The day of the [Rating Game] finally arrived.

I had to admit that it was like the calm before the storm. All Devil jobs were cancelled for the day and everyone went home immediately after school that day to rest. At 10 o' clock at night, I had an hour and a half left until I had depart to meet up with the others. I had to admit that midnight was an appropriate time to start an important [Rating Game].

I'm sitting in my bed and petting the cat form of Leone while staring out the window at the dark outside world. Gremory said that it was going to be us as the Occult Research Club, thus we wear school uniforms... I'm fine with that, as I would feel a bit embarrassed if I had to wear a costume for the [Rating Game].

I'll just wear the [X-Gloves] for some support and to make my uniform a bit more cool looking.

"You alright boss?" I looked down at Leone when she called out to me, seeing her looking up at me with her golden eyes.

"Just excited for the [Rating Game], that's all." I admitted, and I have no reason to lie. This is the first time I'm going to fight against other Devils seriously... They'll be good target practice for my new techniques and to see if my moves are effective or not in a serious fight.

[HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!] Leone laughed at my responses but I can tell that it's not a mocking laugh, but someone laughing from something very amusing "You're really something, boss! Say, can I fight with you on the [Rating Game]?"

I shrugged, having no reason to refuse her request as I know that she can handle things on her own "Sure."

*knock!* *knock!*

I paused at the sound of the door. "It's not locked. Come on in."

"O-oh... O-ok." It was Asia's voice who answered me. The door opened to allow me to see the Nun dressed in her former Church outfit. She was only missing her veil, revealing her adorable and lovable face "U-um... Raiga-san... Can I sit beside you?"

I raised an eyebrow "Sure. No problem." I patted the empty space on the bed next to me, signalling her to sit down.

I wasn't surprised when she sat down. I WAS, however, surprised when she latched onto my arm, hugging me tightly and shaking nervously "Asia? Is there something wrong?" From the way she was shaking, I was certain something was bothering her. I felt bad seeing her this nervous about something. I just wanted to hug her and tell her everything would be alright...

Huh. Strange how I worded it like that, as those are words that I hardly think of saying to anyone.

"...I can't stop shaking when I think that there is a scary battle waiting for you and you might not come back here." Asia confessed her fears and its understandable... She doesn't know the strength of my enemies and it's human nature to be cautious of anything that they don't understand.

I stared at the former Nun with concerned eyes "Asia..." And suddenly the thought I had thought before became reality. Before I could think about what I was doing, I took my free arm and wrapped it around Asia, pulling her into a warm embrace.

"R-Raiga-san!" She was surprised by my hug.

I looked down at Asia and smiled again "Don't worry, Asia. I promise to comeback to this house, to continue being friends with you and enjoy school together with Hyōdō and everyone in the [ORC]."

Asia turned her face upward and smiled at me, her face still slightly red. "Hai... Can I stay like this until you leave?"

I rubbed Asia's back gently "Of course. I'll stay by your side for as long as you'd like, Asia." I wasn't quite sure why, but I felt embarrassed about my words.

"...Can I stay with you forever from now on?"

"If that is what you wish, Asia. We will always be together." Until Leone and I had to leave, I'll hold Asia close to me, reassuring her as the time before the decisive battle slowly ticked away.

When my partner and I left, Asia was no longer shaking and I had a promise to fulfil, to comeback to my friend and give her a life full of exciting memories.

And so we went to meet with everyone.

- a few minutes later -

20 minutes to midnight, we all gathered at the clubroom, sitting in relaxing positions, trying to get some last-minute rest before we march to war so to speak.

Kiba is equipped with a gauntlet on her hands and had some armour on her lower leg. He had her swords against the wall.

Tōjō is sitting on a chair, reading a book. She was wearing fingerless martial arts gloves. She looked pretty intense... As intense as a loli reading a book while wearing martial arts gloves can look. And that's a lot.

Gremory and Himejima-san, the [2 Great Onee-samas] are elegantly drinking tea in a calm manner. I got this feeling that their doing this to calm their nerves before the fight begins.

Hyōdō and I sat quietly next to each other on 1 of the other couches with Leone on my lap and I petted her with my [X-Glove] covered right hand. I can tell that Hyōdō is about to reach the end of the calm, but she managed to keep her cools.

Ten minutes prior to the match, the magic circle glowed and Grayfia-san appeared.

"Is everyone ready? It's ten minutes before the match."

Everyone stood up after Lucifuge-san confirmed us. Lucifuge-san then started explaining about the battle.

"When it is time to start the battle, you will be transported to the battle field with this magic circle. The location of the place is in a different dimension used for battles. You may fight with all your power. It's a disposable space so feel free to fight to your satisfaction."

...Is that how it is? A battle purpose field, huh. So Devils can prepare something like that as well. Indeed as if we fight in the human world or underworld, we can't avoid destruction and may cause lots of effects. Then it means that we need a place there we won't harm anything no matter what we do. But leaving that aside, there's something that I'm concerned about.

"Gremory."

"What is it?"

"You have [Bishop] right? Where is that person?"

"Unfortunately the [Bishop] can't participate. I will talk about that in the near future."

Gremory said it to me without looking at me in the eyes. Seems like there's something complicated about this matter... What's so important that the [Bishop] can't appear for its [King]'s important match? I couldn't get rid of my suspicions.

"This [Rating Game] battle will also be viewed by members of both households from a different location through broadcast. [Maō Lucifer-sama] will also be viewing this battle. Please do not forget about it."

So, 1 of the [Yondai Maō] has decided to watch our match... I guess he's doing it to see if his Imouto is doing well or not, that's the only logical thing that I can think off right now as somebody important to the Devils like him shouldn't waste their time in watch a bunch of high schoolers fight against a force more powerful than they are.

"Onii-sama is? ...I see, so Onii-sama is also going to view this battle..."

"'Onii-sama'?" I noticed Hyōdō pointed to Gremory, asking another question silently, and then turned to the others.

Kiba nodded "Buchou's brother is indeed the 1 of the [Maō-sama]."

[EEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH?!] Hyōdō's reaction is predictable, as she didn't even knew of this fact "[MAŌ-SAMA]!? Buchou's Onii-sama is a [MAŌ-SAMA]!?"

"I can explain." Kiba started, drawing our attention towards her "In the previous Great War, the [Maō-samas] were in a critical condition and has passed away a long time ago. But there would be no Devils if there isn't any [Maō-samas]. That's why... To tell you the truth, out of the 3 factions of God, Fallen-Angels and Devils, the Devils have the least power. We are actually in a tight spot but we are still safe because current [Maō-samas] has a power equal to the previous [Maō-samas]."

"So Buchou's Onii-sama was chosen to be a [Maō] from the Ultimate-class Devils then?"

Kiba nodded at Hyōdō's question before continuing her explanation "Sirzechs Lucifer is also known as the [Shinko no Maō]. He is Buchou's Onii-sama and the most powerful [Maō-sama]... That's why Buchou has to inherit the house."

I see... Since Sirzechs-san took the mantle of [Lucifer], he can't inherit the house of Gremory or else the he'll have too much power within his hands and that's a big no no to politics or anyone greedy. Having too much power will corrupt anyone, unless that person is a simple minded fool that can't lead a group of idiots.

"So that's why Buchou needs to inherit her household..."

"It's about time. Everyone, please head to the magic-circle." Lucifuge-san urged us. We did as told and we all gathered in the magic-circle.

"Also, once you get transported, you cannot use the magic-circle until the game ends." Lucifuge-san explained.

Once we were in, there was no getting out until a clear result had been reached. I couldn't help but marvel at the magic-circle below us. It was neither Gremory nor Phenex. I assumed it was one used for [Rating Games].

Then the light from the circle began to cover us.

Then we were gone...

______________________________________

*ding!*

I opened my eyes when I heard that typical sound when I achieved something or theirs a new quest for me, and it seems to be the later.

[Quest: Wedding Crash, has been created!]
Time to rescue a princess from her bad ending!

[Objective:]
Free Rias Gremory from her arranged marriage with Riser Phenex

Reward: 800 EXP and gain the affection of Rias Gremory
Failure: Become part of Riser Phenex's Peerage

[Optional Objective:]
Win the [Rating Game]

Reward: 1000 EXP, gain the interest of many She-Devils and +? reputation with the Devil Faction

Well... The rewards of this quest is definitely something else, since they go against my ideology of not being in the centre of attention. I'll push them aside for now, as my will to survive is far more stronger than my personal preferences.

I closed the pop-up window before looking around to find that we're in the club room... I have to admit it, they did a fine job of replicating this place. It almost made me believe that the transport was a failure, but the dark green sky outside was a dead giveaway.

(Hello everyone. I am Grayfia, a maid from the House of Gremory and today I will be the arbiter of the [Rating Game] between the House of Gremory and Phenex) I heard Lucifuge-san's voice speak up from the school broadcast system (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)

Home field advantage then... This makes things somewhat easier. I thought before taking a look outside of the nearby window to see the dark green sky with a silly thought coming into my head. I always wondered if I could destroy the school or not...

(The location where both teams were transported will be their [Bases]. Rias-sama's [Base] would be the [Occult Research Club]'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. You are permitted to set enchantments before the fighting begins. The game will begin in thirty minutes, starting now.)

It made sense. The [Rating Game] was based off of chess. So for a [Pawn] to be able to use [Promotion], it made sense for us to need to fight our way to the enemy base. Hyōdō and I could promote to any piece other than [King], so that could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Phenex had an advantage on us by having 8 [Pawns]. If all 8 of them reached our base and [Promoted] to [Queen], I doubt even I could take them all on at once. So taking down all of Phenex's [Pawns] is the utmost importance to prevent them from [Promoting] to [Queen].

This was where the game got serious. I couldn't slack off even if it's just a game... Because this game not only decides Gremory's future but also the promise that I made with Asia is on the line as well.

"Everyone, will you all please put this transceiver in your ears." Himejima-san handed each of us earphone-type transceivers.

We all inserted ours into our ears.

"At the battlefield, we will be using this to communicate with each other." Gremory explained.

Since, unlike a chess game, actual people were fighting, we had to keep in contact in order to receive orders from our [King].

Lucifuge-san's voice sounded again (Now it's the time for the commencement of the battle. Also, this match will continue till dawn in the humans time. So, Game starts now.)

*riiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnggggggggg!!!*

The school bell rang, signalling the start of the game "First we have to take down Raiser's Pawn. It will be troublesome if they all promotes into [Queen]." Gremory said from her seat on the sofa.

"Buchou, you seem pretty calm..." Hyōdō commented while I just raised an eyebrow towards the red head. If she intents to slack off a bit, then I'll have to drag her aqay and give some punishment after the game.

"Ichigo, the battle just started. The [Rating Game] is originally a game that doesn't finish in a short time. There are times when it becomes a [Blitz], but mostly it's a game that takes very long. Just like the actual chess game."

"We should be actually making plans rather then sitting on our asses now, Gremory." I pointed out, as sitting around doing nothing will achieve nothing in the end.

"The [Rating Game] has meaning only if you use the battlefield to the fullest." Gremory said as she frowned at me for a bit "Usually the base would be a fortress, castle or a tower. There are forests and rivers between the 2 bases and we battle using those areas. This time the battlefield is the school. Yumi."

"Hai." Kiba said as she spread a map of the school onto the table, the map itself was divided into grids like a chess board with English alphabet and numbers running along the sides. Gremory drew a circle around the old and new school building with a red pen, marking out both bases.

"There's a forest near our base. It's safe to think that this is also our territory. In other words the new school building would be Riser's territory. Its likely 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 here."

She's right, since the school field is visible from the new school building. Once we enter the battlefield it's impossible to transport by magic circle. It would be easier to fly, but unfortunately, Leone and Hyōdō couldn't fly.

"It would be easy for Phenex to just go with bait ploys to draw us in and then snipe us from the windows of the new school building... But he'll probably expect us to use the sports grounds or gym to get to his base and will position guards for anyone taking those routes." I said while looking over the map before closed his eyes and thinking of what will the guards be... Hmm... "I would think [Knights] are at the sports field and will probably be supported by a [Bishop], while a [Rook] would be in the gym with a few [Pawns] put in both places to make up numbers."

"Y-Yes... That's what I was thinking as well, Kōjiro-kun." Gremory said, shocked at my analysis. Even without the ability to read minds, I can tell that she's wondering how did I thought of that deduction.

"Buchou, its about the gym near the old school building. Shouldn't we occupy this location first?" Kiba said while pointing at a stop on the map "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."

-_-

If they don't just fly over it...

"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 like Kōjiro-kun thinks. The [Rook] with destructive power would work better then a [Knight] with mobility."

"I have a plan." I declared, drawing the attention of everone in the room towards me but I can deal with it as it's not to many people "I'll go into the gym with Leone, since I worked with her the most and we're more like hunters, to eliminate the enemy."

"Damn straight!" My partner exclaimed while I released her from my illusion, turning her back to her normal form.

"As for the rear..." I thought about it before looking at Tōjō and Kiba. They'll do nicely, since they known each other far longer and has knowledge of the in's and out's of the area "Tōjō and Kiba will guard the school from woods, since they had a much better worked out teamwork and knew each other as close friends."

"Himejima-san is going to stay up in the skies, to be oir eyes in the sky and be prepared to support either side that are losing ground or launch an attack of your own." I explained before turning towards the brunette "Hyōdō is staying here with Gremory, powering up to her maximum and serving as a reserve force. She'll be our trump card, since Phenex doesn't know about the [Boosted Gear] and that gives us a great advantage, so start [Boosting] when all of us leave."

"Hai!"

"That's only the first phase." I stated while crossing my arms.

"Once the woods and gym are secured, Himejima-san will set them ablaze to destroy all cover for the enemy and securing all the routes at which their base, while also launching an offence to the Phenex, bringing a battle to him."

I looked back towards Hyōdō again "This is where you and Gremory will fight against Phenex at his base, and make sure to use [Promotion] to turn into a [Queen]. In the meantime, Himejima-san, Leone, Tōjō, Kiba and I will deal with the remaining pieces, so that there would only Phenex will be left standing."

After I finished, I looked around at the others "Any objections?"

"...Other than you stealing my thunder, nothing else." Gremory said with a pouting face, while I raised an eyebrow at her before shaking my head.

"Ufufufu, despite being used to taking orders from Rias, I'll do my best to fulfil your commands." Himejima-san giggled.

"A very sound plan, Kōjiro-kun."

"...Roger."

"I'll follow your lead, Kōjiro!"

I nodded at their replies before looking at the door "Then let's get started." I stated before moving out to start my plan.

It's time for us to play a game!