calling out the Gremory Queen," Naud expositioned for anyone who wasn't paying attention. Or maybe, just maybe, he was doing it for Devils who might have gone to the bathroom or for a snack.

Akeno looked at Rias. The redhead considered it. If my lip reading was right, she told Akeno it was her choice. The left side of Akeno's mouth twitched up for a moment. Then she stepped onto the platform. Kuisha followed suit.

"Well, it appears we are getting a Queen's match," Az sounded interested.

"Given how instrumental Abaddon has been in the Bael team's more difficult victories," Diehauser commented, "I wonder how this girl will measure up with her."

"Don't underestimate Himejima," Az advised, "She comes from two powerful bloodlines and commands the power of Light. And if we are talking about measurements..."

"True," the Emperor agreed quickly, cutting Az off, "She gave the Bomb Queen a good fight, even though it was her first Ratings Game. And the Gremory Peerage as a whole has proven stronger than expected, only trading two Pieces for five of Bael's."

"That is why I want this match," Kuisha growled at Akeno, "To prove that I am the one who is second to the Bomb Queen, not you."

Akeno sniffed and raised an eyebrow, "Maybe that is because you shoot so low. My aim is to surpass the Strongest Queen. I have put aside my Pride to learn from the one who defeated the Bomb Queen with ease, so if she is limit of your ambition…"

It may have been my imagination, but I thought I heard an explosion two or three boxes down from the Sitri box.

"Put aside her Pride," Serafall chuckled, "That's not how Shizu-chan told it."

"I did have to smash it a few times," I told my Maou, "But eventually she got the message and was a pretty good student."

Kuisha's eyes narrowed.

"Then prove it," she demanded.

Akeno lifted her hands, and her personal mandala appeared on the back of each. She had made some adjustments during our training. So while each wave of her hand only produced two bolts of Holy Lightning, each bolt was both denser and more efficient. Two right gestures and one left sent six lances of energy at Sairaorg's Queen. And the circles were still glowing, ready to continue. Depending on how Abaddon reacted.

Her reaction was her own imperious wave of her hand. Six gaps in space opened, one in front of each bolt. The attacks vanished and the holes closed. Then Kuisha rolled her eyes and pointed. Another half-dozen portals opened, surrounding Akeno. A beam of pure Light shot from each, the electric element and thus the lightning like appearance removed from the attacks. Akeno barely had time to show surprise, before the holy energy shot into her. Rias's Queen slumped slightly.

"Well, that was easy enough," Kuisha said triumphantly, "Call the match and get her out of here before she is permanently damaged."

"Fu fu fu," Akeno laughed mockingly. Then she straightened. She spread her fingers wide, and the Light retracted. Then floated over, the beams rotating just above her shoulder like a magical Gatling gun getting ready to fire.

"I will admit you surprised me," she continued to chuckle as she spoke, "But this is my element, my magic. I know how to sense and control it. Besides, this was a testing volley. So it wasn't strong enough to pierce my defenses."

She plucked at the coat made by yours truly, showing that the beam that hit her left side had neither scored nor scorched the leather.

"But now that I have an idea how quickly your Holes open," Akeno gave her opponent a killer smile, "Let's see how you do against the speed of light."

She fired the six lances again, this time in sequence instead of simultaneously. Kuisha opened a single, larger whole. Then a second one when Akeno unleashed another blast of the full Holy Lightning that curved around the defensive portal.

Akeno danced gracefully away from the next set of portals, causing the raw lightning to miss her. She pulled it to her, forming a ball of it in her hand. Then she ducked, allow the light spears to shoot past her. Akeno twisted her empty hand, and the Holy energy turned towards Kuisha again. Before the blond could catch them again, Akeno threw the lightning upwards. It split into dozens of narrow beams and rained on Abaddon from above.

The bolts of lightning and light flashing around the stadium, and the portals redirecting them certainly looked impressive for the masses. But at the core, this had turned into a simple contest of magical stamina.

"It would be almost better if Lady Abaddon stopped sending the attacks back on Akeno," Tsubaki commented, "Creating new ones will drain Akeno faster than just redirecting the existing ones."

"She can't," I explained, "Look at her face. She is having trouble keeping up as it is. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts she doesn't have the time or focus to launch an attack of her own."

"She is likely so used the absolute defense of the Abaddon bloodline, that she doesn't have any other defensive skills," Anna added, "So if she stops collecting Himejima's attacks with Hole, she will be defeated."

"Can she just dump the Holy Lightning somewhere else?" Yvette asked.

"I don't know," Anna answered, "The Abaddon family, like many Extra Demons, are very secretive about their trait."

"Even if she could," I added, "That wouldn't get around the whole 'need to use it to counter Akeno' issue. But if she has any other options, she better figure it out quickly."

A third mandala was forming behind Akeno. Not her personal one, but one I knew. One Reya had taught her during one of the afternoon sessions. Something to expand Akeno's elemental range.

Kuisha grimaced. And I recognized the expression. It was one I had had more than once. Or twice. Or nine-ce.

'There is nothing after thrice, my host.'

And ain't that just a crime against grammar? Anyway, her face said Kuisha was about to do something that she had wanted to save for later. Or at least somewhere less public. She reached into her cleavage and withdrew a single, half-inch ball bearing. Which she promptly dropped. Into a waiting void.

"Hell's Bells," my eyes widened, as, predictably, another portal opened six inches above the first. The steel sphere fell. And fell. There was a moderate pop as it broke the sound barrier.

"If that has a spell on it to eliminate friction," I mused out loud, "Not only would it be a great for its intended purpose, it would have basically no air resistance."

"And thus no terminal velocity," Sona realized as the bearing kept accelerating downwards.

Akeno unleashed her second spell. And it began to rain inside the field. Kuisha's eyes widened as the lightning began to splinter, jumping between the drops, making harder for her to block. Her arm straightened and twitched, as some of the voltage reached her. Between that, and the concentration she was already spending on both defense and her accelerating projectile, she didn't seem to realize the true intention of Akeno's rain.

'Now it's a different race,' Lash agreed.

Akeno got there first. The rain had accumulated into a number of puddles, including one directly under Kuisha's feet. The clouds had pushed together so that they were mostly above Abaddon, and the individual drops were larger as a result. Akeno gathered up all of the lightning her opponent had directed back at her, and added to it from her remaining energy. Almost two dozen heavy blasts of lightning. Some flew up into the clouds. Some bounced along the ground. Most streaked through the air, flowing through and seemingly refracting off the droplets.

Kuisha tried to block with her portals like she had before. But this time there were too many attacks, and they were too random to predict, thanks to the water. She was electrified. Her spine went ramrod straight, then arched back. She was up on her toes, and her left arm stretched out, fingers twitching. Her eyes shot open as wide as they could, staring ahead at nothing. Her mouth opened, but she managed not to scream. Despite all that, Sairaorg's Queen kept control of her right arm, and after a moment was able to force her eyes down, looking at Akeno. Another portal intercepted the falling bearing. The other end opened at a forty five degree angle, pointing up from about the height of Akeno's knee.

The bullet shot out, too fast for Akeno to deal with, especially with her focus on the lightning. The supersonic sphere hit just under her right breast. It had enough force to lift her into the air, and she partially folded around it. Without her jacket, it might have punched through her. The lightning cut off instantly. Once her upward moment was spent, Akeno felled back down, immediately collapsing to her knees. Then she coughed up at least a cup of blood, the red liquid splashing the wet stone in front of her, and mingling outward into the water.

With the lightning done, Kuisha's body relaxed. In fact it relaxed so much that she crashed backwards. She hit the ground, and tried to move. But she couldn't. A moment later she went limp as she lost her battle with staying conscious.

"Bael Queen is unable to continue," Naud announced, "Winner…"

He trailed off as Akeno did not move either.

"Let's them out of there and have a medic check," Az called out quickly.

The two women were sent back to their Kings' respective podiums. Asia immediately started to work on Akeno, even as an additional Devil teleported to each Peerage.

I would later learn that, even though the jacket I had made for Akeno had absorbed about seventy percent of the bearing's force, it was completely drained in the process. The impact also destroyed the anti-friction spell on the improvised bullet. With the magic gone, it had scraped and friction burned a thick path up the leather. And the remaining force it had was enough to break two of Akeno's ribs.

"After conferring with the medics, it is impossible to tell which Queen passed out first," Diehauser informed us, "And neither of them is in any shape to continue. So the committee has decided to declare this match a draw."

There were cheers from the crowd, but also some grumbling.

"So, let's have the next roll," Naud said quickly, anxious to get the next match started before anyone could protest.

Rias and Sairaorg stepped up. And after a throw and short tumble, each of them came up with a four.

"Oppai Dragon, Oppai Dragon," a significant portion of the crowd called for Ise. Whether she had another plan in mind, Rias did as they asked. Ise appeared on the field.

"Lord Bael only has three pieces left," Tsubasa considered it, "And he can't go out. Do you think he will send Regulus out again? Or his last Rook?"

"Regulus stands a better chance," Kendra mused, "But it would be a bigger loss if Ise did win."

"That battle junky wants to fight Ise himself," I said, "Would he take the risk that Ise might lose and deprive him of the chance? Even if it is the smarter move?"

I wasn't surprised when the Ben Grimm knockoff, Gandoma Balam appeared on the field. He towered over my buddy, but despite that, he looked nervous at the serious expression on Ise's face.

"Sorry," Ise told him, "I was hoping to get revenge on that Regulus guy for what he did to Koneko, and I'm pretty pissed off after seeing how badly hurt Akeno was. It's not your fault, but if you guys are going to go in for the kill, and you happen to be in front of me… Promotion: Rook!"

"Welsh Bastion Rook," Ddraig answered.

Ise's heavy armor snapped into place. He was still shorter than the real Rook, but was now wider and by all appearances much heavier. He dropped into a fighting stance that was much cleaner and crisper than I have seen from him before. I glanced sideways at Kendra, who smiled proudly.

Ise MOVED. Not as fast as a Knight. Not even as fast as he was without his out his armor. But considering he was wrapped in armor that he would make a Challenger II tank feel underdressed, his speed and grace were stunning. Gandoma blinked, but his eyes were not fully open by the time Ise's armored shoulder drove into his stomach. Even as the taller Rook stumbled and fell back, Ise's body twisted. His right arm, which reminded me of a certain Megadeus's limb in all but coloring, fired up. The uppercut caught Gandoma in the chin. Then flames shot out of the back of Ise's arm, adding to the Sudden Impact.

Most of Gandoma's backwards moment was diverted upwards. He arced across the arena, crashing hard into floor, cracking the stones.

"Shi…ocking display of power," Naud declared, "Gandoma might just be the heaviest and toughest Rook out there. At least that this announcer knows of. But the Oppai Dragon sent him flying like he was a ragdoll. But the Bael warrior is struggling back to his feet. He looks hurt, but it will take more than… Oh, now what?"

"Promotion: Bishop!"
"Welsh Turret Bishop!"

Much of the armor fell away, but the boots were even thicker. And some of the material transferred to Ise's back, forming the cannons. Which were already glowing as they locked onto Gandoma. The Rook started moving, seeing how Ise's legs locked in place. Unfortunately for him, Ise could still turn at the waist, and the cannons had some sweep. And also…

"Burn," Ise announced, "Dragon Inferno!"

Instead of straight beam, a broad cone of flame emerged from each cannon. The dragonfire engulfed the unfortunate Rook.

"Bael Rook withdraws," Naud announced, "Winner, Gremory Team!"

Ise's armor vanished, and he waved briefly to the cheering crowd. Then he was pulled back to Rias's side. The Kings rolled again, and this time…

"Boxcars," the annoying idiot shouted, "Will we finally get the match everyone is here to see?"

"Fool," Diehauser agreed with me, "Hyoudou cannot fight in consecutive matches. And we cannot be sure that Bael will choose to come out at this point."

"He doesn't have many options," Az sided with Naud, "Himself or his Pawn, while there are still five eligible Pieces on the Gremory side. Rias could choose to send out more than one."

The grounds crew moved in, setting up a more elaborate field for the next match, while the Kings considered. It was a large lake, dotted with a handful of rocky islands. Around the edge of the lake, and in a few spots on the islands, some impressive fir trees were transplanted in.

"What would you do, Harry?" Anna asked.

"Another test?" I glanced at her sideways.

"To some degree, everything will be a test until I hold my first grandchild," she shot back, "But you have gained my respect over these two matches, so I am most curious what you think."

"Well, Rias won't send herself. And probably not Asia either. And Ise can't go. So she is more restricted than it might seem."

I leaned forward and looked at my distant friends.

"Really, she has two options, one for Regulus and one for Sairaorg. She has to decide what Sairaorg is more likely to do, and which option it better if she is wrong."

"And what are those options?" Sona asked.

"If she thinks Sairaorg is coming out, she should send Gaspar alone."

"What?" Duncan, Tomoe, and Yvette demanded in unison.

"Oh, he only has like a 3720 to one chance to win," I explained, "But if I were Rias, I would tell him to start by freezing Sairaorg. It probably won't last the full minute against him, but it will still give Gaspar some time. To pile every debuff he can on Sairaorg, then blast him with a few offensive spells. And then turn invisible, hide, and try to run out the clock. It probably won't work, either, but any damage Gaspar can do, any energy he can get Sairaorg to expend, that's a win. And if he can make it through, even better."

"On the other hand, if it is Regulus, she should hit him with everything. Rossweisse, Kiba, and Gaspar. Because there is a much better chance that the three of the will be able to take lion-boy out. Maybe Kiba's holy weapons will overcome the invulnerable skin, now that Regulus is a Devil. If not, Rossweisse and Gaspar should be able to find some way around it. If the three of them can take him out, that's all that matters. If one or two of them survive, even better. But she needs to take out the Pawn."

"Were I in her place," Sona said, "I would send out Rossweisse and Kiba as the best balance of those two options."

"I see that," I nodded, "keep Gaspar as an extra number. Personally, I would still send all three. To make sure Reg is KOed if Sairaorg does send him. Or try to do as much damage as they can if Sairaorg does go out."

Everyone else considered that. And Anna looked pleased.

Of course she couldn't hear us, but it seemed Rias agreed with me.

"Rias Gremory has decided to go all in," Naud exclaimed, "The Rook, Knight, and Bishop Formation has appeared on the field. And their opponent will be the undefeated King, Sairaorg Bael himself!"

Gaspar gulped.

"It is unfortunate that I could not fight the Oppai Dragon," Sairaorg said haughtily, "But I will give the brave warriors of…"

He froze in place as Gaspar glared him. The young vampire looked more determined than I had even seen him before, looking right into Sairaorg's eyes. Then, without shifting his gaze, he lifted his hands. There were four mandalas there, though technically it was two each of two spells. The Bishop hit Bael with two overcharged Fae Glue spells, encasing Sairaorg up to his knees in pyramids of the adhesive. Then the two Armor Break spells hit Sairaorg in the chest. I was slightly disappointed he didn't call them out this time, but he was too focused on the Forbidden View, so I decided to forgive him.

Rossweisse flew straight up, then hovered forward until she was behind Sairaorg. She summoned a giant circle, one neither Lash nor I had seen before. Or anyone else in the Sitri box, judging by how many of my comrades were studying it. There were initially four large, circular gaps in the spell, on in each quadrant. Then the empty spaces filled with other mandalas. These ones I recognized. Fire Bar, Lightning Arc, Ice Spear, and my Magic Missile. Then a giant spiral drill appeared from the circle. It was composed of four twists of energy, one matching the elemental properties of the four spells she plugged into the main spell. The drill began to drop, aimed between Sairaorg's shoulder blades.

Presumably wanting to avoid Gaspar's line of sight, Kiba conjured eight of the throwing daggers he had used in his previous match, and threw them at Sairaorg's head.

"Can even the Strongest Youth survive this unscathed?" Naud called out just before Kiba and Rossweisse unleashed their attacks.

"Fool," Diehauser grunted. Again.

Because even as the drill began to descend and Kiba's arms reached extension, Bael began to move. Slowly at first, but with steadily increasing speed. His legs still trapped, he turned at the waist. His left hand went back and up, catching Rossweisse's attack. And his right arm swept across his body, generating enough force to send the unstable knives flying. They hit a pine and exploded, destroying the tree.

Sairaorg lifted his right foot, pull up a large chunk of the ground thanks to the Fae Glue. He glanced down at his feet, and flexed. White energy surrounded his body and the glue (and some of the rock he stood on) shattered. Then he looked at the palm of his left hand. There was a deep, bleeding divot from where he stopped the drill, but not enough to go all the way through.

"Ha!" Naud pointed at the Emperor.

"I apologize," Sairaorg said. Then he lifted his right hand. Gaspar had been trying to freeze him again, but at the gesture the vampire's head snapped back.

"That's ki, isn't it," I asked Kendra.

"It's rough, untrained, but yes," she agreed, "And very powerful. Stronger than Koneko or I, but not quite as strong as the two of us combined."

"I had underestimated you three," Sairaorg continued. He ran a finger down the inside of each forearm. A series of golden runes became visible and dropped away. That spread up- to his shoulders, across his chest and down his legs.

"But I will remove my training weights, so I can give you my full power," he finished. Then he blurred. He reappeared before Kiba, his fist descending on the smaller Knight. Kiba wasn't the fastest of Rias's Peerage for nothing. Sword of Betrayer appeared in his hand. He held it flat out in front of the punch, and braced it with his left hand. His not empty left hand. The sword flexed and cracked, but held. Kiba's whole body shuddered from the force transfer. But he remained standing and only skidded back maybe a foot.

"That is a very well made sword," Sairaorg complimented him, "I haven't seen many weapons that can survive my fists, outside of legendary blades like the one your comrade carries."

"I have a friend to thank for my strengthened swords.," Kiba answered, his voice wavering in pain, "and also for…"

Kzzzz!

He activated my lightsaber, hidden from Sairaorg's view by the width of his physical sword. Sword of Betrayer dropped away. The purple blade of Light descended, right on the Sairaorg's wrist. The holy light overcame Sairaorg's defense. Began to burn slowly burn through the King's arm. Kiba dropped his regular sword, which vanished. He grabbed the lightsaber's hilt with both hands, putting his weight into it. Sairaorg's ki flared again, but couldn't stop Kiba. He tried to retreat, but Gaspar's eyes flashed. Rather that target Sairaorg as a whole, he only stared the bigger Devil's arm, from elbow to shoulder. Like he had done accidentally to Ise when we first met, he only froze part of Sairaorg. That was enough to trap the big guy. He could move most of his body, but that limb was locked in place. He couldn't retreat or move his wrist away.

Instead, Sairaorg pulled his right hand. His fist shot out, faster than Kiba expected, or could react to. There was the crack of breaking bones. The creak of crumpling aluminum. Then the ring of shattering crystal. The glowing blade vanished and Kiba's ruined left fingers flopped away from the crushed hilt. The Knight fell back, as Sairaorg cocked his leg to kick. Gaspar helped him remain steady through the pain.

For just a moment, Kiba glanced at the Sitri box. So did Rias and Ise. But only for a moment, there was a fight going on. My friends and fellow guests looked at me longer. Even Saji was giving me a regretful look.

"It was just a weapon. They break. I'm more concerned about my friend's crushed hand."

They returned their attention to the match. But my girlfriends didn't look convinced. I'm not sure I was, either.

Kiba tucked the parts of my saber into his jacket. He tried to straighten out his fingers, but kept cringing with agony. Gaspar cast one of the new spells, one that neutralized pain. It was meant as a medical spell, but could also be used in advance to prevent an opponent from realizing they were injured. They worked together, under Kiba's direction, forming his hand into an almost action figure like grip. Once it was how Kiba wanted, Gaspar hit it with Fae Glue, locking it into place. Finally, to finish it off, Kiba summoned Sword Of Betrayer in a form I hadn't seen before. It was like a punching dagger, a gauntlet, and a bracer fused into one. I had seen it before, but the name escaped me.

"Lash, Shiro, what's that called?"

'Pata.'
"That is the pata," Shiro said, "A cousin of the katar. And it appears Kiba has chosen the latter for the blade shape."

"That was an inspired choice," Sona said, "A weapon but also a cast."

"But what do you mean about the blade shape, Mr. Yoshimo?" Yvette asked.

"While they vary greatly," Tomoe answered, much more seriously than usual, "the standard pata has a blade length of between sixty and eighty centimeters and a straight blade with a width of five to seven centimeters. This pata has a triangular blade about forty-five centimeters long and ten centimeters wide at the base, with two broad fullers. Thus the blade looks more like a traditional katar."

"Presumably he chose that shape to distribute the impact more across his injured fingers," Kendra added, seemingly unsurprised by the normally flighty Knight's technical description of the swords. Shiro reached over and patted his granddaughter's head proudly.

With his left hand sorted, Kiba summoned Tyrfing. He looked at Gaspar, and they nodded.

While they had been doing that, Rossweisse bombarded Sairaorg. For a few moments, while he was still trapped, he crouched as best he could, and pulsed his ki to deflect the spells. He still got hit, but was not taking much damage.

Then the Forbidden View wore off. Sairaorg's wings snapped out and he flew after Rossweisse. He punched at her, unleashing a bullet of ki wrapped in a shockwave of air. The move was horribly telegraphed, and we hadn't spent the last two weeks practicing dodging and firing on the move just for exercise. The Valkyrie easily dropped under the attack. Which proceeded to hit the dome over the arena, causing it to shake lightly.

"If that had hit her, she would be out," Tsubasa looked concerned as a fellow Rook.

"Or dead," I added, "If Rias or the officials didn't get her out in time."

I noticed as he flew that he was trying to make a fist with his left hand, but it wasn't responding. Kiba had gotten between a quarter and the third of the way through Sairaorg's wrist, and must have severed something critical. But the Bael King had also been able to use his Ki to neutralize the Light, so the wound was not spreading. Or even slowing him down visibly.

Then he reached her. He punched again. This time it was pure physical power, no ki or even shockwave. An unlucky thirteen copies of Snoepglas appeared in front of his fist. And shattered with little effect. Then she caught his fist with both of her hands. He looked stunned that she did so without moving. But multiple spell circles were glowing on her hands and forearms.

He fired a roundhouse knee at her right side. She released his hand with one of hers, and caught his leg. But one hand was not enough. She coughed harshly as the wind was knocked out of her. Not enough damage to cause her to spit up blood, but she still looked hurt.

Then she looked past him and blinked. Her eyes briefly narrowed and she smirked. Sairaorg may have seemed like a fool… Hell, he probably was. But he was also a battle maniac. So he pulled himself free and spun to the side, ready to block Kiba or Gaspar. Only to see that the Knight and Bishop were just now taking off. Gaspar might have been able to cast a spell from a hundred meters away. Kiba, on the other hand, definitely had to get closer to even throw his knives. Rossweisse's grin widened and another twenty circles appeared and launched a variety of elemental spells at her now distant enemy. By the time he recovered, the three Gremory Peers had regrouped.

"Ten minutes into the match," Naud proclaimed, "And Lord Bael has not eliminated even one of the Gremory Pieces. Not only are they matching him, it seems like they might even have the advantage. Will we see an upset here?"

"It is stunning how quickly you can go from underestimating them to overestimating them," the Emperor sounded annoyed.

"Rias's team has grown admirably," Az noted, "But somehow I get the feeling that Sairaorg isn't taking this seriously."

"He is the King who has swept entire other Peerages from the field, when the mood struck him," Diehauser agreed.

Kiba charged across the sky, while Rossweisse and Gaspar prepared their next spells. He led was a broad slash of Pata Of Betrayer, then a direct stab of Tyrfing.

"You know," Sairaorg said pityingly, dodging the first attack, "Just because I mentioned the other Gremory Knight's legendary sword, doesn't mean you need to fake one of your own."

He tapped his left forearm against the flat of Tyrfing, knocking it wide.

Then his radius and ulna both snapped at the point of the block.

"Who said it is a fake?" Kiba countered.

Despite that initial exchange, the fight didn't go well for Kiba. He had range, thanks to his blades. And Sairaorg was wary of Tyrfing. But the King was slightly faster than the Knight, and much stronger and tougher. Even if he was down one limb, Sairaorg fought with all both his arms and legs, and even his literal head. Kiba was a pure swordsman, which meant he was also outnumbered in attacking limbs.

The Pata Of Betrayer cracked after Sairaorg blocked it with an elbow slam. Then Kiba took a glancing knee to his chin. It had been a good run, but Rias's Knight was battered, bruised, and running on fumes. He stored Tyrfing, rather than risk being disarmed. He conjured a pair of exploding knives and threw.

Sairaorg slammed his right fist into his left elbow. It was a slightly awkward move, and my guess was it would have been fist to fist, were it not for his damaged limb. But incomplete or not, the action produced an omnidirectional burst of ki. Not only was Kiba hit by it, but his knives were flung back at him. Exploded in his face. It was too much.

"Gremory Knight retires," Naud said as Kiba dissolved into sparkles.

"Gremory Bishop retires."

Sairaorg turned in surprise, and saw another teleportation effect, as if Gaspar had been sneaking up on him. Then he looked at Rossweisse sternly.

"It is down to you and me."

"We never intended to win," she told him, "Only to hurt you as much as we can, and tire you out. To help our comrade face you."

Outside the ring was a different story. Az had blocked the button on Naud's second mike, the one that could be heard both inside and outside the battle area. And Diehauser had put his hand in front of the other Devil's mouth.

Why? Because Kiba was the only one who appeared on Rias's platform (and received immediate treatment from Asia). Gaspar was still in play.

"You sneaky little gamer," I commented in admiration.

"What's that mean, Harry?" Tomoe prompted.

"His spells mimicked both the announcer's voice and the teleportation sparkles," I explained, "This is effectively a game, and he is screwing with the interface."

Rossweisse gestured, and a silver spear appeared in her hand.

"My comrades mocked me for not being good with the weapon of the Valkyrie," she noted, "But my spells don't seem to be enough against you. So I will use them a different way."

Sixty seals appeared behind her, though it was actually seven copies each of seven spells, and eleven copies of the final mandala. Instead of another barrage of elemental attacks, the magics all shot at her. The enhancement spells layered themselves over her body and armor. It looked like she had a second skin of runes. Rossweisse pointed her spear at Sairaorg. And then waited.

"You aren't going to attack?" he prompted.

"I don't need to," she lectured him, "If I can last six minutes and thirty seconds, this match will be over, and I will have fulfilled my King's order. And I can easily maintain these seals for double that. Time is on my side, not yours."

He frowned and looked at the clock below the announcer's stand. Then he shrugged and charged.

Rossweisse wasn't kidding. She was not good with the spear. But between the raw strength of the Rook, and the other spells she had cast on herself, she was able to keep Sairaorg at bay. The reach of her weapon helped.

A punch clipped her shoulder. Instead of the Rook or her armor being damaged, one of the ten remaining Ablative Shield spell circles flared and then vanished. She countered by swinging the back end of her polearm at his damaged wrist. Sairaorg shifted to catch it with his shoulder. He was pushed back thanks to the spells that increased her strength and mass.

Rossweisse wastefully and theatrically spun her spear so it was point out again. And then she jabbed at Sairaorg's eye. His good hand caught the haft, just before he would have been one more step down the path to qualifying as a pirate. He squeezed. Two more of the sacrificial spells exploded, showing him that they protected her weapon as well as her person.

She wasn't going to make it to the end. Sairaorg was learning her fighting style (such as it was). Despite her initial claim, some of her strengthening spells had failed. But that could have been the nature or the spells or a side effect of Bael's ki, rather than her running short of Devil Power.

At least Sairaorg was panting. A little. Like another three or four hours of this, and he would have been tapped out. He really was a beast.

The last Ablative Shield did its job and died. And she didn't have the focus to power up another one. It was a really complex circle, which was why she needed Kiba to distract Sairaorg in the first place. She had replaced a few of the strengthening spells, but without her main defense, it was only a matter of…

Sairaorg snapped her spear, slid in close, and buried his fist into her midsection.

"Gremory Rook retires."

Sairaorg sighed in relief. Then he looked up in surprised.

17:39
17:40
17:41

He wasn't being teleported back. The clock was still running.

Bael dropped to the ground. Sat down with his legs crossed before him. He closed his eyes. Lifted his right hand. And grimaced as his left wouldn't do what he wanted. So instead of forming a circle with both hands, he only circled his right middle finger and thumb. His ki pulsed out, semi-translucent. Then his eyes opened.

"You are still out there, little one," he announced to the empty island, "Since I can't properly circulate my energy, I don't know exactly where. But I should have enough time and energy to level any place you can be hiding."

"Do it," Rias said, though Gaspar couldn't have heard her. I then realized I didn't know if Communication was allowed in Dice Match battles.

Gaspar grabbed Sairaorg's shoulders from behind, cancelling his invisibility. And dug his fangs into Bael's carotid artery. For a brief moment, he drank deeply of the King's blood. Then Bael recovered. Backhanded Gaspar, hard. The tiny vampire went flying. Crashed into… no, through a boulder, before skipping across the rocky ground and skidding to a halt.

The Gaspar I knew would have been eliminated by that. This Gaspar just surged to his feet with a vicious grin.

"Oh, he pulled a Bisky," Tomoe declared. I didn't know exactly what that meant, but could see the result.

Gaspar was buff. Ripped. Cut. Straining the seams of his Kuoh girl's uniform. Like every muscle in his body had tripled in size. Beyond that his sclera were black, his irises were glowing red and had completely subsumed his pupils. Black claws formed over his hands.

"It's been forever since I've been loose," Gaspar growled in a much deeper voice. Then he licked the blood off his lips, and said, "What a deep flavor. So much life and ki. Delicious, despite the lack of mana."

"Balor," Rias whispered.

"So I just need to finish you for my King and my senpai?" Gaspar continued, "Easy."

Before he could move, Sairaorg was standing in front of him. Towering over him. Sairaorg swung a powerful knife hand down. Gaspar caught it on crossed wrists, seemingly unconcerned. But the island behind him split in half, like it had been cleaved by a half-mile long axe. The water in the lake splashed up against the shield, and then flood back in to fill the newly created bay.

"That was dangerous," the empowered Dhampyr frowned. Then he grinned again, "Fun."

He grabbed Sairaorg's wrist, claws digging into flesh. Then he flipped the King like he was a sack of flour. He tried to follow it up with an axe kick to Sairaorg's face, but the bigger Devil spun out of the way. Swept Gaspar's support leg. Followed it up with a light jab to the kid's face. Gaspar's nose snapped, but he just laughed.

"Does anyone know what's going on with him?" I asked.

"I know he grows temporarily stronger when he consumes blood," Sona answered, "How much stronger and for how long both depend on a combination of the amount of blood, and how powerful its owner is. But Rias never mentioned any psychological effects."

I didn't want to start distrusting the kid, but this seemed dangerous. The saving grace was that he said he was acting on Rias and Ise's behalf.

'Given your exploits under the Mantle's influence, you don't have much shade to cast, my host,' Lash reminded me.

After two short but more than a little bloody minutes, the clock hit twenty. Neither King nor Bishop were disabled or surrendered, so both were teleported back to their respective podiums.

When Gaspar saw Ise and Rias he deflated. Literally. He returned to has normal form and shuddered in fear. Asia began to treat him, and he looked up at Ise, on the verge of tears.

"Did I do good, senpai?" he pleaded.

"You did great," Ise ruffled his hair.

"Rias!" Sairaorg called out across the stadium. He had mixed a vial of Phoenix Tears into two liter of Jolt cola, and chugged it. All of his injuries were gone. But he still looked like he was listing slightly.

Well, that could have been the sugar rush.

"We already know how things will play out from here," he proclaimed, "What do you say we set aside these rolls and time limits, and settle this with a battle royal between our remaining members?"

"True, we can expect the next match with be Gremory sacrificing her other Bishop to Bael's Pawn," Diehauser mused, "Leading to the desired final between Sairaorg and the Oppai Dragon, possibly with the little vampire thrown in as well. In that case it might be more interesting…"

"Even the Emperor sees it," Sairaorg cutting him off, earning him a scathing glare from the champion, "So let's settle this!"

"No." Rias proclaimed, looking like she was talking to a moron.

Next: Beyond the Outer Gates Lies... a Lion and a Dragon?

Author's Note: This was supposed to finish Rias vs Sairaorg, but it got to my customary length, and still had the two longest fights to go, so I split it.