DxD: Emperor of Chaos

CHAPTER 11

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Today was the day of the Rating Game, Team Gremory versus Team Phoenix. The event starts at 12 p.m. during midnight, and he just came back from school. Instinctively, he dropped his bag into the living room before stripping down to just his singlet and boxers, and was about to enter his training room when he noticed a package on his kitchen counter.

Grabbing it, he feels the heavyweight inside of it. He… Didn’t order anything at all. Flipping it around, he found a note taped to the back of the package.

Yo, it’s me. I got this after my spies told me about the Rating Game that’s happening. Since your birthday is two months from now, I decided to get you an early gift. Trust me, you’ll love it.

— Azazel, the Greatest Inventor There’s Ever Lived.

PS: I would say good luck, but I doubt that siscon of a Satan would let your master get married to the Phoenix fellow even if your team loses. I predict that he would do something to break it off, so see you in a few weeks.

PPS: You better do well in the Rating Game, I have Penemue record the whole thing. If you don’t take even one down, Vali’s going to trash talk you, and I would too, to be fair.

PPPS: Vali heard about you reincarnating into a devil, expect him to not hold back anymore during your punching bag sessions. This one though, I will say ”good luck”, I heard him telling Albion about how badly he wanted to punch you at full power.

PPPPS: We are so going to talk about the sudden increase of Sacred Gear Energy when I get another chance!

Ignoring the last sentence, he opened the package up by ripping it and taking the object out.

“Clothes? And a note?”

Walking into his training room, he dressed according to his instincts, and exited the room with new clothing.

A black skin-tight short-sleeved shirt and baggy black pants, along with black shoes with red laces. And resting on top of his black attire was a flowing red vest with a long backside, secured with a blue obi tied over it at his waist. On his arms and legs were blue boxing wraps that were tied around his knuckles to his forearm, and his ankles to his calves.

… Azazel just gave him the Gi worn by Xeno Goku. Looking back at the paper note, he couldn’t help but grin stupidly at the contents in the note.

Remember when you wanted to get a Gi that’s black and red a few years ago? Well, here you go. The material is made from the Chinese Pantheons, so it is nigh-unbreakable. And if it does tear, it would simply regenerate with your energy.

This costed me a month’s worth of club money, so you better use it well!

Another PS: Just found out about your other energy signature. Seriously, Kira, you somehow got Touki? I am so coming to the house sooner now.

One more PPS: Oops, Vali heard about you having Touki, looks like you might actually die now. Sorry, that is my B.

Heh, DBZA reference.

Looking in the mirror, he couldn’t help but flex his muscles and started posing. Damn, he looks good when he pushes his hair up, makes him look like a Saiyan wearing this.

… Man, why couldn’t he be a Saiyan anyways, instead of his Sacred Gears? A Saiyan beats all the beings in DxD, no problem, but no, looks like he isn’t allowed to have fun at all.

He took a glance at his red vest once more, feeling the soft fabric before getting up from his bean bag. Covering his whole body with demonic energy, he blasted into the sky before starting to shadow box.

Hey, he had to somehow test out the clothes, might as well try using all of his body to see the amount of stretch this fabric has… Hmm, maybe wearing all this is a little bit too much.

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Around 11:30 something, he entered the clubroom and sat down next to Toujou, with Buchou sitting opposite to him, while Kiba was standing near a rack of nicely made swords. Yeah, the swords look so much better in person, they don’t look cartoony like the anime.

He doesn’t see Akeno anywhere though, maybe she was in the kitchen area next door?

“Oh, you’re quite early, Akira-kun. And… The vest is?”

He opted to only wear his red flowing vest along with the blue obi tied over it, while his arm and legs were wrapped in the outfit’s blue wraps. Underneath his vest was Kuoh Academy’s shirt and pants, since Toujou messaged him beforehand that Buchou wanted all the peerage members to use the uniform.

“It’s a gift from my guardian, from way back. Anyways, where’s Hyoudou and Argento-san?”

“Ise-kun just messaged me, he’s currently walking here with Asia-chan beside him. They should arrive in about 5 minutes time.”

“Ara, Akira-kun, you look good with that coat of yours.”

He flinched as he looked behind him to see the smiling Onee-san carrying a tray of cups. S-Since when was she even behind him, he couldn’t sense her presence at all, and that skill is permanently trained to be on 24/7?!

“... Akeno, bully.”

Toujou suddenly said as she took the cup of tea, causing Akeno to laugh with her hand covering her mouth, the surroundings suddenly getting colder for some reason.

“Me, a bully? Why I’d never, right Akira-kun?”

She “accidentally” placed her hand over his arm which was reaching out for a cup of tea, causing him to freeze in place before she moved to give Buchou, who was smiling, her tea. Akira grabbed the cup and sipped some tea, ignoring the burn on his tongue.

Now, let him teach you the universal code of truth. Neither confirm nor deny any questions being sent by a woman to another woman when the topic is about you. Especially when one of said woman was glaring at you.

“Ahem, no comment.”

Trust him, he was dodging a metaphorical and literal bullet by saying nothing.

The door to the club suddenly opened as Hyoudou yelled out.

“Hyoudou Issei, ready for the Rating Game!”

And following behind him.

“A-Asia Argento, ready for the R-Rating Game!”

She said with stutters as they entered the clubroom. Akira however stared at Argento. Aw… Why did she get to wear something other than Kuoh Academy’s uniform? Man, he wanted to wear his full Xeno Gi set.

“Good, everyone’s here then. Can you all gear up and get ready? I already contacted Grayfia, she should be coming in a few minutes.”

“““Yes, Buchou!”””

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With his eyes closed, he replayed the Rating Game in his eyes based on his past memories. The details weren’t clear, and his memories were hazy at best, but he remembered that Riser’s Queen had some kind of healing tear? No, wait, Phoenix Tear, yeah. She had the Phoenix Tear that instantly heals any damage taken, and then proceeded to beat Akeno who expended almost everything to beat the Queen.

Right, have to remember about that one.

Second was the numbers advantage. They were going against 15 Pieces before the King, and they only had 5 people fighting at the start. And considering that Koneko doesn’t have the speed to handle 3 at once, and Hyoudou being a fresh fighter, Kiba, Akeno, and him had to deal with about 4 each.

He suddenly felt foreign magic around his body before he felt his body move in the couch slightly. Opening his eyes, he looked outside the window to only get slightly flash-banged at the white sky.

[Hello everyone. I am Grayfia, a maid from the House of Gremory, and today I will be the arbiter of the Rating match between the House of Gremory and the House of Phoenix.]

The school’s P.A. system sounded as Grayfia continued with the current agenda.

[In the name of my Master, Sirzechs Lucifer, I will be keeping my eye on this match. By using both Rias-sama and Riser-sama’s opinion, we created this battlefield which is a replica of the school, Kuoh Academy, which Rias-sama attends to in the human world.]

[The location where both teams were transported will be their “base”. Rias-sama’s “base” would be the Occult Research Cub’s clubroom located in the old school building. Riser-sama’s “base” would be the Student Council’s room located in the new building. For the [Pawns] to use “promotion”, please head to the enemy’s base to do it.]

“Everyone, will you all please put this transceiver in your ears.”

Akeno-san gives everyone an earphone type transceiver. Wearing it in his left ear, he shook his head as hard as he could, but it didn’t come out. Nice, devil technology sure is good.

Maybe he could grab another one and make it into a pair for music during training, he doubts that they’ll miss it anyways, Buchou was rich.

[Now it’s the time for the commencement of the battle. Also, this match will continue till dawn in the humans’ time. So, the Rating Game starts now.]

The school bells rang, signifying the start of the game.

Opening the window, Buchou summoned her familiar before instructing her to soar into the sky to create a map for them. The cute bat nodded before blasting though the window and into the air. While they wait for the map to be completed, Buchou took out a chess set before arranging all the pieces on the coffee table.

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“First we have to take down Riser’s Pawns. It will be troublesome if they all promote into Queen.”

Buchou said while sitting on the sofa, drinking her tea. Akira who sat opposite to her cupped his chin.

It is a good idea to take the Pawns down first, but the main threat looming over them was the Knights and Queen Pieces. If every Knight Piece had the speed of Kiba, even if they were slower, he doubts that anyone here other than Kiba and himself could fight them. And the Queen Piece was the biggest threat before Riser, with that healing item in her hands.

He told her his opinions, and Rias had a thoughtful look on her face.

“… I agree, they must have some Phoenix Tears on hand... Yuuto, the map please.”

Kiba obeyed as he opened the map given by Buchou’s familiar along with the clubroom’s copy of it. The map had grids in them to resemble a chessboard.

Buchou then circled the respective King’s bases with a red marker before placing a King piece on top of them. She took a look at the map.

“There’s a forest near our base. It’s safe to assume that this is also our territory. In other words, the new school building would be Riser’s territory. It’s quite possible that there will be an ambush when you enter their territory. The school field is visible from the new school building. So, it’s dangerous to pass through here.”

Akira looked at the map before nodding to himself. Fair enough, the windows of the new school building showed the whole field, so it would be foolish to cross the field with the intent on charging into the building.

And the moment they exit their bases, teleportation magic becomes inaccessible, so that meant that they couldn’t retreat using magic circles if shit goes to the ground while charging into the enemy’s base. Furthermore…

“… He’ll have his Knight or Rook positioned at one of the clubrooms located in the sports ground. No, if it’s a sports ground, you will need a person with mobility. So, he’ll have one Knight, a Bishop, and three Pawns minimum, a total of five or more servants positioned here. Then he’ll have control of the whole sports ground as it is the most important location on the board.”

Looking at the map, there were 3 ways to go from their base to Riser’s. The gym building on the right-hand side of the map connecting both schools, the sports zone meant for clubs that prioritized sports on the left near the new school building, and the large field in the middle with equal distance between the two bases.

The gym was closest to their base, so they should target and hold onto that position first.

“Buchou, it’s about the gym near the old school building. Shouldn’t we occupy this location first? If we capture it here then we will have a route to the new school building. The gym is a passage to both of the buildings so we could also restrain the enemy’s movements.”

Buchou nods at Kiba’s opinion.

“Yes, I also have the same opinion. First, we will capture the gym... In terms of location, the opponent may have his Rook positioned there. Since it’s inside a building, it would be better to use the Rook with destructive power over Knight with mobility. I estimate that he will send out at least a Rook and a Pawn for backup, maybe even 3 Pawns since this location is a must-take for us…”

And since the sports zone is near their territory, he would send out a Rook and Bishop combo, along with Pawns. It would be their least defensive location, but it is close to the field so reinforcements would arrive swiftly.

“… Sigh, we will need to play this defensively then.”

Buchou sighed before standing up, her decision made.

… Yuuto and Koneko, you two set a trap in the forest. Take another map with you and make sure you mark the places where you set the trap in. I will make a copy afterwards and hand it to everyone.”

“Yes.”

“… Roger.”

Koneko-chan and Kiba leaves the room straight away and takes a copy of a map with them, along with stationary to mark the trap’s locations.

“Everyone else will be on standby until they finish setting up the trap. Akeno, after Yuuto and Koneko returns, can you cast illusions and mists around the forest and the sky? While Akira, the enemy would definitely send out scouts using familiars, please conceal yourself and try to shoot as many of them down to avoid them from seeing our strategies.”

“I understand, Buchou.”

“Got it. I’ll be back once Kiba and Toujou are done.”

No more honorifics, using -san and -senpai at such desperate times would be wasteful. Shrouding himself with demonic energy, he opened the window before leaping into the air, soaring into the sky with Demonic Flight.

In the air, Akira cracked his knuckles before casting a spell to camouflage his body with his surroundings, using his imagination and intent to create a new spell for him. It was choppy at best, but he read up that familiars were more sensitive to magic signature when tracking down opponents.

So, he simply lowered his demonic energy control, suppressing his power from a high Middle-Class to just barely a low Low-Class. Takes up a lot of concentration, but jokes on his enemies, he had been training his multitasking for 10 days straight.

While maintaining his concealing spell and his energy suppression, he started to concentrate on his innate sixth sense and cranked it up to the maximum, feeling every single magic signature in a mile.

Tracking down foreign signatures around their base of operations, he quickly flew to them and tested his stealth. He was just a few feet above a dim glowing orange bird, but it didn’t even look at him and continued staring at the old school building.

Placing a low-powered mark above them that tracks their movement and will constantly be above them, he continued to do so for the remaining 4 familiars before releasing his energy suppression slightly for more power.

The marks above the familiars’ heads started glowing as he clasps his hands together.

“Katsu.”

*BOOOM!*

Deidara was right… Art really was an explosion.